Mantra for leveraging Emerging Trends Alankar KarpeEMAG MemberEthics Member Advisory Group

Paper for PMI India National Conference - September 2014

Title: Social networking promoting Ethical leadership

Theme: Mantra for leveraging emerging trends

Keywords:Ethics, Leadership, Social networking, social media, Ethical leadership

Abstract

Social networking is one of the strongest and most powerful trends emerging within the past several

years. It is evident in the era of smart phones, tablets and, other web-enabled devices. Today's workforce

is increasingly vocal and visible on social media. Anything shared online has capacity to become viral and

can greatly influence the image of individual, the project manager,andthe whole organization. Since social

media is transparent to everyone,employees need to be trained and made aware about possible ethical

issues and conflicts in codes of conduct. At the same time, the onus is on project managers and

organizations to shape how they would like to be perceived in the public eye. Project managersalso need

to be ethically aware, accountable, and responsible for their own actions and thereby help to avoid

breaches and conflicts. According to a PriceWaterhouseCooper study, organizations with strong ethics

are more attractive to employees because they perceive that their project managers are more likely to be

fair in interactions. Instilling and maintaining a strong code of ethics in workplace is a long-term

investment. Organizations can save millions and avoid spending on lawsuits. This paper explainshow

social networking can be used to promote ethical leadership, create strong ethical culture, and drive

project management success in anorganization. PMI's Ethics Member Advisory Group, who has authored

this paper, is a global team of experienced volunteers who are committed to facilitate learning and

discussion about ethics and professional conduct in the project management community

Contents:

Introduction

Ethical leadership

The need of social media to promote

Recommendations

Why ethics is more important

Conclusion

Introduction

Social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn are at the helm of every organization that wants

to promote, sell, and build markets. At the same time, these social networking sites can impose a myriad

of negative consequences if they are not used appropriately. There have been many instances in which

employees accidently revealed future product launches, acquisitions news, new versions launch dates,

etc. As a community of project management professionals, our primary duty is to manage and run project

teams and deliverables. We also have a duty to clients to protect their confidential information. These

duties are enshrined in both the code of ethics and professional conduct and clearly set a framework for

what we can and cannot do.

For example, as a project team member, we have a duty to manage client & related information. So

anyproject team member who posts a message about his client’s data, problem areas, and project details

on social media sites is certainly in breach of code.

Project managers today increasingly use social media.A few examples are:

YouTube videos for recording a team meetings to be circulated on other side of the globe

Online forums to collaborate on joint testing, resolving a fiercely technical problem

Instant messaging andwhite boarding for product or application demos

This confidential material can slip into the public domain if project managers and teams are not trained to

use social media ethically and effectively.

Ethical Leadership

Consider the definition of ethical leadership by Wikipedia:

“Ethical Leadership is leading by knowing and doing what is right.Ethical leadership is divided into two

parts. The leader must act and make decisions ethically, and second, the leader must also lead ethically

in their attitudes and interactions”.

* Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_leadership

Ethics in leadership is critical for every project organization. Project managers and team leaders must

make decisions that demonstratetheir values along with consistency between their words and actions.

When leaders practice ethics, they gain the respect and admiration of employees, with the satisfaction of

knowing they are making the best moral choice. If leaders never make their actions or choices clear to

other members, those choices can be often be seen as a sign of mistrust and may result in loss of

productivity, increase in delays, lack of accountability, and a loss of revenue.

Figure 1

The first level on the left in Figure 1, sidestepping laws and ethics codes, is clearly not ethical leadership.

But this cannot be ethical leadership because this self-focused, opportunistic approach to leadership

represents a leader operating by following the law and probably operating for personal gain and seeking

loopholes.

What about the second level, in the middle as per the above Figure 1? Does complying with laws and

ethics codes show ethical leadership? When leaders and businesses operate below the level of laws and

regulations, they are punished. Here leaders are only short sighted, seeking short term gains without

considering long term consequences and not showing care for the society or team as a whole.

If we settle for leadership at this level where it’s all about complying law and staying out of jail then we will

be missing many other important aspects of ethical leadership that are well above the punishment

threshold.

