Case Analysis – A New Work Ethic?
How typical are the attitudes that Sheehy reports? Does his description of a new work ethic tally with your own experiences?
The attitudes that Sheehy reports are common, particularly in the modern-day working environment where most employees are millennials who are not willing to put more effort into their work and prefer spending most of their time at work using their phones to either access social media sites, chat with friends or play games. Sheehy’s description of a new work ethic tally’s with my own experience, mainly when I was an intern. The employees always assigned their tasks to interns and only assisted when there was a technical problem that the intern could not handle due to a lack of required skills. I also noticed that interns were always the first to arrive at work and would always leave last because interns had more work to do compared to other employees.
What are the implications for the future of American business of the work ethic Sheehy describes?
The new work ethic is characterized by indifference to service and quality, contempt for customers, a get-away-with-what-you-can attitude, and unrealistic expectations about the work setting (Shaw, 2017). The future of American business will be characterized by an unproductive workforce and poor organizational performance because the new work ethic will limit employees’ productivity by making them believe that their needs should come before the needs of the business or organization. For instance, if all employees embrace the culture of theft, businesses will lack enough resources to maintain operations, hence limiting their productivity. The idea of working in a hassles work environment will make qualified employees assign tasks to less skilled employees such as interns, thus further affecting business performance because interns may have the required skills and capabilities.
Some might discount Sheehy’s experiences either as being the product of one particular industry or as simply reflecting the immaturity of young employees. Would you agree?
Sheehy’s experiences are limited to the restaurant industry and could reflect the immaturity of young employees. Every industry has its practices that govern the behavior of employees. For instance, there is a wide range of activities divided among employees based on their experience and expertise in the manufacturing industry. The activities are connected, and employees cannot delay completing them because that would affect the entire manufacturing process. Professional employees also know that they are responsible for completing the tasks assigned to them and are accountable for any failures. For instance, doctors and nurses know that they have to attend to patients on time, and they have a responsibility to monitor the health of their patients. They may also not assign their tasks to other employees because medical errors would ruin their careers. The professional workforce also includes mature people who respect their profession and understand the code of ethics regulating their conduct.
Is it reasonable to expect workers, especially in a capitalist society, to be more devoted to their jobs and more concerned with quality and customer service than Sheehy’s coworkers were? What explains employee theft?
It is reasonable to expect workers, particularly in a capitalist society, to be more devoted to their jobs and show more concern for quality and customer care because employees understand that the future of their work depends on an organization’s success. Failure to focus on quality may result in organizational failure, which could lead to the closure of the organization, hence rendering the employees jobless (Adnyani et al., 2018). Modern-day organizations also recognize the importance of rewarding employees for their efforts, thus increasing devotion (Pitsurenko & Injigolyan, 2021). Organizations that do not motivate and appreciate their employees may encourage employee theft because employees usually steal from their employers when they feel that they are giving too much compared to what they are receiving.
In what ways does the culture of our capitalist society encourage attitudes like those described by Sheehy?
The capitalist society has promoted a culture where everyone focuses on meeting his or her needs because no one is willing to help anyone meet their needs. This has created selfishness among people, making them disregard any situation that limits their chances of fulfilling their financial, psychological, and emotional needs.
References
Adnyani, I. G., Widagda, I. G., & Widyatama, I. W. (2018). The role of organization citizenship behavior (OCB) in mediating the organizational culture on the performance of LPD employees in Badung Regency. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Entrepreneurship and Business Management. https://doi.org/10.5220/0008493103570363
Pitsurenko, A., & Injigolyan, A. (2021). On the role of corporate culture in the process of forming loyalty of employees of the organization. Universum: Psychology & education, 83(5). https://doi.org/10.32743/unipsy.2021.83.5.11526
Shaw, W. H. (2017). Business ethics (9th ed.). Thomson Learning.
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Question 
If employees discovered that a customer had died on the premises, do you think they would do something? Are certain employees who receive lower wages inclined to do less in their course of employment? Is it true that if you get an office and computer, you can scam your way through the workforce? (Shaw, 2017, p. 151). Read Case 4.4, “A New Work Ethic?” in the textbook on pages 151-152 and address the following questions in a paper that will be submitted to Dropbox:
Case Analysis – A New Work Ethic
How typical are the attitudes that Sheehy reports? Does his description of a new work ethic tally with your own experiences?
What are the implications for the future of American business of the work ethic Sheehy describes?
Some might discount Sheehy’s experiences either as being the product of one particular industry or as simply reflecting the immaturity of young employees. Would you agree?
Is it reasonable to expect workers, especially in a capitalist society, to be more devoted to their jobs and more concerned with quality and customer service than Sheehy’s coworkers were? What explains employee theft?
In what ways does the culture of our capitalist society encourage attitudes like those described by Sheehy?