Summary
What It Is
Laws are actions and behaviors of the workers that are prohibited or that are required. They are set forth in writing. Workers choose to comply with these laws. Procedures exist to enforce the law.
What Problems It Solves
- Workers are less likely to conform to an expectation of which they are unaware.
- Unmet expectations raise the potential of conflict between workers.
- When expectations are the purview of management and the expectations shift in unpredictable ways, risk adverse workers may adopt an excessively conservative work style which diminishes valuable qualities such as innovation, productivity, and customer satisfaction.
How It Works
Through the accepted process, laws are determined [ref]. They are published in such a way that every worker understands them and they are readily available for reference. When a worker becomes a member of the workerle, the worker agrees in writing to obey the law and be subject to the consequences of laws he or she breaks. Laws requiring organizational action are administered by the designated workers. Violations of the law are prosecuted through the workerle judicial system [ref].
Discussion
There are several reasons why an organization needs agreement about acceptable actions and behaviors of its workers. The first is efficiency. Higher productivity can be attained with standardized procedures. This applies to personal interactions as well as organizational procedures and manufacturing lines. Take for example the fairly universal prohibition against stealing. If someone steals one of your work tools, you might first spend time trying to find it. When it is not found, you will spend time finding a replacement. This time and money spent as a result of the theft could have been spent creating goods and services of value. Thus, having a law against stealing and abiding by that law increases efficiency. Second, when there is not shared agreement, the potential for conflict is increased. A worker who thinks there should be a law against stealing will be more likely to have conflict with a fellow worker who does not share this view and who steals from this worker. Conflict is like fire: it is very useful in certain applications, but outside of these confines it causes damage. Shared agreement about acceptable actions and behaviors will reduce the potential of damaging conflict. It will, therefore, create a more preferred work environment and increase worker time and energy available for useful ends. The third reason for rule by law is that it creates a more predictable work environment. This is because laws explicitly state the organizational consequences for behaviors covered by the laws. Desirable worker results such as innovation and delighting the customer often involve personal risk to the workers. If these anticipated results are not achieved or appreciated as will sometimes be the case, they might have a poor performance review, lose a promotion, receive less desirable future assignments, or even lose their job. Behavioral psychology teaches that people are substantially more motivated by variable consequences than they are by fixed consequences. Thus, if a worker knows exactly what the consequences will be for failure, he will be more likely to take risks than if he has only vague ideas about what might happen if he fails. Rule by law creates a predictable work environment that supports the risky worker behavior necessary for business progress and excellence.
Alternatives to Rule by Law
There are various processes to determine, administer, and enforce acceptable actions and behaviors in organizations. The most common is rule by the boss. Larger groups may have written guidelines. In all established organizations, there is a culture or “the way things are done” that is generally understood by workers, but it is not formal or written.
Rule by the Boss
When the boss is a good boss, not too many problems arise when he or she executes all the steps of governing acceptable behavior. However, when the boss is not a good boss, having a boss handle all these steps will result in organizational inefficiencies, lower productivity, higher worker turnover, lower worker morale, etc. Rule by law helps protect the workers from bad bosses and limits the bad bosses damage to the workerle bottom line. The administration of rule by law requires more man-hours than does rule by boss, but the benefits of rule by law compared to rule by boss exceed the added cost.
Rule by Guidelines and Culture
There is a proper place for guidelines and culture in the governing of behavior and actions. For rule by law to function, there cannot be much flexibility. If a worker violates a law, then the consequence must generally be enforced. However, in organizational life, there are many situations where the proper course of actions depends on the circumstances. Where decisions about worker actions and behaviors can be left to the discretion of the workers themselves, non-binding guidelines can be useful to communicate an organization’s expectations to each of the workers.
Each organization has its own unique culture. This culture is also useful for informing workers on what is acceptable behavior. Often the culture includes ways of dealing with workers who depart from the expected norms. Culture is particularly good at communicating the subtleties of what is appropriate. It is typically communicated from the old timers to the newcomers by example and word of mouth over a period of time. For culture to spread to newcomers, they must have sufficient interaction with old timers. Also, culture is a fluid, organic means. It is an amalgam of the organizational ethos and the personalities of its workers. When an organization grows more quickly than this ethos can take root in the newcomers, the culture is modified by personalities and previous cultural experiences of the newcomers. Thus, while valuable, organizational culture must be cultivated to remain consistent over time and throughout the organization.
Requirements for Rule by Law
No consequence may be imposed upon a worker unless that consequence is predicated on a law.
For consequences to be imposed, the law must have existed at the time the worker violated the law. In other words, bills of attainder and ex post facto laws are not allowed.
Consequences shall result from due process of law.
For serious consequences (e.g., separation from the workerle), a Grand Jury process shall be used to indict a worker before a worker can be held to answer for violation of a law.
Serious consequences shall require a trial.
The trial process shall have the following features:
- Innocent until proven guilty
- Trial by jury of peers
- Speedy and public trial
- Accused informed of the nature and cause of the accusation
- Accused confronted with witnesses against him and have compulsory means to obtain witnesses in his favor
- Accused to have the assistance of counsel for his defense
- Accused shall not be compelled to witness against himself
Workers must be internally motivated to obey the law. While a rule by law system generally requires a means of enforcing the laws, it impractical and inefficient to enforce laws when many workers choose to disobey them. If many workers chose not to obey the law, the cost of enforcing the laws would exceed the efficiency gains of having the laws. Thus, to gain the advantages of rule by law requires that nearly all the workers obey the law as a matter of personal choice.
A worker must be able to easily determine whether an action or behavior complies with the law. This means not only that the laws must be clear and understandable, but they must be readily accessible to the workers and the workers must be appropriately informed.