13 Manager as a role model of human values

• Learning Outcomes
• Introduction
• Prominent human values Nature of human values
• Functions of human values
• Relationship of human values and corporate sector
• Human values and corporate sector

1.      LEARNING OUTCOMES

• After studying this module, students will be able to understand:
• Meaning, nature and functions of human values Relation of human values and corporate sector Prominent human values
• Human values and corporate sector

MODULE 12: MANAGER AS A ROLE MODEL OF HUMAN VALUES INTRODUCTION:

Human values can be defined as the belief, principles, followings, set standard that individual follows as their guidelines in daily activities. These human values are an important part of human nature. Without these values human beings are like flower without fragrance. Professional ethics are mainly built on the basis of these principle human values. From the societal point of view, these values are set of behavioral practices that individuals choose to practice in the light of maintaining interpersonal relationship. In the present era, human values plays a pivotal role in maintain peace and protecting society. Establishing human values into practical form contribute towards maintaining morality within the society. By correlating human values with personal relations, human being can live in harmony with others.

NATURE OF HUMAN VALUES

I. Human values are universal:

Human values are universal in nature. These values are mutually shared by all human beings, no matter to which religion, caste, creed, culture, nationality or history they belong to. Some of the eminent human values can be grouped as follows:

• Imbibe civility in nature. Giving respect to others.
• Having honesty in behavior.
• Developing a habit of sharing among individuals.
• Develop loyalty, solidarity and fairness in behavior.
• Establish a feeling of brotherhood, friendship, empathy, love and compassion for others.
• Inculcating openness, listening, welcoming, acceptance, recognition and appreciation in nature.

II.  Human values and culture:

Human values are specifically concerned to culture. Each persisting culture has its own value system, ethics and ethos. In countries like India and Japan, value system occupies the center stage in all activities, including those in business enterprises. Behavior that exert a positive relation with other human being are rewarded and having empathetic behavior for others are highly valued. On the other hand, behaviors which are anti-social are always condemned and are punished by the society. Therefore, culture promotes cultivating positive values in human being.

III. Implantation of Human values:

The initial process of implanting human values begins with the childhood of human being. These values are passed on by parents to their child and are further implanted throughout the child upbringing. As the child grows through its life phases, they learn more about these values from their friends groups, teachers, elders, leaders and society. The values which are learnt includes honesty, discipline, love, peace, justice, trust, civility, loyalty, appreciation and openness for the environment. In addition to this, subordination of individual interest before the larger interest is more desirable human values. People who hold outstanding human values are usually regarded as well as admired. It is generally visible in society for the individuals who are encouraged in profession like teachers, doctors, lawyers which are viewed as persons holding high moral and ethical code of conduct for their profession. These kind of noble human values are highly encouraged in society and on the other hand negative values are discouraged.

IV. Human values encourage peace:

If there is peace in the environment it encourages prosperity and this is attained by inculcating finer human values. It is by implanting such finer human values; people can better appreciate and give respect for the peaceful relationship among individuals. By putting human values into practice and it ultimately leads to bringing prosperity. Thus, these values can prove to be an encouraging factor for peace. Also, by putting these values into human relationship, it will surely enhance better mutual understanding among individuals. As far as business organizations are concerned, if these values are better cultivated into the organizational culture by the leaders, it is surely going to strengthen the foundation of workplace i.e. strong integration of human resources which would further lead to bringing peace and prosperity in the organization.

V. Human values encourage individual growth:

From the point of view to encourage individual growth, human values are of great importance. The basic thing is to focus on the self personality development. Complete knowledge regarding oneself is the first and foremost thing that needs to be taken care of. Today, there are many situations, where many people rely on other to follow their ideas to be successful which is completely fair because for the simple reason that we all have role models which influence our thinking. But still there exist a thin line discrepancy between individuals perspective of doing things. Human values which follow the basic features of Indian education focus on growth and advancement of individual. Indian education system which is the oldest system in the world has such qualities that do not exist anywhere in the world.

VI. Difference among Human values, Ethical values and Moral values:

Although three of them fall under the wide category of value system, there exists a thin line difference among them. Ethical values can be categorized as respectful behavior towards other human being, plants as well as animals without harmony them, while moral values are in fact the same but today moralizing rhetoric is not well received. On the other hand, human values are considered much more as developing positive attitude directly concerned with the behavior.

PROMINENT HUMAN VALUES:

Some of the prominent human values can be categorized as follows:

1. Genuine: One should have genuine feeling for others. Behavior should be honest, warm and heartily for people around you. Individual’s feeling should be such that it is felt genuinely by others.

2.Modesty: One must be humble in his/ her approach. There should not be a feeling of superiority within an individual. Modesty and humanity in nature have a far more everlasting impact on the people.

3. Self-Respect: One should try to be someone whom people around give respect and seek advice from. One who never consider material gains over and above his/her own moral values. One should never allow anyone to move you away from doing what is right and acceptable.

4. Rationality: One must be rational in its thinking. Your values should be such that it is not easily influenced by other’s thinking. Have a rational approach towards comparing situations, acts, people etc. Don’t let prejudice or emotion affect you or your judgment.

