CHAPTER FOUR

4.Ethics and Administration

4.1.Ethical Judgment

Ethical judgments are about the effects of actions or decisions on people. Other kinds of
judgments made in history are not ethical in nature.

Ethical judgment is reasoning about the possible actions in the situation and judging which
action is most ethical. A person making an ethical judgment uses reason to decide what the best
solution or decision is to a problem.

There are just a few important theoretical distinctions with which I would like to conclude this
section. The first has to do with at least two kinds of moral judgments:

(1) judgments of moral obligation, and (2) judgments of moral value. Judgments of moral
obligation have to do with actions. One might say that he or she "ought" to do this or that I have
a moral obligation to do that.. Of such actions, we can say that she did the right thing or he did
the wrong thing. Judgments of moral obligation often refer to the terms right and wrong.
Judgments of moral value relate to persons, motives, intentions and traits of character. Here, one
uses the terms good or bad, virtuous or vicious, saintly or despicable. Note that not all value
judgments are moral judgments. I might say that the film was a good film or that you make a
good martini. These are value judgments but not judgments of moral value. If I say your
intentions were good, then I have made a judgment of moral value. Judgments of value and
judgments of non-moral value should not be confused. Judgments of moral obligation and
judgments of moral value also should not be confused.

4.2.Ethical conflict and integrity

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Ethical conflicts arise when individuals are confronted with a collision between general belief
systems about morality, ethics or justice and their own personal situations. Right and wrong are
not always perfectly clear, and some situations involve choosing between two “evils,” where,
perhaps, the ethical decision might result in personal or social injury or where an individual
stands to gain from an unethical decision. Such conflicts could take place at the individual,
professional, or societal level.

Ends and Means

Ethical conflicts often involve the question whether ends justify their means. In one example,

doing what is “morally right” can create a negative outcome, while doing what is “morally

wrong” or immoral can create a positive outcome. Individuals, groups or states must evaluate

which is the more ethical choice given these considerations. Further, the moral position could be

substantiated or not substantiated in fact. For example, parents might choose not to give their

child a life-saving blood transfusion because they believe it is morally wrong. Parents who do

not feel fully convinced of the morality of their stance would face graver personal ethical

complications if their child did not survive the illness as a result.

What Is Integrity?

Integrity is the act of behaving honorably, even when no one is watching. People with integrity
follow moral and ethical principles in all aspects of life. Integrity should extend to professional
areas at work such as decision-making, interacting with colleagues and serving customers or
clients. Employers who are committed to hiring employees with integrity are better equipped to
provide high-quality service and maintain a positive reputation. When employees have integrity,
their managers can trust their team is working diligently. In this article, we explain what integrity
is, how to apply it in the workplace and ways it can help you in your career.

Integrity means being honest and having strong moral principles. A person with integrity
behaves ethically and does the right thing, even behind closed doors. Acting with integrity gives
you peace of mind in knowing you did the right thing regardless of the outcome. Integrity can be
defined as aligning your conduct with what you know to be excellent. A person of integrity

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displays a principled dedication to values and beliefs. They always seek to reflect ethical
standards and do the right thing regardless of the circumstances.

Living a life of integrity is important for several reasons. Your conduct reflects your character
and builds your reputation. Integrity inhibits moral failure due to compromise or cheating. It
shows that you have nothing to hide that, if revealed, would bring shame or reproach upon you.
Under scrutiny, your life would be declared innocent.

By committing to live based on excellent principles, you provide an example for others to
follow. You also have a basis for open communication with others because they trust you. Your
relationships can prosper based on honesty and forthrightness.

You can make decisions much more easily because you have already determined to do what is
excellent and therefore eliminated all the other alternatives. Acting with integrity gives
you peace of mind in knowing you did the right thing regardless of the outcome.

Beyond having strong ethical standards, having integrity means you:

 Expressing gratitude for others

 Valuing honesty and openness 
 Taking responsibility and accountability for your actions, good and bad
 Respecting yourself and others around you no matter where you are
 Demonstrating reliability and trustworthiness 
 Showing patience and flexibility, even when unexpected obstacles show up

What is integrity in the workplace? 

Integrity in the workplace is the same as it is outside of work. The only difference is that
integrity at work supports a company and leader's set of moral and ethical standards. This will
result both in happier employers and employees. 

Workplace integrity is vital to decision-making, serving customers, and managing employees.

It’s also crucial to reducing costly errors, avoiding illegal activity, and keeping the organization’s
core values top of mind.

