Biology Forums - Study Force

If you were asked to evaluate the quality of an organization's ethical leadership, what would the five most important aspects be that you would wish to evaluate, and how would you do so?

Linda Trevio and others, in 1999, identified five important aspects of a company's ethical leadership. Beside each are some questions of many that could be asked to test a corporation's adherence to each.
 Ethical leadership by executives and supervisors: Do they espouse the values of the organization? Support and promote ethical decision making? Are decisions made in stakeholders' best interests, rather than to benefit corporate leaders? Are realistic goals set that do not exert undue pressure on employees to meet those goals whatever the cost? Are product problems corrected when they are found or covered up?
 Reward systems that incorporate ethical considerations: Are rewards systems tied to values espoused by the corporation (for example, to reducing tailings in a mining company espousing sustainable development or increasing organic content of offerings in a health-espousing grocery chain or putting patient health first at a pharmaceutical company)?
 Perceived fairness, fair treatment of employees: Does the company offer living wages? Benefits? Reasonable working conditions? Flexible working hours?
 Open discussion of ethics in the organization: Do leaders walk the talk? Do people consider ethics in decision making? Do employees sign off on a code of ethics?
 Authority structure that emphasizes an employee's accountability and responsibility to question his or her own actions and an obligation to question authority when something seems wrong: Are top executives willing to be corrected? Can employees disagree with management without fear of reprisal? Can employees present poor company results without being pressured to disguise them? Are employees encouraged to provide input to improve operations?