ARTICLES - Organization

PLAYING IT STRAIGHT
Ganesh Shermon & Mohit James
INTRODUCTION Ethics, is it a value, art or science? It is a subject about which there has been and still is an immense amount of difference of opinion, inspite of all the time and labour which have been devoted to its study. In the business environment, managers are also often cornered, sometimes compelled into situations, which require ethical decision-making. There is possibly no single way to explain conceptually or realistically the imponderables that work role professional encounter while performing a job. It is also eminently possible for counter points of view and perspective to emerge whenever a debate ensues. Nevertheless organizations have to reckon with clarity and precision on the stand and conviction that they wish to demonstrate as far as ethics and values are concerned. Countries and the corporate that form an integral part of the economy try hard to avoid dealing with value based issues that they are confronted with on a day to day basis. Several types of "professional" excuses are abundant when a potential value conflict surfaces while getting things done. Or for that matter making things happen. Over time these practices become precedence and the fundamental value loses its importance. After all we have done it before and it has worked why not now? To the individual manager value based conflicts tend to be largely personal, seldom corporate in nature or intensity. It turns corporate only when the exposed value is real and happening in the company. In performing these value based roles managers see its application on a commercial basis if that is what they have been trained to do so. Alternatively conflicts emerge when the decision-maker is unable to cope with commercial conflicts as differentiated with those of personal conflicts. Managers are people whose identities are composed of a network of roles, which are clusters of rights and duties within an socio-economic function. Part of being a good manager is being aware of the moral dimensions of ones roles. Managers can unwittingly engage in a wide range of role-related acts that are regarded as ethically questionable. A larger question before us is whether managers get to see this dissonance between what is being perceived as unethical to what is being practiced. Business Ethics is concerned primarily with the relationship of business goals and techniques as applied to execution of the stated goals towards an intended output/result through a set of means and processes to specific human ends. It studies the impact of acts on the good of the individual, the firm, the business community, and the society as a whole. Crossing horizons of definitiveness is real in any pursuit of a meaningful debate on ethics. In fact it is essential for reaching a sense of conclusion, if possible. While it does not concentrate on the obligations, neither mandatory nor insisted, which a person has as a private individual and a citizen, these creep into the socioeconomic system which governs business itself as businessmen are not people who are far removed from any ordinary citizen. This means that, through business ethics we are able to closely study the special obligations, which a person and a citizen accept when he/she becomes a part of the world of commerce. Obligations in any event necessitate a reciprocal behavioral pattern in sync with individual values and beliefs viewed concurrently with those of the firm. Ethical congruence is the alignment of an organization's stated values, the decisions of its leaders, the behaviors that are encouraged by its systems and the values of its employees. The leader's responsibility is to give employees guidance: what values we expect/require employees to demonstrate, in what priority and how "absolute" those priorities are. Before a business can reach ethical congruence it must be clear on what it truly values. There must be a clear definition and articulation of values, beliefs, core philosophies, norms and ideals that the organization chooses to follow, practice over good and bad times and wishes to stand by them under any circumstance. Once stated, agreed, articulated, this core operational and executional philosophy has to be tested for compatibility and acceptability with business vision, mission, core strategy and tactics, short and long term goals and objectives and expected behavioral outcomes.

As a manager, there are primarily four role acts that may have linkages, which involve ethical decision making in a commercial environment. SELF ENHANCED ETHICAL DILEMMA Managerial responsibilities and role sets outline a broad range of activities, goals and standards created to sustain performance of a business organizations. In performing these roles managers could attempt ethical dissonance not congruent with the traditional organizational practices. Selfenhanced ethical dilemma role acts are any acts that involve direct gains for the actor at the expense of the firm; they are managerial only in the sense that they take place in organizations and frequently involve those who happen, by title, to be called managers. Ethically questionable acts of this type, such as expense account cheating, embezzlement, kickbacks from vendors, short change petty cash accounts, transfer company information for a price, sell patents, formulations, new product development information and stealing supplies, is committed against the firm and in the selfinterest of the individual. The current dilemma does not imply acts that are disjointed with the working of the firm. They essentially mean unethical practices not in consonance with the purpose of the firm and have meant a personal advantage to the individual. MYOPIC MANIA OF SELF ROLE PERCEPTION Myopic mania occurs in large and small role situations and is near concentric in its usage by practicing managers. The behavior is seldom random, is typically repetitive, has strong traces of dominance and manifested behavior articulates control and usage of power. Myopic mania makes role incumbents perform acts that are directly related to managerial roles and amount to a failure to competently perform that could have and should have performed. Role failure acts can be acts of commission or omission, such as superficial performance appraisals, not providing a fair and honorable Feedback to employees on their performance, handling leadership roles to enhance power through critical control over people. At varying points in time myopic maniacal managers hire and fire employees to show contempt towards process and system. At the basic level they would not confront expense account cheating, appease blackmailing employees to win personal favors against company's interest, and palming off a poor performer to another department. At a heightened level of corruption they would systematically cheat the organization intellectually. A typical profile of such a manager would be those who at consistent intervals would convey their desire to leave their current assignment for a better career opportunity and seek in return a organizational monetary/career favor in return for loyalty. Their rationale, again, would be unarguable. They would demonstrate their unhappiness at the current state of organizational performance and would show deep anguish at the despicable state of affairs and how saddened are they at managerial inaction over unresolved problems. Self-perceptions of these managers are often schizophrenic in their manifestation in their people role actions. While they would show up a logical, rational approach to their actions, gullible top management who taken up by their logic of actions tend to get lead away often misread their motives. Deception is key to their unethical practice. These acts involve direct personal advantage (often not financial gain) at the expense of the firm. DISTORTED POWER POSITIONING STATIC In distortion, managerial acts of low scope and visibility but those that offer power and pecuniary benefits create self-advantages. But those that involve usage of power and authority, involve conduct that gives direct advantage to the firm in the short run, indirectly provides gains to the individual actors in the short run, but displaces direct costs onto selected stakeholders outside and inside the organization in the long run. Distortion also appears straight in its actions and motives. There is also an opportunity for gains to the organization in a perceptible manner. Power usage is evident in actions involving ethics. The actions of a superior or by a person with authority appear to be right to the younger managers. They would actually believe that the decision was right and beneficial to the company. Although the ramifications turn dominant. It is articulated as static as the actions eventually lead to an organizational freeze status given low visibility between what is right