For instance, reviewing policies and procedures before starting a complex task or being honest
about forgetting to do an important task are two examples of showing integrity at work.

Having integrity at work means you: 

1. Are reliable and dependable (i.e., you show up to work on time)

2. Are trustworthy, especially with classified information and high-risk tasks
3. Practice and encourage open communication with your colleagues and managers
4. Are respectful, honest, and patient with your colleagues, managers, and customers
5. Have a strong work ethic and strive to produce high-quality work consistently 
6. Are responsible for your actions, especially when you make a mistake

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 7. Make sound decisions, even under high-stress situations 
8. Are equipped to provide high-quality service to your customers

Organizations with integrity keep high-value customers, reduce employee turnover, improve

productivity, and make smart decisions.

Integrity is important in the workplace because it:

1. Promotes better leaders

Companies that hold their managers up to high ethical standards promote strong and ethical
leaders. 

Leaders with integrity understand that their actions, words, and decisions shape the company’s
values, culture, and morale. They value their customers, become role models for their team, and
act with good intentions rather than with selfish motives.

2. Helps foster an open and positive work environment

A strong organization values integrity as a way to foster an open and positive work environment.
When employees know their company operates based on strong values, they feel comfortable
sharing ideas, connecting with their team, and being themselves.

3. Promotes an ethical approach to decision-making

From protecting stakeholders to creating new products, upholding strong moral standards in the
workplace helps team members make deliberate, thoughtful decisions.

4. Encourages diversity, equity, and inclusion

Companies that promote integrity value having a diverse team. They welcome a variety of
perspectives, celebrate differences, and strive for equality in the workplace.

5. Promotes strong and resilient teams

Teams are strong and resilient when they have a set of standards as guidance. They also feel a
sense of meaning and purpose at work. This contributes to their morale, productivity, and
engagement. 

6. Actively builds and maintains trust

Honesty and integrity are the main pillars of trust — an essential component for building
credibility. As businesses strive to keep customers and employees, their credibility is the driving
force that influences them to stay.

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Character traits related to integrity

While integrity is more of a quality than a skill, it can still be developed over time. To identify
your personal strengths related to integrity, here are several examples of attributes related to
integrity:

Gracious

Those with integrity are gracious when others provide assistance. They express gratitude and
recognize achievements for people they work with. To demonstrate gratitude, always be sure to
say “thank you” when someone does you a favor, helps you or takes time out of their schedule
for you. Take time to send a follow-up email after an interview, phone call or meeting.

Respectful

People with integrity value other people by showing them respect at work. They do their best to
be on time to meetings, meet project deadlines and keep other’s feelings in mind. You can
demonstrate this trait by exercising punctuality, care with your words and careful consideration
of people’s ideas.

Honest

Integrity requires honesty. Those with integrity strive to be truthful. They own up to mistakes
and try to learn from them.

Trustworthy

People with integrity follow through on their commitments. To demonstrate trustworthiness,

avoid over-promising. If you’re unable to complete a task or meet a deadline, be sure to let
others know as quickly as possible. If you are trusted with personal information, respect it.

Hardworking

Those with integrity strive to produce high-quality work on time, regardless of the task. They
recognize that everything they do can impact the organization, their colleagues and business
outcomes.

Responsible

Those with integrity take accountability for their actions. They are also organized and proactive
making sure they deliver on their responsibilities.

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Helpful

When someone has integrity, they help those in need. This may be in the form of lending their
time for a project without being asked or offering to cover for an employee in an emergency.

Patient

A person with integrity is able to tolerate challenges, delays and unexpected obstacles while
maintaining a calm, even demeanor. They wait their turn to speak in meetings and one-on-one
conversations.

4.3. Ethics and service quality

Service quality is impossible without ethical employees who are committed to the cause
of service quality in organization. Ethics would include honesty, integrity, respect and caring for
others, Fairness, promise keeping, personal accountability in employees and in the organization.
All these words mentioned are describing Service Quality also. Hence there is a direct relation
between Ethics and Service quality. Ethics and Quality of Service Ethics is the inspirational
source behind quality products smooth production process, operational transparency and a
concern for service quality.
Ethical work habits are an integral part of the lives of many employees and students. The
exact definition of “good” work ethics is subjective, but many people consider certain
characteristics as ethical and others as unethical. Good work ethics often inspire others to act
in similar ways.

here are several ethical good work ethics :

Commitment

Commitment and dedication to work can be considered a good work ethic. Workers show
commitment by being punctual, present and attentive. A worker could show commitment by
working overtime when needed or by showing company loyalty. Workers show lack of
commitment when they are late, absent or distracted while performing job duties.

