...Decisions and Ethical Leadership The role of leadership in decision-making is of crucial importance in relation to subprime loans and especially whether ethical or unethical decisions were made. Organizations or institutions are providing the loans but the decision making process is a set of individual decisions. Thus, leaders are shaping the policy through their ethical and unethical decisions. Ethical leadership as an ethical behavior has its advantages and consequences. In order to establish trustworthiness in the minds and hearts of followers, leaders have to respect and honor the social contract which will generate a positive outcome (Caldwell et al., 2010); but the issue is in relation to the social contract which differs from one company to another. Gilbert (2010), in the article Moral duties in Business, wrote: treat others fairly; observe the rights of others and the duties they impose; do not hurt others, directly or indirectly; follow the law; treat others as you would wish to be treated; treat others as you have been treated; be merciful; and be just (p.94) The social contract is a set of values, and companies do have a code of ethics to honor the social contract. Thus, leaders can justify their actions by supporting subprime loans solely by honoring the code of ethics. In addition, any responsibility on the different levels of an organization, business or nonprofit needs guidance and leadership. Thus, in order for social responsibility to accomplish goals and...
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...ETHICAL DECISION MAKING AND ETHICAL LEADERSHIP To improve ethical decision making in business, one must first understand how individuals make ethical decisions in an organizational environment. Too often it is assumed that individuals in organizations make ethical decisions in the same way that they make ethical decisions at home, in their family, or in their personal lives. Within the context of an organizational work group, however, few individuals have the freedom to decide ethical issues independent of organizational pressures. ETHICAL – ISSUE INTENSITY The first step in ethical decision making is to recognize that an ethical issue requires an individual or work group to choose among several actions that various stakeholders inside or outside the firm will ultimately evaluate as right or wrong. Ethical issue intensity, then, can be defined as the relevance or importance of an ethical issue in the eyes of the individual, work group, and/or organization. it is personal and temporal in character to accommodate values, beliefs, needs, perceptions, the special characteristics of the situation, and the personal pressure prevailing at a particular place and time. Ethical – issue intensity reflects the ethical sensitivity of the individual or work group that faces the ethical decision – making process. Research suggest that individuals are subject to six “spheres of influence” when confronted with ethical choices – the workplace, family, religion, legal system, community...
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...Leadership and Ethical Decision-Making Sharon and Marcia share some parallels with their work history. Both women have been in the human resource field for almost 20 years. Both women seem to have been successful in their positions. Sharon seems to have an alpha personality. She will “jump” to get things done in the fastest way possible. I am concerned however, by her stating that she does not want to waste time by planning out anything with a lengthy implementation. UWEAR is going through a merger and although people tend to resist change, it cannot be avoided at this point. Also, considering Sharon is the HR manager for UWEAR, it should be noted that she was hired directly out of college with no prior experience. She also has not been kept abreast as to the legislation that is currently required for publicly traded companies, which can be seen by not having a whistleblower protection policy that should have been implemented after the SOX Act. Sharon’s style relies heavily on her intuition. She believes she can assess the environment around her and know what needs to be done. This is a great strength if she indeed can accurately assess her situation and see the path that needs to be followed to get the job done. Her weakness is her lack of enthusiasm for having a predetermined plan with an implementation timeline. Another strength that Sharon has, is her experience in being a part of a company that has grown into a larger, publicly traded company. She would be able to assist...
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...Leadership and Ethical decision making Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission First of all this is an assignment what is very interesting again. As a foreigner this was a totally new topic for me. While reading and researching everything I learned about a lot of new stuff. I had to research everything since some of this stuff I never heard of or if I heard about them it was in another language. First I am going to start off my paper with telling the back ground behind Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission. Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, No. 08-205, 558 U.S. 310 (2010), is a U.S. constitutional law case dealing with the regulation of campaign spending by organizations. The United States Supreme Court held that the First Amendment prohibited the government from restricting independent political expenditures by a nonprofit corporation. The principles articulated by the Supreme Court in the case have also been extended to for-profit corporations, labor unions and other associations. In the case, the conservative lobbying group Citizens United wanted to air a film critical of Hillary Clinton and to advertise the film during television broadcasts in apparent violation of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (commonly known as the McCain–Feingold Act or "BCRA"). Section 203 of BCRA defined an "electioneering communication" as a broadcast, cable, or satellite communication that mentioned a candidate within 60 days of a general election or 30...
