Organizational behavior trends and contemporary developments

Org Behav

Emerging trends in organizational behavior include the role of ethics in decision-making and the impact of technology on work-related stress. Ethical theories have worked their way into organizational culture because of the proven connection between ethical behavior and productivity (the Ethics Network 2007). When business decisions are grounded in ethical reasoning, the entire organization benefits from improved relations between employees and between the company and its clients or partners. Although short-term solutions sometimes seem to promote productivity, profitability, and expediency, an ethical decision-making process produces far more fruitful results. The results of incorporating ethics into a model for organizational culture include improved employee satisfaction, increased employee loyalty, reduced absenteeism, and improved relations with customers, clients, and/or business partners.

Ethical standards can be organized into five main standards or theories ("A Framework for Thinking Ethically" 1988). Utilitarianism, rights-based ethics, the fairness or justice approach, the common good approach and the virtue approach are all ways organizational behaviorists and organizational psychologists approach the integration of ethics and business. Ideally, these five approaches are used together, combined to create harmonious decision-making. Depending on the situation or the problem, one or the other ethical standard may take precedence over the other. However, teams working on specific problems will most likely want to approach any conflict from multiple perspectives. Making sure that problem solving is never unilateral and always takes into account viewpoints from many different employees or departments is a key to ensuring successful, effective, and ethical decisions. Ethical decisions cannot be based solely on employee feelings; they must also be based on written ethical objectives in a company code of ethics or procedural booklet.

Incorporating ethical decision-making into any organization demands employee empowerment, too. The PLUS Decision-Making model takes into account the fact that many employees do not read advanced level ethical theories and need a more practical approach to ethical decision-making (nd). Empowering employees means challenging all employees to make decisions based both on their own sense of right and wrong as well as on the company codes. The employee can take full responsibility for the consequences of his or her decision.

Ethical decision-making in the workplace increases productivity and reduces costs. Technology can also help improve productivity and profitability. Both technology and ethics can create more empowered, satisfied human resources. However, technological tools and ethical decision-making both require fundamental transformations in the workplace environment and organizational culture.

Technology is sometimes heralded as a means to reduce workloads but has become a source of considerable stress in the workplace. Even though technology makes many jobs faster, easier, more efficient and in many cases more accurate, employees consistently report stress directly related to technology such as computer crashes ("Workplace Trends" 1999). Constant upgrades to hardware and software, communications between it and other departments, and the need for employees with to master it tools in their departments makes many jobs more stressful than they need to be. Organizational behaviorists are seeking ways to reduce overall workplace stress and ways to harness the potential for technology to reduce instead of cause stress.

Technology can be harnessed to reduce the stress that it causes. For example, time saved on one project should be used to encourage down time, exercise, or other stress-reducing activities. Employees can be encouraged to play games, listen to music, or email friends during structured breaks. Instead of prohibiting employees from communicating with friends and families, supervisors can encourage such communications so long as employee productivity is not compromised. Workplaces rich in technological tools and with robust it departments should also ensure ergonomic work stations and related devices. Technology allows workers to telecommute and therefore spend more time with their families, and technology makes business communications far less stressful for socially anxious or shy workers.