Challenges of Modern Organizations - Example

Personal Learning Name Institution Part A Introduction Modern organizations are confronted with many challenges most of which evoke ethical questions. The continued debate as to whether entities can be held morally responsible seems to settle at the fact that, businesses are part and parcel of society. They can therefore not run away from the norms and morals that bide other members of society. One recent challenge that has confronted organizations is the issue of dealing with electronic waste as well as ways of promoting green computing. Businesses have been on the center of focus due to the huge amounts of electronic waste they dump every year with no formal system of proper disposal or recycling. Professionals and business executives have faced great criticism over their lack of commitment in addressing the matter. This report would try to evaluate the extent of this challenge to business managers and whether electronic waste is posing real threat to environment. One major initiative on green computing undertaken by Wipro will be used as a case study to demonstrate how professionals can devise ways of handling electronic waste and promote green computing. Finally an opinion will be given, on the role of vendors and manufacturers in promoting environmental conservation through green computing. Analysis Electronic companies flood the market with lots of products - upon expiry of their useful life the consumers have no means to safely dispose the electronic waste. Due to this social responsible companies have come up with the green computing initiatives to deal with this waste (Michael 2009). Wipro was the pioneer entity in addressing the issue of responsible electronic management through green computing. Wipro’s green computing project was first and foremost driven by the company’s desire to reduce wastage of energy particularly in the IT industry as well as promote ways of reducing human exposure to harmful substances. The aim was to improve the efficiency derived from use of computer resources and promote recyclability within the industry. Besides being a corporate social responsibility to promote sustainable environmental standards, the company was concerned with the level of consumer ignorance on environmental degradation brought about by technological materials. There was yet another concern - the level of energy wastage within computer systems with a reported wastage of 97% of energy fed into computer machinery (Carol et al. 2009). These factors pushed the company to go an extra mile, out of its line of duty to take a number of corrective and preventive initiatives as discussed herein. The company established twenty three green initiatives as a wider strategy to guide the process of reducing carbon emission to the environment each of which was an artifact. The grand scheme was a campaign oriented at converting the company to green and lead the transition in the industry and beyond. The artifact was structured in sections each with specialized mandate. The departmentalization was the unit of operation where it was expected to follow the green artifact (Srivastava 2007). The twenty three target areas were categorized into four groups namely: strategy, people, facilities and operations and IT specific improvements. The strategy category was meant to integrate the green IT into the company’s overall growth and development scheme. People category was targeting the end-users of the IT and related products to empower them with information on importance and best practices towards promoting environmental conservation. Facilities and operations contain five areas in the infrastructure of the company and its clients. IT-specifics focus on improvement of the environmental base of the user and the service provider (Mingay, 2007). As early as year 2006 the company had established an electronic waste disposal service which was the first of its kind. This service comprised of sixteen electronic waste collection centers in India. Later the following year, Wipro extended its efforts through design of specialized computers that had minimal levels of waste emission. This move was in line with the European Union regulation standards on emission of harmful substances. It had set the tone, however, for the Local IT businesses (Mingay 2007). Beyond the IT industry the company managed to make significant steps. For instance the company devised what it called ‘Hosted Intelligent Document Management’ which is an efficient and energy saving way of managing electronic information at client’s level. The system enables the client to reduce the physical number of machinery and storage files by capitalizing on few hardware accessories through multitasking (Michael 2009). This reduces energy consumption as well as reducing demand levels for computer gadgets hence reducing emissions of harmful substances. Under a green computing and electronic waste management initiative, companies should come up with their own charter on environmental sustainability initiatives. Professionals in the field of electronics should spur their companies towards being carbon neutral organizations and take the path of initiating recycling projects. They should take the fore front position in mass campaigns on waste reduction measures for corporate as well as at personal level. Corporations should appreciate the research work already sponsored by national governments on the green house gas levels in the environment and their possible effects to guide some corrective measure. These measures should target at addressing the specific areas of concern pointed out by experts such as devising ways of reducing energy use as well as recycling computer machinery (CDLI 2009). Wipro Green computing initiative is one good example of taking business ethics to higher levels. The benefit of the strategy of electronic Freight Cargo is one of its kind in reducing paper usage and consequently minimize cutting down of trees. Future generations need more vegetation given the continued level of activity in industries and the rising world population. Every effort that goes into conserving plantation is much welcome at this time and age. Organizations should learn from this initiative and come up with their own methodologies of reducing paper usage. Information should as far as possible reside in computer system, be accessed and shared electronically; and consequently reduce the rate of reproduction through manual photocopying or duplication (Michael 2009). Reflection Many benefits can be attributed to the green computing campaign. For instance, through the electronic waste disposal Wipro managed to offer seventeen physical facilities to that effect. Through this package which is the only one of its kind in India, the company is able to collect used up computers from consumers and facilitate their recycling (Carol et al. 2009). The Wipro water project has provided solutions for water treatment in industries