The profession of business ethics has long needed a highly practical resource that is designed particularly for leaders and managers -- those people charged to ensure ethical practices in their organizations. Unfortunately, far too many resources about business ethics end up being designed primarily for philosophers, academics and social critics. As a result, leaders and managers struggle to really be able to make use of the resources at all. Also, far too many resources about business ethics contain sensationalistic stories about businesses "gone bad" or prolonged preaching to businesses to "do the right thing". These resources often explore simplistic ethical questions, such as "Should Jane steal from the company?" The real world of leaders and managers is often much more complex than that.
This guide is a straightforward and highly practical tool designed to help leaders and managers implement comprehensive ethics management systems in their workplaces -- systems to deal with the complex, ethical issues that can occur in the day-to-day realities of leading and managing an organization.
For Web readers: This free guidebook is about 20 pages long (8 1/2" x 11" pages). If you are reading the document on the World Wide Web, please wait until the document is fully loaded before attempting to link to its sections listed below. The best approach to using this guidebook may be to print it out for ongoing reference. The Free Management Library provides additional information about ethics and a great range of other free information about management. For a complete list of library topics, see http://www.mapnp.org/library/topics.htm
Disclaimer: The author, Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, makes no warranty, express or implied, nor assumes any legal liability for accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information from this guide.
Another Tool to Effectively Infuse Ethical
Principles: If you are planning to infuse
strong, ethical principles throughout your company or want to change the culture
of your company, then you might take the advice of Bob Kniffin, Vice President
of External Affairs, at Johnson and Johnson (J&J) company. The way that
J&J handled an ethical issue (the "Tylenol scare" crisis) in the 1980s is
probably one of the most inspiring and enlightening examples of how to
successfully deal with a major ethical issue in business. Kniffin was one of the
key players in helping J&J to handle the crisis so effectively. Kniffin said
that it was not the J&J Credo (a form of a code of ethics) that helped
J&J to handle the crisis so well. Rather, it was the ongoing "challenge
sessions" that the company regularly held in order for each person to clarify
their own perspective and commitment to the J&J Credo. Authenticity
Consulting's peer coaching groups are a powerful, yet straightforward, means to
organize, facilitate and evaluate challenge sessions. For more information about
the peer coaching groups, go to our publications
site (http://www.authenticityconsulting.com/act-lrn/AC_pubs.htm) and consider
the "Program Planning Kit".
About this Free Guidebook
· This free guidebook aims to fill a
large void of practical, realistic ethics information for leaders and managers,
whether nonprofit or for-profit.
·
This guidebook takes about two hours to read. It is concisely
written and well organized as a step-by-step guidebook for handy reference.
· This guidebook is free in order to make its contents highly
accessible to organizations, particularly those with limited resources.
The free nature of this document does not in any way indicate that its content
are of low value -- high fees and impressive presentation do not necessarily
imply high value.
· The author hopes the on-line form of this document
remains a dynamic community resource that is continually modified and
improved by feedback, particularly from leaders and managers -- those people in
the trenches who are charged with applying business ethics techniques in the
workplace. Please share your reactions, suggestions or experiences around using
this document by sending e-mail to Carter McNamara
(http://www.managementhelp.org/contact.htm).
This document contains the
following sections:
Document
Fills Void of Practical Ethics Information for Leaders and Managers
What is
Business Ethics?
10 Myths
About Business Ethics
10 Benefits
of Managing Ethics in the Workplace
One
Description of a Highly Ethical Organization
Ethics
Management Programs: An Overview
8 Guidelines
for Managing Ethics in the Workplace
6 Key Roles
and Responsibilities in Ethics Management
Ethics Tools:
Codes of Ethics
Ethics Tools:
Codes of Conduct
Ethics Tools:
Policies and Procedures
Ethics Tools:
Resolving Ethical Dilemmas (with Real-to-Life Examples)
Ethics Tools:
Training
About the
Author
Bibliography
of Practical Resources
Related Links in the Free Management
Library
To Form Local Learning Communities to Practice Ethics
Management
To Form Local Learning
Communities, eg, to Learn This Topic
(at
http://www.authenticityconsulting.com/pubs.htm)
Acknowledgment
Particular "Thanks!" goes to Twin Cities-based
consultants, Doug Wallace and Jon Pekel, of the Fulcrum Group (651-714-9033;
e-mail at jonpekel@atti.com), for
contributing key information to this document. I have referenced their copyright
where I included their key materials in this guidebook.
(Many ethicists assert there's always a right thing
to do based on moral principle, and others believe the right thing to do depends
on the situation -- ultimately it's up to the individual.) Many philosophers
consider ethics to be the "science of conduct." Twin Cities consultants Doug
Wallace and John Pekel (of the Twin Cities-based Fulcrum Group; 651-714-9033;
e-mail at jonpekel@atti.com) explain that
ethics includes the fundamental ground rules by which we live our lives.
Philosophers have been discussing ethics for at least 2500 years, since the time
of Socrates and Plato. Many ethicists consider emerging ethical beliefs to be
"state of the art" legal matters, i.e., what becomes an ethical guideline today
is often translated to a law, regulation or rule tomorrow. Values which guide
how we ought to behave are considered moral values, e.g., values such as
respect, honesty, fairness, responsibility, etc. Statements around how these
values are applied are sometimes called moral or ethical principles.
So What is "Business Ethics"? The concept has come to mean
various things to various people, but generally it's coming to know what it
right or wrong in the workplace and doing what's right -- this is in regard to
effects of products/services and in relationships with stakeholders. Wallace and
Pekel explain that attention to business ethics is critical during times of
fundamental change -- times much like those faced now by businesses, both
nonprofit or for-profit. In times of fundamental change, values that were
previously taken for granted are now strongly questioned. Many of these values
are no longer followed. Consequently, there is no clear moral compass to guide
leaders through complex dilemmas about what is right or wrong. Attention to
ethics in the workplace sensitizes leaders and staff to how they should act.
Perhaps most important, attention to ethics in the workplaces helps ensure that
when leaders and managers are struggling in times of crises and confusion, they
retain a strong moral compass. However, attention to business ethics provides
numerous other benefits, as well (these benefits are listed later in this
document).
Note that many people react that business ethics, with its
continuing attention to "doing the right thing," only asserts the obvious ("be
good," "don't lie," etc.), and so these people don't take business ethics
seriously. For many of us, these principles of the obvious can go right out the
door during times of stress. Consequently, business ethics can be strong
preventative medicine. Anyway, there are many other benefits of managing ethics
in the workplace. These benefits are explained later in this document.
