Intro to Management Exam 2

Forms of sexual harassment

1. quid pro quo

2. hostile work environment

quid pro quo

asking for or forcing an employee to perform sexual favors in exchange for receiving some reward or avoiding negative consequences

hostile work environment

telling lewd jokes, displaying pornography, making sexual oriented remarks about someone's personal appearance, and other sex related actions that make the work environment unpleasant

what does a hostile work environment do

interferes with their ability to perform their jobs effectively

why would someone engage in quid pro quo

for reward or to avoid negative consequences

how should sexual harassment be eradicated

-by developing and clearly communicating a sexual harassment policy endorsed by top management

-use a fair complaint procedure to investigate charges of sexual harassment

what should sexual harassment policy contain

1. examples of types of behaviors that are unacceptable

2. procedure for employees to use to report instances of harassment

3. discussion of the disciplinary actions that will be taken when harassment has taken place

4. commitment to educate and train organizational members about sexual harassment

when should action be taken to fix sexual harassment

corrective action should be taken as soon as possible after it has been determined that sexual harassment has taken place

factors to remember about sexual harassment

-every charge should be taken seriously

-employees who go along with unwanted sexual attention in the workplace still can be victims

-employees sometimes wait before they file complaints

-a firms policy should be communicated to each new employee and reviewed with current employees on a periodic basis

-suppliers and customers need to be familiar with a firm's sexual harassment policy

-managers should provide employees with alternative ways to report incidents

-employees who report sexual harassment must have their rights protected

-allegations of sexual harassment should be kept confidential

-investigations of charges and any disciplinary action should proceed in a timely manner

-managers must also protect employees from harassment from any 3rd party employees

Can you say someone is faking it when they approach you with a sexual harassment complaint?

No, every charge should be taken seriously

Can people be discredited as a victim if they go along with sexual attention at the workplace?

No, even people who go along with sexual attention can be victims

Can action be taken even if the employee waits to file a complaint?

Yes, some employees wait to file complaints out of fear or other reasons

Does a firm have to communicate their sexual harassment policy with EVERY employee?

Yes, policy should be communicated with every new employee and reviewed with every current employee

Is it only people in an immediate business who need to know a firm's policy?

No, suppliers and customers need to know the firm's policy on sexual harassment as well

Do managers have to supply alternative ways for employees to file complaints?

Yes, for anonymity and other reasons managers should offer multiple ways to file a complaint

Do employees who file complaints have less or more rights than those that don't?

No, employees who file complaints must have their rights protected

Can managers inform everyone about allegations?

No, allegation reports must be kept confidential

When should investigations and disciplinary actions proceed?

in a timely manner

Who else can be a possible harasser?

third party employees

Ethics

inner-guiding moral principles, values, and beliefs that people use to analyze or interpret a situation and then decide what is the right or appropriate way to behave

ethical dilemma

quandary people find themselves in when they have to decide if they should act in a way that might help another person even though doing so might go against their own self interest

Source of ethics that contribute to business ethics

societal ethics

individual ethics

organizational ethics

occupational ethics

societal ethics

standards that govern how members of a society should deal with one another in matters involving issues such as fairness, justice, poverty, and the rights of the individual

why do people behave ethically

because they have internalized certain values, beliefs, and norms

occupational ethics

standards that govern how members of a profession, trade, or craft should conduct themselves when performing work related activities

examples of occupational ethics

medical and legal ethics

individual ethics

personal standards and values that determine how people view their responsibilities to other people and groups

when are individual ethics seen

in how individuals should act in situations when their own self-interests are at stake

organizational ethics

guiding practices and beliefs through which a particular company and its managers view their responsibility toward their stakeholders

who plays a big role in determining a company's ethics

top managers

role of organizational culture

ethical values and norms help organizational members:

-resist self interested action

-realize they are part of something bigger than themselves

how to deal with ethical issues

-no absolute or indisputable rules or principles that can be developed to decide if an action is ethical or unethical

-neither laws nor ethics are fixed principles

-managers must confront the need to decide what is appropriate and inappropriate as they use a company's resources to produce goods and services

-ethical beliefs lead to the development of laws and regulations to prevent certain behaviors or encourage others

rules for ethical decision making

utilitarian rule

justice rule practical rule

moral rights rule

practical rule

utilitarian rule

an ethical decision should produce the greatest good for the greatest number of people

justice rule

an ethical decision should redistribute benefits and harm among people in a fair, equitable, and impartial manner

practical rule

an ethical decision should be one that a manager has no hesitation about communicating to people outside the company because a typical person in a society would think the decision is acceptable

moral rights rule

an ethical decision should maintain and protect the fundamental rights and privileges of people

practical decision model

1. does my decision fall within the acceptable standards that apply in business today?

