Technology's role in establishing and managing workplace ethics

Technology and Ethics

Companies and corporations around the globe are utilizing ever-expanding technology to help set and manage ethical standards and guidelines within the workplace. Additionally, utilizing such technology can help to shape the type of work environment or work culture that a company hopes to promote. In embracing technology and its capacity to work in conjunction with maintaining ethical standards within the workplace, company higher-ups and human resources are able to better perform the functions of their work that unify company culture into one that is representative of their respective mission statements.

How Do Companies Utilize Technology to Set and Manage Ethics?

There are a variety of ways that companies utilize technology to set and manage ethics within the workplace. Some businesses utilize technological services that monitor employee phone calls, email, and Internet use in a manner that embraces the ideal of zero tolerance when it comes to obscenities or inappropriate language or content within the office. For instance, communication systems within an office may be hooked up through a network administrator base, set up to ensure that should such coarse language be used or inappropriate content viewed or exchanged, the respective employee who is at fault will be pointed out within the context of the company and therefore face reprimanding from a higher-up or possible firing. In communicating the presence of such features to employees rather than utilizing the mentality that it is more efficient to "catch someone in the act," companies are able to foster an environment for ethical consideration and growth within an office.

In utilizing such technological services to manage ethics, companies are simultaneously creating a set of ethics within the workplace that the company wishes to adhere to. In understanding from the beginning that technological tools have been set up within an office, employees understand from the beginning of their employment in these companies that the ethical standards of the office are above all else when it comes to how the company operates. While initially, this type of technological management of ethics can be viewed as a "big brother" system within the workplace, eventually such devices become not only commonplace, but the standard to which employees work to abide by. In a recent study, it was found that prior beliefs and ethical orientation interact to affect employees' reactions to monitoring systems within the workplace, which is less of a problem when ethical standards are specifically set and directly communicated to these employees at the time of their hiring (Alder, Kuenzi, Noel and Schminke, 2010, p. 481).

Ethics Shaping Work Environment and Culture

When ethical standards are made to be the lynchpin within a functioning corporation or company setting, these ethical standards serve as a solid unifier within the company. Ethical standards are often set at the top of any company, with executives determining the basis for ethical standards within the office. After the creation of these standards, these ethics begin a trickle-down from executives to employees, unifying the company into a cohesive body that is respectful of a standard set in place within the office.

One of the most important aspects of how ethics shape work environment and culture comes in the manner in which ethically-abiding employees interact with their customers and clients. So often, the media is filled with news pieces centering on the deception of customers and clients by unethical and greedy corporate leaders and businesses. Under these circumstances, companies are not afforded the leeway they once were to slip up, as clients who question the ethical standards of a company they are dealing with will undeniably jump to take their business elsewhere. However, as quickly as negative press about a company spreads, so does positive press. Word of mouth as to the standard of business within a company allows prospective clients to understand fully the environment in which they are taking part. A company that maintains ethical standards within the workplace and extends these standards into their dealings with company outsiders will afford all individuals they come in contact with a sense of comfort and certainty that is needed to keep an office fully functional and keep clients and prospective clients happy.

Conclusion

Ethics is a facet of business that can either make or break a company, and in an ever-increasing technological age, companies continue to utilize technology in nearly every aspect of company dealings. The utilization of such technological advances in creating and maintain company ethical standards, creating accompanying company culture, and ensuring that human resources dealings are done in a more efficient manner, has become the standard to which companies adhere. In embracing the utilization of technology in the workplace, ethical standards are both set and monitored in a way that assures compliance, garnering a positive mentality within a company and positive feedback from the outside world. As standards for the workplace continue to grow and evolve, so does the field of technology, which makes the two a perfect pair, capable of achieving great things for a company when used together.