Often, people have difficulty recognizing when they may be compromising their own personal ethics. This does not mean that they are unethical people, per se. Unconscious prejudices and unintended bias
DQ 1
Discussion 1: Shared Practice 1: The Ethical Challenges and Legal Risks of Being a Manager
Often, people have difficulty recognizing when they may be compromising their own personal ethics. This does not mean that they are unethical people, per se. Unconscious prejudices and unintended biases can taint a manager’s decisions, choices, and actions to the detriment of employers, employees, partners, and clients. Some decisions that appear to be profitable can appear short-sighted, unethical, and unwise in the long-term. When deadlines may not be met, when the threat of failure casts a larger shadow than the prospect for success, when the thrill of reward obscures long-term consequences, or when monetary incentives can easily skew one’s decisions, how can a manager be certain his or her actions—and the actions of their bosses and their employees—are always ethically sound?
For this week’s Shared Practice, reflect on your own professional experiences and search reputable news sources on the internet to find an example in the news where managers and employees at a company fell short of doing the “right thing.” Consider the circumstances that surrounded the example and whether it makes the person or organization ‘bad’?
With these thoughts in mind:
By Day 2
Post a response to the following:
Describe a case you have experienced or a story within the last three years that you have found through a reputable news source, where the manager(s) of a company did not act ethically or align their conduct with laws and regulations. Discuss the consequences that occurred, or might occur, as a result.
Hint: Your answer should address who was affected and what happened to the reputation of the organization or the individual(s) involved in the situation.
Explain actions would you take if you knew management at your organization was not aligning its actions to the valued and policies of the organization, or worse, to the law. Discuss how would you proceed, and the concerns might you have.
Hint: In your answer, be sure to consider seriously the obstacles you might confront. Your actions might put friends and colleagues in legal trouble, your own job might be at risk, and “whistle-blowers” often face severe backlash. Your answer should account for these challenges.
DQ 2
Discussion 2: Shared Practice 2: Creating a Sustainable Organization
In his research to identify what can make a company truly great for the long term, Jim Collins (2005) found an essential personal quality of senior executives that took his research team by surprise: humility combined with intense professional will. All the companies his research identified that made the leap to being truly great companies over a long period of time had a senior executive that exhibited these qualities. These executives were not particularly charismatic, stayed out of the public eye, and rarely boasted about their own professional accomplishments. Each guided his or her company through tough times, helped foster a sustainable organizational culture, and left his or her company with effective managers capable of sustaining success.
For this final Discussion, review the Learning Resources and think about your own professional experiences to identify the management practices that contribute to sustainable organizational culture. Also, reflect on the management practices you have observed or employed that create and sustain a positive and profitable work environment as you prepare for the discussion post below.
With these thoughts in mind:
By Day 3
Post an explanation of the direct and indirect contributions managers make to create a sustainable organizational culture. In your explanation, select and describe three management practices—from the resources or your professional experience—that you consider to be essential for contributing to a sustainable organizational culture.
Hint: Your answer needs to take into account that creating a sustainable organization culture is not an easy task—the direct and indirect contributions may require the managers make difficult choices that impact employees in different ways.
