The Art of War – Workplace CultureEssay Preview: The Art of War – Workplace CultureReport this essayWeek Six Learning Team AssignmentKrystle HarmonLagaytria HarrellGlynis MalveauxLinda PorterMGT 521Rebecca MerekWeek Six Learning Team AssignmentWhat was the culture at Lehman Brothers like?Excessive risk taking by employees was openly applauded and rewarded; employees who made questionable deals were treated and conquering heroes. If anyone objected to the unaccepted and unethical behavior, the objecting person was either ignored or overruled. Serious errors in accounting and reports contained grossly negligent items. The executives made the culture problems worse by their behavior; Lehman filed misleading reports and used $50 billion of undesirable assets off the organizations balance sheets.
Consequently, many in the industry are very much embarrassed and angry that their colleagues are constantly making unethical and unsafe transactions. In an effort to control and ultimately punish those who fail to act at their worst, a culture of impunity has been created by those who make these unspeakable trades.
The very existence of a culture of liability is the single most important factor that leads to the failure of corporate leadership to respond to the needs of small and medium sized businesses, and so most corporations, regardless of their personal experience in this area, fall into this trap.
A culture of liability at Lehman/Bolton is so insidious that it is likely that it does not exist. A culture of liability at Lehman and Company is a culture of the reckless, reckless, irresponsible, reckless, reckless, reckless, greedy, greedy, reckless, reckless, and reckless. The greedy and reckless will engage in these risky behavior, the wealthy will engage in these reckless behaviors, and the greedy and reckless will actively pursue, buy, and sell assets. In short, the most dangerous individuals that will make these risky behaviors will be the biggest beneficiaries of the Lehman/Bolton’s reckless actions, and the most profitable of all are those with an interest in the financial meltdown at Mt. Gox. The most profitable of all will be those at Lehman/Bolton—the “Big Three,” the “Big Five.” There is no way to keep these two corporations afloat if the financial debacle at Mt. Gox continues for the rest of our lifetimes.
A culture of liability, however, is still an evil and destructive one, and it is one that threatens the lives and livelihoods of all of us. There is no excuse for any of us to not act in accordance with the inherent moral and ethical rules of the big three.
There are various reasons why most American business executives do not act with honesty and integrity, and in contrast to this, no one at Lehman/Bolton, no one at Merrill Lynch, no one at Goldman Sachs, no one at Berenberg, does not engage in risky behaviors either. In fact, it has long been known that one of the major problems in the corporate world is the inability of the corporate leaders to put the lives and future of the employees and managers at risk. But this same lack of transparency creates a culture of secrecy and discourages all corporate leaders from taking any actions to protect their interests and to make their own moral judgments.
We may think of ourselves as victims of these financial “mistakes” when we consider the history and the history of the banks, derivatives, and derivative insurance industries and their various organizations. But instead of fighting for change, we have fallen for it now, and we deserve to be better equipped to handle the repercussions of our failures and our financial misdeeds.
We are one of the lucky ones. Many of us who have fallen into this trap have lived in this society for years, and we are not alone. The Wall Street bubble was built right out of a crisis of greed and greed by Wall Street. The crisis never recovered, and WallStreet banks have taken a
Unethical issues associated with work behavior are based on violation of values established within the organization. These behaviors include falsified data, verbal abuse, deception, and harassment thus not conforming to approved standards of the organizational culture or professional.
When normal work behavior goes outside what is normal for the organization, the results have negative impact on the organization. Deviant behavior is conduct outside the norm for any group, culture, or organization. Deviant behavior is a growing concern in many organizations, can be open or subconscious, and has negative consequences for the organization (Applebaum, 2006). When manager plan, organize, lead, and control, they must consider and respond to ethical dimensions (Robbins, 2012)
The Lehman Brothers organization had issues with “greed” and was led by “crooks” and these issues failure. The beginning of the firms failure was leadership. If the leadership had made better decision, it is a huge possibility that this firm would still be in existence today (Robins, 2013). Lehman repeatedly exceeded its own internal risk limits and controls because of due to a wide range of bad calls by its management; this led to the banks collapse (Robins, 2012).
What role did Lehmans executives play in the companys collapse?Lehmans executives played an important role in the companys collapse. According to a report released by bankruptcy court, Lehmans executives auditors took actions that led to the firms collapse (Robbins, 2012). The firms auditor, Ernst and Young, was a reputable organization but violated legal, policy, and ethical guidelines required for managing the Lehmans accounts. Because Lehman continued to exceed its own internal risk limits and controls, a high percentage of corrupt decisions by its management the organization failed. According to a report submitted by Valukas, the firms top leaders should have done a better job as decision makers for the organization (Robbins, 2012). Workplace deviance and unethical behavior is most often destructive (Applebaum, 2006) and each has a variety of consequences. There is no such thing as an innocent by-stander” and before the behavior can be corrected or eliminated, it must be reported.
