Page 254 - DMGT519_Conflict Management and Negotiation Skills

Conflict Management and Negotiation Skills

Notes 12.2.2 Work Character Ethics

Work character ethics maintain that the identification and responsible development of noble,
reflective, practitioner traits at work – such as competence, creativity, honesty, fairness,
trustworthiness, co-worker appreciation, task completion, honour, loyalty, shared work pride,
diligence, resourcefulness, level-headedness, tolerance, dependability, civility, empathy,
conscientiousness, discretion, patient urgency, cooperativeness, and supportiveness – determine
both the instrumental and intrinsic ethical quality of work life; for example, as a manager facing
global competition, heightened productivity expectations; and the need for effective teamwork,
it is essential that the character of my work performance serve as a role model for task
accomplishment and considerate relations at work.

12.2.3 Professional Character Ethics

Professional character ethics maintain that credentialed expertise, licensed monopoly, self-
regulation, altruism, trust, truthfulness, autonomy, impartiality, loyalty, independence of
judgement, and public service determine both the instrumental and intrinsic ethical quality of
individuals in associational communities; for example, as a business manager for a firm of
surgeons who detects a pattern of double billing Medicare insurance claims, my professional
character ethics would require me to bring this matter to the immediate attention of the surgeons-
in-charge, to exhaust internal remedies to correct the situation in-house, and to be prepared to
engage in responsible, external whistle blowing if all else fails, because of loyalty to a professional
code of ethics.

12.3 Four Perspectives on Ethics

Four perspectives for understanding ethics are the descriptive, conceptual, normative, and
practical. The practical interests of the individual or group exploring ethical questions influence
the appropriateness of each perspective.
The descriptive approach is the study of ethics using the methods and theories of social science.
Researchers study the ethics of particular society or corporation and explain their effect on
behaviour without making judgements concerning their correctness. For example, social scientists
can ask executives in various industries to answer a questionnaire about their business practices.
When compared across industries or nations, the data provide insights into behaviour that is
considered ethical by the executives.
The conceptual approach focuses on the meaning of key ideas in ethics such as obligation,
justice, virtue, and responsibility. The emphasis is to refine definitions of important ethical
concepts through philosophical analysis. This approach is useful for students of ethics including
academics and members of the legal system.
The normative approach involves constructing arguments in defense of basic moral positions
and prescribing correct ethical behaviour. These arguments may rely on social science studies
and conceptual clarification, but they focus primarily on the rationale for a particular position,
often on the basis of logic as much as empirical evidence.
Finally, the practical approach, a variant of the normative perspective, involves developing a
set of normative guidelines for resolving conflicts of interest to improve societal well-being
(French and Granrose 1995). Because most organizations are concerned with achieving short-
and long-term goals in a competitive environment, the utilitarianism of the practical approach
makes it the most widely used by members of organizations.

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