Understanding Ethical Dilemmas and Decision Making PDF

4 UNDERSTANDING ETHICAL DILEMMA AND ETHICAL DECISION MAKING Outcome Covered (8): Function in a Moral and Ethical manner in his/her life Learning Objectives: This chapter will help the students: 1. To understand the concept of Ethical Dilemma in detail 2. To...

4 UNDERSTANDING ETHICAL DILEMMA AND ETHICAL DECISION MAKING Outcome Covered (8): Function in a Moral and Ethical manner in his/her life Learning Objectives: This chapter will help the students: 1. To understand the concept of Ethical Dilemma in detail 2. To understand what is Ethical Decision making and its various approaches 3. To learn the steps involved in Ethical Decision Making 4. To understand the guidelines for Ethical Decision making 5. To understand what is Whistleblowing Topics Covered: 1. Ethical Dilemma 2. Nature of Ethical Dilemma 3. Ethical Dilemmas are best solved through the ethical decision making 4. Approaches to Ethical Decision Making 5. Ethical decision making is usually done based on either one of the above-given approaches 6. Steps involved in Ethical Decision Making 7. Obstacles in Resolving Ethical Issues 8. Whistle Blowing 9. Steps involved whistleblowing 85  ETHICAL DILEMMA An ethical dilemma is a situation or problem facing an individual that involves complex and often conflicting principles of ethical behaviour. Ethical dilemmas are situations in which someone must take the decision Ethical dilemmas, also known as a moral dilemma, are situations in which there is a choice to be made between two options, neither of which resolves the situation in an ethically acceptable fashion. An ethical dilemma is a debate between two moral principles, where two sides can argue about what is wrong or what is right. However, there is no real answer to an ethical dilemma. It is simply a matter of what one believes in. An ethical dilemma may occur either within the person or between two or more people. ** Conditions for a situation to be considered an Ethical Dilemma: 1. When an individual must make a decision about which course of action is best. 2. There must be different courses of action to choose from. 3. No matter what course of action is taken, some ethical principle is compromised/ no perfect solution. FUNDAMENTAL ETHICAL PRINCIPLES: Ethical principles provide a generalized framework within which particular ethical dilemmas may be analyzed. These principles can provide guidance in resolving ethical issues. There are four fundamental ethical principles explained below: a) Principle of Respect for Autonomy (‫)الحكم الذاتي‬: Autonomy is Latin for "self-rule". We have an obligation to respect the autonomy of other persons, which is to respect the decisions made by other people concerning their own lives. This is also called the principle of human dignity. It gives us a negative duty not to interfere with the decisions of competent adults, and a positive duty to empower others for whom we’re responsible. Thus it allows for individual freedom or one's right to 86  make decisions without being forced. For example, choice of religion, dress, foods, etc. b) Principle of Beneficence (‫)إحسان‬: Beneficence is an action that is done for the benefit of others. Beneficent actions can be taken to help prevent or remove harms or to simply improve the situation of others. Beneficence can also include protecting and defending the rights of others, rescuing persons who are in danger, and helping individuals with disabilities. Examples of beneficent actions: Resuscitating a drowning victim, providing vaccinations for the general population, encouraging a patient to quit smoking and start an exercise program c) Principle of Non-maleficence (‫)عدم التسبب بضرر‬: “Non-maleficence means to “do no harm.” We have an obligation not to harm others: "First, do no harm. Examples of non-maleficent actions: Stopping a medication that is shown to be harmful, refusing to provide a treatment that has not been shown to be effective. d) Principle of Justice (‫)عدل‬: We have an obligation to provide others with whatever they are owed or deserve. In public life, we have an obligation to treat all people equally, fairly, and impartially. NATURE OF ETHICAL DILEMMA Nature of ethical dilemma can be broadly classified into three major categories:  Personal  Professional  Societal Thus it signifies the dilemma faced by an individual from different perspectives of his/her own life as an individual, in the profession and as a part of the society. 87  Personal Ethical Dilemma: The ethical dilemma that involves a conflict in an individual’s personal values is a personal ethical dilemma. It mostly occurs in personal or family relations. Mainly personal ethical dilemma put high pressure on the individual to compromise some of his own personal values in order to arrive into a satisfying solution. EXAMPLES 1. You have found that your brother is taking drugs and upon asking him he refused. He also threatened you that if he discusses this with anyone then he will not help you in preparing your assignment. Now, what would you do? Keep quiet or inform your parents. Such a dilemma imposes a lot of pressure on your personal value system in which you believe. 2. You are out for a walk one night and you see a man running towards you. He looks terrified, stressed and panicked. He comes up to you with tears in his eyes and says, “I am going to hide right here. I can’t run anymore. I didn’t do anything wrong. Please, promise me you won’t tell them where I am!”