2Ndseminar: Ethics in the Real World

NOTES ON PRACTICAL ETHICS

2ndSeminar: Ethics in the Real World

Professor Ian E Thompson

Principal Consultant with Corporate Ethical Services:

28 Links Street, Musselburgh, EH21 6JL, Scotland

Telephone: 0131 665 46741 — Email:

INTEGRATING ETHICS INTO OUR WORKING LIFE

Ethics is not an optional extra, but should be a routine and integral part of sound Strategic Planning and Management. Corporate statements of an organisation’s Mission, Vision and Values mean little if they cannot be ‘cashed out’ in workable corporate and operational ethical policies, and if these are not applied in an agency’s ordinary everyday business. An organisation’s choice of values plays a crucial role in defining its goals and ethical culture, its standards of ‘quality’, what kinds of processes and systems are appropriate to achieve its objectives, and how it will monitor its performance. In a sound and efficient organisation, its values play a central role in defining its leadership style, employee development, the way it does business and the quality of its products or the services it delivers.[1] Thus, sound strategic ethical management is based on the application to a whole organisation of the methods of continuous quality improvement where strategic planning and management are directed by the values that are fundamental to the organisation.

Like individuals and communities, organisations need to develop skills in applied ethics, in clarifying values, making well justified ethical decisions, and developing sound ethical policies and rules. To acknowledge that we live and work in well functioning [or dysfunctional] moral communities, points to the need to make clear and explicit, operative and effective, the values which serve as the raison d’etre of our organisations. Values are constitutive for the mission of all organisations, and should be regulative of their strategic planning and everyday operations. In this way ethics is introduced as a routine part of an organisation’s business, and into the systems and procedures operated by its professional staff. Ethics ceases to be simply a private matter, a cosmetic ‘add-on’ to our business and professional life. It is and should be the way we do business, if it is done competently and well.

ETHICS OPERATES AT VARIOUS LEVELS IN AN ORGANISATION:

In order to accomplish this it is necessary to get away from a narrow individualistic model of ethics and to recognise the various levels where ethical problems arise:

External Stakeholder Level / Ethics in Strategic Planning & Inter-Agency Relations
Internal Stakeholder Level / Ethics in Corporate Management of Human & Financial Resources
Team Leadership Level / Ethics in Inter-Disciplinary Cooperation and Teamwork.
Individual Level / Ethics in Personal Decision Making and Employee Development.

There are several advantages in adopting a comprehensive and corporate approach to ethics:

Instead of ethics being seen as merely necessary for dealing with corruption and fraud, it becomes part of a corporation’s ethos, mission, values-base and strategic planning.
Systems, procedures and training programs are set up in such a way that ethics is introduced to the bloodstream and contributes to the ongoing life of the body corporate, planning for growth, organisational change and employee development.
Sound ethical policy is seen to contribute to both corporate and individual well-being, and thus collective commitment to the new ethos of ethical management and practice is seen to be advantageous to all, to be secured by negotiation rather than edict from above.
Quality assurance, standards setting, and peer review are seen to be a normal part of ethical management – encouraging development of skills and confidence in self-audit or monitoring, reducing dependency on legalistic, authoritarian, ‘disciplinary’ approaches.

RESEARCH ON BENEFITS OF ETHICS TO BUSINESS AND ORGANISATIONS [2]

Assists professional bodies and private businesses to develop ethical policy and standards, and to apply sound methods to the periodic ethical audit of practice.

Facilitates the establishment of management systems on a sound moral basis, and ensures integration of ethics into performance assessment, quality assurance, employee training and organisational development.

Helps develop employee confidence and competence through their skilled application of moral principles to decision making in their life and work.

Personal Costs Of Unethical Practice / Personal Benefits Of Ethical Practice

Without clear values life is directionless
Confusion between short & long-term goals
No benchmarks for performance assessment
Decision-making arbitrary and capricious
No coherent policy or dependability of action

Values clarification gives vision & direction
Principles set definite goals for action
Ethical ideals set standards for achievement
Ethical decisions are well justified decisions
Rules for living ethically consistent & sound

Professional Costs of Unethical Practice / Professional Benefits of Ethical Practice

Professionals not regarded as trustworthy
Profession lacks credibility and visible unity
Regulation of professional practice impossible
Decision making driven by factional interests
Collaboration frustrated by division & conflict.

Shared vision of professional service ideals
Common values for good of professional body
Clear standards for professional practice
Consistent principles for decision making
Basis for common policies on collaboration

Corporate Costs of Unethical Practice / Corporate Benefits of Ethical Practice

Management confused – driven by self-interest.
CRISIS MANAGEMENT - ad hockery rules OK!
Power rather than principle – divide and rule.
Authoritarian or laissez faire decision making.
Organisation lacks integrity and credibility.

