Employee’s right to participate in managerial decision making

Instructons:

Respond to the following questions in your own words. Your responses should include specific examples and should incorporate concepts and terms from Chapters 6 and 7 in your textbook.

• Explain what you take to be the strongest argument in defense of an employee’s right to participate in managerial decision making. Explain what you take to be the strongest argument against such a right. Which argument do you find more persuasive?
• It is often said that business can be like a poker game. In what ways is that true and in what ways is business different from a poker game?
• In a local or national newspaper, find an article about a topic related to business ethics. Read the article. Then, write 3–5 paragraphs that answer one of the following questions:

Explain what the article is about. Identify a privacy issue that is discussed in the article. Do you believe that an employee has a right to privacy in the workplace? How far does that right extend? How are technological advances making this issue more complicated? 

Writing Requirements

• APA format
• 3–4 pages in length (excluding cover page, abstract, and reference list)
• Use the APA template located in the Course Information folder to complete the assignment.

 

Explain what you take to be the strongest argument in defense of an employee’s right to participate in managerial decision making. Explain what you take to be the strongest argument against such a right. Which argument do you find more persuasive?

The strongest argument in the defense of such argument is that employees need to be empowered to be able to have a say in the managerial decision making. Employees are the ones who have a direct contact with the customers and they know what the real concerns of the customers and clients are. Research has indicated that the level of leadership empowerment has a positive correlation with employee creativity (Zhang& Bartol, 2010). It is obvious that the leaders and managers who engage employees in the decision-making process can take advantage of the creative solution these employees may come up with and hence businesses processes may be improved.

For me, the main argument against giving the employees the right to participate in the managerial decision making is the risk of sensitive corporate information being leaked. Engagement of employees in the key management decisions may pose a security risk.

I believe that participative form of decision making is the best solution to the decision-making process. Employees should be included in the decision-making process by managers. The stakeholder theory suggests that management has to consider the consequences of their decisions (Desjardins, 2014). Engaging the employees could help in diluting this responsibility in my opinion. The question of this action being correct or not is another issue beyond the scope of this discussion.

It is often said that business can be like a poker game. In what ways is that true and in what ways is business different from a poker game?

The argument of business being just like a poker game was presented by Albert Carr (1968). He was of the view that just like poker where you can try to deceive within the rules of the game, you can also plan to deceive our competitors in the business world but remaining in the legal boundaries. This seems to be a vague argument to me I cannot find any ethical stand for such an argument. Businesses may be protecting some information from their competitors, but I do not think so that it would be labelled as deception. If we do argue that deception, just like poker is legitimate in the business world, then what are the boundaries, especially the boundaries of ethical responsibilities?

Business is totally different from a poker game. I say this because poker is a game that involves people setting around a table and the only aim is to maximize the winning money or profit. On the other hand, business is a more complex phenomenon that involves following many legal standards and corporate and social responsibilities. Deception and saving corporate interest cannot be mixed um in my opinion. Deceptive and manipulative techniques are not long lasting. On the other hand, fair game play is what would benefit in the long run.

In a local or national newspaper, find an article about a topic related to business ethics. Read the article. Then, write 3–5 paragraphs that answer one of the following questions:

Article Title: Sexting case raises workplace privacy issues

Article URL: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/36602035/ns/business-careers/t/sexting-case-raises-workplace-privacy-issues/#.WBW7zPl97IU

Explain what the article is about.

The article is about an interesting case where a cop named Jeff Quon was given a pager by the employer for official use only, but he used it to send text messages to his wife and mistress. The employer found out his texting after a general inquiry was held about excessive texting in the department.

Quon was upset by his texts being exposed and sued the department against this action.

Identify a privacy issue that is discussed in the article.

The primary privacy issues is raised by Quon where he has asked the question about the right by an employer to check his texts. The lower court did decide in Quon favor as it cited that the employer had no right to check his private messages.

Do you believe that an employee has a right to privacy in the workplace?

I do believe that an employee has a right to privacy in the workplace. I mean that as an employee, you do check your emails or private nature at your work place. Should the employer be checking these private emails from the computer records? I don’t think so. There is an argument that employees should not bring their private life to workplace, but it is not a valid argument in my opinion as the employees do get breaks that can be used to engage in matters of private nature.

How far does that right extend?

I believe that the right to privacy has its own limits. As we have seen in the recent events where Hillary Clinton, the Presidential Nominee for 2016 US Presidential Elections by the Democratic Party has used her personal email address for official purposes as the Secretary of State. I believe that she did cross the lines between personal privacy and official duties.

How are technological advances making this issue more complicated?

Due to technological advancement, the matter of privacy has become challenging in all spheres of life. I mean each and every day there are many occasions where we give out our personal information to different sources. For example, an ATM is used on daily basis. Then there is online shopping requiring credit card information. Then there are many other online forms requiring personal information. Technology has made our life easy without a doubt, but it has also contributed to keeping privacy a challenging and difficult task.

 

References

Albert Z. Carr, “Is Business Bluffing Ethical,” Harvard Business Review (January-February,         1968) 2-8.

Desjardins, J. (2014). An Introduction to Business Ethics, 5th Edition. New York, NY: McGraw    Hill Companies.

Zhang, X., & Bartol, K. M. (2010). Linking empowering leadership and employee creativity:        The influence of psychological empowerment, intrinsic motivation, and creative process           engagement. Academy of management journal, 53(1), 107-128.