978-0470639948 Chapter 6 Solution Manual Part 1

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Chapter 6:

ETHICS TRAINING

CHAPTER 6 CHAPTER AND ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS

In studying this chapter, students should consider the questions below.

“CQ1” refers to “Chapter Question 1.” This question appears at the end of the textbook

chapter.

“AQ1” refers to an “Additional Question 1.” This is an “additional” question related to

the chapter. It is not listed at the end of the textbook chapter as a “Chapter Question”.

These items are numbered within the two categories based on the order in which the

answer appears in the chapter.

CQ1: Why is organizational trust so important?

AQ1: Who should attend ethics training workshops?

AQ2: What are the strengths and weaknesses of web-based ethics training?

CQ2: How would you design an ethics training program? Who should serve as facilitator?

CQ3: Describe ten types of ethics training workshop options. Which of these workshop options

would you recommend? Why?

CQ4: What are the recommended six-steps for facilitating an ethics dialogue workshop?

CQ5: Which personality surveys can employees take to gain a better understanding of ethics at

work?

CQ6: How would you assess the success of an ethics training workshop?

CHAPTER 6 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After completing this chapter, students should be able to:

Discuss the importance of organizational trust

Describe the extent of ethics training nationwide

Understand the shortcomings of web-based ethics training programs

Develop ten types of ethics training workshops

Create business ethics scenarios for workshop discussion

Administer ethics personality surveys

Assess the ethics training workshop

CHAPTER 6 OVERVIEW

Individuals are more likely to discuss work-related ethical issues with family and friends

than co-workers or executives. A managerial challenge is to design workshops where employees

can discuss ethical issues at work. Ethics training can initiate dialogue around contentious ethical

issues. A well-facilitated ethics training workshop has greater impact on employee behaviors

than the presence of an ethics code or memos from the boss. Researchers report that people

employed in organizations with formalized ethics training have more positive perceptions about

their organization’s ethics and greater job satisfaction.

This chapter emphasizes the importance of creating a culture of trust, reviews the extent

of ethics training nationwide, recommends ethics training for everyone in the organization,

highlights providing web-based and facilitator-guided ethics training programs, and examines

choosing the workshop facilitator. Ten different types of ethics training workshops are presented.

CHAPTER 6 LECTURE OUTLINE

Teaching Objective: To teach offer a range of ethical training workshops.

Suggested Time: Two to three hours of class time is recommended to present this chapter.

I. Chapter Question 1: Why is organizational trust so important?

What is trust?

Benefits of trust

II. Additional Question 1: Who should attend ethics training workshops?

Extent of ethics training

Who to train

III. Additional Question 2: What are the strengths and weaknesses of web-based ethics

training?

Background

Strengths

Weaknesses

IV. Chapter Question 2: How would you design an ethics training program? Who

should serve as facilitator?

Background

Ethics training program design

Workshop facilitator

V. Chapter Question 3: Describe ten types of ethics training workshop options. Which

of these workshop options would you recommend? Why?

VI. s Question 4: What are the recommended six-steps for facilitating an ethics dialogue

workshop?

Six Steps

Vignettes

VII. Chapter Question 5: Which personality surveys can employees take to gain a better

understanding of ethics at work?

Personality measures and ethics

Personality measure examples

VIII. Chapter Question 6: How would you assess the success of an ethics training

workshop?

CHAPTER 6 SUPPORTING MATERIALS

Textbook Inserts

Ethical Dilemma Analysis

What would you do?

Let’s Build a Building

In the Real World: Enron

Exhibits

Exhibit 6.1: Ethics Training Workshop Outline

Exhibit 6.2: Ethics Training Workshop Options

Exhibit 6.3: Ethical Culture Survey Scale

Exhibit 6.4: Match the Bribe to the Penalty Exercise

Exhibit 6.5: Facilitating an Ethics Dialogue Workshop

Exhibit 6.6: Ethical Dilemma Narrative Exercise

Exhibit 6.7: “Sick Leave” Ethical Dilemma Narrative

Exhibit 6.8: Anti-Fraud Education Program

Exhibit 6.9: Qualities of an Ideal Employee Self-Assessment

Exhibit 6.10: Work as a Calling

Thematic Boxes

Tips and Techniques

Best Practice in Use

CHAPTER QUESTION 1: WHY IS ORGANIZATIONAL TRUST SO IMPORTANT?

WHAT IS TRUST?

Ethics training helps to create a culture of trust at work.

Organizational trust refers to having a positive attitude that another member of the

organization will be fair and not take advantage of one’s vulnerability or dependency in a

risky situation.

