Introduction and Definitions

Industrial integrity is the highest ethical standard that can be attained by any industrial worker, leader, or professional. It is the ultimate ethical goal, which every leader should strive to attain. By definition, it means the state of being upright, entire or whole. The key word in this definition is the term “whole”. It suggests someone who is complete and lacking nothing. According to most dictionaries, the root word “integrity”, derived from the term “integer”, means soundness, completeness, or unity. Figure 1 illustrates this completeness idea of integrity.

The key thing to bear in mind here is that when a leader fails in any one of those values inside the big circle, then it is said to be a failure of integrity. In industrial ethical applications, the nearest meaning to integrity is the term “perfection”. Most people think that they cannot be perfect; hence the saying that “no one is perfect”, an excuse given by some people when defending themselves against a shortfall. The notion that integrity is closely related to perfection makes some people wonder what such perfect individuals would look and act like. Such people

Figure 1. Integrity as a Whole Unity of Values

should take consolation in knowing that the road to industrial integrity is the ultimate journey of one’s career. It is a goal that transcends all other goals. And because of that, industrial integrity is mostly associated with individuals involved in industrial leadership.

While all industrial workers are expected to have integrity, leadership integrity is what the public generally sees as representing an industrial organization. But it should also be emphasized that integrity in all workers is important, because many of those junior workers will one day become leaders in the organization. Therefore, workers should not wait until they get to leadership positions before learning integrity. Integrity is necessary for all workers irrespective of their ranks. This paper explores major managerial integrity values, how they make or break a leader, how they can be learned, and their implications for Industrial Technology programs.

Major Components of Industrial Integrity

As suggested in Figure 1, industrial integrity is actually a collection of many moral values. Therefore, its components are all of the known industrial values, which are considered to be morally good and productive. Industrial leaders should develop a higher order practical experience and understanding in these values, to enable them perform well in their demanding

Figure 2. Major Leadership Industrial Integrity Components

task of leading. Some key values, referred to as major components of integrity, are shown in Figure 2. These are a must have for any industrial worker who is dreaming and hoping to be a successful leader of other workers in any industrial enterprise. Some of these leadership-oriented values are briefly describe in the following sections.

Care: Industrial leadership must be undertaken with care. The term “care” as used here has multiple meanings. It is said that care is expressed in three ways in advanced professional work: (1) through careful work, (2) through caring relationship, and (3) through moral leadership. Kolb (1988)

An industrial leader should be very careful in his or her work to avoid mistakes, repetition and other everyday surprises encountered in industry. Just about every successful leader in industry is known to possess this quality. A careful leader is very meticulous in carrying on responsibilities. Although no worker is perfect, but careful leaders tend to have fewer mistakes and failures.

The leader must also be someone who cares about those being led. When those working under a leader feel that their leader is uncaring, they will tend to be unsatisfied and other social problems may begin from there. But a caring leader has workers who are obedient and more productive. To really make a true impact in the lives of workers, leaders must cultivate a caring relationship with their subordinates. Real impact does not come from the leader’s position as the “boss”, but through the leader’s treatment of the employees.

A major aspect of caring is motivation. To motivate means to inspire, encourage, impel, stimulate, activate or spur. Motivating employees has a direct bearing on a company’s productivity. Often, it results in increased productivity and better employee-supervisor relationship. Lack of proper motivation in a workplace can result in increased employee absences from work, theft of company property and sheer disrespect for those in authority.

Table 1

Worker Motivation Techniques

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Technique Examples

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Rewarding Job promotion, raises, paid vacation, profit sharing etc.

Praise Public recognition, verbal expression, symbolic recognition etc.

Supporting Providing advice, training, equipment, encouragement etc.

Appreciating Public recognition, verbal expression, symbolic recognition etc.

Encouraging & mentoring Advising, counseling, appreciation etc.

____________________________________________________________________________

Industrial leaders employ different techniques to motivate those they lead. Some of these techniques and their examples are shown in Table 1. It is very important that these techniques be geared toward the specific needs of the workers in order to realize full benefits for the organization. Too often employees receive recognitions that they do not appreciate, simply because they were not in the format expected. For example, employees may be awarded certificates when the reward had called for profit sharing. This mistake could lead to unhappy employees.

Moreover, a leader should show morality in leadership by trying to avoid all unlawful temptations in the workplace. The leader’s subordinates see their leader as their role model. If the leader fails in this capacity, the subordinates tend to be misled and confused; usually everyone (including the company) suffers the consequences of the immoral act.

