Analysis of Ethics Harassment - Essay Example

R.Preeti 4/9/2008 ETHICS INTRODUCTION Ethics is generally concerned with an individual's activities and perception about morality, alongside his differentiation between right and wrong. Very often, one's perception on ethics various from that of the others', due to personal experiences, mentality, background and the influence of near and dear ones. When we perform actions and take steps in life, we often do sit back and reflect on the ethical value of our actions. In other words, we do analyse if we are being ethical in leading our lives and sticking to what is morally right. In today's world, organisations and workplaces have become extremely diversified and have adopted varied stance s in terms of job processes and the general outlook. What is striking in such a scenario, is the prevalence of organizational or work ethics. Ethics has evolved to become an important aspect fo organizational functioning, since it deals with the self-esteem and the very importance attached to employees in an organisation. Is it but well known, that an employee is the building block of an organisation and the importance attached to ethics in today's organisations are a reflection of the same. In today's workplaces, harassment has become a very repetitive occurrence, with cases being reported every now and then. The various forms of harassment range that come under the purview have increased by the day, with sexual harassment topping the list. The issue came to the fore-front, in the 1970s and ever since, a number of committees, benches and organisations have come into the picture, to outline the relationship between work ethics and harassment. Sexual harassment as an abuse of power has become front-page news in the U.S. business press. Recently, BusinessWeek detailed the sexual harassment endured by salespeople at the U.S. subsidiary of Astra AB, a major Swedish pharmaceutical firm (Maremont 1996). This harassment was perpetrated by people at the highest levels of the organization and salespeople who did not comply found life at the firm extremely difficult. The attention to workplace sexual harassment generally focuses on harassment of employees by others within the same firm. [Insights into Sexual Harassment of Salespeople by Customers: The Role of Gender and Customer Power Leslie M, Fine, C. David Shepherd and Susan L. Josephs] When workplaces become diversified and new parameters of work assessment emerge, it is important to maintain workplace ethics. However, when cases of favourtism and sexual harassment emerge, it certainly goes against what is legally permissive in the ethical nature of actions in workplaces. It becomes difficult when talented individuals are put down, on account of the sexual favours received from other quarters. Besides this, when bosses do harass their subordinates and the like, it goes against moral codes of conduct. Organisational Behaviour is often considered at four different levels. Individual Behaviour, which deals with the single fundamental unit of the organisation, talks about the individualistic perspective. It revolves around an individual's perceptions, actions, notions, temperament and contribution to the organisation. At a higher plane, we have the Group Dynamics, that involves interactions of a group. It is inclusive of team work and team-bonding, while also delving into the nature of interactions, inter-group interactions, departmentalization and the like. An organisation can also be demarcated in terms of the diverse processes and the clubbing of groups under processes that are more or less the same. This is precisely the reason why we have various groups coming under one process, say, Marketing or HR, and working in synchronization within the department, and with the other departments as well. The organizational structure is another concrete player, which is characterised by the hierarchal set-up of the organisation. It also reflects the policy of the organization, like an open-door policy or a conservative one. At this stage, ethics plays an important role in doing away with unwanted elements like harassment. For instance, their could be sexual harassment in the hierarchal set-up of the organisation could be something that can lead to a number of performance-related problems, besides causing a ruckus in the management. GLOBALISATION Today's fast paced modern world offers a lot more than was previously imaginable! Every aspect of our lives is influenced not just by local, but also national and international factors, that govern our lives today. The enhancement and growth of communication channels, the spreading of production and consumption across the world and the changing lifestyles due to the influence and merging of cultures have become the order of the day. This is known as the New Age of Globalization, wherein the whole world is perceived as a Global Village. This paper talks about this Globalization that has taken over the entire 'village' by storm and the how it has brought about a remarked revolution in our lives! Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology. This process has effects on the environment, on culture, on political systems, on economic development and prosperity, and on human physical well-being in societies around the world. (Website: http://www.globalization101.org/What_is_Globalization.html) Globalization makes use of modern technological advancements and also focuses on the quick transfer of technology, to keep with the changing world. Therefore, Globalization is a phenomenon that charges towards progress and engulfs the whole world, in this process. The development in technology has led to the process of Cloning and other artificial forms of life. Today, we have hybrid varieties of fruits and vegetables being imported from various parts of the world; which truly symbolises globalization. The widespread Globalization has led to the free movement and transfer of goods, capital, technology and people, from one hemisphere to the other. Therefore, there is an influx of numerous commodities across the globe. One of the most significant aspects of globalised organisations, is the process of off-shoring. Off-shoring refers to the process of transfer of business processes from one country; and this has particularly come to the forefront as a result of the widespread Globalization. Off-shoring has not only led to the flow and transfer of technology and man power from one country to another, but it has also facilitate d the physical movement of companies and organisations into the other countries. For instance, India has become a leading player in the process of off-shoring of technology, services and manpower. Off-shoring has led to the development of developing and underdeveloped countries, more so because of the economic cost advantage, that they possess. Developed countries, too, can avail cheap labour and reduce costs. Off-shoring is, for this reason, catching up like wild fire with most countries of the world, who have opened up their economies for this phenomena. International trading has been the result of gaining from the resources of the other countries, in return for something. Off-shoring too, carries forward the same principle and establishes a mutual give and take of resources of any form. Most importantly, off-shoring refers to the transfer of human resources and this simply means that the equations of comparative advantage of one country over the others can keep changing and shifting with man-made changes. This phenomenon has been called the "kaleidoscopic comparative advantage", by economist Jagdish Baghwati. It is due to this, that most non-tradable possessions are becoming tradable, thanks to the opening up of newer venues and opportunities owing to sheer human intellect. For instance, in the earlier days trade was more or less facilitated by natural endowments. However, the current age has changed this ratio and man has emerged above the strength of natural resources. This is one of the prime reasons for the growth of off-shoring as a segment of international trade, that has literally and figuratively crossed borders! Off-shoring and Global organizations, in turn, do entail ethical behavior and norms, in their operations. While different individuals from varied cultures have their own viewpoints, sexual harassment is something that is a common idea. What is striking in an international expansion programme, is the Cultural Difference and Incompatibility one is bound to face. Numerous theories have been put forth, with regards to this. One such theory, is Geert Hofstede's 'Cultural Dimensions Theory'. Hofstede believes that management is not something that is related solely to business, but also extends in other aspects of life. (Website: http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_hofstede.html). He divides the cultural dimensions into four different dimensions, and later on went on to add a fifth dimension. The first dimension that he talks about is Individualism, wherein he highlights the extent of individual handling of projects, and the degree of group or team work that is existent in a management scenario. The second dimension is that of power distance, wherein he talks about the partisan politics. He delves into areas like inequality in management, biased outlook of those in superior positions and the like. The third, is that of certainty, which is nothing but the risk factor that is prevalent in businesses that expand beyond cultural borders. The fourth dimension is that of achievement or masculinity, which is the difference s in the task management between the sexes. The fifth dimension, that was later proposed by him, is Long term vs. Short term orientation, which talks about the time period of existent of the business unit in the extra-cultural scenario. Therefore, his theory states that management not only requires a business to look into the business operations, but to also look into other operations that govern an individual involved with the business. This is where culture and ethical operations come into the perspective in business expansion. While different individuals from varied cultures have their own viewpoints, sexual harassment is something that is a common idea. It is important to understand that every culture has its own way of perceiving things. For instance, what may be fairly common in a workplace in the western