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Ethics and Human Resource Development: There Are Two Sides to the Coin
Abstract
When discussing ethics and the role of HRD, it is important to distinguish between two different but interrelated aspects. The first aspect, which we call “ethical talent development,” relates to the ethical conduct of HRD professionals, i.e., the need for HRD professionals to act ethically in their talent development work. The HRD Standards on Ethics and Integrity exemplify this aspect. As a code of ethics and an integrity statement, these HRD Standards guide professional practice and the conduct of scholars, consultants, evaluators, and practitioners in the field. The second aspect, which we call “development of ethical talent,” concerns the HRD professionals’ role in fostering individuals’ ethical behavior and building ethical organizations. In this chapter, we introduce these two aspects critical for the HRD profession. We discuss the relevant literature on ethics in HRD to underscore the value of each aspect and propose a framework for a caring HRD practice. We argue for the importance of this approach to ethical issues in furthering HRD scholarship and preparation of HRD professionals. This chapter advances our understanding of ethics in HRD and highlights how HRD professionals could address ethical issues in their work.
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There are two dichotomous rationales for valuing diversity in organizational contexts: the business case and the social justice case. Arguments for the business case for diversity and the social justice case are both supported by valuing philosophies. However, lacking in either of these philosophies is a human relations component that recognizes the role of relationships in achieving the intended goals. In this article, we propose that reconciling the tensions between the business case and the social justice case is contingent upon adopting an organizational strategy that includes a human relations valuing philosophy. The organizational strategy suggested reaffirms a strategic role of human resource development.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of ethics training (ET) on workplace behaviors. The study also aims to test the mediating effect of ethical culture (EC), on the relationship between ET and workplace behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach
An experimental model has been developed to address the problem statement. The success of ET intervention has been measured in terms of workplace behavior, which is evaluated by job satisfaction, employee commitment and intention to stay. The proposed research model is empirically tested by data collected from 175 mid-level managers in 30 Indian construction firms.
Findings
The results obtained from process macro showed partial mediation. Stronger perceptions of ET were associated with stronger perceptions of EC. EC is related to positive workplace behavior.
Research limitations/implications
The partial mediation suggests that there is a need for exploring other potential mediating variables through which ET interventions can succeed. Future research can investigate group-level variables such as team psychological safety, which can potentially explain the complete mediation.
Practical implications
The results suggest that ET interventions can be used to strengthen the EC in the firms. If the ET intervention is designed purely on the compliance orientation, it will impede the opportunities for long-term development. The focus should not be with the intent to observe ethical conduct. It should be more inclusive and value-oriented. Firms need to sensitize employees and train them on how to deal with ethical dilemmas. Employees are inclined to study in the firms exhibiting a strong EC. In the construction sector, where multiple projects are handled by employees with unique and niche skill sets, retainment of employees is very important. The human resource departments need to think of introducing ET interventions not only from the study of compliance adherence but also with the motive of retaining employees.
Originality/value
The ET literature seldom discussed long term benefits related to creating an EC. The study critiques the intent of human resource (HR) departments while designing an ET intervention. The ethics intervention is often designed with an intent to fulfill the compliance requirements. This study contrasts this intention and shows the importance of ET intervention to create the EC in the firm, which not only includes compliance requirements like code of conduct but also has a significant focus on sensitizing employees about ethical dilemmas and grey areas.
A firm and a rigorous ethics program are essential in business today. Consumers expect the companies with which they do business to be ethical. Compliance and integrity-based ethics programs are the leading pragmatic approaches to ethics used in today’s business environment. Reviewing each of these programs individually, then comparing and contrasting them, and finally evaluating them as a synthesized program is a useful form of analysis. Separating, then comparing, and subsequently integrating the best of both methods leads to the determination that firms must be able to synthesize the two theories and apply them to their business.
