Introduction
The performance of the
organization does not depend on how much capital (money) you invest in the
school/organization. Or it does not depend on the managerial skills the
administrators/managers have but it depends on many aspects of organization
life. Pay attention to the details of organization life is necessary, not only
on physical matters or tangible things but the things that we cannot see. Small
things, if they are not given attention, can be a big hindrance to the
development. Along this line, people
often focus on big things such as efficiency, managerial skills, leadership
skills together with their technical skills in carrying out their duties and
responsibilities but one aspect that
people often undermine are the values, the values of those who lead, those who
are on the top. Values can be a motivating factor that can improve satisfaction
of their employees and finally lead to higher performance of the company.
One value that is often
undermined is integrity. Value of integrity may seem to be small in our eyes
but it has a tremendous power to bring down or up the organization. The
bankruptcies of businesses and organizations around the world are caused by the
value integrity. Just mention for a few like ENRON and WorldCom. They committed
fraud in their financial reporting to the public, misled the investors and then
the result was their bankruptcy. Such value, how small it is, it can bring up
or down the organization.
Since value is important part of
running the organization, thus the paper would focus on the value of integrity
and how it affects the satisfaction of employees. The purpose of the paper is
to open the eyes of everybody, particularly administrators, to see the
importance of values in running the school or organization. The value of
integrity has been posted under the vision and mission statement of any
organization and the purpose is for the employees and management to live by it.
Some literatures and related studies will be presented to support the idea that
integrity and job satisfaction is related.
Integrity
Integrity has been part of core
values in any organization. However, not many organization’ members really
understand the meaning of integrity and how integrity works and influence the
organization. Integrity is a value which is abstract and can be seen in action.
Through action, we can understand the difference between integrity and dishonesty.
However to provide a basis for
our discussion, let us find out the meaning of integrity and how it affects the
organization and how integrity affects the satisfaction of employees.
The word “Integrity” can mean
many things. Integrity can be applied to person and object. When integrity is
used as a virtue, it refers to a quality of a person’s character. But when
integrity is applied to objects, then integrity refers to the wholeness,
intactness or purity of a thing. These meanings that are supposed to be used
for objects; they are used for human beings or persons. An object has integrity
when it has not been corrupted or damaged. Such meaning is carried over when we
call a person as a person of integrity which means that the person has not been
damaged inside –out by wrong doing or immoral act. Along the concept of
integrity, we are going to see different concepts of integrity offered by
different philosophers.
Lucaites, Condit & Caudill (1999) defines integrity as consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations and outcomes. In ethics, they argued, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one’s actions. Such word (integrity) stems from Latin word “integer” (whole, complete). In this context integrity is the inner sense of wholeness deriving from honesty and consistency of character. Philosophers have been trying to understand integrity in relation to a person’s character and life. What is it to be a person of integrity? Answering such a question, we are going to discuss two fundamentals intuitions: first, that integrity is primarily a formal relation one has to oneself. Second that integrity is connected in an important way to acting morally. In this case, there are some substantive constraints on what it is to act with integrity (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2011). Talking of substance of integrity means that integrity is not just the image of integrity but its substance. The substance of integrity is about what you see from the outside is a reflection of what is inside you. Inside and outside of you is integral part of you. Your action must be a reflection of your inner values.
Latest discussion on integrity, integrity is related to the integration of self, integrity as maintenance of identity, integrity as standing for something, integrity as moral purpose and integrity as a virtue. Integrity as self-integration is a matter of keeping the self intact and uncorrupted (wholeness/intactness). In this sense, integrity is a formal relation to the self. According to
Such view of integrity has still problem because it does not reflect integrity as a virtue. Defining integrity as maintenance of identity conferring commitment cannot really be a virtue. A virtue motivates a person to act in desirable ways or it enables a person to act in desirable ways. A person of integrity in its sense of maintenance of identity means a person who can act in a way that reflects his sense of who he is/she is, to act from her/his motives, his/her interest and commitments that are her/his own (Williams, 1981). The questions here are: what are those commitments? What are those motives? What are those interests? Are they good commitments or bad commitments? In this case, people of integrity in this sense can do bad things as long as it is their own; it is their motives and interest. Defining integrity as a virtue is also presented by Cox, La Caze and Levine (2003) They argued that virtue is a quality held to be of great moral values.
