Managed Services and Changing Workplace Ethics

Organizations use various types of outsourcing for many reasons, and these have been widely documented in the research literature. However, the impact on both the employees remaining with the organization and those who move to the service provider is often neglected. Prior to the outsourcing arrangement coming into effect, the employees all work for the same organization, but now with two (or more) organizations in place, professionalism and workplace relationships are drastically changed. In this article, the impact of changing workplace relationships on individual professionalism and workplace ethics will be explored. The article will begin by briefly discussing managed services and outsourcing, and ethical workplace practices and how these may be impacted by an outsourcing arrangement. Included in this discussion are associated areas of trust, professionalism, workplace relationships, and employee mindset change. The mindset change is of particular interest as employees in both organizations are now guided by commercial arrangements. For example, the simple phone call to a former colleague asking for assistance or information may now cross organizational boundaries and therefore lead to potential ethical conflicts