Christian Ethics for the Marketplace - Literature review Example

• Introduction

Each person possesses unique moral imperatives which compel one to act in a distinct way. An ethical dilemma might occur within an individual or between more than two people. A workplace is often regarded as a breeding ground for such ethical dilemmas. Workplace behavior and ethics are crucial parameters in context of employment. In every industry, there are certain guidelines structured to which employers as well as employees must adhere. Integrity is one of the key components in relation to workplace ethics. It is evident that an individual needs to be honest while exhibiting allocated tasks or working collaboratively with other team members. Ethical issues arise when an individual in the workplace fails to be aligned with the desired level of integrity. In this research study, focus will be on closely scrutinizing the business ethical problems between employers and employees. Managers often fail to understand the perspective of employees, thereby, leading to ethical dilemmas. One of the most common ethical issues witnessed in the workplace is abusive behavior by managers or CEOs. There are circumstances when it is observed that people belonging to the upper position misuse their power in order to humiliate others. Race, ethnicity, gender, etc., are common factors based on which workplace discrimination takes place. There are regulatory frameworks structured so as to eradicate such abusive behavior from the workplace. The main research aim will be to identify ethical problems prevalent in the workplace and relate them with Christian ethics. Theological perspective will be taken into account in order to better understand the aspect of business ethics. Ethical guidelines are necessary for building positive attitude towards job responsibilities along with sustaining a strong work ethic. In this research study, Alexander Hill’s primary themes will be incorporated to reflect upon the chosen ethical issue.

• Research question

The research question for this study will be – “does abusive behavior by CEO or managers form a major ethical issue witnessed in the workplace?” To be more precise, the mentioned ethical issue will be related with workplace discrimination and disrespecting employees in the workplace.

• Sections of your analysis and literature review on Hill’s primary themes
  • Holiness

According to Hill (2009) holiness is a Christian religious concept that can be applied in organizational settings for denoting single- minded devotion. There are four main elements of Holiness; they are namely, accountability, purity, zeal for God and humanity. Fundamentally holiness revolves around the concept priority (Hill, 2009). An individual is always considered to be responsible and accountable for his or her deeds. Main components of purity are moral separation and ethical purity. Moral purities in an individual are always subject to punishments. Alternatively, an individual should be punished for impurities. Accountability can be related to both economic concept and theology. Hill proclaimed that market punishes various organizations for producing below average and downgraded products. In case of missed deadlines the organizations are also punished by market entities. The above mentioned organizations lose their loyal customers either temporarily or permanently. If the poor performing or unethical companies are not punished for their wrongdoings then consequently the society will suffer.

As per Grisez (2015) divine standards are the yardsticks of measuring an organization’s performance. For assessing such performances, society and the market identify organizations’ weaknesses in the initial stage (Grisez, 2015). Holiness resonates well with accurate self-assessments. Withdrawal from the society, judmentalism and legalism are the three inaccurate views of holiness. An organization should accept responsibility and not flee from it. Top management of an organization sometimes portrays abusive behavior towards their employees. Abusive behavior is perceived to be unholy as per the divine standards. Management of an organization fails to reach the standards set by Jesus pertaining to holiness. If God himself can be holy and possess pure thoughts, then his followers are also supposed to be like him. Unacceptable behavior of the managers in an organization can be witnessed in the form of sexual harassment, bullying, mistreatment, incivility, violence and discrimination. Many times whenever a new employee joins an organization he or she become subject to bully and group culture. Even the managers exert pressure on that person so that productivity increases. Alternatively, if the management would have deciphered holy behavior then encouragement and appropriate implementation of anti-policies could have been witnessed. Due to this unholy behavior an individual becomes mentally depressed and feels isolated. Sense of belongingness is very important for an employee in an organization. In fact, work culture of an organization should be friendly and welcoming.