Productivity

Many people consider efficient production a hallmark of good work ethics. Productivity
doesn’t have to mean a huge output; it could mean consistent quality yield as well. Productive
workers strive to complete objectives on time and deliver excellent products. An unproductive
worker may waste time and other resources and otherwise not live up to her full potential.

Perseverance

The ability to persist and face challenges is a good work ethic know as perseverance.
Perseverance can simply mean having a positive attitude every day. It could also mean having

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the courage to continue working through professional or personal hardship. Workers who are
impatient or who give up easily show lack of perseverance.

Organization

Organized workers are able to structure both their physical environment and their time.
Organization is a skill than many people consider part of good work ethics. Workers show that
they’re organized when they plan and coordinate job duties. Good workers often use
organizational techniques to help them handle stress, both on and off the job. Proper planning
helps workers be flexible when challenged with sudden changes. Disorganized workers
mismanage time, have disorderly work spaces and often fail to make contingency plans.

Creativity

Creativity doesn't necessarily mean proficiency in art or writing; it can mean finding alternate
ways to approach work, combining work with hobbies or enjoyable activities or discovering
ways to make work more worthwhile. Creativity is seen as a good work ethic because creative
workers help businesses innovate and invent. Workers show a lack of creativity when they fail
to share their ideas or present ideas that are plagiarized or unoriginal.

Communication

Appropriate, positive and consistent communication is another good work ethic. Acceptable
communication can be both verbal (listening, body language, eye contact) and nonverbal
(phone and email etiquette, proper grammar). Good communication dictates that relevant
information be revealed as soon as possible to the applicable parties. Poor communication
might be improperly formatted, untimely, unresponsive or irrelevant.

Respect

Respect is a work ethic shown through positive interaction with co-workers, management and
customers. Respectful individuals are tolerant of people’s differences and understanding of
conflicting points of view. Workers show disrespect when they are intolerant of diversity, rude
to others or argumentative.

Leadership

People who exemplify outstanding work ethics are often looked upon as leaders, regardless
whether they hold an official leadership position. Leadership skills include problem solving,
conflict management and mentoring. Positive leaders take care to constantly show good work
ethics.

4.4. Ethics and leadership

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Ethical leadership is based on ethical behavior. That begs the question, then, what is ethics?
Ethics is doing the right thing. But since everyone has a slightly different definition of what
constitutes “right,” it’s almost easier to explain ethics in terms of what it is not. 

What Is Ethical Leadership?

Of course, we want all leaders to follow a strict moral compass and recognize the direction of
true north.  Leaders should know what they stand for and understand their own values lest their
organizations become headline news in the next corporate scandal. Ethical leadership, however,
consistently demonstrates and promotes behavior that respects the rights of others within the
values-based boundaries.

Ethical leadership is not a mutually exclusive style. There are many people who lead and manage
governed by ethical principles integrated within another management framework. Ethical
leadership theory, in contrast, is keenly focused on setting ethical direction within the
organization and directing the organization accordingly. 

Leadership Ethics - Traits of an Ethical Leader

Ethics refer to the desirable and appropriate values and morals according to an individual or the
society at large. Ethics deal with the purity of individuals and their intentions. Ethics serve as
guidelines for analyzing “what is good or bad” in a specific scenario. Correlating ethics with
leadership, we find that ethics is all about the leader’s identity and the leader’s role.

Ethical theories on leadership talk about two main things:

(a) The actions and behavior of leaders; and

(b) the personality and character of leaders.

It is essential to note that “Ethics are an essential to leadership”. A leader drives and
influences the subordinates / followers to achieve a common goal, be it in case of team work,
organizational quest, or any project. It is an ethical job of the leader to treat his subordinates with
respect as each of them has unique personality. The ethical environment in an organization is
built and developed by a leader as they have an influential role in the organization and due to the
fact that leaders have an influence in developing the organizational values.

An effective and ethical leader has the following traits / characteristics:

Dignity and respectfulness: He respects others. An ethical leader should not use his
followers as a medium to achieve his personal goals. He should respect their feelings,
decision and values. Respecting the followers implies listening effectively to them, being
compassionate to them, as well as being liberal in hearing opposing viewpoints. In short, it
implies treating the followers in a manner that authenticate their values and beliefs.

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 Serving others: He serves others. An ethical leader should place his follower’s interests
ahead of his interests. He should be humane. He must act in a manner that is always fruitful
for his followers.

