Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to examine leadership ethical views in different cultural and organizational setting. The researcher will compare and contrast leadership ethics in different cultural and organizational settings. Finally, the researcher will provide a conclusion.
Leadership Ethical Views in Different Cultural and Organizational Setting
According to Razzano and Nelson (2008) Siemens AG which is a transnational organization headquarters in Munich Germany was charged with bribery by the Security and Exchange Commission. Siemens AG is an electrical-engineering company with interests in everything from bullet trains to medical diagnostics. Siemens is considered one of Europe’s largest technology companies (Nelson, 2008). The company paid millions to government officials to win big contracts for telecommunication equipment (Pacini, Swinger, & Rogers, 2002). Prior to the bribery scandal Siemens had an ethics and compliance program in place however there was a missing link between leadership and the enforcement of the program. In other words, Siemens leadership chose to ignore their established ethics and compliance program which created an unethical environment.
Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR) a subsidiary of Halliburton headquarters in Houston, Texas is an international, technology-based engineering and construction company. The company provides a full spectrum of industry-services to the hydrocarbon, chemical, energy, forest products, and manufacturing industry. KBR is one of the largest United States government contracting companies in Iraq and Afghanistan. Recently employees of KBR have been charged with accepting briberies. In one case an employee award a contract to a subcontract and received ...
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combating bribery of foreign public officials. Journal of Business Ethics, 37(4), 385-405. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/197995609? accountid=34899
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prosecution necessitates global compliance. The International Lawyer, 42(4), 1259-1286. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/191685385? accountid=34899
Bribery has always been a controversial issue, especially in the business world. Many argue that bribes are a necessary cost of doing business while others view them with distain, claiming that they are antiquated and create an unfair advantage. In the late 90’s, the problem reached a boiling point. Although laws such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act made bribery illegal in the United States, it still remained an international issue. Numerous skeptics claimed that violators of the act slipped through loopholes and that the law was not properly enforced. This law only applied to the United States, but bribery had become a worldwide concern. In 1998, the International Anti-Bribery and Fair Competition Act was enacted. The Act became law on November 10, 1998, however; it did not take effect until May 1, 1999.
Anti-bribery laws in the U.S. were established to prevent the rampant corruption exhibited in the Airbus case study. Similar anti-corruption laws do not exist in many of the host countries the U.S. does business with. Host county’s laws and regulations take on different forms especially when power, money and politics are involved, manipulating or creating a new set of rules to benefit their own selfish needs. Savvy sales negotiators, like those at Airbus, seek opportunities through loop holes, off shore accounts and large sums of bribery money, to entice country officials or others with the authority to make purchases to commit to Airbus. A more uniform worldwide approach to international laws needs to be adapted, implemented and more importantly enforced, so all companies involved can conduct fair business practices under the same set of rules.
With the development of international business, more and more companies get large profits in multinational cooperation, also led to a serious corruption problem at the same time. One of the most famous is the Siemens scandal. Although there are many laws to stop transnational bribery, many companies have to rely on bribes to win contracts. Some managers consider the social resources are limited and the distribution exist competition. A bribe is the easy way to obtain the resources that the companies original may not get. Furthermore, some of the company 's products have serious quality problem, the leaders of production will bribe prosecutors. Then the products into the market smoothly, however, this behavior will lead to unfair competition
Meeting the ethical challenges of leadership casting light or shadow is authored by Craig E. Johnson. This book takes an interdisciplinary approach to leadership and ethics. The first part of this book looks at the topic of the shadow side of leadership. This explores the abuse of power and privilege, mismanagement, and inconsistency in her leadership. Part two, looking inward examines the role of character development and the nature of evil, forgiveness, and spirituality. Part three looks at the ethical decision-making processes and provides theories and tactics. Part four looks at ways leaders can disseminate information in a variety of situations. The book teaches new terminology, key principles, decision-making formats, and important elements of ethical contexts.
Specifically, six themes regarding ethical leadership emerged from the study. Survey respondents from all societies prioritized these six traits as necessary for ethical leadership. First, ethical leaders are accountable. They abide by rules and regulations and take personal responsibility while holding others accountable. Second, ethical leaders have consideration and respect for others. They are approachable, treat others with respect, and demonstrate empathy. Third, ethical leaders are fair. They make objective decisions and do not show favoritism. Fourth, ethical leaders have a strong character. They are sincere and they lead by example, demonstrating integrity and courage. Fifth, ethical leaders have a collective orientation. They promote teamwork and collaboration while protecting the interests of the company. Finally, ethical leaders are open and flexible. They share information, communicate effectively, and are open to diversity (Resick et al, 2011). Though cultural dimensions affect leadership practices and expectations, these attributes and behaviors emerged consistently as the requisite traits for ethical
Looking at the ideas behind what ethical and leadership mean you can easily find someone who exemplifies being ethical and one who exemplifies leadership. When choosing a ...
