...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. Ethical Leadership ...
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...Foundation of Ethics: Virtue and Values Evaluate Ethical Perspectives on Social Responsibility Submitted to Northcentral University DEFINING THE CONCEPT OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Depending on whom you ask, the concept of social responsibility may mean different things. However, within an organizational culture, social responsibility refers to ethical practices that benefit the greater society and simultaneously benefits the health of the organization. The concept of social responsibility is an ideology of ethical behavior that upholds that people and stakeholders should act in the interest of the greater collective good. Typically, social responsibility addresses the ethical obligations of organizations to sustain the law, while complying with environmental and social regulations that are sustainable for economic development. Stated simply, social responsibility is management’s interest in the welfare of the society in which it conducts business. It is a concept whose inception can be traced by to Peter Drucker, known as “The Father of Modern Management.” His realization that workers should be treated as a resource was ground breaking in the corporate world. Drucker defended the concept of proper corporate social responsibility to the point of turning a social problem into economic opportunity and productivity, while creating well paid jobs performed by competent people. William A. Cohen, a Drucker graduate and author of the article What Drucker Taught...
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...Leadership, Trustworthiness, and Ethical Stewardship Leadership, Trustworthiness, and Ethical Stewardship The problem to be investigated is to identify the correlation between leadership, trustworthiness, and ethical stewardship. Leadership is the epicenter for any group or organization. In order for an organization to be successful it is imperative that the employees trust the leaders. This trustworthiness will allow the leader to be identified as ethical stewards. Caldwell, Hayes, and Long (2010) contend that these ethical stewards can direct an organization’s efforts toward fortune for all stakeholders. Leadership In understanding leadership’s role within an organization, its role must be clearly defined. There are many definitions of leadership. Each definition has its own characteristic based on the perspective of the individual providing it. Lussier and Achua (2004; as cited by Caldwell, Hayes, & Long, 2010) define leadership as “the process of influencing leaders and followers to achieve organizational objectives through change” (p. 5). This translates to mean that the leader must have the ability to make decisions that will be beneficial for the organization and not promote their own self-interest. Their decisions will impact many different stakeholders such as the company, venders, customers, economy and themselves. In order for the leader to be effective in making decisions they must have specific skills. These specific skills include project management, technical...
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...Leadership: Trustworthiness and Ethical Stewardship MGT7019-8: Ethics in Business Northcentral University Dr. Jo Ann Davis November 12, 2012 Leadership: Trustworthiness and Ethical Stewardship The problem to be investigated is the correlation linking the components of leadership, trustworthiness, ethical stewardship, and their effects on sustainable organizational culture. This paper will identify both the similarities and differences between the practices of those who have influence over the decision making process pertaining to the ethical issues faced by their organization. In addition, this essay will present an evaluation of the measures that a business may take to meet ethical considerations relative to social performance, financial performance and reputation. Finally, the paper will provide an assessment of the degree to which social, ethical and public issues should be considered regarding both internal and external shareholder connections. Among the international business market, the significance of comprehending the associations connecting management behaviors, awareness regarding manager’s trustworthiness and the moral duties inherent in the psychological bond are becoming progressively more important (Caldwell, Hayes, & Long, 2012). It is increasingly acknowledged that one’s moral character and competence are important prerequisites of the trademarks for leading with integrity and having the ability to build trust in organizations (Harrington, 2010)...
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...their sustainability principles and broad plans for implementation. In the 1980s the environmental concerns were primarily pollution control and prevention with a focus on reducing emissions from existing manufacturing processes. During this period the company made significant improvement in pollution control and prevention, risk management, and facility improvements such as reducing toxic materials and emissions. In the 1990s the focus shifted to product stewardship, which emphasizes earlier intervention to minimize environmental impacts associated with the full life cycle of a product. The product stewardship function focused on developing global processes for tracking and managing regulatory compliance issues, customer inquiry response systems, information management, public policy shaping, product take-back programs, green packaging, and integrating “design for the environment” and life cycle analysis into product development processes. Today the company realizes that pollution prevention and product stewardship have become baseline market expectations and that to be an environmental leader in this century, a company needs to integrate environmental sustainability into its fundamental business strategy. This company realizes that it must redefine its core business utilizing the principles of the 3 “E’s”: Environmental, Economic and Equitable (social) sustainability. The reasons...
