Ethics in Leadership

Getting Started

Imagine that you are faced with a difficult leader decision including challenging ethical implications. Imagine that you do not have a lot of time to make the decision. After all, organizations operate in a complex, global, technologically infused environment. Things happen 24/7. Expediency and fast reactions are common values. However, the fast decision may not always be the right decision. The fast action may not always be the right action, especially if it does not take time to consider the ethical components and implications.

This assignment will help you add a few more skills to your leader repertoire and help guide you in those difficult decision-making circumstances.

Background Information

Consider how we frame and think through ethically complex situations influences our decisions:

Framing

Systematic Moral Analysis (SMA)

While the various ethical perspectives are an excellent way to reflect on why, what, and how to function in an ethical manner, a similar approach is called ethical criteria. The ethical criteria approach blends some of the key elements that can be distilled from the larger ethical systems into an analysis matrix for making choices.

Konopaske et al. (2019) noted that the power and politics of leadership frequently raise ethical dilemmas related to who’s needs to meet, who’s projects to support, and who’s resources to provide. Competing interests create challenges of how to make an ethical decision when various stakeholders will experience the results of the decision differently. Thus, from the ethical criteria perspective, for behavior to be ethical, it must satisfy three criteria (Cavanagh et al., 1981):

· The criterion of utilitarian outcomes – behavior results in the greatest good for the greatest number of people both inside and outside the organization.

· The criterion of individual rights – behavior respects the rights of all affected parties (e.g., free consent, free speech, freedom of conscience, privacy, due process).

· The criterion of distributive justice – behavior treats people equitably and fairly rather than arbitrarily.

However, many circumstances cannot meet all three criteria or provide insufficient information to know if a criterion is met. Does that mean that such behavior is not ethical? Not according to a fourth criterion:

· The criterion of overwhelming factors – the nature of the situation is so outstanding or the multiple factors in the situation so tremendous that the right choice seems clear or reasonable.

Instructions

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.

2. Review the Background Information.

3. Read:  Bagley(new tab)  article.

4. Address the following assignment requirements in a two – three-page paper.

a. As you think about your current or former organization, describe a scenario that you believe reflects unethical behavior or decision-making by a leader (you may change names of the organization or leader if you feel you need to protect confidentiality. But note in parenthesis during the first usage in your assignment that “names have been changed”) Describe the scenario in no more than ½ page.

b. Analyze how the unethical actions by the leader impacted the culture of the organization For example, what was accepted, even if different from formal values statement or ethics policies; How did organizational members feel about the organization; What was the impact upon trust in the organization. Or, how was the organization perceived in the community? Provide this analysis on ½ page.

c. Analyze the leader’s actions by considering the ethical perspectives and/or ethical criteria. Does it appear that the leader utilized an ethical perspective/criterion? Why or why not? Explain how the use of at least one of the ethical perspectives/criteria (or a different one that was used in the situation) might have resulted in a different and presumably better outcome for individuals and the organization. Offer this explanation in approximately 1 page.

d. Finally, in your conclusion, distill at least two-three important takeaways from your study in the workshop this week. For example, what principles or practices might you leverage for your leadership responsibilities? What are the new or revised tools in your leader toolkit? How might you articulate your own ethical perspective or approach (i.e., synthesizing what you have studied this week) for making the right choices?