Ethics codes are important to an organization’s development as they intend to provide the framework that servants use particularly to carry out their duties and responsibilities. They communicate or depict the unacceptable behavior and also provide a vision for which the organization is striving. The mode in which groups and individual organization can stop people from doing undesirable things is controlled by three fundamentals that reduce human erraticism creating some amount of social control (Cooper, T. L., 2012).
The first fundamental mechanism or control mechanism is the environmental conditions/pressure. This would otherwise influence an individual give up their personal freedom to achieve task requirements of his group and their social targets (Cooper, T. L., 2012). Also shared expectations and values amongst group members would influence their conduct or behavior since these common objectives and aspiration become their basis of behavior and is through a system of internalization of these standards. Finally, rule enforcement that is through external control requires monitoring of character and use power to ensure the stipulated law is adhered to. The external control mechanisms require a bullish method for ethics enforcement and should not be relied with entirely (Strickland, R. A., & Vaughan, S. K. 2008).
It is less effective to have workers adhere to external control and legislation to enforce ethics (Tenbruensel and Smith-Crowe 2008). Also, reviewed by other scholars who conducted research on these ethical issues, they agree with this notion (Katz and Khan 1966).
Response one
I agree with the fact that ethical conduct of individuals is effectively controlled by both internal control or rather strong organizational cultures that exceed external control in essence because an in-built or incorporated responsibility is efficient. Compliance culture would in essence require a bullish force in the enforcement of rules of conduct.
Response two
As much as it is of importance to have an internally cultured organization to exclude the aspect of external control would exclude the rule of law in an organization since total exclusion of any form of ethic instillation creates a dysfunctional organizational system. The case of Enron was a clear example for a company that would only intend to instill ethical culture and exclude external control where individuals lack core values.
References
Cooper, T. L. (2012). The responsible administrator: An approach to ethics for the administrative role. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Strickland, R. A., & Vaughan, S. K. (2008). The Hierarchy of Ethical Values in Nonprofit Organizations: A Framework for an Ethical, Self-Actualized Organizational Culture. Public Integrity, 10(3), 233-252.
Connor, K. T. (2006). Assessing organizational ethics: measuring the gaps. Industrial and Commercial Training, 38(3), 148-155.
Tenbrunsel, A. E., & Smith‐Crowe, K. (2008). 13 Ethical Decision Making: Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going. The Academy of Management Annals, 2(1), 545-607.
Katz, D., & Kahn, R. L. (1966). Organizations and the system concept. The social psychology of organizations, 1, 14-29.