Meekness: The traditional idea of leaders as some type of macho, military, order-yelling individuals who issue commands that everyone has to obey has been slowly disappearing in the American workplace especially since the 1980s. Still, it may probably come as a surprise to some people to learn that leaders should be humble, patient and submissive! Yes, that is exactly what meekness means. All industrial leaders need those qualities today in order to be successful. Leadership in many ways means servant hood, because true leaders strive to see how they can serve their workers better.

Such qualities are what will make some of the much-celebrated modern philosophies like “participative management” and “concurrent engineering” to really work in industry without much friction. Also since leaders actually show examples to those under them, such qualities, when learned by their subordinates, will help to make them more leadable. Subordinates will see leaders as friends instead of as enemies. It will also reinforce the self-control value in such an enterprise. Meekness in an organization’s leadership is a positive sign to society that the company has a human side.

Vision: Leaders should be workers who have a vision. They should have a clear idea, plan or vision about the future business outlook of their teams, departments or companies. When workers are led by leaders who have no vision, the company will stagnate in that there may not be any new products, markets, technologies, ideas and such likes. As a result the team, department or company may not be prepared well enough for the future challenges. Such a company usually experiences a slow death, as fewer and fewer people buy its products or services.

On the other hand, a company with visionary leaders will be making plans for a new product(s) as soon as the existing one(s) is introduced into the market. Such a company usually keeps its eye open for new technologies and current trends, which will help them to keep up with the competition. Such a company is among the more successful companies that are on the productivity improvement track.

Leaders should also have the kind of vision that enables them to choose and develop potential leaders in the company. The issue of improving industrial personnel cannot be overemphasized. Of the so-called Deming’s 14 management principles, two dealt directly with the worker training issue. One is to “Institute modern methods of training”, and the other is to “Institute a constant and vigorous program of education and training” (Fryman, 2002, PP. 8-9). While the former stressed the need to train workers on the philosophy of quality, the latter emphasized the need for making all workplace training a continuous and ongoing part of the organization.

Hard Work: Hard work is a virtue cherished by every industrial organization. It simply means fervent dedication to one’s responsibilities or assigned tasks. It applies to all workers irrespective of their ranks. However, it especially applies to leaders because they don’t only need to work hard in order to be successful leaders, but their subordinates need to see and learn such a virtue from them.

Without hard work, all the available ideas, technologies, and tools cannot make a company successful. It takes dedicated, hard-working leaders and workers to make a company to rise from a mediocre one to a successful enterprise. In fact, leaders are made leaders because of their hard work. Without their hard work, no leader could have become a successful one.

One way to illustrate the virtue of hard work is to look at the concept of continuous improvement, which many companies are currently practicing. Although this concept has been around for a while now, it is something that can make or break a company depending on how much effort workers make on a daily basis in practicing the philosophy.

Fairness: Leaders must be fair in all their dealings with the workers they lead. Fairness is needed in such leadership roles as task assignment, rewarding, promoting etc. By definition, fairness means straight-forward justice. Other descriptors include equity, goodness, and justice. Like other human activities, industry needs fairness in the sundry activities that workers engage everyday. This is particularly true for team or group projects. Modern industrial activities demand the establishment of teams in all levels of industrial projects, contracts, meetings, presentations, and so forth.

Industrial fairness has many dimensions, which affect a team of workers in their day-to-day activities. As illustrated in Figure 3, teams of workers have direct and indirect influence with different elements, including their own members. As workers, for example, teams can make decisions that may benefit or hurt their customers inside and outside the organization. The team’s influence does not stop within the confines of its members, but has widespread reaches beyond the confines of all the participants in that group.

Figure 3. Some Dimensions of Industrial Fairness

As an illustration, when a reward such as promotion is made available for the most productive team member, it will be better to let all the group members decide which member should get it, than to allow politics to influence the decision. Too often such a reward is given to a worker on the basis of his or her relationship with the boss, instead of on the actual performance of the worker. The resultant effect of such decisions is unsatisfied team members rumoring and complaining about company politics in the organization. Sometimes, the situation can lead to quarrels and complaints, all of which have adverse effects on the team’s productivity.