Trust has a cognitive dimension.

oTrust is developed based on careful reflection of past experiences with

organizational members and practices.

oA trusting relationship forms through repeated social exchanges between two

people, where each person makes decisions and acts in a way that takes into

consideration the other person’s interests and well-being.

Trust also has an emotional dimension.

oTrust is linked to an individual’s feelings and intuition, and creates a positive

emotional bond between two people.

BENEFITS OF TRUST

oAccording to the management theorist W. Edwards Deming, “Trust is mandatory for

optimization of a system… Without trust, each component will protect its own immediate

interests to its own long-term detriment, and to the detriment of the entire system.”

oTrust eliminates psychological barriers separating employers and employees. The other

person’s goodwill and reliability are assumed in a trusting relationship, which allows for

greater flexibility to respond as needed without burdensome oversight or approval

process.

oTrust creates economic benefits through enhanced individual and organizational

performance. Trusting and cooperative relationships play a critical role in effective

communications and teamwork, which impacts employee commitment, employee loyalty,

productivity, and profits.

oEthical organizations, which have high levels of trust, attract and sustain high quality

employees, customers, and suppliers. They also have low levels of office politics and

employee cynicism. Ethical work cultures lead to greater accountability through clearly

defined standards and shared expectations. The two-way communication reinforces

policy compliance and reduces organizational risks.

oHard-earned trust can quickly disappear when violated and hamper organizational

performance.

DISCUSSION ACTIVITY

Have students think about someone at work or a friend they trust. Why do they trust this person?

What did the person do to earn this trust? How have they responded when a person they

previously trusted violated that trust?

ADDITIONAL QUESTION 1: WHO SHOULD ATTEND ETHICS TRAINING

WORKSHOPS?

EXTENT OF ETHICS TRAINING

oA 2004 survey of publicly traded companies found that 68 percent provided ethics

training.

oMore than 80 percent of city governments provide ethics training for employees.

oMembers of some professions are required to take ethics training as part of obtaining or

renewing their professional license to protect the public from incompetent practitioners.

oMany states mandate that continuing education courses for licensed accountants and

lawyers include an ethics component.

oOrganizations may be tempted to eliminate ethics training as an extraneous expense when

budgets are tight, but this is exactly when ethics training is needed most.

oEmployees who tend toward the relativistic belief that cutting ethical corners may

be necessary to “save the organization” might sound heroic in the short-term, but

these actions can come back to haunt the organization in the long-term.

WHO TO TRAIN

oConduct ethics training throughout the organization.

oAll employees, ranging from the CEO and Board of Directors to the janitor, experience

ethical dilemmas on a daily basis.

oEthics training can help organizational leaders achieve consensus on how to address

difficult situations they encounter and how they will hold other employees accountable

for their behaviors.

oMiddle managers and supervisors deserve special attention for ethics training. Direct

supervisors have the most immediate impact on the ethics of subordinates.

oNew employees need ethics training; making ethics training part of a new employee’s

orientation process demonstrates from the outset the importance of ethics to the

organization.

oConduct a follow-up session six months later to reinforce the crucial role of ethics

and explore ethical issues they have experienced at work up to that point.

oLong-term employees significantly shape the organization’s ethical tone. One long-term

employee’s denigrating comments about the organization’s ethical efforts can undo all the

managerial effort at aligning a new employee with the organization’s ethics.

oTrain long-term employees to lead ethics training workshops and share stories

about how the organization’s code of ethics was upheld in difficult situations.

DISCUSSION ACTIVITY

Ask students who work part-time or had jobs over the summer if they received ethics training.

Who else in the organization received ethics training? How often was it offered? What was the

content? What were the strengths and weaknesses of the ethics training? How could a weakness

be remedied?

ADDITIONAL QUESTION 2: WHAT ARE THE STRENGHTS AND WEAKNESSES OF

WEB-BASED ETHICS TRIANING?

BACKGROUND

oAccording to one survey, companies conduct more than 90 percent of their ethics training

through e-learning programs.

oAll new hires at Coors Brewing Company must complete a web-based training module

within 90 days of employment.

oIn Illinois, all state employees are required to do web-based ethics training annually.

STRENGTHS

oOnline ethics training programs are easy to implement at minimal cost.

oWeb-based training offers a simple method for making employees aware of the most

common ethical issues. Software programs provide standardized information about legal

requirements and moral expectations.

oThe information can be studied at a pace that matches the employee’s learning style.

oQuestion and answer test formats provide immediate feedback on the knowledge being

learned.

oAt EnPro, an industrial products company, employees retake the computerized ethics

training program until achieving a perfect score.

