180 Global Ethics for Leadership
can assist those who are affected by the information to either advance or
protect their interests. Failure to disclose such information effectively
bars those affected by it from enhancing or protecting their interests.
Consequently, a lack of openness on the side of an organisation or its
leaders will be perceived as unfair or unethical by its stakeholders,
which in turn will undermine stakeholders’ perceptions of the trustwor-
thiness of organisations or of its leaders.
- Competency
Competence refers to the knowledge and skills needed by a person or
party to influence the domain for which they are responsible^176. With
regard to competence in organization two kinds of competence need to
be discerned, namely, technical competence and people management
competence.
Although technical knowledge does play a role in the trustworthiness
of managers and organization, it is the competency to manage people
that has the bigger impact on trust. Managers often lack competence in
the latter as they are often promoted to management positions on the
basis of their technical expertise rather than their people management
competence.
Good people management competency is closely tied with ethical
behaviour. To manage people well requires that one be approachable
and sensitive to other people. Herein lays the ethical dimension of peo-
ple management competency. Being sensitive and caring to other people
is one of the hallmarks of ethical behaviour. Poor management of people
is mostly experienced as unethical behaviour by staff and other stake-
holders.
176
Mayer et al. 1995:717