. So you promise the man, he hides behind a bush and you keep walking. Ten seconds later four men turn the corner where the panicked man had come from and head towards you. As they get closed you see that they are, indeed, police officers. They walk up to you and ask if you have seen the man they were chasing. What do you do? Do you lie? Why? 3. You witness a man rob a bank, but instead of keeping the money for himself, he donates it to a local orphanage. You know this orphanage has been struggling for funding, and this money will allow the children to receive proper food, clothing and medical care. If you report the crime, the money will be taken away from the orphanage and given back to the bank. What should you do? 88  Professional Ethical Dilemma: It is an ethical dilemma that involves a conflict in one’s professional / work / Business values. It occurs in place of work. Such a dilemma occurs with employers, employees, practising professionals like doctors, accountants, engineers etc and businesses. Mainly the professional ethical dilemma touches conflicts with others, evaluate the relationship between workers on decision-relevant on how to make managerial decisions, do a daily task, manage resources, and those related to the dealing with company’s clients and customers. Some common examples of the professional ethical dilemma are: 4.3.2.1 Human Resources Issues: Human resources deal with employees and their development related activities in an organization. It is where ethics really matter since it concerns human issues. EXAMPLE: An employer Mr.Hisham has been running a consulting business for a long time and needs to hire a person to help him manage it. He does several interviews and finally employs a candidate Ahmed for the job who is asked to start work from the following week. In the meantime, Hisham gets a call from his friend who recommends him Majid – an extremely talented and deserving person for the job. Although Hisham refuses, his friend insists. Majid comes in with the perfect resume and is liked by the employer. Now, what? The dilemma lies in choosing someone who is best for the business or someone who ethically has the first day. 4.3.2.2 Employee Safety Issues: All employers are ethically required to provide a safe and healthy workplace for their employees. Ethical dilemmas may surface in the course of the safety practitioner work largely because there may be occasions when there are conflicts of interest and loyalty derived from their different roles. The best way to resolve such dilemmas is to prevent them before they arise. 89 EXAMPLE: Heather is part of a four-person mining expedition. There is a cave-in and the four of them are trapped in the mine. A rock has crushed the legs of one of her crew members and he will die without medical attention. She’s established radio contact with the rescue team and learned it will be 36 hours before the first drill can reach the space she is trapped in. She is able to calculate that this space has just enough oxygen for three people to survive for 36 hours, but definitely not enough for four people. The only way to save the other crew members is to refuse medical aid to the injured crew members so that there will be just enough oxygen for the rest of the crew to survive. Should Heather allow the injured crew member to die in order to save the lives of the remaining crew members? 4.3.2.3 Conflicts of interest: The situation where a person in a position to derive personal benefits when he made a decision under his / her official capacity. Simply, it occurs when the judgment or objectivity is compromised. EXAMPLES (a) An employee working in a recruitment agency and also running a similar owned agency himself. (b) Advertising company owned by your cousin to be hired for selling an advertisement to your company; if you are in charge to decide; for avoiding such interest conflict it's better for you to delegate this decision to be made objectively by a neutral person (a colleague who doesn't have any relationship with the owner (your cousin). If you are the only person authorized to make such a decision, you should include other employees in the process to clarify that this decision is made fairly. 90  4.3.2.4 Use of corporate resources: Company resources including company reputation and financial resources are to be used for Company business purposes only. Employees should not use Company assets for personal gain, nor do they allow any other person, not employed or authorized by the Company to use Company assets. Protection of the Company’s assets is the responsibility of every employee. Appropriate care must be taken to ensure that company assets are not stolen, loaned to others, transferred, sold or donated without authorization. EXAMPLE: (a) It is like to use corporate reputation if one of your friends ask you to write a recommendation letter on company letterhead to show more experience than actual. (b) An employee is provided with a company car for office use only and a situation occurs to use it for personal use in case of emergency related to the family. 4.3.2.5 Customer Confidence: These issues include confidentiality, product safety and effectiveness, truth in advertising, and special fiduciary responsibilities etc. EXAMPLE: New technology is being launched which is good for the company as well as the clients. But, if this is brought into use, a lesser man-power is required for the organization. The entrepreneur is now in an ethical dilemma whether he wants to better his clients with good services or be loyal to his employees who have helped the company grow. The unpleasantness of the situation arises when neither the clients nor the employees deserve to suffer and it is the entrepreneur’s call to take. Societal Dilemma: A social dilemma is a situation in which an individual profit from selfishness unless everyone chooses the selfish alternative, in which case the whole group loses. Problems 91 arise when too many group members choose to pursue individual profit and immediate satisfaction rather than behave in the group’s best long-term interests. Social dilemmas can take many forms and are studied across disciplines such as psychology, economics, and political science. The social dilemma mainly surfaces related to resource depletion, overpopulation, voting rights, environmental protection, privacy, individual rights, and equality etc. "Real World" Examples of Social Dilemmas (HTTP://PERSPICUITY.NET/SD/XVP-4.HTML ) 4.3.3.1 Water Supply: The consumption of water is a worldwide case. Let's say you live in a very populated city and one day the city announces that, due to a water shortage, everyone should cut back on consumption. In particular, governments tend to encourage their people to follow best practices to reduce water waste. However, a lot of people tend to devalue their contribution to this case. For instance, an individual will see that his consumption is insignificant compared to the total in the reservoir and, in fact, no one will notice. Put another way, your consumption, when spread over the millions of residents in the city, is of no consequence. 