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The Accountable Leader: An Assessment of Ethos in Workplace Theft
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The Accountable Leader: An Assessment of Ethos in Workplace Theft
by Dr. Ronni L. Samassa, DPA
Conference on Leadership Challenges in a Global World
Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
7-8 April 2016
Relevant theme as noted on the “Call for Papers” list: “Processes and outcomes of leadership at societal, organizational, team and/or individual levels on key organizational outcomes such as public value(s) creation and public service delivery, creativity and innovation, PSM and/or public service ethos, ethical climate and organizational commitment etc”.
Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
Phone #: 404-926-6357
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Abstract
In an everyday sense, ethics is not regarded as a hot topic issue that makes its way to the top of the agenda for the Monday morning stand-up meeting. Ideally, managers are focused on agency priorities and driving numbers. It is only when the unthinkable or unimaginable occurs in situations involving ethical behavior that we began to examine the way we conduct ourselves. Thus some questions that develop with regards to ethics in a public setting are as follows: how can managers get people to concern themselves with ethical behavior, does ethical training begin with the organization, How do organizations address ethos with employees that may not have been reared with an understanding of appropriate ethical behavior? The task of examining ethics can be challenging in the public sector. Care should be taken to assess the presumably ethical or immoral behavior to insure that the dilemma is framed in the best manner in order to yield the most appropriate solutions. In this paper, the author examines the ethical dilemma of workplace theft and the role of leadership in dealing with this issue. Furthermore, the author contends, that when there is an increased risk of employee dissatisfaction then there is also an increased risk for workplace theft. Delving further into this problem, there is often not a standard procedure that is in place when ethical issues such as these occur. Thus, the author also suggests that there should be protocol established to deal with ethical violations as well as training that supports this growing problem. Consequentialism is also discussed at some length as it relates to ethical behavior.
Keywords: ethical behavior, leadership, workplace theft, consequentialism, accountability
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Introduction
In an everyday sense, ethics is not regarded as a hot topic issue that makes its
way to the top of the agenda for the Monday morning stand-up meeting. Ideally,
managers are focused on agency priorities and driving numbers. It is only when the
unthinkable or unimaginable occurs in situations involving ethical behavior that we
began to examine the way we conduct ourselves. Thus some questions that develop
with regards to ethics in a public setting are as follows: how can managers get people to
concern themselves with ethical behavior, does ethical training begin with the
organization, How do organizations address ethos with employees that may not have
been reared with an understanding of appropriate ethical behavior? The task of
examining ethics can be challenging in the public sector. Thiroux & Krasemann (2012)
define ethics as the following: “the values by which human beings live in relation to
other human beings, nature, God, and/or themselves” (p.446). Additionally, they define
good or right as “that which has pleasure or happiness in it, involves excellence, creates
harmony, and encourages creativity. A person can be said to be good, whereas an
action can be said to be right” (p.447). Finally, moral is defined as “that which is good or
right, such as a good person or a right action “(p.448). In this paper we will attempt to
examine the role of leadership as it relates to the ethical dilemma of workplace theft.
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Workplace Theft: Why is it a Dilemma?
According to Gross-Schaefer, Trigilio, Negus, & Ceng-Si (2000), theft in the
workplace should not be ignored. They further suggest that employee theft costs
companies more money in the long run (Gross-Schaefer et al, 2000). Next, Gross-
Schaefer et al (2000) divulge some reasons why employees steal and they are as
follows: “employees see stealing as a form of additional compensation – a vehicle to
lessen the gap of social inequity, employees feel pressured to violate company polices,
and a shift in American ethics education both in and out of the classroom” (p.92).
Moreover, this means that employees feel that the system set in place is not fair.
Additionally, when the employee is compelled to violate policies there may already be
others doing the same thing. Oftentimes the employees were taught in their rearing to
maximize and advance their own self interests. Kinwell & Kochanowski (2005) convey in
their case study, deviant behaviors exhibited [in the workplace] go against the company
policy and normal behavior.
Theories Related to Workplace Theft
Workplace theft is most applicable to the concept of consequentialism and its
sub-concepts. Thiroux and Krasemann (2012) define consequentialism in two parts
ethical egoism and utilitarianism. Moreover, ethical egoist operate in their own self-
interests. They further convey that ethical egoism can take on three possible forms
described with the following:
(1) Individual ethical egoism, which states that everyone ought to act in my
own best self-interest.
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(2) Personal ethical egoism, which states that I ought to act in my
own self-interest, but make no claims about what anyone else ought to do.