Ethical leadership is more than just complying with the law and following ethics codes. It is about

demonstrating care, thinking and acting for long term benefits, and leading with integrity, commitment,

and transparency.

Increasing Expectations Source:Linda Fisher Thornton in Leading in context

Compliance with laws is the minimum standard and does not adequately represent ethical leadership,

which is at a much higher level. As we know, laws are the minimum threshold below which people are

punished.

Expectations are moving to a much higher level, a level at which leaders are expected to do much more.

Look at the third level, the highest level of Figure 1. Aren’t transparency, sustainability, and honoring

human rights now expected of all project managers and leaders? Absolutely, the minimum standard is

gradually moving to a higher level as we better understand the impact of our choices on others in a global

society.

Ethical leadership includes the responsibility to respect and serve, creating a win-win situation where

positive solutions can be produced for clients while keeping in mind overall responsibilities to clients,

employees, and society as a whole.

As we understand our global interdependence more clearly, the expectations for leading ethically will only

increase. Aiming for the principal level of ethical leadership prepares us to meet challenges as

responsible leaders.

Case example:

Consider the below news -

Bayer rapped for tweeting about medicines

Bayer has been sharply reprimanded by a UK pharmaceutical industry regulator for using Twitter

to promote two high-profile prescription medicines to the public, in a pioneering case highlighting

the dangers of social media for marketing.

The action highlights fresh scrutiny by international regulators of innovative social marketing

techniques alongside more traditional approaches as drug companies seek new ways of selling

their medicines.

The UK judgment, which will be published in two medical journals, is an embarrassment to the

company, although it is not accompanied by a fine or any other formal penalty.

Within Europe, drug companies are not allowed by law to advertise prescription medicines to the

public, while additional UK industry ethical codes require that any product information provided

to the public must be factual and balanced.

Source: www.ft.com

In the above case, a global pharmaceutical giant used social networking sites such as Twitter to promote

their drugs, which can only be prescribed. It was not only unethical to use social media to promote such

products, but it was also against the law.

Some famous quotes on Trust and leadership

The Need

According to Census India, India is home to 1.4 billion people with more than 50% of its population below

the age of 28, and more than 65% below the age of 35.

Clearly, we are talking about a population of young corporate professionals who are already live on social

media by the time they join the organization.

It is not surprising that active social networkers (those spending 30% or more of their day online) air

company linen in public.

6 out of 10 said they comment on their personal sites about their company if it were in the news

(for good or bad reasons)

53% share information about work projects at least once a week

More than a third often comment on personal blogs and social websites about their managers,

co-workers and even clients

Social networking isn’t just for the young:47% of active social networkers are under 30, but 40% are

between the ages of 30 and 44. Active social networkers are more likely to see and report misconduct at

work (77%) than other U.S. workers (66%) and are more likely to experience retaliation when reporting it.

Considering the data and the nature of young and socially active population joining corporations, it is

absolutely essential for them to guide:

What can be posted online and cannot(confidentiality)

How much is too much

Which person / product names can be posted

What is accepted according to the code of conduct and where it can be found

Where and to whom they can report if they see any misconduct or unethical practices

*Source: National Business Ethics Survey of Social Networkers: New Risks and Opportunities at Work 2012 by National

Business Ethics Survey

Recommendations

There are some best practices which can be followed by project management organizations to promote

ethical leadership within the teams.

Training

Ethics training to handle social media has now become one of the most important parts of a company's

overall training strategy for both entrylevel employees and experienced employees. Although ethics

training doesn't ensure that all employees will always know how to handle difficult ethical situations, it

does provide them a foundation for healthy workplace behavior. Ethics training encourages employees to

think through issues before they act, not out of fear but out of a responsibility to protect the best interests

of the company and themselves.

Organizations need to investresources fortrainingemployees inethical codes and professional conduct.

This requires formal education on what is accepted and what are the breaches. Instruction should also

include reference sources that employees can access in case of doubt:

o Code of ethics and professional conduct

o Scenario-based trainings where what is right and what is wrong can be highlighted

o Ensure ongoing ethics training for all employees by scheduling training sessions at

periodicintervals throughout the year. In any organization, ethical behavior usually starts

at the top and flows down. Schedule ethical training seminars once or twice a year, or

once a quarter, and hire professionals to conduct open discussions and live case studies

to support the code. Also project managers should attend this along with their team so

that all can collectively engage in ethical business practices

In a nutshell, these trainings need to ensure that all of the employees will have more liability and

responsibility and that they follow a code of conduct to behave ethically and also to help others.

