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Islamic Perspective
Introduction
Ethics is a branch of philosophy which seeks to address questions about morality, such as
what the fundamental semantic, ontological, and epistemic nature of ethics or morality is
(meta-ethics), how moral values should be determined (normative ethics), how a moral
outcome can be achieved in specific situations (applied ethics), how moral capacity or
moral agency develops and what its nature is (moral psychology), and what moral values
people actually abide by (descriptive ethics).
The Islamic religious perspective warrants considerable importance in the field of global
business ethics for five reasons. First, Islam provides a framework that shapes the moral
and ethical behavior of a growing number of Muslim consumers around the globe. These
consumers constitute about one quarter of the total world population and represent a
majority in more than 50 countries. Second, an increasing number of Muslim countries
represent some of the most affluent consumers in the world. Islamic financial institutions,
for example, manage or control funds worth around $60 billion (De Belder, 1993). Third,
there has been an increasing level of foreign investment in Muslim countries over recent
years. Fourth, there is a growing momentum towards the formation of a Muslim trading
block. And fifth, the current political mood indicates that there appears to be a definitive
push towards greater Islamisation of countries where Muslims are in the majority (e.g.
Egypt, Algeria, Pakistan, Sudan, Afghanistan to name but a few) in the form of a return
to the application of the Islamic law (Shari’ah) to all facets of life and thought.
You can have professional ethics, but you seldom hear about professional morals. Ethics
tend to be codified into a formal system or set of rules which are explicitly adopted by a
group of people. Thus you have medical ethics. Ethics are thus internally defined and
adopted, whilst morals tend to be externally imposed on other people.
Ethics is at the heart of good management (Friedman & Friedman, 1988). Ethical
management is reflected in the way employees are treated and influences how they
perform their jobs (Waddock & Smith, 2000). When organizations operate ethically, they
can develop reputations for being reliable, trustworthy and conscientious. This reduces
transaction cost and increases customer loyalty (Wong & Snell, 2003). Hospitality
managers are personally accountable for the ethical quality of their
decisions as well as those of their subordinates (Van Hoof, McDonald,
Yu, & Vallen, 1996).
The quality of the production process is of a paramount concern in Islamic ethics. The
Qur’an declares that pursuance of safe and high quality ideals is one aspect of actualizing
safe and reliable products and services for the customers (Al-Qur’an 2:172,7; 7:160;
20:81; 2:168; 5:88; 8:69; 16:114; 23:51; 5:4; 5:5; 7:157). In some of these Qur’anic
verses the phrase “Eat pure things,” precedes “do righteous deeds.” Put simply, these
phrases are meant to impress and emphasize the principle that righteous deeds are
meaningless without purity in matters pertaining to production, consumption, and
marketing of pure and lawful products and services.
Ethics is not definable, is not implementable, because it is not conscious; it involves not
only our thinking, but also our feeling (Valdemar W. Setzer; 1942). Research shows that
individuals and organizations are adversely affected when commitment is low (Randall,
1987), and that both benefit when commitment is high. Organizational commitment is
associated with increased satisfaction (Hunt et al., 1985), performance (Morris and
Sherman, 1981), and organizational adaptability (Angle and Perry, 1981), as well as
decreased absenteeism (Hammer et al., 1981) and employee turnover (Abelson, 1983).
Ethical Values such as honesty, integrity, responsibility, trust, team work, leadership,
organization citizenship, they all have a great impact on the image on any organization.
Corporate ethical values are considered to be the composition of the individual ethical
values of managers and both the formal and informal policies on ethics of the
organization
If you want to change the culture, you will have to start by changing the organization.
(Mary Douglas; 1985).Ethical context and organizational commitment Organizational
commitment is commonly defined as employees' interest in and connection to an
organization (Hunt et al., 1989; Meyer and Allen, 1997; Mowday et al., 1979).
Employees who are committed to their firms "tend to identify with the objectives and
goals of their organizations and want to remain with their organizations" (Hunt et al.,
1989, p. 81). . According to Schein (1985), corporate values, as a major dimension of a
corporate culture, define the standards that guide the external adaptation and internal
integration of organizations. Organizations prefer having trustworthy employees–ethical
employees, and because traditional values have become less prevalent, written codes of
ethics may be necessary (Beasley, 1995).