that helps to reduce industrial water usage. It is already the market leader in provision of high level purity water in the country (Srivastava 2007). Given the continued demand for water for both corporations and households, such a move would make sense if adopted at a bigger scale. More research should be undertaken, probably by experts who have the zeal to provide society with solutions to one of their most stringent problem. It the area of energy provision, the professionals should lead the society in identifying more environmental friendly sources of energy. Through the Wipro Eco-Energy initiative, the world has been reawakened of possibilities of clean energy solutions. The energy solution package is meant to minimize energy usage as well as checking the level of carbon released to the environment (Carol et al. 2009). Companies are required to become leaders in Green IT transformation across the world from now going forward. Such initiatives would be incorporated in the overall company’s growth strategy. Companies should set goals – where they target to reduce their emission by a certain percentage over a period of time. Conclusion While corporate customers need to know the minute details of energy saving in the computing industry, the manufacturers carry the greatest responsibility. In the grand scheme of things, customers whether corporate or not can only use what is on offer in the market. Vendors need to come up with environmental friendly model of computers and related gadgets so that we save the eco-system for ourselves and next generation. Factual information regarding usages should be well availed to the consumers so that they too play a part in the whole initiative. The environment supports both the company and its customers. Being mindful to its conservation will ensure peaceful coexistence of people and environment. In the grand scheme of things, companies have to be considerate of long-term effects of their actions, and being socially responsible is central to reaching that goal. Part B Introduction Application of ethical standards is a vital requirement in both formal and informal way of working. Various professions have a set of prescribed ethical principles but they only provide general guidance. They leave a big room for individual judgment. The working environment presents different types of situations that the incumbent need to handle. The way to handle such should draw a lot of theory from the principles of ethics in the profession. However, there are other forces that influence decision making process. Such may include assimilation to the code of conduct in the profession, personal instincts, and personal bias among others. The paper herein evaluates how professional ethics can be applied to make decisions in various situations such as resolving organizational conflict. An assessment will also be made with regard to contribution of ethical principles in reducing conflict in work place. Analysis In would be worth distinguishing ethics from law. The major distinction falls on the extent of individual discretion allowed in the application of each. Law is the prescribed legislation that governs how people relate with others; the state and the penalties for non-compliance. The law is created by the state to be followed as it is and not as it ought to be. In other word the law is more rigid and the subject’s opinion in the way to apply it is not negligible. Ethical principles and standards on the other hand, are prescribed at a much lower level and their application is bent on the individual judgment. Integrity is one of the fundamental principles that should be observed in all working situations. This is a concern for being objective and honesty. There usually exists fight between integrity and personal bias. When an employee is undertaking duties of principal, then he/she is bound by the requirements of integrity to arrange affairs so as to result to maximum benefit to the principle worked for rather than personal gains (Argandona 1998). Agents negotiate trade deals on behalf of their principal and usually have opportunity to collude with supplies or debtors to exploit the principal. This is going against the principles of integrity which applies across all professions. Professionals offer technical services to their employers. They are required to demonstrate professional competence in all their undertakings. In this regard, it is incumbent upon a professional to assess his/her position with respect to job specifications of a certain assignment and determine whether or not he/she carries the necessary qualifications and skills to undertake the duty. If that is ascertained then the assignment should be completed according to prescribed standards and on time (Fisher 2009). Should the person feel that there are certain technicalities in the assignment that he/she is not conversant with then he/she should turn down the offer. Acting according to prescribed standards calls for due care, diligence and objectivity. Professionals are also expected to show credibility. This calls for objective evidence to make judgments. Where a survey is being conducted to guide decision making then the person doing it should present all material information that would influence the outcome of the decision (Fisher 2009). For information to serve the intended purpose, it must relate to specific time frame. This means that timeliness a crucial attribute. At all times duties must conform to the applicable law. In times of ethical conflict, a structured resolution process should be followed. Every organization lays down a procedural guidelines stipulating how conflict should be settled. Where policies fail to give proper guidance to resolving conflict rule of thumb suggests that it should be discussed with immediate supervisor, except when the supervisor is involved in the conflict. From there, higher authorities could take up the matter or a select committee be set up to address the same. There are many situations and ways through which professionals demonstrate their professional ethics. The details of professional standards differ across various professions. For instance, auditors are prohibited by ethical code of conduct from disclosing the details of a company’s financial position unless where they have mandate to do that. It implies that, even when they undertake an independent audit, they cannot disclose their findings to third parties. The produce reports to the extent report requirements for which the audit was undertaken. In the recent past, organizations have done that by making up for the degradation they cause to the environment, by following them with initiatives meant to restore the situation to original state. Production has an effect of one way or the other to the environment and society hence entities take due responsibility for their actions on their own motion. For example, mining companies undertake to fill the trenches it digs while mining after completion