Hiring

Social media can also be used to recruit the best talent. Investing time in recruiting the right people

always pays for an organization to be more agile and ethical. Social media can be used here to check

their background and past experience.

Consider the facts below:

o 238 million users are active on LinkedIn

o LinkedIn has over 3 million company pages with over 1 billion endorsements

* Source: http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/45-social-media-stats_b49582

LinkedIn is one of best examples of a social networking site where you can get professionals with

information about their skills and previous experience.

Using social networking sites like LinkedIn for hiring will not only help in searching the appropriate

candidate for jobs where high and rare technology or skills are required, it also ensures that profiles are

correct and not skewed for the job description. Candidate profiles can easily be validated across the

organization so that hiring decisions can be made quickly.

Project management

Using cloud-based project management toolshelps the workforce to be more productive and

increasestransparency. This increase in transparency and ability to access the tool from anywhere keeps

the entire team connected and updated about the progress and thereby reduces chances of making up

stories, doing any unethical reporting, hiring vendors quickly to bridge schedule gaps, and hiding facts

about project progress, road blocks, etc.

Knowledge sharing

Social networking sites can be easily used for knowledge sharing as they are easy to search, easy to

use,and easy to access from a mobile phone. Using social blogs and online forums within organizations

can help promote a healthy discussion on ethical issues and possible ways to deal with them. Blogs can

be used to drive discussions on processes and road blocks which can be improved and strengthened to

promote ethical behavior. This can be achieved by creating:

o A blog internal to the company

o A local app with discussion forums, like Facebook

o A site outside the company to report ethical breaches or suspected breaches

Social media can be used to share knowledge and promote ethical awareness within teams:

Focus groups and surveys can be created to askfor employee input about policies so that

organizations can remain current and informedabout the growing pressure of work and to avoid

possible ethical slippages

A moderated wiki page can be created, allowing project managers and members to come

together to address concerns or questions and also provide trainings

A compliance wiki on intranet where employees and managers can share ethics and compliance

resources (articles, websites, blogs, books, etc.) and where managers can add or download

materials for team meetings or to facilitate further discussion can also be set up

Organizations should publish their social media policy, citing what’s acceptable and what’s not. It should

also explain that anyone who posts or publishes any information that relates to the business or

employershould make it clear that their opinions are their own, and not those of the organization.

Brand promotion

Quote: “Social media generates almost double the marketing leads of trade shows,

telemarketing or daily mail”

* Source: HubSpot’s 2013 State of Inbound Marketing Report

Promoting products or services by using social networking promotes transparency and invites feedback

from the general public. This goes a long way in creating better productsandin showcasing ethical

leadership by the organization and its leaders by:

Demonstrating care for the current and prospective customers

Listening and implementing a world class product

Using social media (such as Facebook and YouTube) to share the organization's good deeds.

Many large companies now communicate with the general public about their commitment to

ethics and compliance and positive stories, highlighting their initiatives in these areas.

Why is ethics more important now?

According to a study done by PricewaterhouseCoopers in the United Kingdom (Finn), organizations with

strong ethical records are more attractive to employees because workers perceive that managers are

more likely to be fair in their direct interactions with staff.

If the rules of organizational success keep changing because society keeps increasing its social

expectations of institutional life, then people in all sectors, now more than ever, need opportunities to

understand what it means to behave ethically in an organizational context. If managers cannot provide the

answers and give people accessible processes for knowing the right thing to do then organizations are

doomed to lose public and customer confidence. Learning about workplace ethics belongs within the

organizational realm because the issues are being shaped there and should be addressed there.

Instilling and maintaining a strong code of ethics in workplace culture is a long-term investment.

Organizations can save millions by taking that step, rather than spending millions on lawsuits and

settlements later, and risk damaging the organization’s invaluable brand image.

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http://www.ibe.org.uk/userassets/briefings/

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