Requirements for business ethics education and organizational ethics trainings mark an important step in encouraging ethical behavior among business students and professionals. However, the lack of specificity in these guidelines as to how, what, and where business ethics should be taught has led to stark differences in approaches and content. The present effort uses meta-analytic procedures to examine the effectiveness of current approaches across organizational ethics trainings and business school courses. to provide practical suggestions for business ethics interventions and research. Thus, the primary questions driving this research are as follows: (1) what course characteristics moderate the effectiveness of ethics instruction?, and (2) have ethics education and training efforts improved? Findings suggest that professional, focused, and workshop-based training programs are especially effective for improving business ethics. However, results also reveal considerable problems with many of the criteria used to evaluate the effectiveness of business ethics interventions. Practical suggestions for course design and evaluation in business ethics efforts are discussed along with future research needs.
Training and development research has a long tradition within applied psychology dating back to the early 1900s. Over the years, not only has interest in the topic grown but there have been dramatic changes in both the science and practice of training and development. In the current article, we examine the evolution of training and development research using articles published in the Journal of Applied Psychology (JAP) as a primary lens to analyze what we have learned and to identify where future research is needed. We begin by reviewing the timeline of training and development research in JAP from 1918 to the present in order to elucidate the critical trends and advances that define each decade. These trends include the emergence of more theory-driven training research, greater consideration of the role of the trainee and training context, examination of learning that occurs outside the classroom, and understanding training’s impact across different levels of analysis. We then examine in greater detail the evolution of 4 key research themes: training criteria, trainee characteristics, training design and delivery, and the training context. In each area, we describe how the focus of research has shifted over time and highlight important developments. We conclude by offering several ideas for future training and development research.
Military physicians serving overseas in cross-cultural settings face the challenge of meeting patients' needs and adhering to their personal and professional ethics while abiding by military obligations and duties. Predeployment ethics training for Naval physicians continues to be received in many forms, if received at all, and has largely not addressed their specific roles as medical providers in the military. This study explores the perceived effectiveness of predeployment ethics training received by Naval physicians. Additionally, it considers the contribution of different types of ethics training, religious values, and the professional ethics on Naval physicians' perceived ability to effectively manage ethically challenging scenarios while on deployment. A total of 49 Naval physicians participated in an online survey. 16.3% reported not receiving any form of ethics training before deployment. Of those that reported receiving ethics training before deployment, 92.7% found the ethics training received was helpful in some way while on deployment. While a medical school course was most contributory overall to their ability to handle ethically difficult situations while on deployment (70.7%), what most Naval physicians felt would help them better handle these types of situations would be a mandatory military training/military course (63.2%) or personal mentorship (57.9%).
Given the growing public concern and attention placed on cases of research misconduct, government agencies and research institutions have increased their efforts to develop and improve ethics education programs for scientists. The present study sought to assess the impact of these increased efforts by sampling empirical studies published since the year 2000. Studies published prior to 2000 examined in other meta-analytic work were also included to provide a baseline for assessing gains in ethics training effectiveness over time. In total, this quantitative review consisted of 66 empirical studies, 106 ethics courses, 150 effect sizes, and 10,069 training participants. Overall, the findings indicated that ethics instruction resulted in sizable benefits to participants and has improved considerably within the last decade. A number of specific findings also emerged regarding moderators of instructional effectiveness. Recommendations are discussed for improving the development, delivery, and evaluation of ethics instruction in the sciences.
Organizations are faced with the question, not only whether to adopt an ethics program, but also which components to adopt when. This study shows that unethical behavior occurs less frequently in organizations that have an ethics program than in organizations that do not have an ethics program. Nine components of ethics programs were identified and examined. The results show that there is a direct relationship between the number of components adopted and the frequency of observed unethical behavior. No relationship was found between pre-employment screening and unethical behavior, while the strongest relationship was discerned between accountability policies and unethical behavior. The study further reveals that the best sequence for adopting components of an ethics program is (1) a code of ethics, (2) ethics training and communication, (3) accountability policies, (4) monitoring and auditing, and (5) investigation and correction policies – all of which are directly related to less unethical behavior – followed by (6) an ethics office(r), (7) ethics report line, and (8) incentive policies – all of which are indirectly related to less unethical behavior. With the exception of pre-employment screening, this sequence corresponds closely to the pattern of adoption of organizations in the U.S.
