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Politics and Ethics In the Workplace
In the vast world of business there is a constant and inevitable struggle to achieve a more powerful position or leadership role. Power is the shear essence of most corporate endeavors and the need for more power drives most individuals to excel at their current positions, so they may catapult to the next level. The ability to obtain a powerful position solidifies the feeling of having control over the future of your career and well being. Power is a multifaceted resource that most individuals crave, and would go to any lengths to obtain. Although it is important to solidify your future, you must also remain ethically and morally sound while doing so.
Having read a scenario from a case study that proposed an ethical dilemma, I found that the rise for power and political gain in the workplace can test both an individual’s ethical judgment and strength. The issue here is that Michael is faced with an ethical dilemma regarding whether or not to participate in politics in order to capture a higher position within another sector of his organization. He is aware that his opponent Danielle has entered workplace politics at full speed, and is using every opportunity to gain leverage against Michael. The executive that will choose the best person for the position is Pierre, who is fair and diligent when choosing the appropriate candidate for the job.
Michael however, has a real problem with trying to strategically place himself at the center of Pierre’s attention for the U.S. job. He has observed Danielle making great strides to win over Pierre by attracting him with her new ideas and the social alliances she is making within the company.
Realizing Ethical Issues Helps You Avoid Unethical Behaviors In this age of change, the human society is progressing rapidly on various fields. However, the ethical problems are becoming increasingly severe. According to the teaching notes of “In It To Win: The Jack Abramoff Story,” “During the Bush Administration, Abramoff was the most influential lobbyist in Washington, D.C. His excesses led to his downfall and that of Congress members with whom he was closely connected, including aides, business associates, government officials, and lawmakers.”
Throughout your life, you’ll face tough decisions where you'll have to decide possibly against your ethical beliefs. Ethics don’t necessarily always have to involve law abiding. It’s rather about trusting your moral path and doing the right thing. Dori Meinert is the author of “Creating an Ethical Workplace” she explains the thought behind the never black or white decision making when it comes to businesses. Can businesses truly trust those individuals hired to steer their companies? It was mentioned that last year 41 percent of U.S. workers said they observed unethical or illegal misconduct on the job, according to the Ethics Resource Center's 2013 National Business Ethics Survey. Meinert’s article was not only eye-opening but very truthful since we’ve all been faced or witnessed unethical decision making. Once employees see individuals breaking the rules and regulations others will then think it's okay, which could result in employees leaving or major hoops for companies to jump through. When we tolerate misconduct we lower productivity and diminish the reputation of a company. Meinert mentioned that if
Phyllis then calls out Michael for making fun of them every day. His insults consist of fat shaming his employees and mocking them on their appearances. He is abusing his role and as a manager, he is using irresponsible dialog to communicate with his employees. By humiliating his employees he is satisfying his own self-worth and ego. Michael shows lack of empathy towards his employees and he is unwilling to recognize or even take into consideration what their thoughts and feelings are. When he starts his “training” he makes his main focus on himself and his feelings, even though the main focus was geared towards everyone. Michael Scott stated in the Kai pod episode “ you cannot make fun of a person for something or action they have no control over” he then continues on by saying it is only acceptable to make fun of something they have control over. He calls out Oscar and tells everyone it's okay to make fun of him because he chose to be gay; on the other hand, it was not okay for Michael’s employees to make fun of him because he did not choose to fall in the Koi pond. He is concerned more about what others see in him rather than helping the situation. He is using his authority and displaying his authority as manager to persuade the others to think it’s okay if someone else gets made fun of but not
In the film, “The Alzheimer’s Project: The Memory loss tapes” there was an 87-year-old woman with Alzheimer disease named Bessie Knapmiller. It seems as Alzheimer runs in her family because her older sister has the same disease. Bessie sister is 93 years old and she has lost her entire memory. Bessie sister does not even remember their family members. However, Bessie stage of Alzheimer is not as bad as her sister, she still drives and still remembers people. At times, Bessie does forget others. Bessie went to take a memory test in May and few months later, when she returned she did not remember her doctor or him giving her the exam. When Bessie took her first memory test she could not remember the previous president before George Bush. She
Ethical behavior is behavior that a person considers to be appropriate. A person’s moral principals are shaped from birth, and developed overtime throughout the person’s life. There are many factors that can influence what a person believes whats is right, or what is wrong. Some factors are a person’s family, religious beliefs, culture, and experiences. In business it is of great importance for an employee to understand how to act ethically to prevent a company from being sued, and receiving criticism from the public while bringing in profits for the company. (Mallor, Barnes, Bowers, & Langvardt, 2010) Business ethics is when ethical behavior is applied in an business environment, or by a business. There are many situations that can arise in which a person is experiencing an ethical dilemma. They have to choose between standing by their own personal ethical standards or to comply with their companies ethical standards. In some instances some have to choose whether to serve their own personal interests, or the interest of the company. In this essay I will be examining the financial events surrounding Bernie Madoff, and the events surrounding Enron.
