Stress and ethical behaviour among South African managers

S t r e s s a n d e t h ic a l b e h a v io u r a m o n g S o u th A f r i c a n m a n a g e r s The South African business world is increasingly characterised by unethical behaviour and commercial crimes. Involvement o f managers is contributing up to 80% o f the total costs o f white collar crime. In order to try to understand the situation, the current South African managerial climate is analysed. This analysis clearly indicates that South African managers function in stressful circumstances which can give rise to unethical behaviour. A theoretical model fo r ethical behaviour is therefore discussed and used as a basis fo r practical suggestions in order to improve the situation.


Introduction
The South African business world is to an increasing extent confronted by a lack o f clearly established ethical norms in its commercial practices.The frequent revelations o f w hite-collar crime and major deceit taking place within public and private com panies, coupled with recent disclosures o f major fraud in private organisations, underscore the problem which the country presently faces (Wilmot, 1994:5).Fraud cases reported in South African organisations for instance increased from 33 000 cases o f reported fraud in 1986 to 55 300 cases reported to the police in 1992.These figures represent a 67% increase over the six-year period, w hereas all serious white-collar crimes have increased by 50% over the same time (De Beer, 1994).
Research (King, 1993:2; Von Lieres und Wilkau, 1993:11) has indicated that m anagement personnel were responsible for 80% o f the costs involved in whitecollar and commercial crimes.King (1993:2) states the following: " Statistics show that the largest number o f fraud is committed by em ployees, but the fraud and corruption with the largest amounts o f money involved, are committed by management" .Police statistics (Schoeman, 1995) show that 25% o f management in South Africa is responsible for 80% o f financial or w hite-collar crimes.Coetzee (1990:167) is o f the opinion that in order to understand the unethical conduct o f South African managers, the present South African management culture and accompanied high stress levels must be analysed.

The current South A frican m anagerial clim ate
According to Coetzee (1990:167), South Africa has a unique management culture.He considers the present generation to be the first managerial group intensely involved in advanced technology.It is also the first generation involved in conflict management, unnatural interest rates and extraordinary international pressure.Competition is extreme and the rate o f sacrifice mostly unfair.
Researchers (Carstens, 1989;Coetzee, 1990;Esterhuizen, 1992) believe that managers are facing two critical problems in the present circum stances prevailing in South Africa:

• The current econom ic situation in South Africa
Accompanying poor economic conditions in this country, the following aspects also have an impact: -F ear o f la y -o ff and a low er income.Lay-offs lead to a lowering in financial position and status.The self-confidence and self-image o f those concerned are negatively influenced (Carstens, 1989).
-F ear that individual and/or business objectives will not be realised.To reach objectives, managers are overloaded.There are cases o f managers working for up to 90 hours a w eek (including w eekends), which means that up to 80% o f non-sleeping time is spent on w ork activities (Van Hemert, 1990).Carstens (1989) claims that the South African highlevel employee (including managers), w orks an average o f 15% more than his Australian equivalent.Research has also show n (Carstens, 1989:4) that the South African manager w orks an average o f 49 hours per w eek, in comparison v/ith 38,8 hours by Japanese managers, 35 hours by American managers and 31,6 hours by the German management corps.
-U nhealthy com petition which leads to conflict, aggressive conduct, poor communication and low morale (Coetzee, 1990).
• Political changes Coetzee (1990) indicated that though politics w ere not conducted on enterprise level in the past, it is now true that the work environment is exactly the milieu in which some w orkers can express and show their political power.W hile enter prise may traditionally have been focused on profit and service within the industrial environment, the additional dimension o f politics may now be present (Coetzee, 1990:169).Coetzee (1990) also indicated that apart from the already described vertical political conflict at enterprise level, lateral stress originating among managers is also present.According to him it is a fact that party political differences on management level are evident in viewpoint and policy and lead to conflict and stress.Esterhuizen (1992:25) Coetzee (1990:169-174) indicated that the already discussed South African management culture leads to high stress levels and the following symptoms are typical o f the current South African manager: self-neglect, progressive deterioration regarding faith and religion, and marriage deterioration.
De Vries (1993:1-2) stated that the South African manager has to function in extremely difficult and stressful circumstances.

