Designing Organizations to Create Value - Essay Example

Topic: Business Ethics Lecturer: Presentation: Introduction Management of human resources in a business isa task that is essential towards the realization of business goals. This is due to the fact that human beings unlike machines are prone to errors, some of which may be considered to be out of being caress as well as lack of commitment while discharging their duties (Pareek, 2000). There are two categories of employees who may be defined by their approach to tasks i.e. those who are capable of performing their duties regardless of whether they are being supervised and those who cannot accomplish any goals without supervision or reward. As such, it becomes necessary to monitor their activities in order to ensure that profit is maximized through production. This essay is a critical evaluation of the human resource management from the perspective that it might be an unethical process. Business Ethics Managing people in a business is important since it ensures that processes and activities are harmonized in order to increase and maintain the standard of business performance based on the fact that businesses rely on their human resources to achieve the set goals and strategies by providing labor and the necessary expertise (Pareek, 2000). Human beings unlike machines have their weaknesses which at times make them commit careless mistakes especially when they are not being monitored. From observation, employees can be categorized into two groups which include those who are capable of conducting their duties without being monitored or managed and those who cannot perform unless there is a manager around to supervise them. In this case, human resource management becomes an important department in a business organization which is entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that employees discharge their duties according to their job descriptions. Managers also have the responsibility of ensuring that business ethics are upheld in all areas of their administration. Upholding of ethics ensures that there is a cohesive environment for conducting business, which is meant to minimize conflicts between the management and the employees as well as customers who are a valuable asset to the business. Business ethics refers to the moral standards that should be maintained within the organization whether on the part of the management or the employees. Managers are supposed to lead as an example to their juniors especially when discharging their duties and responsibilities (DesJardins, 2008). The powers and trust vested in them by their bosses should be used accordingly to serve the interests of the business but not to be used in harassing or creating unnecessary conflicts with their subjects. However, some managers take advantage of these powers to demand for sexual favors as well as money in order to facilitate better positions for those who accept to be submissive. The approach used by the managers to manage human resources determines the ethical value of their responsibilities. Different ethical theories have been brought forward which depending on how they are applied can challenge the ethical value of human resource management. These are for example virtue ethics, deontology, utilitarianism and Marxism. The conduct of a person varies depending on his character which can be said to be good or bad. Changing a person’s character may be a difficult task which should not be forced on anyone without his or her will to change (Hartman, 2004). In fact, a person may be more productive under an environment which facilitates self monitoring and motivation. This may be evident in sole proprietorship businesses whereby the owner of the business works hard to maximize profits e.g. by working extra hours or sacrificing his personal activities for the sake of his business or an athlete who considers his or her occupation as a hobby. The fundamental principles of virtue ethics theory are based on the fact that a person’s emotions and character lie beyond their control and as such, it leaves the person to judge virtues according to his own understanding. It would therefore be unethical for managers to manage the way people should behave in their places of work, defining what virtues should be followed by his subjects. What managers do is that they force people to follow set guidelines, which if not followed the reward would be punishment. This in itself makes them uncomfortable since they cannot be themselves as long as they are in their places of work thus denying them their right to be happy. As long as people know that they are being watched by a superior, they will break the spirit of virtue ethics which promotes honesty (Hartman, 2004). For example, an employee may not have a genuine reason as to why he may arrive late for work. The role of a manager is to ensure that such an action does not go unpunished so he would have to demand for an explanation from the employee. Honesty is a virtue as opposed to lying, which is a vice. Knowing the consequences of his being late, the employee may be forced to lie so as to defend himself or to please his boss which is immoral. Were there no manager to question him, the employee’s dilemma of choosing between honesty and dishonesty would not arise. On the other hand, business requires having someone in charge of overseeing the implementation of policies as well as delivery of services by employees to ensure that there is a justification on salaries paid to them (Brickley, 2003). As earlier stated, not all employees have the ability to uphold ethics. For example, it is justifiable for a manager to demand for an explanation from an employee who comes late to work. It is upon the employee to be honest and tell the truth. If he decides otherwise, it would not be fair to blame the manager who would be discharging his duties, instead it would mean that the employee has no morals because if he has, he would stand by the principles of virtue, which