Ethical decision-making and workplace harassment in information technology

Ethical Analysis at Workplace / Ethic Principles Evaluation

Specific situations at job in which decision-making was or was not based on ethical principles

Participation in or response to the situation

Whether or not you think the situation was handled correctly

Suggestions for how the situation could be better addressed in the future

Business ethics deals with a vast range of ethical or moral principles arising in the business context. It entails the actions of company employees in their work setting and positions and actions of companies on ethical issues. While the news is packed with tales of organizational corruption, numerous firms today conduct their operations in an ethical manner, on a daily basis. There are a few good examples of ethical decision-making in businesses that afford us a peek at how we can implement ethical principles in our organizations. I work as a computer analyst in an information technology firm, which looks to ethical principles while making decisions. Ethical principles are the basis of decisions discussed in this paper (Kunz, 2015).

Specific Situations at the Workplace in which Decision-making was or was not based on Ethical Principles

Inappropriate Internet Use

One among the most widespread ethical violations, perpetrated by employees on a daily basis, is abusing the Internet use policy of one's organization. At my place of work, staff members constantly surf the internet during work hours; my colleagues are hooked on social networking, gambling, news, and shopping websites and this addiction is brought with them to the office (Hrhero, 2015). Such activities negatively affect employee work-hours, amount of concentration on job-related tasks, and general productivity. Uncomfortable situations may crop up among coworkers in case personal Internet usage involves the use of inappropriate websites, such as pornography; employee morale may be adversely impacted. When each bit/sec on the company connection is important, inappropriate and personal usage (e.g., uploading photos, downloading music, or streaming videos) can impede normal operation. Harmful malware can find its way into the company's system via several inappropriate sites (particularly, pornographic websites and some downloading sites), thus risking the integrity and safety of one's organizational information and network infrastructure (Mercer, 2015).

Social Networking and Blogs

These are twenty-first century sensations that have burst in on the Internet and taken the world by storm. People may have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and LinkedIn, as well as personal blogs that they just have to update and check daily. They fail to realize that tweeting, adding blog entries and updating their Facebook profiles aren't exactly ethically-correct, unless they form part of one's job. There are most likely company policies that forbid personal Internet usage, and these might also address the issue of blogging and social networking during office hours (Hrhero, 2015).

Participation in or Response to the Situation

In the first case, i.e., harassment, my advice to the affected subordinate was to ignore the insulting and critical remarks of the superior he was previously dating. I offered him psychological support for coming out of the situation. I made it a point to inform our team leader, who then took this issue to the top management. His situation was greatly improved after the superior in question was strictly warned by top management to refrain from such behavior.

In the second scenario -- inappropriate internet usage -- I approached my team leader once again and reported the issue. He made the concerned employees understand that they were misusing company assets, and warned them against such activities in the future. Gradually, misuse of the Internet stopped (Hrhero, 2015).

In the third scenario, I, yet again, informed my leader, who offered valuable guidelines to ensure appropriate online communication and non-violation of ethical principles. Usage of social networking and blogging websites negatively impact one's personal time; it has no bearing on the equipment or time of one's employer.

Whether or not you think the situation was handled correctly

There was still room for lots of improvement in the aforementioned situations. When the leader wasn't present, harassment, and inappropriate internet and social media usage occurred, indicating that these issues hadn't been completely eliminated from my workplace. Detrimental effects of the above issues began surfacing in the form of a drop in company profitability and performance levels. In the harassment case, the subordinate grew mentally weaker and was contemplating quitting the job. In the second scenario, company personnel used the internet for various inappropriate purposes, wasting precious time that could be devoted to doing job-related tasks. In the final case, whenever the leader wasn't around, people opened up blogs and social media sites, even when workload was immense and tight schedules had to be adhered to (Kunz, 2015).