world, might be considered derogatory in the other half. In other words, globalisation has led to workplaces that comprise diverse work force and this brings in the issue of perception differentiation and adaptability, in terms of harassment and ethics. As already mentioned, sexual harassment is often a perception-based idea. There c an be two kinds of harassments, which are 'quid pro quo' and 'hostile environment' harassments. The first, is when it is used as a tool to gain promotion or gain benefits. The Second case, is more of an interference and is often not as serious as the former; as it is inclusive of suggestive remarks, requests for dating and jokes. Theories have been put forth, and are often used in the context of ethics and organisational behaviour. The structuration theory is one theory that can be applied to the concept of organisational ethics, with complete synchronisation. The structuration theory was firstly put forth by Antony Giddens, on the sociological perspective. However, when adapted to the organisational arena, it does serve a similar purpose. The theory states that a society or an organisation, for instance, cannot be studied as a mass of individual or micro-level activity. While this is accepted, it also states that it is neither a macro-activity. The theory puts forth that cementing the gap between the two, is a moral code and a structure---a display of ethics and traditions, morals and values; that are more or less dependent on the acceptance of the same, by a majority. This is akin to a organisational set-up, when ethics and moral codes do play an important role! The other important theory is the Contingency Theory, put forth by Lawrence and Lorsch in 1967, who coined the very term. "Contingency theory is guided by the general orienting hypothesis that organizations whose internal features best match the demands of their environments will achieve the best adaptation." (Scott p. 89). "Various structural arrangements, such as rules, hierarchy, and decentralization are mechanisms determining the information-processing capacity of the system" (Scott p. 90). The theory talks about structure-building and the process of adaptation to the environment. This is relevant to the ethical structural set-up, besides ethics in the negotiations and interactions that are brought about by this set-up. Sexual harassment law, as embodied in statute and expressed through judicial interpretations throughout the country, attempts to equitably balance the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees in service to two societal goals: (1) eliminating sexual harassment from the workplace and, (2) compensating victims appropriately when harassment has occurred. These expressions of the law ultimately must be evaluated according to their administrative effectiveness and economic efficiency. Questions of "Who is at fault" and, perhaps more important, "Who pays, and how much" are at the heart of the maturing public policy debate over sexual harassment law. [A New Look at Harassment by Supervisors Focusing on Partitioning Damages Rather Than Assigning Liability; James F. Morgan, Glenn M. Gomes, James M. Owens, California State University.] CASE 1 An important facet of ethics in organisations comes in, in the form of Intellectual Property. Technological advancements have become an inevitable part of life and more importantly, at the workplace. With this growing inter-dependability, workplaces are flooded with the most advanced technologies and equipments to make work easier, faster and better. It so happens sometimes that employees own hi-tech gadgets and equipments, that they carry over to workplaces and utilise them for greater productivity. This trend has been on an increase and apart form numerous benefits, it does give way to cons as well. The article, "Yours, Mine or Ours" by Lisa Bertagnoli throws light on a disadvantageous aspect of this sharing of technological equipments, by narrating a little incident, before she goes on to talk about one of the topics gaining fast reputation---Business Ethics and its subsidiary, Intellectual Property Rights. She addresses this new practice, as a "new way of working". Employees bring in their personal commodities and gadgets, to workplaces, while some others use company equipments for personal usage. These occurrences has been creating chaos when an employees is shown the door or resigns from job, since one does not know, whether he has been using his own equipment or the company's, as it is very difficult to track down such minor problems, when there are numerous employees involved. This new practice has led to many chaotic occurrences, as when an employee leaves a workplace, he might carry away some of the internal business communication and information, in his personal equipment, thus exposing certain confidential matters. Sensitive information and secrecy are destroyed, since the employee in question could share the information with competitive ventures or sue it for his own benefits. This is termed as the abuse of Intellectual Property and in an workplace where thousands of employees work in tandem, it is extremely difficult to pin point a particular person. Thus, this article