Ethics and Fraud

We continue to build our ethics knowledge base to develop a skill set that will help you analyze and understand issues that arise in the workplace. Now our focus will be on the factors to consider during decision making. In this module, we will learn about how the intensity of ethical issues, individual factors, and organizational factors may influence business decision making. Once these factors are understood, you will become familiar with the framework for ethical decision making. Finally, we will also gain a better understanding of how leadership styles affect ethical decision making and explore the habits of strong ethical leaders.

The Habits of Ethical Leaders

Ethical leaders display and model a variety of characteristics that lead to habits present in the workplace of successful organizations. Research has established the habits listed below as instrumental to leadership successfully fostering an ethical environment.

· Strong habits marked by committed integrity

· A passion to do right without compromise

· Proactively motivated and inclined to act with thought

· Mindful awareness of stakeholder interests

· Conduct of behavior as a role model for organizational values

· Transparency in action - a willingness to maintain openness

· Maintain a holistic view of the organizational culture

As you explore your resources, be mindful of your own experience. Have leaders of organizations where you have worked demonstrated these characteristics? If so, what were some examples? If not, what were some of the causes that prevented the leader from doing so?

Leadership Styles Influence Ethical Decisions

Leadership styles influence many aspects of organizational behavior, including employees' acceptance and adherence to organizational norms and values. Six leadership styles that are based on emotional intelligence are: coercive, authoritative, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting, and coaching.

Another way to consider leadership styles is to classify them as transactional or transformational. Transactional leaders attempt to create employee satisfaction through negotiating, or "bartering," for desired behaviors or levels of performance. Transformational leaders strive to raise employees' level of commitment and to foster trust and motivation. Both transformational and transactional leaders can positively influence the corporate culture.

Additional Materials

Click here for an article on ethical decision making.

Click here for an article on ethical challenges in healthcare.

Click here for an article on organizational ethics.

Click here to read an important essay about Ethical Leadership.

Click here for an outline of a comprehensive resource that contains an example of an Ethical Decision-making Model.