Major ethical issues in contemporary workplace conflict

Ethics and Workplace Conflict

There are a number of instances in which ethical questions can be raised when there is conflict in the workplace. This paper reviews and critiques two examples of workplace conflict that raises ethical issues.

Workplace Bullying

An article in the Journal of Business Ethics discusses what can happen in a workplace environment when there is a "paternalistic" leadership style. That is, ethical issues can often be raised when the workplace features "individualized relationships," "loyalty-seeking" and employees with "formal power" (Soylu, 2011, p. 217). Within the research regarding workplace environments and conflict, researchers are finding one particular ethical issue that stands out, and that is bullying (Soylu, 217). It is almost a given that when there is bullying it reflects on leadership in that workplace. The author explains that there is a proven link between workplace leadership styles and the incidence of "unethical practices" -- including bullying (Soylu, 217).

And so the bottom line is that bullying isn't a stand-alone issue in the workplace, but in fact the leadership style that encourages or allows bullying is often the source of the real ethical issue. On page 218 Soylu explains that bullying at work includes "…harassing, offending, socially excluding someone or negatively affecting someone's work task." The paternalistic or authoritarian manager, meanwhile, uses bullying -- or condones it for his loyal underlings -- as a way for his chosen few in-house leaders to use as a "punishment tool" to "deter subordinates from behaving against their will" (Soylu, 219). In turn, employees with abusive managers "are more likely to learn bullying behaviors from their managers via social learning" and then turn around and "bully their peers or subordinates" (Soylu, 219).

This creates a cycle of unethical behavior, and according to the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, a recent study of U.S. workers reflects that 41.4% (or 47 million U.S. workers) have experienced "psychological aggression at work in the past year." Nearly 15 million workers (about 13% of American employees) report experiencing "psychological aggression" (bullying) on a "weekly basis" (Washington State data). Clearly there is no shortage of serious ethical problems in the workplace in America.

Another example of workplace ethics being violated -- that can and often does cause conflict -- is sexual harassment, including the following improper behaviors: a) inappropriate comments of a sexual nature that refer to a person's physical appearance; b) touching another worker in a sexually provocative manner; c) a supervisor making a request for a date with a subordinate; d) forwarding photos online that are sexually explicit or somehow provocative; and e) forwarding literature that is inappropriate, including raunchy jokes, or sexual stories (Huhman, 2011). According to marketing consultant Heather Huhman, if a person's work was somehow impacted negatively, or that person was passed up for a promotion, because the person said something to a supervisor regarding the harassment he or she received, the company could be liable.