Organizations operate in complex environments where they are expected to balance multiple conflicting concerns, interests, and needs. For example, in addition to delivering value to stockholders, today, firms are also required to demonstrate concern for the environment and invest in the wellbeing of their employees and customers. Many firms have taken steps to ensure balance in how they respond to these demands. However, there are some companies that are struggling. Fortunately, for these companies, various Scripture-based interventions for resolving the dilemmas that they grapple with are available. From my own personal experiences, I have found that the Bible, and the teachings of Jesus in particular, can serve as reliable and constant sources of insight and support. Therefore, if they are to succeed in address the practical and moral dilemmas that they face, firms should turn to Scripture for guidance and direction.
Prevailing Ethical/Value System
In nearly all the organizations where I have worked, the prevailing value/ethical systems place emphasis on profit maximization. Essentially, these organizations ensured that all their operations and strategies allowed them to obtain the highest profits. For the most part, this value system fueled the growth of the organizations. For example, it allowed them to expand their market shares and to gain competitive advantages. However, I found that some of the firms resorted to questionable practices in their pursuit of maximum profits. For instance, in one of the companies, employees were forced to work long hours in exchange for low pay. This value system violates established principles of effective leadership. According to Hughes et al. (2019), leaders should be measured based on the nature of their relationships with employees and subordinates. When they disregard employee wellbeing in the quest for profits, leaders clearly fail to demonstrate Christ-like behavior. Hill (2018) also reminded business leaders that even as they seek profits and growth, they should also incorporate Christian ethics into how they run their organizations.
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Holiness Concerns
Blanchard et al. (2016) acknowledged that holiness is among the traits that define impactful leaders. According to these scholars, in order to steer their organizations toward sustainable growth, leaders need to follow the example that Jesus set. Among the behaviors that leaders should copy is righteousness. During His ministry, Jesus exhibited holiness and modern leaders can embrace this behavior if they are to succeed in resolving the many conflicts and dilemmas that they encounter. Personally, I have experienced and witnessed holiness concerns in my organization. These concerns range from the tendency by the organization to employ creative techniques to evade taxes to the prevalence of sexual harassment. I find that these issues relate to holiness because they involve clear breaches of Biblical standards. For example, as he sought to redeem souls, Jesus took great care to honor his obligations to the authorities while ensuring the wellbeing of His flock. Sadly, at my organization, there is a clear failure to embody holiness.
Unfortunately, the holiness concerns expressed above are yet to be fully resolved. For example, the company continues to avoid taxes despite audits which have seen regulators initiate an inquiry. In response to the instances of sexual harassment, the organization has taken some action. For example, it has dismissed a few employees that have been implicated. However, I find that the measures that the firm has adopted do not go far enough. For example, leaders who have been accused of harassing female employees still serve at the firm. Essentially, the organization has created a culture of impunity that protects leaders at the expense of lower-ranking employees. According to Rath and Conche (2008), one of the basic functions that leaders perform is serving as examples. Roth and Conche (2008) add that to have a lasting effect on their firms, leaders need to endeavor to become role models that embody values that employees would like to emulate. The refusal by my organization to fire top leaders involved in harassment shows that the organization is not interested in building leaders who set good examples. Instead, this firm is more concerned about profitability and growth. I fear that the approach that the firm has adopted is unsustainable and that soon, its failure to seriously tackle sexual harassment will prove devastatingly costly.
Justice Concerns
In addition to the holiness concerns outlined above, I have also observed issues that raise justice concerns. Among the incidents that have left me questioning my organization’s dedication to justice are its recruitment practices. For the best results, firms are encouraged to adopt merit-based recruitment processes (Setyowati, 2016). These procedures ensure that candidates with the best qualifications and are best suited to the position in question are hired. At my organization, instead of hiring on the basis of merit, personal relationships are the primary considerations that are made during recruitment. For example, recently, the firm embarked on an effort to fill a vacant management position. Many existing employees who were tremendously competent expressed interest in the job. However, the firm’s leaders chose to hire the son of one of the top managers. It later emerged that this individual had no management experience and some employees openly expressed their displeasure with the firm’s hiring practices. To quell these concerns, the company decided to fire the employees who had made it clear that they found the recruitment processes to be flawed and unjust.
