ninth edition

STEPHEN P. ROBBINS MARY COULTER

Chapter
Managerial Ethics
5
PowerPoint Presentation by Charlie Cook
The University of West Alabama
LEARNING OUTLINE
Follow this Learning Outline as you read and study this chapter.
Managerial Ethics
• Discuss the factors that affect ethical and unethical
behavior.
• Describe the important roles managers play in
encouraging ethical behavior.

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L E A R N I N G O U T L I N E (cont’d)
Follow this Learning Outline as you read and study this chapter.
Social Responsibility and Ethics in Today’s World
• Explain why ethical leadership is important.
• Discuss how managers and organizations can protect
employees who raise ethical issues or concerns.
• Explain what role social entrepreneurs play.
• Describe social impact management.

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Managerial Ethics

• Ethics Defined
 Principles, values, and beliefs that define what is right
and wrong behavior.

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Exhibit 5–8 Factors That Affect Ethical and Unethical Behavior

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Factors That Affect Employee Ethics
• Moral Development
 A measure of independence from outside influences
 Levels of Individual Moral Development
– Preconventional level
– Conventional level
– Principled level
 Stage of moral development interacts with:
 Individual characteristics
 The organization’s structural design
 The organization’s culture
 The intensity of the ethical issue

5–6
 Exhibit 5–9 Stages of Moral Development

Source: Based on L. Kohlberg, “Moral Stages and Moralization: The Cognitive-

Development Approach,” in T. Lickona (ed.). Moral Development and Behavior: Theory,
Research, and Social Issues (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1976), pp. 34–35.
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Factors That Affect Employee Ethics
(cont’d)
• Moral Development
 Research Conclusions:
 People proceed through the stages of moral development
sequentially.
 There is no guarantee of continued moral development.
 Most adults are in Stage 4 (“good corporate citizen”).

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Individual Characteristics Affecting
Ethical Behaviors

• Values
 Basic convictions about what is right or wrong on a
broad range of issues

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Individual Characteristics
• Personality Variables
 Ego strength
 A personality measure of the strength of a person’s
convictions
 Locus of Control
 A personality attribute that measures the degree to which
people believe they control their own life.
 Internal locus: the belief that you control your destiny.
 External locus: the belief that what happens to you is due to
luck or chance.

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Other Variables
• Structural Variables
 Organizational characteristics and mechanisms that
guide and influence individual ethics:
 Performance appraisal systems
 Reward allocation systems
 Behaviors (ethical) of managers

• An Organization’s Culture
• Intensity of the Ethical Issue

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Exhibit 5–10 Determinants of Issue Intensity

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Ethics in an International Context
• Ethical standards are not universal.
 Social and cultural differences determine acceptable
behaviors.
• Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
 Makes it illegal to corrupt a foreign official yet “token”
payments to officials are permissible when doing so is
an accepted practice in that country.
• The Global Compact

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 Exhibit 5–11 The Global Compact

Human Rights
Principle 1: Support and respect the protection of international human rights within their
sphere of influence.
Principle 2: Make sure business corporations are not complicit in human rights abuses.

Labor Standards
Principle 3: Freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective
bargaining.
Principle 4: The elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labor.
Principle 5: The effective abolition of child labor.
Principle 6: The elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

Environment
Principle 7: Support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges.
Principle 8: Undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility.
Principle 9: Encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly
technologies.

Source: Courtesy of Global Compact.

. 5–14
How Managers Can Improve Ethical
Behavior in An Organization
1. Hire individuals with high ethical standards.
2. Establish codes of ethics and decision rules.
3. Lead by example.
4. Set realistic job goals and include ethics in
performance appraisals.
5. Provide ethics training.
6. Conduct independent social audits.
7. Provide support for individuals facing ethical
dilemmas.

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The Value of Ethics Training
• Can make a difference in ethical behaviors.
• Increases employee awareness of ethical issues
in business decisions.
• Clarifies and reinforces the organization’s
standards of conduct.
• Helps employees become more confident that
they will have the organization’s support when
taking unpopular but ethically correct stances.

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 Exhibit 5–12 Clusters of Variables Found in 83 Corporate
Codes of Business Ethics

Cluster 1. Be a Dependable Organizational Citizen Cluster 3. Be Good to Customers

1. Comply with safety, health, and security regulations. 1. Convey true claims in product advertisements.
2. Demonstrate courtesy, respect, honesty, and fairness. 2. Perform assigned duties to the best of your ability.
3. Illegal drugs and alcohol at work are prohibited. 3. Provide products and services of the highest quality.
4. Manage personal finances well.
5. Exhibit good attendance and punctuality.
6. Follow directives of supervisors.
7. Do not use abusive language.
8. Dress in business attire.
9. Firearms at work are prohibited.

Cluster 2. Do Not Do Anything Unlawful or Improper That

Will Harm the Organization
1. Conduct business in compliance with all laws.
2. Payments for unlawful purposes are prohibited.
3. Bribes are prohibited.
4. Avoid outside activities that impair duties.
5. Maintain confidentiality of records.
6. Comply with all antitrust and trade regulations.
7. Comply with all accounting rules and controls.
8. Do not use company property for personal benefit.
9. Employees are personally accountable for company funds.
10. Do not propagate false or misleading information.
11. Make decisions without regard for personal gain.

Source: F. R. David, “An Empirical Study of Codes of Business Ethics: A Strategic Perspective,” paper
presented at the 48th Annual Academy of Management Conference, Anaheim, California, August 1988.
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 Exhibit 5–13 Twelve Questions for Examining the Ethics
of a Business Decision

1. Have you defined the problem accurately?

2. How would you define the problem if you stood on the other side of the fence?
3. How did this situation occur in the first place?
4. To whom and to what do you give your loyalty as a person and as a member of the
corporation?
5. What is your intention in making this decision?
6. How does this intention compare with the probable results?
7. Whom could your decision or action injure?
8. Can you discuss the problem with the affected parties before you make the decision?
9. Are you confident that your position will be as valid over a long period of time as it
seems now?
10. Could you disclose without qualm your decision or action to your boss, your chief
executive officer, the board of directors, your family, society as a whole?
11. What is the symbolic potential of your action if understood? If misunderstood?
12. Under what conditions would you allow exceptions to your stand?

Source: Reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Review. An exhibit from “Ethics Without the Sermon,” by L. L. Nash.
November–December 1981, p. 81. Copyright © 1981 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved.
. 5–18
Effective Use of a Code of Ethics
• Develop a code of ethics as a guide in handling
ethical dilemmas in decision making.
• Communicate the code regularly to all
employees.
• Have all levels of management continually
reaffirm the importance of the ethics code and
the organization’s commitment to the code.
• Publicly reprimand and consistently discipline
those who break the code.

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Ethical Leadership
• Managers must provide a good role model by:
 Being ethical and honest at all times.
 Telling the truth; don’t hide or manipulate information.
 Admitting failure and not trying to cover it up.
 Communicating shared ethical values to employees
through symbols, stories, and slogans.
 Rewarding employees who behave ethically and
punish those who do not.
 Protecting employees (whistleblowers) who bring to
light unethical behaviors or raise ethical issues.

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Managing Ethical Lapses and Social
Irresponsibility

• Provide ethical leadership

• Protect employees who raise ethical issues
(whistle-blowers)

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