Suggestions for how the situation could be better addressed in the future

Organizations have to actively involve themselves in instances of ethical violation, and prevent the issue from assuming huge proportions. Taking appropriate action in a timely manner may help adequately resolve a situation; this is crucial not just for individuals, but for the organization too, as it can prevent the issue from negatively affecting the overall image of the company, its operations, and productivity. Firms can implement the following plan:

Call a Meeting

The meeting must communicate to staff members that they watch out for instances of workplace harassment; also, it is their duty to speak up if they know of any such incident. They must be encouraged to intervene when appropriate (if there is no personal risk in intervening). Company personnel should know that they need to report such incidents to their superiors, rendering a detailed account. They must be given the assurance that there will be no reprisal or embarrassment for them if they come forward. Diversity issues are something management must understand to avoid social exclusion of certain employees, particularly where one of the factors is mental-well-being concerns. Additionally, national/state laws pertaining to ethics violation need to be communicated appropriately (Workplace Strategies for Mental Health, 2015).

Provide Training to Managers to Adopt Certain Leadership Style

Organizational leaders must be trained to tackle cases of harassment, blog/social media usage, and improper internet usage. In this regard, both leaders who have a command-and-control leadership approach (emphasis on punishments and rewards) and those who seldom offer feedback or remark on employees' performance will increase the probability of workplace bullying and harassment cases. Studies have proven that improved outcomes are generated by transformational leaders (who positively motivate and encourage their team to accomplish job tasks) (Workplace Strategies for Mental Health, 2015).

Conduct Facilitated Group Sessions

These sessions must be carried out for reinforcing organizational policies with regard to harassment, improper internet usage, and blogs and social media usage; the sessions must also serve the purpose of encouraging organizational members at every level to ruminate on how their behavior at the workplace affects others. Awareness must be created among company personnel to ensure that all organizational members, including new members adequately know the regulations and policies (Workplace Strategies for Mental Health, 2015).

Take Complaints Seriously

Personnel should know who they can approach if they are victims of workplace harassment, or witness others engaging in inappropriate social media or internet usage. Aside from this, there must be specific procedures in place so that employees can report the above-mentioned ethical violation incidents to any supervisor, senior leader, or representative of the company. In harassment cases, the company may choose to institute the position of an employee advocate. Management must bear in mind that those suffering from mental health problems generally lack the strength to personally get involved in complaint processes. Furthermore, leaders must decide how complaints will be initiated (whether informally or formally), how to tackle trivial or irksome complaints with evil intent, and how to protect employees, and what their role will be in investigating complaints (Workplace Strategies for Mental Health, 2015).

Communication and Strategy to Stop Internet Misuse

Companies should proactively institute limits, and develop a well-defined and exhaustive acceptable usage policy, which must be communicated to personnel via workshops and presentations. Effective communication may lead to company-wide consensus with regard to unacceptable behavior. After properly informing all company members regarding what behavior constitutes unacceptable workplace Internet use, efficient strategies to handle the issue normally integrate: filters on improper websites, regular management and staff training on efficient use of workplace Internet resources, and electronic Internet usage monitoring of workplace computers for identifying problems. Streamlining how company personnel search for required information from the Web (via company office research services or email clients) will also potentially curb the impulse to stop-by inappropriate sites during these searches (Mercer, 2015).

Investigation

The workforce needs to know who will carry out investigations, the complaint investigation process, rights of representation of involved parties, appealing procedure, and investigation timeline. The organization may appoint an individual who can be contacted for informal complaints, inquiries, or concerns about tackling situations before they get out of hand (Workplace Strategies for Mental Health, 2015).

Penalties

Penalties must be established for those who harass others, and inappropriately use social media or the internet. Organizations must have the right to fire employees when situations get out of hand, or cause serious negative impacts (particularly in harassment cases). This would facilitate the maintenance of an orderly and peaceful organizational culture, which is very crucial for organizational growth and development.

Conclusion

Ethical concerns have a key role to play in organizations today. Thus, they must be scrutinized very closely and regularly in order to identify any adverse influence they may have on the business. This will aid effective long-term organizational growth.