concentrates on the question of who you are and not what you should do. This is what makes the role of human resource management lose its ethical value especially when it is perceived from a utilitarian perspective. Unlike the virtue perspective, utilitarian management does not consider the emotions of the agent but instead, it relies on the issue of what someone is expected to do regardless of whether he or she is contented with the approach which may be considered as authoritative. The major concern for managers responsible is usually to satisfy the interests of the business at the expense of those of the employees. As such, the employees are subjected to heavy workloads with stressing deadlines which consumes their energy as well as denying them the joy and satisfaction that they could have without the manager’s presence. However, utilitarianism ensures that hard work prevails in all disciplines (DesJardins, 2008). Giving the employees liberty to work without pressure or proper guidelines may be a threat to the success of a business. There would be confusion as well as wastage of resources due to lack of coordination in their activities. Laziness, which is a vice, may develop among the employees who may take advantage of the situation to idle around rather than commit them selves to performing their duties. It is therefore necessary to state that business organizations cannot perform without managing their human resources. Managing people in an organization is a task that requires careful structuring in order to allow for smooth flow of information and also to enhance communication, which is important in resolving conflicts as well as preventing them from occurring. It is therefore common to find that many organizations have bureaucratic organizational structures that have defined protocols. This separates the various levels for example through hierarchy whereby information flow from the employees to the top level managers have to go through various links which increases the probability of distortion or poor response (DesJardins, 2008). Managers who are supposed to communicate employee concerns in order for action to be taken sometimes fail to do so for the fear of being seen as irresponsible as well as covering their weaknesses or with the intention of protecting the integrity of the business. For example, employees may wish to request for a pay rise through their manager, who has got no powers to implement such requests. In the view of this, he may decide to either communicate to the higher levels or else he may decide to ignore the requests which may in turn result to unnecessary conflicts such as employee strikes (Brickley, 2003). By doing so, the manager may be following the utilitarian ethics perspective due to the fact that it is his responsibility to ensure that there is maximization of profits as well as minimization of expenditure (West, 2003). For him to achieve this, he would be inclined to take an action which would be for the benefit of the business irrespective of whether it would hurt the employees or may be compromise their happiness. Due to these responsibilities, the task of managing people in a business is faced with a cloud of injustice which makes it to be unethical. On the other hand, the end justifies the means. As such, human resource managers have the responsibility of ensuring that employees produce timely results, in order to accomplish strategic plans as well as maximizing their input and output through provision of guidance as well as motivation (Pareek, 2000). They also have the responsibility of ensuring that there is accountability for all that happens within their area of specialization. To realize these goals, all means as long as they are legal should be used to ensure that there is full utilization of this important resource. Conclusion Managing people in a business organization is unethical. Every individual has the right to decide and control his activities which in fact yield better results due to self motivation. Virtue ethics theory dwells much on the importance of promoting self determination as well as controlling and observing virtues, which motivates a person to become of good character. Human resource management therefore should be geared towards promoting self monitoring in employees so as to ensure that there are fewer or no conflicts and also to develop a culture whereby employees are capable of producing timely results under minimum supervision. On the contrary, most managerial systems do not satisfy these criteria but instead, they apply more strict and demanding ethical perspectives such as deontology and Unitarianism. These do not take into account the emotions of the subjects and instead, they are more authoritative and demanding. They usually concentrate on what one is expected to do instead of how to do it like in the case of virtue ethics theory. This compromises the happiness of the people being managed due to the fact that they cannot make their own decisions as to how they should undertake their responsibilities. Basically any action by a person, which may prevent another person from being happy, is considered to be unethical. As such, it is unethical for human resource managers to exercise their authority over the employees whereby they control and allocate tasks to them as well as restricting them from enjoying their freedom. However, the human nature unlike machines is prone to weaknesses and as such there must be a person who should take the responsibility of ensuring accountability in all aspects. References 1. Brickley, J., 2003. Designing Organizations to Create Value: from Strategy to Structure, McGraw-Hill 2. DesJardins J., 2008. An Introduction to Business Ethics, McGraw-Hill. 3. Hartman, L., 2004. Perspectives in Business Ethics, McGraw-Hill. 4. Pareek, U., 2000. Actualizing Managerial Roles Studies in Role Efficacy, Mcgraw Hill Publishing 5. West, H., 2003. An Introduction to Mills Utilitarian Ethics, Cambridge University Press. Read More