Category: Ethics

Very Low Degree of Trust or Commitment and Effort Have you ever been a member of an organization that had a very low degree of trust, commitment, and effort? Did that organization evidence a very small amount of cooperation, innovation, and unification (where there was nearly no feeling that everyone was working together for a common goal)? If so, what was the cause? Explain and document your reasoning using scholarly and peer-reviewed journal articles and/or texts. The trust, commitment, and effort of others within an organization are vital to not only the success of the managers but also for the firm for which the managers and other employees work. Interpersonal cooperation is important to make sure the simplest of tasks are achieved, which allow larger tasks to be completed.

There does not exist a financial report without somebody crunching numbers, paper filling the printer, and somebody purchasing a stapler to staple together the pages. Further, for someone to read through and approve such a financial report involves cooperation within the organization. Small tasks and large tasks alike require the cooperation of many employees. Further, the commitment of employees and others both within and under the direction of management is imperative to the health of an organization. For example, if some employees within a company decide to not be faithful to a company by participating in insider trading or revealing trade or company secrets, there are not only legal repercussions for that employee, but there are consequences for that firm. Additionally, if there is not a substantial effort on the part of employees to work hard and produce satisfactory work, then there is not a product or output for that firm, which would result in a loss. Leena Louhiala-Salminen writes, “The goal is to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the communicative activities of managers” (Louhiala-Salminen, 2009, p. 308). For managers to communicate well their expectations to employees is important, so that employees can do the same in order to properly foster a business environment that is healthy. In this way, employees and managers can achieve the collective goals of the business or firm that they are a part of. To maintain focus and reach a common goal, there must be a commonality amongst the employees and diversity of thought amongst how to complete the common goal—but the common goal must be the same. Remus Ilies and his associates write, “Organizations are associative social systems where participants engage in organized activities to attain collective goals” (Ilies, Johnso, Judge & Keeney, 2010, p. 44). In order to accomplish these collective goals, managers must depend on the trust, commitments, and effort of others within the firm. The Bible says, “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock” (Matthew 7:25, English Standard Version). Those who do not depend on their businesses on the trust, commitments, and effort of their employees—a rock hard foundation—are foolish and their proverbial house will come down crashing.