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t The ongoing confusion about the meaning of 'talent' within the world of work is hindering the establishment of widely accepted talent management theories and practices. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the literature on talent management by offering an in-depth review of the talent concept within the specific context of the world of work, and proposing a framework for its conceptualization. We group different theoretical approaches to talent into 'object' (i.e., talent as natural ability; talent as mastery; talent as commitment; talent as fit) versus 'subject' approaches (i.e., talent as all people; talent as some people) and identify dynamics existing within and between them, as well as implications for talent management theory and practice. Finally, we discuss different avenues for further research aimed at developing the talent—and consequently, the talent management—construct further.
Despite the increasing significance of corporate ethics, few studies have explored the intermediate mechanisms that explain the relationship between corporate ethics and firm financial performance. Drawing on institutional theory and strategic human resource management literature, the authors hypothesize that the internal collective processes based on employees’ collective organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) mediate the ethics–performance relationship at the organizational level. The authors’ hypotheses are tested using data collected from 3,821 employees from 130 Korean companies and the respective companies’ financial performance data. The results indicate that collective organizational commitment and interpersonal OCB are meaningful intervening processes that connect corporate ethics to firm financial performance. To complement prior studies that identify a firm’s reputation and external relations as mediators between corporate ethics and performance, the present study highlights the need to examine microprocesses occurring within the organization to account for the ethics–firm performance relationship. Moreover, the present demonstration of collective organizational commitment and OCB as meaningful predictors of a firm’s objective performance indicates the significance of these employee processes in explaining organizational-level outcomes.
Human resource development (HRD) is increasingly expected to play a facilitative role in corporate social responsibility (CSR), sustainability, and ethics in organizations. However, there is also significant skepticism concerning HRD’s ability to make a contribution to these areas. It is criticized for moving away from its mission to advocate humanistic values in organizations to totally embracing a short-term business agenda. This article argues that societal HRD (SHRD) can make an important and long-lasting contribution to CSR, sustainability, and ethics through its capacity to question a continual focus by organizations on efficiency and performance. However, it must also be conscious of its business role. Both objectives must be pursued side-by-side. The article outlines a framework of activities that HRD may use to reorient the agenda, hold organizations accountable, provide leadership on CSR, sustainability, and ethics, and at the same time ensure that the organization is profitable and successful. The article summarizes the six articles that are included in this issue.
This literature review identifies characteristics of ethical business cultures, describes factors, considered to be important in developing such cultures, describes current practices of developing ethical culture programs, and discusses the role of HRD in developing ethical business cultures. We argue that ethical thinking and behavior can be learned and internalized as a result of work-based interpretive interactions, and this learning process constitutes an important part of organizational learning. Therefore, to help the organization develop an ethical culture, HRD needs to play a key role in several interrelated activities which include: culture change efforts, focused on the creation of conditions, conducive to ethical behaviors; creation of a dynamic program of ethical training for employees on all levels of the organization; and development of up-to-date codes of ethics.
The history of ethical problems and corruption in American law enforcement is well documented. Current law enforcement training lacks a significant focus on ethics training and is in need of modifications which would include a greater emphasis on ethics education. This study drew on cognitive development theory, applied specifically to the domains of moral and conceptual development, to create and implement an educational programme for police officer trainees and college students studying criminal justice. The Deliberate Psychological Education model provided the framework for this educational program designed to promote development of moral reasoning and conceptual complexity among the participants. Significant gains were achieved for participants in the Deliberate Psychological Education intervention when compared with a control group in which the participants received the ethics training in a more traditional lecture format.
This research investigates the association between institutionalization of ethics, quality of work life (QWL), and employee job-related outcomes in the Thai work place. The data were collected by means of questionnaires mailed to human resource managers of 514 Thai companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. The response rate was 31.9%. Our survey results reveal a positive relationship between implicit form of ethics institutionalization and both lower-order and higher-order aspects of QWL. The results also indicate that the implicit form of ethics institutionalization and the two aspects of QWL have positive impacts on the three employee job-related outcomes: job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and team spirit. The research findings not only validate the research findings in the U.S. but also verify the importance of ethics institutionalization and QWL programs for business organizations in Thailand.