As stated by Sproul (2013), there is no doubt that management which does not portray any holiness towards the employees become guilty in front of God. Resultantly, they are punished severely in due course of time (Sproul, 2013). The management sometimes conceals necessary information from the employees; this is one type of cheating as well as portrayal of immoral behavior.

Johnson (2012) discussed that business concerns which follow Christian principles reflect divine holiness to the fullest (Johnson, 2012). Holiness is not only about following regulations in an individual’s behavior rather it is a deeper concept where all other people of God would benefit from holiness of an individual.

McGrath (2013) stated that God dwells in the society through mankind and their good deeds. Human beings should follow each and every teaching of God. Even in workplace people should carry out their duties toward the society religiously. Work and noble actions are pathways of experiencing presence of God in this world (McGrath, 2013). Management of different organizations forgets that responsibility increases with power and position. As a result, subordinates should be guided by the management in every sphere of work. Many times employees become subject to discrimination in workplaces because management forgets their true position and become arrogant.

• • Justice

As portrayed by Bell, Taylor, & Driscoll (2012), Biblical justice encompasses making communities and individuals through upholding both impartiality and goodness. As written in the Bible, God the Father commanded individuals to look after orphans and those individuals under distress. Justice is about taking care of the needy people without being influenced by the world. According to the Bible, wicked do not show but righteous definitely show their concern about justice. God’s character and heart is closely linked with the concept of justice (Bell et al., 2012). Justice can be restored only through bringing forth community and individual transformation.

Hill (2009) stated that justice comprises of four important elements, which include substantive rights, procedural rights, contractual justice and merit. Ordered relationships are provided by justice. Justice rolls out reciprocal sets of duties and rights (Hill, 2009). When an individual treats his fellowmen fairly then the other person is also supposed to act and maintain fairness in his or her conduct. In lay man’s language fairness attracts the same. One person’s right demands another person’s duty. No-one disagrees that harming others is a form of injustice, especially when that person possesses lower position. Affirmative duties and unofficial responsibilities towards the society cannot be overruled by an individual. Being benevolent like God is a part and parcel of an individual’s life.

Simha & Cullen (2012) affirmed that the top leaders in an organization should act as arbiters. Employees may choose to remain silent even after witnessing injustice in the workplace and refrain from protesting. Holy people of God proactively take stand against injustices in the workplace and initiate essential steps to eliminate it (Simha & Cullen, 2012). Theological vision of justice is applicable in every spheres of life including workplaces. Some injustices in workplace are portrayal of biasness by management teams, termination of employees without prior notice, gender biasness and not receiving salary according to merit. Most of the times employees tend to become partial while taking any decisions concerning promotions, rewards, bonuses, etc. Partiality or biasness is a part and parcel of human nature unlike God. However, in order to follow God’s path one must purify his or her thoughts as much as possible. Everyone in the workplace can receive justice only if employers understand that position and power should be used judiciously and not recklessly. Justice should be blind and impartial irrespective of caste, creed, color, race, class and societal status. It cannot deny the right to defend an individual for his or her sins, mistakes or wrongdoings. One thumb rule of justice and equality is to maintain a single yardstick of measuring injustice and pass verdict on that basis. Without a standardized system of justice, it is difficult to become impartial.

Sekerka, Godwin, & Charnigo (2012) proclaimed that sometimes unequal distribution of wealth becomes a reason for injustice. Most of the times victims are the people who possess lesser wealth (Sekerka et al., 2012). For example, in an organization employers have more power and wealth compared to that of employees. As a result, employees cannot even fight for justice in some instances even if they want to. The employees are afraid of losing their job and so they blindly follow management team. Merit may be overlooked by the employers and priority can be given to their favorite employees.

Stallman (2013) discussed that the justice seeks compensation when four rights are violated in workplace. Moreover, holiness, justice and love are intricately intertwined with each other; one attribute is powerless without the others (Stallman, 2013). For example, an employer who is not empathetic and devoid of holiness can never provide justice to their employees.

