INDIAN WORK ETHOS

INTRODUCTION
Business does not exist and operate in vacuum. Firms and corporations function in the social and natural environment. By virtue of existing in the social and natural environment, business is obligated to be accountable to the natural and social environment in which it survives. Irrespective of the demands and pressures upon it, business, by virtue of its existence, is obliged to be ethical, for at least two reasons. Firstly, whatever the business accomplishes has repercussions on its stakeholders. Secondly, every juncture of action has trajectories of ethical as well as unethical paths and the existence of a business is justified by the ethical alternatives it responsibly selects. One of the conditions that brought business ethics to the forefront is the demise of small scale, high trust and face-to-face enterprises and emergence of huge multinational corporate structures capable of drastically affecting everyday lives of the masses.

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WORK ETHOS, WORK ETHICS AND WORK CULTURE

The terms work ethos and work ethics, in the context of behaviour patterns, human interaction and work culture, have been used interchangeably, implying synonymity. The fundamental difference between the two terms stems from the basic difference between the two words ethos and ethicswhereas ethos implies 'what is/ ethics stresses 'what ought to be.' Thus, while work ethos is the prevalent disposition to/fundamental outlook towards work, or the value system with regard to work, whether it be of an individual, a group, informal or hierarchical, a profession or a community (Webster's Third New International Dictionary, 1966), work ethics consists of the set of attitudes and the value systems which would be appropriate for achieving the goals of the system; in this case, the industrial organization (Churchman, 1979, pp 21-23). Culture, in the context of human civilization, is the way of life of a human group and it includes all the learned and standardized forms of behaviour which one uses and which others in one's group expect and recognize (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol.5,1970, p 831). An organization is composed of groups while groups, in turn, are composed of individuals. Individuals, in their psychological make up or from the point of view of their behaviour patterns, are very different

from one another, and there is really 'no average man' (Koontz and CX Donnell, 1972, pp 508-511). The behaviour of an individual at work may be explained by
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Lewin's Field Theory, which says that human behaviour, B, is a function of the person, P, and his or her environment, E, or using mathematical notations, B = f(P, E) (Koontz and CX Donnell, 1976, p 581). An individual, whether he is a workman, an office employee, a supervisor or a professional, like an engineer, accountant, etc., joins an industrial organization somewhere between the age of 18 and 23. At that point in time, he comes into the organization as an individual with his own fundamental behaviour pattern. In the context of human behaviour at work, P, of Lewin's Field Theory, is this fundamental or basic behaviour pattern which characterizes an individual from others in the and the

organization. Once he joins the organization, he interacts with the organizational environment, which consists of the structural group to which he is attached or the informal group to which he is drawn, and the organizational climate pertaining to his area of work. The fundamental or basic behaviour pattern of the individual is tempered by this interaction and the result obtained is the work ethos of the individual and the group. The dynamics of human behaviour at work is shown in Figure 1. The fact to remember here is that whereas individual behaviour is affected by the organizational climate, individual behaviour also affects group behaviour. Therefore, the work ethos of an individual is a function of his fundamental behaviour pattern or the value system he has brought to work. The work ethos of the group, whether structured or informal, is, in turn, affected by the work ethos of its constituent individuals. Moreover, even while in the group, the fundamental behaviour pattern or value system of the individual is largely retained. Ethos is a subset of culture and as such, work ethos/work ethics is one of the important constituents of work culture. This is shown in Figure 2. Work culture has been defined by Walton (1979) as 'the combination of attitudes, relationships, developed capabilities, habits and other behavioural patterns that characterize the dynamics of the organization.

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Therefore, work culture characterizes the dynamics of human relationships of an organization, and, quite logically, is the result of the interaction of the work ethos of the various structural, hierarchical and professional groups with the organizational climate.

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WORK ETHOS

"Work ethos" is a compound expression built on the greek word "ethos" (referring to an idea of "habit" that often is ascribed to one's personal/moral tendencies).

With the adjective "work" preceding ethos, the expression refers to a person's work ethic (we can see how "ethic" comes from "ethos" visually in the spelling, too).

Work ethos is the response made by a person, group or community of life in accordance with their respective beliefs. Every belief system has value and every person who receives a particular belief trying to act in accordance with their beliefs.