WEAKNESSES

oEthics training requires dialogue. The best response to even the most cut-and-dried

ethical dilemma can be highly debatable.

oWeb-based training by itself does not address all the nuances and contextual issues

associated with ethical dilemmas.

oEmployees are not pushed out of their ethics comfort zone.

oComplement web-based ethics training programs with facilitator-guided

face-to-face interactions and group activities.

oSkilled facilitators can guide the discussion to other relevant issues worthy of

exploration, point out contradictions, and call on quiet participants to express their

views in a safe learning environment.

oInteractive training workshops can also enhance team building and collegiality.

DISCUSSION ACTIVITY

Have students explore the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ethics website at

http://ethics.house.gov/. Explore the different subject links. Click on the Frequently Asked

Questions (FAQ) link at http://ethics.house.gov/Subjects/FAQ.aspx and try to answer

the questions before clicking on the answers.

CHAPTER QUESTION 2: HOW WOULD YOU DESIGN AN ETHICS TRAINING

PROGRAM? WHO SHOULD SERVE AS FACILITATOR?

BACKGROUND

oSome organizations do not provide ethics training workshops because they believe it

suggests that their employees are unethical or that the organization has ethical problems.

This obstacle can be avoided by recognizing that every person is morally imperfect and

that every organization has ethical risks.

oPresent the ethics training in the spirit of ongoing continuous improvement efforts and

part of a systematic effort to reinforce the organization’s ethical culture.

oThere is no “one-size-fits-all” ethics training program, yet there are general trends and

best practices found among organizations.

oOffer at least one mandatory ethics training annually. Researchers report that the

frequency of training has positive impacts on employee attitudes and behaviors.

oIf attendance is voluntary, the employees who need the training the most may not attend.

ETHICS TRAINING PROGRAM DESIGN

oSome organizations only want to sponsor one ethics training workshop a year. If this is

the case, first consider conducting the “Code of Ethics Employee Assessment” outlined in

EXHIBIT 4.9.

oSome organizations might find the approach too challenging to undertake for its first

ethics training workshop because of the many issues that may be raised.

oEXHIBIT 6.1 outlines a more moderate initial ethics training workshop for addressing an

important issue during a 90-minute session.

CEO or supervisor expresses support for the activity

Clarify workshop rationale, goals, and objectives

Present competitive advantages of maintaining an ethical work culture (see

Chapter 1)

Foster awareness of industry, organizational, or work unit ethical issues

Introduce the organization’s Code of Ethics and Conduct (see Chapter 4)

Focus on a salient issue or behavior that challenges the Code of Ethics and

Conduct

Legitimize an ethical decision-making process (see Chapter 5)

Individually apply the decision-making process to a specific relevant situation

Discuss the issue in small groups

Debrief

Assess and evaluate the workshop for continuous improvement

Workshop relevancy can be created at the beginning of the workshop with a short quiz

about a complex issue – such as what the code of conduct says about conflicts-of-interest

– and the results can serve as benchmark data to measure achieving workshop learning

objectives.

Make the ethics training program content as specific as possible. Target specific

behaviors and provide specific examples, but present the material in general terms so as

not to offend any specific employee.

Use cases that are relevant to the greatest number of participants. Ask participants how

they would respond to the situation, and have them discuss their answers in small groups.

Praise divergent thinking and creative problem-solving, but make sure the suggestions are

ethically sound.

Train participants on how to respond when these particular situations arise in the future.

WORKSHOP FACILITATOR

Facilitating an ethics discussion takes a particular skill.

A good facilitator inspires self-learning among the participants by keeping everyone

focused on the main issues while being flexible to new issues as they arise.

The facilitator can encourage participants to form opinions, analyze and modify their own

views, and engage in civil disagreements without offending people holding the opposing

view or stifling discussion.

An ideal workshop facilitator is someone the participants trust and has the requisite skills

to create a safe learning environment.

Initially consider a human resources department staff person. But some employees will

not speak honestly in front of a human resources employee, particularly about ethical

issues, because they fear that their comments might have a negative impact on

performance evaluations and lead to termination.

If this is the case, assign the facilitator role to someone both the direct supervisor and

employees trust.

Possibilities include an informal leader from within the work unit, someone everyone

respects who works in another department, or an outside consultant.

The best option may be to train an informal leader from within the work unit who has

management potential. This person already has a sense of key ethical issues and can

ensure that the discussion is realistic and relevant.

DISCUSSION ACTIVITY

Have students design an ethics training program for college students. Do so independently and

then share in small groups. Have small group representatives report out. Assess the strengths and

weaknesses of each group’s program design.