Two Broad Areas of Business Ethics
1. Managerial
mischief. Madsen and Shafritz, in their book "Essentials of Business
Ethics" (Penguin Books, 1990) further explain that "managerial
mischief" includes "illegal, unethical, or questionable practices of individual
managers or organizations, as well as the causes of such behaviors and remedies
to eradicate them." There has been a great deal written about managerial
mischief, leading many to believe that business ethics is merely a matter of
preaching the basics of what is right and wrong. More often, though, business
ethics is a matter of dealing with dilemmas that have no clear indication of
what is right or wrong.
2. Moral mazes. The other broad area of
business ethics is "moral mazes of management" and includes the numerous ethical
problems that managers must deal with on a daily basis, such as potential
conflicts of interest, wrongful use of resources, mismanagement of contracts and
agreements, etc.
Business ethics is now a management discipline.
Business ethics has come to be considered a management discipline,
especially since the birth of the social responsibility movement in the 1960s.
In that decade, social awareness movements raised expectations of businesses to
use their massive financial and social influence to address social problems such
as poverty, crime, environmental protection, equal rights, public health and
improving education. An increasing number of people asserted that because
businesses were making a profit from using our country's resources, these
businesses owed it to our country to work to improve society. Many researchers,
business schools and managers have recognized this broader constituency, and in
their planning and operations have replaced the word "stockholder" with
"stakeholder," meaning to include employees, customers, suppliers and the wider
community.
The emergence of business ethics is similar to other
management disciplines. For example, organizations realized that they needed to
manage a more positive image to the public and so the recent discipline of
public relations was born. Organizations realized they needed to better manage
their human resources and so the recent discipline of human resources was born.
As commerce became more complicated and dynamic, organizations realized they
needed more guidance to ensure their dealings supported the common good and did
not harm others -- and so business ethics was born.
Note that 90% of
business schools now provide some form of training in business ethics. Today,
ethics in the workplace can be managed through use of codes of ethics, codes of
conduct, roles of ethicists and ethics committees, policies and procedures,
procedures to resolve ethical dilemmas, ethics training, etc.
10 Myths About Business
Ethics
Business ethics in the workplace is about prioritizing moral
values for the workplace and ensuring behaviors are aligned with those values --
it's values management. Yet, myths abound about business ethics. Some of these
myths arise from general confusion about the notion of ethics. Other myths arise
from narrow or simplistic views of ethical dilemmas.
1. Myth: Business
ethics is more a matter of religion than management. Diane Kirrane, in
"Managing Values: A Systematic Approach to Business Ethics," (Training
and Development Journal, November 1990), asserts that "altering people's
values or souls isn't the aim of an organizational ethics program -- managing
values and conflict among them is ..."
2. Myth: Our employees are
ethical so we don't need attention to business ethics. Most of the
ethical dilemmas faced by managers in the workplace are highly complex. Wallace
explains that one knows when they have a significant ethical conflict when there
is presence of a) significant value conflicts among differing interests, b) real
alternatives that are equality justifiable, and c) significant consequences on
"stakeholders" in the situation. Kirrane mentions that when the topic of
business ethics comes up, people are quick to speak of the Golden Rule, honesty
and courtesy. But when presented with complex ethical dilemmas, most people
realize there's a wide "gray area" when trying to apply ethical principles.
3. Myth: Business ethics is a discipline best led by philosophers,
academics and theologians. Lack of involvement of leaders and managers
in business ethics literature and discussions has led many to believe that
business ethics is a fad or movement, having little to do with the day-to-day
realities of running an organization. They believe business ethics is primarily
a complex philosophical debate or a religion. However, business ethics is a
management discipline with a programmatic approach that includes several
practical tools. Ethics management programs have practical applications in other
areas of management areas, as well. (These applications are listed later on in
this document.)
4. Myth: Business ethics is superfluous -- it only
asserts the obvious: "do good!" Many people react that codes of ethics,
or lists of ethical values to which the organization aspires, are rather
superfluous because they represent values to which everyone should naturally
aspire. However, the value of a codes of ethics to an organization is its
priority and focus regarding certain ethical values in that workplace. For
example, it’s obvious that all people should be honest. However, if an
organization is struggling around continuing occasions of deceit in the
workplace, a priority on honesty is very timely -- and honesty should be listed
in that organization’s code of ethics. Note that a code of ethics is an organic
instrument that changes with the needs of society and the organization.
5.
Myth: Business ethics is a matter of the good guys preaching to the bad
guys. Some writers do seem to claim a moral high ground while lamenting
the poor condition of business and its leaders. However, those people well
versed in managing organizations realize that good people can take bad actions,
particularly when stressed or confused. (Stress or confusion are not excuses for
unethical actions -- they are reasons.) Managing ethics in the workplace
includes all of us working together to help each other remain ethical and to
work through confusing and stressful ethical dilemmas.
6. Myth:
Business ethics in the new policeperson on the block. Many believe
business ethics is a recent phenomenon because of increased attention to the
topic in popular and management literature. However, business ethics was written
about even 2,000 years ago -- at least since Cicero wrote about the topic in his
On Duties. Business ethics has gotten more attention recently because of
the social responsibility movement that started in the 1960s.
7. Myth:
Ethics can't be managed. Actually, ethics is always "managed" -- but,
too often, indirectly. For example, the behavior of the organization's founder
or current leader is a strong moral influence, or directive if you will, on
behavior or employees in the workplace. Strategic priorities (profit
maximization, expanding marketshare, cutting costs, etc.) can be very strong
influences on morality. Laws, regulations and rules directly influence behaviors
to be more ethical, usually in a manner that improves the general good and/or
minimizes harm to the community. Some are still skeptical about business ethics,
believing you can't manage values in an organization. Donaldson and Davis
(Management Decision, V28, N6) note that management, after all, is a
value system. Skeptics might consider the tremendous influence of several "codes
of ethics," such as the "10 Commandments" in Christian religions or the U.S.
Constitution. Codes can be very powerful in smaller "organizations" as well.
8. Myth: Business ethics and social responsibility are the same thing.
The social responsibility movement is one aspect of the overall
discipline of business ethics. Madsen and Shafritz refine the definition of
business ethics to be: 1) an application of ethics to the corporate community,
2) a way to determine responsibility in business dealings, 3) the identification
of important business and social issues, and 4) a critique of business. Items 3
and 4 are often matters of social responsibility. (There has been a great deal
of public discussion and writing about items 3 and 4. However, there needs to be
more written about items 1 and 2, about how business ethics can be managed.)