T he relationsh ip betw een stress and unethical behaviour
am ong m anagers Coetzee (1990:167), De Vries (1993:1-2) and Esterhuizen (1992) are o f the opinion that the current economic situation in South Africa, as well as the political changes could be coupled with stress (demands exceeding m anagers' ability to handle them) among managers.According to these writers, the poor economic situation in particular can be coupled with overload and a fear of retrenchment among managers.Coetzee (1990) is o f the opinion that a manager suffering from an overload and fear o f being retrenched would w ork long hours, which can eventually lead to self-alienation and spiritual superficialisation.Such a person is most probably more likely to becom e involved in w hite-collar crimes (i.e.em bezzlement) (Coetzee, 1990).
Van Zyl (1997) found that high stress goes hand in hand with blaming errors on innocent colleagues.M anagers making mistakes most probably fear being dis missed if they admit their errors; hence the blame is passed onto innocent colleagues.C oetzee (1990) pointed out that as a result o f the poor economic conditions and the accom panying fear o f dismissal in the country, unhealthy competition has been created among managers.Unhealthy competition normally leads to conflict, overload, poor communication and unethical behaviour (Coetzee, 1990:20).
Van Zyl (1997:5) also indicated that high stress does relate to a failure to report colleagues' violation o f company policy.Erman (1994) pointed out that in fringements are not always reported.One reason for this (according to Erman) is when those involved fear losing their position and/or friends (Erman, 1994:31).
Researchers agree that stressful w orking conditions can lead to unethical behaviour among managers.M enzel (1993), for instance, found that when managers under stress are confronted with moral decisions, preference would be given to circumstances above own discretion/judgement. M enzel (1993) further concluded that managers working in a group where little trust and group cohesion exist among group members they would be more prone to unethical behaviour.It was also found that where rules and regulations are to be followed, unethical behaviour w as more likely to occur.
James and Arraba (1992) expressed the opinion that managers experiencing high stress levels are more inclined to suffer from tunnel vision, that could cloud their judgement in decision-making (including ethical decisions).
Victor and Cullen (1988) and also Cullen et al. (1992) indicated that overload, time pressure and a poor correlation between ability and task dem ands may lead to unethical conduct.
Van Zyl (1997) stated that social issues within the w orkplace have been connected with unethical behaviour -a phenomenon which may be an indication that in a stressful society managers enjoy insufficient support from supervisors and colleagues.
Erman (1994) pointed out that demands which managers find hard to comply with, lead to rules being broken.

T he problem and aim o f the article
From this discussion it seems clear that the South African m anager has to function in extremely difficult and stressful circumstances which can lead to unethical behaviour among managers.
The aim o f this article is therefore to give a clearer picture o f unethical behaviour among managers by means o f a model, and to use this model as the basis o f practical suggestions to improve the situation.

T heoretical model
The research o f Stead et al. (1994:58) strongly supports a person-situation explanation o f ethics in which both individual and situational (organisational) factors influence the decisions made by individuals.Esterhuizen (1992:30) defined business ethics (as part o f the above-mentioned approach to ethics) as the consideration o f business activities and moral standards involving personal, organisational and community norms and values.A model o f ethical behaviour as part o f the person-situation interaction approach can be depicted as shown in Figure 1 (Stead et al., 1994:64).
Stead, W orrel and Stead's model has two important identifiable phases (see Figure 1).

• The first phase
The fir s t phase reflects the relationship between the individual fa c to rs and the development o f the person's ethical philosophy and decision ideology.
Essentially, this linkage demonstrates that the ethical beliefs one holds, and the way in which these beliefs are applied, are strongly influenced by personality and background.
Individual fa c to rs include personality and socialisation aspects (Stead et al., 1994:59).Researchers have suggested three personality measures that may influence ethical behaviour -ego-strength, machiavellianism and locus o f control (Trevino, 1987).Ego-strength is defined as an individual's ability to engage in self-directed activity and to manage tense situations (Trevino, 1987).
Locus o f control is a measure o f whether or not a person believes that his or her outcomes in life are determined by his/her own actions -internal or by luck, fate or powerful others and institutions (external) (Levenson, 1974).
Socialisation also seems to influence a person's ethical system.Researchers have identified sex role differences, religious beliefs, age, w ork experience and nationality as factors which may influence the ethical decisions made by individuals (Trevino, 1987).
The network o f ethical norms and principles one holds constitutes on e's ethical philosophy.Cavanagh et al. (1981) identified three basic ethical philosophies: The first philosophy implies utilitarianism.The central concept o f utilitarianism is a belief that ethics is best applied by considering the greatest good for the greatest number.The The second philosophy implies individual rights.This philosophy focuses on protecting individual rights such as the right to perform, the right o f free consent, the right to due process, etc.The third ethical philosophy implies justice.Such an ethical system stresses social justice and the opportunity for all to pursue meaning and happiness in life.Stead et al. (1994:60) F igure 1: M odel o f ethical b eh aviour (Stead e ta l., 1994:64) stated that m ost individuals allow one o f these philosophies to dominate their ethical decisions, with the utilitarian philosophy being dominant among business managers.Stead et al. (1994:60) also contended that individuals differ in terms o f the moral judgem ent they make, and that the actions they take resulting from these moral judgem ents also differ.These authors refer to these differences as ethical decision ideologies and say that these are based on two dimensions.The first dimension implies idealism which depends on the degree to which an individual believes that ethical behaviour always results in good outcomes.The second dimension implies relativism -the degree to which an individual believes that moral rules are situational.Persons high in both idealism and relativism are called situationists.They reject the use o f universal or individual moral principles, preferring to analyse each situation and to determine appropriate moral behaviour based on this analysis.Exceptionists, those low in both dimensions, believe in moral rules as guides, but are open to practical exceptions.

