BUMGT6928 Developing Leader in Global Context Essay Sample

BUMGT6928 Developing Leader in Global Context

Purpose of the task: This is an individual essay that will be used to assess and grade students’ understanding of key theoretical and practical elements of leadership and leadership theories and models.

Task: Students are expected to write a 1,500-word ( +/- 10%) essay on the following essay topic.

Essay Topic:

Basing your discussion(s) on some of the arguments made in the article, “Ethics beyond leadership: can ethics survive bad leadership?” (Roque, Moreira, Figueiredo,
Albuquerque & Goncalves 2014), with supporting evidence discuss whether or not ethics can survive bad leadership.

The article raises a number of questions in relation to ethical leadership and management practices and their relationship to ethical cultures in organisations. By examining a case study, the authors explore the influence(s)of leaders on organisational ethics and question whether or not ethical cultures are possible without leadership engagement.

The recommended journal article can be accessed from the Federation University Library. Roque, Moreira, Figueiredo, Albuquerque & Goncalves (2014) “Ethics beyond leadership: can ethics survive bad leadership?”, Journal of Global Responsibility, Vol.11, No.3, July, pp. 275-395. Viewed on 26th July 2021, Available at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JGR-06-2019-0065/full/html

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Your task is to extend Moreira et al (2014) arguments by comparing and contrasting different theoretical perspectives leadership, leaders` traits /characteristics, behaviour and motives related to ethics as evidenced in the literature you have identified.

• Discuss whether or not you believe that ethics can/cannot survive bad leadership in organisations in the 21st century.

• Relate it to the impact that leadership can have in building/supporting or damaging the ethical culture in an organisation.

• Support your arguments with evidences from research/literature and relevant theoretical concepts.

• Minimum of ten (10) refereed academic journal articles should be used as research evidences.

Solution

Organisational behaviour research seems to have come into a new phase of maturity when it comes to the search for answers to the leadership-ethics question. The research paper ‘Ethics Beyond Leadership: Can Ethics Survive Bad Leadership?’ by Roque et al., (2020) offers an important and insightful discussion on the dynamics between leadership and ethics by focusing on the resilience of ethical cultures in organisational life given change of leadership teams, which was the particular target of enquiry in this study. This essay continues and extends the arguments in the study by drawing on concepts from theoretical writings in leadership, exploring the characteristics, traits and motivations of leaders, and discusses whether ethics can survive bad leadership in today’s organisations.

To understand whether ethics can withstand poor leadership, it is essential to delve into different leadership theories and their implications for organisational ethics. Leadership theories offer some plausible lenses through which leaders tend to shape ethical behaviour and culture in their organisations. Transformational leadership, as proposed by Bass, refers to leaders who inspire and motivate followers to go beyond self-interest for the betterment of the organisation (Asbari, 2020). Transformational leaders are known for their vision and also an ability to engender an ethical climate through their personal integrity and additional moral standards. Bass and others believe that transformational leaders can foster an ethical culture that is less susceptible to changes in leadership. Empirical evidence for MBA Assignment Expert has indeed indicated that exposing followers to leaders who emphasise ethical values builds up a strong ethical culture that endures even when a leader is replaced by someone with less ethical commitment. The case described in Roque et al., (2020) illustrates this vulnerability. The contrast between these two leaders underscores the need for a leader who aligns with ethical standards. The ethical culture built on transformational leadership could be fragile if it is derived strongly from the leader’s personal values.

The theory of ethical leadership by Brown and Treviño views the ethical leader as one who exhibits normative behaviour and sets moral standards through his or her acts and decisions (Ayoko, 2022). Such a leader is both a role model and an ethical catalyst who influences ethics and ethical behaviour of the followers, whereas the commitment to ethical principles of an ethical leader can promote an ethical climate that transcends individual leadership. The example of the demise of the ethical culture is partly due to the failure of the new leaders to sustain such standards in the new era. In many ways, this is the moral blindness and banality of evil described by Roque et al., (2020) whereby even good people, who were exemplars of an ethical culture, dropped their ethics under systemic and organisational pressures. Such deterioration points to ethical leadership being a necessary, but not sufficient condition, in maintaining the culture, especially when the organisational environment goes toxic.