and what is not. In some instances the stated positioning of the corporation makes it easy for elimination or avoidance of this level of distortion. Several marketing functions reach cartels to make current prices look right. They benefit organizations in the short run. Bribery, price fixing and manipulation of supplies are some examples of managerial role distortion. ROLE ENCUMBRANCES AND OVEREXERTION IMPACTS Encumbrance accumulates as incumbents dive into work role situations and get on with it for advancing corporate interests. In search for profitability managerial performers deem necessary acts that are propounded to be strategically imperative. Managerial acts of large scope and visibility involve conduct and practices that excessively exerts influence to adhere to the letter of the current law. This uses role power and knowledge authority to promote aggressively the short-term advantage of the firm and to trivialize the interests of some stakeholders at the expense of the other stakeholders. Overexertion predominantly occurs on volatile business situations when leaders find it difficult to manage within given constraints. Business organizations shielded form day to day trauma make overexertion relatively avoidable, although personal style does influence. Acts such as unauthorized high-risk investments, perpetuation of currently legal but harmful environmental practices, and failure to co-operate with regulatory agencies can be considered as having impacted on account of managerial role overexertion. BUSINESS MESSIAH OF TURBULENT TIMES Organizations encounter performance cycles in varying degrees relative to its strategic positioning, planning fallacies, volatile market conditions, and economic factors extraneous to influencing ability. Parallelly organizational managers are also expected to manage in turbulent times without seeking recourse to short term measures explaining away poor business performance to leaders, people, process and factors that play a role in the management of organizations. Stereotypical business messiah operates in such business conditions by taking ethically conflicting decisions to show shortterm results. Manage for each quarter and the consequent balance sheet reflects a deceptive performance achieved through poorly thought out strategies, all only to look good. Typical examples would be downsizing, making scapegoats of the business leaders managing the recession-hit operation, cutting off critical supplies in the manufacturing process demanding cost saves, implementing spend smart programs on "C costs" like travel, business magazines, printing, stationery. At the peak level of deception would be to freeze training, demand salary cuts of the junior levels and inequitably paid while retaining personal incomes, freeze recruiting, implement several people oriented savings programs. There is a grave ethical issue confronting organizations when they handle business crisis by managing the paraphernalia instead of handling the core strategic issue. Ethical conflict turns real when actions mean only a demonstrative effect and do not realistically make an impact on the bottom line. Making an irrelevant example or pretense to make believe that the organization is turning vibrant and viable is an oft-practiced business messiah syndrome. In current times, most of these role-ethics conflicts are promptly displayed on the news stands through headlines such as these. Blue-chip companies bribe officials in other countries to obtain contracts; Firms have been discriminating in the selection of personnel; National marketers have been found guilty of false advertising; Companies have been convicted for depriving employees of rightfully earned compensation; Corporations make illegal contributions to political campaigns and maintain political slush funds. Corporate buy out turns sold out. Owner manager unable to differentiate between roles. Cross holding a new game to hold on to the family silver.

Unions strike to ask for a fair deal to settle towards long-term agreements. Customers take the company to the Consumer Court.

Negative headlines like these are not limited to the business field either. Evidence of such doing emanates from Government, union and educational sectors as well. Wherever they occur, the wrongful acts in these places are damaging the credibility of the organization and invite increased censure from the stakeholders, society and regulatory authorities. Jeb Magruder perhaps best summed up what we are talking about when he referred to his involvement in the Watergate Scandal as a matter of "Slippage". Slippage refers to unintentional deviations from acceptable ethical conduct, which occur because certain actions are justified in the name of some acceptable goal such as profits. Once the goal is established, the means to achieve that goal can seem a secondary matter and slippage becomes a possibility. Slippage is also real when ethical standards are not clearly delieanated and is left to the role incumbents to work it out for themselves. In this paper, we attempt to focus on linkages between managerial functions, corporate governance and leadership roles with a special emphasis on the HR Manager. The linkage between ethics and HRM, with due consideration to HR functions like administration of personality tests (selection process) performance appraisal, employment contract etc. It would be also important to study the ethics process, the way we do things and the planning subprocess, the way we make it happen in the organization. The ethics process in an organization can be described as a journey from unknown to awareness and subsequently conscious decision making. Essentially the ethics process or ethicalization would consist of the following:

1. ETHICAL AWARENESS, FREEWHEELING AND CONSCIOUS CONDITIONING

Ethical awareness and conscious conditioning is the precursor through which individuals, teams and firms are made conscious to the existence of morals, norms, the causes and effects in the societal context. The conscious presence of an outlined set of behavioral patterns makes it possible for a generic proliferation of what is believed and understood as a set of measures for easy understanding. Culture facilitates the acceptance of values, norms, and beliefs as a way of life for individuals and collective groups. While some parts of this process is normally negotiable given human values and its influences and inferences in the context of an organization, creation of its awareness and conditioning participating members is a pre requisite for ethical effectiveness. Corporate socialization programs make aware to new recruits through lectures, experiences, encounters and workshops the core values that govern company functioning. Socialization and company induction schedules help a democratic conditioning, if facilitated accordingly. In any event a element of conditioning becomes inevitable on ethics. Either people fit in or they do not. There is hardly a middle of the road available.