• T h e second phase
The second phase constitutes the organisational fa c to rs (which are affected by external forces) which influence the som eone's ethical belief system.These inter actions eventually lead to ethical/unethical behaviour in organisations.It must, however, be kept in mind that behaviour is usually reinforced -rewarded, punished, etc. -which in turn influences the person's ethical belief (Stead et al., 1994:60).
Regarding organisational fa c to rs it seems as if the philosophies o f management as well as o f managerial behaviour have a major impact on the ethical behaviour o f em ployees (Trevino, 1987).Another critical organisational variable that influences behaviour is the firm's reinforcement system.Research in ethical behaviour strongly supports the conclusion that if ethical behaviour is desired, the perform ance measurement, appraisal and rew ard systems must be modified to account for ethical behaviour.Several dimensions o f the jo b itself may also influence the ethical behaviour o f employees.Jobs involving external contacts are, for instance, believed to have more potential for ethical dilemmas than jobs with purely internal contacts (Stead et al., 1994:62).E xternal fa c to rs can also undermine ethical behaviour as a result o f their effect on the ethical philosophies o f managers, the reinforcement system, etc. Poor economic conditions, resource scarcity and pressure from shareholders, for instance, may put a firm in a position o f having to choose between being an ethical role model for its industry or succumbing to situational pressures and engaging in unethical practices.

E thics in practice
Moral behaviour in organisations is an intricate and complex problem with important individual and circumstantial dimensions.The moral beliefs o f the manager (individual dimension) and situational factors have the m ost important influence on the moral behaviour o f managers as indicated by the model and research (Stead et al., 1994:65).
It therefore follows that in order to encourage South African managers to behave ethically, there has to be individual and also organisational (situational) intervention.

Individual intervention
The following single actions should be aimed at by South African managers (Coetzee, 1990:175-180;Esterhuizen, 1992:40-42): • Recognise the symptoms o f failing self-management and strive tow ards a turning point.If the symptoms o f insufficient self-management, such as personal and religious superficialisation, become evident, m anagers should have the courage to acknowledge these symptoms and do something about them (Coetzee, 1990).
• Conduct personal strategic management by: -periodically evaluating your own destiny; -evaluating whether growth has taken place and the extent and benefits o f efforts; and -regularly evaluating yourself, especially by giving a nominated person permission to do such an evaluation (Coetzee, 1990).In this process, shortcomings and areas o f neglect are timeously identified and remedial actions can be focused on (Coetzee, 1990;Esterhuizen, 1992).
• Normalisation o f ambition.Using introspective honesty, m anagers can ask themselves whether they aspire to higher positions than their real abilities/ potential allow.According to C oetzee (1990), the organisation theory which always represents promotion graphically in terms o f vertical growth is wrong.More emphasis should be placed on lateral growth, so that individuals remain on their level o f com petence and are not prom oted to a level o f incompetence.
• M anagers should look afresh at their personal set o f abilities and skills and focus on them.By focusing on their own ability and skills, their w ork load can be alleviated and efficiency and productivity can be increased.
• Realise personal values in all aspects o f life.If there is compatibility between personal ideology and work realisation, deeper satisfaction and greater personal growth can be attained more easily (Coetzee, 1990).
• Apply the principle o f communality to professional life.This factor necessitates the integration o f the spouse in all decisions regarding work and profession.In particular it means that the spouse should be given a say in order to create a synergy in the management o f the career.

Organisational interference
Researchers (Coetzee, 1990;Van Zyl, 1993) agree that a sensitive employer is an important directive influence in encouraging ethical conduct in organisations.By implementing preventative maintenance and concerned supervision o f the psychic well-being o f managers, unnecessary stressful situations and unethical conduct can be prevented.According to Carstens (1989:11) the following can be done to prevent unethical conduct: • C reate a supporting organisational climate w here support is given particularly in the form o f open and regular communication between managers and personnel practitioners/psychologists.In the process problem s can be identi fied timeously and measures to deal with the situation can be implemented proactively.Furthermore, regular discussions and lateral communication with colleagues can be helpful in discussing mutual problem s and suggesting solutions.
• C reate an ethical organisational climate where, am ongst others, functioning takes place according to an ethical code o f conduct and em ployees are offered ethical conduct training.Employees should in particular be informed how and when unethical behaviour should be reported, and that reporting o f unethical behaviour can be "rew arded" .
• Train managers to deal with difficult demands (such as overload).This will help em ployees and employers to adapt to difficult political and economic conditions in South Africa.

C onclusion
Owing to South Africa's high incidence o f commercial crimes and the amounts of money involved, more than ever before managerial people have the responsibility o f handling their high stress levels and to practise ethical norms.This can be done by addressing the problem in a multi-faceted w ay but with the focus on individual and organisational strategies.
The same intensity o f focus must, however, be im posed on individual and organisational strategies in order to find solutions for relevant problems.The Scriptures tell us: "Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days."If this viewpoint is followed, all parties concerned will realise that their own responsibilities must be met to ensure ethical conduct in w ork context.
It also means that it is a longterm task with no immediate effects.
The current economic and political situation in South Africa and the level o f stress that can be caused by it, cannot possibly be changed.Individual and organisational strategies can, however, create a new frame o f reference in which caring, purposeful, committed and ethical people can be part o f the institutional setting.This frame o f reference can contribute to the establishment o f a fair, just, participatory and ethical society.