• Home
• Module overview
• 1. The challenge of management
  • Introduction
  • 1.1 Defining management
    • 1.1.1 The art of getting things done through people
    • 1.1.2 Defining management by its functions
    • 1.1.3 Is management a profession?
  • 1.2 Management knowledge , skills and performance
    • 1.2.1 Types of managers
    • 1.2.2 Effectiveness and efficiency
    • 1.2.3 Managing the customer within
  • 1.3 The evolution of management thought
  • Conclusion

• 2. Understanding external environments

  • Introduction
  • 2.1 Putting the e xternal environment into focus
    • 2.1.1 Classifying external elements
    • 2.1.2 The changing environment
    • 2.1.3 The international dimension
  • 2.2 Relating the o rganisation to its environment
    • 2.2.1 So many issues: Which should you focus on?
    • 2.2.2 How do you acquire the relevant information?
    • 2.2.3 Clarifying the relationship between the internal and external environments
  • Conclusion

• 3. Social responsibility and ethics in management

  • Introduction
  • 3.1 Business is not value neutral: Social responsibility, obligation and responsiveness
  • 3.2 Focussing on ethics
    • 3.2.1 Why business ethics now?
    • 3.2.2 Ethical quandaries
    • 3.2.3 Approaches to ethical dilemmas
    • 3.2.4 Defining your ethics
  • Conclusion

• 4. Managerial decision making

  • Introduction
  • 4.1 Decision making and problem solving
  • 4.2 The nature of decision making as part of management
    • 4.2.1 Programmed and non-programmed decisions
    • 4.2.2 Certainty, risk and uncertainty
    • 4.2.3 Urgent vs important decisions
  • 4.3 Problem solving: making the most of opportunities
    • 4.3.1 Looking further at problem solving
    • 4.3.2 The effective decision making process
    • 4.3.3 Improving managerial problem solving: overcoming barriers
    • 4.3.4 Thinking 'outside the box' and creativity
  • 4.4 Interrelated problems
  • Conclusion

• 5. Managing strategically

  • Introduction
  • 5.1 Planning ahead
  • 5.2 Strategic management
    • 5.2.1 Some definitions
    • 5.2.2 The process of strategic management
  • Conclusion

• 6. Organisational design and structure

  • Introduction
  • 6.1 The terminology of organisational design
  • 6.2 Strategic organisational design and structure
    • 6.2.1 Types of organisational structure
    • 6.2.2 Strategic organisational design
  • 6.3 Teamwork
    • 6.3.1 The success of teamwork
  • Conclusion

• 7. Organisational culture and workforce diversity

  • Introduction
  • 7.1 Defining organisational or corporate culture
    • 7.1.1 Culture defined through its response to change
    • 7.1.2 Culture defined through the influence of the external environment
  • 7.2 Strong and weak cultures
  • 7.3 The functions of culture
  • 7.4 Creating and sustaining culture
  • 7.5 Types of culture
    • 7.5.1 Dominant culture
    • 7.5.2 Subculture
    • 7.5.3 Core values
  • 7.6 Changing culture
  • 7.7 Cultural diversity in the maritime industry
  • Conclusion

• 8. Change management

  • Introduction
  • 8.1 Dealing with change and the changing nature of change
    • 8.1.1 In what areas of the organisation can managers expect change?
    • 8.1.2 Reacting to change
  • 8.2 Key issues accelerating change
    • 8.2.1 External forces
    • 8.2.2 Internal forces
  • 8.3 Managing change
    • 8.3.1 Reactions to change
    • 8.3.2 Why employees resist change
    • 8.3.3 Emotions accompanying change
    • 8.3.4 Overcoming resistance
    • 8.3.5 Leadership and successful change
  • Conclusion

• 9. Motivating for performance

  • Introduction
  • 9.1 The nature of motivation
  • 9.2 Theories of motivation
    • 9.2.1 Do rewards really work? needs theories
    • 9.2.2 Are substantive rewards the only motivator? process theories
    • 9.2.3 Learning behaviour reinforcement theory
    • 9.2.4 Social learning theory
    • 9.2.5 Putting it all together systems theory
  • 9.3 The power of positive thinking
  • 9.4 Motivation: The implications for managers
  • Conclusion

• 10. Leadership

  • Introduction
  • 10.1 The nature of leadership
    • 10.1.1 Thinking about 'leaders' and 'leadership'
    • 10.1.2 Theories of leadership
    • 10.1.3 Refining our definition of leadership
  • 10.2 Perspectives on leadership
    • 10.2.1 Manager, leader, or both?
  • Conclusion