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CHARACTERISTICS OF WORK ETHOS

1. ATTENDANCE - Attend workplace, arrives/leaves on time - Make advance notice for planned absences - Punctuality. 2. CHARACTER - Display loyalty, honesty, trustworthiness, reliability, dependability, initiative, self discipline and self-responsibility 3. TEAMWORK - Team worker, cooperative, assertive, display a customer service attitude, continuous learning, mannerly behavior 4. APPEARANCE - Display appropriate dress, grooming, hygiene and etiquette 5. ATTITUDE - Positive attitude, self confident, realistic expectation of self 6. PRODUCTIVITY - Safety practices, conserve materials, keep work area neat and clean, follow directions and procedures

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7. ORGANISATIONAL SKILL - Skill in personal management, time management, prioritizing, flexibility, stress management and dealing with chance 8. COMMUNICATION - Appropriate verbal and non verbal skill 9. COOPERATION - Display leadership, appropriate handle criticism and complaints, demonstrate problem solving capacity, maintain appropriate relationship with supervisors and peers, and follow chain of command. 10. RESPECT - Respect the rights of others, deal appropriately with cultural/racial diversity and not engaged in harassment of any kind.

Work Ethos presents 8 Professional characteristics:

following

Work is Grace Work is the Amanah. Work is Calling Working is Actualization Work is Worship Work is Art Work is Honorary Work is Service

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Effect of Organizational Climate and Dynamics of Work Ethos & Culture

The explanation of the terms work ethos, work ethics and culture and the subsequent discussion of the dynamics of human behaviour at work of the preceding pages clearly brings out the fact that it is in the context of individualsmen and womenworking in organized enterprises that we have the concept of work culture and also perceive the effect of prevailing work culture on the indices of organizational effectiveness. The index of performance of an industrial or business organization is productivity since higher productivity leads to improved profitability and growth. The individuals who man the organization form parts of different structural groups. These groups, in turn, have to carry out various tasks which are necessary to achieve the goals of the organization. These tasks have to be both result-oriented and time-bound and in the performance of these tasks, such groups must also interact with other groups. However, the task or the job has to be performed in the given organizational climate, which, as far as the individual or the group of which he forms a part is concerned, consists primarily of the following elements:

The content, responsibilities and challenges of the job. The prevailing group atmosphere and climate of team work.

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the organizational structure and rules, regulations and procedures the trust and support received from superiors leadership and the example set by superiors in the form of their actions and deeds methods of goal-setting and evaluation of performance use of fear, threats and rewards to activate employees towards better/higher performance. The individuals in a group bring with them their individual levels of skills, education and training, as well as their personal traits and acquired social values. As explained earlier, from the work ethos of the individuals, the work ethos of the group is derived, and these structural groups interact with each other (that is, within themselves in the organization) to attain given organization objectives, all the while interacting with the organizational climate and its various elements. The work culture of the organization is obtained through this interaction of individuals and groups with the organization. This interaction is a continuous process

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which means that the derived work culture is not static but dynamic in nature. Organizational work culture can either be good or bad, in the sense that good work culture is one that is conducive for high levels of organizational performance, the indices of which are productivity, profits and growth. According to Likert (1961), the best performance climate involves openness, trust, sharing, twoway communication and participative leadership. Walton's five work culture ideals are essentially the same except for the fact that Walton has also included high skill levels and flexibility in using them (Walton, 1979). These variables are, therefore, mechanisms in the sense that through the improvement of any or some of these, one can improve organizational performance through improved teamwork and cooperation, effective communication and greater consultation, flexibility, work innovation, and sustained work on the activation levels of individuals and groups. Such efforts are oriented to achieve the objectives of:

(1) removal of barriers to individual satisfaction and organizational effectiveness, (2) development of new and creative organizational solutions, and (3) development of individual and organizational capacity for self-renewal. (Beer and Huse, 1972, pp 79-101). At the same time, these variables are also characteristics of the organizational climate in as much as they individually and interactively characterize the organizational climate (Taguiri, 1986).