• • Love

“Love” is one of the primary elements contributing efficiently towards the holiness-justice-love mix. It can be stated that this element emphasizes more on relationships. According to Hill (2009) “Christian love” comprises of three important characteristics such as self-sacrifice, empathy and mercy. Love enables one to share pain of others. When empathy feels for other human beings then mercy takes further action. Hill clearly mentioned in his studies that Christ warned against being vulnerable in case of those who exhibit abusive behavior (Hill, 2009). On the basis of the Bible verse, love is all about being kind and patient. The feeling of dishonoring others is not aligned with the theme of ‘love’.

As per Bray (2012), love can be stated as rejoicing the truth, rather than encouraging evil thoughts. There are different kinds of love mentioned in theological studies. For instance, ‘Agapao’ is a form of love which God had shown towards His Son. The word ‘Agapao’ is often related with the wider perspective of Christian love. It can be stated that Christian love is not centered towards those with some natural inclination or in case of those where some affinity has been discovered (Bray, 2012). A concept of ‘selfless love’ has been identified by many scholars which often lacks in personal and professional fields. Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of this kind of ‘selfless love’. He had set forth an example of continuously serving others and finally sacrificing His life for the purpose of saving humanity. As mentioned by Moreland (2014), ‘Phileo’ is a kind of love which means to have ardent feeling and affection. It is often referred to as “impulsive love”. In a lifetime, it is difficult to obtain agapao type of love; however, phileo type of love is natural among human beings (Moreland, 2014). On the other hand, ‘Eros’ is a type of love referring to sexual desire or love, as stated by Neubert, Dougherty, Park, & Griebel (2014).

In the given research scenario, the ethical problem happened in the workplace due to absence of selfless love. Abusive behavior towards subordinates is commonly observed when one fails to offer selfless love and subsequently develops a feeling of being proud may be for one’s authoritative position, as claimed by Guillén, Ferrero, & Hoffman (2015). For instance, disrespecting employees based on ethnicity, race or gender violates the basis of Christian love which is ‘not to be proud, not to boast or not to envy others’. Hill criticized the situational ethics framework. As per this framework, there is no such fault in telling lies, stealing or cheating. Biblical love means – “To love our neighbors as we love ourselves”. The mentioned meaning of love is regarded as the greatest commandment of all.

In workplace, abusive behavior as an ethical problem arises because people holding higher job position fails to be aligned with the Biblical phrase. Disrespecting others, sexual harassment, terminating without a proper notice, favoritism, etc., can be defined as some known ethical problems in the workplace between employees and employers. The chosen ethical problem is an outcome of giving more importance to situational ethics. Arguably, self-love is important because God has created human beings in His own image, as supported by Stahl, MacEachen, & Lippel (2014). However, excessive self-love is not an appropriate approach because it can hurt others. The ethical issue of abusive behavior being exhibited by managers or CEOs is a result of excessive self-love. As human beings, we often try to use our authoritative position so as to boast upon others. It is evident that this form of gesture is aligned with situational ethics framework, but it is not supported by theological studies.

• Christian faith perspective (theological)

