Discussion One
Ethical leadership practices are crucial for any organization. This phenomenon promotes the image of the organization in the eyes of the public and by that giving it a more competitive edge. The first article in on ethical leadership practices by Yuhyung (2012) is entitled “CEO Ethical Leadership, Ethical Climate, Climate Strength, and Collective Organizational Citizenship Behavior" (Yuhyung, 2012). The researcher conducted a firm-level analysis to determine the relationship between the Chief Executive Officer's ethical leadership and the ethical climate in the organization. The data used in this study was collected from around 223 CEO. The results of the study indicate that ethical leadership was associated with aggravated perceptions of ethical climate in the organization. Moreover, the climate strength moderated the ethical climate as well as the collective organization citizenship behavior. Hence, leaders should uphold ethical practices to create an ethical organization environment.
The second article is on unethical leadership practices. The article by Tom Watson (2007) is entitled “Reputation and ethical behavior in a crisis: predicting survival" (Watson, 2007).The report cites cases of unethical business practices and how these actions resulted in the failure of some business. Corporate reputation and crisis management are essential for the survival of any business. More importantly, the corporate reputation serves as the predictability of the organization's behavior. One of the companies that have suffered from unethical leadership practices is the Ansett Airlines. The collapse of this company was brought about by the loss of public confidence and failure of equipment. Another company, AWB International suffered financial difficulties due to unethical business practices. Moreover, the Asbestos Company damaged its public reputation by giving deceptive claims of the company’s ability to compensate workers. Hence, the article provides some of the possible outcomes whenever an organization engages in unethical leadership practices.
Discussion Two
Need for Change
Changes are crucial in any organization. The changes give the company a competitive edge in the market as well makes it remain relevant over a specified period. Hence, leaders play a vital role in initiating, implementing and sustaining change. However, there instances where leaders are not willing to willing bring about change in their organizations. Fin Motors is one company that almost collapsed due to the insensitivity of leaders to bring about change. The company's CEO was a classical thinker who believed in the autocratic kind of leadership. The CEO's decisions of were not subjected to any questioning (Manuel & Mone, 2012). The orders came from above. The employees were not given an opportunity to raise their views. Although the leadership had enabled the company to some growth due to ease of making decisions, over time the productivity started to dip. The company began recording losses. The staff morale and job satisfaction rates were very low. However, the company replaced the CEO with a new one who embraced transformational kind of leadership.
Among the reasons for the change include the low staff morale. Others included the poor satisfaction rates, the inability of workers to raise opinions and grievances among others. The workers were also not given any opportunity to contribute to any decision-making process affecting (Manuel & Mone, 2012).
However, the change from autocratic to a transformational kind of leadership saw the company increase its revenue. The company started posting profits again. The staff was highly motivated. The workers were given the opportunity to air their views regarding different issues. As such, the employees felt part of the organization (Manuel & Mone, 2012). In conclusion, it is utterly necessary for leaders to uphold ethical practices to a good reputation in the public eye.
References
Manuel, L. & Mone, E. (2012). Leadership for Today and the Future. The State University of New York at Stony Book
Watson, T. (2007). Reputation and ethical behavior in a crisis: predicting survival. Journal of Communication Management; 2007, Vol. 11 Issue 4, p371-384, 14p
Yuhyung, S. (2012). CEO Ethical Leadership, Ethical Climate, Climate Strength, and Collective Organizational Citizenship Behavior. Journal of Business Ethics; Jul2012, Vol. 108 Issue 3, p299-312, 14p.