Ethics research has focused on issues such as codes of conduct and ethical values and less on ethics training. This paper examines evidence from a national survey of local governments on what approaches they take to ethics training through the topics they teach. Our analysis showed that they use both of the two common types of training approaches: “compliance-based,” focusing on enforceable rules, and “integrity-based,” which aims more at instilling values. The research showed that the compliance-based approach was most commonly used, and integrity-based topics were less heavily emphasized. It found that these training topics were most likely to be offered in the Midwest, and managers were given the same training as employees. Population size and form of government did not register much impact. The results support prior research that local governments more often take the “low road” in ethics training and do not teach values and public interest topics.
Although caring and an ethics of care have been part of the nursing and education literature for many years, it has seldom been the focus of research and models in the HRD literature which has tended to be dominated by masculine rationality and models that focus on performance. In this paper, I argue that caring represents an important positive attribute of organizations and that a model of caring provides an alternative to HRD models based on masculine rationality and a performance philosophy. Research on caring in nursing and education is reviewed along with calls for an ethic of care in HRD. This is followed by a review of research on caring in organizations which provides the basis for the development of a model of caring in organizations for HRD. The model demonstrates the relationships between caring from three sources or levels in an organization (the organization or business unit, management, and co-workers), a climate of care for employees, and positive employee outcomes. HRD care-enhancing interventions for developing caring in organizations are then discussed. The paper concludes with a consideration of the implications of a model of caring for HRD research and practice.
The Problem
The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a stark light on workplace inequities and injustices. Aside from disrupting daily routines and ways of working, the pandemic has unmasked significant and troubling differences in the treatment and status of productive and reproductive labor. As we recover from the pandemic, how can workplaces properly recognize and value the contribution of reproductive labor?
The Recommendation
We focus on ethics of care as a foundational aspect of learning and human development. Care is proximal and contextual and expressions of care require managers and HRD professionals to engage with and address employees’ needs in a way that recognizes the complexity of individual situations. This may lead to the transformation of work and workplaces and bring employees into a more participatory, inclusive and democratic relationship with employers. We offer four suggestions for how HRD practitioners can practically embed an ethics of care approach within organizations.
The Stakeholders
This article is relevant to human resource development (HRD) scholars and practitioners who are interested in building sustainable, caring and healthy workplaces in a post-pandemic world.
Can employees be trained to make more ethical decisions? If so, how? Providing evidence-based and practical answers to these critical questions is the purpose of this book. To answer these questions, the authors—four organizational psychologists who specialize in the study of ethical decision making—translate insights based on decades of scientific research. Whether you are a student, educator, HR manager, compliance professional, or simply someone interested in the topic of ethics education, this book offers a road map for designing ethics training programs that work.
Human Resource Development (HRD) operates within competitive global environments and the changing expectations of societal moral values, which can be in conflict with organizational values, performance, and profit. These are underpinned by the unquestioning acceptance and ‘orthodoxy’ of free‐market economics, legalism, and codes of conduct that result in a lack of ethical analysis within HRD practice. In response to the forgoing, it will be argued that the ethics of care that espouses the values of human relationships, empathy, dignity, and respect is a legitimate approach to free-market lead ethical rule-based rationality that is often presented as the de facto position for HRD professional practice. It presents the ethical debates in which HRD operates within, before arguing for the ethics of care. Three case examples from practice are offered illustrating how HRD practice might respond through the lens of an ethics of care. Reflections and implications for HRD in the form of objections and responses are considered. It concludes that HRD professionals are faced with many difficulties when making decisions, and that the ethics of care offer is an alternative perspective for HRD practitioners.
The purpose of this article is to question whether or not social injustice should matter to human resource development (HRD). The goal is to invoke a sense of moral agency and responsiveness within the HRD community for having more candid and open conversations about social injustice and the lived experiences of marginalized individuals. In this article, a social justice paradigm will be suggested as a dedicated platform for studying social justice as a necessary outcome of social injustice. Organizational social justice will be introduced as a progressive workplace norm that envisions an equal balance of social justice outcomes for all members in organizations and places of work.