2. ETHICAL CIRCUMSTANCE, HORIZON SETTING AND COGNITIVE DECISION-MAKING.

Reproduction of the circumstance and cognitive decision making is the next stage of the hierarchy process of ethicalization. In the role of ethicalization of an individual making the situation dynamic and circumstance appropriate is essential for the internalization process. At this level the manager is made aware consciously of the circumstances and the environment. In a given circumstance managers experience fleeting experiences ranging from the demeaning to those that are admiring. While the manager would seek adulation for

one on the other he/she is left puzzled on which way to go. The task of decision making involves intense data analysis, fact finding, alternative searching, scoping of concurrent perspectives, benchmarks of relevant problems solved and the act of decision taking. Judgement is part of the decision making process that would involve analysis and prioritization in the management process. Psychologically an individual evaluates the circumstance in the context of the situation, facilitating and hindering factors that govern his/her typical actions. Some times the manager is left with limited options and to make ethical behavior happen operates as a diosgenin, a steroid meant to synthesize various hormones despite inherent contradictions. These situational factors turn value violent when seemingly innocent overtures cause gross turbulence of the mind and make managers wonder about the working environment. It is also desirable for incumbents to seek clarity from old souls of the corporation on the why and why not issues pertaining to the value dilemma. In any case it is imperative that the organizational member is not astounded at the value position of the company. In all event clarity and communication is key to make decision making cognitive and appropriately judgmental. 3. ETHICAL METAMORPHOSIS, SELF-DESIGN AND CO-OPTED ETHICAL METAMORPHOSIS, SELF-DESIGN AND CO-OPTED CONFLICT. Organizational members views corporate value conflicts as a trapping of the career life that they have chosen. Inability to correct this impression or a view could turn counter productive to culture formation and internalization. The inevitability and magnitude of the value conflict task intimidates people from voicing their protest when they encounter an ethical dilemma. Organizations need to reaffirm the right values and make easy understanding of what the company stands for at each of these conflicting instances. This process is reaffirmation of the organizations or the managers stance on the issue. This step possibly would encounter conflicts between the managers values and the institutions goals and the interest of the society at large. In alternate regions managers are lured to either design their own interpretation of how to handle such a ethical dilemma or may lure or co-opt another member (s) to also fall in line with ones own thinking. Here again hierarchy plays a critical role in the influence process. Dominant superiors believe that they know what is right and would insist accordingly to another colleague. A grave danger exists when more and more are either persuaded or intimidated towards acceptance and the manager is unable to asseverate his/her position concretely. A process of ethical metamorphosis occurs. Ethical managements may either realize the cause and effect early enough to proactively act or may simply turn unaware and would discover a changed organization in an area where change was completely unintended. Funny but true. Facilitating self-design and helping organizational managers persevere with conviction is a holistic assiduous task done time and again. Many ethical dilemmas are figuratively invisible to the managing members as they are encountered, handled, added value or destroyed based on the self design capabilities, awareness and managerial compulsions at a point in time. An attributable part of this issue would be with the individual and the organization where adequate value oriented exposure has neither been offered to the employee nor has the employee gained the management capabilities to help develop self-design competencies.

4. ETHICAL PATHING, ETHICAL EMULOUS AND FOCUSED ACTIONING

Organizational members will seek a path to follow. To them all roads will lead to a decision and would rather take the one that makes simplistic and effective managerial sense. Not that the path may turn unethical. Nevertheless it is an organizational responsibility to draw the scale and scope of actions. Ethical issues and solutions at the least deserve benchmarking and emulation. Corporate wanting to go the extra mile in making ethics happen surpasses basic managerial standards in doing things. There is a certain stage of evolution that organization experience while they act upon an ethical dilemma. While an element of anticipation is expected to create policies and a path to approach the problem the success of the program depends on converting every experience into a

corporate example. A knowledge database of ethical issues and the method adapted to resolve them. What could have been right in last circumstance may turn unacceptable today given changed situation. Eventually ethical pathing and focused actioning is the step through which the organization charts out guidelines, policies and lays down a formal code of ethics for persons to adhere to. For example if we look at the process of planning; in an ethical context the planning cycle would constitute of the following steps: Problem definition, Need for planning, Planning survey and ground research, Planning conception and choice, Planning execution, Planning appraisal, control & improvement.

At the planning survey when the various options are being looked at, whether the ethical considerations that may impact the society, stakeholders, individuals and managers form a part of the overall scheme or not is to seen. In both the situations while the problem definitions are being done or when the survey is in progress systemic preparedness is essential. Ground research on typical issues confronting individuals and organizations need to be documented and put up for managerial viewpoint analysis. The tone and tenor of the path to follow will depend on thought congruence and assimilation of like-minded perspectives. While mastering the plan, are managers making choices that have considerations for moral and ethical actions? Why should we define this particular problem as a ethical issue? Is there an alternate perspective to this problem definition? Have we ever resolved such a ethical problem before? Who are the players in the organization who need to be consulted to help resolve this particular problem? More importantly should this problem be resolved at all or can the organization let it pass and not handle it? Is this problem peculiar or unique to our organization or is it a environmental issue? What has caused the occurrence of this dilemma? Are there issues preceding this dilemma that were not resolved? Is uprightness one of the issues? What are the consequences of resolving this ethical dilemma? Is it possible to discuss with the individuals or groups involved or impacted by this decision? What organizational stories and signals would flow from this managerial action? Who are the organizational players involved in the decision making? What are their attitudes, values and dispositions towards ethical conflicts? Is the decision being made keeping in mind the business goal and also the means to reach those goals? Are there perceptible motives and meanings attributable to each action? What are the interested party concerns and are they being addressed? What is the cost of this decision? What organizational history do we have to fall back upon to help resolve this problem? What would we do if the problem occurs again and refuses to go away and let us live in peace? Are there black and white positions available to help resolve this problem? Are there factors beyond the scope and control of the organization in resolving this problem? What is the view of the CEO? Are there stated corporate values that this problem is in direct conflict? Have all the players involved in this ethical dilemma been exposed to the corporate ethical path and methods? Under what circumstance would you allow an exception? What happens if we do not solve this problem? - These would be some typical issues and questions at this stage. At the design and action levels, it would be critical for an ethical organization to build in a system of checks and balances that would control and evaluate outcomes with an ethical perspective.