As is the case with the holiness concerns discussed earlier, the company failed to resolve the justice issue in a way that I found to be satisfactory or just. Among the solutions that it implemented after firing the employees who lamented is introducing a new policy that would involve charging an outside company with recruitment functions. Ideally, using third-parties should make hiring fairer and more cost-effective (National Association for Law Placement, n.d.). These parties are simply better positioned to recruit without bias. However, I learned later that after the implementation of the new policy, the company still used its own internal processes and that it had yet to engage the outside recruiter. What I found to be more unacceptable is that the organization did not rehire the employees who had lost their jobs for calling for just recruitment approaches. Sadly, with regard to how it handled this justice concern, my organization is not isolated. In the US today, it is quite common for firms to institute disciplinary action against whistleblowers (American Bar Association, 2019). I would advise my company to institute protections for employees who come forward with complaints of unjust practices. The current situation is such that it disincentivizes employees against calling out unacceptable behavior.
Application of Concept of Vocation
The concept of vocation can help my organization to address the numerous challenges that continue to threaten its performance and future. Essentially, vocation is concerned with exploiting one’s skills, experiences, and strengths to create a better world by offering service, demonstrating creativity, and taking on leadership challenges (Ronkainen et al., 2018). According to Hughes et al. (2019), vocation is an essential component of corporate citizenship. It empowers individuals to commit their effort to ensuring that their organizations thrive. More importantly, this concept provides employees with a sense of meaning and purpose (Dumulescu et al., 2015; Wilding, 2018). Basically, when they pursue their vocations, individuals become more than mere employees. They regard their jobs as opportunities to make a difference and impact that lives of others.
I have been able to apply the concept of vocation to my work in various ways. First, I approach my job with the seriousness that it deserves. For example, I endeavor to present myself for work on time and spare no expense to ensure that I have completed all assigned tasks as required. Secondly, I seek opportunities to learn and to make a contribution to the success of my organization. Basically, I consider the growth of my organization to be a personal mandate to which I dedicate tremendous resources and commitment. Thirdly, I strive to form meaningful relationships with my colleagues and superiors. Essentially, I feel that these relationships offer opportunities to have an impact and to generate change. For example, in close collaboration with my fellow employees, we successfully petitioned my organization to implement a work-from-home program. Initially, the company had resisted calls to change work structure, arguing that it would adversely affect employee morale and discipline. Thanks to my partnership with my colleagues, I was able to inch the company closer toward a new culture that places emphasis on employee wellbeing as opposed to profit maximization.
As part of their discussion on the role that vocation plays in mental health care, Waynor and Pratt (2011) observed that individuals who pursue their jobs as vocations often encounter hardships that leave them feeling demoralized. I can confirm that there are serious hardships that frustrate the incorporation of the concept of vocation into one’s work. In my job, I have encountered various challenges that I found to be unimaginably frustrating. Lack of support from my superiors is certainly one of the challenges that had the worst impacts on my work. As NaileI and Selesho (2014) observed, for employees to be committed to their jobs, they need full and unwavering support from their leaders. Unfortunately, at my company, our top leaders gave little interest to the lives of employees. I therefore found it difficult to gather the resources and energy needed to carry out my duties as required. Another hardship that I faced is the toxic culture at my organization. As already noted, this company encouraged and even rewarded violations of both legal and moral standards. It was nearly impossible to work in an organization whose practices were inconsistent with my personal convictions and principles.
Legal but Unethical Conduct
I have witnessed my organization engaging in behavior and practices that are legal but whose ethical status is in question. Using careful language to mislead customers is among these practices. For example, recently, the firm launched a product that it described as being the most efficient in the industry. It promised that customers who purchase this item should expect to experience significant energy savings. However, what the firm neglected to mention was that the efficiency benefits would occur at the expense of product performance. I have noted with serious concern that such practices are highly prevalent in business. For example, I have personally encountered products that are promoted through misleading or blatantly false advertising. Ventola (2011) is among the scholars who have also acknowledged that businesses have developed an unethical habit of lying to their customers. According to Ventola (2011), the pharmaceutical industry is among the sectors where this problem is particularly endemic. It is regrettable that when they market directly to consumers, pharmaceutical companies tend to place emphasis on the benefits of their medications while minimizing the side effects. What makes lying to consumers problematic is that it adversely impacts trust and creates a culture of dishonesty and lack of transparency.