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...effective methods of serving a social purpose such as reduce unemployment, reduce pollution, toxicity and reducing the inequality between the rich and the poor. Instead of leaving social issues to government or big Corporations, social entrepreneurs find the things that are not working and solve the problem by changing the system. They create ideas and find solutions that are ethical, sustainable or user-friendly, thus convince societies to adopt these steps. Every leading social entrepreneur (Bill Gates/ Richard Bronson) are visionaries that are concerned with profit maximization but also the welfare of the public. Social entrepreneurship shapes the frontiers between the profit- oriented sectors and the non-profit oriented sectors as social enterprises can vary from for-profit community development organizations such as hybrid organizations which have both profit and non-profit elements. This is so because of the different traditions of social entrepreneurship in different parts of the world. Some examples of non-profit social enterprises are the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), BRAC (NGO) or the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and some examples of profit oriented social enterprises are the Grameen bank in Bangladesh and SELCO. A good example of a social entrepreneur is Jordan Kassalow. He is the CEO and founder of VisionSpring. VisionSpring is a non-profit organization which was founded in 2001and its aim is to reduce poverty, provide job opportunities to the poor and provide...
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...Ethical Leadership: the Call of the Times The recent global economic crisis and the various political changes that challenged existing governments show the need to change our concept of leadership. Leadership challenges in the present times are reflective of the ever changing needs of our society. Leaders must be able to respond and address the needs of its constituents. Our society is ever changing and the people’s consciousness is also changing. And we continually face these challenges in our work place as well. Ethical leadership seeks to address the gap in the current leadership context. What is Ethical Leadership? Ethical signifies it is based on some moral ethics. What would be the basis of this ethics? There has to be some form of standard or expected outcome from the type of leadership. According to Freeman and Stewart, many executives and business thinkers believe that it is a matter of leaders having good character and the right values. Brown and Trevino define ethical leadership as “the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and the promotion of such conduct to followers through two-way communication, reinforcement, and decision-making” (Brown et al., 2005: 120). Another definition is that ethical leadership is a stewardship that preserves the aspirations and culture of the organization. Whatever the definition is, this type of leadership gives emphasis to the impact of the type of leadership...
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...follows: honesty, transparency, humility, integrity, respectfulness, fairness, and responsibility. In addition to their values, they also pride themselves on guiding principles. Leadership incorporates responsibility and having passion at every level. A sense of innovation and having excellence in everything they do, execution of principles and taking ownership and accountability for results, success and failure and by having social stewardship and demonstrating good corporate citizenship and responsibility to all constituencies all encompasses the overall tone of the how they would like the public to see them. (Farfan) Considering that the Social Progress Index's ultimate mission is global advancement, it is difficult to dismiss any of Dunkin' Brand's values as they all are relatively important to guide the company in achieving overall progress in numerous areas. However, their goals of "Integrity" and "Fairness" are perhaps best demonstrated in Dunkin' Brand’s practice of "Fair Trade". Fair trade buying is a specific type of ethical consumer behavior. Fair trade incorporates fair prices for the products of farmers in developing countries. In essence, fair trade means buying products...
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...The role of Leadership in Organizational Integrity, and five modes of Ethical Leadership Components of Ethical Leadership. Ethical leadership begins with the way leaders perceive and conceptualize the world around them. Ethical leadership, organizational ethics, and social responsibility are inseparable concepts. They are developing concepts, to be sure, but inseparable. How ethical leaders relate to and come to understand the world around them involves judgment and action. These can be developed. In sum, the leader's role is to guide the human potential of the organization's stakeholders to achieve organizational aspirations in ways that liberate rather constrain their imaginations and judgment. Ethical leadership must, then, be effective, efficient, and excellent if it is not to waste human potential. It is not enough to be ethical in one's individual actions to be an ethical leader. To be effective, efficient, and excellent, four components of ethical leadership must be understood and developed: purpose, knowledge, authority, and trust. The relationship between these four components can be visualized as interrelated components, as described in the figure opposite. Attention to any one component alone is incomplete and misleading. * Purpose-The ethical leader reasons and acts with organizational purposes firmly in mind. This provides focus and consistency. * Knowledge-The ethical leader has the knowledge to judge and act prudently. This knowledge is found...
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...e-store and was the first ladies footwear and accessories retailer to launch an online shop in Singapore. The brand remains committed to Corporate Social Responsibility, supporting Humanitarian Causes, Human Excellence and Environmental Initiatives. Collaborations with international charities through the years include World Vision, Meat Free Monday and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality (UNWOMEN) and Breast Cancer Foundation. Charles and Keith had several fund raising for women relating aid. This shoes that Charles and Keith probably wants to reach to the women by supporting them and in return gain their favor and buy their products. Since 2010, the brand has also taken steps to reduce their carbon footprint by using Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper for all their shopping bags and...