Clear vision informs mission & management
Values determine goals for strategic planning
Principled leadership and conflict resolution
Consistent basis for manager / team decisions
Sound corporate and ethical policy

SKILLS REQUIRED TO BUILD MORAL COMMUNITY AT WORK:

Developing competence in practical ethics requires understanding of fundamental ethical principles [eg. The Principles of Justice, Respect for Personal Rights and Responsible Care], and practised ability to apply the following three kinds of inter-related skills:

Skills in clarifying and operationalising values
Skills in making critical ethical decisions
Skills in setting strategic and operational ethical policy.

Sound management and practice presupposes these skills are competently applied at individual, team or management, and corporate/agency levels.

Skills in clarifying and operationalising values

Because our choice of values determines the means we adopt to achieve our short and long-term goals, it is crucial that in any business or organisation there is clarity about the values which operate within it - at the Corporate, Management, Professional and Individual levels. It is also important that employers and employees not only have insight into the competing [and sometimes conflicting] values which operate in any moral community, but have the necessary skills to deal with and resolve serious conflicts of values. One way this can be effected is by engaging the key stakeholders [or their representatives] directly in the process of ethical policy development. Codes of Ethics or Codes of Conduct are of little avail if there is not real ownership of them by all the staff in an organisation. This process also enables people to understand how the fundamental principles and values should influence decision making and policy setting in the organisation.

Skills in making ethical decisions

Skills in ethical decision making are not confined to skilled application of problem solving methods in making personal ethical decisions. In any organisation, business or government department, most decision-making is an activity of committees or teams and requires complex skills in analysis and negotiation to explore the interests of concerned stakeholders. At a corporate level CEOs and senior managers are involved in the complex diplomacy and politics of negotiations with government and inter-agency consultation and collaboration. Devising means to involve relevant external stakeholders in the process, and taking account of different agencies’ policies and procedures makes ethical decision making at these levels even more complex.

Skills in setting ethical policy

Skills in developing sound ethical policies or rules to protect the interests of all requires more than just ‘management by memorandum’ or promulgating written prescriptions for behaviour. Sound ethical policy development has more to do with the integrity of the process, involvement and participation of stakeholders, and achievement of ‘ownership’ of the policy outcomes, than producing some slick public relations document based on mechanical application of some template. Skills in developing sound policy and procedures in any organisation are best built from the bottom up, not simply imposed from above. All staff should get training and practice in applying procedures for setting policy, at the operational, management or corporate levels.

VALUES -->DECIDE --> POLICY - sums up the relationship between these skills:

Values Clarification: / Values – Objectives
Personal Values / Clarify and make explicit both Principles and Goals for Action, as a basis for both short-term and long-term decision-making
Professional Values / Clarify the Basis and Standards for Practice which enable Professional Collaboration and Peer Review
Corporate Business Values / Clarify Corporate Raison d’etre and Core Functions of business - Develop Corporate Statement of Mission, Vision & Values
Ethical Decision Making / Decide – Objectives
Individual Decision-Making / Competent application of problem-solving methods to making informed, systematic and well-justified ethical decisions
Team or Committee Decisions / Competent use of ethical decision making methods to build team consensus and for constructive resolution of conflict.
Corporate or Inter-agency Decision Making Processes / Consistent and transparent procedures for consultation and negotiation in dealing with internal and external stakeholders
Setting Ethical Policy / Policy - Objectives
Codes of Ethical Conduct / Achieve high standards and consistency in professional practice for the benefit of the client and the general public
Operational Ethical Policy / Maintain quality control on business efficiency, technical competence of employees & standards of client services
Corporate Business Strategy / Achieve market leadership by sound strategic ethical management, and evidence of integrity, consistent quality service, and good internal performance assessment

The Need to Clarify our Values

What do we mean by ‘values’? How are they distinguished from Attitudes and Beliefs ?
What methods can be used to assist people to learn skills in values clarification ?

Because my values serve to define my desired life-style and the purpose and direction of my career, my chosen values will define both my short-term and long-term goals. They will also determine the means I will adopt to achieve these goals.

Unless we have insight into the nature of values and what values influence our decisions and the policies we follow, we will lack direction and fail to have clear goals for living. Thus values clarification is important for us in setting our own direction and goals, but also for resolving tensions between different sets of values in individuals, professionals, and different levels of employees in the agencies, businesses or corporations of the state.[3]

AS INDIVIDUALS, values clarification gives us

Insight into what things determine our choice of life-style and goals for living
Ability to focus more clearly on and distinguish our short- and long-term goals
Ability to make informed value-judgements about the means to achieve our goals
Understanding of the fact that other people may have different personal values, and
Ability to take Values into account in negotiating or doing business with other people.

AS PROFESSIONALS, values clarification gives us;-

Insight into the core service and achievement values endorsed by one’s profession
Ability to identify and apply at work the standards and goals of one’s profession
Ability to better assess one’s own performance and that of one’s peers
Understanding that the value-base of other professionals may be different, and
Ability to take different value-bases into account in resolving conflict and disagreements.