2. am i willing to see the decision communicated to all people and groups affected by it?

3. would the people with whom I have a significant personal relationship approve of the decision?

Ethics Code Litmus Test

-is what we are proposing to do fully compliant with our code of ethics? are there areas of ambiguity?

-is this action in harmony with our core values? are any conflicts or potential problems evident?

-is this action ethically objectionable? would our stakeholders, our competitors, the SEC under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or the news and social media view this action as ethically objectionable?

what happens when their is relentless pursuit of self-interest

pursuit leads to a collective disaster when one or more people start to profit from being unethical because this encourages other people to act in the same way

What effect does ethical behavior have on efficiency and effectiveness?

Increases efficiency/effectiveness

what effect does unethical behavior have on efficiency and effectiveness?

reduces efficiency/effectiveness

what effect does ethical behavior have on company performance

increases company performance

what effect does unethical behavior have on company performance

reduces company performance

what effect does ethical behavior have on well being and prosperity

increases well being and prosperity

what effect does unethical behavior have on well being and prosperity

reduces well being and prosperity

what arguments are there for why companies should behave ethically?

moral case

business case

moral case for ethical strategies

because a strategy that is unethical is morally wrong and reflect badly on the character of the firm's personnel

business case for ethical strategies

because an ethical strategy can be both good business and serve the self interest of shareholders and other stakeholders of the business

types of cost companies incur when ethical wrongdoing is discovered

visible costs

internal administrative costs

intangible or less visible costs

visible costs

-government fines and penalties

-civil penalties arising from class action lawsuits and other litigation aimed at punishing the company for its offense and the harm done to others

-the costs to shareholders in the form of a lower stock price and possibly lower dividends

internal administrative costs

-legal and investigative costs incurred by the company

-the costs of providing remedial education and ethics training to company personnel

-costs of taking corrective actions

-administrative costs associated with ensuring future compliance

intangible or less visible costs

-customer defections

-loss of reputation

-lost employee morale and higher degrees of employee cynicism

-higher employee turnover

-higher recruiting costs and difficulty in attracting talented employees

-adverse effects on employee productivity

-costs of complying with often harsher government regulations

management roles-ethics ombudsman

-responsible for communicating ethical standards to all employees

-designing systems to monitor employees conformity to those standards

-teaching managers and employees at all levels of the organization how to appropriately respond to ethical dilemmas

drivers of unethical business behavior

-faulty internal oversight allows self-dealing in the pursuit of personal gain, wealth, and self-interest

-short-termism pressure to meet or beat short term performance targets

-a culture that puts profitability and business performance ahead of ethical behavior

stakeholders

people and groups that supply a company with its productive resources and so have a claim on and stake in the company

what happens when the law doesn't specify how companies should behave

managers must decide what is the right or ethical way to behave toward the people and groups affected by their actions

types of company stakeholders

-stockholders

-managers

-customers

-community, society, and nation-state

-suppliers and distributors

-employees

stockholders goal

-want to ensure that managers are behaving ethically and not risking investors' capital by engaging in actions that could hurt the company's reputation

-want to maximize their return on investment

managers responsibility

responsible for using a company's financial capital and human resources to increase its performance

manager's rights

have the right to expect a good return or reward by investing their human capital to improve a company's performance

manger's interest

frequently juggle multiple interests

problem with managers

in many companies corrupt managers focus not on building the company's capital and stockholder's wealth but on maximizing their own personal capital and wealth

employees expectations

expect to receive rewards consistent with their performance

how can companies act ethically toward employees

by creating an occupational structure that fairly and equitably rewards employees for their contributions

supplier expectations

expect to be paid fairly and promptly for their inputs

distributors' expectations

expect to receive quality products at agreed upon prices

goal of companies that work to increase efficiency and effectiveness

to create loyal customers and attract new ones

most critical stakeholder

customers

community

-physical locations like towns/cities in which companies are located

-community provides a company with the physical and social infrastructure that allows it to operate

