Ethical dilemmas occur because of an organization’s value system, the pattern of values within an organization. Values are the relatively permanent and deeply held underlying beliefs and attitudes that help determine a person’s behavior (Kinicki & Williams, 2016). Ethical dilemmas can create a conflict between personal and organizational values. We often think about ethics being between right and wrong, but if it were only that we might not have dilemmas. Ethics can be between 2 rights or 2 wrongs (less evil). Organizations may have conflicting value systems: (1) the value system stressing financial performance versus (2) the value system stressing cohesion and solidarity in employee relationship (Kinicki & Williams, 2016). Could you work in an organization where your values conflicted with organizational values? Why/why not?

It would be difficult to work in organizations with conflicting value systems to personal values since work motivation would be low thus affecting performance and overall input to the job and the human conscience prevents such practices due to conflict of interests(Kinicki, & Williams, 2016). Conflicting value system between an employee and the organization affects the quality of work that a person does hence creating lack of job satisfaction which results in little or no motivation. Most people fee motivated to work hard and produce more for an organization when the values are compatible. In addition, most people feel satisfied with jobs with which they have more interest doing. Besides the financial remunerations for employees, most people get motivated from the satisfaction. Conversely, working in organizations with conflicting values does not come with job security neither does the organizations benefit from possible retention programs. For example, a person can work with an organization to meet a financial need despite the conflict in values and resign afterwards. Once the firm will also realize that an employee makes several mistakes due to conflict in values, he/she might be fired from the job hence no guaranteed job security. Such factors makes it difficult to work for organizations with conflicting value systems.

References

Kinicki, A., & Williams, B. (2016). Management: A Practical Introduction (7th ed.). Retrieved from: The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database