4.3.3.2 Insurance The insurance situation is the "Tragedy of the Commons" situation that we all abuse. Given the opportunity, I will take more from the insurance company than I would if I were having to pay for the service -- much more. And why not? Even if I don't abuse my insurance, even if I skip the expensive brain scans for my annoying headache, nothing will change in the insurance industry. 4.3.3.3 The Littering Problem: What does one more piece of litter do to an already huge pile? I'll pick up my litter but not the other guy's 92 CLASS ACTIVITY (5 Minutes) Question: Write at least two examples by your own related with any point given in nature of ethical dilemma. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________ ETHICAL DECISION MAKING: Ethical decision making: Ethical dilemmas are best solved through ethical decision making. Ethical decision making is a cognitive process where people consider ethical rules, principles or guidelines when making decisions. Thus ethical decision-making refers to the process of evaluating and choosing among alternatives in a manner consistent with ethical principles. In making ethical decisions, it is necessary to perceive and eliminate unethical options and select the best ethical alternative. ** The process of making ethical decisions requires:  Commitment: The desire to do the right thing regardless of the cost  Consciousness: The awareness to act consistently and apply moral convictions to daily behaviour  Competency: The ability to collect and evaluate information, develop alternatives, and foresee potential consequences and risks ** Good decisions are both ethical and effective:  Ethical decisions generate and sustain trust; demonstrate respect, responsibility, fairness and caring; and are consistent with good citizenship. These behaviours provide a foundation for making better decisions by setting the ground rules for our behaviour.  Effective decisions are effective if they accomplish what we want to be accomplished and if they advance our purposes. A choice that produces 93  unintended and undesirable results is ineffective. The key to making effective decisions is to think about choices in terms of their ability to accomplish our most important goals. This means we have to understand the difference between immediate and short-term goals and longer-range goals. STEP INVOLVED IN ETHICAL DECISION MAKING: A model which was created by Corey, G., Corey, M.S., & Callanan, P. has eight steps to the decision-making process. Step 1: Identify the problem: - Sometimes just realizing a particular situation is unethical can be the important first step, as many feel that it’s just the “way of doing business” and not think that it is unethical. Step 2: Identify the potential issues involved: -Analyze what are the issues that could negatively impact people or the company? Who could get hurt? And what will happen if nothing is done in this regard? Step 3: Review relevant ethical guidelines: - Does the organization have policies and procedures in place to handle such situations? For example, if a client gives you a gift, there may be a rule whether you can accept gifts and if so, the value limit of the gift you can accept. Step 4: Know relevant laws and regulations: - If the company doesn’t have any rules against those issues, then would it be illegal to report such cases? Step 5: Seek consultation: - Seek support from supervisors, co-workers, friends and family, especially from people who you feel are moral and ethical. Step 6: Consider possible and probable courses of action: Brainstorm a list of possible solutions for solving the problem. Step 7: List the consequences of the probable courses of action: - list the positive and negative benefits of each proposed solution and how will it affect the parties concerned? Step 8: Decide on what appears to be the best course of action: -there may not always be a perfect solution, but the best solution is the one that seems to create the best and the least harm. 94  OBSTACLES IN RESOLVING ETHICAL ISSUES: 1. The true facts of the situation are unclear or incomplete: You should take all the possible effort to uncover all the data available in regard to ethical consideration before taking any decision. 2. Words used to describe the issue are “loaded”: Words like “fairness”, “doing right” or “justice” means different to different people and hence results in conflict. Therefore, such words should be avoided while describing the ethical issues. 3. Subjectivity (Biased) and personal perception create barriers to objectivity (Unbiased): Decisions involving the ethical issues should be made rationally & objectively. They must be supported by the facts of the situation. 4. Emotions get in the way of logic: It occurs when ethical issues are discussed with others. In such situations, you should avoid diffusing its intensity before allowing you or anyone else to commit to an adamant position. If possible, do not take any action in such a situation. 