Picture this. You are the newly promoted vice president of business development at an oil company. Your first assignment is to land an oil field services contract abroad. The process is arduous, negotiations are tough, and you’re working against a tight deadline. When you submit a tender to the foreign government, they advise you that there is little likelihood of winning the contract unless you hire a consultant of their choosing. Now what?
Is Your Company as Ethical as It Seems?
Five questions to ask yourself.
March 24, 2017
Summary.
As an employee, acting ethically is your responsibility. But it’s also the responsibility of your company to cultivate a culture that shuns corner-cutting. After all, that can discourage unethical behavior and prevent it from accumulating into major scandals. It’s common to find unhealthy climates in corporations that have been hit by bribery, fraud, and other fiascos.
So how can you know whether you work — or are interviewing for a job — at a company that is positioned to help you as you encounter gray-area decisions? Here are five questions to ask:
- Do your company’s incentives match its policies?
- Do you feel like you change who you are when you’re at work?
- Who gets promoted?
- What’s the tone from upper management?
- Does your company cover for employees in ethical lapses?
The answers to these questions will help you gauge a company’s ethical culture — and know whether it’s going to help you handle the pressures that unfortunately are all too common in business.
New!
HBR Learning
Ethics at Work Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Ethics at Work. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
Avoid integrity traps in the workplace.
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New!
HBR Learning
Ethics at Work Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Ethics at Work. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
Avoid integrity traps in the workplace.