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...AN EXAMINATION OF LEADERSHIP TO DETERMINE A DIRECT CORRELATION BETWEEN LEADERSHIP STYLE AND ETHICAL DECISION MAKING Michael S. Huckaby BBA 4751 Business Ethics Professor Fernando Chavez Leadership is a complex and ever evolving skill-set. Good leaders not only guide behaviors of followers, but lead them and their organization to achieve common objectives. Good leaders have an ability to adapt to any setting so everyone feels empowered to contribute creatively to solving problems. Leaders of various levels of success have been studied throughout history, some good, some bad, but everlasting questions are always at the forefront of studying leadership: What is a good leader? What is the right approach to leadership or style of leadership? Do certain types of leaders produce better results? Are ethical leaders always the best leaders? If a single answer to these questions existed, perhaps society could build the mold of the perfect leader and distribute it throughout the world to solve the greater problems of society. However, this approach is unrealistic, so society is left to explore leadership in an effort to understand what makes a good leader. The primary purpose of this research paper is to critically examine whether a direct correlation exists between leadership style and ethical decision making. To answer this question, the author will examine each leadership style in terms of its definition, its multi-faceted dimensions or characteristics, and the associated...
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...LEADERSHIP AND ETHICAL DECISIONS PERFORMED BY KENNETH LEWIS AND THE FED DURRING THE FINANCIAL CRISIS OF 2007-2008 November 29, 2010 Introduction The robust leadership decisions of both the Fed and Kenneth Lewis, CEO of Bank of America (B of A), were not only ethical and accurate, but could have simply saved our financial system as we know it. During the weekend of September 13-14, 2008 Kenneth Lewis met with CEO of Merrill Lynch (Merrill), John Thain, in order to try and rescue Merrill from a hasty bankruptcy that lurked around the corner. Lewis was thinking that it was the perfect opportunity to add the only thing that B of A lacked after recent acquisitions, a “Wall Street investment bank that underwrote and sold securities” (Pozen and Beresford, 2010). On December 5, 2008 B of A’s shareholders voted to approve the merger between the two (Pozen and Beresford, 2010). It wasn’t until days later that Lewis became progressively more concerned about the growing fourth quarter losses on Merrill’s books, from $5.38 billion on November 12 to $12 billion on December 14, one month later. By mid December Lewis began looking for a way out of the deal before the scheduled closing date in late January. Both the Fed and the U.S. Treasury Secretary, resisting that Lewis walk away, threatened to fire Lewis and replace the board at B of A if the merger didn’t take place. Lewis, afraid of legalities from not disclosing the losses to their shareholders before the vote, and the drop in...
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...Defining ethical leadership. Many scholars have tried to define ethical leadership, and although the definitions differ, researchers believe that ethical leaders shape the moral conduct of their employees (Monahan, 2012). Cumbo (2009) preferred to place emphasis on the leader and defined ethical leadership as making decisions based one's morals and living a virtuous life. Another scholar, Martinez-Saenz (2009), defined moral leadership using five constructs: altruism, egoism, legalism, autonomy, and communitarianism. No construct is proposed to have more value or weight over the other (Martinez-Saenz, 2009). An altruistic leader acts due to selfless motives while an egoistic leader does the right thing for selfish reasons (Martinez-Saenz,...
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...Business Ethics in Leadership Corey C Calhoun Sr. Liberty University 05/03/2016 Business Ethics in Leadership Recent corporate scandals, such as Enron, Parlamat, and WorldCom, have generated significant attention in the field of business ethics. Whereas the interest in this subject pre-dates these scandals, they have undoubtedly raised the profile of ethical concerns in business among scholars, practitioners, and governments (Knights & O’Leary, 2006). Additionally, there is a growing concern on what role leadership plays in perpetuating ethical values in an organization. Consequently, scholars are concerned with discerning leadership qualities that would ensure moral and effective practices in a company. What is the relationship between leadership and ethics? One of the key questions (or in some cases assumptions) in the literature on leadership is regarding the nature of the relationship between leadership and ethics. The definition question in leadership studies is not really about the question ‘‘What is leadership?’’ It is about the question ‘‘What is good leadership?’’ By good, I mean morally good and effective. This is why I think it is fair to say that ethics lies at the heart of leadership studies. Leaders worthy of the name, whether they are university presidents or senators, corporation executives or newspaper editors, school superintendents or governors, contribute to the continuing definition and articulation of the most cherished...
