Moral autonomy in organisational decisions

The purpose of this study to investigate the morality of persons in organisations and especially the effect of organisations on the moral autonomy of persons. In addition to reviewing the literature of moral autonomy in philosophy, psychology, sociology and organisation studies and management, the thesis also examines the ontology of organisations, moral agency and the organisation as a context. Based on this knowledge, a model is developed that addresses the relations of the organisation to society and the person to the organisation in ethical decision making. From this model the thesis develops three moral decision making categories. These are: moral autonomy. Where persons are allowed to use their moral values, moral heteronomy, where the organisation provides such values and moral anomy, where there is a lack of moral deliberation and moral values. Four research propositions are developed from this model. The propositions are that people are more likely to make morally autonomous decisions in personal life dilemmas than in organisational life dilemmas. In organisational dilemmas it is proposed that the organisation will affect the morality of its members. In bureaucratic organisations, people are expected to make more anomous organisational decisions when faced with an easy and simple dilemma and more heteronomous decisions when faced with complex and difficult dilemmas. In clan organisations, people are expected to make more autonomous organisational decisions. In a market organisation, people are expected to make more anomous organisational decisions. An exploratory primary research project is undertaken to test the model and the propositions developed. People from three Australian organisations that approximate Ouchi\u27s (1980) typology of bureaucracy, clan and market organisations participated in the research. Managers and supervisors from each organisation were asked to assess the ethical climate of their organisation using Victor and Cullen\u27s (1987, 1988) Ethical Climate Questionnaire. They also responded to Forsyth\u27s (1980) Ethics Position Questionnaire and resolved and justified their resolutions six organisational and six personal ethical dilemmas. These dilemmas had been assessed by two groups of MBA students for relevancy, complexity and difficulty. The analysis of the primary data reveals that the three organisations have different ethical climates. It also reveals that the respondents from the three organisations do not differ insofar as they share similarly idealistic end relativistic ethical ideologies. They do however differ in the reasoning they use to resolve organisational and in some cases personal ethical dilemmas. People In organisation Alpha, the bureaucratic organisation, are more likely to make heteronomous decisions. People from organisation Beta, the clan organisation, are more likely to make autonomous moral decisions, and people from organisation Gamma, the market organisation, are more likely to make anomous moral decisions. These findings support the research propositions developed. More importantly, some people in organisations Alpha and Gamma did not perceive some organisational dilemmas as ethical issues but only as business issues that are void of ethics. In addition, people from organisation Alpha in particular were more likely to try to avoid making a decision and suggest that someone else in the organisation should make the decision not the person facing the dilemma. The findings suggest that organisations that rely on rules and regulations are more likely to remove the responsibility from ethical decision-making, and lead to avoidance of such decisions. The implications of these findings are discussed and opportunities for further research are identified

The feedback we give: university student perceptions and preferences

This paper reports the results of a study on higher education student perceptions of and preferences for feedback on their performance. The issue of feedback to students is becoming increasingly important in higher education, not only because it is an important element of learning, but also as a significant component of the student experience and its evaluation. Within a mass education context, written feedback on coursework may be an important opportunity available to students for individualised attention. The current research explored perceptions of feedback by participants who were studying in undergraduate business degrees in a UK university (N=175). The survey instrument asked participants to evaluate the feedback they receive at university in terms of its impact and influence, as well as their understanding of feedback received and preferences. Analysis of the data indicates that students generally find feedback provided to them helpful and encouraging in improving their work but they also indicate that they would prefer to discuss their work directly with their tutor instead of receiving written feedback. They comment on the illegibility of some hand written feedback received. They also report that, generally, they act on the feedback received in order to improve their work and say that it helps them to reflect on their learning. Students comment that negative feedback received does not make them angry or demotivate them. The survey found considerable variability in the students' understanding of 'typical' feedback comments. The majority of students (79%) also reported that they prefer a structured feedback matrix to general comments because they consider it more specific and easier to understand. The implications of these findings for feedback and assessment practices are discussed and suggestions for improvements developed

Leaks, legislation and freedom of speech: how can the law effectively promote public interest whistleblowing