Organizations could benefit from a planned program of ethical dilemma on a open and transparent platform where views and counter points are debated. The question to be asked then would be how was the task accomplished? And not just, what or when it was accomplished? Attention on ethical issues is being drawn towards micro level issues, where we deal with ethical behaviour of individuals in organizations, rather than the behaviour of organizations or their cultures. Although every corporate ethical issue is also resolved by either an individual or a group of individuals. We need a compulsive mechanism to focus on ethics in the corporate life. Unattended ethical issues tend to disease organizational functioning and fumbles at the root of an organizational existence eventually. Ethical resolution needs demonstration of stated practices and its effective execution. There are no boundaries or constraints for resolving ethical issues. It is eminently possible for ethical issues to be compromised for want of a systemic intervention or a resolute body willing to go the whole hog to make it happen. It is at this level that HR practitioners are playing a crucial role in moving their enterprise to an ethical way of life for the work force. They become the knowledge banks of ethical stories that shape an organization culture. Their role either complements or dominates that of the CEO in handling ethical issues. In a recent survey of over 1000 HR professionals, 83% indicated that HR practitioners were responsible for providing ethical leadership and guidance to the organizations. This percentage was more than the 74% who indicated that the President/ CEO also filled this role. HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT, ETHICS & THE HR MANAGER HRM is all about Knowledge, People, Process and System (KPPS). Inextricably linked to this four some KPPS is ethics, as differentiated from values, for the purpose of making an argument. Values are closely and inevitably linked with one of the "P". Contextually HRM-Ethics linkages are derived in all people-process issues as they affect the individual or the organization. The HR manager performs the role of making ethics happen through the CEO, the system and the knowledge banks. The behavioral orientation of the function has attracted people with a greater interest in and sensitivity to the needs of individuals to the HR function and the consequent compulsions. HR Professionals often have to walk/fight the fine line that divides the sometimes-conflicting interests of the organization and the individual. Complexity is added because the HR head deals directly with a boss with important influence over his career and whose interests focus on the successful performance of the business. The CEO, occasionally quite rightly so, may not be receptive to the importance of ethical issues raised by HR. The HR role again envisages credibility and relationships with the operating management who have the unenviable task of getting the business performance and profitability in a ever changing environment. It is also a reality that not always is business circumstances facilitating enough to do a job in an upright manner. The HR professional at each of the ethically conflicting moments needs to evaluate on how far can he/she go towards reiterating, reestablishing or asserting what is supposedly the one best way. While this becomes real in a organization where the ethicalization process has not been complete or where it has not gained roots, nevertheless the fact that this is a potential area of conflict cannot be underscored. Perhaps this by itself should warrant an ethical dilemma discussion in an organization. If we were to list some of the HRM relevant ethical disputes there could many, all depending on the culture, leaders disposition and the HR Heads framework and commitment to values and ethics. It could range from employee conflicts of interest, inappropriate gifts, sexual harassment, unauthorized payments, employee privacy, equal rights, diversity, employee health screening, security of personal files and records, indiscreet dispensation of rewards, workplace safety, welfare, hygiene, grievance handling, union management, recruiting norms, psychological testing, political, religion and social issues impacting workplace, environmental issues, employment at will, referral hires, child labor, late working etc. It is evident from the list that opinions and corporate practices could radically vary intra, inter organizations and geographic boundaries. One must go beyond the dictionary to find a framework that will help the HR practitioner in his/ her

daily work. For the HR professional equity, rights, core values being honesty, truth and exercise of authority are critical to help understand and resolve an ethical category of issues. An altruistic or an ostrich like approach may lead to the destruction of the business itself or may cause an unintended cultural disaster in people process and managerial practices. The first reality that the HR manager must accept is that business interests and ethics can conflict and can be at logger heads despite the players not wanting it to be so. It is also a fact that the ethical context of the debate is relevant in our situation to a business enterprise purported to have been created for profit and enhancing shareholder value. There could always be a constant debate on what exactly do we mean by business interest just as how we have been feebly attempting to define ethics all this while. In a world of possible mixed motives, instead of abstract distinctions between altruism and self-interest, new corporate structures, knowledge systems and decisionmaking processes are needed to accommodate the whole process. As HR managers, all of us would have to reckon with situations that will demand tact and judgement on such issues. More often ethical choices of employees fall into five categories. Entitlement: Employees take away from the corporate which they rightfully feel is theirs because of the way they have been treated, rewarded or motivated by the organization. They have in them a deep sense of disappointment and resentment at the way they have been promised and let down and feel the urge to get back and take their rightful claim. Retaliation: The employee feels the obligation to punish the corporate because of having been poorly handled over several situations, have been pushed around unceremoniously, have been denied dignity and grace and basically have been kicked around. These angry people get back under any circumstance, sometimes even at the cost of their future reputation, image, employment and livelihood. Self-protection: Employee feels the necessity to act unethically as a survival strategy and to ensure that in the event of an unexpected development involving career or monetary loss make sure that the rightful dues are not deprived. Another version could be where the employee feels that there is no other organizational alternative left but to behave unethically. Arrogance: The employee feels immune from negative consequences. This could be dangerous because some of these employees could be indispensable and are needed by the corporation. They hold the belief that the organization won't dare fire them and all their actions would be condoned. They would also argue in favor of their actions displaying company loyalty that they acted in the best interests of the firm. Alternatively they would make the entire episode look in consequential in the context of other pressing corporate problems. There are cases where the act itself is made to look ethical and morally right. Challenge: Few employees see the unethical behavior as a challenge not to be passed up. They are the corporate whiz kids who belief that they would never be caught as they are too smart for the system. Their unethical behavior could start small but could eventually turn preposterous and monstrous in its magnitude and implication to the corporation sometimes the challenge of doing what is prohibited may be the only stimulation.

