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Ethics and project management

The issue of ethics and project management must be looked at in the context of corporate social responsibility. The main question that should be asked is whether the project in question is being implemented in an ethical manner and this part of the social responsibility of any organization (Becker 2009). Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in organizations are overlapping concepts that are increasingly being debated upon and have attracted arguments in academic discourse for sometime now. The significance of ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility in organizations and the relationship that they portend for organizational structure and management cannot be overlooked. When looking at business ethics, one can approach the subject from different angles or perspectives. One can speak of business ethics in relation to the employees in a business enterprise, the top management of the enterprise or the enterprise itself. It can also be considered in relation to the society with the analysis of the social, political, and economical impacts such behaviours have in the society which will form the basis of this paper.

Further, ethics in project implementation is being taken seriously by many organizations, especially because of globalization, competition and therefore a deliberate attempt to please and play meaningful roles in the lives of communities. In this quest, many organizations have executed concerted efforts in demonstrating and attempting to respond to both ethical and legal standards, and also by virtue of paying attention and incorporating values that ensure an enhanced welfare of communities and the society at large (Golan 2008). This paper addresses a number of issues related to project management and ethics. It illuminates on what ethics and corporate social responsibility in project management are, and the various theories and conceptions surrounding the term ethics. This will be a significant resource to the project managers and organizations at large.

Search strategy

This was a desktop search that involved there main key words that includes ethics, social responsibility, and project management. The journals and several other sources were evaluated in terms of the topic and relevance to the problem statement of the paper. The search was carried out within the databases in the cyberspace and all the sources that were found to be relevant were included. The paper found a total of 9 relevant sources to use in the paper as indicated in the references section.

Literature Review

Business ethics is a branch of ethics that attempts to harmonize the conflicting issues concerning the acceptable behaviours in a business environment. It is basically concerned with examining the various activities involved at different levels or channels of production and determines if they are morally or ethically upright or not. In a business setting, ethics will be applied in determining the rights and privileges of the employees, their roles in ensuring business confidentiality, the roles of the top management in keeping business privacy, determination of labour prices and the prices of the commodities/ products that the organization deals in, as well as sales promotion through advertisement. It will also enable the management to curb vices like harassment at work, biased recruitment, and selection of new employees, poor price evaluation, as well as establishing poor marketing strategies. It helps the management in various conflict resolutions. Business ethics will also define the roles that politics and politicians can play in business development. The manner in which activities are formulated, scheduled, and executed must be in accordance with some kind of pre-established legislation (Becker 2009).

Regardless of these needs, philosophers, other scholars and thinkers alike, have not authoritatively arrived at a consensus about what ethical standards entail, and this can be more challenging when one looks at the types of organizational structures and personality differences that exist in business entities today. Thus drawing distinction between ‘the right thing’ and ‘the wrong thing’’ at the work place remains, at best an uphill task and not a straight forward matter. Organizational Behaviour experts have tried to study the dynamics that these issues depict, with a view to bringing about organizational justice. This is more anchored on the fact that today, managers have been accused of overstepping their mandate, and unethical behavioural patterns have been cited both managers and their juniors (Becker 2009).

The responsibility that a business play in the society in which it is carried out has been subject to various kinds of debate. While is reckoned that the primary responsibility of any business enterprise is to maximize the profits for the shareholders, others feel that a business should go far beyond just profit maximization to embrace issues such corporate social responsibilities. Zain (2008) gives a comparison of the divergent views of Milton Friedman and Archie Carroll concerning the responsibility of business in a society. She asserts profoundly that: “The basic responsibility of a firm is to maximize profits. This relays its fiduciary duty [or responsibility] to safeguard the interests of its shareholders’’ (Zain 2008). Further, she argues that theorists like Friedman leave it at that, an aspect which she views with a pinch of salt. She posits that emphasis needs not only to be put in serving the interest of the shareholders who will only enjoy a handsome return, but organizations must go beyond grain. This is also stated by Graafland and van de ven (2006) in an empirical study involving 111 Dutch companies that tested the hypothesis that a positive moral and strategic view of the CSR stimulates medium and small enterprises to commence CSR efforts. The authors conclude by indicating that the implementation of CSR has an increased correlation to the moral commitment than the profit maximization.

Bendixen and Abratt (2007) also highlighted the fact that multinational organizations have increasingly been criticized in their project management strategies for unethical behaviors that are likely to have negative impact on the larger population. The authors found that the existence and subsequent implementation of the formal codes of ethics were significant and not very sufficient for the god ethical practice. Indeed, Zain believes that social responsibilities must be performed by businesses entities. She reinforces this by arguing that ‘a firm’s primary responsibility is to maximize shareholder revenue and should overcome all hindrances in the environment to do so’ (Zain 2008). However, apart from the profit maximization when coming up with the projects, the businesses must also have ethical responsibility of their actions within the society.