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...Introduction As the world’s population continues to grow and the middle class is on the rise, we have the issue and responsibility to grow in our ethical and sustainable practices in business. Conventional business models are no longer sustainable and as government regulations continue and the consumer speaks out against unsustainable and unethical practices, business will need to alter their goals toward a sustainable model. The main focus of business is of course profit but in order to make the profit, there needs to be standards that are in place to promote and sustain the consumer’s interest in ecology, ethics, and the economy. Specifically, business needs to be innovative and try to create their products with the minimal amount of environmental impact. In addition, the business needs to be liable for the ethical treatment of all employees including the employees of their suppliers and the sustainability of their suppliers. A company cannot claim to be sustainable and yet their suppliers are causing destruction to the environment or becoming wrapped up in ethical violations of their employees. The following will review the sustainability and ethical practices of two leading brands, General Motors (GM) and Nissan. General Motors is based out of Detroit, Michigan, and produces brands that include Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, and others. Nissan is headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. These two companies are fairly different in focus. General Motors relies...
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...“ADDING VALUE TO NICARAGUAN FORESTRY” ASSET RICH BUT CAPITAL POOR! VALERIA ZELAYA Background During the 70’s and 80’s, Nicaragua suffered from civil and political unrest. In 1990, the country had its first democratic elections in 30 years, which lead to a process of slow political depolarization, and economic recovery. Nicaragua’s Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) is the largest block of tropical forest in Central America and a key source of high value timber for local and international markets. Land classified as suitable for forestry usage occupies about 6.2 million hectares; divided as 1.8 million ha for conservation and 4.4 million ha for sustainable use1. Despite this endowment, Nicaragua’s annual wood exports are only US$15M2, representing 1.75% of Nicaragua’s total export. From these exports, 95% is unprocessed wood and 5% is manufactured goods, indicating a feeble commercialization of value-added wood products. Other neighboring countries with less forest area and potential have much greater export income from wood products. Additionally, private sector investment is limited and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the wood sector have difficulty in accessing legal and certified raw material creating inefficiencies in the wood value chain due to a lack of integration and coordination of the value chain. The LAC Facility identified the wood sector as one of the potential sectors for growth due to the availability of hardwood species and a significant number...
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...to add onto their current supply to keep up with the expansion. Ikea alone uses almost 1% of all wood used commercially around the world. The company said it plans on becoming “forest positive” by 2020, meaning that, despite its continuing high demand for timber, it intends its business to have overall positive effect on the world’s forest. What does this mean? The commitment of this approach means it will be growing at least as many trees as it uses to make products by 2020. Ikea also intend to become of the biggest and most certified wood user and recycled wood products. The largest challenge to this strategy is that the company is dependent on this strategy entirely on its relationship with one global certification scheme, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Also, many environmental groups are claiming that Ikea is willfully deceiving its customers and...
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...Ikea, the international retailer of furniture and household goods, has a reputation for low prices and fresh, innovative design. However, it is also keen to develop a reputation for environmental stewardship and sensitivity to social issues. The Ikea Group of Companies has around 150 stores in 22 countries. It was founded in 1943, and in 2001 had a turnover of 11.3 billion euros. It employs 70,000 people, and purchases its raw materials from more than 50 countries, principally China, Sweden, Poland, Germany and Italy. Most of Ikea's sales take place in Germany (21%), the USA (13%), the UK (12%), France (9%) and Sweden (7%). In September 2000, Ikea launched The Ikea way on purchasing home furnishing products, a three-page 'code of conduct' for its 2,000 suppliers, focusing on working conditions and environmental impacts (see below). As a first step, suppliers were asked to return a questionnaire to ascertain how well they already complied with the code. External auditors have been appointed to carry out more detailed reviews and to verify the information provided by Ikea's suppliers. Where shortcomings are identified, the companies will be asked to put in place an action plan to remedy them. The code warns suppliers: 'Repeated violations of IKEA's requirements will result in the termination of co-operation.' Ikea has also shown itself not to be shy of working with lobby groups. As long ago as 1991, it collaborated with Greenpeace to find a way of printing its catalogues on...
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...Deforestation Mitigation Strategy SCI/275 10/12/2010 Joanne Massi There is a global issue at hand relating to our environment. It is one that tends to get overlooked due to issues like global warming, oil spills, water related issues, etc. It is forest destruction, or Deforestation, as it is often referred to. Simply put, Deforestation is the clearing of the Earths forests on a very large scale. This is a worldwide epidemic, and generally in mainstream society, it is an issue that is largely put aside in its importance. While over 30% of the worlds land mass is still covered by forested areas (National Geographic.com), the rate in which the trees are being devoured is alarming. According to an article in the magazine, National Geographic, an area the size of Panama is cleared each and every year. Strategies must be developed to help control the amount of this precious resource that are stripped from the people and many different that rely on the forest for survival. To first understand and formulate a mitigation plan, one must first know the purposes behind Deforestation. There are many reasons behind why humans strip the forest of its trees. These reasons can vary, depending on the country we are talking about. They almost all come down to economics. For example, in many South American countries, poverty and lack of food sources cause people to clear land for the purpose of agriculture. The unavailability of jobs and a need to provide for their families results...
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