Discussion Board Reply (3) Students

BUSI 310

Karen’s’ Post- Reply 1

Ethics in Leadership:  According to our text, “ethics are the values, morals, and basic principles that an individual uses to decide between right and wrong”, and more importantly, exhibiting high moral principles when no one is looking (Satterlee, 2012, p. 112).  Especially important is the moral character of a good leader which is evident not just on the job, but in everything he or she sets out to do.  When a person lives by a code of ethics, it is evident in that person’s behavior and actions and their superiors, co-workers, employees, family, and even with their interactions with a total stranger.  You cannot hide who you truly are.

     On a weekly basis we hear reports of government officials, corporation heads, and business men being charged with crimes associated with embezzlement, bribes, and kickbacks.  Just this week, the ex-mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, received a ten year prison sentence for accepting bribes and kickbacks from contractors who were hired to rebuild the hurricane ravaged area of Louisiana.  “Prosecutors argued the 57-year-old Nagin was the center of a kickback scheme in which he received checks, cash, wire transfers, personal services and free travel from businessmen seeking contracts and favorable treatment from the city” (Smith & Hackney, 2014).  A city and its people who had suffered such a tragedy and loss of life, already beaten down from the hurricane, were being run by an individual who did not have their best interest at heart.  

     Individuals in a leadership role represent a position of trust and integrity both to the owners of the company as well as the employees who work for that company.  A violation of trust can destroy a company’s reputation as well as its worth in the eyes of the public and its stockholders.  The Enron scandal is another example of poor leadership and management, and a total lack of ethical moral character of those in leadership.  Employees lost millions of dollars in retirement, and were forced to sale their homes and exhaust their savings to survive the loss suffered when the truth was exposed of the mismanagement of Enron. 

     The moral failures of successful and once ethical-minded leaders have sometimes been referred to as the ‘Bathsheba syndrome’ (Ciulla, 2004).   King David’s desire to cover-up his sin with Bathsheba, caused him to put Uriah in harms-way by ordering him to the front line of battle, which gets Uriah killed.  History has continued to repeat itself with scandals ranging from Watergate to President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, all following the general pattern of this story.  Because those in power have unlimited access to whatever their hearts desire, leaders have more opportunities to indulge themselves, which requires them to resist even more temptation to make wrong choices and decisions.  

     Our text references different scriptures that speak to the foundation of a person of good moral character and of ethical moral standards, which can apply to both a leader or manager, and the worker.  I especially like the one found in Proverbs 6:6-8, “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise.  It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.”  First, we must love the Lord with everything that is within us.  Deuteronomy 6:5 (NIV), “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”  Your Christian walk should represent your love of Christ as well as your actions towards each other.  Being found faithful in your word, and respectful of each other, represents your moral character.

References:

Ciulla, J.B. (2004). Ethics and leadership effectiveness. The nature of leadership, p. 302 –

     327.

Satterlee, A. (2012). Organizational management and leadership. Roanoke, VA: Synergistics,

     Inc.

Smith, M. & Hackney, D. (2014, February 14). Ex-New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin guilty after

     courtroom ‘belly flop’.  Retrieved from:

     http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/12/justice/louisiana-nagin-convicted.

Lille’s Post Reply 2

RE: Rules

Definition: “Management”. Outline the steps that employees are to take in performing their jobs.

Satterlee, Anita (2013, 2009) Organizational Management and Leadership: A Christian Perspective (2nd Ed). Raleigh, N C 27615 Synergistic International Inc.

Summary:

Anita Satterlee is a full professor of Business Administration at Liberty University. In her book she introduced her readers to organizational Management and leadership. She gave definitions to the key- terms so that the readers will fully understand why managers are important. Anita Satterlee concluded her chapter by giving her readers key terms and a look at business in a Christian Perspective. I found that the key terms are really helpful with my learning abilities.