Writings about social responsibility often do not address practical matters of
managing ethics in the workplace, e.g., developing codes, updating polices and
procedures, approaches to resolving ethical dilemmas, etc.
9. Myth:
Our organization is not in trouble with the law, so we're ethical. One
can often be unethical, yet operate within the limits of the law, e.g., withhold
information from superiors, fudge on budgets, constantly complain about others,
etc. However, breaking the law often starts with unethical behavior that has
gone unnoticed. The "boil the frog" phenomena is a useful parable here: If you
put a frog in hot water, it immediately jumps out. If you put a frog in cool
water and slowly heat up the water, you can eventually boil the frog. The frog
doesn't seem to notice the adverse change in its environment.
10.
Myth: Managing ethics in the workplace has little practical relevance.
Managing ethics in the workplace involves identifying and prioritizing
values to guide behaviors in the organization, and establishing associated
policies and procedures to ensure those behaviors are conducted. One might call
this "values management." Values management is also highly important in other
management practices, e.g., managing diversity, Total Quality Management and
strategic planning.
10 Benefits of Managing Ethics in the
Workplace
Many people are used to reading or hearing of the moral
benefits of attention to business ethics. However, there are other types of
benefits, as well. The following list describes various types of benefits from
managing ethics in the workplace.
1. Attention to business ethics has
substantially improved society. A matter of decades ago, children in our
country worked 16-hour days. Workers’ limbs were torn off and disabled workers
were condemned to poverty and often to starvation. Trusts controlled some
markets to the extent that prices were fixed and small businesses choked out.
Price fixing crippled normal market forces. Employees were terminated based on
personalities. Influence was applied through intimidation and harassment. Then
society reacted and demanded that businesses place high value on fairness and
equal rights. Anti-trust laws were instituted. Government agencies were
established. Unions were organized. Laws and regulations were established.
2.
Ethics programs help maintain a moral course in turbulent times.
As noted earlier in this document, Wallace and Pekel explain that attention to
business ethics is critical during times of fundamental change -- times much
like those faced now by businesses, both nonprofit or for-profit. During times
of change, there is often no clear moral compass to guide leaders through
complex conflicts about what is right or wrong. Continuing attention to ethics
in the workplace sensitizes leaders and staff to how they want to act --
consistently.
3. Ethics programs cultivate strong teamwork and
productivity. Ethics programs align employee behaviors with those top
priority ethical values preferred by leaders of the organization. Usually, an
organization finds surprising disparity between its preferred values and the
values actually reflected by behaviors in the workplace. Ongoing attention and
dialogue regarding values in the workplace builds openness, integrity and
community -- critical ingredients of strong teams in the workplace. Employees
feel strong alignment between their values and those of the organization. They
react with strong motivation and performance.
4. Ethics programs
support employee growth and meaning. Attention to ethics in the
workplace helps employees face reality, both good and bad -- in the organization
and themselves. Employees feel full confidence they can admit and deal with
whatever comes their way. Bennett, in his article "Unethical Behavior, Stress
Appear Linked" (Wall Street Journal, April 11, 1991, p. B1), explained
that a consulting company tested a range of executives and managers. Their most
striking finding: the more emotionally healthy executives, as measured on a
battery of tests, the more likely they were to score high on ethics tests.
5. Ethics programs are an insurance policy -- they help ensure that
policies are legal. There is an increasing number of lawsuits in regard
to personnel matters and to effects of an organization’s services or products on
stakeholders. As mentioned earlier in this document, ethical principles are
often state-of-the-art legal matters. These principles are often applied to
current, major ethical issues to become legislation. Attention to ethics ensures
highly ethical policies and procedures in the workplace. It’s far better to
incur the cost of mechanisms to ensure ethical practices now than to incur costs
of litigation later. A major intent of well-designed personnel policies is to
ensure ethical treatment of employees, e.g., in matters of hiring, evaluating,
disciplining, firing, etc. Drake and Drake (California Management Review, V16,
pp. 107-123) note that “an employer can be subject to suit for breach of
contract for failure to comply with any promise it made, so the gap between
stated corporate culture and actual practice has significant legal, as well as
ethical implications.”
6. Ethics programs help avoid criminal acts “of
omission” and can lower fines. Ethics programs tend to detect ethical
issues and violations early on so they can be reported or addressed. In some
cases, when an organization is aware of an actual or potential violation and
does not report it to the appropriate authorities, this can be considered a
criminal act, e.g., in business dealings with certain government agencies, such
as the Defense Department. The recent Federal Sentencing Guidelines specify
major penalties for various types of major ethics violations. However, the
guidelines potentially lowers fines if an organization has clearly made an
effort to operate ethically.
7. Ethics programs help manage values
associated with quality management, strategic planning and diversity management
-- this benefit needs far more attention. Ethics programs identify
preferred values and ensuring organizational behaviors are aligned with those
values. This effort includes recording the values, developing policies and
procedures to align behaviors with preferred values, and then training all
personnel about the policies and procedures. This overall effort is very useful
for several other programs in the workplace that require behaviors to be aligned
with values, including quality management, strategic planning and diversity
management. Total Quality Management includes high priority on certain operating
values, e.g., trust among stakeholders, performance, reliability, measurement,
and feedback. Eastman and Polaroid use ethics tools in their quality programs to
ensure integrity in their relationships with stakeholders. Ethics management
techniques are highly useful for managing strategic values, e.g., expand
marketshare, reduce costs, etc. McDonnell Douglas integrates their ethics
programs into their strategic planning process. Ethics management programs are
also useful in managing diversity. Diversity is much more than the color of
people’s skin -- it’s acknowledging different values and perspectives. Diversity
programs require recognizing and applying diverse values and perspectives --
these activities are the basis of a sound ethics management program.
8.
Ethics programs promote a strong public image. Attention to ethics
is also strong public relations -- admittedly, managing ethics should not be
done primarily for reasons of public relations. But, frankly, the fact that an
organization regularly gives attention to its ethics can portray a strong
positive to the public. People see those organizations as valuing people more
than profit, as striving to operate with the utmost of integrity and honor.
Aligning behavior with values is critical to effective marketing and public
relations programs. Consider how Johnson and Johnson handled the Tylenol crisis
versus how Exxon handled the oil spill in Alaska. Bob Dunn, President and CEO of
San Francisco-based Business for Social Responsibility, puts it best: “Ethical
values, consistently applied, are the cornerstones in building a commercially
successful and socially responsible business.”
