Corporate ethics myths unravelled

THE widespread disregard of ethical conduct by staff in organisations in the country is prompting leaders in the business community to ask the question, what should be done to improve the ethics environment in organisations?
The answer given has generally bordered on simplistic views like “we need to go back to doing business ethically”, without explaining clearly how that can be done or what it realistically means “to do business ethically”.
The assumption here obviously is that the moment the phrase “being ethical” is mentioned everyone is expected to know what is expected of him or her to do in terms of acceptable workplace behaviour.
This assumption while highlighting a pertinent corporate issue regrettably fails to emphasise the need for intervention strategies such as the globalised comprehensive ethics management programme in managing the unethical environment.
The use of the code of ethics as a stand-alone tool to manage corporate ethics has proven to be ineffective and is out of sync with international best practices.
Failure by organisations to embrace formal ethics management programmes has tended to be influenced by the myths most leaders hold about business ethics management in the workplace.
A myth is a wrong belief or view about something, which is based on misconceptions. Business ethics has over its evolution been characterised by myths that tend to militate against its take on by those in organisations who should model and manage the corporate ethics environment, namely the company decision-makers.
The tendency has been to give it lip service under the assumption that the field has no strategic value in company operations.
The success of any formal business ethics management programme in an organisation is dependent on the attitude or level of commitment of the organisation’s leadership to the ethics cause.
When leaders believe that business ethics does not need any formal training, or should not enjoy the form of attention given to other key strategic issues like information technology and performance management, it follows that the firm’s ethics environment will remain informal.
It will also be ineffective without any significant positive impact on the company’s bottom line.
While evidence on the ground is pointing to company failures as a result of poorly managed workplace ethics environments, very few company decision-makers are willing to acknowledge that effective management of company ethics demands formal ethics structures that involve dedication of significant management time and company resources.
Myths about business ethics are blinding many company decision-makers to the value of formal ethics programmes at a time when world trends are witnessing the raising of the bar on the corporate ethics programme as a viable management tool.
While in a previous article I have discussed myths about ethics in the workplace, it is my intention in this article to articulate some of these myths, underscore the need for a paradigm shift in business ethics management in the country.
I wish to engage company decision-makers in leveraging the implementation of results-focused ethics management programmes.
These myths are discussed below.
Ethics cannot be managed
Some company decision-makers believe that ethics cannot be managed. They believe ethics is a personal issue that should be left to individuals to manage on their own without committing company resources.
Such leaders have remained sceptical about the development of ethics management programmes and sometimes view it as thoughtless enthusiasm or a mere waste of company resources.
“It’s easy to be ethical, therefore ethics in the workplace does not need to be managed,” so they say.
But the opposite has proven otherwise. Management of business ethics apparently protects the company resources from abuse, and involves consideration of complex ethical decision-making processes, which if not properly managed could be catastrophic to the well-being of the firm.
Research shows that formal ethics management programmes have a direct positive effect on a company’s bottom line.
Business ethics is a matter of good managers
preaching to bad employees
Some organisations tend to create the impression of an “ethical management” needing to preach ethics to “unethical employees” when they bemoan the degeneration of ethical behaviour in their firms.
They claim a moral high ground for managers while lamenting the unethical behaviour of their staff.
Such a view is dangerously misleading. In fact, major frauds usually involve senior members of management who in most cases are able to override process level controls through the high level of authority bestowed on them.
Business ethics is an unnecessary expense
in struggling organisations
This view does not recognise the strategic importance of formally managed company ethics.
The excuse is that firms are struggling and cannot afford to spend money on business ethics management.
The view fails to appreciate that through managed business ethics, the company is able to reduce staff misconduct that include fraud, increase customer loyalty, competitive advantage, enhance reputation and community goodwill.
It can also increase access to capital and credit, things that then feed into the firm’s bottom line in the long run.
Business ethics cannot be trained
This view is based on a number of simplistic assumptions.
Some managers believe that employees could only have learnt their ethical being when they were raised with proper values in their families, schools and churches, and that such socialisation should prepare them to be ethical at work. Others believe that employees already know the difference between right and wrong, therefore do not need any special training in ethics.
Leaders who hold these views see ethics training as a waste of resources. For them unethical behaviour in the organisation is a result of “bad apples” or the poorly socialised few that sneaked into the organisation through poor staff recruitment and selection processes.
Their solution is to discard the bad apples and make an example of them to those who remain.
However, research has shown that business ethics like any other management science requires the development of specific skills and abilities which should guide employee decision-making.
Basic good intentions and a good upbringing are not enough. Special training in business ethics prepare employees to anticipate ethical problems, recognise ethical dilemmas and provide them with frameworks for thinking about ethical issues in the context of their unique jobs and organisations.
Employers thus have a real responsibility to teach ethics in the workplace. An attempt to discard bad employees has its own legal complications and has never been an outright solution to the problem.
l Bradwell Mhonderwa is the Managing Consultant of Business Ethics Centre, a Corporate Governance and Business Ethics Management firm. Phone 04-293 2948, 0712 420 090, 0912 913 875, or email [email protected]