Professional fields are guided by the search for reasoned answers to the question of what to do, and this both in the exercise of daily practice and in the education and training of future practitioners. In educational theory and in management, the framework of virtue ethics has received much attention as an alternative to duty-based and result-oriented approaches of considering what to do in professional practice. Virtue ethics dates back to Greek philosophy and is concerned with practical wisdom, defined as acting virtuously in pursuit of a good and worthwhile form of living. This article outlines the major tenets of virtue ethics in the context of working and work organization and posits that the focus on practical wisdom should be seen as a central concern of HRD practice and HRD education.
There has been little previous scholarship regarding the aims, options and impact of ethics education on residential care-givers. This manuscript details findings from a pragmatic cluster trial evaluating the impact of three different approaches to ethics education. The focus of the article is on one of the interventions, an immersive simulation experience. The simulation experience required residential care-givers to assume the profile of elderly care-recipients for a 24-hr period. The care-givers were student nurses. The project was reviewed favourably by a university ethics committee, and participants provided informed consent. Data from six postsimulation experience focus groups were analysed thematically and three themes were identified: the experience of vulnerability, dignity in care and the organisation of care. Findings suggest that the immersive simulation experience had a powerful immediate impact as participants described epiphanous insights relating to their care experiences. It is suggested that reflecting on and recording epiphanous events has the potential to sustain ethical care practices. Further research is required to evaluate the impact of different ethics education interventions in different cultural contexts. Exploration is also required regarding the meaning and significance of care epiphanies, those "most delicate and evanescent of moments," for the sustainability of ethical care.
As the topic of talent development (TD) gets more popularity in practice of organizations and among human resource development (HRD) professionals, the need for understanding the nature and the scope of TD activities increases. The aim of this article is to help this understanding through an integrative review of literature. As part of this article, the definitions of and the perspectives toward talent-related activities in TD literature have been analyzed and a comprehensive definition for TD is suggested. Moreover, four major themes within TD literature have been identified: (a) issues related to career development, (b) the influence of contextual factors, (c) the relationship between TD and attraction and retention of talents, and (d) issues of diversity in the context of TD. Based on our findings, some of the gaps in the literature are presented. The potential actions that HRD researchers and practitioners can take to address these challenges will be suggested and discussed.
Introduction and Overview Key Principles and Theories Issues Related to Globalism and Diversity of Religious-Moral Perspectives Role of and Issues with Professional Codes of Ethics Issues and Trends in Best Practice Implications for HRD Researchers and Scholar-Practitioners Conclusion
The study explores the use of Graphic Novels as an innovative form of training that may improve an individual’s ethical efficacy. A quantitative comparison of the graphic novel method and the traditional written case study is analyzed. The literature on ethics, graphic novels, and training are brought together from theories of narrative and literature perspective to formulate a study. The study uses a 2 × 2 repeated-measure MANOVA to analyze the participant’s reaction to bribery situations based on varying levels of ‘grayness.’ The overall study finds that ethical efficacy increases with the use of the graphic novel method. The greatest improvements are in the individual’s level of self-efficacy and understanding of principle-based ethical issues. In addition, the participant’s level of industry experience may play a factor in applying the graphic novel technique. Finally, guidelines on how to effectively utilize the graphic novel method are stated. Improving ethical efficacy through business ethics training may help improve an individual’s self-efficacy, involvement and principle-based understanding. The study explores the use of Graphic Novels as an innovative form of training that may improve an individual’s ethical efficacy. A quantitative comparison of the graphic novel method and the traditional written case study are analyzed. Literature on ethics, graphic novels, and training are brought together with theories of narrative and literature perspective to formulate a study. The study uses a 2 × 2 repeated-measure MANOVA to analyze the participant’s reaction to bribery ethical situations based on varying levels of ‘grayness.’ The overall study finds that ethical efficacy increases with the use of the graphic novel method. The greatest improvements are in the individual’s level of self-efficacy and understanding of principle-based ethical issues. In addition, the participant’s level of industry experience may play a factor in applying the graphic novel technique. Finally, guidelines on how to effectively utilize the graphic novel method is set forth.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to focus on an inward drive and commitment toward ethical discovery, which the authors refer to as the competency of moral curiosity. When directed toward moral decision making, the authors believe this ability can help managers effectively respond to their ethical challenges and contribute to an organizational environment that supports ethical performance.