Table 2

Some Team-Oriented Fairness Situations and their Implications

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Situations Implications

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Working on a company’s project Fair sharing of workloads among team members

Fair sharing of benefits derived from project

Member commitments to the project

Company’s committee

involvement Expected timely attendance to group meetings

Significant participation and contributions to group

Completeness of assigned tasks as a member

Representation of one’s team Due credit given to members when necessary

Team members’ image guarded and protected

Members duly informed of results and feedback

Team performing poorly Fair distribution of blame to appropriate members

Just treatment of every member by all members

Fair commitment by all members to improve

Team performing greatly Fair distribution of rewards to appropriate members

Just treatment of every member by all members

Fair commitment by all members to improve

Resources available to group Full information to all members about resources

Fair sharing of resources available to members

Ease of acquiring resources by all members

____________________________________________________________________________

Workers participating in a group project often encounter ethical situations where fairness should be exercised. Table 2 contains some examples of such situations, together with some possible implications associated with them. The ultimate benefit of industrial fairness is its tendency to boost the company’s bottom line. Fair treatment of workers, whether in teams or as individuals, creates an ideal working environment in which workers produce their best for the organization, leading to an increase in its productivity.

It is clear that a well-intentioned team cannot last long if fairness is not maintained in the group. When some workers feel mistreated, they may feel rejected and may want to opt out. On the other hand, when workers are treated well, they feel needed, and that tends to strengthen the team. When praise or honor is to be given, team members must ensure that it is going to the member(s) that deserves it. When such praise is due to every member, the leader(s) must ensure that every member receives it. Similarly, when blame has to be assigned to someone, it should be done in a fair manner, or the blamed member may feel alienated and betrayed. Therefore, to maintain equilibrium in a team, fairness in all of the team’s activities should be evident to all the members of the team. It is a critical value, which team leaders and members must never neglect to guard, or the team’s well-being will be threatened.

A major nightmare to many industrial organizations is when a disgruntled employee files a lawsuit or complaint to authorities on some denied opportunity, benefit or right. Organizations have paid millions of dollars in settlement of cases that could have been avoided if employees were treated fairly in the first place. Recently Wal-Mart Stores was sued by its female employees, who charged that female employees were disproportionately promoted to managerial positions compared to the ratio of female employees in such positions in comparable stores. Industry would save the money used to settle such costly lawsuits if values like industrial fairness were taught and practiced by all employees.

Responsibility: Industrial responsibility is without doubt one of the most important values needed for maximum and improved productivity in our modern society. Responsibility is directly embodied in many industrial activities. It follows the individual to every level of his or her life, including workplace responsibilities and obligations. Professionally, it can mean being at the office on time, meeting one’s schedules and completing assigned tasks. It can also mean attending meetings on time as scheduled, completing and expediting customer orders on time. Absence or presence of responsibility determines whether those activities are successful or not.

As an example, industrial organizations daily experience tardies and absences by their workers, who for one reason or the other cannot be at their workplace as previously agreed to in the terms of their appointment. Some of the most common reasons usually given include: “I could not find a spot to park,” “there was heavy traffic,” “there was an accident,” “I had a flat tire,” “my alarm failed me,” “I had a jury duty”, or “I had a doctor’s appointment.”

In a similar fashion virtually all organizations have cases where some employees did not fulfill or complete certain projects or assignments in time. Here again the reasons can be endless: “I was on vacation,” “I was sick,” “the shipment of materials was late,” or “I was delayed because Mr. Doe did not complete his in time.” These reasons, while true in some cases, affect the very life of an organization in many significant ways.

The illustrations given above (whether true or false) all point to situations where a worker or a student was trying to disengage himself or herself from a “charge” or “obligation” assigned to him or her. An employee’s appointment terms usually have associated schedules that specify when the job begins and ends. Also implied are other terms of appointment, such as the tasks to be performed, how much reward (salary or wage) would be awarded, who the supervisor would be, and how to effect a disciplinary measure if the terms of the agreement are broken. Thus responsibility is delineated in the terms of employment.

Successes and Failures in Industrial Integrity

Industry has witnessed the rise and fall of some great leaders. Why do some leaders who were held in very high esteem and respect sometimes lose that status? What makes some wonderful leaders who have been everybody’s idols all of a sudden to become an object of disdain and caricature in the workplace and the media?

The answers to these questions are found in the meaning of the word “integrity”. As discussed earlier, integrity is about the whole person. Very often leaders, because they represent their companies and employees, are scrutinized more thoroughly than the average industrial worker. No one sees them as fallible human beings, which they really are. This is not in any way to suggest that all humans must fall someday in one thing or the other. However, mankind is a mortal being who is prone to mistakes. But these mistakes are judged by the public on the basis of their scope, implications and the judgment exercised by the leader. Hence, the media is often filled with stories of some of these fallen heroes.