Organizational image very much depend on ethical values. If employees are practicing
ethical values & norms within the organization, it will affect the overall performance of
the organization. We can also say that ethics are the rules & regulations. If there are some
well defined boundaries for the employees, it’s easy for them to work. Positive
reinforcement should also be done. For this purpose some organizations also arrange
some business ethics trainings for their employees. Sometimes organizations also need
negative reinforcement. The purpose is to stop employees for using unethical values.
There is reason to believe that the presence of codes may strengthen employees
perceptions of an organizational ethical values and practices. The existence of ethic codes
that formalize organizations ethical values should positively influence sales professionals,
perceptions organization’s ethical values. The level of organizational commitment was
associated with their perception of their organization’s ethical values. Ethic codes
represent a formalization of organization’s concern with ethical behavior.
Individualism and uncertainty avoidance are positively associated with firm’s ethics,
whereas masculinity and power tend to be negatively associated ( Gnyawali, 1991;
McGrath et al, 1992). perceived management styles, ethical precepts and problem-solving
expectations, suggests even percolate into the wider society, and may be identified among
secondary school students and those individuals within the school-work transition
process. Emsler (1995). According to Schein (1985), corporate values, as a major
dimension of a corporate culture, define the standards that guide the external adaptation
and internal integration of organizations. most managers are more inclined to
respect and prefer laws when making difficult ethical decisions, and often
trample their own values in business when no laws apply (Whitney, 1990). Professional
organizations will often have codes of ethics for their memberships to enhance the
reputation of the particular industry and to reduce outside regulation (Weinstein, 1993).
After identifying ethical issues through their environmental scanning system, managers
must integrate the issues within their personal ethical framework. This step assumes that
managers' personal ethical frameworks agree with the ethical frameworks of their
organization. If managers' ethics conflict with their organizations', there is a difficult
conflict: managers must decide to compromise their personal ethics, leave their
organizations or change their organizations' ethics. Changing the ethics is much easier if
managers are at a high organizational level, with direct influence on the organizational
values and policies.
One of the most consistent findings in research on ethical decision-making is that
individuals tend to view themselves as more ethical than peers, co-workers, supervisors,
and others that they know (Ford and Richardson, 1994). Recognizing the potentially
substantial implica tions of this phenomenon, Messick and Bazerman (1996) warned that
an individual's perception that he or she is more ethical than others might characterize
that individual's atti tudes about.
In recent years, the issue of business ethics has garnered increased attention. Corporate
research and watchdog groups such as the Ethics Resource Center and the Council on
Economic Priorities point out that the number of corporations that engage in ethics
training and initiate socially responsive programs has increased dramatically over the
course of the past two decades, and that courses on business ethics have proliferated in
America's business schools during that time as well.
Employees who are committed to their firms "tend to identify with the objectives and
goals of their organizations and want to remain with their organizations" (Hunt et al.,
1989, p. 81). Research shows that individuals and organiza tions are adversely affected
when commitment is low (Randall, 1987), and that both benefit when commitment is
high. Organizational com mitment is associated with increased satisfaction (Hunt et al.,
1985), performance (Morris and Sherman, 1981), and organizational adaptability (Angle
and Perry, 1981), as well as decreased absenteeism (Hammer et al., 1981).
Bibliography
Al-Qur’an (107: 1–7), (13:17), (21:23), (102:8), (2:188), (23:7), (24:33), (9:53–54),
(11:15), (72:13), (2:282), (7:85), (11:85), (26:183), (83:1–3), (23:51), (6:114–115),
(2:167–168), (102:8), (100:8), (3:14), (43:19,80), (33:19, 58), (58:17–19), (83:26),
(2:172,7), (7:160), (20:81), (2:168), (5:88), (8:69), (16:114), (23:51), (5:4), (5:5), (7:157).