Design/methodology/approach
– After presenting insights from the literature on curiosity and establishing its relevance, the authors describe a specific experiential learning tool designed to cultivate moral curiosity in organizational settings. The authors conduct a field study using this process to explore how moral curiosity can be strengthened through experiential practice.
Findings
– Results from the field study suggest that engagement in balanced experiential inquiry, a process that asks managers to reflect on their salient ethical dilemmas and then engage in both individual and collective meaning making, positively influenced participants’ curiosity toward moral decision making.
Research limitations/implications
– Limitations include challenges inherent to the field-study design, including lack of a control group and limited ability to predict long-term impacts of the intervention. Despite these concerns, the study has useful implications for managerial training and development. In particular, providing safe spaces where managers can discuss their ethical dilemmas is an important element of supporting their development into morally curious leaders who are interested in pursuing business ethics.
Practical implications
– Findings suggest that providing safe spaces where managers can discuss their ethical dilemmas is an important element of supporting their development into morally curious leaders who are interested in pursuing business ethics.
Originality/value
– The paper contributes to the research literature on ethics training and education for managers. The authors introduce the construct of moral curiosity as a competency that can be developed through experiential practice in organizational settings.
Ethics in business and economics is often attacked for being too superficial. By elaborating the conclusions of two such critics of business ethics and welfare economics respectively, this article will draw the attention to the “ethics behind” these apparently well-intended, but not always convincing constructions, by help of the “fundamental ethics” of Emmanuel Levinas. To Levinas, responsibility is more basic than language, and thus also more basic than all social constructions. Co-operation relations in organizations, markets and value networks are generated from personal relations and personal responsibilities. It is not sufficient to integrate ethics in an impersonal, rational system, neither in business organizations nor in the world economy. Ethics has its source not in rationality, but in the personal.
Compliance-based ethics management has become the primary method of maintaining high ethical standards in governmental and non-governmental organizations. There are several reasons why organizations have embraced compliance regulation as the key method of keeping public confidence in their integrity. Compliance-based management (1) provides organizations a certain level of immunity from illegal acts committed by their employees and officials, and (2) significantly reduces pressures to implement integrity-based programs by lowering organizational ethical expectations. The heavy reliance on compliance ethics has made it much more difficult for employees and officials to hold organizations accountable for actions that fall outside the scope of compliance-based ethics laws and regulations.
Today, many human resource professionals are faced with the responsibilities of implementing ethics initiatives in the workplace. The integration of ethics is becoming an aspect of organizational life to counter unethical conduct, enhance the organization's reputation, and stimulate the attraction and retention of talent. Scholars believe ethical behavior must be institutionalized—evidenced in daily practices and rooted in organizational culture—to sustain ethics in the workplace. It is becoming increasingly clear that human resource development (HRD) professionals significantly contribute, and even more, to the process of institutionalizing ethics. This article synthesizes the literature by comparing several of the frameworks for the institutionalization of ethics that have been forwarded in research and theory during the past 15 years. Implications for HRD professionals as key contributors in the institutionalization of ethics process are discussed.
This study employs an experimental design to investigate the efficacy of a new approach to ethics training- "interactive" ethics education. After random assignment to groups of 135 real estate licensees from four different firms, the treatment group received specialized, interactive ethics instruction, while the control group did not. The two groups were tested in terms of both their general level of cognitive moral development using Rest's defining issues test (DIT) and their industry-specific level of moral development using the real estate survey (RES). Although a pretest indicated that there was no significant difference in levels of cognitive moral development between the control and treatment groups, there was a significant difference between the two groups in terms of both DIT and RES after the completion of the interactive training session.
This essay discusses the importance of ongoing and interactive ethics training within the scope of human resource development (HRD) practice. Furthermore, the essay adds to the discourse that relates HRD practice and theory involving ethics training.