(3) Universal ethical egoism, which states as its basic principle
that everyone should always act in his or her own best self-interest,
regardless of the interests of others, unless their interests also serve his or
hers (p.32).
Verbeek (2001) contends that rationality is the main principle of
consequentialism. Additionally, the author suggests that the outcomes of actions affects
the impact it has on rationality. Verbeek (2001) also contends that “consequentialism is
a minimum requirement of instrumental rationality. Therefore, any theory that tries to
spell out the implications of instrumental rationality, in particular expected utility theory,
should subscribe to the principle of consequentialism” (p.181).
The principle architects of utilitarianism were Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873). According to Thiroux and Krasemann (2012), utilitarianism
is derived from utility which means usefulness. Moreover, this perspective contends
that an act is moral or beneficial if it brings about a desirable change. Additionally, act
utilitarianism is described as individuals performing an act that brings more good than
bad for all who could possibly be affected by the act itself (Thiroux & Krasemann, 2012).
The advocates for act utilitarianism do not desire rules for these actions because each
person or situation is different (Thiroux & Krasemann, 2012). Rule utilitarianism conveys
that the rules that bring the greatest good should be adhered to. Lastly, Thiroux and
Krasemann (2012) convey the following regarding rule utilitarianism: “Rule utilitarians
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try, from experience and careful reasoning, to set up a series of rules that, when
followed, will yield the greatest good for all humanity” (p.38).
According to Cox (2005), “Direct act-utilitarianism is a theory of both right action
and right moral deliberation. Act-utilitarianism offers a famously straightforward account
of right action and direct act-utilitarianism adds an interpretation of the practical nature
of this account” (p.61). According to direct utlitarians, an account of right action
furnishes moral agents with a correct procedure for deliberating over moral matters. In
particular, the direct act-utilitarian assumes a responsibility to explicitly reflect on the
best available consequences in every morally significant situation and act accordingly”
(p.61).
Immanuel Kant’s (1724-1844) Duty Ethics is also applicable to the ethical
dilemma of workplace theft. Kant believed that individuals could also set up moral rules
based on reason by itself. Moreover, in that, the logic was indisputable with truths
(Thiroux & Krasemann, 2012). Thus if we were to apply Kant’s Duty Ethics to workplace
theft we see that there is a lack of emphasis on duties and more on actions that are
based on inclinations. Rice, Trafimow, Hunt and Sandy (2010) describe a perfect duty
act as “duties that should never be violated and that such violations compromise the
moral status of the violators (p.20). Additionally, “perfect duty violations induce more
negative effects than imperfect duty violations, and it is the difference in negative affect
that is largely responsible for endowing violations of perfect duties with their superior
attributional weight” (Rice et al., p.21).
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Ethical Decision-Making Components and Strategies
Callanan, Rotenberry, Perri, and Oehlers (2010) suggest that the context of the
dilemma will influence or actually determine the decision that will be made.
Furthermore, the authors test three factors that influence ethical decision-making and
they are as follows: “perceived opportunity to commit unethical act, degree of the
perceived benefit to the individual if the unethical act is committed, and the perceived
chance of getting caught or found out once the unethical act has been made” (p.52).
Next, Gaudine and Thorne (2001) developed a model regarding ethical decision-
making. Moreover, according to the authors “the model demonstrates that certain
emotional states influence the individual's propensity to identify ethical dilemmas,
facilitate the formation of the individual's prescriptive judgments at sophisticated levels
of moral development, lead to ethical decision choices that are consistent with the
individual's compliance with his or her ethical decision choices” (p.175). Finally,
Robertson and Fadil (1999) suggest that culture has an influence on ethical decision-
making. Furthermore, they suggest that being knowledgeable about cultural differences
will enhance cross-cultural communication efforts and also give individuals good
guidelines in regards to ethical behavior (Robertson and Fadil, 1999).
Appropriate Leadership Theories
It is important to mention the role of leadership as it relates to ethical dilemmas
and accountability. Denhardt and Denhardt (2011) convey that the role of leadership is
changing in the New Public Management (NPM) Paradigm. They also convey that the
role of public leaders will be (1) to help the community and its citizens to understand
their needs and their potential, (2) to integrate and articulate the community’s vision and
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that of the various organizations active in any particular area, and (3) to act as a trigger
or stimulus for action. The leaders have to be flexible to new ideas and processes for
the sake of its continued existence.