5.   Courteous: One should always show courtesy while behaving with others. Always adopt an approach of good manners even though others around you may not.

6.   Incorrupt: One should opt a strong approach for withholding one’s life values. Don’t let outside powers to corrupt you. It must be known to the external environment that you are not the person whose moral values and reactions are saleable.

7.  Civility: One must have a great civic sense. It is very pertinent to know how to behave in society and extend courtesy to others.

8.Wisdom: It is important to have knowledge but more important to have wisdom. One should try to understand the real qualities of people and apply his/her wisdom for the greater good of humanity.

9. Wholesome: One should be conducive of not only physical wellbeing but also psychological as well as spiritual wellbeing also. One must be completely attentive and active while interacting with others.

10.Charity: Establishing a feeling of empathetic and compassionate behavior towards others helps the individual to grow his/her personality. Learn to extend a helping hand towards other even though they themselves are not able to help you.

FUNCTIONS OF HUMAN VALUES:

Values are composed of different characteristics. Most of the imbibed values are learnt in the very early stages in our life from family, relatives, friends, school, media and other different sources of society, which later on becomes a part of our personality. These values are generally shared and reinforced by those with whom we interact. It can be individual specific or can be general. It can be different from culture to culture. One may value aggressiveness, another reverse and third may give little attention to this dimension collectively, thus, having divergent views on a single topic of concern. One society may value individual achievement as in USA whereas another may emphasize family unity and support as in India. The values of hard work and individual achievement are often associated with individual capitalist societies whereas holistic and spiritual growth may be the goal of others. Therefore, human values serve a lot of functions. The main functions are as follows:

• Values mend various prospects of individual’s personality and also influence the socio-cultural aspects of the individual.
• Values build up different pillars supporting the society and integrate social relations.
• Values play an important role in the integration and fulfillment of man’s basic desires in a stable and consistent manner which is necessary for his living.
• Values influence individual’s attitude and serves as the basis for evaluating the behavior of others.
• They have an important role to play in the conduct of one’s social life.
• They facilitate to create norms for day to day behavior.
• Values are mainly originated from experiences of various social actions made up of both individual and social responses and attitudes.

RELATIONSHIP OF HUMAN VALUES AND CORPORATE SECTOR:

In the present era, as the corporate sector is expanding day by day business firms are becoming more competitive in nature and for the system to deal with complexities with peace and harmony, human values acquired an important place in our socio-economic environment. Human values are the guiding forces that take into account human element when we interact with other human beings. These values can be categorized as positive forces that create humanity bonds among individuals. In other words, it creates reciprocity of behavior with the help of which strong and harmonious mutual relationships are developed.

In the context of corporate sector, the main aim of leaders in the organization is to create an environment of strong human values. Organizations strive hard to create and maintain value for all its stakeholders in the sense that it is the moral obligation on the part of the organization to serve satisfactorily towards all its direct or indirect stakeholders. For example: Owners expect business firms to maximize their wealth, customers expect that they are being served with justifiable kind of product and services, employees giving services to their organization expect to be compensated timely, suppliers expect that they are to be paid in time and at last, society expect that the organization maintain its moral and social responsibility within time etc. All these expectation from different stakeholders needs to be taken care of by the organization and is the value system that needs to be sustained.

HUMAN VALUES AND CORPORATE SECTOR:

Today, as the corporate sector is increasingly becoming more competitive, the importance of human values have acquired all the more important place in our socio-economic firmament. Human values are the virtues that guide us to take into account the human element when we interact with other human beings. These are the positive dispositions that cerate bonds of humanity amongst people and thus have value for all of us as human beings. These are strong positive feelings towards the human essence of the other fellow. It is both what we expect others to do to us and what we aim to give to other human beings.

Therefore, the creation of value is the primary goal of managers in the leading companies of the corporate sector. Organizations exist to create value for all constituencies or stakeholders. Values depend on the stakeholder as they expect different values from business. Markets and owners expect that economic value be created; customers may expect to obtain desired goods and services on time and at competitive prices; employees may expect a substantive and meaningful job with commensurate compensation; suppliers may expect to be paid on time; and society may expect that their environment will be improved etc. All these desired values are required to be upheld by the business establishment for wider good and these are the human values which need to be protected.

First categorization of Values for Managers

(i) Core values for Managers in India

Core values are fundamental values in any human being. There may be divergent values in tune with the nature and goals of different functional departments and also the overall organizational culture. However, there are some dominant values are also known as core values that are considered a crucial by majority of managers. These are:

• Integrity Trust
• Achievement Truthfulness Humility
• Contentment Motivation

(ii) Personal Traits of Managers in India

Every manager has certain personal traits which vary from person to person. Personal traits are enduring characteristics of an individual by which he or she can be identified. These traits are:

• Stability Skill
• Creativity
• Achievement Flexibility

(iii) Goals of a Typical Manager in India

Values of a manager will have a direct influence on the goals and objectives he sets for the organization. Personal goals of a manager may vary depending on goals, culture and philosophy of the concerned organization. Nevertheless, each manager works with a certain aim and purpose in his mind. The following are the goals of a typical manager in India:

• Customer satisfaction
• Achievement of department and organizational goals Completion of tasks within scheduled time frame
• Employee motivation Career progress

(iv) Important personal qualities of a Manager

Managers with limited abilities and skills with static values and goals may not be able to achieve success in all circumstances. Certain personal qualities e.g. height, complexion, voice, dressing habits, gregariousness and versatility etc. should supplement and stand in good stead to an individual.