9. Overall benefits of
ethics programs: Donaldson and Davis, in “Business Ethics? Yes, But What
Can it Do for the Bottom Line?” (Management Decision, V28, N6, 1990) explain
that managing ethical values in the workplace legitimizes managerial actions,
strengthens the coherence and balance of the organization’s culture, improves
trust in relationships between individuals and groups, supports greater
consistency in standards and qualities of products, and cultivates greater
sensitivity to the impact of the enterprise’s values and messages.
10.
Last - and most -- formal attention to ethics in the workplace is the
right thing to do.
One Description of a Highly Ethical
Organization
Mark Pastin, in The Hard Problems of Management: Gaining
the Ethics Edge (Jossey-Bass, 1986), provides the following four principles
for highly ethical organizations:
1. They are at ease interacting with
diverse internal and external stakeholder groups. The groundrules of these firms
make the good of these stakeholder groups part of the organizations' own good.
2. They are obsessed with fairness. Their groundrules emphasize that the
other persons' interests count as much as their own.
3. Responsibility is
individual rather than collective, with individuals assuming personal
responsibility for actions of the organization. These organizations' groundrules
mandate that individuals are responsible to themselves.
4. They see their
activities in terms of purpose. This purpose is a way of operating that members
of the organization highly value. And purpose ties the organization to its
environment.
Doug Wallace asserts the following characteristics of a
high integrity organization:
1. There exists a clear vision and picture of
integrity throughout the organization.
2. The vision is owned and embodied
by top management, over time.
3. The reward system is aligned with the
vision of integrity.
4. Policies and practices of the organization are
aligned with the vision; no mixed messages.
5. It is understood that every
significant management decision has ethical value dimensions.
6. Everyone is
expected to work through conflicting-stakeholder value perspectives.
Ethics Management Programs: An Overview
About
Ethics Management Programs
Organizations can manage ethics in their workplaces by establishing an
ethics management program. Brian Schrag, Executive Secretary of the Association
for Practical and Professional Ethics, clarifies. "Typically, ethics programs
convey corporate values, often using codes and policies to guide decisions and
behavior, and can include extensive training and evaluating, depending on the
organization. They provide guidance in ethical dilemmas." Rarely are two
programs alike.
"All organizations have ethics programs, but most do not
know that they do," wrote business ethics professor Stephen Brenner in the
Journal of Business Ethics (1992, V11, pp. 391-399). "A corporate ethics
program is made up of values, policies and activities which impact the propriety
of organization behaviors."
Bob Dunn, President and CEO of San
Francisco-based Business for Social Responsibility, adds: "Balancing competing
values and reconciling them is a basic purpose of an ethics management program.
Business people need more practical tools and information to understand their
values and how to manage them."
Benefits of Managing Ethics as a
Program
There are numerous benefits in formally managing ethics as a
program, rather than as a one-shot effort when it appears to be needed. Ethics
programs:
· Establish organizational roles to manage ethics
· Schedule
ongoing assessment of ethics requirements
· Establish required operating
values and behaviors
· Align organizational behaviors with operating values
· Develop awareness and sensitivity to ethical issues
· Integrate
ethical guidelines to decision making
· Structure mechanisms to resolving
ethical dilemmas
· Facilitate ongoing evaluation and updates to the program
· Help convince employees that attention to ethics is not just a knee-jerk
reaction done to get out of trouble or improve public image
8 Guidelines for
Managing Ethics in the Workplace
The following guidelines ensure the ethics management program
is operated in a meaningful fashion:
1. Recognize that managing ethics is
a process. Ethics is a matter of values
and associated behaviors. Values are discerned through the process of ongoing
reflection. Therefore, ethics programs may seem more process-oriented than most
management practices. Managers tend to be skeptical of process-oriented
activities, and instead prefer processes focused on deliverables with
measurements. However, experienced managers realize that the deliverables of
standard management practices (planning, organizing, motivating, controlling)
are only tangible representations of very process-oriented practices. For
example, the process of strategic planning is much more important than the plan
produced by the process. The same is true for ethics management. Ethics programs
do produce deliverables, e.g., codes, policies and procedures, budget items,
meeting minutes, authorization forms, newsletters, etc. However, the most
important aspect from an ethics management program is the process of reflection
and dialogue that produces these deliverables.
2. The bottom line of
an ethics program is accomplishing preferred behaviors in the workplace.
As with any management practice, the most important outcome is behaviors
preferred by the organization. The best of ethical values and intentions are
relatively meaningless unless they generate fair and just behaviors in the
workplace. That's why practices that generate lists of ethical values, or codes
of ethics, must also generate policies, procedures and training that translate
those values to appropriate behaviors.
3. The best way to handle
ethical dilemmas is to avoid their occurrence in the first place. That's
why practices such as developing codes of ethics and codes of conduct are so
important. Their development sensitizes employees to ethical considerations and
minimize the chances of unethical behavior occurring in the first place.
4.
Make ethics decisions in groups, and make decisions public, as
appropriate. This usually produces better quality decisions by including
diverse interests and perspectives, and increases the credibility of the
decision process and outcome by reducing suspicion of unfair bias.
5.
Integrate ethics management with other management practices. When
developing the values statement during strategic planning, include ethical
values preferred in the workplace. When developing personnel policies, reflect
on what ethical values you'd like to be most prominent in the organization's
culture and then design policies to produce these behaviors.
6. Use
cross-functional teams when developing and implementing the ethics management
program. It’s vital that the organization’s employees feel a sense of
participation and ownership in the program if they are to adhere to its ethical
values. Therefore, include employees in developing and operating the program.
7. Value forgiveness. This may sound rather religious or
preachy to some, but it’s probably the most important component of any
management practice. An ethics management program may at first actually increase
the number of ethical issues to be dealt with because people are more sensitive
to their occurrence. Consequently, there may be more occasions to address
people’s unethical behavior. The most important ingredient for remaining ethical
is trying to be ethical. Therefore, help people recognize and address their
mistakes and then support them to continue to try operate ethically.
8.