5. Conditions preclude obtaining the required knowledge: The conditions like the absence of alternative solutions, lack of control, lack of power to make a decision makes it impossible to apply a solution of choice. In such condition do not take action or you are not responsible for the consequences of the situation you are forced into. WHISTLEBLOWING Definition: Whistleblowing is a process to expose any kind of information or activity that is deemed illegal, unethical or not correct within an organization that is either public or private. If any employee brings the following incidents in the notice of top management or concerned authority, then the employee is whistleblowing: 95  (a) Discrimination in the promotion of employees. (b) Terminating or suspending the employees without serving a prior notice. (c) Unnecessary delay in the payment of salary and other benefits. (d) Harassment, conflicts and misconduct issues (e) Environmental pollution issues. (f) Quality issues related to goods and services. (g) Any act of the employer that is against the public interest or security of the country. The goal of Whistleblowing: 1. To expose the employer’s wrongdoing (such as corruption, fraud, incorrect financial reporting and other wrongdoing) to outsiders such as the media or government regulatory agencies. 2. To protect the public interest. 3. To inform people or organizations who are in a position to prevent harm to investigate or to take action against those responsible for wrongdoing. 4. The term whistleblowing is also used for internal reporting of misconduct to management, especially through anonymous reporting mechanisms often called hotlines. Steps involved in Whistle Blowing: The whistleblowing process starts by collecting all facts and data needed and followed the following steps: - 1. Approach your immediate manager first: This time in a written memo explaining your concerns. This surely, will help your manager to take you more seriously, but he’s still not taking any action? 2. Discuss the issue with your family: Since any whistleblowing can affect them with you, they have the right to know what’s going on. Tell them general information (without mentioning names). See what they advise you, this helps 96  them be prepared for the coming difficulties and sharing the responsibility of decision-making process. 3. Take it to the next level: The most diplomatic way of going around your manager is to ask him to go with you to the next level to discuss the situation so that he won’t feel betrayed and you’ll appear to be a team player. Are you still unsatisfied? 4. Contact your company’s ethics officer (or human recourse department): Find out if your state has any legislation regarding whistleblowing: Your state may have legislative protection or you might find out that there are specific procedures you should follow to protect yourself and your company. 5. Consider going outside your chain of command: Such as, the legal department or the company’s attorney, (the financial manager if the issue is about money), your last option inside the company is the CEO himself. 6. Go outside the company: You can contact the regulators who are charged with overseeing your industry. (A union, a syndicate, some government institution that controls your industry….). 7. Leave the company: Sometimes, you might have no alternatives but quitting your job. Whistleblowing Policy: Recognizing the role of whistleblowing in detecting fraud, corruption and other non- ethical behaviours, many countries have enacted whistleblower protection laws through domestic legislation and international conventions. When no legislation exists to encourage and protect the whistleblower, the management of the organization will have to respond to whistleblower allegations. In Oman, certain banks, government agencies and international corporations have adopted whistleblower protection programs. For example (a) Bank Muscat has a comprehensive whistleblowing program since June 2009. 97 (b) Omani State General Reserve fund adopted its own wide-ranging whistleblowing program. Concerns of Whistleblowers: A genuine whistleblower will need complete support from the senior management because of the risk involved. Risks include demotion, blacklisting, denying benefits, denying promotions, making threats, intimidation, and reassignment to less desirable positions, pay reduction, suspension or termination. 98 EXAMPLE: ANTI-FRAUD AND WHISTLE-BLOWING POLICY IN OMAN AIR Source: HTTPS://WWW.OMANAIR.COM/EN/ABOUT-US/CORPORATE-GOVERNANCE/WHISTLE-BLOWING-POLICY 1. Purpose Oman Air SAOC is committed to the highest possible standards in terms of governance practices, transparency, fairness, accountability, professionalism and duty of care in delivering ones’ responsibilities. This Policy aims to encourage every individual working for or dealing with the Company to report any fraudulent practices at any level of the organization with complete comfort, confidence and protection. 2. Scope All employees or contract staff; partners who are our agents and working on our behalf (outsourced agencies) and independent partners (vendors) will be obligated to report any detected or suspected fraud (as defined in this policy). Customers may report through customer service channels. Anonymous reporting is not generally encouraged at Oman Air SAOC. Anonymous reporting will be considered at the discretion of the Management based on the seriousness of the issue, substance of allegation, pieces of evidence provided, and likelihood of confirming the allegation from attributable sources or other probative evidence. 3. Actions constituting fraud * Fraud is defined as the wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain. In addition, fraud also includes intentional false representation or concealment of a material fact for the purpose of personal gains; * Any unethical or unlawful act; * Misappropriation of funds, securities, supplies or other assets; * Impropriety in the handling or reporting of money or financial transactions; * Fraudulent financial and annual reporting; * Disclosing confidential and proprietary information to outside parties; * Accepting or seeking anything outside the Gift Acceptance Policy from the contractors, vendors, competitors, partners or persons providing goods or services to the Company. 