Since such concept poses a problem, Colhoun (1995) defines integrity as a social virtue. As a social virtue, integrity is defined by a person’s relations to others. Colhoun (1995) argues that integrity is a matter of a person’s proper regard for their own best judgment. In this case, persons of integrity do not just act consistently with their endorsement, they stand for something: they stand for their best judgment within a community. A person of integrity treats their own endorsement as ones that matter or ought to matter to fellow deliberators. In this case, a person of integrity is committed to what is best, not only for himself but also for the community. Such person is not lying to his own statement/decision, concealing them, recanting them under pressure, selling them out for rewards or changing stand under pressure. He stands for what he/she believes to be best not only for him/herself but also for community.
Halfon (1989) argues that integrity is not just self-integration, maintenance of identity and standing up for something but integrity has a moral purpose. He describes integrity in terms of a person’s dedication to the pursuit of a moral life and their intellectual responsibility in seeking to understand the demands of such life. They are pursuing a commitment to do what is best morally. In this case, a person of integrity is the one who acts with moral purpose and display intellectual integrity in moral deliberation. However some still argue that understanding integrity only in terms of moral concern seem too narrow because there are other matters like love, friendship and personal commitments appear highly relevant to judgment of integrity.
In summary we can say that integrity is self-integration or wholeness, commitment to what is best for self and community, standing up for something and a moral purpose. When someone is called a person of integrity, it means that she/he is considered to have a self-integration, commitment, standing up for something and have strong moral character. A person of integrity bases her/his action on well-thought moral principles. What she/he does is the same with what he/she says. Such concept of integrity is based on ethics.
Integrity in Organization
When we talk of organizational integrity, we cannot avoid of talking personal integrity because organization is composed of individual persons. Therefore individual integrity matters to organizational integrity. Integrity conveys a sense of wholeness, as in a person of integrity who is a whole individual or a person who is somehow undivided (Adler & Bird, 1988). In this case, integrity is not just about single-mindedness but completeness. It refers to the serenity of being confident in the knowledge that one is following ethical principles despite pressures or personal temptation. By saying that, it implies that uncompromising adherence to a code of moral and other values. Such integrated self-picture of integrity, with its consistency and non-ambivalence about values and principles is often perceived as an essential of integrity. Although such integrity is considered as an individual virtue, it only gains respect in concrete situation in relationship with others and within the organization.
Along with the stated idea above, we can say that integrity failure in an organization is caused by character flaws of the responsible individual. Integrity discerns what is morally appropriate and what is not, implicitly implying consideration of others with whom one lives in a community or works in an organization. By extending personal integrity into social domain, then it becomes a basic element that can be perceived as organizational integrity (Trevinyo Rodrigues, 2007). Thus, organizational integrity becomes a social virtue that emphasizes connectedness with a large purpose. A person of high integrity must act according to moral principles and values that relate to other members of the organization (Becker, 1998). Organizational integrity then is a social phenomenon that involves, not only consistency between action and principles, but adherence to reasonably accepted principles. In other words, organizational integrity is a standard of personal moral excellence (Habermas, 1998). A possible internal conflict between personal integrity and organizational integrity can not always be excluded, since an individual’s autonomous and deeply held convictions are not always completely aligned with the organizational structures or values and principles.
Organizational integrity is expressed in normative statement included in the organization’s mission statements (Paine 2003). However, even though an organization has organizational values, it does not guarantee that all employees will act according to the stated organizational values. One needs attitude of integrity that not only follows the letter of the rules but adheres to deeply held and internalized ethical values. In this case, leadership maintains organizational ethos in relation to collective mission, identity and long term objectives. The most challenging is when managers or administrators are confronted with competing and ambiguous demands. In such situation, a person of integrity needs to make a decision about right versus right, inevitably leading to certain compromises that do not undermine integrity (Badaracco, 2002).
The importance of Integrity
We can have a lot of theories of
integrity but we will still find ourselves in the dark until we see it in the
action. Integrity has to be lived in reality. Not living the integrity means
the collapse of the organization. We do
not need to mention all bankruptcies around the globe. We just mention several
big corporations such as ENRON scandal, WorldCom, Parmalat, Waste Management,
Qwest Communications, Tyco International, AIG, and Satyam Computer Services,
Adelphia Communications, AOL Time Warner and many more. All these companies are
brought down not because of capital inadequacy but because of fraud. The
managers and the auditors are conniving to mislead the public by not telling
the truth about the financial situation of their companies (Patsuris, 2002).
Generally they use different methods for misusing, misdirecting funds,
overstating revenues, understating expenses, overstating the value of corporate
assets, underreporting of the existence of liabilities, sometimes with the
cooperation of officials in other cooperation or affiliates. In other words,
someone did something wrong intentionally or unintentionally and tried to cover
it up by cooking the accounting books.
