Abstract
The purpose behind this paper was twofold: (i) to reflect on situations where management had acted in an improper i.e. unethical manner, and (ii) to re-examine moral values that ought to have been addressed in working through these situations. The study included appraisals of power and authority, and the way these qualities were used or misused in a range of managerial and organisational situations. The paper illustrates difficulties associated with deciding which activities are illegal, which are unethical, and which are neither. Examples of unethical administrative practices such as payments to expedite compliance on contentious issues, persuading people to make favourable reports on sensitive issues and massaging the figures in committee situations were some of the activities which were alluded to. It was thought that if moral values such as trust, honesty and integrity were completely ignored in organisations, then organisations would find it difficult to survive and prosper.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aron, R.: 1967, Main Currents in Sociological Though II (Basic Books, Durkheim/Pareto/Weber, New York).
Australian Financial Review: 2001, 7–8 April, p. 10.
Blackler, F. and S. McDonald: 2000, 'Power, Mastery and Organisational Learning', Journal of Management Studies 37(6) (September).
Bowie, Norman E.: 1998, 'The Ruffin Series Special Issue No. 1', Bussiness Ethics Quarterly, pp. 37–60; (1999a) A Companion to Business Ethics, ed. Robt. E. Frederick (Blackwell); (1999b) Business Ethics A Kantian Perspective (Blackwell, Oxford).
Brenkert, G. G.: 1998, 'Trust, Business and Business Ethics: An Introduction', Business Ethics Quarterly 8(2) (April).
Brien, A.: 1998, 'Professional Ethics and the Culture of Trust', Journal of Business Ethics 17(4), 391–409.
Channon, D. F. (ed.): 1997, Blackwell Encyclopedic Dictionary of Strategic Management (Blackwell, Oxford).
French, J. R. P. Jr. and B. Raven: 1968, 'The Bases of Social Power', in Cartwright and Zander (eds.), Group Dynamics: Research and Theory (Harper and Row), pp. 259–269.
Fukuyama, Francis: 1995, Trust, The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity (The free Press, New York), p. 26.
Gaski, John, F.: 1984, 'The Theory of Power and Conflict in Channels of Distribution', Journal of Marketing 48 (Summer), 9–29.
Gaski, John F. and John R. Nevin: 1985, 'The Differential Effects of Exercised and Unexercised Power Sources in a Marketing Channel', Journal of Marketing Research XXII (May), 130–142.
Hosmer, L. R. T.: 1995, 'Trust: The Connecting Link between Orgainsational Theory and Philosophical Ethics', Academy of Management Review (April), 379–403.
Kaler, John: 2000, 'Reasons To Be Ethical: Self-Interest and Ethical Business', Journal of Business Ethics 27, 161–173.
Leonard, J: 2001, 'From Transformation to Transcendence', Management Today (Australian Institute of Management) (April), pp. 20–23.
McClelland, D. C.: 1975, Power: The Inner Experience (Irvington, New York).
McMahon, T. F.: 1999, 'Transforming Justice: A Conceptualisation', Business Ethics Quarterly 9(4), 597–598.
McMahon, T. F.: 2000, 'Lifeboat Ethics in Business', Business Ethics Quarterly 10(1), 269–276.
Minkes, A. L. and G. R. Foxall: 1982, 'The Bounds of Entrepreneurship: Inter-organisational Relationship in the Process of Industrial Innovation', Managerial and Decision Economics 3(1).
Phillips, R. A. and J. D. Margolis: 1999, 'Toward an Ethics of Organizations', Business Ethics Quarterly 9(4), 628.
Pugh, D. S. and D. J. Hickson: 1993, Great Writers on Organizations: The Omnibus Edition (Dartmouth, Aldershot), pp. 104–105.
Seeman, M.: 1959, 'On the Meaning of Alienation', American Sociological Review XXIV(6), 783–791.
Taylor, V. E. and C. E. Winquist (eds.): 2001, Encyclopedia of Postmodernism (Routledge, London). The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles: 1991, Volumes I and II (Clarendon Press, Oxford).
Volery, T. and S. Mensik: 1998, 'The Role of Trust in Creating Effective Alliances: A Managerial Perspective', Journal of Business Ethics 17(9–10), July.
Werhane, P. H. (ed.): 1998, Business Ethics Quarterly 8(2), April.
Werhane, P. H. and R. H. Freeman (eds.): 1997, Encyclopedic Dictionary of Business Ethics (Blackwell, Oxford).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Small, M.W. Practical Problems and Moral Values: Things We Tend to Ignore Revisited. Journal of Business Ethics 39, 401–407 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1019753402597
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1019753402597