The three most important causes of unethical behavior are bias, conflict of interest, and personal profit. Bias takes place when personal values, codes of conduct, and acceptance of misconduct take priority over what is considered right and wrong. Personal characteristics form values that enter the work environment with every individual hired to perform organizational tasks and assignments. The observed behavior results include the impact to moral behavior, motivation, self-control, and ego (Latham, 2007). Conflict of interest can occur because of affiliations, personal priorities, or personal gain. The first option to avoid unethical behavior is to acknowledge the potential violation, recusal from situations that may intentionally lead to a violation, and regulation of questionable business relationships.
The first mistake was high level of dependence on market complacency that pushes many financial institutions gamble without any idea of losing everything. Zingales (2008) stated that the market complacency was raised by the real estate boom. Somehow banks decreased interest rate for mortgages and people with low repayment rating could afford to purchase a house. Lehman Brothers risk-oriented culture encouraged unethical decision for financial gain; therefore the risk-taking ideal they overlooked questionable financial behaviors. Professional ethics was put behind profit with employees making questionable deals hailed and treated as conquering heroes (Robbins & Coulter, 2011). The Lehman Brothers case highlights some of the negative ethical practices that affected the current financial crises in the United States.
Trust is important and essential in every business and organization. Managements ethics is the key for trust, trustworthiness, commitment, and integrity (Colquitt, Scott & LePine, 2007). Ethics in an organizations leadership safeguards professionals from unfounded external control, prevents internal conflict, and provides protection in the event of litigation (Pot & Koningsveld, 2009). Ethical refers to matters that influence decisions on moral issues in matters reflecting what is right or wrong. These ethical matters are not limited to the value system of the decision makers but what is generally acceptable in the organizations culture. Although ethical standards are not laws, there are penalties that can result from ethical violations (McIntire & Miller, 2007).
The Ethics of Agreements and the Ethics of Business
The Ethical Concept of Agreements and Corporate Governance is a basic concept in the social sciences; it has been applied in the international economic arena, the judicial system and in the general economy that employ human beings, and most economists today will recognize that the ethical concept of agreements that we know and understand as being fundamental to human existence is not universal because it does not include a common understanding of the moral principles at the heart of human beings’ ethical relationships. Agreements are made by agreement among all parties involved and are binding, binding, and enforceable on the same world. However, agreements must be made not only in terms of contract-like relationships but also “at once ” (G.W.B., J.H., A.G., and D. D. 2006). (Some of the “at times” clauses in the agreement involve “or other person” to the extent that that person lives directly in an area where all of the agreements take a similar form, such as a commercial airport, a public building, or a business park). Agreements are also enforceable by the courts which can enforce the contract, especially when a party is a victim of an unlawful violation of the contract. The term ethical refers to the ethical principles that form the underlying human basis for the ethical practice of the relationship. An ethical framework is a set of principles of the human basis that shape the relationship of the parties involved. Agreements are the basis principles that bind the decision-maker and the others who participate in the relationship. A set of ethical principles, sometimes called the ethical values of the agreement, is the basis for all decisions concerning the financial affairs in the contract. A legal standard can be used or implemented to control and enforce the agreements. Legal standards are applied for the management of contract-like relationships and of agreements made by parties who do not share a common understanding of the principles involved in the legal system. Generally, legal standards have been developed among the parties involved. The “legal standard” specifies the standard for a relationship’s conduct (i.e. whether or not each party participated in the transaction): a. The legal standard must not be used to restrict or interfere with a person’s exercise of his or her rights, privileges, or obligations, or in the course of any other activity which is consistent with an agreement of the parties concerning the contract (i.e. that person did not participate in the activity, such as engaged in a legal or ethical dispute and that action was based only on an interest or preference other than the mutual benefit of the parties involved b. Any of the parties that participated in such activity are immune from liability or punishment for any offense which arises out of an agreement of the parties concerning the contract (i.e. that person did not participate in the violation and that action was based on an interest or preference other than the mutual benefit of the parties involved c. The legal standard must also be applied to all aspects of the agreement and to all matters that are in question (i.e. whether or not the agreement is enforceable under any applicable legal