Note that trying to operate ethically and making a few mistakes is better
than not trying at all. Some organizations have become widely known as
operating in a highly ethical manner, e.g., Ben and Jerrys, Johnson and Johnson,
Aveda, Hewlett Packard, etc. Unfortunately, it seems that when an organization
achieves this strong public image, it's placed on a pedestal by some business
ethics writers. All organizations are comprised of people and people are not
perfect. However, when a mistake is made by any of these organizations, the
organization has a long way to fall. In our increasingly critical society, these
organizations are accused of being hypocritical and they are soon pilloried by
social critics. Consequently, some leaders may fear sticking their necks out
publicly to announce an ethics management program. This is extremely
unfortunate. It's the trying that counts and brings peace of mind -- not
achieving an heroic status in society.
6 Key Roles and
Responsibilities in Ethics Management
Depending on the size of the organization, certain roles may
prove useful in managing ethics in the workplace. These can be full-time roles
or part-time functions assumed by someone already in the organization. Small
organizations certainly will not have the resources to implement each the
following roles using different people in the organization. However, the
following functions points out responsibilities that should be included
somewhere in the organization.
1. The organization's chief executive
must fully support the program. If the chief executive isn't fully
behind the program, employees will certainly notice -- and this apparent
hypocrisy may cause such cynicism that the organization may be worse off than
having no formal ethics program at all. Therefore, the chief executive should
announce the program, and champion its development and implementation. Most
important, the chief executive should consistently aspire to lead in an ethical
manner. If a mistake is made, admit it.
2. Consider establishing an
ethics committee at the board level. The committee would be charged to
oversee development and operation of the ethics management program.
3.
Consider establishing an ethics management committee.It would be
charged with implementing and administrating an ethics management program,
including administrating and training about policies and procedures, and
resolving ethical dilemmas. The committee should be comprised of senior
officers.
4. Consider assigning/developing an ethics officer.
This role is becoming more common, particularly in larger and more
progressive organizations. The ethics officer is usually trained about matters
of ethics in the workplace, particularly about resolving ethical dilemmas.
5. Consider establishing an ombudsperson. The ombudsperson is
responsible to help coordinate development of the policies and procedures to
institutionalize moral values in the workplace. This position usually is
directly responsible for resolving ethical dilemmas by interpreting policies and
procedures.
6. Note that one person must ultimately be responsible for
managing the ethics management program.
Ethics Tools: Codes of
Ethics
About Codes of Ethics
According to Wallace, "A credo generally describes the highest values to
which the company aspires to operate. It contains the `thou shalt's. A code of
ethics specifies the ethical rules of operation. It's the `thou shalt not's." In
the latter 1980s, The Conference Board, a leading business membership
organization, found that 76% of corporations surveyed had codes of
ethics.
Some business ethicists disagree that codes have any value. Usually they explain that too much focus is put on the codes themselves, and that codes themselves are not influential in managing ethics in the workplace. Many ethicists note that it's the developing and continuing dialogue around the code's values that is most important.
Occasionally, employees react to codes with suspicion, believing the values are "motherhood and apple pie" and codes are for window dressing. But, when managing a complex issue, especially in a crisis, having a code is critical. More important, it's having developed a code. In the mid-70s, Johnson and Johnson updated their credo in a series of challenge meetings. Bob Kniffin, Vice President of External Affairs, explains, "We pored over each phrase and word. We asked ourselves, `Do we still believe this?' Our meetings resulted in some fine tuning, but basically we didn't change the values. The meetings infused the values in the minds of all of us managers." Many believe this process guided them in their well-known decision to pull Tylenol bottles off the shelves and repackage them at a $100 million expense. Kniffin offers some sound, practical advice. "In a crisis, there's no time for moral conclusions. Get those done beforehand. But also realize there's no substitute for sound crisis management. For example, have a list of people with fundamental knowledge, such as who transports your products where and when."
Developing Codes of Ethics
Note that if your organization is quite large, e.g.,
includes several large programs or departments, you may want to develop an
overall corporate code of ethics and then a separate code to guide each of your
programs or departments.
Also note that codes should not be developed
out of the Human Resource or Legal departments alone, as is too often done.
Codes are insufficient if intended only to ensure that policies are legal. All
staff must see the ethics program being driven by top management.
Note
that codes of ethics and codes of conduct may be the same in some organizations,
depending on the organization's culture and operations and on the ultimate level
of specificity in the code(s).
Optional: Also see in the Free Management Library
at http://www.mapnp.org/library:
1.
Organizational
Culture - review to get a basic understanding of
"personalities" of organizations
2. Strategic
Planning - specific to developing a Values
Statement
3. Valuing Diversity
- to consider that there are other values and
perspectives
Consider the following guidelines when developing
codes of ethics:
1. Review any values need to adhere to relevant laws
and regulations; this ensures your organization is not (or is not near)
breaking any of them. (If you are breaking any of them, you may be far better
off to report this violation than to try hide the problem. Often, a reported
violation generates more leniency than outside detection of an unreported
violation, particularly per the new Federal Sentencing Guidelines.) Increase
priority on values that will help your organization operate to avoid breaking
these laws and to follow necessary regulations.
2. Review which values
produce the top three or four traits of a highly ethical and successful product
or service in your area, e.g., for accountants: objectivity,
confidentiality, accuracy, etc. Identify which values produce
behaviors that exhibit these traits.
3. Identify values needed to
address current issues in your workplace. Appoint one or two key people
to interview key staff to collect descriptions of major issues in the workplace.
Collect descriptions of behaviors that produce the issues. Consider which of
these issues is ethical in nature, e.g.., issues in regard to respect, fairness
and honesty. Identify the behaviors needed to resolve these issues. Identify
which values would generate those preferred behaviors. There may be values
included here that some people would not deem as moral or ethical values, e.g.,
team-building and promptness, but for managers, these practical values may add
more relevance and utility to a code of ethics.
4. Identify any values
needed, based on findings during strategic planning. Review
information from your SWOT analysis (identifying the organization's
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats). What behaviors are needed to
build on strengths, shore up weaknesses, take advantage of opportunities and
guard against threats?
5. Consider any top ethical values that might
be prized by stakeholders. For example, consider expectations of
employees, clients/customers, suppliers, funders, members of the local
community, etc.
6. Collect from the above steps, the top five to ten
ethical values which are high priorities in your organization (see item #7 below
for examples).
7. Examples of ethical values might include
(the following list is the "Six Pillars of Character" developed by The
Josephson Institute of Ethics, 310-306-1868):
a)
Trustworthiness: honesty, integrity, promise-keeping, loyalty
b)
Respect: autonomy, privacy, dignity, courtesy, tolerance, acceptance
c) Responsibility: accountability, pursuit of excellence
d)
Caring: compassion, consideration, giving, sharing, kindness, loving
e) Justice and fairness: procedural fairness, impartiality,
consistency, equity, equality, due process
f) Civic virtue and
citizenship: law abiding, community service, protection of environment
8. Compose your code of ethics; attempt to associate with each value,
two example behaviors which reflect each value. Critics of codes of
ethics assert that they seem vacuous because many only list ethical values and
don't clarify these values by associating examples of behaviors.
