Indian Work Ethos

8/3/2019 Indian Work Ethos

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INTRODUCTIONBusiness 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 thatwhereas 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 valuesystem 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.
http://psychologyface.com/Tag/work-ethos/http://psychologyface.com/Tag/belief-system/http://psychologyface.com/Tag/belief-system/http://psychologyface.com/Tag/work-ethos/


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CHARACTERISTICS OF WORK ETHOS1. 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 followingcharacteristics:

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 ofWork Ethos & CultureThe 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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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 organizationaleffectiveness,

(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 ofwork 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 optimumutilisation 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 MANAGEMENTWork 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 ofthem.

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 protectthe interests of the organisation and never compromise on this aspect.


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Unethical Behavior - It's Impact on Today'sWorkplaceIt is a sad truth that the employees of just about every business, in every

business, will occasionally encounter team members who are taking part inunethical 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, orfalsifying 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 howit 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 longas 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, orturning 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. Shouldthe employee speak to the individual directly, or should the employee headdirectly 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 decidingwhat 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 theculprit 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 goal2. Loyalty to the boss/employer3. 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 with2. Being accountable/trustworthy as an individual to boss/employer3. 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 listof countries where people take vacations. India ranked near bottom, theStates 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

subjectvacations 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 candidand 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. Alwaysto remember not to put in too many hours without any discussion oragreement on how it may be perceived.

2. Helping a team mate in trouble - In India it is very common to speak upfor 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

acceptancesomeone 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 oftheir own inability to do so.


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3. Speaking up when you have an idea and qualifying your ideas withI. Most Indian team members will have an idea on something but will

only speak up when they feel supported or specifically singled out and

askedin American work situations you have to take initiative and speak

up for yourself. To ensure that your ideas do not sound too opinionated orencroaching on someone elses make sure to say that is myexperience/my opinion.

There are lessons one learns from either culturesin 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 agood lesson in India too.


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NEED TO BEHAVE ETHICALLYThe 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 eyesof 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, workculture 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/CULTUREThe 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 punctuality-

coming 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 ETHOSFollowing are the other dimensions of work ethos:

1. Protecting the interest of the organisation: Interest of organisation must

agenda highpriority 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 ETHOSManagement 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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Indian Work Ethos