Ethical Implications of Exercising Coercive Power

Ethical Implications of Coercive Power
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Ethical Implications of Coercive Power
Coercive power is the ability to influence someone's decision making by taking something away as punishment if the person ordered fails to comply with the instructions. It can be a severe practice by managers to get the staff members to follow along with a company plan and achieve targets with minimal welfare. Subjecting the members of staff to criticism in front of their juniors is also a form of practicing coercive power which may be considered unethical. Coercion may be in the form of preventing one from doing what they wish by withholding some resources or by physically constraining someone. Use of coercive power may be ethical if its intended to promote the growth of the business and it may also be unethical to some degree if misused by the managers to oppress the juniors.
The managers and organizations have the obligation to practice the coercive powers to the extent of the ethical business conducts. The managers should not use these powers to intimidate the employee or to overwork them for their own gains in profits. The coercive powers should be practiced to enhance company's growth, employees' discipline, achievement of set goals among other positive development in the organization. The staff should be comfortable with the level of coercive powers practiced and under them, they should be in a position to meet their responsibilities without any induced fear. The use of power by the managers can greatly affect the outcomes of communication and processes. Some of the ethical implications of exercising coercive power may be as outlined below (Koontz, 2010).
Insubordination
Coercive power becomes necessary in circumstances to instill strict discipline among the employees of an organization. When it becomes a habit for some employees to be late and having a negative impact on the overall production, then threatening to dock the employee's pay for the time he is late may be advantageous to the company. The manager may use the intimidation factor of coercive power to improve and maintain the employee's discipline. Managers may also suspend the employees who do not produce positively to the company as a means of disciplining them.
To implement change in the company
In cases where the members of the staff get used to the way the company operates, the introduction of change can be met with some resistance. The few employees who resist the introduced changes may cause distraction to those adopting the change and as a result lag the company's production behind. In such situations, coercive powers such as threatening employees with demotions or termination of their staff membership are ethical. These actions can be advantageous to the company as it will allow adoption to change by those willing to remain in the company and as a result attain their objectives.
Combating workplace harassment
Harassment in the workplace makes employees feel uncomfortable, have a negative effect on productivity and lead to employee turnover. Managers to combat this behavior may adopt coercive power backed by state and federal laws. The threat of employment termination and potential civil lawsuit in retaliation for ...