Ethical leadership is hard to define according to research cited by Yukl, (2013). Ethics depends on time, culture, and laws. We can attempt to define ethical leadership by looking at the leader’s behavior, values and how he or she influences followers (Yukl, 2013). Every organization has ethical and moral guidelines stipulated through their policies, rules and regulations. A leader who is honest and trustworthy can be said as an ethical leader. But it depends on how the behavior is reflected in the organization and the employees. Ethical leadership can also be defined as to whether the behaviors violate cultural customs and laws of the society. Personal morals and ethics may be in conflict with managing the organization
The learnings of culture with in organisations were influential in my coaching performance. At the time I started to study culture and diversity of leadership I had culture difficulties at my current place of work as a high level coach. We had recently hired a new male coach who would work alongside me to coach our senior athletes.
Currently, leadership is generally understood as a person with insight and wisdom of guidance, which expected to be efficient in management responsibilities like planning organizing, and monitoring performance (Kandola, 2004, p. 144). In addition, making ethical decision is important to individuals who value and take seriously institutional...
Ethical leadership is the implementation of leadership that has an ethical manner in the process of the implementation. Leadership is actually an activity of leading an organization or a group of people or the ability to do that thing. A good leadership can be applied by a good leader that has a good ethical manner inside them. The ethical leadership will be run effectively if the leader really make ethic as the foundation of the leadership process. The correlation between ethical leadership and organization is the organization need the ethical leadership in the process of the organization. Organization is a group of people that lead by one people
Bribery poses difficulties on moral grounds because it is incompatible with the principal of human equality and the fundamental right for individuals to be treated with equal respect and concern. For an institution to adhere to this principle, they must operate with fairness and impartiality: nobody should have access to influence that is not accessible to all. Bribery operates as part of a mechanism by which influence is only available ...
Placed in proper perspective, had Enron considered doing the right thing because it was the right thing to do, regardless of outcome, the company may still be in business today (Gilbert, 2012, p. 57). Obviously, in hindsight, doing the right thing may have changed the culture to one more conducive to moral values, which in turn, may have resulted in earlier reports of financial shortcomings. In reality, the company may have prevented its own demise with honest forthcoming reports that could have prevented market panic; thus, preventing the downward spiral that enviable destroyed the company. Point of fact, Enron openly espoused its affection for ethical policies but, in fact, it did not practice ethical behavior. Truly, had the company followed any ethical approach, it may have staved off its preordained destiny. A culture that rewards breaking rules is destine for failure. Though an ethical program may appear to be the solution; however, a moral culture is truly the key to winning the battle of ethics. Moreover, others have suggested that ethical programs may stifle creativity and thus prevent the free exercise of one’s values and moral judgment (Stansbury & Barry, 2007, p. 239). While a program by itself will never be successfully, leadership from the top is instrumental to victory; managers must be known for possessing core values such as honesty and integrity (Nel, Nel, & du Plessis, 2011, p. 59). Albeit, despite the best policies, the proclivities of most subordinates will always drift towards follow the examples of leadership (Mayer, Kuenzi, & Greenbaum, 2010, p. 13). Thus, like the saying goes, an ounce of example is worth a thousand words! The prevention of such needless tragedy lies not in policy or programs but rather in leadership by example. If society truly demands moral behavior within its institutions, then it must expect the same standard from its leaders. Society must demand
The rich get richer, within a secret society where only trust is accepted. An eighty billion dollar arms deal between BAE (British Aerospace), Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia who represented the Saudi Air force and the U.K, stir controversy because of “Black money” or secret payments. The question is, when too much political power reigns how can they be prosecuted; it seems that the Saudi government was allowed to be corrupt because of their political power and ties to terrorism. The UK allowed and paid for services because they were able to create more jobs and selfishly gain political power. We state that corruption is allowed because of the grand scheme of world politicians to create alliances which give them ultimate power, where normal rules of integrity and character don’t pertain to them.
House et al. (2007) discovers that leadership and Organisational culture are closely linked together as leaders influence the culture of their organisations. Researches talk about a range of leadership definitions but it is not easy to define. (E.g. Western, 2008; Yukl, 2010). However, Cohen (2009) critically analyses definitions from Dracker (1996), Eisenhower (1969), Northouse (2004) and finally summarised the definition of leadership constitutes five elements. First of all, ask question to set direction, which means effective leaders need to listen to followers’ voice respectfully and then share the common goals and ideas with them. In addition, leaders need to seek insights and allocate resources optimally; act ethically; allow their employees to work in a conformable and most effective way. This essay will explain different leadership styles and how they influence the organisations with examples of organisations and leaders with main focus on well-known entrepreneur: Sir Alan Sugar. He grows from nothing to incredible success (£ 730 million), is a legend in the UK business history; his reality TV show “The Apprentice”, a great entertainment for recruitment appeals to the public without reasons. However, he as a person is controversial amongst people, probably due to his leadership style as bullying or harassment (destructive). There are four schools of leadership styles: Trait, behavioural, contingency and transformational. Nevertheless, in the case of Alan Sugar, trait and transactional styles match him which will be illustrated following in detail.
Ethical leadership organizational ethics and socially responsibility are inseparable (Johnson). Leadership is not a inherited gift or family heritage; it is not a degree from an ivy league graduate school. Becoming a leader is an intentional process of growth that must be lived out experientially (Mullane). Ethical leaders demonstrate three distinctive characteristics, knowledge, action and character. Leaders have to have the ability to say “yes” or even “no” to a never ending series of challenges. A leader needs to be able to define their values, character and leadership style. When accepting the role of leadership you become encumbered by ethical issues and concerns. .