Accordingly, there are some distinctive features or attributes of an organizational culture which can also be used for the evaluation of the prevailing work culture. This may be done by devising either a single performance index, or where necessary, multiple indices for each of these attributes or characteristics. It is necessary, therefore, to identify all such variables which not only can serve as indicators of the existing

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work culture but also can be used as mechanisms of organizational development. Likert's and Wai ton's lists are not complete since work culture pertains to an organization and order and discipline are prime requisites for organizational success (Koontz and CXDonnell, 1972, pp 508-511). Based on the author's observations, some characteristics of organizational work culture which are important in the Indian context are as follows: discipline. teamwork and cooperation communication and consultation delegation of authority activation levels of individuals and groups identity, a sense of belonging and the response of individuals and groups to challenges of responsibility. flexibility and work innovation. role of unions and associations. The interaction of the above elements of organizational climate with the constituents in the organization produces the prevalent work culture with its various attributes or characteristics. Thus, an increase in level or an improvement in one or some of the elements of the organizational climate will produce a corresponding improvement in one or several characteristics of work culture. At the same time, such an improvement should, in all likelihood, produce an improvement in the work ethos of the individual(s) which in turn will create an environment for further improvement in one or several of the work culture characteristics. This is the dynamics of work culture which has been illustrated in Figure shown ; points to the fact that the management can and should make suitable changes, amendments and improvements to create a

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new work culturea work culture which is likely to foster both productive job contributions and human job satisfaction (Fiegenbaum,1986, p 207).

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Work Ethos and Management

Management

is

the

process

of

optimum

utilisation of human and non-human resources with the intent to accomplish the objectives of organisation along with value addition to the world. Thus, the process of management involves three things optimum utilisation of resources, which leads to efficiency, realisation of organisational goals which leads to effectiveness and value addition to world which suggests social responsibility. Ethics and ethical behaviour are the essential elements of healthy management. Abundant access to information and greater business opportunities than ever before make ethics an essential requirement in the modern business world.

WORK ETHOS AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT

Work ethos will be different at different levels. It can be defined at different levels as under: 1. At a Basic Level 2. At the Top Level

1. At the Basic Level: Work ethos at the basic level entails: a. Discipline b. Consistent maintenance of punctuality c. Appropriate and cordial demeanour with superior, colleagues and sub ordinates d. No personal work or wastage of time during working hours e. Observance of discipline and decorum in regards to peers and subordinates f. Consistent sustenance of ethically and morally sound actions.
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2. Top Level: At the top level, work ethos involves delivering as per commitment, being accountable for errors, feeling responsible for the task assigned to an individual. Some more factors that form a part of work ethos at the superior level are: a. Work Culture: Good work culture means one is fully dedicated towards work and has high morale and job satisfaction. On the other hand, poor work culture results in high rate of wastage, poor quality, low productivity and low morale. b. Loyalty: Work culture is also concerned with a worker's loyalty and sense of belongingness to the organisation. One should protect the interest of the organisation at all times. No employee should pass any adverse comments about the organisations in the public. c. Commitment and Responsibility: Every man should work like a master, not like a slave. Employees should assume complete responsibility for the task assigned to them and employ utmost efforts to attain the targets expected of them. d. Sense of Belongingness: The worker should exhibit by his behaviour a sense of belongingness to the organisation. A sense of respect should be demonstrated for the organisation. One should maintain a cordial and amicable relationship with peers, sub ordinates and superiors and treat them well. e. Protecting the interest of organisation: Employees should strive to protect the interests of the organisation and never compromise on this aspect.

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Unethical Behavior - It's Impact on Today's Workplace