While for the HR manager individual issues as above need to reckoned with there are other compelling organizational ethical issues of consequence. Some of the issues faced in the current context of organizations have been dealt with in some perspective on the manager handling organizational or individual slippage from norms of ethical behaviour. While many HRM issues would be relevant for our discussion an illustrative set of large ethical dilemmas have been outlined below.

BEHAVIORAL MODIFICATION AND INFLUENCING Behavioral Modification, attitude change, competency profiling, socialization and indoctrination of new recruits, employee surveys, company-family interaction, cultural adaptability, personality fit, value orientation all form a part of the ethical laundry confronting organizations in their managerial practices form a part of the individual and ethical issue mix. One may find that the dominant ideological drift in organizational life is toward 1. 2. 3. 4. Idolization of the system and turning subservient The misuse of science to achieve this OR The use of the individual in the organizational circumstance to facilitate adaptation Application of research, managerial tools and techniques as a sample data for empirical validation 5. Usage of training and development to enhance performance on the job 6. Training and behavioral influences done by lay persons. Let us examine the manifestation of this drift: the mass testing of personality. These curious inquisitions into the Psyche are becoming a regular feature or organization life, and these activities, interventions, research and tests are no play things; scoff as the unbeliever may, if he has ambitions of getting ahead he would do well to develop, or stimulate, the master personality matrix the tests best fit. Now in regular use are behavioral database managed tools which tell in decimal figures a persons degree of modernism versus conservatism, practical judgement, social judgement, the amount of perseverance, stability, contentment index, possibility to society, personal sexual behaviour and now some psychologists are tinkering with a test of a sense of humour. More elaborate yet are the projective techniques with such devices as the Rorschach Inkblot test and the Thematic Apperception Test; the subject is forced to apply his/her imagination to a stimulus, thereby x-raying himself/herself for latent feelings and psychoses. Asking a normal person to reveal himself/herself is not the same thing as asking an inmate of a mental institution, of course, and some adults have balked at the self-revelation asked. Instances are many of individuals encountering group therapy because the organizational felt the need for the person to experience the learning. It is a commercial proposition to create and sell simulation games and instruments, untested for validity, for easy use in training sessions. Even in supposing that the tests and interventions could in fact reveal the innermost self (which is a very dubious claim), would they even then be justified? Do organizations need deep behavioral knowledge of its employees? The paramount issue here is the moral basis of such tests and behavioral modification programs. Were the tests turn out to be truly scientific, administered by a professional counselor, their effectiveness would make the ultimate questions more pressing, not less. In fact would the organization then take further responsibility to take the medication to its logical conclusion? Would it then pay for all that it takes? What happens to the family and dependents who have now been exposed into an unexplored arena? Could the person have survived a successful career without indulging into a psychic discovery on self? Is the individuals innermost self-any business to the organizations? He/she has some rights and should have the freedom to express a choice to take it or decline. Our society has taught him/her to submit to many things; thousands of civilians who go into the military meekly stand in long lines waiting for their number turn in the mass physical examinations. Many civilians who have been asked to work on government projects have submitted to being fingerprinted and the certainty that government agents would soon be pulling their friends and neighbors with questions about their background. But in these cases a man can console himself that there is a reason; that if he is to enjoy the benefits of collective effort he must also pay some price.

But there is a line. And we present a counter point. How much more must a person testify against oneself? In return for the salary the organization gives the individual it can ask for superlative work from him/her, but it should not ask for his/her Psyche as well. If it does, he must withhold. Sensibly the bureaucratic way is too much with most of us that he can flatly refuse to take tests without hurting himself. But he can cheat. He/she must because he/she should be let to respect himself/herself. Or can we ask the organizations to redefine its methods and processes involving people and their inner self? Is it possible to set through a participative, democratic process a method wherein individuals have the right to know what is in store for them through a behavioral modification program and do they believe that it would help them? Can we ask for volunteers to a change management program than to make it mandatory? Can we explain the scope and purpose of each of the psychological tests and have the individuals see for themselves whether it would add value to their personality and overall behavior and performance? More importantly can we commence designing training programs that are being asked for by the participants than to follow through some inane data generated through a half baked appraisal system, completed by managers for whom it has always been a foolish ritual? Can a training calendar of a corporation happen only when the employees ask for it and when they have the time and inclination to learn and grow? POSITION POWERING AND FACTORED ROLE INCUMBENCY The ethics of hiring, firing and promotions are largely a question of equal treatment of persons having equal job qualifications. In each of the situations be it hiring wherein seniority vs merit would be an ethical dilemma, firing wherein cause, process, extended family responsibilities would be a conflict or in promotions wherein position, performance, seasoning and mastery, all judgmental factors, would be relevant. The ethics of position powering and evaluation, wages decision and fixation and working conditions are not so simple. They involve not only job qualifications, but also the employees human needs, the company ability to pay, comparable job benchmarks, industry practice, competitor analysis and the functioning of the economy as a whole. Because so many factors enter into the ethical judgement of the fairness of wages and the appropriateness of working conditions, many thinkers despair of establishing any principle. Granted that there are few fixed guidelines other than a mediocre set of laws governing the country, we still need some frame of reference list of management and labour settled disputes on the basis of power other than in terms of atleast a minimal justice. A super imposed reality factor would be the role incumbency that determine compensation beyond market oriented influences. Again a question before us is whether we have degenerated our discussion to only compensation as a primary source of ethical conflict as against several Theory Y infleuncers that offer dignity and pride to an individual. Now to compare the compensation given to executives and that of manual labour we find brainpower to be rewarded more than muscle power. Mind over matter. But quality of brainpower is hard to quantify and denotes the law of supply and demand rather than in terms of what is actually deserved. Here it is a diabolical question. What choice do we offer to a person who sweats it out for th eight hours a day working in a not so conducive environment receives around 1/10 of what an executive makes working intermittently or otherwise during the course of a day and that too in a comfortable office environment. Next to discuss the concept of fair wages and its usage in the context of a differentiated compensation across managerial levels. Unfortunately fairness equals sameness. Fairness is not perceived to be what is right and should be done. Ironically the logic appears to be that if everyone is equally harmed, there is no harm done. A fair wage ought to be sufficient to permit the employee and family to live in decent comfort according to the increasing standards of the society. In an ideal word, the fair wage would certainly measure up to the minimum, which provides for shelter, sickness and old age as well as for the education of children. In the real world even in the very wealthy real world of the American, European Economy, the ideal faces great obstacles. For the fairness of wages cannot, in practice, be established solely in terms of the needs of employees and their

