ROBoInc. is a robotics company that seeks to expand its business globally. Before it does that, the CEO must work towards creating a shared culture of ethics that forms the foundational basis for the company. Presently, the company lacks a common culture for all departments because each department seems to work hard and solve their ethical issues in their own ways. The quest towards expanding towards the global market requires that the company establishes a strong ethical culture that will direct all operations towards sustainability and growth (Willinger, 2017).
Characteristics needed in implementing a shared ethical culture
Creating a shared culture requires that the CEO, the leadership and the employees become clear on some of the spoken and unspoken rules. An excellent shared ethical culture should address the both internal and external aspect of the business. Therefore, it should help employers and employees relate and work hard amongst themselves, while at the same time helping serve and solve problems for the customers. Different organizations have different attitudes, attire, and behaviors. The company needs to come clean on what has shared an ethical culture that it stands for in all undertakings irrespective of the market. Some of these norms may not be written but should be observable. For instance, some of the employees have been consulting for other companies outside their working hours. The company should address this case for the employees to know the implications to the organization. Is there an unwritten rule against it?
Leadership should lead the way when it comes to creating a shared ethical culture. In many instances, organizational leaders come up with ethical culture with the aim of obtaining dominance over their employees and cheating their customers. Leaders must be role models when it comes to creating norms. Employees within this company will likely observe what the CEO and the leaders do and say in order to create an ethical culture for themselves and the organization. The CEO must put into action what he desires the employees to do as the company plans for the global expansion. It would be difficult for the employees to be faithful to the company if the leadership is known for shortcuts and customer fraud.
Developing employee skills and solving problems
ROBoInc. is a technology company that offers a solution for robotics. Therefore, the main ethical culture should motivate employees to build their skills and solve related problems. The CEO has made clear his intention for global expansion. Many business organizations seek for their software in order to come up with better robotic models. The ethical culture for this company should ensure that employees make due diligence in developing their skills in order to solve software problems in the market. The CEO must understand that relationship with the employees and the reward system will likely make them committed to his organization.
Developing skills would require that the leadership avails all the tools for ethical action.
Some of the strategies will require training, consultations, and supervision for the creation of an effective ethical culture (Willinger, 2017). Such an ethical culture is likely to strategically place this organization in a place where they provide the solution to the robotic organizations. Already, the CEO knows that the demand is high, especially for their software. All employees must own the business and work with a common goal towards its success. As indicated earlier, a reward system will create a sense of satisfaction and avoid personal consulting by the employees.
The current organizational structure and culture
Figure 1: The Competing Values Framework (Cameron, & Quinn, 1999)
For this robotic company to excel in the current business environment where competition is rising, it has to assess the current structure and culture with the aim of making positive changes. The Competing Values Framework (Figure 1) is a tool that helps in determining the dominant culture within an organization (Cameron, & Quinn, 1999). Currently, the company lacks control as seen in the assertion that each department has been free to work hard and solve their problems. The control that exists is within the departmental levels. The CEO notes that many of the employees have been consulting for the competitors. Such an assertion means lack of control on what employee can do when they are off duty. It is an indication of a lack of market competition. The employees lack the competitive attitude that should make them work towards establishing a stronger organization that stands out. On the same note, the company wants to employ more salespersons and software developers. Each of the department in this company has its definite ethical culture, a scene showing a lack of collaboration. Lack of a common ethical culture that covers the whole organization is a recipe for trouble in the future.
Ethical leadership helps in creating awareness and ownership of the organization. Every employee becomes aware of the expectations in each level of operation. With a clear means of achieving the ethics and the associated rewards, an organization is likely to maintain an upward growth. For ROBoInc., the company should establish an ethical culture that encourages human relations and collaboration. In such a system, all stakeholders within the organization are aware of their responsibilities and are free to share out their visions and contributions on developing new software. It will create loyalty and a sense of belonging in order to prevent employees from sharing out the organization’s ideas to the competitors. It may not require written rules; however, everybody will socialize in a manner that shows the ethical culture. All departments will have common ethics on how to handle situations.
References
Cameron, K. S., & Quinn, R. E. (1999). Diagnosing and changing organizational culture: Based
on the competing values framework. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Willinger, J. (2017, 04 April). Sharing: The Five Levels of Building an Ethical Culture.
Ethical Systems.org. Accessed 29 March 2019 from https://www.ethicalsystems.org/content/sharing-five-levels-building-ethical-culture