Justice: He is fair and just. An ethical leader must treat all his followers equally. There
should be no personal bias. Wherever some followers are treated differently, the ground for
differential treatment should be fair, clear, and built on morality.

Community building: He develops community. An ethical leader considers his own purpose
as well as his followers’ purpose, while making efforts to achieve the goals suitable to both
of them. He is considerate to the community interests. He does not overlook the followers’
intentions. He works harder for the community goals.

Honesty: He is loyal and honest. Honesty is essential to be an ethical and effective leader.
Honest leaders can be always relied upon and depended upon. They always earn respect of
their followers. An honest leader presents the fact and circumstances truly and completely,
no matter how critical and harmful the fact may be. He does not misrepresent any fact.

It is essential to note that leadership is all about values, and it is impossible to be a leader if you
lack the awareness and concern for your own personal values. Leadership has a moral and ethical
aspect. These ethics define leadership. Leaders can use the above mentioned traits as yardsticks
for influencing their own behavior.

4.5. Obligations and Attitudes in Ethics

The popular meaning of the term “Obligation” is a duty to do or not to do something. In its legal
sense, obligation is a civil law concept. An obligation can be created voluntarily, such as
obligation arising from a contract, quasi-contract, unilateral promise. An obligation can also be
created involuntarily, such as an obligation arising from torts or a statute. An obligation binds
together two or more determinate persons. Therefore, the legal meaning of an obligation does not
only denote a duty, but also denote a correlative right—one party has an obligation means
another party has a correlative right. The person or entity who was liable for the obligation is
called obligor; the person or entity who holds the correlative right to an obligation is
called obligee.
An obligation is a course of action that someone is required to take, whether legal or moral.
Obligations are constraints; they limit freedom. People who are under obligations may choose to
freely act under obligations. Obligation exists when there is a choice to do what is morally good
and what is morally unacceptable. Obligations vary from person to person: for example, a person

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holding a political office will generally have far more obligations than an average adult citizen,
who themselves will have more obligations than a child. Obligations are generally granted in
return for an increase in an individual's rights or power.
Types of obligation

Written obligations
Written obligations are contracts. They legally bind two people into an agreement. Each person
becomes responsible for doing their part of the contract. A legal contract consists of an offer, an
acceptance of that offer, an intention to bind to one another in a legal agreement and a
consideration, something of value to be exchanged.
Political obligation
A political obligation is a requirement for the citizens of a society to follow the laws of that
society. There are philosophical issues, however, about whether a citizen should follow a law
simply because it is a law. There are various views about whether a political obligation is a moral
obligation.
Social obligation
Social obligations refer to the things we as individuals accept because it is collectively
accepted. When people agree to a promise or an agreement, they are collectively consenting to
its terms. Humanity is obligated to fulfill that promise or agreement.

Attitudes

An attitude is a positive, negative, or mixed evaluation of an object expressed at some level of

intensity. It is an expression of a favorable or unfavorable evaluation of a person, place, thing, or
event. These are fundamental determinants of our perceptions of and actions toward all aspects
of our social environment. Attitudes involve a complex organization of evaluative beliefs,
feelings, and tendencies toward certain actions. Attitude can be described as a tendency to react
positively or negatively to a person or circumstances.

Attitude is the manner, disposition, feeling, and position about a person or thing, tendency, or
orientation, especially in mind. An attitude is a mental and neural state of readiness, organized
through experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual’s response to
all objects and situations with which it is related. An attitude is a dispositional readiness to
respond to certain institutions, persons or objects in a consistent manner which has been learned
and has become one’s typical mode of response. An attitude denotes the total of man’s
inclinations and feelings, prejudice or bias, preconceived notions, ideas, fears, threats, and other
any specific topic.

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 Explicit attitudes are those that we are consciously aware of and that clearly influences our
behaviors and beliefs. Implicit attitudes are unconscious but still affect our beliefs and behaviors.
Characteristics of Attitude are;