Authentic leadership theory advances an approach to leadership grounded in a sense of self or core identity that guides leaders to be true to their values by exercising inclusive decision making (Ortiz-Gómez et al., 2022). Thus fostering trust and transparency in organisations, and modelling integrity. Authentic leaders are perceived to be able to create an ethically resilient culture through the development of a distinctive climate of values-based and principled conduct. In authentic leadership theory, leadership authenticity is perceived to help protect the organisation’s ethical climate by encouraging candour, honesty and consistency in ethical processes. Roque et al., (2020) however, reveal that, even in the hands of an authentic leader, maintaining an ethical culture can be tenuous when organisation-wide or leadership pressures undermine efforts to safeguard an organisation’s integrity. As the study illustrates, the loss of an authentic leader can signal a decline in values if the organisation lacks resilience due to a weak organisational culture or the subsequent leadership lacks similar character. Certain traits and characteristics of leaders are more important than others. Understanding these traits will be helpful in determining whether ethics can be maintained under bad leadership or not. One trait is that of moral integrity of ethical leaders (Ferrero et al., 2020). A leader with high moral integrity is principled and is less likely to engage in unethical behaviours. As Chen & Sriphon, (2022) pointed out, moral integrity is at the core of a leader's ethical orientation and is crucial for building and maintaining an ethical culture. The case of the organisation studied in Roque et al., (2020) is a good demonstration of what happens when the moral integrity of the leader is lost. It signals the loss of the ethical culture of the organisation. The new leadership’s lack of commitment in maintaining an ethical standard caused a sharp drop in the ethical climate of the organisation.

Effective decision-making is another crucial competency. Ethical leaders exhibit good reasoning and consider the impact of their decisions and actions on stakeholders along with the organisation’s overall wellbeing in the long term. Decision-making competence is central to maintaining an ethical organisational culture because leaders often face complex situations where they must choose between right and wrong decisions (Martínez et al., 2020). Clear and transparent communication from leaders ensures that employees and other followers internalise the importance of ethical values and conform to the organisation’s ethical climate. Roque et al. (2020) argued that ethics failures result from a disconnect between leaders’ ethical values and followers’ behaviour. They identified that leadership failure to communicate the values and to model ethical behaviours can break down the ethical climate in the organisation. In the case study, the lack of leadership communication and the absence of support from new leaders exacerbated the ethical situation in the organisation.

Understanding leaders’ motives is also critical to assessing the resilience of ethics under poor leadership; because leaders’ motives inform the extent to which they will prioritise ethical standards and influence the overall ethical culture of the organisation. Economic motivations are often compelling enough for leaders to place financial gain over ethical imperatives (Osafo et al., 2021). Leaders prioritising economic gain over ethical behaviour can undermine the ethical culture and contribute to its collapse. The desire for power can also drive unethical behaviour in leaders who seek to maintain or increase their power. Leaders who are motivated by personal power care about the power and authority that they gain from their position in the organisation (Yalçınkaya et al., 2021). The study illustrates how new leaders’ pursuit of power and control led to unethical practices and the further deterioration of the ethical culture. Leaders motivated by personal ambition prioritise their achievement of personal goals, even if they must undermine ethical standards to accomplish them. Organisational culture and norms are a key determinant of leader behaviour. Leaders in an organisation where unethical behaviour is tolerated or even expected might be more likely to engage in the same behaviours. Roque et al. (2020) point to this influence of the organisational culture on new leaders, which resulted in a general loss of ethical norms. The case study underscores the importance of an ethical culture to act as a counterweight to the destructive influence of bad leadership.

