Title: Causes and impact of unethical behaviours in a workplace.

Abstract : unethical behaviours in a workplace can lead to very serious consequences like –
damage of the working environment at workplace, Employees become frustrated and loss
of confidence and sometimes they have suffered mentally and physically, Organization
losses its valuable employees and reputation also. In this research you have tried to find out
the reasons for unethical behaviours at workplaces. Unethical behaviours like – Employee
theft, lies and cheating, Bulling and harassment and personal consequences.

Introduction: Unethical behaviour or corporate scandals are common phrase nowadays.

Corporate scandals that culminate with the arrests of nefarious executives may garner the
headlines. But the cumulative damages caused by the seemingly small indiscretions that
employees and managers commit every day are just as bad. Unethical behaviour has
serious consequences for both individuals and organizations. One can lose his or her job and
reputation, organizations can lose their credibility, general morale and productivity can
decline, or the behaviour can result in significant fines and/or financial loss. Demanding
workloads which create high stress at work and at home, top executive poor management
practices, High concentration on money rather that employees satisfaction, especially at the
executive level, Avoiding tax payments is one of the common misconducts that are carried
out by corporations which eventually lands unethical behavior.
Need and scope of the study: To establish an workable environment where employees can
get the opportunities to learn and grow, participate and share, believe and take actions to
achieve organization’s goals – the first steps is ensure that organisation is free from
unethical behaviours and a safe and friendly place to work. If the system of the organization
is not fair that means employees are not satisfied, it will increase turnover rate,
absenteeism of employees and decrease the organization’s reputation, public creditability
and finally may lead to severe legal issues.

Objective of the study: This study aimed to find out of the actual reasons of unethical
behaviours at workplace and its effect on both individual and organizational performance
and specifically, the study attempted to find out the following questions:
1. What are the reasons of unethical behaviours in the workplace?
2. What are the impacts of unethical behaviours on employees and organizations?

Research method: This study is a qualitative and quantitative research which aimed to
assess the status and impact of the Performance appraisal system on employees. The
purposive sampling technique can be utilized in the selection of 55 respondents.
Data: The research data collection can be done on the basis of primary data collection a
data collection. It is depicted in the study of Meredith et al. and secondary (2018) that the
data collection methods are of two types in the context of the primary data collection
method: data will be conducted by approaching the questionnaire, interviews, or
observations. Secondary the research data collection is done on the basis of the
newspapers, academic journals, and books.

Ethical consideration: For the present study, a portion of the principle moral benchmarks
are trustworthiness, objectivity, and uprightness. It is required to make progress toward
genuineness for various logical correspondence e. The component of privacy has been the
primary need all through the examination. Moreover, every one of the personalities of the
respondents is required to be covered up so as to guard them from all the superfluous
measures. It helps in making the exam inaction very useful and effective.

Significance of the study: This study helps to determine causes and impacts of Unethical
behaviours at work place and can help to improve organization’s action to remove unethical
behaviours from organization and make proper rules and regulation on behaviour with each
other within organization and also encourages employees to raise their voice if they face
any harassment and injustice. . It is noted that an ethical system can bring a positive
experience and contribute to the overall welfare of the organization. If it done properly
both performance and productivity will improve.

Result and discussion: There are many different factors that can cause unethical behaviour.
The top factors include, but aren’t limited to:

 Demanding workloads which create high stress at work and at home.

 Top executive poor management practices. If unethical behavior goes without
consequence or you choose to promote these activities, it can lead to continuous
and more erratic behavior.
 Money is a high contender as to why someone may choose to undertake unethical
behavior, especially at the executive level. Avoiding tax payments is one of the
common misconducts that are carried out by corporations which eventually lands
them into major trouble.

Impact of unethical behaviours in the workplace:

Productivity Levels Decrease
The main goal of any corporation is to drive through sales from customers to maintain a
strong presence in the business world. Unfortunately, when a level of unethical behaviour
starts to form, it can cause productivity levels to decrease which surround the person or
corporation in question. When this happens, errors start to form in a once productive
production line.
Loss of Respect
In episodes where managers or leaders start to make unethical decisions, it can lead to
employees losing a lot of respect for their bosses. When this occurs, it can be difficult for the
leader to gain back the respect and trust that’s been lost. It also causes problems for them
to run a successful business when their team feels as if they’re making poor corporate
choices. Employees may also feel resentful towards their leaders. This is because, as a part
of the company, they feel their reputation is also starting to fall apart along with the
business’s reputation.
Loss of Public Credibility
When unethical behaviour occurs in a corporate setting, there’s a high chance it will be
publicized. This in turn can cause your company to lose its credibility, resulting in customers
abandoning sales with you, bad-mouthing your business, and not holding respect for you
anymore. To gain credibility back a corporation needs to create a well-planned rebranding
and marketing campaign, along with hiring a public relations team to help improve their
reputation. This can lead to millions of dollars in costs, especially if you’re a well know and
worldwide organization.

Legal Issues
In severe cases of unethical misconduct, it can lead to severe legal issues that result in loss
of time, large fines, and other penalties with possible jail time. The cost of legal battles can
go on for months to years and can lead into the millions of dollars depending on the
corporation’s particular situation and level of unethical behaviour. In addition to this,
executive who break the law can lead employees to also follow in pursuit in facing criminal
charges.
Suggestion of the study:
The following are the recommendations from the survey that organization should maintain:

 Setting realistic goals for employees to meet

 Create policies and practices which promote good ethical behavior
 Select high quality people to add to your team that have a good reputation of work
ethics in previous employment.
 Train people on good ethical behavior by implementing training sessions on a yearly
basis to maintain strong ethical behaviors.
 Maintaining strong ethical behavior at a higher executive level to ensure employees
maintain strong respect and good work ethics.
 Build a corporate culture that’s based on communication, openness, and transparency.
 Put controls in place such as progress audits to assess employees work efficiency and
behavior if complaints arise.
In any corporate environment, it’s important to maintain a high level of conduct and ethical
behaviour to ensure the success of a company.

References:

 Wanting More, Getting Less: Gaming Performance Measurement as a Form of

Deviant Workplace Behaviour
 Unethical behaviour under relative performance evaluation: Evidence and remedy
 Workplace Spirituality and Unethical Pro-organizational Behaviour\ Organizational
Architecture, Ethical Culture, and Perceived Unethical Behaviour
 The role of moral decoupling in the causes and consequences of unethical Pro-
organizational behaviour

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-017-3688-y
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324008627_Unethical_behavior_under_relative
_performance_evaluation_Evidence_and_remedy
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326692341_Workplace_Spirituality_and_Unethi
cal_Pro-organizational_Behavior_The_Mediating_Effect_of_Job_Satisfaction
https://asu.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/the-role-of-moral-decoupling-in-the-causes-
and-consequences-of-un