families. There is an inevitable comparison with the neighbor next door. This does not mean, however, that wages are to be determined exclusively in terms of the market for labor, peer equality or of the contribution of employees to the company. The market for labor or the evaluation of results can be manipulated in a variety of ways, and it is almost impossible to measure the actual contributions of employees. Demand, supply and contribution offer the question a chance, but they do not establish a complete norm of fairness. In our opinion, there is not just a single way of determining what constitutes a just wage or salary. In fact the basket relevant for computing the inflation index, weighted averages of cost of living, could be the most debated formula. Fair and living wage has largely gone out of relevance in a highly populated, economically differentiated social situations. It is simply impossible to talk of a basic life style in a world of Armani, Gucci, Ferrari, mobile phones, Four Seasons, QE III and Beverly Hills. Anyone familiar with the range of wages a salary administration will agree wages must be related to the contribution to the firm, the profitability, to the market for both labour and products. It must lay emphasis to the competitive position of the company and to the power of the unions as well as to the needs of workers and their families. If any one of these factors is ignored, grave norm may result, no matter how good the intentions of management. All of these factors establish demands and limiting conditions. They create a framework of concrete and limited possibilities within which justice and due process is to be found. In contrast employees have to face with inflation. Tax laws, medical expenses, education, home expenses, living place, transport, communication and are at a constant comparison with their colleagues, counterparts, and superiors on the wage differential. Management staff go beyond the fair wage and are compensated for performance, job value, position benchmarking and on an overall retention emphasis. In all cases it is prudent to create more of up front transparent compensation rather than a whole set of fringes, perquisites and life style benefits that are perceived to be hidden compensation and truly reflecting job worth. TAX MEANDERING IN AN IMMORAL SCENARIO "What is income is the dark cat in the bag of income tax code". We are aware that tax avoidance is legal but tax evasion is not. As regards legitimate avoidance of tax, it has been always recognized that a person is entitled so as to arrange his financial affairs as not to attract tax. There are no grey issues being suggested here. It is merely an attempt to bring about an ethical difference between "Evasion" and "Avoidance". Effective tax planning is "avoidance" and is perfectly right. Companies arrange compensation packages in such a way that only the minimum is deducted by way of income tax. Alternatively the company compensation and benefit program creates a tax unfriendly remuneration where the ethics of paying for performance, work more - earn more, or pay more for less (people), all such programs loose its credibility. Could we term this bad-citizenship or an unethical practice? In principle the government is attempting to achieve socially equal distribution of income through such complex tax measures. In fact it is a whole new debate by itself on the corrupt practices and systemic faults a complex tax implementation structure could bring about in a country. One may also turn around and ask the government whether it is ethical to take away a substantial portion of a persons income, through basic and surcharges, in the name of tax, a income, a livelihood for which a person has already broken his/her back. Critically the main cause of the dangerous delusion of increasing disparity and consequent inequality of income is the concept of tax free perks, wide range of life style rewards, substantial bonuses, the golden handcuff rewards like stock options, mortgage programs and the like. Corporate of today see the emergence of diverse set of people who have come in from a lower economic strata and for whom fair pay has become a raison de etre. It is also a social fact that the unemployed outsiders are a significant number to the employed high paid and for whom rationale compensation policies are irrelevant. Avoidance of tax is not tax evasion and it carries no ignoring with it, it is sound law and certainly not bad morality for anybody to arrange his/her affairs so as to reduce the band of taxation to the minimum. On the contrary one reputed of such a method to increase the load of tax on the shoulders of a great body of good corporate citizens who dont desire or dont know how to adapt to these maneuvers or make alterations to their tax planning in a dynamic state and make it tax friendly

