Two factors influencing organizational behaviour today are the use of ethics in decision making and the impact that technology has on creating or easing work related stress. Ethics provide the foundation for human behaviour, both inside and outside of organizations. One’s sense of ethics is the ruler with which one measures one’s behaviour, thoughts, and decisions. Within organizations, unethical behaviour can also be illegal, providing a complicating twist to decision making. In business today, organizations must keep up with the changes in technology in order to remain competitive and thrive; yet, keeping up with changing technology can have negative impacts on stress in the workplace.

The ethical debate facing individuals today questions whether decisions and actions are legal, equitable, and beneficial to the employees who must abide by the decisions and to the organization. Determining the ethical standards with which to live and work is not an easy task and it requires that the decision maker be fair, compassionate, and honest. Cultural, ethnic, socioeconomics, and societal influences need to be taken into consideration. Another factor that is essential to making decisions based on ethics is one’s ability to be empathic, or to imagine oneself in the situation of another. Numerous studies have been conducted that point to the fact that the behaviour of superiors and peers has the most impact on ethical or unethical behaviour, so it is of utmost importance that those employees of an organization in leadership positions first set a good example for others to follow.

Very few organizations still exist that are not affected by the need to keep up with advances in technology. New technologies make old products better, causing the demand (and profitability) of old products to plummet; without making use of the advances in technology, an organization can cease to exist. This creates a double-edged sword for many organizations, because not only does the organization feel pressured as a whole, but that pressure extends throughout the organization to the individual employees. Keeping abreast of changes in technology today is “do or die” for organizations, and unfortunately, this carries a heavy load of stress.

High levels of stress for a prolonged period of time are not beneficial to the employee, and certainly not to the organization. Stress can cause a myriad array of symptoms that affect not only the employee’s mental health, but also the employee’s physical health. The responsibility to reduce this stress resides not only with the employee, but with the organization that the employee works for as well. In order to avoid the consequences of prolonged stress that includes reduced productivity, increased absenteeism, poor morale, and higher insurance premiums, the organization must do everything within its ability to ensure that employees are adequately trained in new technologies and have access to information on how to reduce stress levels. In this way, organizations can ensure a happy, calm, energetic, alert, and dedicated workforce.

There are certain factors that do not reside within an organization’s control, but the effects of ethical decisions and new technology on organizational behaviour are. The old attitude of “do what I say and not what I do” is no longer satisfactory in the face of today’s challenges to organizations or with the employee who not only works to provide for his or her family, but also for personal satisfaction, growth, and meaning. It is important that organizations place people in charge who can lead not only through inspiration, but through example. It is vital that organizations realize that employees are not a faceless, inanimate object, but a living, breathing organism that is just as affected and feel just as threatened by change as the organization is.

Answer the following questions                                                ( 2×7.5=15marks)

a) Explain the causes and consequences of stress at workplace due to technology up gradation.

b) What organization can do to manage the stress in employees yet keep up with the latest trends in organization behavior?