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...Ethical Leadership •What are the components of a comprehensive framework for ethical decision making in business? Ethical Issue Intensity Business Ethics Ethical or Individual Factors Evaluations and Unethical Organizational factors Intentions Behavior Opportunity Ethical-Issue Intensity The first step in ethical decision making is to recognize that an ethical issue requires an individual or work group to choose among several actions that various stakeholders inside or outside the firm will ultimately evaluate as right or wrong. The intensity of an ethical issue relates to its perceived importance to the decision maker. Ethical issue intensity, then, can be defined as the relevance or importance of an ethical issue in the eyes of the individual, work group, and/or organization. It is personal and temporal in character to accommodate values, beliefs, needs, perceptions, the special characteristics of the situation, and the personal pressures prevailing at a particular place and time. Senior employees and those with administrative authority contribute significantly to intensity because they typically dictate an organization’s stance on ethical issues. In fact, under current law, managers can be held liable for the unethical and illegal Moral intensity relates to a person’s perception...
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...business ethics and their relation to leadership, managerial decision making, corporate social responsibility and overall corporate structure. Increased corporate scandals and the discovery of a rise in unethical business practices have thrown the topic of business ethics into the spotlight. Organizations are expected by their stakeholders to implement strong ethics within their corporate structure and culture. This expectation could be accomplished through strong ethical leadership, formal structures and regulations that place emphasis on ethics, and by making a commitment to corporate social responsibility. Using these guidelines will help organizations overcome the various challenges allowing the business to build a strong ethical foundation that will ultimately benefit the company through increased customer and employee satisfaction, which could result in increased profits, organizational sustainability and social status. The review of the literature reveals that there is still plenty of room for exploration on the topic of business ethics and particularly with the topic of ethical leadership. It is recommended that more focus be placed on understanding the influence of strong ethical leadership within an organization and how this influence flows down the organizational structure. Once this flow of influence is understood, exploration is necessary to identify the best procedures for developing and sustaining strong influential leadership ethics within the organizational...
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...examine leadership behaviours especially Ethical Leadership as it impacts the third sector organizations’ performance. This chapter is comprised of reviewed literature regarding leadership, ethical leadership and the third sector organisations. Specifically, this chapter will be broken down into (a) Leadership (b) leadership behaviours (c) ethical leadership in the Third Sector (d) Organisation Performance (e) the impact of ethical Leadership in the third sector’s performance. 2.1 LEADERSHIP Leadership is one of the world’s oldest preoccupation. The understanding of leadership has figured strongly in the quest for knowledge (Bass 1990). Purposeful stories have been told through the generations about leaders’ competencies, ambitions, and shortcomings; leaders’ rights and privileges; and the leaders’ duties and obligations. A review of relevant literature has uncovered many different definitions of leadership. Leadership remains one of the most relevant aspects of organizational context (Nwokocha 2011). For more than five decades ago, the term leadership has been a researchable topic. Mostly, the research work focuses on issues of quality of leadership, ability of a leader, or leadership effectiveness, or leadership styles (Daft 2008, Bass 1990, Erez et al 2001 & Yukl 2006) Stogdill (1974, p. 259) stated that “ there are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept” and Yukl (2006) highlighted that leadership is a...