is not perhaps the best of practice. It is critical to reckon with acceptance of moral and socially conscious responsibility on the part of corporate to work for a symbiotic rational system of taxation, which eliminates the temptation of "tax playing" and the necessity for such practices. WAITING FOR CORPORATE GODOT Managers play god. In fact they possibly enjoy playing god to their people who are expected to eulogize, adulate and emulate all that the lord has spoken and done. Almost every company has some sort of employee evaluation, measurement and appraisal system administered to the managerial and non managerial population. To many organizations this is yet another ritual to be completed to make pay increases happen. For most, managers complete a single form once or twice yearly. This is supposed to determine achievement of goals VS actual results, pre determine Key Result Areas and Key Task Areas, draw a specific work plan, set goals and objectives for the next year. Establish job related communication with the superior and HR, make compensation decisions, help an employee improve performance, plan for training and development opportunities. Work on the strengths and weaknesses of the employee and help draw specific action plans to help the employee overcome the weaknesses and build upon the strengths. Define specific competencies that make the employee effective and performing on the job. Give and take Feedback on the year gone by, review improvement from the last session of work improvement counseling, work on specific behavioral counseling workshops to overcome personality problems, draw career paths, plan job fitment or readiness for future assignments for individuals and identify potential for future growth and more. And help align the employee through the Performance management System to identify with the vision, mission, values and ethics of the company. That one piece of paper, a system, no matter how skillfully completed and discussed with the employee, if it could do all these things with the holistic commitment of all its members, would be nothing short of being miraculous. And those organizational managers should be met with and benchmarked for making the impossible happen. The essence of the appraisal is that one human being or a group of people is making a judgement, an evaluation, and a programmed measurement, a standard about certain aspects of another human being all arising out of the course of employment. Also a firm view arising out of achievement or non-achievement of the goals set for the year under review. The person is not making a total judgement of the other persons worth, it is true, but is judging his/her present or future usefulness t o a role, job, position or a business or an industry. The overall evaluation that includes competencies measures employability of the individuals. This in itself, is a serious responsibility. Recognizing this, managers need to apply a few single rules, which will contribute to the ethical handling of the appraisal situation. They also need to be on the alert for the kinds of appraisal occasions, which make it easy, innocently or maliciously, to be unethical. Fundamentally, the appraisal of an employee should represent the honest effort of a manager to collect sufficient and relevant information and judge its meaning for a particular application to the best of one's ability. If he/she needs to communicate his/her judgement to anyone else, he/she should do so with exactness and with enough qualifiers that it does not mislead the individual to when it is communicated, or indeed, permit him/her to mislead himself/herself. "Managers checklist on Employee Appraisal Ethics" 1. Know what areas an appraisal system, its objectives, method, values and approaches. 2. Know the reason and applicability for appraisal; 3. Appraise on the basis of representative information, clear data and facts; 4. Appraise on the basis of sufficient and conclusive information; 5. Appraise on the basis of relevant and timely information

6. Make an honest appraisal on the basis of values and principles guiding the appraisal system and its application; 7. Keep written and oral appraisals consistent, factual, clear, transparent, lucid and easy to access; 8. Present appraisal as opinion, as a view at a point in time given current data and is not a permanent disposition or judgement; 9. Give appraisal information only to those who have a good reason, a relevant organizational role member, to know it; 10. Dont imply the existence of an appraisal that has not been made. Dont accept anothers appraisal without knowing the basis for it. 11. Make behavioral change comments only if expertise is available to make that judgement; 12. Offer strengths and weakness data only after it has been substantiated with facts; 13. Do not venture into potential appraisal unless you possess the expertise to make a judgement on the future for both the individual and the corporation; 14. Make yourself an impartial witness to the entire episode and ensure there are no vested interests in the outcome of the appraisal process and the conclusion; 15. Do not link compensation and promotion to the appraisal process. Make promotion a function of the position evaluation program and compensation a system linked to market information and job value. If we claim to recognize the basic value of human beings, we must acknowledge that making and communicating an appraisal of an employee involves ethical considerations and every appraiser should honestly try to meet these ethical standards. Appraisal in any event pre supposes that the exercise should improve the individual and his/her performance and all administrative and systemic support should be directionally to facilitate this to happen. Ethical training is an important step in organizations to make the appraisal system work effectively. Ethical training reshapes some elements of the culture and encourages employees to adapt their individual values and ethics to accommodate the common sense of the organization. THE WEAK IN SEARCH OF MORALITY AND JUSTICE In broadest aspects, labour relations are concerned with the benefits and wealth to be derived from work and output of what it is effectively organized. To furnish the goods and services required by a growing progressive population and to yield due satisfaction and reward both to those who labour and to those who manage work. In a labour contract, the worker obliges to perform specified tasks, goals for the employer over a given period of time in return for wages, benefits, working conditions, welfare, personal dignity and value that are mutually agreed upon. It is in agreement between equals, although commercial equalization would always be a debate, in the sense that both parties have the some social, political, legal and moral rights. Each is bound in both justice and charity to respect the rights, privileges and duties of the other in the course of mutual interaction. Labor is not a commodity, which can be bought, but is a personal service rendered by a human being that has life, aspirations, interests, responsibilities and objective of his/her own, beyond those connected with his/her employment. Hiring labor or their retention is not comparable to renting a piece of property, which can be used or abused, maligned or rewarded as desired. The labor unions represent the workers and aim at getting for their workers an equitable share of the corporate/national income through wages, pensions and fringe benefits. The employee to the contract brings in expertise, information, obligation and reputation to the work place. The organization in turn offers authority, remuneration, resources and rewards to make the work happen. This integration should make labor relations happen effectively. Unwittingly corporate and unions embark into a platform of negotiations where the moral principles and ethics of the relationships have not been clearly articulated. Though we single out moral principles from study of labour relations, there are many other facets of