It is a sad truth that the employees of just about every business, in every business, will occasionally encounter team members who are taking part in unethical behaviors. Such unethical behaviors include a wide variety of different activities. Among the most common unethical business behaviors of employees are making long-distance calls on business lines, duplicating software for use at home, falsifying the number of hours worked, or much more serious and illegal practices, such as embezzling money from the business, or falsifying business records. Though there is sometimes a difference between behaviors that are unethical and activities that are actually illegal, it is up to the business itself to decide how it deals with unethical behavior - legal or not. Many employees find that discovering unethical behavior among co-workers actually tests their own values and ethical behaviors. After all, unethical behavior that is not illegal frequently falls in a grey area between right and wrong that make it difficult to decide what to do when it is encountered. Furthermore, different people have different views regarding what is ethical and what is unethical. For example, some people feel that it is alright to tell a little "white lie", or to make one long distance call on the company's nickel, as long as they can justify it in their mind. When employees discover other employees doing something that they know is wrong by the company's standards, their own sense of what is right and what is wrong instantly comes into question. That employee needs to consider how s/he feels about that particular activity, as well as informing about that activity, or turning a blind eye. Even by deciding to do something about it, the employee who has discovered the unethical behavior is presented with a number of difficult choices. Should the employee speak to the individual directly, or should the employee head directly to a company supervisor? To make this decision a bit easier, many companies have adopted several techniques that allow for the management of unethical activities. The first step is to create a company policy, in writing, that is read and signed by each employee. This erases most feelings of ambiguity when it comes to deciding what to do after witnessing an unethical behavior.

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The second is to give a clear outline of what is expected of the person who has discovered the unethical behavior. It should include the person who should be contacted, and how to go about doing it. With clear instructions, there will be less hesitation in reporting unethical activities, and then they can be dealt with quickly and relatively easily, before they develop into overwhelming issues. Furthermore, the repercussions of unethical behaviors should be clearly stated. This way, both the person doing the activity, and the witness to the activity will be well aware of the way that things will be dealt with, and there won't be any risk of someone not reporting unethical behavior because they're afraid that the culprit will be unfairly treated. Communication is key in the proper management of unethical behavior in today 's workplace.

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Cross Cultural Work Ethos

The Indian work ethic/ethos is largely based upon 1. Team Spirit and working together towards a common goal 2. Loyalty to the boss/employer 3. Working as hard as it takes to get the job done, in other words proving one can do what one is entrusted to do.

The American work ethic/ethos is based upon 1. Individual responsibility and taking care of what I am entrusted with 2. Being accountable/trustworthy as an individual to boss/employer 3. Doing as much as agreed to (generally) and more depending on how motivated the individual is. Let us look at some common situations one faces in our industry 1. Working long hours -There was a recent Forbes magazine survey on list of countries where people take vacations. India ranked near bottom, the States was a wee bit better, about two countries ahead, but still ahead. I can write a few blog posts on this alone, but to keep it relevant to the subject vacations and time off from work are taken a lot more seriously in the States than in India. So if you are taking up a job in the States that requires a lot of overtime, it is a very good idea to discuss with your boss/employer the situations that require overtime work. Being candid and open particularly before you take up a job is appreciated in most situations and your boss/employer is more than likely to give you an answer, even if that is not what you expected. And if possible cautiously ask if there are ways they will compensate or give you time off. Always to remember not to put in too many hours without any discussion or agreement on how it may be perceived. 2. Helping a team mate in trouble - In India it is very common to speak up for the underdog, or someone you see is in need of help and for some reason cannot do it himself. In the States help goes strictly by request and acceptance someone asks you for it and you agree, people rarely speak up for others in public (unless it is your team member and you are talking to another manager on his/her behalf). If you speak up for someone else more than likely they are going to be offended or take it as a reflection of their own inability to do so.
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3. Speaking up when you have an idea and qualifying your ideas with I. Most Indian team members will have an idea on something but will only speak up when they feel supported or specifically singled out and asked in American work situations you have to take initiative and speak up for yourself. To ensure that your ideas do not sound too opinionated or encroaching on someone elses make sure to say that is my experience/my opinion. There are lessons one learns from either cultures in almost every job its seen in the States that its tried to encourage team spirit. It is regarded that as the most valuable lesson we learn from our jobs in India and have tried to carry over some of that. The single most important lesson we have learnt from the American work ethic is that work is done primarily in return for money and while having due regard for loyalty and commitment, it is also important to evaluate periodically if you are not giving too much. In times when job security and other cultural norms are slowly becoming a thing of the past that might be a good lesson in India too.

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NEED TO BEHAVE ETHICALLY The need to behave ethically comes from the following:

1. From the point of view of internal customer: It improves the atmosphere and ambience at work and facilitates by motivating the employees. The ethical behaviour of management sets a good example for the employees. It evokes a sense of pride for the company and improves its image in the eyes of the employees and establishes a sense of loyalty.