This study examines the effects of ethics training on the attitudes, knowledgebased scores, and analysis of ethical dilemmas among office professionals. A treatment-and control-group design was used with variables of interest measured before, immediately after, and ninety days following completion of a six-hour ethics training workshop. A Web-based research randomizer was used with an electronic file to identify full-time office professionals at a large university in the northeastern United States. Seventy-one participants were assigned to the treatment (training) group, twenty to the control group. Results indicate significant differences in attitude and analysis of ethical dilemmas between the two groups.
Insuring that ethical action remains a vibrant aspect of an organization's climate and culture is an ongoing challenge for those responsible for training and development. To better understand what best practices are being utilized today, eight organizations in the Silicon Valley region of the United States were studied. Findings suggest that ethics training is particularly intensive when an employee is first hired, when rules, regulations and corporate values are shared during the indoctrination period. Training continues, but is often limited to online activities. Face-to-face interaction, necessary for learning and development, is usually reserved for specialized functions and senior level managers. Most firms emphasize a compliance-based approach, with little attention directed toward developing moral competencies over time. In addition, assessment tools to measure ethical competencies are rarely used as performance criteria. Findings from this study reveal specific trends, which can inform, guide and improve practitioners' efforts to further develop ethical decision-making and action within their organizations.
In the present study business managers in Kabi Pharmacia Company were trained in the use of the autonomous method in their decision-making about solving real life business ethics problems. According to the psychological theories of Piaget, Vygotsky, and Kohlberg, it is possible to promote the acquisition of the autonomous ethical skill by instruction and training. Indeed, participation in a one-day educational programme which focused on the training of the autonomous cognitive ability and not on the transfer of moral content, was sufficient to provide a shift in the mode of decision-making about business ethics problems towards the autonomous ethical function. This change was still stable one month later. A test was constructed by items representing current business ethics conflicts in order to assess ethical function.
The Ethics Program at General Dynamics was evaluated relative to its stated objectives and its implied objectives. The program was found to have met its specific objectives which require employees to follow rules and standards of conduct. The program did not apparently meet its implied objectives which would have created a more humanistic work environment for employees. This result apparently stemmed from program planners' intentions to use the hope for better working conditions as a motivation for employees to follow company standards. A substantial conflict was found between the philosophical bases for ethics programs and work environment improvement programs.
Breakdowns in the ethical conduct of soldiers towards non-combatants on the battlefield are of grave concern in war. Evidence-based training approaches to prevent unethical conduct are scarce. We assessed the effectiveness of battlefield-ethics training and factors associated with unethical battlefield conduct.
The training package, based on movie vignettes and leader-led discussions, was administered 7 to 8 months into a 15-month high-intensity combat deployment in Iraq, between Dec 11, 2007, and Jan 30, 2008. Soldiers from an infantry brigade combat team (total population about 3500) were randomly selected, on the basis of company and the last four digits of each soldier's social security number, and invited to complete an anonymous survey 3 months after completion of the training. Reports of unethical behaviour and attitudes in this sample were compared with a randomly selected pre-training sample from the same brigade. The response patterns for ethical behaviour and reporting of ethical violations were analysed with chi-square analyses. We developed two logistic regression models using self-reported unethical behaviours as dependent variables. Factors associated with unethical conduct, including combat experiences and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), were assessed with validated scales.
Of 500 randomly selected soldiers 421 agreed to participate in the anonymous post-training survey. A total of 397 soldiers of the same brigade completed the pre-training survey. Training was associated with significantly lower rates of unethical conduct of soldiers and greater willingness to report and address misconduct than in those before training. For example, reports of unnecessary damage or destruction of private property decreased from 13·6% (54 of 397; 95% CI 10·2-17·0) before training to 5·0% (21 of 421; 2·9-7·1) after training (percent difference -63·2%; p<0·0001), and willingness to report a unit member for mistreatment of a non-combatant increased from 36·0% (143 of 397; 31·3-40·7) to 58·9% (248 of 421; 54·2-63·6; percent difference 63·6; p<0·0001). Nearly all participants (410 [97%]) reported that training made it clear how to respond towards non-combatants. Combat frequency and intensity was the strongest predictor of unethical behaviour; PTSD was not a significant predictor of unethical behaviour after controlling for combat experiences.