The business ethical issue identified in the workplace between employees and managers or CEO can be further elaborated by considering the theological perspective. Christian faith teaches a lot about love, justice, holiness, etc. It can be argued that business ethical issues can be eradicated only when one is aware about the root cause behind such issues. From theological perspective, it will be easier to identify the main reason behind ethical dilemmas. The most important commandment in accordance with the Christian faith is – ‘to love thy neighbor as yourself’. However, in workplace, it is difficult to remain aligned with the stated commandment. At times, employees are not provided with equal job opportunities due to misuse of power or authority by individuals in the upper position. For instance, gender-based or religion-based discrimination is a common phenomenon in the workplace (Walker, 2013). There are situations when deserving employees are not given growth opportunities. To a great extent, such situations occur due to improper use of power or authoritative position by managers or CEOs. From Biblical perspective, there are various principles which can be linked with business ethics. As per the Bible, it is essential that those individuals who are trusted upon prove they are faithful (Crooks, 2015). The main idea behind this Biblical verse is to prove one’s responsibility towards another. It is responsibility of every individual to remain ‘faithful’ in that shown trust. As mentioned in the Scriptures, ‘faithful’ is one who will show similar gesture when you are in need. The theological perspective can be associated with workplace ethics by stating that employees and employer should be accountable and govern their actions in accordance with God’s viewpoint of being faithful. In the Bible, a clear distinction was outlined between earthly masters and slaves (Fee & Stuart, 2014). It is essential for all slaves to remain obedient and follow instructions given by their masters, as they would obey in case of Christ. The Biblical verse talks about the similarity between slaves of Christ and slaves of earthly masters. An individual obeys God by will; hence, similar approach needs to be undertaken while obeying their masters. Higher degree of obedience is closely knitted with serving wholeheartedly. From theological perspective, one serves Lord wholeheartedly because there is a belief that God the Father will reward individuals who act well. Hence, earthly masters also need to take care of their slaves in similar manner like the Lord (Robinson, 2014). Slaves should not be threaten by their master, since the later should be knowledgeable about the fact that the ‘superior authority’ resides in heaven and He certainly does not encourage any form of favoritism.

In context of workplace ethics, it is responsibility of all masters or those who hold authoritative positions to take care of their subordinates. Ethical problems such as abusive behavior, discrimination, etc., in the workplace arise when masters fail to treat their slaves in a manner they would prefer to be treated by the Lord. The above stated theological principles should be incorporated in every workplace in order to strengthen relationship between employer and employees (Banks, Ledbetter, & Greenhalgh, 2016). It can be concluded that employees should act responsibly and be obedient, but employers also need to effectively address interests of every employee considering the fact that they both are obedient servants of the same Lord or the same Master. As per the Bible, a hard-working farmer should be given the opportunity to take share of the first crop. The theological principle denotes the idea of fairness in the workplace (Kelcourse, 2015). Discrimination or abusive behavior between employers and employees violate the fairness concept. Ignorance and sinful human tendencies collaboratively contribute towards workplace discrimination. Strong affirmative action in the workplace develops a common feeling among team members that favoritism is being maintained during hiring or promotion. Arguably, the main principle of justice is equal opportunity. According to the scriptures, there is a restriction imposed on restitution of situations, particularly when there is presence of three elements such as a specific wrong-doer, a specific injury and a specific victim. The impact of ‘sin’ has been beautifully portrayed in the scriptures (Hauerwas, 2015). It can be stated that sin is one such aspect which has disrupted harmony between nonhumans and humans.

The ‘Theocentric Ethics’ emphasized on the role of business. Arguably, business firms should stop being aligned with the anthropocentric ethics, since it only shift focus towards return on investment (Naidoo, 2014). From theological viewpoint, managers or CEOs should consider themselves as one managing resources of God so as to benefit or address interests of every stakeholder. The authoritative position holders exploit their image by only reflecting upon short-term gains. They need to portray an image of being responsible managers by taking good care of their subordinates as well as avoiding any abusive behavior (Enns, 2015). Christian faith revolves around the fact that every human being is equal in the eyes of God. When there is no discrimination in heaven, there should not be anything as such in the workplace.

• Personal Faith Perspective

An individuals’ religious faith is one of the most important determinants of moral values. Matured and well established moral values underpin standards of business ethics. Major religions of the world have their own teachings. Followers of a particular religion establish their belief system according to the teachings of the same. In every religion, unethical practices are strongly opposed pertaining to businesses as well as other aspects of life.

