Which of the following factors affect the ethical Behaviour of the member of an Organisation?

Over the last few decades of the 20th century, ethics have become relative, with various scholars at one point or another providing a slight variation of its true essence. A result of which has led to the consideration of personal opinion, societal traditions, or the circumstances of that particular moment as informers of the definition. Today, a more formal definition can be found in the Oxford dictionary

"as the moral principles that govern a person's behaviour or the conducting of an activity".

Similarly, ethical behaviour within business refers to conduct that is deemed just, fair and constitutional and any behaviour that is not contained within the above mentioned is in fact by definition unethical.

Research on organizational ethics, ethical behaviour of individuals within the work space and what is constituted to be within the law has in the past few decades become overly abundant, this plethora of research has resulted in a number of theories and empirical studies. The most significant of these developments, is the notion that ethics can be categorized according to organizational and individual factors, both of which are drivers/influencers of ethical behaviour in the work place.

The purpose of this article is in no way to extend/increase the already vast research on ethical behaviour, but instead to critically assess some of the competing factors and constructs already referred to in previous literature which influence ethical behaviour in organizations while highlighting the environment in which they occur, to better understand what influences ethic and unethical behaviour in our workspaces.

Individual Factors

Our uniqueness as individuals can considered as a compelling factor when looking at influence, due to our varying individual behaviour. The suggestion thatOur uniqueness can be perceived as an ethical decision-making unit and as such our overall behavioural influences can be utilized to measure our individual performance in ethical situations. While there may be a plethora of evidence and observations under this variable, a limited amount of research deals specifically with Machiavellianism among individuals especially within recent research.

• Machiavellianism

In 1990 scholars were of the view that Machiavellian managers’ perception of ethical problems varied and so did their reasoning to take action about these problems. This supported an initial perception that negatively linked Machiavellianism and ethical decision making by middle and senior managers further highlighting the significant variance in ethical behaviour of managers in their work place. Compounded by the view that personality trait/behaviour and Machiavellianism, have a constant negative relation to the ethical decision-making process.

People (leaders) with high Machiavellianism are percieved to be highly flexible and exhibit external control as a crucial part not only of their behavioural strategy but especially with interaction between them and their subordinates (team members). For example, those with high Machiavellian behaviour tend to intensively monitor their co-worker's social behaviour to a situation and should the characteristics of that given situation require a change, their tactics will also change. In other words, a high level of Machiavellianism indicates high levels of unethicality of a person in their decision making, seemingly to exploit the situation.

• Value Orientation

Value orientation includes but is not limited to the values of upbringing, and the value- based theories in the literature indicate that value orientation affects specifically morals and the ethical decision-making process constantly and significantly positive, further, personal values have an inverse relationship with behavioural intentions,

person's perceived likelihood or "subjective probability that he or she will engage in a given  behavior".

One also needs to understand the negative relation incorrect value orientation can bear on ethical behaviour. For example, employees that possess a strong sense of values such as honesty and integrity, hardworking motivated learning and professionalism are bound by their values to perform ethically regardless of the pressure. Therefore, individuals who are strongly value oriented are less likely to behave in an unethical manner, due to fact that illustriousness leads to the influence of ethical decision making and further displays the negative relation it has to ethical behaviour.

• Locus of Control

Since the inception of the construct and introduction of locus of control by Julian B. Rotter in 1954, as the belief that individuals could control events or matters that were directly affecting them, it has become an individual personality study. It is believed that there are two kinds of the locus of control that govern people, namely the internal and external. Internals believe they can control their own decisions and externals believe that their decisions are controlled by external environmental factors.

It is wise to observe how the organizational political environment is fuelled by the locus of control of its employees and the significant influences on their ethical behaviour, this phenomenon has further been sustained by the witnessing of the momentous impact locus of control has had on ethical behaviour whether directly or indirectly. There is a likelihood that a leader that possesses an internal locus of control is favoured by his group members, this is created by the responsibility aspect that this leader possesses, as they are likely to take more responsibility for events and not blame it entirely on their team. This, in turn, allows the team members to be responsible, creating a sense of reliance in the team and also creates a sense of achievement for team members as there is a feeling that the outcome is a result of their own decisions too. Further to this, internals are less likely to behave unethically than those with an external locus of control.

Organizational Factors

Organizational factors can be considered factors that exist in the work environment which are external to the Individual factors but directly or indirectly influence the ethical behaviour of the individual. There are many important constructs on organizational factors, these include code of ethics, rewarding system, economic climate, etc.

• Rewarding System

Rewards are perceived to be one of the greatest influencers of ethical behaviour. over the years we have witnessed the relationship between the rewarding of unethical behaviour and the continuation of such behaviour however, that creation of a reward system that rewards ethical behaviour have shown an increases ethical behaviour. Further, a great part of the research that exists in this field divulges that through the indirect process of outcome expectations, rewards influence ethical decision making. Take the example that, there are still countries for example in parts of Asia where baksheesh is still acceptable, mostly directed at politicians to tip the scales, establish loyalties or influence decisions, however, it is forbidden in most parts of the world and is perceived as a crime. In developing African countries the corruption is incredibly high due to the expectation of reward for certain guarantees or rights. There is also a likelihood, or it can be expected that individuals in higher social or corporate standing (government officials, Businessmen, CEO’s Etc.) will engage in unethical behaviour with the expectation of high incentives (rewards) for their actions.

External Factors

External factors are factors outside the individual's control and that of the organization, these, however, have a direct or indirect influence on the organization. These include all factors of relevance i.e. the influence of stakeholders and that of the regulatory systems.

• Competition

Market-related competition introduces abundant pressure to organizations and their ethical behaviour, it is important to acknowledge the influences of competitiveness on ethical behaviour and how competitiveness occasionally decreases ethical behaviour, however, one can also make the argument that there is no significant relation between competition and ethical behaviour.

The idea possessed by many seems to suggests that the is great emphasis on success is not a bad thing in principle, similarly, small business owners face situations of advancements whether in position or financial status, this, however, tends to lead to ethical compromises as the need to remain in the market or to assume market leadership is increased. Therefore, the augment for and the acknowledgement that market-related competition had a noteworthy impact on personal traits is not without reason and that these traits influence organizational decision making.

While,

the factors discussed above are but a few points from an overwhelming pool of theories, factors, and constructs, of ethics and ethical behaviour. There is a growing need for strong personal values among employees which becomes imperative for the strength of the organizations and its work due to the capabilities these these values have in essentially steers the organizations in a forward positive trajectory. Thus, organisational and external factors coupled with locus of control of leaders require constant monitoring to keep the organization from unethical behaviour.

One does however need to concede that , there are limitations to the thorough assessment of ethical behaviour in the workplace as there are very limited studies and theories that focus on the external factors like competition; stakeholders influences, regulation system etc., which advocates for greater attention in this field. It is also fitting to mention as I conclude that the different perception of researchers and their findings enables thorough assessments, as their opposing views sheds light and assists in answer pertinent questions and filling the voids within the understand of ethics and ethical behaviour and how these affect organisation.

What are the factors affecting ethical behavior in organizations?

Which of the following has the greatest effect on ethical Behaviour in Organisation?

What are 3 organizational factors that influence ethical decision making?

Which of these is a factor that affects ethical and unethical Behaviour *?