4. Acting in good faith Anyone reporting an irregularity that is detected or suspected must be acting in good faith and have reasonable grounds for believing the information provided. Allegations made maliciously or with knowledge of their falsity will not be tolerated. People making such allegations may be subject to the Oman Air SAOC disciplinary procedures and/or legal action by the individuals accused of fraudulent conduct or the Company management (as applicable). Such disciplinary measures will not be used for individuals reporting in good faith. 5. Whistle-blower protection Employees of Oman Air SAOC may not retaliate against a whistle-blower for reporting in good faith an activity which that person believes to be fraudulent or dishonest. In the context of this paragraph, the whistle-blower is defined as an employee who blows the whistle under this policy. 6. Whistle-blowing channels The cases can be reported on [email protected] (this e-mail will be regularly reviewed by the Vice President Company Secretary). 7. Whistle-blowing procedures The reported cases will be investigated and acted upon as per the procedures defines in the Anti-fraud and Whistle- blowing Policy and Procedures of the Company. 99 C ASE S TUDIES Case 1: You’re working the breakfast shift at a fast-food restaurant when delivery of milk, eggs, and other dairy products arrives. There’s a story in the local newspaper about contaminated milk distributed by the dairy that delivers to your restaurant. Upon reading the article more closely, you discover that only a small portion of the dairy’s milk is contaminated, and the newspaper lists the serial numbers of the affected containers. When you point out the article to your manager, he tells you to forget it. ‘‘If you think we’ve got time to go through every carton of milk to check serial numbers, you’re crazy,’’ he says. ‘‘The article says right here that the chances are very less that anyone has a contaminated carton.’’ He also explains that he doesn’t have the workers to check the milk, and what’s more, destroying the milk would require him to buy emergency milk supplies at the retail price. So he tells you to get back to work and forget about the milk. He says, ‘‘I don’t have the time or the money to worry about such minor details.’’ 1. What are the ethical issues? 2. What is the ethical dilemma that faces you? 3. How ethically you will be able to solve? (Apply the ethical approach to solve the problem) 100 Case 2: The government of China as a part of its economic development program, wanted to construct one dam (which is the biggest ever in Asia) across the river in the northern part of the country. This project is aimed to develop the economy of millions of people living in that region. Once the project gets finished, it would generate a huge quantity of electricity and provide more water for irrigation (vegetation and forming). It is estimated that the cost of the project will be 1 billion dollars and more than 50 million people will benefit. But there are some serious obstacles (problems) to carry this project. First one is the government has to vacate more than 200 villages (approximately 1 million people) and must provide an alternative place and housing for those people, in the nearby province (which is not good as their original one, and also there is no proper lively hood for the people). Next one is the dam water would submerge huge forest areas. Finally, the government has decided to start this project irrespective of all these serious problems. Now there is a strong objection from the villagers as well as environmentalist (who are interested to protect nature) to stop this project. 1. Which ethical approach the government used to make a decision and why? 2. Is it ethical to help more people at the cost of a few people? Explain with reasons 3. Since such a project is unavoidable, suggest some justification (compensation) for affected people. 101 Case 3:(Giving up or Giving in) After earning a graduate degree in Engineering Management, Mazin began working for PDO International. This is a company based in Oman, which offers engineering, design, and construction services to countries all over the world. Mazin’s work is focused on international development; his first assignment is to lead a team to develop a bid for a highway construction project in East Africa. After the engineering proposal is submitted, Mazin is proud of the work his team has accomplished and promises his manager he will do everything possible to make sure that PDRC receives the contract. PDO’s bid is well-received, and Mazin and his team are flown to East Africa to finish negotiations. Mazin is thrilled when his company receives the bid; the only stipulation is that they build their construction headquarters in a specific region in the country. Mazin then begins scouting the region for a location to build their headquarters. In order to obtain building permits in the region, Mazin has to negotiate with the local government. As he begins negotiations, he realizes that bribery is both a common and expected practice. If he does not bribe the local officials, he will not be able to build PDRC’s headquarters in that region and consequently will lose the contract; his first managerial project will be a failure. However, it is illegal for an Omani citizen to bribe a foreign official in order to obtain business; if he is caught for bribery, he could face jail time and his company could be fined millions of dollars. What should he do? Reference: Clare Bartlett was a 2014-2015 Hackworth Fellow in Engineering Ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. 102  5 ETHNICITY AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY Outcomes Covered (5, 6 and 7): 5. Define the concept of ethnic and cultural diversity 6. Understand the importance of ethnic and cultural diversity for society and the world 7. Work with people from different ethnicities/cultures Learning Objective: This chapter will help the students: - 1. To understand the term ethnicity, organizational culture and cultural diversity. 