Employers in various corporate houses should follow ethical decision making framework, especially when employees are concerned (Balducci, Cecchin, Fraccaroli, & Schaufeli, 2012). There are different stages of ethical decision making based on personal faith; these are namely moral judgments, moral sensitivity, moral behavior and moral intention. Actions in an organization can never be morally sensitive if the employers are devoid of moral intentions. Eventually, moral intention leads to moral judgments. Personal faiths of an employer can exert immense influence on either of the above mentioned stages or all of them. Religious self-identity is internalized and sets the tone of role expectations (Gill, 2012). Ethical behavior is established over the years. Moral teachings that an individual receives throughout his or her life circumscribe various attitudes or actions. The role expectations that are set by religious teachings are reflected on an individual’s social interaction. Employers whose religious identity is stronger tend to follow ethical standards in business and refrain from abusive behavior in workplace with his employees. Ethical business practices also include looking after the wellbeing of employees within an organization in every possible ways. Management team with strong stewardship always possesses better sense of accountability and responsibility towards the employees.

The employers who have poor or low religious identity tend to mistreat the subordinates. There are several types of workplace harassment of which the employees become victim; some of these include bullying, workplace aggression and verbal abuse. The groups that frequently become subject to workplace harassment are racial minorities, women, immigrants and homosexuals (Singer, 2013). Discrimination is nothing new in society and that is why its existence in workplace is equally evident. Women employees in an organization sometimes become victim of gender discrimination. Gender discrimination is manifested in varying ways, such as lack of promotion despite of merit, biasness and segregation from groups. Sexual harassment cases are quite dominant all over the world in giant corporate houses.

Society has endowed basic fundamental right of being free from any types of abuses in workplace. Eligible candidates are sometimes face obstructions to advance further in their career because of workplace harassment. Sometimes conflicts arise when an employer (CEO) faces ethical dilemma. For instance, dual morality, agency and established laws are few ethical dilemmas that one can face in workplace. It is needless to utter that God has some set characters but men have manipulated them to a large extent over the years. Ethical authorities have modified different religious teachings; these ethical authorities include government, business councils and corporate management. Dual morality is subject to rejection by both employers and employees. It does not revolve around the principles of holiness, love and justice that have been set by God himself (Cahill, 2013). Personal beliefs and faiths may contaminate the teachings of God and effect the social interactions of human beings. Dual morality puts forward few false justifications that are not acceptable. For instance, it ignores all the key principles of love, undercuts justice and encourages ethical impurity. Vocation motivates an employee to serve others for lifetime and refrain from following individual will. Sometimes employees are manipulated to think that serving God is equivalent to serving masters (Chan-Serafin, Brief, & George, 2013). However, employers who have strong religious identity can never think themselves equivalent to God. The holiness that employers nowadays possess is not holy any more rather it has become contaminated with impure intentions, thoughts, actions and judgments.

Internal motives of the top managers are set by justice, holiness and love. In fact, the high ethical standards of the managers pertaining to righteousness resonate well with above mentioned standards. The laws that are established by mankind focus on external deeds and negate internal ones (Dyck & Wiebe, 2012). Most of the times personal religious faiths cannot be applied in real life scenario, such as organizational settings because human laws are formulated on the basis of actions that should not be carried out by an individual. Alternatively, the religious beliefs are more about what an individual should do throughout his or her life. Simply complying with the man-made laws and not having strong personal faiths cannot make an individual morally good. There are various acts in an organization which are not ethical but legal. Personal beliefs and faiths should be matured and refined enough that employers have to move beyond their regular actions and reach higher plain of judgments (Walker, Smither, & DeBode, 2012). However, these actions are supposed to be both ethical and legal. If deeds are considered as a coin then reward and punishment are two sides of the same coin. As a result, the personal faiths of an individual in a workplace can assist him to access the sweeter side.