Leader-led battlefield ethics training positively influenced soldiers' understanding of how to interact with and treat non-combatants, and reduced reports of ethical misconduct. Unethical battlefield conduct was associated with high-intensity combat but not with PTSD.
None.
Book Review
Virginia Held: The Ethics of Care. Personal, Political, and Global. Oxford, New York, Oxford University Press 2006, 211 s.
The book presents the ethics of care as a promising alternative to more familiar moral theories. The ethics of care is only a few decades old, yet it has become a distinct moral theory or normative approach, relevant to global and political matters as well as to the personal relations that can most clearly exemplify care. The book examines the central ideas, characteristics, and potential importance of the ethics of care. It discusses the feminist roots of this moral approach and why the ethics of care can be a morality with universal appeal. The book explores what is meant by "care" and what a caring person is like. Where such other moral theories as Kantian morality and utilitarianism demand impartiality above all, the ethics of care understands the moral import of ties to families and groups. It evaluates such ties, differing from virtue ethics by focusing on caring relations rather than the virtues of individuals. The book proposes how values such as justice, equality, and individual rights can "fit together" with values such as care, trust, mutual consideration, and solidarity. In considering the potential of the ethics of care for dealing with social issues, the book shows how the ethics of care is more promising than other moral theories for advice on how limited or expansive markets should be, showing how values other than market ones should have priority in such activities as childcare, health care, education, and in cultural activities. Finally, the book connects the ethics of care with the rising interest in civil society, and with limits on what law and rights are thought able to accomplish. It shows the promise of the ethics of care for dealing with global problems and with efforts to foster international civility.
Using a Wittgensteinian approach to understanding, this thesis extends and challenges recent feminist discussions of the ethic of care as a gender-sensitive corrective to traditional moral theory. It elaborates a more complex understanding of the diversity and ambiguity of the ethical possibilities of caring than has been presented in earlier analyses. A brief introduction to the contemporary debate is followed by accounts of six different examples of caring practices, viz: caring attention, taking care of oneself, mothering, friendship, nursing and citizenship. The aim of this survey is to show that caring constitutes an intricate labyrinth of ethical possibilities, the understanding of which involves approaching it from numerous directions. Through concern for the similarities and differences between these examples, their insights and their oversights, the thesis displays the limitations of theories which presume a unified, non-contexted ethic of care. At the same time the detailed descriptions of caring practices affirm the ethical significance of a range of activities that are frequently overlooked in conventional accounts of ethics.
To demonstrate the effect of ethics education on a resident's ability to answer questions that relate to moral dilemmas and on the clinical evaluations of residents by faculty.
The curriculum for the ethics education that was used for this study was designed by the author and consisted of 10 lectures of 1.5 hours each. Five residencies were included in the project. One residency received one lecture, two residencies received three lectures, and two residencies received 10 lectures. To evaluate the moral skills of the residents at the beginning of the course and at the end, the residents were given the Defining Issues Test (DIT-2) developed by James Rest, which involves answering standardized questions about four moral dilemmas. Faculty evaluations were completed before and after the ethics lectures were given. At the beginning of the ethics course, each resident was given a social survey that was designed to assess participation in community, religious, political, and societal activities as well as attitudes about these activities. All residents were also asked demographic information, including their age, gender, and year of residency.
The results of the DIT-2 taken before and after the ethics lectures were compared. No correlations were found in faculty evaluations of clinical performance of the residents before and after the course (P = .052). Associations between DIT-2 scores and questions on community and religion in the social survey were noted.
The finding that the effect of an ethics course on residents' ability to answer moral dilemmas did not achieve statistical significance should be accepted with the understanding that this was a first attempt at standardization of many variables, especially the format of the curriculum and materials used. The use of faculty evaluations to assess clinical performance needs to be standardized, and the faculty members need additional training to ensure validity of the results. The social survey was also the first attempt to assess an association between a resident's response to moral dilemmas, attending evaluations, and residents' opinions that relate to community, society, politics, and religion.
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