Encouraging Ethical Behavior

Introduction and Alignment

Your performance is measured in a variety of ways – both inside and outside the workplace. Sometimes how you perform (or simply act or behave) around other people seems to not matter to you, while at other times it seems extremely important. Is it possible that you perform better when a measurement device is being used? What if you are simply surrounded by good role models? This assignment will help you understand some of the tools and methods you may use to encourage ethical behavior in your organization.

Upon completion of this assignment, you should be able to:

• Evaluate methods for encouraging ethical behavior.

Resources

• Textbook: Essentials of Business Ethics

Background Information

In earlier assignments, you examined the behavior of leaders and employees with whom you have a working relationship. In this workshop, you will explore how you as a manager impact the ethical behavior of others through both informal means, such as your own behavior, and formal means, such as performance appraisal systems.

Instructions

1. Read Chapter 9 in the textbook, Essentials of Business Ethics. As you read, think about how your behavior changes when you know that you will be tested on a certain knowledge, skill, or ability.
2. Review the various methods discussed in this chapter for improving the performance and ethical behavior of those you manage.
3. Navigate to the threaded discussion and respond to the following:
   1. Evaluate the importance of managerial example to creating a culture of integrity. Does this importance change based on how high or low a manager is in the organization? Provide a detailed evaluation that demonstrates clear, insightful critical thinking.
   2. How effective would including ethical components in performance appraisals be at promoting ethical behavior? Provide a detailed defense of your position that demonstrates clear, insightful critical thinking.
4. Your initial post should be 200 to 300 words in length and include two academic resources that are properly cited.
5. Your initial post is due by the end of the fourth day of the workshop.
6. Read and conduct a critical analysis of postings by two of your classmates by the end of the workshop.
   1. The topic of your discussion response should be your classmate’s posting and should be written as if you were reviewing his or her posting in an academic journal. Your discussion response should therefore answer the following questions as applicable:
      1. Were the arguments of your classmate articulate and logical? Were the facts correct?
      2. Was the interpretation your classmate provided reasonable and consistent with experts in the field? Was your classmate consistent with both the substance and intent of his/her references?
   2. The focus for your critical analysis is not whether or not you agree with your classmate, but how well his/her position was presented.
   3. Each response should be at least 200 words in length and cite two academic sources. (Note: the academic sources do not count towards the word length requirement.)

Respond to the following:

1. Evaluate the importance of managerial example to creating a culture of integrity. Does this importance change based on how high or low a manager is in the organization? Provide a detailed evaluation that demonstrates clear, insightful critical thinking.
2. How effective would including ethical components in performance appraisals be at promoting ethical behavior? Provide a detailed defense of your position that demonstrates clear, insightful critical thinking.