Just by knowing what happens to those companies and ask why, we simply say that they cheated, they lied or they were not honest. The prize of being dishonest was so expensive.
One may conclude that practicing
dishonesty may cause short term and long term consequences. Short term
consequences include employees dissatisfaction, employees morale are down and work
performance or productivity is down.
Job Satisfaction
There have been a lot of theories related to job satisfaction. We recall the five hierarchy needs of Maslow, Herzberg theory and many more. However, talking of job satisfaction is not simple because job satisfaction is not only physical needs but also psychological needs. In terms of physical needs, it can be identified such as basic needs and wants, however, when it comes to psychological needs, it is hard to pinpoint exactly what exactly are those needs, given the fact that humans are different in nature. Psychological needs encompass many aspects of life and many factors either internal or external can affect psychological needs. Thus the term “job satisfaction” is understood to mean everything from “making all aspects of a job easy for employees” to “making the job meaningful, significant and challenging.” Even such description is still limited because aspects of jobs are not the only ones make people happy but there are unrelated to job that makes people happy. In other words, we can say that all the factors contributing to employee motivation and effectiveness are not captured in any one of the single ambiguous concepts of job satisfaction. Thus, much of the qualitative research has not been verified by qualitative data. Research conducted by Schleicher, Watt and Greguras (2004) indicates that individuals with identical responses to questions on job satisfaction often possess entirely different behaviors relating to job performance. Additionally, differing factors relating to job satisfaction hold varying degrees of importance to individuals. Thus, a proven model showing the relationship between job satisfaction and performance has been elusive despite the vast quantity of qualitative data supporting the relationship. These issues are very complex and have simply not been fully deciphered by researchers.
Kevin Scheid (2010) argued that although job satisfaction, employee motivation and productivity are complex and confusing issues, management should not back away from facing them. Understanding that some parts of job satisfaction and motivation are simply an attribute of the employee over which you have no influence should temper your approach to improving job satisfaction. Managers should focus on two areas to improve job satisfaction, motivation and productivity: how employees are treated and the content of their work. A good employee survey should help management focus in on areas which are creating dissatisfaction or which are not providing adequate motivation.
There have been few essays
discuss about integrity and job satisfaction on how integrity affect job
satisfaction. Along this interest, Narasimhan & Lawrence (2011) argued that
employees’ perception that their leader’s actions and words are consistent
leads to desirable workplace outcomes. However, they further explain that
although BI (behavioral integrity) is a powerful concept, the role of leader
referents, the relationship between perceived BI of different referents, and
the process by which BI affects outcomes are unclear.
The Relationship between Integrity and Job Satisfaction
Several literatures have been
written along this line. However, we try to examine some available literature
along the relationship of job satisfaction and integrity. Integrity is an
essential value in the organization. Integrity is an umbrella term that covers
all other values such trust and honesty. Practicing such values naturally will
improve organizational climate and finally job satisfaction. Callaway (2006)
argues that without trust or lack of it among organizational members and
between management and employees, organizational communication and
organizational performance may decline. Trust
has been identified as a crucial ingredient for organizational effectiveness. A
linkage between trust and job satisfaction in private organizations has been established
by researchers.
Manager’s integrity is interpersonal relationship of manager. A manager who helps employees, listen to their innovative ideas, motivates them, directs them, remain open and friendly with them is known to possess integrity. Manager’s integrity helps an organization in achieving short term and long-term goals. Due to manager’s integrity, organization can better respond to internal and external needs. Manager’s value play a significant role in employees involvement. Ethical code set by the manager must be acceptable for the employees. Managers have the authority to make decisions and implement them. Such decisions affect on the performance of an organization in both positive and negative means. Implementation and outcome of these decisions show the intensity of integrity of manager (Allen, Eby &Lentz, 2006).