2. To understand the importance of cultural diversity at the workplace. What are difficulties an organization can face in dealing the cultural diversity? 3. To understand the culture shock and how one can deal with culture shock? Topic Covered: 1. Ethnicity 2. Culture 3. Corporate/Organizational Culture 4. Importance of Culture Diversity 5. Difficulties in Dealing with Cultural Diversity at Work Place 6. Cultural Shock 103  ETHNICITY: The term ethnicity, or in the more functional term, ethnic group, consist of individuals and families who are members of international, national, religious, cultural, and racial groups that do not belong to the dominant group in society. They can be differentiated from both the dominant group and other ethnic groups by some combination of their values, expectations, geographic location, language, attitudes, customs, lifestyles, religion, and celebrations. In addition, ethnicity and sense of peoplehood are recognized by themselves and by others. In Oman, the common ethnic group consist of Arab, Baloch, Caucasian, South Asian (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshis and Sri Lankan) and African CULTURE: The Cambridge English Dictionary states that culture is "the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time”. Culture may also be defined as the sum of total of the learned behaviour of a group of people that are generally considered to be the tradition of that people and are transmitted from generation to generation. In a more detailed manner Culture may be defined as, “undefined practices prevailing (existing) in the society”. Otherwise, it is a lifestyle of the people living in particular areas. It includes many aspects of the human life like ideas, customs, food habits, dressing style, marriage ceremony, family system, social responsibilities, nature of the profession, type of construction (Buildings Architecture), religious belief, celebrations etc. CORPORATE/ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE Corporate culture refers to the beliefs and behaviours that determine how a company’s employees and management interact and handle outside business transactions. A corporate's culture will be reflected in its dress code, business hours, office setup, employee benefits, turnover, hiring decisions, and treatment of clients, client satisfaction and every other aspect of operations. 104  1. Dress Code: An office dress might be casual or formal in design. Employees may be encouraged to follow the dress code that might create among them the feeling of equality and comfort. For example, in Oman, the office dress code for locals is white dishdasha with muzzar (a type of turban). 2. Business Hours: Business hours are the hours during the day in which business commonly conducted. Business hours are set keeping in view the common formal standards like workers may communicate with each other more easily, as per customers’ conveniences and find a convenient balance between work life and home life. 3. Office Setup: The design and location of the offices may relate to the employee's seniority with more senior employees having larger offices or cubicles which are located the furthest from the door. 4. Positive and Caring Management Attitudes to Employees: Management used to project a caring and personable attitude by sending cards and gifts to employees on key dates in their lives such as birthdays, marriages, births and deaths of family members. 5. Positive and Caring Management Attitudes to Clients/Customers: The caring and personable attitude of management may be projected to the customers through a high level of service, personal recognition of key customers and corporate involvement in the community and charitable organizations. CULTURAL DIVERSITY: Cultural Diversity' refers to “a range of different societies or peoples with different origins, nationalities, races, religions, gender, age, educational background, belief and traditions living and interacting together”. Cultural diversity to any country is considered its strength and an asset. An organization or corporation that value diversity on its workplace opens the wealth of possibility, encourage creativity and foster innovation. Islam and the Quran are clearly appreciative of diversity and dissimilarity -in creation, culture, and beliefs- within the human world. 105 ‘O mankind, indeed we have created you from male and female and made you into nations and tribes so that you may know each other. Indeed, the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is he who is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is knowing and acquainted’. (Sura Al Hujuraat, verse 13) IMPORTANCE OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY AT WORKPLACE: Diversity is especially crucial in today’s global marketplace, as companies interact with different cultures and clients. Organizations/corporations keeping in view the need and importance of diversity at the workplace are giving emphasis on investing and including it in the execution of their management function. Organizations valuing and recognizing diversity reported with multiple benefits: 1. Helps to Promote Human Values: Organization with workplace diversity fosters the mutual respect among employees, demonstrate tolerance & collaboration and appreciate the different culture. Diversity at the workplace brings gain in terms of strong employees’ performance. 2. Helps to Create and Retain a Pool of Talent: Organizations that invest in diversity generally results in the creation and retention of a bigger pool of talent. The diverse group comprises of different skills, qualifications, experiences, knowledge, languages and age is really useful to exchange and learn each other’s positives and competencies. Moreover, such a pool of talent helps the organization to progress in a very tough competitive environment. 