the problem which have to be included in a more complete survey of the field- which will take into account the fundamental economic factors that conditions and influence the labour market. The question of wages and labour costs has greater economic significance. As for both labor and management what is required is to define as a condition the responsibilities of labour and management and also enrich the thinking about labour relations by outlining attitudes and goals that are in harmony with the moral nature of man. To make justice happen retaliation and selfpreservation are two fundamentals that govern the ethical act. Justice is the task, perennial moral issue in labour relations. The worker offers his/her services for hire in order to earn the income required supplying his economic needs food, clothing, a home and proper support for his dependent. Thus, the primary choice of a worker is how much a job promises to pay to meet with his needs and wants. The employer has similar economic interests, but much heavier responsibilities than the worker he hires. The basic moral problem is clearly one of justice, in that each party is obliged to render to the other that which is their due. Although the dichotomy arises given perceptual disharmony on understanding mutual dues and needs. This concept of justice corresponds to a vital need in human relations. Man is never contended when deprived of his/her rights. The history of labour relation has always been concerned with the definition of respective rights and duties, and with the process of administering justice in the working community. Whether it is the IR Bill put up at the senate or the parliament or the General IR Code of Discipline, or the social security and welfare laws of the country, all have been created to bring in a sense of justice and morality in the practice of labor relations. Thus it is imperative to have a few broad principles for guidance to both labour and management work together to turn out goods and services needed by our society. There is a wrong tendency to regard principles be it moral, economic etc. in solving practical problems but it is imperative that to solve problems of human relations, we should never lose confidence in the value of sound principles which define the goal or objective to be attained. Thus, unless for example, there is a good understanding of the general requirements of justice and strong convictions about practicing the virtue, there will be no alert sensitizing to subtle violations of rights or duties in labour relations. There may well be disagreement amongst several people on goodwill about various methods proposed to reach a given objective, but bargaining results in a complete impasse when the protagonists disagree on principle and are freezed from going forward. Good labor relations is maintained by principles derived from company policies, agreements which are set in the broader framework of labour law, count decisions etc. inspite of which controversies arise between labour and management on wage rates, hours, vacation, leave policies, long hours working, job enrichment and relocations, supervisor-employee relationships, production methods and standards, productivity norms, work norms and world class standards, job security, performance evaluation, discipline, seniority and promotees, grievance procedure and fringe benefits etc. Thus, it is necessary to have moral principles for guidance in labour relation. Each principle, when applied should take into its purview the concept and theory, practical application, past experiences, current concrete situations, variable alternatives and differing perspectives in which it is to be applied. Many a situation arises when the parties to the dispute are quite oblivious of the governing principles of the negotiations they are about to embark upon. The moral code for labour relations focuses on two basic aspects of every moral problem, namely the rights and duties of the parties concerned. Morality in labour relations primarily rests upon recognition of the respective rights and duties of employees and employers. Right is an inviolable moral power belonging to an individual or groups which all other men and women need to respect. Right offers individuals the time and space relevant uniquely to the person and for which authority, power, coercion or resources need not be applied. Duty is the moral obligation, which judiciously rests upon a person or group to respect the rights of others. Right and duty are inseparable, they are correlative terms, and each implies the other. Every duty pre-supposes a corresponding right and vice-versa. Harmonious relations between labour and management demands mutual respect for their respective rights and fulfillment of corresponding duties implied by them. This code is founded on moral principles, which recognizes the given human dignity of every person.

The common good and welfare of the nation requires close cooperation between employers, employees and the government. This is possible only if there exists mutual understanding and sincere goodwill based on the moral imperatives. Though new problems, situations arise in labour relations, the basic moral rights and duties of the parties concerned remain the same. Thus to avoid disputes over new issues, goals have to be accepted and implemented by all. There must be willingness on the part of all to acknowledge the part played by each and to share the burdens and advantages. Educational programs joint conferences between management will enable getting better view of particular problems and workout equitable solutions for them. Failures in the field of labour relations are human failures. They are not the outcome of uncontrollable economic forces though; these do have a bearing on it. In dealing with each other and in solving problems, one must relate to whether the solution is normally right or not before venturing to the economic, commercial and profitability part of the problem solving discussion. This is only possible when all experience evidence of honesty and integrity, which comes from fidelity to moral principles. Recognizing the importance of labour and their participation in making policies an aspect affecting them, will go a long way in brief; positive results of such cooperation and adherence to morals in labour relations. CONCLUSION The role of the HR manager is the key stone to reversing the slippage in ethical standards. Their functions, skills, expertise, value systems and concern place them in the unique position to guide the changes that are necessary. There are no easy answers to the complex problem of reversing slippage, but here are some approaches for the HR manager to consider: 1. Review Jefferson Center "Universal Values" and its applicability to the corporate setting; honesty, integrity, promise-keeping, fidelity, fairness, caring for others, respect for others, responsible citizenship, pursuit of excellence and accountability. 2. Re-examine what has gone wrong to why and to what extent your organization has caused employee or public hostility. 3. Always look to yourself and your function first. Stress open communications in all areas and between all levels. 4. Speak out on questions involving ethics. Address yourself with the crucial problems facing your organization, industry, profession, community and society. 5. Reassure employees, associates, customers, stockholders and the public that ethical considerations are important to the way your organization operates. HR must be the moral conscience of an organization and must lead the way with awareness. 6. Evaluate company policy and procedures in terms of ethics. Promote the idea of honesty over expenditure wherein the attitude of "anything goes- the end justifies the means discouraged. 7. Involve all levels of management in your ethical concerns. Delegate authority to establish ethical guidelines for the way business ought to be conducted in your organization. 8. Set up a suggestion program to reward ethical conduct. 9. Send your executives and managers out to speak on ethical questions and topics; help reinforce ethical values in your company and community on all matters vital to the free enterprise system. 10. Publicize and reinforce positive examples of ethical conduct. Coordinate your organization efforts to speak out and loudly answer false or unjust media, union, government, employee or public criticism of behavior; correct myths or half-truths. 11. Specifically include ethical behavior, conduct and goals as an integral part of your organization management by objectives and/or performance appraisal programs. 12. Consciously plan and conduct periodic Ethics and Values Workshop for all employees. Help build an ethical culture with the active involvement of the people who should have core values internalized. If the HR function takes action now, slippage can be controlled. The reward will be not only in terms

of a greater feeling of personal worth throughout the organization and would lead to lesser need for consumerism and government intervention. Ethics, eventually, involves choosing good over the bad, the right over the wrong, the fair over the unfair and it is a question of "choice". Ethics, in addition, also deals on a thin line with marginal differentiation amongst individualism, altruism, idealism and pragmatism and each ethical decision could border on one over the other. The impacting moral connotation to a corporate entity would be the need to follow Plato's four virtues, courage, godliness or philosophical wisdom, righteousness, and prudence. Above all, not knowingly do harm.