-company contributes to the economy of the town or region through salaries, wages, and taxes

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

the way a company's managers and employees view their duty or obligation to make decisions that protect, enhance, and promote the welfare and well-being of stakeholders and society as a whole

Strategy, CSR, and Environmental Sustainability

CSR is a firm's duty to operate in an honorable manner, provide good working conditions for employees, encourage workforce diversity, be a good steward of the environment, and actively work to better the quality of life in the local communities where it operates and in society at large

approaches to social responsibility

obstructionist

defensive

accommodative

proactive

obstructionist approach

companies choose not to behave in a socially responsible way and behave unethically and illegally

defensive approach

companies and mangers stay within the law and abide strictly with legal requirements but make no attempt to exercise social responsibility

accommodative approach

companies behave legally and ethically and try to balance the interests of different stakeholders against one another so that the claims of stockholders are seen in relation to the claims of other stakeholders

proactive approach

companies actively embrace socially responsible behavior, going out of their way to learn about the needs of different stakeholder groups and utilizing organizational resources to promote the interests of all stakeholders

social responsibility approaches scale (low to high)

Low --> high

obstructionist

defensive

accommodative

proactive

why be socially responsible

1. demonstrating its social responsibility helps a company build a good reputation

2. if all companies in a society act socially, the quality of life as a whole increases

Five components of a CSR strategy

1. actions to ensure the company operates honorably and ethically

2. actions to support philanthropy, participate in community service, and better the quality of life worldwide

3. actions to protect and sustain the environment

4. actions to enhance employee well-being and make the company a great place to work

5. actions to promote workforce diversity

Triple Bottom Line goal

excellence in all three performance dimensions

components of triple bottom line

economic (profit)

social (people)

environmental (planet)

sustainability

relationship of a firm to its environment and its use of natural resources

sustainable business practices

those practices of a firm that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability to meet the needs of the future

environmental sustainability strategy

consists of the firm's deliberate actions to

-protect the environment

-provide for the longevity of natural resources

-maintain ecological support systems for future generations

-guard against ultimate endangerment of the planet

company in US recognized for triple bottom line

pepsico

moral case for pursuing a sustainable CSR strategy in the firm's value chain activities

stakeholder benefits

business case for pursuing a sustainable CSR strategy in the firm's value chain activities

competitive advantage

Implied social contract (Do the right thing)

-operate ethically/legally

-provide good work conditions for employees

-be a good environmental steward

-display good corporate citizenship

business case for CSR and sustainable business practices

-increased reputation and buyer patronage

-reduced risk of reputation-damaging incidents

-lower turnover costs and enhanced employee recruiting and workforce retention

-increased revenue enhancement opportunities due to support of CSR and sustainability

-CSR and sustainability best serve long term interests of shareholders

harmful and unethical business actions and behaviors

-increased public awareness of misdeeds of bad behavior by firms

-increased legislation and regulation to correct and punish firms

-refusal to do business with irresponsible firms

diversity

dissimilarities/differences among people in age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, and capabilities/disabilities

sources of diversity in the workplace

-age

-gender

-race

-ethnicity

-religion

-sexual orientation

-socioeconomic background

-capabilities/disabilities

-education

-experience

-physical appearance

-other characteristics

sources of discrimination

-perception

-stereotype and bias

-overt discrimination

perception

process through which people select, organize, and interpret what they see, hear, touch, smell, and taste to give meaning and order to the world around them

schema

an abstract knowledge structure stored in memory that allows people to organize and interpret information about a person, event, or situation

gender schema

preconceive beliefs or ideas about the nature of men and women, their traits, attitudes, behaviors, and preferences

perception and management

when perceptions are inaccurate managers are likely to make bad decisions and take inappropriate actions

what bad decisions are made due to perceptions

-not hiring qualified people

-failing to promote top performing subordinates

-promoting poorly performing managers because they have the same "diversity profile"

stereotype

simplistic and often inaccurate beliefs about the typical characteristics of particular groups of people