According to Shafritz, Borick, and Russell (2009), “A transformational leader is
one with the ability to change an embedded organizational culture by creating a new
vision for the organization and marshalling the appropriate support to make that vision
the new reality” (p.394). Denhardt and Denhardt (2011) convey that the public faces
various types of problems that takes more than one administrator to resolve. They
further convey that the administrators can come from other agencies that utilize other
tools and resources. This concept can be applied when it comes to leaders dealing with
ethics in the workplace. Moreover, there may be another leader that is designated to
handle ethical issues especially given the extent of the circumstance. They further
convey that leaders in the new public service model should be an example to others,
persuasive, encouraging and empower those around them.
Analysis of Leadership Decision Making and Workplace Theft
In regards to applying decision-making steps to workplace theft, Callanan et al.
(2010) present a possible solution. Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, they contend that
the context of the dilemma will actually influence or determine the action that would be
taken. With this in mind, depending on the type of organization, key decision makers
must devise rules that target one of the primary factors mentioned by Callanan et al.
(2010) which mentioned the apparent opportunity to commit the ethical act.
Additionally, the decision makers have the power to adjust the way in which the
employee perceives the potential unethical act. Figure 1.1 illustrates these concepts.
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Furthermore, we can hypothesize that the more satisfied an employee is with his or her
job then the perceived opportunity to commit an unethical act lessens. Additionally, we
can hypothesize that the less satisfied an employee is with his or her job the perceived
opportunity to commit an unethical act increases. For example, if an employee, who is
dissatisfied with his or her jobs, is given a gas card to use to fill up a rental car to use for
company business, the perceived opportunity to commit an unethical act increases
because this can be viewed as “additional compensation” for his or her work. Next,
Figure 1.2 illustrates a generic decision tree that can be applied at the managerial level
regarding workplace theft. Moreover, the figure illustrates two scenarios in which
workplace theft can occur. In Example 1, if the employee has stolen an item(s) that is
under $50, the immediate supervisor issues a written warning and the employee must
sign acknowledging the theft. The alternative to this scenario could be that the
supervisor or the employee may turn the matter over to the Human Resource (HR)
manager. The discretion is given to the employee and or the immediate supervisor after
the theft has occurred. Next, in Example 2, if the employee has stolen item(s) totaling
$51 or more, the Human Resource manager is notified, personnel action is completed
so that the payroll department can deduct the loss from the employee’s check. The HR
manager has the discretion to terminate the employee or add the misconduct to the
employee’s personnel file. Finally, the HR manger can also determine if criminal
charges needs to be filed against the employee. The emphasis on the aforementioned
decision tree is the importance of structure and accurate protocol regarding the ethical
dilemma. Therefore the decision makers must adhere to the guidelines outlined by the
organization in order for this type of structure and protocol to be effective. Furthermore,
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based upon the roles and duties of the individuals within the organization, the structure
and codes of conduct have to be uniquely strategized to fit the organization otherwise
the protocols would be ineffective.
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Figure 1.1
Hypothesis 1
Hypothesis 2
Employee
Dissatisfaction
Greater the perceived
opportunity to commit unethical
act
Employee
Job Satisfaction
Less the perceived
opportunity to commit
unethical act
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Figure 1.2
Example 1 Example 2
OROR HR Manager can use discretion to
terminate employee or place disciplinary action into employee’s
file.
HR Manager gives employee form to
sign acknowledging total of items stolen will be
deducted from employee’s payroll
check if applicable.
HR Manager informs
employee that criminal charges will be filed and employee is terminated.
Incident of workplace
theft $51 or more
Human Resource Manager
Matter is turned over
to HR Manager at
the discretion of employee or immediate
supervisor
Employee acknowledges with signature
Incident of workplace theft under
$50Immediate supervisor
gives warning to employee
Immediate Supervisor
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Conclusion
In sum, we can surmise that since the ethical dilemma of workplace theft falls
within the realms of consequentialism, then there should be codes of conduct to target
this behavior within organizations. Furthermore, with regards to workplace theft, strong
leadership is key to enforcing codes of conduct within the organization. Gross-Schaefer,
Trigilio, Negus, and Ceng-Si (2000) suggest that “employers need to address the
reasons behind disenfranchisement of employees and address the lack of personal
ethics” (p.97). The task of examining ethics can be challenging in a public setting.
Furthermore, these kinds of employees have various ‘rights’ such as tenure and certain
types of job protected statuses. Extreme due diligence should be taken to assess the
presumably ethical or immoral behavior to insure that the dilemma is framed in the best
manner in order to yield the most appropriate solutions.
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REFERENCES
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Cox, D. (2005). Integrity, commitment, and indirect consequentialism. Journal of Value Inquiry, 39(1), 61–73. doi:10.1007/s10790-006-1571-7
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