Chapter 7: Trust, Justice, and Ethics

Prescriptive in Nature

one of two primary threads to the study of business ethics - with scholars in philosophy debating how people ought to act using various codes and principles - the dominant lens in discussion of legal ethics, medical ethics, and much of economics

Moral Awareness

occurs when an authority recognizes that a moral issue exists in a situation or that an ethical code or principle is relevant to the circumstance

Whistle-Blowing

occurs when former or current employees expose illegal or immoral actions by their organization

Conventional Stage

the second stage of moral development - at this stage, right versus wrong is referenced to the expectations of one's family and one's society - Most adults

Ability

the skills, competencies, and areas of expertise that enable an authority to be successful in some specific area

Abusive Supervision

the sustained display of hostile verbal and nonverbal behaviors, excluding physical contact

Principle (Postconventional) Stage

the third stage of moral development, only the most sophisticated moral thinkers reach this stage - at this stage, right versus wrong is referenced to a set of defined, established moral principles

Trust

the willingness to be vulnerable to a trustee based on positive expectations about the trustee's actions and intentions

Economic Exchange

work relationships that resemble a contractual agreement by which employees fulfill job duties in exchange for financial compensation

Justice

the perceived fairness of an authority's decision making

Procedural Justice

the perceived fairness of decision making processes - fostered when authorities adhere to rules of fair process Rules: Voice, Correctability, Consistency, Bias Suppression, Representativeness, Accuracy

Informational Justice

the perceived fairness of the communications provided to employees from authorities - fostered when authorities adhere to two particular rules: - Justification - Truthfulness

Integrity

the perception that the authority adheres to a set of values and principles that the trustor finds acceptable

Moral Judgement

the process people use to determine whether a particular course of action is ethical or unethical

Reputation

the prominence of an organization's brand in the minds of the public and the perceived quality of its goods and services

Distributive Justice

Reflects the perceived fairness of decision-making outcomes - employees gauge this by asking whether decision outcomes, such as pay, rewards, evaluation, promotions, and work assignments are allocated using proper norms - Most businesses proper norm = equity --> with more outcomes allocated to those who contribute more inputs Rule: Equity vs. Equality vs. Need

Equity vs. Equality vs. Need

The single rule for distributive justice - "Are rewards allocated according to the proper norm?"

strongly positive

Trust has a _____________ correlation with organizational behavior - Employees who are willing to be vulnerable to authorities tend to have higher levels of affective commitment and higher levels of normative commitment

moderately positive

Trust has a _______________ correlation with task performance - Employees who are willing to be vulnerable to authorities tend to have higher levels of task performance - Also more likely to engage in citizenship behavior and less likely to engage in counterproductive behavior

Trust Propensity

a general expectation that the words, promises, and statements of individuals and groups can be relied upon - a product of nature

Four-Component Model (of ethical decision making)

a model that argues that ethical behaviors result from the multistage sequence of moral awareness, moral judgement, moral intent, and ethical behavior

Corporate Social Responsibility

a perspective that acknowledges that the responsibility of a business encompass the economic, ethics, and citizenship expectations of society

Truthfulness

a rule of informational justice - asks: "Are procedural explanations honest?"

Justification

a rule of informational justice - asks: "Do authorities explain procedures thoroughly?"

Proprietary

a rule of interpersonal justice - asks: "Do authorities refrain from improper remarks?"

Respect

a rule of interpersonal justice - asks: "Do authorities treat employees with sincerity?"

Accuracy

a rule of procedural justice - asks: "Are procedures based on accurate information?"

Consistency

a rule of procedural justice - asks: "Are procedures consistent across people and time?"

Bias Suppression

a rule of procedural justice - asks: "Are procedures neutral and unbiased?"

Voice

a rule of procedural justice - asks: "Do employees get to provide input into procedures?

Correctability

a rule of procedural justice - asks: "Do procedures build in mechanisms for appeals?"

Representativeness

a rule of procedural justice - asks: "Do procedures consider the need of all groups?"

Cognitive Moral Development

a theory that argues that as people age and mature, they move through various stages of moral development - each more mature and sophisticated than the prior one

Descriptive in Nature

one of two primary threads to the study of business ethics - with scholars relying on scientific studies to observe how people tend to act based on certain individual and situational characteristics - The dominant lens in psychology

Moral Principles

prescriptive guides for making moral judgement

Moral Intent

reflects an authority's degree of commitment to the moral course of action

Interpersonal Justice

reflects the perceived fairness of the treatment received by employees from authorities - fostered when authorities adhere to two particular rules: - Respect - Proprietary

Benevolence

the belief that the authority wants to do good for the trustor, apart from any selfish or profit-centered motives

Trustworthiness

the characteristics or attributes of a trustee that inspire trust

Moral Identity

the degree to which a person self-identifies as a moral person

Moral Intensity

the degree to which an issue has ethical urgency - Driven by two general concerns: if the potential for harm is perceived to be high; if there is social pressure surrounding it

Ability to Focus

the degree to which employees can devote their attention to work, as opposed to "covering their backside," "playing politics," and "keeping an eye on the boss."

Moral Attentiveness

the degree to which people chronically perceive and consider the issues of morality during their experiences

Ethics

the degree to which the behaviors of an authority are in accordance with generally accepted moral norms

Preconventional Stage

the first stage of moral development - at this stage, right versus wrong is viewed in terms of consequences of various actions for the individual

Affect-Based Trust

trust that depends on feelings toward the authority that go beyond rational assessment - more emotional than rational - Few relationships***

Cognition-Based Trust

trust that is rooted in a rational assessment of the authority's trustworthiness - Most relationships

Disposition-Based Trust

trust that is rooted in one's own personality, as opposed to a careful assessment of the trustee's trustworthiness - New relationships

Social Exchange

work relationships that are characterized by mutual investment, with employees willing to engage in "extra mile" sorts of behaviors because they trust that their efforts will eventually be rewarded