9.
Include wording that indicates all employees are expected to conform to
the values stated in the code of ethics. Add wording that indicates
where employees can go if they have any questions.
10. Obtain review
from key members of the organization. Get input from as many members as
possible.
11. Announce and distribute the new code of ethics (unless
you are waiting to announce it along with any new codes of conduct and
associated policies and procedures). Ensure each employee has a copy and
post codes throughout the facility.
12. Update the code at least once
a year. As stated several times in this document, the most important
aspect of codes is developing them, not the code itself. Continued dialogue and
reflection around ethical values produces ethical sensitivity and consensus.
Therefore, revisit your codes at least once a year -- preferably two or three
times a year.
13. (Note that you cannot include values and preferred
behaviors for every possible ethical dilemma that might arise. Your goal
is to focus on the top ethical values needed in your organization and to avoid
potential ethical dilemmas that seem mostly likely to occur.)
14.
Examples of a code of ethics: This example code was
developed by The Management Assistance Program for Nonprofits
(http://www.mapnp.org/library/ethics/teamvalu.htm) in St. Paul. The code is
geared specifically to guiding relations among staff.
Note that you may be better off to generate your own
code of ethics from scratch rather than reviewing examples from other
organizations. All ethical values are attractive to include in a code; however,
you are most interested in those that provoke behaviors needed in your
organization at this time. You may want to include quite different ethical
values next year.
Ethics Tools: Codes of Conduct
About
Codes of Conduct
"Codes of conduct
specify actions in the workplace and codes of ethics are general guides to
decisions about those actions," explains Craig Nordlund, Associate General
Counsel and Secretary at Hewlett Packard. He suggests that codes of conduct
contain examples of appropriate behavior to be meaningful.
The
Conference Board found that codes of conduct are increasingly sophisticated and
focused at lower levels in companies. Departments frequently have their own
codes. Be careful, though. An organization could be sued for breach of contract
if its practices are not in accord with its policies. That’s why legal
departments should review codes of conduct and other ethics policies. Also,
that’s why it’s critical for organizations to review their policies at least
once a year to ensure they are in accordance with laws and
regulations.
Optional: also see in the Free Management Library
at http://www.mapnp.org/library:
1.
Employee
Law - review major issues and topics to discern
what behaviors to avoid in the workplace
2. Policies
(Personnel) - review more specifics about what
behaviors to avoid
Developing a Code of Conduct
Note
that if your organization is quite large, e.g., includes several large programs
or departments, you may want to develop an overall corporate code of conduct,
and then a separate code to guide each of your programs or departments. Consider
the following guidelines when developing codes of conduct:
1. Identify
key behaviors needed to adhere to the ethical values proclaimed in your code of
ethics, including ethical values derived from review of key laws and
regulations, ethical behaviors needed in your product or service area, behaviors
to address current issues in your workplace, and behaviors needed to reach
strategic goals.
2. Include wording that indicates all employees are
expected to conform to the behaviors specified in the code of conduct.
Add wording that indicates where employees can go if they have any
questions.
3. Obtain review from key members of the organization.
Be sure your legal department reviews the drafted code of conduct.
4. Announce and distribute the new code of conduct (unless you
are waiting to announce it along with any associated policies and procedures).
Ensure each employee has a copy and post codes in each employee's bay or office.
5. (Note that you cannot include preferred behaviors for every
possible ethical dilemma that might arise.)
6. Examples of
topics typically addressed by codes of conduct include: preferred style
of dress, avoiding illegal drugs, following instructions of superiors, being
reliable and prompt, maintaining confidentiality, not accepting personal gifts
from stakeholders as a result of company role, avoiding racial or sexual
discrimination, avoiding conflict of interest, complying with laws and
regulations, not using organization's property for personal use, not
discriminating against race or age or sexual orientation, and reporting illegal
or questionable activity. Go beyond these traditional legalistic expectations
in your codes -- adhere to what's ethically sensitive in your organization, as
well. (Note that, as with codes of ethics, you may be better off to generate
your own code of conduct from scratch rather than reviewing examples from other
organizations.)
Ethics Tools: Policies and Procedures
Optional: also see in the Free Management Library at
http://www.mapnp.org/library:
Policies
(Personnel) - review to understand how to develop
and apply personnel policies
1. Update policies and procedures to
produce behaviors preferred from the code of conduct, including, e.g.,
personnel, job descriptions, performance appraisal forms,
management-by-objectives expectations, standard forms, checklists, budget report
formats, and other relevant control instruments to ensure conformance to the
code of conduct. In doing so, try to avoid creating ethical dilemmas such as
conflicts-of-interest or infringing on employee's individual rights.
2.
There are numerous examples of how organizations manage values through use
of policies and procedures. For example, we're most familiar with the
value of social responsibility. To produce behavior aligned with this value,
organizations often institute policies such as recycling waste, donating to
local charities, or paying employees to participate in community events. In
another example, a high value on responsiveness to customers might be
implemented by instituting policies to return phone calls or to repair defective
equipment within a certain period of time. Consider the role of job descriptions
and performance appraisals. For example, an advanced technology business will
highly value technical knowledge, creativity and systems thinking. They use job
descriptions and performance appraisals to encourage behaviors aligned with
these values, such as rewarding advanced degrees, patents, and analysis and
design skills.
3. Include policies and procedures to address ethical
dilemmas. See the next section, "Ethics Tools: Resolving Ethical
Dilemmas," to select a method which is most appropriate to your organization's
culture and operations.
4. Include policies and procedures to ensure
training of employees about the ethics management program. See a
following section, "Ethics Tools: Training."
5. Include policies and
procedures to reward ethical behavior and impose consequences for unethical
behavior.
6. Include a grievance policy for employees to use
to resolve disagreements with supervisors and staff.
7.
Consider establishing an ethics "hotline." This function might
best be provided by an outside consultant, e.g., lawyer, clergyperson, etc. Or,
provide an anonymous "tip" box in which personnel can report suspected unethical
activities, and do so safely on an anonymous basis.