For an English translation of the Qur’an, the reader should refer to The Meaning of the
Glorious Qur’an by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Nadim & Co., Ta’ha Publishers Ltd., 68A
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Literature Review
Previous research concerning the relationship between ethics codes and ethical behavior
in the workplace has yielded mixed results. Little is known about the process by which an
ethics code might influence employees' ethical decisions (Schwartz, 2001). We suggest
that unless ethics codes influence the perceptions of employees about the ethical values
of their organizations, that the codes are unlikely to positively impact behavior.
Employees' beliefs about their employers' ethical values appear to be just as important, if
not more important, than the "objective reality" of organizations' values, since research
indicates that it is employees' perceptions of the organizational context that influences
their ethical decision-making (Akaah and Lund, 1994; Barnett and Vaicys, 2000; Weaver
et al., 1999). as people becoming more aware of corporate responsibility, fair dealing,
integrity and other higher qualities they will be willing and eager to involve themselves in
mutual business dealings (al-Razi, 1985).
Ethics is at the heart of good management (Friedman & Friedman, 1988). Ethical
management is reflected in the way employees are treated and influences how they
perform their jobs (Waddock & Smith, 2000). When organizations operate ethically, they
can develop reputations for being reliable, trustworthy and conscientious. This reduces
transaction cost and increases customer loyalty (Wong & Snell, 2003).
Singhapakdi et al. (1995) also empirically established that corporate ethical values
positively influence a marketer’s perceptions of the importance of ethics and social
responsibility in achieving organizational effectiveness.
When employees believe that the organizations for which they work have strong ethical
values, they appear to be more likely to engage in ethical behavior. Because we believe
that ethics codes largely affect behavior through their impact on employee perceptions of
the organizational context, our study was designed to assess whether the simple existence
of ethics codes affected perceptions of organizations' ethical values. Committed
employees generally feel a connection to company values (Schwepker & Good, 1999).
Valentine et al. (2002) revealed a strong relationship between corporate ethical values
and individual employee’s organizational commitment. An examination of 1246
marketing professionals (managers and researchers) revealed that corporate ethical values
are significant substantive predictors of organizational commitment (Hunt et al., 1989).
Sims (1991) explained that an ethical context is developed by ‘managin the psychological
contracts between the organization and its employees, reinforcing the employee’s
organizational commitment and encouraging an ethically-oriented organizational culture’
(Sims, 1991: 495). Also, in their studies, Somers (2001) and Okpara (2003) suggested
that the presence of corporate ethical values were associated with high levels of
organizational commitment.
Future research should attempt to link the existence and content of ethics codes to
employees' beliefs about the ethical climate in their organizations. Although our study
found that the existence of ethics codes positively influenced perceptions, respondents
had to be aware of the existence of their organizations' ethics codes in order to respond
affirmatively to the survey question. Therefore, it is difficult to separate the "existence"
of the ethics code from employee "awareness" of the existence of the code. Better
methods of developing and communicating ethics codes must be developed. Employees'
appreciation for ethics codes appears to be enhanced by systematically revisiting ethical
business perspectives (Fritz et al., 1999)."For an ethical code to be available to
organizational members for adoption, that code and its implications must be articulated
by the organization in its day-to-day routine activities" (Fritz et al., 1999, p. 290).
Furthermore, Sims & Keon (1997) indicated that organizational ethics and values tend to
be positively related to employees’ level of satisfaction and negatively related to their
expressed intention to turnover. Similarly, Schwepker (2001) also showed that the ethical
climate was positively associated with job satisfaction and organizational commitment,
and was negatively associated with turn over intentions.
The review of the literature by Reed, et al. determines that empirical studies are
inconclusive. In the future researchers should recognize the potential importance of
focusing upon "corporate culture as a factor affecting social performance" (Reed, et al.
1990 p. 36).
Utilizing the Ethical Climate Questionnaire, also developed by Victor and Cullen (1987,
1988), this re- search attempts to explain the discovery of multiple organizational ethical
sub climates. Specific ethical de- cision-making dimensions and ethical subclimates are
hypothesized to be associated with different depart- ment types due to differences in the
departments' tasks and stakeholder relationships. This research also dis- cusses the
behavioral implications associated with the types of ethical subclimates found in the
organization.
Weeks & Nantell (1992) showed that well-communicated codes of ethics led to increased
ethical standards and superior job performance of sales people in the American context.