Discussion: Rules are detrimental in the business field. In order for any organization to operate effectively and consistently, there must be rules applicable. The three most important rules to remember in any organization is to always meet and exceed customers’ expectations. Meeting and exceeding customer expectations is the most important but often overlooked rule of business. The only way a company stays in business is if the customer is satisfied with its product or service. This generates profit, builds long-term stability, and meets the challenge of competitors. Meeting expectations should be considered the baseline for company performance. Exceeding expectations should be the ultimate goal.

Working to build long term profitability and increased long- term value of the business is a important rule to remember also. The owners and managers of a business must maintain their focus on creating sustainable long-term profitability and value. Short-term tactics must be subordinated to the long-term strategies that reinforce healthy profitability. Unfortunately, many executives and companies sacrifice resources, employee morale, customer satisfaction, product or service quality, and future competitive strategies through excessive preoccupation with short-term profitability.

The last rule in an organization or franchise is to always treat your employees the same way you expect them to treat your best customers. Employees play the most critical part in the long-term success and survivability of a company. It is essential that management only hire and promote the best people, continually treat them with the respect, care, and concern shown to their best customers, and ethically rewards them according to the proportional value and contributions these employees bring to the table.

Rules are a value of life that every person should obtain at some point of their lifespan. Without rules to follow this world will be full of chaos, and there will be no organizations, nor procedures to follow.” Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” (Romans 13:1).

References:

Satterlee, Anita (2013, 2009) Organizational Management and Leaderships: A Christian Perspective (2ndEd). Raleigh, N C 27615 Synergistic International Inc.

The Promise Bible

Alexandria Reply Post 3

Key Roles Of A Team

There are those who call putting a group of people together and telling them to work on a certain task a team. A team is much more than that. A team is “…a congregation of individuals, each of whom has a role which is understood by other members (Belbin, 2014).” Each person in a team needs to not only coexist together, but they need to also fit together like puzzle pieces. Every individual within a team needs to find the role that best fits them.

According to Belbin, there are nine roles that each person in a team fits into. One of the roles is called the plant. The plant is the person who has been placed in the group as supporters. They are not very strong leaders, but they tend to more creative and are able to “think outside the box” (Belbin, 2014). The next role is the monitor evaluator. This person is the team member that is able to view all of the team’s decisions in an impartial way. They are able to keep the team focused and to make sure the team stays on track. The coordinator focuses on the tasks that the team has been assigned and they give the other members their specific job (Belbin, 2014). The resource investigator is like a spy in some ways. They try to gather information on what ideas other teams are discussing and making sure that their team’s ideas will be well received.

There are other roles within a team such as the implementer, completer finisher, team worker, shaper and specialist. These roles are very important aspects of the team as well. The implementer is able to strategize and make sure the team’s plans are carried out in the most efficient way possible (Belbin, 2014). A team needs someone to act as the completer finisher to make sure the presentation is flawless and to add the finishing touches to the project. Team workers and shapers have similar roles. Their jobs are to keep the “hive” going and to motivate everyone on continuing the tasks. The final role, the specialist, is the key member who has the most knowledge about the task that the team is attempting to complete.

All of these personalities and different roles have to be cohesive in order for the team to be successful. Perhaps, the best example of a successful team is Jesus Christ and His disciples. Jesus was able to put twelve men together in a team to accomplish the goal of spreading the Gospel and letting people know who Jesus is and how He can save them. Each disciple had their own role to play in making sure the goal is accomplished and everywhere they went they expanded the group by creating more disciples. More and more people followed Christ and their mission has been extended to us today.

As modern day followers of Christ we still carry task of the original disciples to “[g]o into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation (Mark 16:15).” We all work together as a team to share our testimony and turn others to Christ. It has been proven that every drop of knowledge that has been discovered in the world has originated from the Word of God and the subject of teams is no different. Romans 12:4-5 gives us the true definition of a team “[f]or just as each of us has one body with many members, and these member do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”

Reference

Belbin, R.M.(2014).Belbin team roles.Retrieved from: http://www.belbin.com/rte.asp?id=8