Ethics and Leadership

1. MGMT 560 – Organizational Leadership
Ethics and Professional Codes of
Conduct

2. Ethics
• a system of moral principles: the ethics of a culture
• the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular
class of human actions or a particular group, culture,
etc.: medical ethics; Christian ethics
• that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to
human conduct, with respect to the rightness and
wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and
badness of the motives and ends of such actions

3. Formal vs Informal
• Formal Ethics
– Code of Conduct
– Oath
– Board of Ethics
• Informal Ethics
– No formal governing body
– No accountability, other than from client
– No formal repercussions

4. Making an Ethical Decision
1. Recognize the ethical dilemma
2. Ask yourself, is this the start of a slippery
slope
– One slip allows the next slip to happen more
easily
3. Would you want your decision to the
problem broadcast to the world?

5. Ethical Situations
– Maintaining the integrity of company databases in the
face of requests to use the data inappropriately
– Providing truthful information on the status of projects,
budgets and profits even when there are problems –
being accountable for success and failure
– Standing firm on a decision despite its unpopularity
– Reporting suspected unethical behavior of others
despite personal discomfort
– Not developing personal relationships with vendors/
customers/outside agencies – potential conflict of
interest issues

6. Principles for Creating
Ethical Cultures
• Principle 1: The only way to sustain
Compliance is through Culture
– Employees want to be part of organizations
whose values mirror their own
– Organizations need to reduce fear, encourage
accountability and live by a common set of
values that build trust

7. Principles for Creating
Ethical Cultures
• Principle 2: Corporate culture reflects the
values of the leaders
– If Leaders do not embody the ethical
standards, then no one else will

8. Principles for Creating
Ethical Cultures
• Principle 3: Measurement matters – if you
can’t measure it, you can’t manage it
– Leadership needs to measure integrity risk
and monitor progress in managing it
– Culture must become a metric

9. Web of Needs
• Needs encountered in IT practice:
– User needs
– Personal needs
– Organizational needs
– Needs of society
– Others?
• Framework for Ethical Analysis
1. Identify web of needs for project
2. Identify strands of web where conflict is likely to occur
3. Resolve conflict issues with concerned parties
4. Agreed needs set recorded and input into requirements analysis
Ref: Taylor, M.J. & Moynihan E., Analysing IT Ethics.

10. Ref: Gebler, D., Creating an Ethical Culture

11. Level 1 – Financial Stability:
• Organizations that are consumed
with surviving
• Leaders may exercise excessive
control – an environment of fear
• Unethical or illegal conduct can be
rationalized
• Leaders must know and stand within
clear ethical boundaries
Level 2 – Communication:
• Critical issue is to create a sense of
loyalty and belonging among
employees and caring and connection
between the organization and
customers
• Most critical link is between
employees and direct supervisors
• Fears about belonging and lack of
respect lead to fragmentation,
dissension, and disloyalty
• When leaders fail to communicate
employees suspect the worst – cliques
form and gossip becomes rife
Ref: Gebler, D., Creating an Ethical Culture

12. Level 3 – Systems & Processes:
• Organization is focused adoption of
best practices, quality, productivity,
and efficiency
• Succeed in implementing strong
internal controls and clear standards
of conduct
• Being efficient may lead to
bureaucracy and inconsistent
application of rules – loss of respect
for the system
• May lead to shortcuts – “doing what it
takes to succeed”
Level 4 – Accountability:
• Leaders and employees begin to
take responsibility for their actions
• They want to be held accountable,
not micromanaged
• For an ethics program to be
successful, all employees must feel
that they have a personal
responsibility for the integrity of the
organization – leaders must invite
employee participation
Ref: Gebler, D., Creating an Ethical Culture

13. Level 5 – Alignment:
• Critical issue is developing a shared
vision and a set of values – vision
provides unified purpose and direction;
values provide guidance for making
decisions
• Values and behaviors are reflected in
processes and systems with
appropriate consequences for those
who aren’t willing to walk the talk
• A precondition for success is building
a climate of trust
Level 6 – Social Responsibility:
• The organization is able to use
relationships with stakeholders to
sustain through crisis and challenge
• Employees and customers see the
organization making a difference in the
world
• Organization goes the extra mile to
make sure they are being responsible
citizens
Ref: Gebler, D., Creating an Ethical Culture

14. Level 7 – Sustainability:
• Organization embraces the highest
ethical standards in all interactions
with employees, suppliers, customers,
shareholders, and the community
• Always consider long-term impact of
decisions and actions
Other Considerations:
• Employee values are distributed
across all seven levels
• Organizations don’t operate from any
one level – they tend to cluster around
three or four levels (most are clustered
on the first three)
• Successful organizations operate
across the full spectrum with focus on
the upper levels
• Lower level organizations – have
controls and procedures but may lack
accountability and commitment
• Higher level organizations – visionary
leaders and social responsibility but
may lack core systems and processes
Ref: Gebler, D., Creating an Ethical Culture