Singhapakdi et al. (1995) empirically established that corporate ethical values positively
influence a marketer’s perceptions of the importance of ethics and social responsibility in
order to achieve organizational effectiveness. Thus, corporate business ethics individually
or jointly influence organizational performance (Wu, 2002). Managers at every level of
the organization should regularly discuss the ethical values and what it means to their
division or department (Stevens, 1999), otherwise it will not be accepted and adopted by
employees.
Since the presence of corporate ethical values influences employee’s level of
commitment, an important implication of this finding is for management to encourage
and support the development of written codes of ethics. Ethical people are concerned for
others and live their lives according to the highest level of human principles (Fisher,
1998). There are examples of managers who stand-up for their values under fire and are
accorded the title of “true professional”
Cook and Emsler (1999) demonstrate, career success, in the form of promotion is
typically decided by superiors, not those who are or will be subordinates. They suggest
that relatively little is known about the perceptions and expectations of potential
subordinates, notwithstanding the informal power that these individuals may later have in
influencing the relative success or otherwise of a manager’s achievements within any
position.
Bibliography
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Many different disciplines, institutions, and professions have norms for behavior that suit
their particular aims and goals. These norms also help members of the discipline to
coordinate their actions or activities and to establish the public’s trust of the discipline.
For instance, ethical norms govern conduct in medicine, law, engineering, and business.
Ethical norms also serve the aims or goals of research and apply to people who conduct
scientific research or other scholarly or creative activities, and there is a specialized
discipline, research ethics, which studies these norms.
The main purpose of the study is to explore critically examine in a descriptive &
analytical manner the relevance of ethical values to organizational image. Ethical values
improves the organizational over all image. Organizational image will be improved if the
inner environment of organization is good enough. Inner environment can be improved
by teaching ethics & values to the employees. These ethics includes responsibility, trust,
quality, team work, leadership etc. If these ethical values are present & applied in the
organization then employees get to know that what their boundaries are. They also get to
know that they should work but keep these boundaries in mind. If employees will work
using ethical values, there performance will increase because they knows well about their
responsibilities. So Ethical values has a relevance with organizational image & ethical
values helps the management to improve the image of organization.
To explore & analyze critically the philosophy & role of ethical values on
organizational image.
To examine how ethical values improves the performance of employees & then how
they deal with the customers.
To examine Islamic Ethical values & their impact on organizational image &
employees performance in Pakistan.
Contribution
The study will help to understand the issues related to organizational image & employees
performance & how it can be improved by using ethical values in the organization.
This study will provide a strong base & encourage the management in the organizations
to introduce Islamic ethical values, norms & ethical decision making. As a result
employee’s performance will increase. Managers & employees will more concentrate on
the quality management. Relationship with the customers increases, & it will effect on
the organizational image.
This study will help managers in improving the decision making process for future
purposes.
Problem Statement
If we talk about Ethical values & organizational image, We get to know that ethical
values increase the quality management & it will improve the organizational image.
In SME sector we develop a problem statement that. “If we increase the quality of goods,
& provide the goods according to needs & wants of customers, it will improve the
organizational image.
Research Design
In research design we take two variables. These variables include dependant variable and
independent variable. On the basis of which we will make the hypothesis.
The independent variable includes ethical values & dependent variable includes
organizational image. Trust, teamwork, employee’s performance, quality management,
these are some components of Ethical values. If we increase or decrease them, it will
effect organizational image. Luckily, in the world of business ethics, your employer helps
you. In a nutshell, their values are your values (Mark S. Putnam: 2001). Considering the
rash of corporate scandals these days, the thought of following the corporation's values
might not be too comforting. Problem: Whose or what values can you trust? (Mark S.
Putnam, 2001).
Hypothesis
Measurements:
Corporate ethical values were tapped by a five-item scale developed by Hunt et al.
(1989).
This construct was measured in order to capture three broad-based perceptions: (i) the
extent to which employees perceive their managers acting ethically in their organizations;
(ii) the extent to which employees perceive their managers concerned about ethical issues
in the organization; and (iii) the extent to which employees perceive that ethical (unethi-
cal) behaviors are rewarded (or punished) in their organizations.