How ethical leadership and codes of conduct shape organizational behavior

Ethical Considerations and Organizational Behaviour

How Do Ethics Factor into Organizational Behaviour?

The concept of ethics is wound around people's behaviour. It is the choice between doing the right thing and not doing it. When ethical leaders come to these dilemmas, they do what ought to be done on the basis of what's right. A common guideline in organizational behaviour states that values are the key drivers of people's behaviour. In other words, it is values that influence the view of things. Attitudes, in turn, influence behaviour. Therefore, values are key elements in the formation of attitudes. They are the basic influential forces on how humans react to situations and other people. Virtuous values identify with ethical conduct. There are some practices that aid organizational leadership to drive their entities towards good ethics. Leaders will usually act in line with organizational ethics when they are well grounded in their core values and inculcated in the staffs. It has been observed that written codes of conduct and clearly laid out behavioural guidelines promote virtues and values as they encourage ethical behaviour in organizations.

When organizations establish behavioural standards, they outline clear actions that are expected in specific organizational situations. The behaviour standards and the ethical codes of conduct established within such organizations can help promote ethical observance by providing staffs with a cue on what should be done through written text or signs. Such standards are the cornerstones of people's internal values and progressively gain strength with firm, but fairly administered consequences (Kerns, 2003).

When all the aspects are considered in one pool, they generate a formula such as the one shown below. This may heighten the chances of ethical organizational behaviour. Therefore, observe a trend that when virtuous values are combined with aligned action along with behavioural standards or codes of conduct, the end result is stricter observance of ethical standards.

In practice, the process involves embracing virtuous values and setting them in tandem with major managerial leadership decisions such as employee orientation, selection, and even the socialization that they get within the organization. When leaders act on the three pinnacles, they assist the staff steer towards a common ethical organizational behaviour (Kerns, 2003).

It is the right action because employees and stakeholders expect ethical treatment

It is of more economic significance to the company. There are indications that emphasizing on such aspects as ethics influences the bottom-line positively

Ethical considerations provide a long-term social mainstay that sees beyond shareholder value.

The above reasons influence organizational leaders to embrace ethics (Kerns, 2003).

How Might the Deontological and the Consequential Perspectives of an Organization's Leaders and Managers Affect Working with People in Different Countries?

Ethical systems are deontological and, indeed, consequential. Deontologists value intentions and say that they are the only morally relevant aspect of people's action. Therefore, provided the leader acts in line with what is expected of his/her duty or even moral considerations, it can be said that such a leader has acted ethically, irrespective of the result. Therefore, the ethical weight of an act lies in the intention.

Consequentialists, on the other hand, locate the ethics of an action in the result. If the end result is something morally good, then the action is justified.