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...Leadership: Trustworthiness and Ethical Stewardship Northcentral University The problem to be investigated is the on-going debate of the ethical duties of leadership in business. The more focused questions and issues are: What is the ethical leader? What is the obligation of that leader? How does a leader create “buy-in” and trust within an organization? And Is a value-based system needed to create a successful business? James Carlopio described a leader in a recent article: ‘‘Today’s leaders must resist the powerful temptation of self-interest and must be motivated by broader values and principles ‘based on a morally established duty owed and a fiduciary obligation.” James Carlopio further explained that this ‘‘ethical stewardship’’ approach to leadership was essential if leaders expected to earn the trust of others (Carlopio, 2002, pp. 71–74). I strongly feel that leadership in any organization has a duty and are obligated to demonstrate the appropriate ethical stewardship in and outside of the business setting. Company stakeholders want to ensure that the organization is value-based. Stakeholders trust that every decision made is sound, ethical, and displays the company’s morals, values and mission. It is the duty of leadership to create an environment that cultivates all of the above. Lastly, leadership should be held accountable for unethical ventures and the message that it sends to its stakeholders...
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...TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 2 ETHICAL LEADERSHIP 2 CORPORATE CULTURE 3 CULTURE LEARNING 4 CULTURE CHANGE 5 CONCLUSION 6 RECOMMENDATIONS 7 REFERENCES 9 APPENDIX 13 INTRODUCTION Ethical leaders should act ethically all the time, not just in situations where it is expected. Ciulla and Forsyth (as cited in Olivier, 2012, p. 70) suggests that “[t]he good leader, . . . is challenged to be both technically good, i.e. effective at getting the job-at-hand-done and morally good, i.e. responsible for what he or she has done.” Leadership and corporate culture dictate the acceptable ethical standards of an organisation to their followers. Where leaders are identified as “ethical role models”, followers are more likely to imitate this behaviour and conform to similar values and beliefs explicitly delineated by their leaders and organisations (Shin, 2012). However the major challenge encountered by organisational leaders is about gaining the trust and commitment of followers to conform to the ethical standards required to achieve strategic objectives of their organisation (Caldwell, Hayes & Long, 2010). In this report, we define ethical leadership by looking at business ethics and leadership simultaneously. We analyse ethical leadership in the context of culture learning and culture change in ensuring ethical behaviour and Corporate Social Responsibility in organisations. We conclude this report by summarising the findings identified...
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...Running Header: ETHICAL LEADERSHIP 1 Ethical Leadership Kendra D. Nord PHL 3354- Management Ethics The College of St. Scholastica May 6th, 2016 ETHICAL LEADERSHIP 2 Introduction Our society depends on the abilities of our leaders and how well they can do their jobs. To me, a leader is someone that many people look to for direction, guidance, and inspiration. It is important for our leaders to have the aptitude to make difficult decisions, to know and do what is right for the people. A higher authority is crucial for supervising and regulating others as well as being an example of a hard and dedicated worker. Ciulla (2004) believes ethics is the heart of leadership and a good leader is ethical and effective. In this paper I analyze the importance of personal ethics in leadership and how ethics produce effective leaders. The traits’ I believe an effective leader has is; character, competence, compassion, courage, and to be open to change. Throughout this paper the reader will develop an understanding of what is personally required to become an ethical and effective leader. Ethical Leader Traits Leadership is a relationship between people. Therefore, the ability to ethically influence others is a major determination of effective leadership (Waggoner, 2010). Strong Personal Character is possibly the most important characteristic of a leader. A person’s true character is who they...
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...Introduction of the relationship between leadership and ethics. First, leadership is a process that is not specifically a function of the person in charge. Leadership is a function of individual wills and individual needs, and the result of the dynamics of collective will organized to meet those various needs. Second, leadership is a process of adaption and of evolution; it is a process of dynamic exchange and the interchanges of value. Leadership is deviation from convention. Third, leadership is a process of energy, not structure. In this way, leadership is different from management-managers pursue stability, while leadership is all about change (Barker 2001, p.491). In organizational terms, as in life in general, ethics are beliefs about what is right or wrong, they provide a basis for judging the appropriateness of behavior and they guide people in their dealings with other individuals, groups and organizations, managers are witnessing to those right and wrongs. (Khar, Praveen & Aggarwal,2011; Hansen, 2011). As Wines (2008, p.484) commented: ‘At bedrock, those who profess ethics believe that human beings are autonomous moral actors capable of making meaningful choices’. 6Approaches to ethics tend to fall into one of two philosophical camps: the consequentialist (teleological) and the non-consequentialist (deontological) (Pettit2003; Harper et al, 1996). Consequentialists argue that ethical values are meaningless unless they are actively promoted. For consequentialists...
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