Even though, the above views seem to diverge, they initially have one observation in common and which is of utmost importance in arguing out the major responsibility of a business enterprise. Both Carroll and Friedman seem to accept the opinion that a business’s main role is to maximize its values. They also go ahead to ‘advocate that such responsibility remain in line with legal standards and therefore firms are not to engage in illegal activities’ (Zain 2008). Similar view was provided by the International Organization of Employers (IOE) in 2005. IOE argues that the issue of ethical Corporate Social Responsibility should be a fundamental ethical role of any business both in the market and to the society. As the internal and external views on the ethics and the CSR differ, Berenbeim (2006) questions as to whether there are any specific ways of integrating them in one unitary mode for an ethical company. The author is from a school of thought that there should be integration between a company’s principles, ethics, and the CSR initiatives.

As has been stated, there have been various views on what is ethical and what is not ethical in relation to business and the market place. Some of the views are discussed below. Some philosophers and political theorists like Herbert Spencer (mid-1800s) believed that when it comes to matters concerning business battle in a market place, then there should be no government’s involvement in putting any form of legislation (Howard & Pintozzi 2006, p108). They derive their argument from Charles Darwin’s theory of Natural selection and survival of the fittest. This theory put in a social context and termed Social Darwinism, postulates that business enterprises should be left to go it alone in a competitive local or global market. ‘Many business leaders were drawn to this philosophy and made it the basis of their belief in laissez-faire capitalism (Howard & Pintozzi 2006, p108). They suggest that the government should not be involved in making certain legislation governing business operations and that, businesses should be left to fight out for them in the market. These people believed that ‘the natural economic laws of demand and supply should dictate business practices without the “unnatural” disturbance of government interference’ (Howard & Pintozzi 2006, p108). Naturally, the firms with poor marketing strategies are eliminated from the race with the entire blame resting on the poor performance of the management. This belief was not accepted by all and later appeared to be self-cantered as the rich continued to prosper, as the poor were being oppressed and unable to rise up. The end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century was characterized by a lot of poverty and corruption as compared to the few whose businesses excelled in the society (Howard & Pintozzi 2006, p109). Indeed, according a 1997 report by the New York Times ‘a misreading of capitalism has caused widespread misery in former communist countries, which are still learning that the free market works best when not completely free’ (para.1).

If there have been laws established to govern business operations, then abiding by the regulations is a key to the success of a business enterprise. However, in as much as it is ethical to conform to the legislations, the act only remains with the less powerful groups in a market set up. Many states also do not still believe in strict business regulation by the government ignoring the dangers posed by such decisions. In such countries, ‘citizens are accustomed to a system in which the law is ignored and the powerful are free to make deals with their friends, habits that also flourish under unfettered capitalism’ (New York Times 1997, para.7). It is a further role of the government to ensure that the businesses abide by the regulations that have been put in place even though it can be a nightmare (Leat 2007). However, what seems to be the best approach is to leave the market to regulate itself. The management in such organizations needs to behave responsibly in order to ensure their businesses operate for a long time (New York Times 1997, para.8). Thus, in either case, ethics finds its way as fundamental player in the long-term survival of a business.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is first worth noting that in as much as any business enterprise is charged with various responsibilities, the major responsibility that it has is to maximize the profits of the shareholders. This will boost their spirits and the business will have funds to push on. Secondly, a business that hopes to survive in the current and future local and global market need not to rely only on some forms of government legislation. Instead, it needs to ensure high level of universal morality in its entire leadership.

Another important view that people have concerning business ethics is that good ethics means good business. The involvement of ethics in business is considered essential even to this date. In deed, this is a view that is consistent with the above view concerning conformity to a kind of legislation. Desirable qualities in a business like business courtesy, honesty, office etiquette, and transparency all derive their roots from good ethics. However, the chords of conduct need to be practiced by all the parties involved in the business set-up. This has never been the case and the effect is a total lose on the side of the firms that maintain their morals. The few firms that abide by the set business rules often find their business progress slower than the other more powerful firms that do not follow the rules. Thus, for a continued success in the business industry, legislation alone may not be sufficient. Instead, of more importance is a high standard of morals for all the stakeholders in the industry.

Core References

Becker, K. 2009, Moral Leadership in Business. A journal of International Business Ethics Vol.2 No.1.

Bendixen, M., & Abratt, R. 2007, Corporate identity, ethics and reputation in supplier-buyer relationships. Journal of Business Ethics, 76, 69–82

Berenbeim, R. E. 2006, Business ethics and corporate social responsibility: Defining an organization’s ethics brand. Vital Speeches of the Day, 72, 501–503.

Graafland, J., & van de Ven, B. 2006, Strategic and moral motivation for corporate social responsibility. Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 22,111–123.

Additional References

Golan, P. 2005, Employee relations. The international journal, Volume 27, Issue 3 London: Emerald Group Publishing.

Howard, K. and Pintozzi, D. 2006, American Book Company’s Passing the North Carolina Us History End-Of-Course Test. American Book Company, 2006

Leat, M. 2007, Exploring Employee Relations. Burlington: Elsevier

Price, A. 2007, Human Resource Management in a Business Context. London: Thompson Learning.

The NewYork Times. 1997, Opinion: Eastern Europe’s Wild Capitalism. February 18, 1997. New York Times

Zain, M. 2008. Social Responsibility in Business: Friedman and Carroll’s Differing Views on Business Responsibility, Cengage Learning.