ETHICS AND MANAGERIAL VALUES
Milton Rokeach has defined values as beliefs that guide actions and judgment across a variety of situations. He further says that values represent basic convictions that a specific mode of conduct is personally or socially preferable to an opposite mode of conduct. For example, a businessman is expected to supply true information rather than making false claims.
The distinctive features of values are as under:
- Values are comprehensive, standard that direct conduct of people in different situations.
- Values guide people to take specific position of social issues.
- Values provide standards of morality.
- Values are relatively stable and enduring as these are passed from one generation to another.
Attitude, Beliefs and Values
Attitudes constitute an important psychological attribute of individuals which shape their behavior. Schermerhorn, et al. have defined attitude as a predisposition to respond in a positive or negative way to someone or something in one's environment. When a person says that he likes or dislikes something, an attitude is being expressed.
An attitude may be defined as the way a person feels about something―a person, a place, a commodity, a situation or an idea. It expresses an individual's positive or negative feelings about some object. It describes an individual’s feelings, thoughts and predisposition to act towards some object.
A belief reveals what one supposes to be true. It may be about anything. A subordinate may believe his superior to be honest. But, in fact, the superior may not be honest. The attitude of the subordinate towards the superior reveals whether he likes or does not like him. The positive attitude, and the consequent liking, may rather make the subordinate condone all the bad qualities in the superior and consider him honest.
Values reveal basic idea about what is good or bad, what is right or wrong, or what is desirable or undesirable. They reflect a moral tone. ‘Workers should be honest to their work' is a statement of value. The honest workers are good is an evaluate statement which reveals the attitude of the person towards the honest workers. It may be noted that beliefs are one of the determinants of one's attitudes. A person holds an honest worker to be good because of his values that workers should be honest towards their work.
Importance of Business Values
Business values consist of the principles which define what constitutes good business, what objectives should be pursued and whose interest the business should serve. Business values are important for the management of any enterprise. They are the basis for management's philosophy. All managerial decisions and actions are guided by business values. Values are relatively permanent in nature and so they get reflected in long-term plans and policies of the business. They help in building the public image of the business and it’s management.
In business organizations, values are held at various levels and they all interact constantly to give shape to the business value system. These levels are:
1. Individual Values. The members of business firm hold their own values regarding their personal conduct in business. These values constitute the base of business values.
2. Group Values. The values held by formal as well as informal groups in the organization are of great importance in determining overall organizational values. It is important to note that the group business values may or may not be in agreement with individual values. For example, the value system of an individual employee may not approve of ‘wages without work' or ‘even, go slow', but he may be an active member of an informal or even a formal group lending support to such a conduct by the employees of the firm.
3. Top Management Values. The business values at the organization level emerge from objectives, policies, philosophy of the top management and the culture of the organization.
4. Environmental Values. The various environment constituents of business also hold norms and values of good business. These constituents are investors, lenders, customers, employees, suppliers, government, and the society as a whole.
Values determine what people consider to be good or bad for a civilized society. In relation to business, social values define the objectives of business as well as the manner in which business affairs should be conducted. In the light of the social values, we can evaluate policies and practices of a business. For example, an important value of our society, is honest dealings. That means the society does not approve of the sale of adulterated goods, use of false weights, hoarding of goods, or black marketing in goods.
Some examples of values followed by top management of companies include the following:
- Service of customers
- Safety of product and processes
- Loyalty to company
- Gender equality
- Innovation and creativity
- Honesty
- Achievement
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