2. From the point of view of external customer: It ameliorates the public image of the company and adds to the overall development of ethical behaviour in the society. There have been innumerable discussions on ethics, law and morality. Ethics is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality- i.e. concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice, etc. Ethics can also be characterised asrules of conduct recognised in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc. Making ethical decisions may not always feel good or seem like they benefit you but are the 'right' choices to make. These are universal rules or golden rules' like; do not hurt, do not steal, do not be dishonest, do not lie. Again, what is morally correct is not always ethically also. Morals and the expression, "moral values" are generally associated with a personal view of values. Personal morals tend to reflect beliefs relating to various issues. Law at work place discusses the set of rules imposed by authority. In other words, law is a rule or body of rules of

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conduct inherent in organisation and essential to or obligatory on the part of employees. At workplace, we have to keep a proper balance of Morality, Ethics and Law. The safest place is where your action covers all the three aspects Ethics, Morality and Law (EML). From the organisation's perspective, you must not transgress the boundaries of law i.e. perform within EL, EM, L or EML. Further, an employee may not always follow the law sometime he could listen to his ethics but one should always have the answer of breaking the law of Work life.

Thus, Work Ethos or Work Culture refers to certain norms of behaviour governing the conduct of workers involved in work situations to achieve certain desired objectives. The degree of ones involvement influences his performance resulting in high or low productivity, high or low quality. Sometimes, work culture is also integrated with a workers loyalty and sense of belonging, by his behaviour, to the organisation. It is a mixture of abiding to the laws, observing appropriate code of conduct as determined by the organisation as well as maintaining one's own morality.

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REASONS FOR POOR WORK ETHOS/CULTURE

The following factors are accountable for poor work culture in a business organisation: 1. Lack of commitment: Lack of commitment refers to the disinterest shown by a worker towards the work assigned to him. This results in poor work culture in the organisation and, in turn, in poor quality of product and diminished productivity. An employees dedication towards his/her work should be exhibited in his behaviour. 2. Lack of discipline: Discipline includes consistent regularity and punctualitycoming to work place on time, completing the task within the stipulated deadline, following rules and regulations if any and not wasting time during working hours etc. Hence, lack of discipline will create poor work culture that may cause delay in operations. 3. Poor working condition: Poor working conditions includes unhealthy working atmosphere, lack of pure drinking water, lack of proper ventilation, lack of canteen facilities, lack of safety devices and norms, industrial pollution etc. These are the constituents of poor working conditions in an organisation. 4. Political interference: Most unions in companies are affiliated to some political party. Political leaders, sometimes, destroy the peace and harmony in the organisation for the sake of personal power and ego. This is one of the major reasons causing industrial conflict. 5. Decline in moral standard: Moral standards provide a benchmark for judging the moral value of a decision. They provide the basis for deciding whether an act is right or wrong. If there is decline in the moral standards, the culture of the work in an organisation deteriorates rapidly.

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DIMENSIONS OF THE WORK ETHOS

Following are the other dimensions of work ethos:

1. Protecting the interest of the organisation: Interest of organisation must agenda high priority of an organisations employees. Their activities must focus on the protection of interest of the organisation. Workers can protect the interest of their organisation through higher productivity and quality of a product. They should make their best efforts in this regard.

2. Work ethics through appropriate system: Unambiguous policies, rules and regulations, reward system etc. are facilitative in establishing work ethics. Clarity of these will make work-ethics more purposeful.

3. Work ethics in terms of proper communication system: A transparent communication system is said to be the lifeline of an organisation. Proper communication channel will promote work ethics in the organisation. Any misunderstanding, distrust, suspicion etc. may be eliminated through communication system.

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STEPS FOR IMPROVING WORK ETHOS

Management must take some steps to improve the work culture in the organisation.

Following steps may be taken:

1. In order to improve work ethos, wages should be correlated to productivity. 'Higher wages for higher productivity' should be the policy of the organisation. 2. In order to reduce absenteeism, attendance bonus should be introduced. 3. In order to increase efficiency of workers, they should be properly rewarded. In other words, efficient workers should get incentives. 4. Workers should be given an opportunity to participate in management decisions. 5. There should not be political interference in the day to day operation of the business.

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