Second categorization of Values for Managers

Another categorization of managerial values has been done in three parts in an organizational environment as detailed below:

(i) Physical Values: These values are as follows:

Accuracy: It should be in terms of the precision, exactness and confronting to the facts in details of work.

Cleanliness: In offices, production and warehouses facilities, equipments, customer service areas, raw material and finished products, inventory, bathrooms and so on.

Maximum Utilization of Resources: The desire and ability of the company to improve its performance by full utilization of its current resources e.g. time, money, equipment, material, space and people etc.

Orderliness: in office drawers, file cabinets, shelves, paper work, files, phone numbers, priority of work, daily and weekly plan should be in order.

Punctuality and Timeliness: In arriving on time at work, from breaks, from lunch, to meetings, in replying to letters and phone calls, in paying bills on time etc., punctuality must prevail.

Quality of Products and Services: In terms of presentation, functionality, choice value, speed, timeliness, suitability, repeatability, life span, courtesy, friendliness etc., quality must be promoted.

Regularity: Regularity of meetings, reports, sales calls, performance reviews and so forth be the norm.

Responsiveness: Quick response in the way people, the organization or system etc, react to a need coming from within or from outside the organization should be ensured.

Safety: In offices, warehouses, production and research facilities, vehicles for employees, vendors and customers etc, adequate safety should be promoted.

(ii)   Organizational Values: These values are as detailed below:

Accountability: Accountability of individuals, department and division for performance, results, problems and so on.

Communications: Up, down, sideways and within the company, with customers and vendors, in terms of openness, frankness, clarity, frequency, accuracy, timeliness and brevity.

Cooperation: Among individuals, departments in terms of plans, activities and systems.

Coordination: Horizontally between departments in terms of plans, activities and systems.

Discipline: In adherence to company’s policy, rules, systems, procedure, schedules, standards and ethics and so on.

Freedom for initiative: To make suggestions, develop plans, make decisions, carry out or modify actions and so on.

Integration: Integration is required for smooth operation vertically between different levels of the organization in terms of plans, decisions and priorities.

Standardization: In terms of forms, files, procedures, reports, performance evaluation, equipments, training, recruitment, orientations and communications.

Systemization: In sales, marketing, customer service accounting, research, production, engineering, recruitment, training, promotions, communications, coordination, reporting and so on.

(iii)   Psychological Values: These values are given as below:

Continuous Improvement: The desire and ability of the company to develop and incorporate ways to improve itself.

Creativity: In terms of new products, new ideas, new systems, new production methods, new applications of technology, new methods of financing and new marketing strategies.

Customer Delight: The positive emotional response and joy that the customer feels from interaction with the people, products and services of the company.

Decisiveness: In solving problems, planning, executing plans in terms of speed and commitment to decisions that are once made.

Develop People: The desire and ability of the company to improve the lot of the employees working for it.

Agreement: The overall atmosphere and interaction between people, departments, divisions, systems, activities, rules and policies within the company and between these elements and the external environment, customers, vendors, community laws and so on.

Innovation: The desire and ability of the company to venture into new breakthrough areas of opportunities.

Integrity: Keeping to one’s word, promise and agreements as being truthful and being non-deceitful etc. with employees, customers, vendors and government.

Management systems which apply values in its operational activities always achieve greater output. Modern era is an era of complete knowledge and information, where every section of our society is becoming more and more aware of their rights as well as responsibilities. There was a time when the top officials of the concern could do anything to increase their profits and the stakeholders have no say in influencing the corporate affairs. Now the whole situation has changed. The reason being increased awareness level. It was in the middle of the twentieth century that the need for socially responsible and ethical behavior of the corporate managers gained importance. It was soon realized that business owes so much to its stakeholders and society at large and therefore, managers need to be ethical and responsible in their behavior. They must took certain steps and follow practices which observes value while taking decisions that impact and influence organizational stakeholders as well as society. Hence, human values are of utmost importance for modern day managers.

REFERENCES

• Pramod Sharma, “Business Ethics and Corporate Values: An Indian Perspective” Ravitanaya Publications, Shimla, 2017
• S.K Bhatia, “Business Ethics and Corporate Governance” Deep & Deep Publications, New Delhi, 2004
• A.C. Fernando, “Business Ethics and Corporate Governance” Pearson Publication, 2013 Harris & Hartman, “Organizational Behavior” Jaico Publication House, 2002
• French, Bell & Vohra, “Organization Development” Pearson Prentice Hall Publication, 2009
• S B Gogate, “Human Values & Professional Ethics” Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi, 2011