of work. Professionals should be sensitive to the social and cultural beliefs of the local communities. For example, marketers should design audio and video adverts according to the target customers – by respecting the prevailing social structures, norms and beliefs. They refrain from clips that a certain society would consider to have negative moral teaching to the youth (Brinkmann 2002). There may be no standard law speculating what adverts should or/and should contain but acting on the instincts of what a society would prefer is a show of professional ethics. There are differences in the way professionals operating in different fields or geographical localities observe ethical code of conduct. These differences are brought about by inherent aspects of the nature of their operations or the specific demands of the society in which they operate. For instance, a surgeon will generally be expected to execute amputation as the last resort. It would be bizarre for a person in the medical field to recommend such a measure without considering other possible remedies. The strongest case that has been formulated to support these differences is the line of social stratification of different communities. Professionals lender services to unsuspecting citizens. They therefore, ought to be mindful to the extent their actions affect the people. Members of the society consequently require the professional practitioners to behave in a certain manner that would be perceived morally acceptable (Carrol 1979). These demands translate to obligations because they are perceived as normal duty in the eyes of the right thinking members of that society. The professionals, therefore, have no option but to act as a normal member of the society failure to which would lead to alienation of some kind. Though there will generally be no law stating expressly what the right conduct is, the societal norms would be viewed as exacting enough pressure to induce an entity to acting responsibly. On the same proposition, when a company subscribes to the beliefs and norms of the society, it finds it easier to gel well with it; and can as well better identify itself with the contextual community (Argandona 1998). Reflection Being ethical is a good for business. There exists a causal effect relationship between profits and being socially responsible. Findings from past empirical studies have backed this position, stating that the correlation between being socially responsible and recording increased revenues is a positive one. An explanation for this could probably be the fact that an ethical person finds it easy to relate with all stakeholders, form suppliers, shareholders, customers, employees and even government. An organization that creates a culture of ethical conduct is able to create good relations with the most important parties in its environment. Moreover, the good public image so created enables the company to attract the competent employees which is again a complement for good performance (Devinney 2009). This creates a healthy environment for business and hence growth in earnings. Managers of the modern times ought to borrow a leaf and strive to adopt ethical corporate culture for competitive advantage among other accruing benefits. Businesses should comply with ethical requirements since it is incumbent upon each player in a social setting to be accountable for acts of transgressions committed. The justification to behave in a certain way and not the other should be rated according to the effect of the community as a whole and not the subject alone. In this regard responsibility is viewed as attribution and consequently implies that concise of one party’s behavior on the welfare of the wider society (Eshleman 2004). A business will be appraised or reprimanded by members of the society based on the decisions it takes and the effect they yield to the general welfare. An act of negligence will be treated with contempt and will destroy the image of the company (Scanlon 1998). An entity will therefore be obliged to present itself as a moral agent in expectation to be acceptable and be hailed by the larger society. There is a predetermined code of standards expected of companies and non-compliance will lead to ridicule from the people who should otherwise be customers of its brands (Jonas 1984). Incidentally it is the employees of an entity who give it its motion. Human resource function directs the activities of organization, and without them it is just a muddle of machines. The policies, strategies, goals and objectives that they set define the organization and this is the picture that is presented to the general public. In light of this fact, entities ought to be sensitive to the feelings of the majority in taking corporate decisions. Conclusion Professional should maintain high ethical standards of their work. That is the sole reason that they carry the status of professionals and from it they draw their mandate to provide specialized services. Being ethical implies following the prescribed code of performance. Every field has a set of ethical principles and standards that are required of every member. It is incumbent upon the members of every profession to clearly understand their mandate and professionals expectations so as they do not side step. Though there could be punitive actions for non-compliance to ethical standards, professionals would be best suited to follow them at free will and on their own motion. Doing what is ethical is the right thing to do. References Argandona, A 1998, ‘The stakeholder theory and the common good,’ Journal of Business ethics, Vol. 17, pp. 1093-1102. Brinkmann, J 2002, ‘Business and marketing ethics as professional ethics: Concepts, approaches and typologies’, Journal of Business Ethics Vol. 41 no.2, pp.159-177. Carbon Dioxide Leadership Index , CDLI. (2009). https://www.cdproject.net/en-US/pages/homepageaspx. Retrieved 18th September. Carol B. et al, 2009, Green IT for Dummies. Wiley Publishing Inc. Carrol, AB 1979, ‘A three-dimensional conceptual model of corporate performance,’ Academy of Management Review, Vol. 4 pp. 497-505. Devinney, TM 2009, ‘Is the socially responsible corporation a myth? The good, the bad, and the ugly of corporate social responsibility,’ Academy of Management Perspectives, Vol. 23, pp. 44-56. Fisher, MA 2009, ‘Replacing ‘‘who is the client’’ with a different ethical question,’ Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, Vol. 40, pp. 1–7. Jonas, H 1984, The Imperative of Responsibility: In search of Ethics for the Technological Age. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL. Michael, TM 2009, ‘Achieving Information Assurance in a Green Computing Environment,’ White paper, Japan, Savvis Communications K.K. Mingay, S 2007, Green IT: The New Industry Shock Wave, Gartner RAS. Scanlon, TM 1998, What We Owe to Each Other, Harvard University press, Cambridge, MA. Srivastava, M 2007, Chemistry for Green Environment. Read More