8. Once a year,
review all personnel policies and procedures. If yours is a small
organization, consider including all staff during this review. Take a full day
for all staff to review policies and procedures, and suggest changes.
9.
For guidance in establishing personnel policies, see the Guide to Personnel
Management and Policies
(http://www.mapnp.org/library/mgmnt/prsnlmnt.htm).
Ethics
Tools: Resolving Ethical
Dilemmas (with Real-to-Life Examples)
Definition of an Ethical Dilemma. Perhaps too often, business ethics is portrayed as a matter
of resolving conflicts in which one option appears to be the clear choice. For
example, case studies are often presented in which an employee is faced with
whether or not to lie, steal, cheat, abuse another, break terms of a contract,
etc. However, ethical dilemmas faced by managers are often more real-to-life and
highly complex with no clear guidelines, whether in law or often in religion.
As noted earlier in this document, Doug Wallace, Twin Cities-based
consultant, explains that one knows when they have a significant ethical
conflict when there is presence of a) significant value conflicts among
differing interests, b) real alternatives that are equality justifiable, and c)
significant consequences on "stakeholders" in the situation.
An ethical dilemma exists when one is faced with
having to make a choice among these alternatives.
Real-to-Life
Examples of Complex Ethical Dilemmas
· "A customer (or client) asked
for a product (or service) from us today. After telling him our price, he said
he couldn't afford it. I know he could get it cheaper from a competitor. Should
I tell him about the competitor -- or let him go without getting what he needs?
What should I do?"
· "Our company prides itself on its merit-based
pay system. One of my employees has done a tremendous job all year, so he
deserves strong recognition. However, he's already paid at the top of the salary
range for his job grade and our company has too many people in the grade above
him, so we can't promote him. What should I do?"
· "Our company
prides itself on hiring minorities. One Asian candidate fully fits the job
requirements for our open position. However, we're concerned that our customers
won't understand his limited command of the English language. What should I do?"
· "My top software designer suddenly refused to use our e-mail system. He
explained to me that, as a Christian, he could not use a product built by a
company that provided benefits to the partners of homosexual employees. He'd
basically cut himself off from our team, creating a major obstacle to our
product development. What should I do?"
· "My boss told me that one
of my employees is among several others to be laid off soon, and that I'm not to
tell my employee yet or he might tell the whole organization which would soon be
in an uproar. Meanwhile, I heard from my employee that he plans to buy braces
for his daughter and a new carpet for his house. What should I do?"
·
"My computer operator told me he'd noticed several personal letters printed
from a computer that I was responsible to manage. While we had no specific
policies then against personal use of company facilities, I was concerned. I
approached the letter writer to discuss the situation. She told me she'd written
the letters on her own time to practice using our word processor. What should I
do?"
· "A fellow employee told me that he plans to quit the company
in two months and start a new job which has been guaranteed to him. Meanwhile,
my boss told me that he wasn't going to give me a new opportunity in our company
because he was going to give it to my fellow employee now. What should I
do?"
Optional: also see in the Free Management Library
at http://www.mapnp.org/library:
1.
Feedback
2. Listening
3. Questioning
4. Conflict
(interpersonal)
5. Negotiating
6. Valuing
Diversity
3 Methods to Resolve Ethical
Dilemmas
Organizations should
develop and document a procedure for dealing with ethical dilemmas as they
arise. Ideally, ethical dilemmas should be resolved by a group within the
organization, e.g., an ethics committee comprised of top leaders/managers and/or
members of the board. Consider having staff members on the committee, as well.
The following three methods can be used to address ethical dilemmas. Methods
include an ethical checklist, a ten-step method and a list of key questions.
(Note that The Golden Rule is probably the most common method to resolve ethical
dilemmas. The rule exists in various forms in many of the world religions.)
Method One - Ethical Checklist
Twin Cities-based
consultants, Doug Wallace and Jon Pekel, suggest the following ethical checklist
to address ethical dilemmas. If necessary, revise your decision and action plan
based on results of the this test.
NOTE: To get
the longer version of this document, click
here
| Ethical Checklist | Circle the appropriate answer on the scale; "1" = not at all; "5" = totally yes | |||||||
| 1. | Relevant Information Test. Have I/we obtained as much information as possible to make an informed decision and action plan for this situation? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 2. | Involvement Test. Have I/we involved all who have a right to have input and/or to be involved in making this decision and action plan? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 3. | Consequential Test. Have I/we anticipated and attempted to accommodate for the consequences of this decision and action plan on any who are significantly effected by it? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 4. | Fairness Test. If I/we were assigned to take the place of any one of the stakeholders in this situation, would I/we perceive this decision and action plan to be essentially fair, given all of the circumstances? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 5. | Enduring Values Test. Do this decision and action plan uphold my/our priority enduring values that are relevant to this situation? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6. | Universality Test. Would I/we want this decision and action plan to become a universal law applicable to all similar situation, even to myself/ourselves? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 7. | Light-of-Day Test. How would I/we feel and be regarded by others (working associates, family, etc.) if the details of this decision and action plan were disclosed for all to know? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 8. | Total Ethical Analysis Confidence Score. Place the total of all circled numbers here. | |||||||
| How confident can you be that you have done a good job of ethical analysis? | ||||||||
| 7-14 15-21 22-28 29-35 |
Not very confident
Somewhat confident Quite confident Very confident | |||||||
|
|
| |||
| 1. What are the known FACTS in the situation? | ||||
| 2. Who are the key STAKEHOLDERS, what do they value and what are their desired outcomes? | ||||
| 3. What are the UNDERLYING DRIVERS causing the situation? | ||||
| 4. In priority order what ethical principles or operating values do you think should be upheld in this situation? | ||||
| 5. Who should have input to, or be involved in, making this decision? | ||||
| 6. List any alternative and action
plans that would: a) prevent or minimize harm to stakeholders b) uphold the priority values for this situation c) be a good solution to the situation |
|
|
| |
| 7. Build a WORSE-CASE SCENARIO for your preferred alternative to see how it affects the stakeholders. Rethink and revise your preferred alternative if necessary. | ||||
| 8. Add a PREVENTATIVE ETHICS component to your action plan that deals with the underlying drivers causing the situation listed in Step 3. | ||||
| 9. Evaluate your chosen decision and action plan against the checklist on the reverse side. | ||||
| 10. Decide and build an action plan, and implement and monitor it. | ||||
Ethics
Tools: Training
The ethics program is essentially useless
unless all staff members are trained about what it is, how it works and their
roles in it. The nature of the system may invite suspicion if not handled openly
and honestly. In addition, no matter how fair and up-to-date is a set of
policies, the legal system will often interpret employee behavior (rather than
written policies) as de facto policy. Therefore, all staff must be aware of and
act in full accordance with policies and procedures (this is true, whether
policies and procedures are for ethics programs or personnel management). This
full accordance requires training about policies and procedures.