1. Attitudes are the complex combination of things we call personality, beliefs, values,
behaviors, and motivations.
2. It can fall anywhere along a continuum from very favorable to very unfavorable.
3. All people, irrespective of their status or intelligence, hold attitudes.
4. An attitude exists in every person’s mind. It helps to define our identity, guide our
actions, and influence how we judge people.
5. Although the feeling and belief components of attitude are internal to a person, we can
view a person’s attitude from their resulting behavior.
6. Attitude helps us define how we see situations and define how we behave toward the
situation or object.
7. It provides us with internal cognitions or beliefs and thoughts about people and objects.
8. It can also be explicit and implicit. Explicit attitude is those that we are consciously
aware of an implicit attitude is unconscious, but still, affect our behaviors.
9. Attitudes cause us to behave in a particular way toward an object or person.
10. An attitude is a summary of a person’s experience; thus, an attitude is grounded in direct
experience predicts future behavior more accurately.
11. It includes certain aspects of personality as interests, appreciation, and social conduct.
12. It indicates the total of a man’s inclinations and feelings.
13. An attitude is a point of view, substantiated or otherwise, true or false, which one holds
towards an idea, object, or person.
14. It has aspects such as direction, intensity, generality, or specificity.
15. It refers to one’s readiness for doing Work.
16. It may be positive or negative and may be affected by age, position, and education.

Types of attitudes

1. Positive Attitude

This is one type of attitude in organizational behavior. One needs to understand how much a
positive attitude it takes to keep the work moving and progressing. It means that keeping a
positive mindset and thinking about the greater good, no matter whatever the circumstances are.
A positive attitude has many benefits which affect out other kinds of behavior in a good way.

2. Negative Attitude

A negative attitude is something that every person should avoid. Generally, people will negative
attitude ignore the good things in life and only think about whether they will fail. They often find
a way out of tough situations by running away from it. They often compare themselves with
other persons and find the bad in them only. In short, he is exactly the opposite of the one with a
positive mindset. There are certain bad effects that a person with a negative mindset has to face.

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 3. Neutral Attitude

This is another type of attitude that is common. That mindset is a neutral one. There is no doubt.
Neither is there any kind of hope. The people generally tend to ignore the problems in life. They
wait for some other individual to take care of their problems. They generally have a lazy life and
they are often unemotional. It is as if they don’t think about anything that much and doesn’t care
for the same as well. They never feel the need to change themselves as they can simply live with
the way they are.

4.Sikken Attitude

One of the most dangerous types of attitude and different is the sikken attitude. The sikken
attitude has the caliber to destroy every image that comes in connection with a positive image.
This type of attitude is more of a negative attitude and is very destructive. It often reflects the
mind’s negativity. It is necessary to let go off this kind of attitude for the betterment of the self
and the people around you. They are often difficult to be mended because the attitude is deep-
rooted within one’s personality. However, with time, it nevertheless is possible to change the
course of direction of this attitude.

Barriers to Change Attitudes

Employees’ attitudes can be changed, and sometimes it is in the best interests of management to
try to do so. For example, if employees believe that their employer does not look after their
welfare, the management should try to change employees’ attitudes and develop a more positive
attitude towards them. However, the process of changing the attitude is not always easy.
Actually, the barriers are the limits that prevent the organization from achieving its
predetermined goals. So every organization should be aware of these and should take corrective
actions.

Barriers to Change Attitudes are;

 Prior Commitment.
 Insufficient Information.
 Balance and Consistency.
 Lack of Resources.
 Improper Reward System.
 Resistance to Change.

Prior Commitment

When people feel a commitment towards a particular course of action that has already been
agreed upon, it becomes difficult for them to change or accept the new ways of functioning.

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Insufficient Information

It also acts as a major barrier to change attitudes. Sometimes people do not see why they should
change their attitude due to the unavailability of adequate information. Sometimes people do not
see why they should change their attitude due to the unavailability of adequate information.

Balance and Consistency

Another obstacle to a change of attitude is the attitude theory of balance and consistency. Human
beings prefer their attitudes about people and things to be in line with their behaviors towards
each other and objects.

Lack of Resources

If plans become excessively ambitious, they can sometimes be obstructed by the lack of
resources on a company or organization. So, in this case, if the organization wants to change the
employees’ attitude towards the new plan, sometimes it becomes impossible for the lack of
resources to achieve this.

Improper Reward System

Sometimes, an improper reward system acts as a barrier to change attitude. If an organization

places too much emphasis on short-term performance and results, managers may ignore longer-
term issues as they set goals and formulate plans to achieve higher profits in the short term. If
this reward system is introduced in the organization, employees are not motivated to change their
attitude.

Resistance to Change

Another barrier is resistance to change. Basically, change is a continuous process within and
outside the organization to achieve the set goal. When the authority changes a plan of the
organization, the employees have to change themselves. But some of them do not like this. If
their attitude regarding the change of plan cannot be changed, the organization will not be
successful.

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