In this article we outline the differences between leaking and whistleblowing, and provide possible justifications for leaking. We argue that, as a matter of principle, leaking information outside an organization will normally not further any public interest and should only be used as a last resort where problems have not been resolved internally. As uncontrolled leaking may be hazardous, we believe that the opportunity to blow the whistle in accordance with structured procedures offers a more satisfactory mechanism for exposing financial and other forms of wrongdoing (Carr and Lewis 2010). Next we describe how freedom of speech, whistleblowing legislation and internal reporting procedures provide alternatives to leaking and explain how they all operate unsatisfactorily in certain respects. In our analysis we refer to international conventions and the laws of four countries (USA, UK, France and Germany) that we consider representative of the different approaches to the treatment of whistleblowers. In conclusion, we suggest that regimes which are aimed at encouraging public interest disclosures through organizational insiders need improvement. Without this, unauthorized leaking could be tolerable in certain situations. Finally, we observe that public interest disclosure regimes need to take the human right dimension into accoun

Whistleblowing behaviour: The influence of ethical climates theory

The study investigates the influence of three types of ethical climate dimensions (egoism, benevolence and principle) on three types of wrongdoing in examining individuals’ whistleblowing behaviour. It was found that, depending on types of wrongdoing, principle ethical climate is able to predict whistleblowing intentions.As for contextual predictors, seriousness of wrongdoing is the most consistent predictor for internal whistleblowing intentions.Results of this study are consistent with ethical climate theory and the finding confirms those from previous studies, by suggesting that organisational members have different reactions to different types of wrongdoings.Implications of the findings on Malaysian organisations for research and practice are discussed

Whistleblowing: The Neglected Facilitator of Compliance

The ethical and legal conduct of organizations is the focus of compliance, as it is broadly understood, with whistleblowing considered one of its most frequently employed elements. Employees are likely to know the most about misconduct and are thus an organizations best source of information of ethical and legal problems. Whistleblowing and its effective management is important so that organizations receive the necessary information to identify and address incidents of non-compliance in a timely manner. This chapter explores the role that effective management of whistleblowing can play in ensuring organizations comply with their legal and ethical obligations, as well as the incidence and reasons of inaction and silence by observers when misconduct exists. It also provides some preliminary findings from the Whistling While They Work 2: Improving Managerial Responses to Whistleblowing in Public and Private Sector Organizations, currently under way in Australia and New Zealand that shed light on the elements that improve whistleblowing effectiveness

An exploration of factors affecting work anomia

Anomie, a societal and anomia an individual characteristic is employed to understand the behaviour of people and more recently it has been used to explore and understand the moral behaviour of people at work. This article reports on research undertaken to explore the relationship between organisational interest, ethical ideologies, employment, religion and ethnic origin on work and nonwork anomia. An objective of this research was to ascertain whether participants that were not employed had lower levels of work-related anomia than those that were employed. The sample consisted of students (N = 209) enroled in management degrees in a UK university. Results indicate that overall work anomia was statistically significant higher than nonwork anomia. Employment status had a significant effect on levels of nonwork anomia. Religion and ethnic origin were also found to have a significant effect on anomia levels. The findings indicate that the work context may be perceived as inherently anomic and this perception is then adjusted according to the actual experience at work. This may influence ethical behaviour and explain the ethical regression that is identified in the work context

Corporate social responsibility in a crisis and in crisis

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Anomie and ethics at work

The paper reports on research undertaken in three organisations seeking to explore anomie at work. This research explores whether a distinction in the levels of anomie between people’s perception of the work and non-work contexts exists in three organisations, that is whether people are more likely to feel more hopeless and helpless in their work or non-work life. It also looks at whether people in different organisations have significantly different levels of anomie. A significant difference in the non-work anomie between organisations, but no significant difference in work anomie between organisations, was found. In the three organisations researched, the anomie score in the non-work context is lower than in the work context, indicating that respondents perceive the work context as more anomic. The work anomie for the total sample was found to be significantly higher that the non-work anomie. The implications for ethical behaviour at work and business ethics are discussed