relates to problems involved in protecting Intellectual Properties and privacy issues of a company. Intellectual Property Rights The main ethical problem, dealt with in this business ethics related article, is that of Intellectual Property and the Rights in its fold. One needs to analyse whether allowing employee privacy at the cost of the abuse of Intellectual Property owned by company is an ethical aspect of business. Does the company owner have a right to sue the employee when he uses the information of the company on his personal equipments like his laptop or PDA This topic is related to Virtue Ethics, in terms of the classification under Business Ethics. Very often, this is also connected to quid quo pro sexual perceptions, wherein certain employees are let go in spite of such tendencies. Virtue Ethics deals with what is right and how one's obligations must be performed with sincerity and a higher degree of virtue. From the business ethics point of view, virtue ethics focuses on the ethics displayed by the employee. An employee needs to understand his obligations and perform them with utmost devotion and sincerity towards his job as well as, his company. The present article deals with this issue, in modern times. Technology has enabled betterment in communication, with its widespread reach and sophistication. However, what remains a sore eye, is the very abuse of technology and business ethics, eventually. The advantage of virtue ethics is business is the fact that it sets human ethical standard, even on a business plane, which is understood as a are with cut-throat competition. Virtue Ethics helps derive the best from employees, by acquainting them with a more humane perspective by molding characters. Virtue Ethics also mould good leadership qualities and team-building abilities that play a very prominent role in business. Thus, virtue ethics leads to the overall development of a person, apart from enforcing good business ties. However, one major disadvantage by enforcing Virtue Ethics in business is that one often tends to become sympathetic or empathetic, forgoing the profit motive or the attempt to rise above competition, in business. Thus, it can make one a weak negotiator. Measures In this case, virtue ethics may have taken a beating, since one is faced with the problem of abuse of intellectual property within a company. Therefore, one needs to set demarcations and prevent the extensive usage of personal equipments at the workplace. Prevention of the passage of any company information should be the key objective and monitoring technological communication is the first step towards achieving this end. Of course, this does mean that the expenditure of the company will increase, in the process of providing equipment. However, the big possibility of internal communication leakage and abuse of patent, trademark, copyright and intellectual property right issues can be prevented. The employees need to be given strict instructed and oriented with virtue ethics and other employer-employee relation mantras. This way, we can pave way for a healthy workplace, with mutual cooperation and understanding, while also forging betterment of character amongst employees. A safer, friendly and amicable workplace is what everyone dreams about and these steps will surely realise the dream. Thus, the above case offers great substantial evidence to the reiteration fo the fact that ethics and ethical working is an important aspect of organizational behavior. Obligation and Obedience to Authority often are stepping stones to forming an ethically sound organisation, by infusing the spirit of give-and-take and mutual cooperation and respect. Sexual Harassment can often become a cause for various other factors that causes discontentment and disillusionment in the organization. For instance, when one's talent is superseded by quid quo pro sexual perceptions at the workplace, it becomes difficult to grow with the job and becomes a stagnant point. An organisation, ultimately, cannot work under unethical conditions for really long, since it loses the respect and loyalty of employees and also forgoes the impression it has managed to create in the public eye. Ethical functioning, therefore, is a imperative part of professional life, and its importance is reflected in the organizational behavior as well. References Bertagnoli, Lisa, "Yours, Mine or Ours", Website: ChicagoBusiness.com Thomas.I.White, "Sexual Harassment: Trust and the Ethic of Care", Business Society Review. A New Look at Harassment by Supervisors Focusing on Partitioning Damages Rather Than Assigning Liability; James F. Morgan, Glenn M. Gomes, James M. Owens, California State University. Insights into Sexual Harassment of Salespeople by Customers: The Role of Gender and Customer Power Leslie M, Fine, C. David Shepherd and Susan L. Josephs Website: http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_hofstede.html Website: http://www.globalization101.org/What_is_Globalization.html Managing for Ethical Conduct, p 208-209. Website: http://faculty.babson.edu/krollag/org_site/encyclop/contingency.html Website: http://www.workplace-harassment.com Sears Roebuck and Co: The Auto Center Scandal Read More