• Specific recommendations for all stakeholders

On the basis of theological perspective, it can be derived that managers and workers need to perform separate tasks obediently. It is recommended that the management should be conscious about specific steps undertaken by them and its associated consequences. Christian faith is solely based on the concept that individuals who do not follow the path of evil will be rewarded by the Lord. Managers or CEOs should consider such theological principles prior to disrespecting subordinates. The best managers are those who are capable enough to develop a 360-degree perspective. Individuals holding authoritative position are the ones who are able to make a difference in the workplace. It is highly recommended that the management should focus on building a trustworthy workplace environment. Ethical problems can be completely eradicated from the workplace when there is high degree of trust between employer and employees. Hence, the most suitable approach will be to show confidence towards team members along with rewarding hard-work and job commitment. It is advisable that all stakeholders should consider the Biblical verse of serving wholeheartedly as they would serve God the Father. On the other hand, employees also play a vital role in maintaining work ethics. A collaborative approach by employees and employer facilitate development of an ethical workplace environment. It is recommended that employees should act obediently even when their employer is not closely scrutinizing allocated tasks. As described in theological studies, hard-work is always rewarded either by God or their masters. Moral workplace ethics can be stated as an outcome of a faithful stewardship. The special kind of Christian love is recommended to be exercised by employees and the management. In overall context, such selfless love would enable both the stakeholders to remove differences between them and eventually create an ethical workplace environment.

Employers cannot avoid undue hardships that are caused due to abusive behavior towards the employees of an organization. Top leaders in giant corporations manipulate their employees to a large extent. For example, employees are harassed in workplaces in various ways. Perceptions of the employers that are formed from the religious learning reflect in the form of conduct towards employees. Most of the times employers prefer to stay strong, stoic, and loud-mouthed and closed-off towards their employees so that they dwell in fear. While this is perceived as strategic decision, employees may feel that it is more than that. Employers sometimes do not disclose entire information about the management but it is punishable in the eyes of God. In several teachings of Christianity, it is said that concealment is a type of injustice towards the society. Apart from these, managers in an organization may not judge everyone equally and tend to become bias while giving rewards. However, in religious teachings biasness and partiality is prohibited. It is very similar to the concept that God always judges everyone impartially and without any prejudices. Previously, in this paper it is mentioned that holiness is an integral part of both management decisions and Christianity. Holiness includes accountability as well. Managers are completely responsible for carry out duties towards the employees. Top leaders of any organization should possess holy intentions and thoughts, which assist employees to advance in life. Impure thoughts of the employers are punished by the nature and God himself. In order to apply holiness in the workplace, employers should become more approachable and communicate regularly with their employees. Being considerate and forgiving the employees for their wrongdoings deciphers holiness amongst the top managers in an organization. Employees should become aware about various religious teachings and take stand for themselves whenever they face any discrimination in the workplace.

• Conclusion

From the above research study, it can be concluded that there are various reasons behind ethical issues in a workplace. The study has revealed the major causes which lead to serious ethical issue such as abusive behavior in the workplace. To a great extent, racial discrimination, sexual harassment, etc., is inter-linked with abusive behavior by employers. The primary themes of Hill have been explored in order to identify ethical issues in the workplace. As per the theological principles, role of business is not only confined to return on investment but also considering well-being of every stakeholder. Initial harmony between individuals can be retained only when active measures are undertaken to avoid committing sin. There are certain recommended measures outlined in this study. For instance, it is duty of every stakeholder to act obediently. Employees shall definitely be rewarded for their consistent hard work like God rewards all His children for obeying Biblical sayings. Hill and other scholars have vividly discussed about the concept of holiness, justice and love in Christian teachings; these teachings are related to the ethical behaviors of managers, CEOs and top management team of an organization. Personal faith may sometimes contradict the religious teachings of an individual and its reflections can be witnessed in the form of ethical dilemmas in workplace. Organizations’ top leaders can sometimes become arrogant especially because of their power and position. They forget that God is also powerful but he is simultaneously merciful, empathetic and self-sacrificing. As a result, conduct and behavior of the managers should be aligned with Christian religious teachings.