Read the Ethical Dilemma Is OB Mod a Form of Manipulation?
"Is OB Mod a form of manipulation?
And if it is, is it unethical for managers to manipulate the behavior of employees?"
Support your argument.
ETHICAL DILEMMA - Is OB Mod a Form of Manipulation?
Two questions: Is OB Mod a form of manipulation? If it is, is it unethical for a manager to manipulate the behavior of a employee?
Critics of OB Mod say that it manipulates employees. They argue that when managers purposely select consequences to control employee behavior, they rob workers of their individuality and freedom of choice. For instance, an auto parts plant in Kentucky reinforces safe working conditions through a game called safety bingo. Every day that the plant has no accidents, employees can draw a number of their bingo card. The first employee to fill a bingo card wins a television set. This program, critics might argue, pressures employees to behave in ways they might no other wise engage in. It make these human beings little different from the seal in the circus who, every time it does its assigned trick, is given a fish by its trainer. Only instead of getting a fish, some employee walks off with a television.
On the same question regarding the ethics of manipulation, the answer typically surrounds what the term "manipulation" means to you. Some people believe the term has a negative connotation. To manipulate is to be devious or conniving. Others, however, would argue that manipulation is merely the thoughtful effort to control outcomes. In fact, one can say that management is manipulation because it is concerned with planned efforts to get people to do what manages wants them to do.