Individual ethics vs. corporate ethics
In ‘The Parable of the Sadhu’ the author was seen as discussing about the concept of corporate ethics as opposed to individual ethics. According to the author the incidence with the sadhu was an example for the difference between individual ethics and corporate ethics. Personal or individual ethics are the moral beliefs of any individual about actions that are right and actions that are wrong (WRITER, 2016). Corporate ethics deals with the examination of the principles in ethics and the ethical or moral dilemmas arising in any business environment. In corporate setting, individuals are willing to take responsibilities for others as long as it is convenient for them (Sendjaya, et al., 2016). Moral dilemmas are often ambiguous and many people hike through them without even being aware about their existence. If the mountaineers were free of stress of high altitude and the efforts they had to put they might have acted differently for treating the sadhu. However, personal and corporate values are tested by way of stress. The personal and corporate characters of the executives are revealed by their skills for taking decisions instantly under stress. It is required for the managers to be coming up with solutions to various problems on the basis of their observations and the factors they allow for influencing the process of their decision-making. The main issue that could be recognised in helping the sadhu was that the mountaineers did not have any sense of purpose and the difficulty was seen as being of such complexity that it was impossible for a single person to handle. Every individual was seen as acting in an instinctive way as there was no precondition set that could act as the guide for the individuals to be acting in an acceptable way. What the group lacked was a leader whom they could be identifying to and whose purpose they could believe. A leader is one who would consider every opposing viewpoints in the team by listening to the concerns of all the members, giving due value to their contribution while lead the team and demonstrate common good actions that are appropriate (Goodpaster, 2017). The tale of the Sadhu is an important lesson for the leaders who have to face with difficult decisions every day. Each day a leader is seen to face dilemmas whose consequences are significant and they have to take decisions regarding them in a very short time in hand and most of the times they do not have perfect information to rely upon their decisions on. The tale demonstrates that it is very easy for anyone to be overlooking ethical questions when they have at stake some superordinate goal. In this tale the author tries to let the readers understand the importance of the limits present in both organizational and individual responsibilities.
The importance of strong leadership
Reading “The Parable of the Sadhu” three most important components I have found which shape ethical behaviour are- strong sense of purpose, authenticity and integrity, and taking strict decisions. Taking strict decisions needs a moral character that is having persistence to be courageous in spite of having the temptation for taking the easy way out. A person having authenticity and integrity has moral sensitivity and moral judgement which gives them the ability to see any ethical dilemma and the ability to reason in regards to the actions that can be taken in such ethical dilemma which would not affect adversely towards others. An individual who has a strong sense of purpose would have a moral motivation to be committing towards actions and responsibilities which are moral. For thinking through any moral issue or moral or ethical dilemma an individual needs to have awareness towards a specific set of ethical values and moral values (Den Hartog, 2015). These ethical or moral values include being objective and rational even towards an issue that can be considered as emotional; always taking stand for what is right even if there is opposition against those decisions; and being resilient towards maintaining their standards of ethics and morality. In business action and implementation involved for getting things done. The leaders are required to find answers on the basis of their observations and the things by which they are influenced during the process of their decision making (Schwartz, 2017). Managers are required to have personal values which go beyond the profitability of the organisations however these values are usually revealed during the times of stress. Corporate culture includes shared values and processes that have been agreed upon for dealing with any other situation and changes. These components are what is present at the core of the ethical issue.
Reading all the comments posted in the discussion forum I can comment that my thoughts are almost similar with all the others. I think that many companies faces a dilemma to do what is right in the face of adversity. How about this right it is not always clear to the individuals. As observed in the tale of the Sadhu most of the mountaineers what least they could do for the Sadhu and went on their own ways. Many can be of the opinion that those people have done the right thing as in the mountains the first duty of an individual is to rescue themselves then it is the companions and then they have a duty to rescue other travellers. It is not selfish it is a measure of self reliance. Those individuals did bare minimum for the Sadhu. Thinking through later about their actions the author came to realise that they were following the values of corporate ethics.
The three key components of ethical behavior in organizations
In corporate setting, individuals are willing to take responsibilities for others as long as it is convenient for them. The author was of the opinion that if the mountaineers were free of stress of high altitude and the efforts they had to put they might have acted differently for treating the sadhu. But it is through stress that personal and corporate values are tested. The main issue that could be recognised in helping the sadhu was that the mountaineers did not have any sense of purpose and the difficulty was seen as being of such complexity that it was impossible for a single person to handle. What the group lacked was a leader whom they could be identifying to and whose purpose they could believe (Walumbwa, Hartnell & Misati, 2017). The tale of the Sadhu is an important lesson for the leaders who have to face with difficult decisions every-day. Each day a leader is seen to face dilemmas whose consequences are significant and they have to take decisions regarding them in a very short time in hand and most of the times they do not have perfect information to rely upon their decisions on. While reading the article I came across the realization that good leadership needs certain specific ethical components. The 1st component is to have a strong sense of purpose for themselves and for their organisations. This includes having a moral motivation to be committing towards their actions and responsibilities. The second component is having authenticity and integrity by reasoning their actions in case of any ethical dilemma which is not adverse towards anyone. The third component is having specific sets of moral and ethical values which would help them to take strict decisions for what is right even when they face opposition in regard the decisions (Crane, et al., 2019).
References
Crane, A., Matten, D., Glozer, S., & Spence, L. (2019). Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
Den Hartog, D. N. (2015). Ethical leadership. Annu. Rev. Organ. Psychol. Organ. Behav., 2(1), 409-434.
Goodpaster, K. (2017). Human dignity and the common good: The institutional insight. Business and Society Review, 122(1), 27-50.
Schwartz, M. S. (2017). Business ethics: an ethical decision-making approach (Vol. 10). John Wiley & Sons.
Sendjaya, S., Pekerti, A., Härtel, C., Hirst, G., & Butarbutar, I. (2016). Are authentic leaders always moral? The role of Machiavellianism in the relationship between authentic leadership and morality. Journal of Business Ethics, 133(1), 125-139.
Walumbwa, F. O., Hartnell, C. A., & Misati, E. (2017). Does ethical leadership enhance group learning behavior? Examining the mediating influence of group ethical conduct, justice climate, and peer justice. Journal of Business Research, 72, 14-23.
WRITER, H. (2016). The Parable of the Sadhu. Ethics.
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