Introduction
Regardless of their size, age or industry, all businesses undergo change at various points during their lifespan. The largely dynamic business environment necessitates constant change. This implies that for organizations to be successful in a challenging business climate, it is vital for them to keep evaluating the necessity of making changes. Along with the need to change come critical questions on the ethics involved in change management. These ethical questions must be duly identified and dealt with by those who begin and implement changes. Ethics is the set of rules that enable one to tell the difference between what is right and what is wrong and encourage them to do what is right. Ethics guides people on the best course of action in different decision-making situations (Nelson, 2005). This paper examines the ethical issues organizations face when implementing change.
There are various ethical issues faced by organizations when they are implementing change. The first issue is power. Most organizational changes serve to increase the power of the top management relative to other employees of the organization (de Graaf & Levy, 2011). Strategic change is mostly implemented by top management and has the underlying message that the management has the right to be in control. This creates ambiguity and uncertainty in the organization. The management faces this ethical question before implementing some strategic changes. The management also faces the challenge of knowing how to make other employees comply with their wishes. This implies that managers may face ethical dilemmas while trying to transform the organization. This is because sometimes change may become coercion while influence develops into manipulation. Some of the activities that management engages in still devalue and dehumanize their employees. When managers are more aware of the ethical dilemmas that are part of the management and organizational change, they can become more sensitive to the concerns of other employees in the organization and to act consistently and ethically.
The second ethical issue faced by organizations when implementing change is corruption or self-gain. One of the greatest problems faced by organizations in terms of self-gain and corruption occurs when managers or people in positions of power within an organization use their positions to engage in deals that benefit themselves which not adding value to the company and its stakeholders such as workers and shareholders. A company should define their code of ethics to make sure that all their employees are held accountable for their actions such as using their business relationships, equipment, knowledge, and other resources to obtain personal financial gain (Sonenshein, 2009). For example, a company in the process of revamping its IT department may be faced with an ethical dilemma when choosing between two computer manufacturing companies to supply equipment. The management may be tempted to pick the company that offers holiday trips to the top management over one with superior equipment.
The third ethical issue that may arise is social impact. A business strategy change may call for identifying the most affordable way of producing company goods. For example, engaging in labor contracts with factories in developing countries because materials and labor are affordable may end up saving the company a lot of money. Similarly, employing underage workers may be good for the financial side of the company but it can severely dent its reputation. However, a negative social impact on the company brand may result if the workers are employed in deplorable working conditions with poor wages. Making such a change decision involves an ethical dilemma because the decision-makers may opt for costly labor and better working conditions for workers or cost-effective labor and very poor working conditions for workers that negatively impact the company’s brand.
The fourth ethical issue is transparency. When changes are being implemented in an organization, an ethical dilemma may arise when one is determining whether to be open with staff members or not. This usually happens when being open with them could result in interference with the change process and at the same time when not being open with them could have an effect on their ability to do their jobs. Sometimes, one may desire to tell the employees everything that is going on but is not able to do so until a particular stage in the change process has been reached. For example, a production line supervisor may have prior information that some workers are going to be laid off in a couple of months to enable specialization changes to take place. Being a colleague to the workers, the production line supervisor may feel a moral obligation inform the workers about the change so that they can be adequately prepared to look for other jobs (Whitton, 2010). In addition, the employees should have an idea of a severance package that they will receive upon being laid off from the organization. However, doing this may jeopardize an ongoing project in terms of employee commitment, ultimately hurting the organization and its stakeholders. Some employees may feel aggrieved by the company having committed a lot of their time and effort to it. The decision to give or deny employees full disclosure on company plans is an ethical dilemma faced in many organizations and is related to change. Companies should encourage openness and transparent communication among employees and their employers as well as between the company and its stakeholders. Communication enables continued trust in the organization even beyond the changes being implemented (Whitton, 2010). Companies and managers who are not open about the ongoing changes may lose the trust of stakeholders and employees and even that of the community.
Conclusion
Change is inevitable in all organizations. Today, the highly competitive and dynamic work environment calls for constant reviews and changes in strategies, plans and activities among organizations. Decisions made before, during and after change processes are not always easy because some of them carry ethical issues with them. There are various ethical issues which arise in the face of organizational change. The first ethical issue is power. The result of a significant majority of organizational changes is usually increased power for the management. With this move for more control, however, comes ambiguity and uncertainty in the organization. The management has to deal with the challenge of employee compliance and to find a good power balance that does not lead to coercion or manipulation. Secondly, organizations have to grapple with corruption and self-gain. This is notably one of the greatest ethical issues that arise in change management. Employees should be governed through a code of ethics in their dealings. Thirdly, the social impact of organizational change may be negative in instances where a company seeks cost effective alternatives of labor and other resources. Fourthly, the need for transparency may be challenged by the need to keep employees motivated in ongoing projects despite impending organizational changes. Overall, ethics is significant in the process of organizational change. All companies should consider having a code of ethics that governs the conduct of managers and employees.
References
De Graaf, A., & Levy, J. (2011, April). Business as Usual? Ethics in the Fast-Changing and Complex World of Organizations. Transactional Analysis Journal, 41(2), 123-128. Retrieved from Ebscohost, UOP Library,
Nelson. (2005). Business Fundamentals (2d ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Sonenshein, S. (2009). Emergence of Ethical Issues During Strategic Change Implementation. Organization Science, 20(1), 223-239.
Whitton, H. (2010). Implementing Effective Ethics Standards In Government And The Civil Service. Transparency International, 3(2), 1-10.