Since integrity demands wholeness, leaders who fail in one weakness area are often judged as failures by observers. As unfair as this may seem, it however reminds all industrial leaders the importance of being an honest leader in whatever capacity the person is positioned. Successful leaders are those who can avoid all their temptations, weaknesses and such likes, and perform their company’s duties with all fairness and good judgment. Leaders are particularly vulnerable when they fail in any of the following values: honesty, self-control, unfairness, tolerance of diversity, and self-respect.

The Need for Training in Industrial Technology Programs

Industrial integrity and all its component values can be instilled into the minds of Industrial Technology students. Training can be technical, social, ethical, managerial or business. The whole idea rests on the fact that if workers are improved by the right training that is targeted to their need, their company’s productivity and quality will be improved. On the other hand, if they lack proper training on, say, how to use the company’s software, why drug use is bad, why constant lateness or absence from work is bad and such likes, then productivity may be reduced.

A company may have the best facilities, but if it does not identify and train potential leaders, it may not be effective in producing quality products and services, which are the only things that can save it from today's stiff competition. The more productive companies are those that train their workers in key areas that the companies know will positively affect their business.

In training potential leaders, current leaders and trainers are also preparing those who may replace those same leaders in the future. No industrial position should be regarded as a permanent one. People change their positions when they are promoted, relocated, transferred, terminated or retired. In any case, many times these newly trained leaders will have to replace their former leaders. Therefore, it is the duty of all leaders to prepare those who may replace them when they are no longer in their positions.

Discussions on methods of training are beyond the scope of this paper. But methods of teaching values in educational institutions have been provided and practiced by many sources, including Obi (1996), Eyre and Eyre (1993), and Westrum (1991).

Implications for Industrial Technology

Simply stated, every ethical principle needed for industrial success can be found in the meaning of the term “integrity”. Whether it is hard work, responsibility, truth, timeliness, love, care, accord, tolerance of diversity or faithfulness, it is there. What is needed is how to make industrial workers to learn, understand and apply them in their lives and workplaces.

Whether the task is technical, business, or managerial, it is still the industrial worker who will use his or her initiative to come to work in time, perform his or her tasks and make profit for the organization. Therefore, the challenge before Industrial Technology is how to instill these values (integrity) into the minds of IT students to help them reach their potential for their benefit and for the benefit of the organizations in which they will work.

It is noted that while industrial organizations have applied different technologies to improve their business processes and quality of their products in order to be on the competitive edge, the last frontier would be industrial ethics. Industrial ethics holds the key to real organizational success. But that key is in the hands of those who know how to unlock the door that leads to integrity. Failure in integrity tends to affect both the leaders and their organizations. This is because individual leaders, who are perceived as the representatives of their respective companies, manage industrial organizations. The image these leader show to the public reflects the nature of their companies. Therefore, most often, when industrial leaders fail to uphold any of these ethical principles, their companies tend to suffer the consequences.

That is why it is absolutely very important that leaders be good role models for their companies. The trust, which their company bestows on them, should not be tampered with. Industrial leaders are icons of their organizations. They should be individuals of great character. Their worth is not based on how much their salaries are, but on the quality of value they have in them. They are more important than money to their companies. They are indeed their companies with human faces. This helps to explain why some industrial companies are perceived better than others. In general, good or quality leaders tend to produce better than poor or even average employees. Integrity can make or break an industrial organization, especially when leaders set good examples which subordinates follow.

On the other hand, a bad organizational work force reflects the quality of its leadership. This is because leaders have the power to make an organization to be what they want. If they want a progressive and productive company, then they have to work hard and persuade their employees to be so. If they decide otherwise, then their workers will be just like the norm.

References

Eyre, L. & Eyre, R (1993). Teaching your children values. New York: Simon & Schuster

Fryman, M. A. (2002). Quality and process improvement. Albany: Delmar Publishing

Kolb, D. A. (1988). Integrity, advanced professional development, and learning. In S. Srivastva

and Associates (Eds.), Executive integrity (pp. 68-88). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Obi, S. C. (1996). Implementing Ethics Education In Technology-Based Programs. Journal of

Industrial Technology, 12, 26-30.

Westrum, R. (1991). Technologies and society. California: Wadsworth Publishing Company.