The leader will always take advantage of his power. Power causes the leader to make decisions, that will only better himself. "... Boxer was being sent to the knacker's." The pigs killed an animal just so that they could make some money. The power led them to this decision, they could kill Boxer, make some money, and no one would ever find out. Everyone has heard about the golden rule: "whoever has the gold makes the rules." This applies to "
Ethical leadership is of great significance to the prosperity of an organization. Ethical leaders usually motivate their employees to work hard. In that regard, ethical leadership requires a cocktail of ethical values ranging from rationality to independent and critical thinking. Most organizations nowadays have ethical leaders responsible for the good relationship among the members. Ethical leaders are usually more concerned about the welfare of other people rather than other motives. My focus on ethical leaders will be on corporate leaders, specifically chief executive officers. My leader of choice is Mike Duke, the chief executive officer of Wal-Mart retailers, which is one of the largest retailers in the United States. For its prosperity,
The literature generally suggests that effective leaders express their needs and motives in ways that benefit the organization. These needs or motives, are considered to be; tenacity, power, drive and work ethic (DuBrin et al. 2006). The power motive is significant, as it plays a major role in the relations taking place within the organization. Power over others is an inevitable part of leadership, but it also carries with it the risks associated with the misuse or abuse of power (Wikipedia, 2008).
In Module 1, Kindred Todd faced quite a few ethical dilemmas that included her values and technical ineptness. The first predicament was tested her personal morals and ethics. According to, Cumming and Worley, OD practitioners are dealing more and more with value conflicts with powerful outside groups (Cummings & Worley, 2008). Kindred was immediately faced with the issue of knowing what was ethically correct but being told the unethical approach was the best in order to benefit the client and her job security. Although compromising is one of the many skills of organization developers there are still morals that should be followed on each assignment. Kindred, know that deceiving the clients was unethical, took the first step to working on behalf of the client and immediately involved her superior, Larry, to resolve a potential conflict In the project. While her actions went in vain when she told her boss to remove her from the project and provide the client with a more qualified resource, Kindred did what she thought to be the best approach.
I discovered how sticking to one’s morals should be the topmost priority for everyone involved in business, whether personal or professional. Regardless of what the consequences may be, the intensity of the problem, and the complexities it may bring, sacrificing one’s integrity should never be an option, as integrity goes hand-in-hand with the morals of an individual (Duggan & Woodhouse, 2011). They further go on to say that having individuals take part in building a code of ethics that supports employee integrity, they will act ethically. Also, I believe that companies should place more emphasis on the moral behavior of their employees, and clear-cut policies should be set regarding such ethical situations. Furthermore, I realized how serving justice while making decisions really helps in the long run, and that opting to go for the ideal rather than they deserved is not always the best option, and could hurt a company in more than one
Unfortunately, being inspiring to employees is not enough. These situations occur when employees face challenges in accomplishing goals. In such situations, a leader needs to exercise power and influence to push forth the desired goals. While the course identified five sources of power, I believe only three should be considered for an effective leader. The first is legitimate power (6), which is often considered the first source of power in the organizations I have worked in. The source of power comes...
Garsten, C., & Hernes, T. (2009). Ethical Dilemmas in Management. New York: Taylor & Francis Group.
When power becomes legitimate, it is then recognized as authority (Denhardt et al, 2001). Power becomes authority when it is accepted and even desired by society. As stated by the course study notes, “authority refers to a situation where a person (or group) has been formally granted a leadership position”. An individual has authority when everyday norms and regulations support the exercising of power by that individual. In an organizational setting, “authority is hierarchal and vested in positions” (Week 9 Study Notes), which are defined by “organizational charts, positions and rules” (Week 9 Study Notes). Generally, power in authority also involves the possibility of rewards such as promotions and good performance reviews.
Moreover, being promoted and granted opportunities to be a leader is not only honorable but it also requires much effort. To be an effective leader, firstly, I shall have to practice the art of leadership, which includes exploring the personal traits I have acquired, monitoring my behavior and analyzing the situation in which I will be in. Secondly, relating to the type of work and the corporate culture to choose the appropriate leadership style (for instance, working in accounting does not require much creativity so an autocratic style would be appropriate; and a team of scientists would be more effective with the laissez-faire style).Thirdly, knowing how to utilize the five sources of powers at the right time, in the right place can help
As far back as history can be told mankind has struggled between balancing culture, power and politics. Many wars have been fought and many people have placed their lives on the line in order to stand up for what they believe in. The combinations of culture, power and politics have spilled over into the workplace. In today’s business environment individuals have much more to worry about than just completing their assigned tasks. Organizational culture, power and office politics influence day to day operations as well as govern the atmosphere within the organization. The amount of impact that power and politics have in the workplace, directly reflect the organization’s culture formally as well as informally.