Optional: Also see in the Free Management Library
at http://www.mapnp.org/library
Training Basics for
Supervisors and Learners
1. Orient new employees to the organization's
ethics program during new-employee orientation.
2. Review the
ethics management program in management training experiences.
3.
Involving staff in review of codes is strong ethics training.
4. Involving staff in review of policies (ethics and personnel
policies) is strong ethics training.
5. One of the strongest
forms of ethics training is practice in resolving complex ethical dilemmas.
Have staff use any of the three ethical-dilemma-resolution methods in
this guidebook and apply them to any of the real-to-life ethical dilemmas also
listed in this guidebook.
6. Include ethical performance as a
dimension in performance appraisals.
7. The best ethics
trainer: Bill Goodman, Chief Human Resource Officer at Aveda, describes,
"We start our training even in our job ads," then adds, "but the best trainer is
the behavior of our leaders."
8. Give all staff a copy of this free
"Complete Guide to Ethics Management."
About the
Author
Carter McNamara, PhD, is a Twin Cities-based consultant in
the areas of leadership development, board development and strategic planning.
He has managed in a wide variety of organizations including startup,
public-private, small and large nonprofit, and large corporation. He received
comprehensive ethics training as an employee in a large defense contractor,
various ethics classes and continuing research in business ethics. In addition,
as a manager, he has struggled through several major ethical dilemmas (one was
quite public) so he knows and understands the experience. He has led development
of several codes of ethics and conduct, as well. Carter holds a BA in Social and
Behavioral Sciences, BS in Computer Science, an MBA, and a PhD in Human and
Organization Development.
Bibliography of Practical
Resources
Hardcopy
documents:
The following references
are to hardcopy documents that provide information about managing ethics in the
workplace:
Berenbeim, R. E. (1992, Spring). "The Corporate Ethics Test". Business and Society Review, 31(1), 77-80.
Brenner, S. N. (1992). "Ethics Programs and Their Dimensions". Journal of Business Ethics, 11,391-399.
Buchholz, R. A. (1989). "Fundamental Concepts and Problems in Business Ethics". In Madsen, P., & Shafritz, J. M. (Eds.) (1990). "Essentials of Business Ethics". New York: Penguin Books.
Carroll, A. B. (1990). "Principles of Business Ethics: Their Role in Decision Making and in Initial Consensus". Management Decision, 28(8), 21-23.
Dean, P. J. (1992). "Making Codes of Ethics 'Real'." Journal of Business Ethics, 11, 285-290.
Deborah, B. (1991, January/February). "Asking for Help: A Guide to Using Socially Responsible Consultants". Business Ethics Magazine, pp. 24-29.
Francis, David R. (1991, June). "Prevent Trouble by Improving Ethics". Christian Science Monitor, p. 9.
Fulcrum Consulting Group, 1093 Snelling Ave. South, Saint Paul, MN 55116. Phone 1-800-55-ETHIC.
Gandz, J. & Bird, F. G. (1989, Autumn). "Designing Ethical Organizations". Business Quarterly, 54(2), 108-112.
Genfan, H. (1987, November). "Formalizing Business Ethics". Training and Development Journal, pp. 35-37.
Josephson Institute of Ethics, 310 Washington Boulevard, Suite 104, Marina del Rey, California. Phone 310-306-1868.
Kirrane, D.E. (1990, November). "Managing Values: A Systematic Approach to Business Ethics". Training and Development Journal, pp. 53-60.
Madsen, P., Ph. D., & Shafritz, J. M., Ph. D. (Eds.). (1990). "Essentials of Business Ethics". New York: Penguin Books.
McDonald, G., & Zepp, R. (1990). "What Should Be Done? A Practical Approach to Business Ethics". Management Decision, 28(1), 9-13.
Nash, L. (1981). "Ethics Without the Sermon". Harvard Business Review, (59).
Navran Associates Management Consultants, 3037 Wembley Ridge, Atlanta, GA. Phone 404-493-8886.
Reynolds, L. (1992, July/August). "The Ethics Audit. Business Ethics Magazine", pp. 20-22.
Sims, R. R. (1991). "Institutionalization of Organizational Ethics". Journal of Business Ethics, 10, 493-506.
Strong, K. C., & Meyer, G. (1992). "An Integrative Descriptive Model of Ethics Decision Making". Journal of Business Ethics, 11, 89-94.
Thompson, T. (1991, Spring). "Managing Business Ethics". Canadian Public Administration, 34(1), 153-157.
Toffler, B. (1991, Winter). "Doing Ethics: An Approach to Business Ethics Consulting". Moral Education Forum, 16(4), 14-20.
World Wide Web Links:
The following are links to Web sites about business
ethics.
Extensive list of lists of Web sites, of institutes and of topics (http://www.duke.edu/~wgrobin/ethics/surfing.html)
General business ethics resources at the Center for Applied Ethics (http://www.ethics.ubc.ca/resources/business/)
General site for ethics on the Web (http://commfaculty.fullerton.edu/lester/ethics/ethics_list.html)
Ethics updates (this list is mostly for ethics instructors and students rather than managers, but it is extensive and well organized) (http://ethics.acusd.edu/index.html)
Center for Applied Ethics at http://www.ethics.ubc.ca/
List of listservers and groups (http://commfaculty.fullerton.edu/lester/ethics/listserver.html)
Related Links
in the Free Management Library
The
following links are to categories of other topics in the Free Management Library
located at http://www.mapnp.org/library on the World Wide Web.
Crisis
Management
Employee Wellness
Programs
Insurance
(Business)
Interpersonal
Skills
Guiding
Skills
Legal
Information (U.S. Law)
Organizational
Culture
Personnel
policies
Public and Media
Relations
Risk
Management
Training Basics for
Supervisors and Learners
On-Line Discussion Groups, Newsletters,
etc.
There are a large number of on-line discussion groups,
newsletters (e-zines), etc. in the overall areas of management, business and
organization development. Participants, subscribers, etc., can get answers to
their questions and learn a lot just by posing the questions to the groups,
sharing insights about their experiences, etc. Join some groups and sign up for
some newsletters!
References to major egroups,
newsletters, etc.