The distinction between personal values and organizational ethics in practice

Organizational Ethics

Values, ethics and norms are part of every society regardless of what culture, religion or geographical boundary it belongs to. These values define how society's draw their lines between what are right and what is wrong. These values and ethics may be written, verbal or implied. It is a general misconception that value and ethics mean the same. As a matter of fact, value and ethics are both two entirely different terms. However, they both are closely interwoven and interdependent on each other. As mentioned earlier values are norms that define something desirable or undesirable. On the other hand, ethics refer to adhering to actions that are in compliance to desirable social values. Values may be individual, social as well as organizational. In general individuals and organizations inherit and develop their value systems from the society they belong to. The societies develop this value system over a period of time based on their religion and culture. While some general values may be commonly shared across the globe such as keeping promises and speaking truth, however other values may differ from person to person and society to society. In the same manner value systems differ from organization to organization. As a general rule, individuals and organizations base their value systems on their missions and visions. This is one major reason why their might clash with that of the organization s/he works at or with value systems of other coworkers, which in turn may lead to conflicts. Of course in an organizational environment, the organization's own culture is much more dominant over the individual values. Individual values of a person however become immensely significant when it comes to managerial positions as the way a leader or manager will develop policies, deal with employees and other stake holders and take decisions will be greatly dependent on his personal beliefs and convictions.

My Personal Values

My mission, on a personal level, is to shape myself and my personality, to become a valuable asset to the organization and the society and to bring a positive change in the society and in the organization I am part of.

Of course, this mission statement is too generic to define my ethical beliefs and values, but as stated earlier, I have developed my values and ethical code of conduct based on my personal mission statement. I am a person who likes to be a part of a peaceful and prospering society and organization, where every person has an equal right to progress. I believe in a value system that encourages modesty, humbleness, honesty, rule of law and justice, tolerance and education. My personal code of ethics is discussed as follows:

Modesty

Modesty is a generic term and may have different meaning to different individuals and different societies. Since an organization is a place that has numerous stakeholders at a time, I cannot obviously impose my personal measures of modesty on every individual and expect them to show compliance to that measure regardless of whether they agree or disagree with it. Therefore, by being modest, in an organizational context I mean to show adherence towards organizational culture and ethics and not to indulge in an action that offends the interest of the organization or offends a co worker.

Humbleness

By humbleness I mean to show humility towards others and not to be rude or arrogant. Obviously, when in a managerial role, humbleness can only be practiced to a certain degree as the manager needs to communicate his directions and commandments to the subordinates. Therefore in an organizational context, I do not mean to compromise on assertiveness, however, some degree of humbleness must still be practiced. This will keep subordinates secured and motivated and will make them more comfortable to discuss issues openly.

Honesty

Honesty, for me is essential on individual, societal and organizational level. Honesty must not be restricted to speaking truth. One must also be honest in terms of his actions and should be honest towards ones duties and obligations. Adherence to honesty on societal and organizational level ensures prevention of vices such as corruption and bribery and ensures progression and growth.

Rule of Law and Justice

This is the most important element of my value system. A fair and transparent justice system is essential, according to me, to have a society free of vices and to ensure prosperity. Individuals will only show compliance to ethical standards when they will have a firm belief in the fact that there is a strong and comprehensive system of justice is in place to which they are accountable. On an organizational level, a strong justice system and rule of law would encourage sense of responsibility and accountability among the stakeholders, particularly the employees. It will also ease up the process of implementation of organizational strategy and will increase the chances of strategic success. While I am all for the notion that there must be punishment for crime and offence, I however do not advocate capital punishments.

Tolerance

For a society and an organization to prosper, it is essential that the members of a society and/or an organization must show tolerance towards each other. Non-merit biases must be avoided and people must have freedom of expression. Others must be tolerant towards points-of-view put forth by their counterpart. On an organizational level, this promotes democratic leadership. This again is motivating for employees as it gives them a sense of importance. As far as freedom of expression is concerned, it is however essential, that a fine line must be drawn between voicing one's opinions and offending others. While, every individual, to me, holds an equal right to have an opinion, it must only be voiced in a manner that does not offend sentiments of other people.

Education

The reason why I made education a part of my values is because I believe it is only good education that mentally grooms an individual and makes one capable enough to take decisions which might not necessarily be verbally or literally written but are in compliance with ethics. An individual may encounter several instances in life where one has to make choices between "right vs. right." Only strong mental grooming and education can make ones able to carry out a proper analysis of what decision would be in the larger interest of the society or of the organization and what must be forgone.

Loyalty

In the context of U.S. army, this calls for an employee to show loyalty towards the country, the U.S. army and to the regiment s/he belongs to (Army Regulation 600-100, 2007).

Duty

This calls for an employee to be dutiful and show compliance towards obligations (Army Regulation 600-100, 2007).

Respect

This involves showing respect to others (Army Regulation 600-100, 2007).

Selfless Service

This involves giving preference to the larger interest of the society, country and the army over personal interests (Army Regulation 600-100, 2007).

Honor

This involves showing compliance to standards of U.S. Army at all times (Army Regulation 600-100, 2007).

Integrity

This involves adherence to honest and morally acceptable practices such that vices and deceptive actions are avoided (Army Regulation 600-100, 2007).

Personal Courage

This involves being ready to take up challenges and facing dangers at all times. This calls for both physical and mental strength (Army Regulation 600-100, 2007).

Comparing my organization's code of ethics with my own, I conclude that on literal grounds it is similar in many ways. The ethical code of the U.S. Army calls for being dutiful, honest, fulfillment of obligations and tolerance towards others. However, I feel that in many ways these ethics are not practically put into practice the way they should have been. One example is that within an army, there is little democracy that prevails. A junior member of the regiment has a little chance of expressing his/her opinion to the senior. Also in some cases promotional chances are not allowed on equality basis. This is not only demotivating but also frustrating for many soldiers. It has two serious impacts on the employees. One, it effect the efficiency of the soldiers which can be a serious issue in an emergency condition. Secondly, it has been a common practice that soldiers vent out their mental frustrations in a manner that is in stark opposition to the organization's ethical standards (Johnson, 1997). For example, the alleged treatment of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghuraib prison by some U.S. soldiers was unethical and undesirable. This is not only against my personal value system but also against the ethical code of the U.S. army itself. Many soldiers have admitted that the reason of their undesirably actions have been the fact that they were mentally disturbed.

Conclusion

It is true that the organizational culture of U.S. Army needs to be much stricter than other conventional organizations. It is however also true that the employees of this organization are as much human as anyone else and therefore they need to be motivated in the same manner. If I would be in a managerial role, I would allow a more democratic environment within the regiment that allows juniors to express their opinions and would motivate the employees on a more fair and equal grounds. I would also ensure a more sound ethical education and training so that compliance to ethical standards within the army can be ensured.