Job satisfaction and manager’s integrity has direct relationship. Actions and words of manager govern the action of employees. If manager’s words depict trust and honesty, employees will follow the rules and principles of manager. In other words, integrity is significant to the employer-employee relationships. Employees behave ethically and use ethical ways to complete their task and achieve organizational objectives. Lack of integrity can weaken the performance of an organization by making employees dissatisfied and demotivated. If employees perceive unfairness and inequality, they will adopt unethical behavior (Kosgaard, 2006)
Social exchange theory is based upon trust that is built between two persons. Building a trust between two persons, builds a social relationship also, known as social exchange. This theory identifies the factors that initiate trustworthy and fair relationships. It also identifies the motivational factors that are involved in creating social relationships. This theory can be applied between any two individuals in the world (Cropanzano and Mitzchel, 2005)
Social exchange theory also works
in an organization. Employees and employers work together to achieve the
objective of the organization as a team. Team work creates a friendly and
cooperative environment that makes employees and employer emotionally attach
with each other. Emotional attachment builds a trust based relationship between
employees and manager. In the light of this theory, manager and employees share
a formal relationship. Both work for the betterment of the organization. Social
exchange theory exchanges social benefits such as support, advice, etc. (Grant
& Sumanth, 2009)
Related Studies on the relationship
between Integrity and satisfaction
The value of Integrity cannot be undermined after all. It
affects the organization positively and negatively depending on how integrity
is exercised by those who lead the organization. Along this line, there have
been a lot of studies along integrity and how it affects job satisfaction of
employees. Some researchers argue that leaders need integrity to be
effective, while others argue that only results matter, not how you get them.
Few have empirically examined the impact of integrity on leadership
effectiveness. Hooijberg and Lane (2005)
examine the impact of leadership behaviors on effectiveness as well as values
such as integrity, flexibility and conformity, using a sample of top-level
public service managers. They find that the values of Integrity and Flexibility
have a significant impact on effectiveness over and above the impact of various
leadership behaviors: Integrity for managers and their peers and flexibility
for direct reports and peers.
Going into the same line of interest of
study, Davis & Rothstein (2006) conducted a study entitled The Effect of the Perceived behavioral
Integrity of Managers on Employee Attitudes: A Meta-Analysis. This
meta-analysis examined the relationship between perceived behavioral integrity
of managers and the employee attitudes of job satisfaction, organizational
commitment, satisfaction with the leader and affect toward the organization.
Results indicate a strong positive relationship overall (average r = 0.48,
p<0.01).
Other studies conducted along the value of integrity and employee attitude. Prottas (2007) conducted a study on “Perceived Behavioral Integrity: Relationship with Employee Attitudes, Well-Being and Absenteeism. The study concluded that perceived behavioral integrity (PBI) was positively related to job and life satisfaction and negatively related to stress, poor health, and absenteeism. The effect size for the relationship with job satisfaction was medium-to-large while the effect sizes with respect to the other variables were small-to-medium.
Following the same lead, Yammarino and Palanski (2011) also introduced a similar study on the Impact of behavioral integrity on follower job performance: A three-study examination. The study determines the relationship between leader behavioral integrity and follower job performance, follower behavioral integrity and job performance, and the effects of leader and follower behavioral integrity on follower job performance. Study 1 was an online experiment in which behavioral integrity was manipulated in written scenarios; Study 2 was a field study; and Study 3 was a longitudinal lab study with temporary work teams. Findings from the studies indicated that leader behavioral integrity was not directly related to follower job performance, but was related indirectly via trust in the leader and follower satisfaction with the leader. Results also indicated that follower behavioral integrity had a significant impact on job performance, both directly and indirectly via leader trust in the follower and satisfaction with the follower.
Since integrity is an organizational value, it has to be reflected in its code of conduct. Along this line, Somer (2001) conducted a study on the relationship between code of conduct, employee behavior, and organizational values. It wanted to measure how these codes of conducts affect employee perception and behavior. The study found out that the presence of corporate codes of ethics was associated with less perceived wrongdoing in organizations, but not with an increased propensity to report observed unethical behavior. Further, organizations that adopted formal codes of ethics exhibited value orientations that went beyond financial performance to include responsibility to the common good. In contrast to corporate codes of ethics, professional codes of ethical conduct had no influence on perceived wrongdoing in organization nor do these codes affect the propensity to report observed unethical activities.
The finding of Somer indicated that corporate code of ethics, professional codes of ethical conduct had no influence on wrong doing in organization is negated by another finding. Sean,Lynn, Godkin & Barnett (2010) went deeper into finding the relationship between positive job response and ethical job performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate a possible relationship between positive job response (conceptualized as job satisfaction and intention to stay) and behavioral ethics. Ninety-two matched manager-employee pairs from a regional branch of a large financial services and banking firm completed survey instruments, with each employee providing information about his or her job attitudes and intentions and each manager assessing the ethical/unethical performance of his/her employees. Respondents also provided additional information required for the analyses. The results indicated that positive job response among subordinates was associated with higher supervisory ratings of the subordinates’ ethical job performance.
Conclusion
Now we have a clear idea on the
integrity and how it is related to job satisfaction of employees. Literatures
and related studies have supported our idea that integrity can affect job
satisfaction of employees. Employees are not only motivated by money but also
by the values that top management live in their organizational life.
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