Ethics During Change

MGT/426

Ethics during Change

Ethics, according to dictionary.com is a system of moral principles (the ethics of a culture), the rules of conduct recognized in respect to human actions of a particular group or culture (medical ethics, law enforcement ethics), or the moral principles of an individual. Further definition says that ethics is a branch of philosophy that deals with the values related to human conduct in respect to the rights and wrongs of certain behavior (Dictionary.com, 2013). Ethics in the workplace is an essential set of moral principles, which determine what is acceptable and what is not. In this article, we will discuss ethics and their effects during a change implementation, most importantly, how they change with the ever-changing business environment.

Despite the hundreds of pages in an organizations code of conduct manuals, ethics, and the ethical culture is something that is often over looked during a change implementation. With the ever-changing business environment, often ethics and morals are the last thing management and upper echelon management regard, and is often overlooked. When the business changes, everything changes, including the culture of the environment. In the event of an environmental culture change, workplace ethics will have to change along with it.

Ethics and Change

The resistance to change is one that is always met with resistance. One perceived reason of resistance to change is the perceived clash with ethics. Management and front-line employees are both subject to this resistance. Research on obedience to authority reveals that resistance to change has motivational factors of individual desires to act in accordance to the already established ethical principles of the organizational culture. The perceived threat of advancements or security can also lead middle management to overlook such ethical concerns. Addressing ethical issues during a change can prevent the misuse or abuse of ethical behaviors (Palmer,...