Improving Ethical Behavior
Organizations can take a number of actions to cultivate ethical behavior among members. Some of those are"
1. The selection process for bringing new employees into organization should be viewed as an opportunity to learn about an individual's level of moral development, personal values, ego strength, and locus of control.
2. A code of ethics is a formal statement of an organization's primary values and the ethical rules it expects employees to follow. In addition, decision rules can be developed to guide managers in handling ethical dilemmas in decision making.
3. Top management's leadership and commitment to ethical behavior is extremely important since the cultural tone for an organization is established by its top mangers.
4. Employees' job goals should be tangible and realistic, because clear and realistic goals reduce ambiguity and motivate rather than punish. Job goals are usually a key issue in the performance appraisal process.
5. If an organization wants employees to uphold high ethical standards, this dimension must be include this dimension, rather than focusing solely on economic outcomes.
6. Ethics training should be used to help teach ethical problem solving and to present simulations of ethical situations that could arise. At the least, ethics training should increase awareness of ethical issues.
7. Independent social audits evaluate decisions and management practices in terms of the organization's code of ethics and can be used to deter unethical behavior.
8. Organizations can provide formal protective mechanisms so that employees with ethical dilemmas can do what is right without fear of reprisal.
Social Entrepreneurship: A social entrepreneur is an individual or organization who seeks out opportunities to improve society by using practical, innovative and sustainable approaches.
Social impact management: Managers are increasingly expected to act responsibly in the way they conduct business. Managers using a social impact management approach examine the social impacts of their decisions and actions. When they consider how their actions in planning, organizing, leading and controlling will work in light of the social context within which business operates, managers become more aware of whether they are leading in a responsible manner.