The spirit of ethics in an organisation often relies on leadership. Transformational and ethical leadership theories suggest that only strong ethical leadership can maintain a positive ethical culture. In the study by Roque et al. (2020), it can be seen that the departure of ethical leadership and the rise of bad leadership can lower the standards of ethics. While leadership might be a crucial factor in the resilience of an ethical culture at the organisational level, the same cannot be said for the mechanisms and structures of the organisation (Vera et al., 2020). A culture of resilience can buffer poor leadership and bad ethical contagion A culture of resilience can buffer poor leadership and bad ethical contagion. As the case study indicates, organisations with a strong ethical programme, good training and a clear reporting mechanism may be better situated to withstand a change in leadership. Conversely, organisations without these safety mechanisms are more likely to experience ethical decay when impacted by bad leadership. Still, the organisational culture is the defining factor here this can provide a fundamental baseline that can sustain even poor leadership. However, if the culture is weak or compromised, this could quickly have a knock-on effect, which in turn would make the organisation resistant to both bad leadership and bad ethical contagion.

To conclude, this article by Roque et al. (2020) illustrates the dilemma of maintaining leadership of ethical culture in the face of new leadership. Analysis of many leadership theories, traits and motives demonstrated that, due to the influence leadership has on ethics, ethical culture is not solely dependent on individual leaders. Organisations with sound ethical programmes, ethics training, and a mature ethical culture may be better positioned to survive a bad leadership. Conversely, in organisations with no such measures, ethics is susceptible to the impact of poor leadership. As such, ethics can potentially survive bad leadership, but the survival of ethics is dependent on the viability of the ethical culture and the organisational mechanisms present.

Reference

Asbari, M. (2020). Is Transformational Leadership Suitable for Future Organizational Needs? INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL of SOCIAL, POLICY and LAW, 1(1), 51–55. https://doi.org/10.8888/ijospl.v1i1.17

Ayoko, O. B. (2022). Leadership, Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility. Journal of Management & Organization, 28(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2022.13
Chen, J. K. C., & Sriphon, T. (2022). Authentic Leadership, Trust, and Social Exchange Relationships under the Influence of Leader Behavior. Sustainability, 14(10), 5883. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14105883

Ferrero, I., Rocchi, M., Pellegrini, M. M., & Reichert, E. (2020). Practical wisdom: A virtue for leaders. Bringing together Aquinas and Authentic Leadership. Business Ethics: A European Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12298

Martínez, C., Skeet, A. G., & Sasia, P. M. (2020). Managing organizational ethics: How ethics becomes pervasive within organizations. Business Horizons, 64(1), 83–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2020.09.008

Ortiz-Gómez, M., Molina-Sánchez, H., Ariza-Montes, A., & de los Ríos-Berjillos, A. (2022). Servant Leadership and Authentic Leadership as Job Resources for Achieving Workers’ Subjective Well-Being Among Organizations Based on Values. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, Volume 15, 2621–2638. https://doi.org/10.2147/prbm.s371300

Osafo, E., Paros, A., & Yawson, R. M. (2021). Valence–Instrumentality–Expectancy Model of Motivation as an Alternative Model for Examining Ethical Leadership Behaviors. SAGE Open, 11(2), 215824402110218. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440211021896

Roque, A., Moreira, J. M., Figueiredo, J. D., Gonçalves , H., & Albuquerque, R. (2020). Ethics beyond leadership: can ethics survive bad leadership? https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JGR-06-2019-0065/full/html

Vera, D., Samba, C., Kong, D. T., & Maldonado, T. (2020). Resilience as thriving. Organizational Dynamics, 50(2), 100784. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2020.100784
Yalçınkaya, S., Dağlı, G., Altınay, F., Altınay, Z., & Kalkan, Ü. (2021). The Effect of Leadership Styles and Initiative Behaviors of School Principals on Teacher Motivation. Sustainability, 13(5), 2711. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052711