Ethics in work

Willmott_14.qxp

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8:00 AM

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Knights, D. & Wilmott, H. 2007, Introducing organisational behaviour and management, Thomson, Australia.

14

Ethics at Work
Edward Wray-Bliss

Key concepts and learning objectives
By the end of this chapter you should understand:
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The core assumptions of mainstream writers on business ethics, and be aware of how these assumptions limit the ethical questions that mainstream writers have been able to ask of business.

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The connections between mainstream academic writing on business ethics and contemporary organization’s socially responsible image.

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That there is a wealth of other, more critical approaches to ethics that enable us to question the appropriateness of this socially responsible image.

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How some of these critical approaches enable us to undertake a deeper examination of the values underpinning modern organizations.

Aims of the chapter

Overview and key points

This chapter will:

Behaviour perpetrated within and on behalf of organizations effects all of us, everyday. Thankfully, much of the time we experience positive effects.
So for instance, we buy products made within organizations. We drink water and eat food processed by organizations. We are educated and employed in organizations. However, organizational behaviour is not always so benign. We are also ripped off by organizations. Our environment is polluted by organizations. Many people are exploited or abused, harmed or even killed as a result of organizational behaviour. Much of this
‘bad’ organizational behaviour is regulated by the law. However, the law is often a very blunt tool. It can be limited in its reach. It is not always effectively enforced. It may be circumvented by the unscrupulous and the clever. It can even be blind to some seriously damaging events. There is, in short, potentially a large gap between how we may want organizations to ‘behave’ and how the law ensures that

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