In response to the incident described above, I took no action. While I regret my failure to demonstrate courage, I find that the culture at my organization simply makes it impossible for employees to confidently report misconduct without risking retaliation. As noted earlier, employees who complained about unfair hiring practices lost their jobs. I was therefore justifiably worried that raising the alarm over unethical behavior at the company would expose me to needless hardship. My fellow employees also lacked the boldness to confront the company about its ethical failures. In fact, the practice of misleading and lying to customers remains a critical aspect of how the organization operates. Basically, together with other employees, I feel powerless and unable to introduce reform. The unethical behavior that the company has embraced has had adverse long-term effects. For example, many employees have lost faith in the organization and in its most recent report, the firm acknowledged that the employee attrition rate was unsustainably high. Furthermore, following revelations that the firm’s products were inflated, the company has since experienced an alarming decline in sales revenue. There is no question that urgent action is needed to restore the firm back onto the path of holiness and ethics.
Experience of Moral Dilemmas
As an employee at my organization, I have experienced and witnessed moral dilemmas that prompted me to reflect seriously on the importance of ethics in business. According to Tota and Shehu (2012), in their daily operations, businesses are confronted with dilemmas that force them to balance conflicting moral duties. Lurie and Albin (2007) also found that moral dilemmas are among the most pressing challenges that firms grapple with today. Recently, our company introduced a philanthropy program as part of its corporate social responsibility initiative. The program would involve working with a nonprofit in Zambia to deliver aid to under-privileged communities. While I found the firm’s new strategy to be bold and noble, I was joined with other employees who raised objections over the nonprofit with which the company had chosen to partner. Previously conducted audits had revealed that the organization lacked appropriate accounting procedures and that embezzlement was a common occurrence. The dilemma that the firm faced involved deciding between lifting children in Zambia out of poverty while working with an organization with an established history of corruption or taking no action. Eventually, my company decided to proceed with the implementation of the program. However, it made it clear to the nonprofit that it must adhere to stringent accountability standards. Personally, I find that how the company resolved this dilemma was just and ethical. It was able to contribute to tackling child poverty while upholding accountability and transparency.
Deception at Workplace
In addition to the numerous issues discussed this far, my organization also has a tendency to deceive, with employees and customers being the primary victims of this unethical practice. Chelliah and Swamy (2018) warned companies against deception, arguing that this behavior negatively impacts the image of an organization and could cause a firm to suffer legal action. My company routinely disregards the insights that Chelliah and Swamy (2018) share in their text. Recently, the organization deceived the public and shareholders about the impact that its philanthropy program was having. The company claimed that it had erected schools, set up nursing facilities, and implemented a variety of poverty-eradication initiatives. While it is true that the program had actually had some positive effect, the organization over-inflated the outcomes. I find that this case of deception was unjustified because it only served the interest of the firm’s executive leadership. Furthermore, this incident lowered employee trust in the organization and stole the dignity of Zambian children. Additionally, the deception has reinforced the culture of falsehoods and lack of transparency at the company.
Conflict of Moral Duties
I have been in workplace situations where two moral duties conflicted. Kaptein (2019) authored a highly engaging and insightful article in which he determined that as they perform their duties, employees often encounter moral conflicts that can even have adverse impacts on their personal affairs. It is therefore important for employees to approach these dilemmas with resolute sobriety. One of the incidences that I grappled with recently involved a fellow employee who had falsified records. The company had a clear policy that prohibited this type of behavior. On the one hand, I had a moral obligation to help the firm to enforce its policy. On the other hand, I was expected to demonstrate loyalty to the employee who had proven reliable and whose friendship I valued. Following a rigorous analysis of this conflict, I chose to keep quite and took no action. I felt that the friendship carried greater weight and that reporting my colleague would not deliver any meaningful benefit. In fact, I feared that the company would accuse me of colluding with my colleague. Besides, the firm had a deeply-entrenched culture that encouraged wrongdoing and I therefore felt that any action on my part was unlikely to create the change that I wanted.
Intentional Ambiguity
Intentional ambiguity is a technique that is often used in communication and literature for dramatic and poetic effects (Huang, 2020). However, this tool can also be exploited by companies to mislead and to dodge responsibility. For example, about two months ago, the company released a carefully worded statement to its employees regarding the coronavirus pandemic and the measures that the firm would institute to protect its workforce. A close reading of the statement indicated that the company was using intentional ambiguity to suggest that it did not think that the pandemic was as serious as many believed. At the same time, the language that the company employed was such that it did not expressly dismiss the threat that the coronavirus posed. I think that in this case, intentional ambiguity is not morally permissible. The company failed to show courage and its actions actually threaten employee health and wellbeing. There is ample and compelling evidence that shows that the coronavirus is deadly as this crisis has killed thousands and impacted hundreds of millions (Pak et al., 2020). The firm should have been clear in its recognition of the reality of COVID-19 instead of hiding behind ambiguous language.