AS ORGANISATIONS, values clarification gives us:-

Clarity about the Vision and Values which set the Organisation’s Goals & Targets
Ability to undertake Strategic Planning and Management with a clear direction
Ability to determine clear Standards for Leadership and Performance Assessment
Ability to take account of the different levels of values in corporate life, and to apply this understanding in Negotiating Change, Monitoring and Auditing Performance.

ATTITUDES, BELIEFS AND VALUES

Attitudes are generally learned or conditioned responses [positive or negative] that we adopt towards other people, relationships, groups, customs, ideas and even material things.

Beliefs comprise that sub-set of acquired opinions and attitudes to which we are personally committed and for which we are prepared to make truth-claims.

Values consist of those beliefs to which I am committed and on which I am prepared to act, even to stake my life and future, because they define my short-term and long-term life goals, and serve to determine the means I will choose to attain them.[4]

Attitudes, beliefs and values are often confused by people and this confusion is compounded by loose use of these terms in the popular media. For the sake of clarity and understanding it is important to distinguish carefully between them:

Attitudes are generally learned or conditioned responses [positive or negative] that we adopt towards other people, relationships, groups, customs, ideas and even material things.

We learn these attitudes and behaviours from our families, schooling, religious and cultural upbringing. Attitudes may be ‘ingrained’ or ‘cultivated’. The former tend to be accepted uncritically on the authority of those who are responsible for our social formation. ‘Cultivated’ attitudes [like the self-conscious adoption of the styles of dress and habits of our peer group] may be voluntarily adopted by a person, but without challenging peer group norms. As such, behaviour based on group attitudes tends to be stereotyped both in stereotyping other people, and in the stereotypical nature of the response to the individual or group in question. Popular morality and customs often relate to such conditioned attitudes and conventional behaviour.

Attitudes are generally more stable than feelings and are made up of many imposed and acquired dispositions, opinions and prejudices. Attitudes include feelings as well as cognitive and behavioural elements. They are typical responses of certain groups to other groups or persons, [as for example in racism, sexism and ageism]. However, while we may learn to adopt other dispositions towards people, through our own learning and experience, there is always a risk that when faced with a crisis of confidence in a person, we fall back on conditioned responses.

Eg: Sexist attitudes and racial prejudice are often learned from those displayed in our families or peer group. Such inherited attitudes tend not to be subject to critical examination. The feelings, opinions and behaviours that go with such attitudes are irrational to the extent that they are not open to scientific examination or intellectual debate. However, our exposure to other people or cultures may result in our ‘changing our minds’, but our ingrained attitudes and prejudices remain beneath the surface, and reappear when we are threatened or disillusioned.

In general, we do not quarrel with a person’s right to express their feelings, attitudes or opinions, for, as such, they do not make any truth claims. It may be interesting or amusing to know how people feel or what they think. So we may listen patiently when people say:

"I feel ...." or "I think ...... ", but when some one claims that something is true, we can challenge them to produce evidence or arguments to prove the truth claims they are making.

People [parents, teachers, priests] may attempt to impose their beliefs on us, and we may go along with them. However for us these remain attitudes rather than beliefs. These beliefs only become beliefs for us when we affirm them as our own, when we ourselves claim they are true.

Beliefs comprise that sub-set of acquired opinions and attitudes to which we are personally committed and for which we are prepared to make truth-claims.

Beliefs may be of many kinds - from the most basic to the most sublime. We have many beliefs of a practical nature relating to the ‘facts’ of daily living, food, health, sport, work. We also have other more theoretical beliefs which include scientific beliefs about the nature or origin of the world, moral and political beliefs about our personal values and social goals, and religious and metaphysical beliefs about the meaning and purpose of life.

To claim that something is true does not mean that it is actually true, [for it may not be true]. However, to profess a belief is to accept personal responsibility to justify it by putting forward reasons, evidence or claims based on our experience, which other people can contest or verify. For a person to say "I believe such-and-such to be the case" means that they are affirming a degree of confidence in the truth of a statement, creed or set of ideas. Alternatively they may be affirming a certain degree of trust in a person, which falls short of certainty.

However, to profess certain beliefs does not mean that I am committed to acting on them. I may be intellectually committed to a set of beliefs, or say that I believe in a person, but I may not act on my beliefs. This may be because they fall short of full certainty, and there is room for doubt, or I may lack the strength or motivation to act on my beliefs.

Eg: I may believe the truth of some of the teachings of Karl Marx, but not be a card-bearing member of the Communist Party. Or I may broadly accept Christian teaching, but may not attend church or be a 'practising believer'. Alternatively I may believe that a public sector employee has a duty to protect the public interest, but lack the courage to expose corrupt practice that comes to my attention. Beliefs on which we are not prepared to act are like good intentions that remain as such. As the saying goes “The way to Hell is paved with good intentions”. Values, as we see below do however commit us to action, because they determine our life-goals.