Organisational and Managerial Values and Work Ethics

 

Organizational Values

Grady writes the following on organizational values:

• Organizational values are abstract ideas that guide organizational thinking and actions.
• Organization values represent the foundation on which the company is formed.
• Defining an organization’s unique values is the first and most critical step in its formation and development
• While a difference in opinion and skills may be beneficial to the success of an organization, a unity of purpose must be maintained.
• In order for the institution to be successful, the values on which the company is built must be appropriate for the time, place, and environment in which the organization will operate.
• A company’s organizational values let others know what it is, why it has been created, and how it is different from other companies.

MANAGERIAL VALUES AND ETHOS

Ethos refers to the habitual character and values of individuals, groups, races, etc. Managerial ethos is concerned with the character and values of managers as a professional group. Contemporary managers hold some specific values which affect work and some of these are autonomy, equity, security, and opportunity.

1. Autonomy: These managers tend to allow enough latitude to individual employees as long as the use of this freedom does not violate the basic norms of the organization. In the last two decades, some management practices have been innovated which are in keeping with this value of autonomy.

2. Equity: Equity refers to justice in rewarding performance. Modern managers strongly feel that a person must get a reward proportionate to his input.

3. Security(providing security both economically and emotionally): Keeping a person on his toes by making him feel insecure is slowly but steadily getting discredited as a management philosophy. Even the societies which have practiced “hire and fire” policy are unmistakably shifting towards providing security of the job.

4. Opportunity: Providing enough career advancement opportunities to employees is yet another contemporary managerial value.

Besides these four values which affect a manager’s work, the manager may have a strong “Work Value”. Work Value refers to the worth a person ascribes to the opportunity of work. If you have a “strong” work value you are going to identify the worth or value of work to you in more ways than one. You may view work as an opportunity to: (a) accept challenges, (b) serve others, (c) earn money, (d) enjoy prestige and status, (e) be creative, or (f) be independent, etc.

MANAGERIAL ETHOS: ITS CHARACTERISTICS

Apart from these values, the managerial ethos requires the below characteristics as well.

• Action goal orientation: Persons with a high sense of adequacy have clear goals about their future and are directed by these goals. They are action oriented to reach their clear goals
• Pro-action/Pro-active: Proactive people do things on their own without having to be told by anyone. Such an initiative taking behavior leads to a high level of activity and experimentation.
• Internal resources: Managers with a high sense of adequacy are aware of their internal strengths and are guided by these strengths. They are aware of their weaknesses but this awareness does not deter them from acting positively or to look for opportunities for continuous self-improvement. They are open to feedback and ready to learn from experience.
•  Problem-solving attitude: A superior ethos requires that managers view themselves as problem solvers, rather than problem-avoiders. These managers have a positive orientation to problem situations and do not want to run away from problems. They tend to approach problem situations with optimism because they have an internal locus of control, i.e., a strong belief that they can change the environment through their own efforts.

HOW CULTURE AND ETHOS ARE MAINTAINED

You may have often experienced that every organization has its own unique traditions and customs. Seldom are these traditions and customs explicitly spelled out, yet, over a period of time, organizations do develop long-standing unwritten rules, regulations, and rituals. The process through which the people are trained to accept the tradition and maintain the homogeneity of ethos and behaviors is termed as socialization.

Socialization is a process of adaptation by which `new’ members come to understand the basic values, norms, and customs for becoming `accepted’ members of an organization. Though the most intense period of socialization is at the “fresher” stage of entry into an organization, the process continues throughout one’s entire career in the organization. The people who do not learn to adjust to the culture of the organization become the targets of attack and are often rejected by the organization.

Socialization process has three stages: 

1. Pre-arrival
2. Encounter
3. Metamorphosis

1. Pre-arrival: This stage tries to ensure that prospective members arrive at an organization with a certain set of values, attitudes, and expectations. This is usually taken care of at the selection stage itself. Selectors try to choose the “right type” of people, who they feel, will be able to “fit” the requirements of an organization. Thus an organization, even before allowing an outsider to “join”, makes an attempt to ensure a proper match that contributes toward the creation of a uniform culture within the organization.
2. Encounter: After gaining entry into the organization a new member faces an encounter stage. There is always a possibility of a difference between his expectations of an organization and the OC. If the expected image and OC matches, then the encounter stage passes off smoothly leading to confirmation of the image. If the imbalance between the two is acute, the person has usually two choices open.

1. First, he undergoes further socialization which detaches him from his previous expectations, replaces these with another set of expectations and thus helps him get adjusted to the prevailing system.
2. Second, he drops out due to disillusionment. In both cases the final result is the same: the status quo of traditions and customs are maintained.

In both cases the final result is the same: the status quo of traditions and customs are maintained.

3.Metamorphosis: People who had discovered an anomaly between their expectations and OC, but decided not to drop out, enter into the metamorphosis stage. They must sort out their problems and go through changes-hence this is called metamorphosis. When this metamorphosis is complete, the members feel `comfortable’ with the organization and job. Successful metamorphosis results in the lowered propensity to leave the organization.

For a very few persons, the metamorphosis stage may remain incomplete or unsuccessful. These people, as yet, have not been able to “accept” the OC and thereby remain nonconformist. Sometimes they continue to `fight’ the system, at least for some more time, with zeal and enthusiasm.

Sometimes an organization, anxious to break away from its stifling OC, may choose to deliberately appoint people without subjecting them to the metamorphosis stage so that they bring organizational change.

 Work Ethics

A system of moral principles is called ethics. They affect how people lead their lives, for life is an unbroken stream of decision-making and ethics are concerned with what is the right moral choice, for individuals and for society. This is also known as moral philosophy. The etymology of ethics is derived from the Greek word ethos, meaning habit, custom, disposition or character.

Ethics are therefore concerned with these sorts of moral decisions: how to live an ethical life, rights and responsibilities, right and wrong language, what is good and bad and so on. Contemporary notions of ethics have been handed on from philosophy, religions, and global cultures. Ethics are debated in topics such as human rights, the right to life, and professional behavior.

In a business, an ethical code is a defined set of principles that guide an organization in its activities and decisions and the firm’s philosophy may affect its productivity, reputation, and bottom line.

Among staff ethical behavior ensures work is completed with integrity and honesty and staff that are ethical adhere to policies and rules while working to meet the aims of the enterprise. An ethically positive, healthy work culture enhances morale among employees.

Traditionally, work ethic has been understood as a value based on hard work and diligence. Capitalists, for example, believe in the necessity of working hard and inconsequential ability to enhance one’s character. Socialists suggest that a concept of “hard work” is deluding the working class into being loyal workers of the elite; and working hard, in itself, is not necessarily an honorable thing, but simply a way to create greater wealth for those at the summit of the economic pyramid.

These values have been challenged and characterized as submissive to social convention and authority, and not meaningful in and of itself, but only if a positive result accrues. An alternative perception suggests that the work ethic is now subverted in a broader, and readily marketed-to society. This perspective has given us the phrase “work smart”.

In recent times, many say that a work ethic is now obsolete and that it is no true any longer that working more means producing more, or even that more production leads to a better life… this is, of course, not to be confused with quality productivity.