Concealing Information at Workplace
I feel the need to admit that I have contributed to the toxic culture at my organization. Among the violations that I have personally committed include concealing information. For example, as noted earlier, I failed to reveal wrongdoing by one of my colleagues. Initially, I felt uncomfortable. However, after deeper reflection, I was able to accept my decision as appropriate. Basically, the organization’s own culture does not impose high expectations on employees. I know other employees who have committed more egregious breaches and have suffered no consequences. To resolve the tension that resulted from the initial discomfort that I experienced, I simply compared the mistake that I was committing to the more serious violations perpetrated by others. I understand that this approach is unacceptable. However, I feel that in assessing my behavior, it is important to consider the larger organizational context. I am confident that placed in a similar situation, a majority would make a similar decision.
Experience of Unfair Disciplinary Action
According to Dzimbiri (2016), when instituting disciplinary measures against employees, firms need to be guided by such principles as fairness and objectivity. Unfortunately, my organization has failed to consistently integrate these values into how it disciplines employees who have committed violations. For example, in a previous section, a description of an incident where the firm fired whistleblowers was offered. What is clear from this incident is that the company disciplinary procedures are unfair. I was appalled by the firm’s actions. I even considered leaving the company for another organization that demonstrated greater concern for employee welfare. However, I believe that with appropriate leadership and concerted effort from all stakeholders, the firm can improve its record.
Perspectives on Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is among the issues that are most emotive and divisive in the United States. According to a recent Gallup poll, while a majority of the American public endorse affirmative action, this matter continues to divide Americans (Newport, 2020). Personally, I think that affirmative action is necessary and beneficial. Essentially, affirmative action aims to improve outcomes for communities and groups that are unacceptably under-represented and have historically suffered injustices. For example, African Americans, one of the groups that have endured marginalization are among those that affirmative action targets. Evidence shows that in such areas as education and employment, affirmative action has helped to address disparities and promote equality (Maxwell & Garcia, 2019). I endorse affirmative action because I believe that it holds the key to creating a fairer and more equitable society.
Personal Environmental Philosophy
I have developed an environmental philosophy that guides how I respond to such issues as climate change. Through the philosophy, I recognize that there is a need to balance human welfare with environmental protection. For example, I feel that we should explore more eco-friendly energy sources as well as sustainable food production practices. However, even with this philosophy, I have encountered some moral dilemmas. For instance, I understand that such animals as cattle are responsible for a significant amount of greenhouse emissions. I also know that adopting a vegan diet is among the measures that I can personally adopt to secure the environment. Essentially, the dilemma involves a clash between my love for meat and my desire to do more to insulate the planet against further damage. To resolve this dilemma, I have found ways to offset my meat consumption. For example, I donate funds to organizations working to tackle climate change.
Holiness-Justice-Love and Ethical Frameworks
In his text, Hill (2018) proposes a framework that individuals should use to resolve moral conflicts and lead fulfilling lives. This framework places emphasis on value-based decision making and challenges individuals to cherish inter-personal relationships. Before being exposed to Hill’s model, my approach to decision-making was rather utilitarian. Basically, when attempting to solve moral dilemmas, I would examine the outcomes of individual courses of action and opt for the choice that I felt offered the greatest benefit while minimizing harm. Thanks to Hill’s text, my moral reasoning has been expanded. I now understand that I should strive to uphold such principles as holiness, justice, and love. More importantly, I recognize that I need to endeavor to preserve relationships and make decisions that protect the outcomes of others.
In conclusion, the importance of morality and ethics cannot be overstated. These issues make it possible for individuals to pursue actions that are morally permissible and appropriate. However, ethics also gives rise to moral conflicts that can be difficult to resolve. As my experience at my company has shown, in many cases, the conflicts that individuals face cannot necessarily be approached through a black-and-white perspective. Instead, it is important to acknowledge and consider nuances. However, there is still a need for individuals, employees in particular, to consult Scripture. The Bible is replete with insights that enable employees to make godly decisions. Firms also need to create environments where employees feel empowered to act in moral ways. When companies develop cultures that forgive and encourage immoral conduct, individuals struggle to view their jobs as vocations. Therefore, a call is hereby issued for organizations to take all necessary steps to boost ethical behavior.
References
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