how to cultivate an ethical organization
Introduction
Enron provided the perfect example of how mismanagement and greed, culminating in an unethical business environment, can result in the collapse of a seemingly secure organisation (Wang & Murnighan, 2001: 279-280). This paper will illustrate how the cultivation of an organisation’s ethos is often vastly dependent on the examples set by top management. Therefore, in order to foster an ethical culture successfully, the conduct of these members is key. Through the use of Schein’s primary mechanisms, instances of potentially effective managerial behaviours will be illustrated.
Schein’s Primary Mechanisms
Edgar Schein identified five primary mechanisms by which managers are able to transform organisational cultures (Sims & Brinkmann, 2003: 247-252). These mechanisms are:
① Attention – This mechanism refers to the areas – such as beliefs, priorities and values – on which managers focus a large portion of their attentiveness. Lower level employees look to these areas as cues and adjust their behavior accordingly.
② Reaction – Reaction to crisis is believed to be a clear indicator of an individual’s core ethical belief and is thus perceived to provide an accurate character summation. For example, a manager can behave in a certain manner during a calm situation, however, when placed in a stressful situation this manager could behave in an utterly foreign manner. Bystanders will then perceive that foreign behaviour to be the manager’s true nature.
③ Role Modeling – The behaviour exhibited by management is often more likely to be replicated by lower level employees. Employees will observe both what is said and done by management, and, if a conflict occurs between these two factors, employees will favour a manager’s actions rather than his or her words.
④ Allocation of Rewards – When employees demonstrate desired behavior it is important for them to receive some form of reward in order to reinforce that behavior and encourage similar behavior amongst
Enron provided the perfect example of how mismanagement and greed, culminating in an unethical business environment, can result in the collapse of a seemingly secure organisation (Wang & Murnighan, 2001: 279-280). This paper will illustrate how the cultivation of an organisation’s ethos is often vastly dependent on the examples set by top management. Therefore, in order to foster an ethical culture successfully, the conduct of these members is key. Through the use of Schein’s primary mechanisms, instances of potentially effective managerial behaviours will be illustrated.
Schein’s Primary Mechanisms
Edgar Schein identified five primary mechanisms by which managers are able to transform organisational cultures (Sims & Brinkmann, 2003: 247-252). These mechanisms are:
① Attention – This mechanism refers to the areas – such as beliefs, priorities and values – on which managers focus a large portion of their attentiveness. Lower level employees look to these areas as cues and adjust their behavior accordingly.
② Reaction – Reaction to crisis is believed to be a clear indicator of an individual’s core ethical belief and is thus perceived to provide an accurate character summation. For example, a manager can behave in a certain manner during a calm situation, however, when placed in a stressful situation this manager could behave in an utterly foreign manner. Bystanders will then perceive that foreign behaviour to be the manager’s true nature.
③ Role Modeling – The behaviour exhibited by management is often more likely to be replicated by lower level employees. Employees will observe both what is said and done by management, and, if a conflict occurs between these two factors, employees will favour a manager’s actions rather than his or her words.
④ Allocation of Rewards – When employees demonstrate desired behavior it is important for them to receive some form of reward in order to reinforce that behavior and encourage similar behavior amongst
Bibliography: Grobler, P.A., Warmich, M.R., Carrell, M.R., Elbert, N.F. & Hartfield, D. (2011) Human Resource Management in South Africa. 4th ed. Hampshire: South-Western Congage Learning. Shaw, W.H. (2011) Business Ethics 7 th ed. Belmont: Thomson/Wadsworth. Sims, R.R. & Brinkman, J. (2003) ‘Enron Ethics (Or: Culture matters more than codes)’ in Journal of Business Ethics. 45(3): 243-256. Wang, L. & Murnighan, J.K. (2001) ‘On Greed’ in The Academy of Management Annuals. 5(1): 279-316.