• 11. Teamwork

  • Introduction
  • 11.1 Work groups and group dynamics
    • 11.1.1 Work groups, work teams, taskforces, self-managing teams and team building
    • 11.1.2 High-performance teams
  • 11.2 Managing meetings and committees
  • 11.3 Group decision making
    • 11.3.1 Some advantages and disadvantages
    • 11.3.2 So, do groups make better decisions than individuals?
  • Conclusion

• 12. Managerial evaluation and control

  • Introduction
  • 12.1 Evaluation and control as a management process
    • 12.1.1 Why evaluate and control performance?
    • 12.1.2 Getting and using necessary information
  • 12.2 Levels of control
  • 12.3 Steps in the control process
  • 12.4 Assessing control systems
  • 12.5 Back to ethics
  • 12.6 Quality control systems
  • Conclusion

3.2.2 Ethical quandaries

Nash (1994) considered that a quick survey of most managers would show that they had participated in, or even directly initiated, at least 20 ethical quandaries and his list below includes 30 situations which pose ethical quandaries for managers.

You may wish to check how many of them you have personally encountered in your career. You may consider that some of these should not be listed as ethical quandaries. Remember, a situation that I may consider to be an ethical problem, you may consider to be downright irresponsible or not worth worrying about. Another interesting thing about this list is its length. Had I been asked to make a list of ethical quandaries, I doubt that I would have been able to compile such a comprehensive list.

Ethical quandaries

• Greed
• Cover-ups and misrepresentations in reporting and control procedures
• Misleading product or service claims
• Reneging or cheating on negotiated terms
• Establishing policy that is likely to cause others to lie to get the job done
• Overconfidence in one's own judgement at the risk of the corporate identity
• Disloyalty to the company as soon as times get tough
• Poor quality
• Humiliating people at work or by using stereotypes in advertising
• Lockstep obedience to authority, however unethical and unfair it may be
• Self-aggrandisement over corporate obligations (conflict of interest)
• Favouritism
• Price fixing
• Sacrificing the innocent and helpless in order to get things done
• Suppression of basic rights: freedom of speech, choice and personal relationships
• Failing to speak up when unethical practices occur
• Neglect of one's family, or neglect of one's personal needs
• Making a product decision that perpetrates a questionable safety issue
• Not putting back what you take out of the environment, employees and/or corporate assets
• Knowingly exaggerating the advantages of a plan in order to get needed support
• Failing to address probable areas of bigotry, sexism or racism
• Courting the business hierarchy instead of just doing the job well
• Climbing the corporate ladder by stepping on others
• Promoting the destructive go-getter who outruns his or her mistakes
• Failing to cooperate with other areas of the company - the enemy mentality
• Lying by omission to employees for the sake of the business
• Making an alliance with a questionable partner, albeit for a good cause
• Not taking responsibility for injurious practices - intentional or not
• Abusing or just going along with corporate perks that waste money and time
• Corrupting the public political process through legal means.

(Source: Nash, LL (1994). Chapter 1 'Why business ethics now?' In Managing Business Ethics. Edited by J Drummond and B Bain. Butterworth: Heinemann, pages 14-15.)

Consider this

Such ethical quandaries are the centre of every manager's and employee's job. Can you add anything to this list? While it is long, it is not exhaustive. You may think of something that is particularly prevalent in your part of the industry.

Many business decisions have an ethical component, and effective managers must add the methods, concepts and ideas of ethics to their managerial tool kit. We engage in some kind of ethical reasoning every day of our lives, but in order to improve ethics we must analyse it. People develop their own common-sense views about what is ethical and unethical behaviour and act accordingly.

Values define a person's beliefs. Ethics is concerned with what is right, what is wrong and with what is your moral duty to your employees, your organisation and society. Determining ethical rights and wrongs is complicated by the fact that moral standards change with time. Different people within the same society have different ideas about what is right and what is wrong. An obvious example is logging in wilderness areas and the different opinions about progress versus preservation.

A common thread in defining ethics is about right and wrong, good and bad actions, and the philosophical reasons for morality outlined by society. Ethics goes beyond the area of law, and provides guidance for resolving moral issues. Managerial ethics are the 'standards' and 'principles' that guide decisions and are based on cultural background.

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