3. Increased Creativity and Problem Solving: Organizations which are valuing diversity at the workplace in fact valuing different mind and intelligence. Employees with different skills, educational background and experiences may bring their own way of thinking and open the wealth of possibilities to different problem-solving issues and decision making may introduce different style and approaches of creativity and may help to foster innovation. 4. Helps to Recruit, Retain and Improve the Employees Performance: A diverse organization is in a position to recruit and retain efficient staff at competitive remuneration. Access to a larger talent pool is one of the biggest advantages of having an employment recruitment policy that values diversity. 106  Many studies related to organizational behaviour conclude that promoting cultural diversity reduces absenteeism rates, lower employee turnover, reduce the costs associated with hiring new employees and reduce legal responsibility in discrimination lawsuits. 5. Helps to Increases Market Share and Create a Satisfied Diverse Customer Base: An Organization with a diverse range of employees is well placed to understand the needs of a wide range of customers, and can interact with a broad client base. 6. Improves productivity and profitability: Finally, cultural diversity brings different talents working together towards a common goal by using different sets of skills and experiences. Such an active persuasion of diversity brings tangible benefits in the form of increased productivity and profitability. DIFFICULTIES IN DEALING WITH DIVERSITY AT WORKPLACE: Workplace diversity exists when companies hire employees from various backgrounds and experiences. Many companies see workplace diversity as an investment toward building a better business. Although workplace diversity provides many benefits, it also poses many challenges to employees and managers. To reap the benefits of workplace diversity, employees and managers must understand the challenges and know how to effectively deal with them. 1. Majority against the Minority: An organizational workforce may be divided into majority or minority groups based on their ideology, religion, race, nationality and other factors. The group in the majority would be holding key position, controlling resources and information, while the group in minority may be left with no power. This may affect the overall performance of the company. 2. Example: In an organizational workforce is divided into majority and minority on the basis nationalities. Under such condition, it is very common that locals are in majority especially in government organization and they usually hold key position and power of decision- making process. It is like the majority of Omani employees working along with few expatriates employees holding top positions & decision-making process in the public sector. 107  3. Stereotyping & Prejudice: A stereotype may be defined as, “any commonly accepted public belief about a certain social group or a type of individual”. Stereotypes based on prior assumption and are often created about people of specific cultures or races. Example: Men can only handle the pressure at the workplace. Women are as not as smart as men at the workplace. Prejudice: Prejudice is based on an idea or opinion and not based on facts or logic or actual experience. Example: Believing that all youngsters are careless & do not take responsibility and not giving any work to Ahmed who is 20 years old. 4. Ethnocentrism: Ethnocentrism is a tendency of viewing members of one’s own groups the centre of the universe and others less favourably. Ethnocentrism is a basic attitude expressing the belief that one's own ethnic group or one's own culture is superior to other ethnic groups or cultures, and that one's cultural standards can be applied in a universal manner. Example: A business owner might shout at his foreign employees and call them stupid because of their different races, cultures or values that are different from the boss. “The Quran conveys respect for everyone; it does not confer nobility or higher worth upon any group or ethnicity. Instead, the single evaluative standard for the Quran remains moral consciousness of God (taqwa)”. 5. Tokenism: Tokenism is the practise or policy of making no more than a token effort or gesture, as in offering opportunities to minorities equal to those of majority. Any legislation, admission policy, hiring practice etc. that demonstrates only minimal compliance with rules, laws or public pressures. 108 Example: A Private company employing an Oman youth in small numbers just to soften Government pressure. It is hiring only for records. Token Omani youth faces obstacles for full participation, success and acceptance in the company. Tokenism affects the overall productivity of the company & the morale of employees. 6. Discrimination: Discrimination refers to unfair or unequal treatment of an individual (or group) based on certain characteristics, including gender, age, ethnicity, race, religion, region and language. Example: An example of gender discrimination is when an employer pays a woman less than a man for the same work. 7. Favouritism: is the practice of giving unfair preferential treatment to one person or group at the expense of another. Favouritism has a negative effect on workplace morale. It may also be in the form of nepotism and cronyism. (a) Nepotism: the practice among those with power or influence of favouring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs. (b) Cronyism: the appointment of friends and associates to position of authority, without proper regard to their qualification. “Islam rejects certain individuals or nations being favoured because of their wealth, power, or race. God created human beings as equals who are to be distinguished from each other only on the basis of their faith and piety”. CLASS ACTIVITY (5 Minutes) Question: Write your opinion in favor or against cultural diversity. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 109  HOW TO DEAL WITH DIVERSITY? Diversity in the workplace is important as heterogeneous groups deliver better solutions and critical analysis, so the structure of the company should promote diversity by: 1. Recognition: Recognize that people have differences and celebrate the differences among your employees and encourage them to let their individualities show. Treat people fairly and respect the differences that make them who they are. 2. Focus on Yourself: Diversity is an issue that you must manage in the workplace and it starts with managing your own attitude and behaviour. 3. Employee Assessments: Implement a scientific & objective oriented way for all assessments and performance reviews of employees. Reduce personal bias, subjectivity and prejudice in all evaluations. 4. Encourage Interactions: Encourage employees to work with others from different backgrounds and generations. Interactions encourage your employees to learn more about talents and goals – their own and those of their fellow workers. CULTURE SHOCK: A feeling of uncertainty, confusion or anxiety that people experience when visiting, doing business in or living in a society that is different from their own society. Culture shock can arise from a person’s unfamiliarity with local customs, language and acceptable behaviour since norms can vary significantly across cultures. Culture shock is the personal disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life due to immigration or a visit to a new country. Homesickness, withdrawal & boredom, excessive sleep, mood swings, anger & irritability and hostility towards host nationals are few symptoms of culture shock. HOW TO DEAL WITH CULTURE SHOCK? 1. Admit that these impacts exist. It is not a sign of weakness to admit that you feel uncomfortable, tense or confused. 110  2. Learn the rules of living in your host country. Try to understand how and why the local people act the way they do. 3. Get involved in some aspect of the new culture. Whether you study art or music or learn a new sport or martial art, being an interested student will make a world of difference. 4. Take the time to learn the language. It always helps to understand as much as possible of what people are saying. They will appreciate your effort to communicate with them in their language, even if it is just a few simple phrases, and it will make your daily life much easier. 5. Take care of yourself. Eat well, exercise and take the time to sleep. 6. Take out some time to travel and explore the new country’s sights. 7. Make friends and develop relationships. Getting to know local people will help you overcome cultural differences and understand the country. It will also show you how to be more sensitive to cultural norms and expectations. 8. Maintain contact with friends and family back home. Writing home about your experiences and problems can help you sort through them. 9. Do something that reminds you of home. Listening to your favourite music or practising a familiar hobby can boost your spirits when you are feeling homesick. 10. Avoid idealizing life back home. Try to make the most of your stay and consciously adopt an open mind. CLASS ACTIVITY (10 Minutes) Share any incidence of your life you can be regarded as culture shock. Self-Assessment Questions: 1. What do you mean by culture? 2. What do you mean by ethnicity? Explain with suitable example. 3. What do you mean by cultural diversity? How cultural diversity is advantageous to any organization/corporate? 4. What difficulties do organizations face in dealing with cultural diversity? List all and explain anyone with suitable example. 5. How can be dealt with diversity at the workplace? 111 Case Studies Case 1: Hana has been working at a large construction company for three years. Although an intern, Hana has earned the respect of her peers. Her supervisor (and project manager), along with her coworkers, constantly support her by teaching her new materials and encouraging her to tackle new tasks. For one specific project, her supervisor chose her to visit the Jobsite for the construction of flood retaining walls. Hana is familiar with the protocol required by her company, and her boss trusts her to always wear protective equipment every time she goes into the field. However, when she went to the job site for this project, she heard someone yell, “Be careful not to break a nail!” while she was walking down a particularly steep mud slope. She dismissed the comment at first, but throughout the remainder of the project, different construction workers would make arrogant remarks and gestures at her. They would call her ‘Princess’. Hana feels she is being treated disrespectfully because of her gender, but never brings it up to her supervisor as the workers were subcontracted from various companies by the General Contractor. Hana doesn’t feel right getting other people in trouble for such little comments and is worried long term about how her success might be affected if she makes a complaint. 1. Should Hana say something? 113 Case 2: Marian, a top graduate from Loyola in Humanities, was hired by a major corporation into a management position. Marian finished the corporation's management training program top in her group and is performing above the norm in her position. She is really enjoying her work. As a black woman, she feels isolated, as there are no other black women managers and few women in her area. One night at a company party she heard a conversation between two of her male co-workers and their supervisor. They were complaining to him about Marian's lack of qualifications and her unpleasant personality. They cursed affirmative action regulations for making the hiring of Marian necessary. Marian is very upset and wants to quit. 2. What are the ethical issues? 3. What is an ethical dilemma? 4. What Marian should so? 114