...Leadership: Trustworthiness and Ethical Stewardship MGT7019-8: Ethics in Business Northcentral University Dr. Jo Ann Davis November 12, 2012 Leadership: Trustworthiness and Ethical Stewardship The problem to be investigated is the correlation linking the components of leadership, trustworthiness, ethical stewardship, and their effects on sustainable organizational culture. This paper will identify both the similarities and differences between the practices of those who have influence over the decision making process pertaining to the ethical issues faced by their organization. In addition, this essay will present an evaluation of the measures that a business may take to meet ethical considerations relative to social performance, financial performance and reputation. Finally, the paper will provide an assessment of the degree to which social, ethical and public issues should be considered regarding both internal and external shareholder connections. Among the international business market, the significance of comprehending the associations connecting management behaviors, awareness regarding manager’s trustworthiness and the moral duties inherent in the psychological bond are becoming progressively more important (Caldwell, Hayes, & Long, 2012). It is increasingly acknowledged that one’s moral character and competence are important prerequisites of the trademarks for leading with integrity and having the ability to build trust in organizations (Harrington, 2010)...
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...Leadership, Trustworthiness, and Ethical Stewardship Abstract The problem to be investigated in Caldwell et al.’s (2010) paper is the relationship between leadership, perceptions of interpersonal trustworthiness, and elements of ethical stewardship. With an increasing competition amongst businesses today, the role of leadership and trust into leaders by their followers (i.e., stakeholders, employees) plays an increasing role in the successful operation of business organizations. Moreover, the role of ethical stewards and their impact on successfully lead organizations has become more important in recent years. Understanding the impact and importance of these three key factors regarding to the success of business organizations is fundamental. Therefore, in this paper the key terms leadership, trustworthiness, and ethical stewardship are defined based on recent literature and their relationship to each other is discussed based on the findings of Caldwell et al.’s paper. Moreover, the effect of leadership and trustworthiness in today’s world of business is outlined, and the role of ethical stewardship is examined. Finally, it is addressed how these, partly subjective factors can be improved and successfully applied in today’s world of business. Terminology: Leadership, trustworthiness, ethical stewardship Leadership Leadership is fundamental in a successfully run business and seen in the hierarchical structure (i.e., CEO, management, departments, supervisors, employees)...
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...CONFIDENCE IN LEADERSHIP THROUGH TRUST AND RESPECT Northcentral University The problem to be investigated is that in today’s business world, is there a need to use many different leadership styles in order to gain the trustworthiness and ethical stewardship required to be a leader in today’s diversified organization? According to Lussier and Achua (2004, p. 5), leadership is ‘‘the process of influencing leaders and followers to achieve organizational objectives through change.” Would it not stand to reason that in order to influence others, they must and should have to use different styles of leadership in order to achieve the ultimate goal- success of the organization? A leader who is flexible in their leadership styles and can just to the member personalities without injecting their own bias can prove to be an important asset to the organization. Transparency of characteristics of leadership, values, beliefs, religious views, and morals combine together make for a uniquely well-rounded strong and versatile leader that most people prefer to work with. The art of influencing others to get the desired results is no easy task. This task is a continuous effort of leadership behavior, consideration of others, commitment, and positive feedback. It takes a combination of leadership, trustworthiness and ethical stewardship in order to achieve success. The organization will have to do this without compromising their ethical values and beliefs. In today’s business...
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...is how the correlation between trustworthiness, leadership and ethical stewardship influences organizational members to trust their leaders, thus operating a successful organization. In order to understand how these three elements merge in order to create a culture of trust within the organization, we must investigate each of the three elements and understand what an organization is. Organization People working together in a structured environment who strive to achieve a common goal or objective is an organization. Some organizations are businesses which exist to market goods and/or services in order to generate profits. Others are non-profit in nature, such as community youth sports leagues, community service groups like shelters and food banks and churches which exist to serve the spiritual needs of society. Regardless of their purpose, all organizations share one attribute; they must be run by effective people who can instill the organization’s core values/cultures and motivate others to passionately work to achieve the organizations goals, effectively and efficiently. In other words, they require leadership. Leadership Leadership is defined by individuals differently. Regardless of the definition, leadership has the same final outcome. This writer’s definition of leadership is: the art of influencing others to accomplish the task, job or goal at hand with available resources, employees, time and money. Basic leadership traits within resource utilization...
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...is how the correlation between trustworthiness, leadership and ethical stewardship influences organizational members to trust their leaders, thus operating a successful organization. In order to understand how these three elements merge in order to create a culture of trust within the organization, we must investigate each of the three elements and understand what an organization is. Organization People working together in a structured environment who strive to achieve a common goal or objective is an organization. Some organizations are businesses which exist to market goods and/or services in order to generate profits. Others are non-profit in nature, such as community youth sports leagues, community service groups like shelters and food banks and churches which exist to serve the spiritual needs of society. Regardless of their purpose, all organizations share one attribute; they must be run by effective people who can instill the organization’s core values/cultures and motivate others to passionately work to achieve the organizations goals, effectively and efficiently. In other words, they require leadership. Leadership Leadership is defined by individuals differently. Regardless of the definition, leadership has the same final outcome. This writer’s definition of leadership is: the art of influencing others to accomplish the task, job or goal at hand with available resources, employees, time and money. Basic leadership traits within resource utilization...
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...Leadership, Trustworthiness, and Ethical Stewardship Leadership The problem with ethics is that what may seem morally right ( or ethical ) to one person may seem inappropriate to another. The reality of ethical leadership is that it is never about intent and always about behavior. In today's business climate of heightened sensitivity to corporate wrongdoing, ethical leadership is the right focus to pursue as a worthwhile business strategy. It can safeguard your organization from making headlines for all the wrong reasons. A leadership team may be sincerely committed to fostering an ethics based culture. But awareness alone will not be sufficient to instill ethical behavior and practices across the organization. It requires consistent and conscious effort to impede an ethical perspective into day to day leadership and management behaviors. This essay presents a global perspective on a particular tribe of the human race. The question addressed is that of leadership. I have pondered on the paucity of quality leadership in the world at the present time. From reflections on different traditions, I came to believe that the answer was simple and ancient, yet perhaps more radical than old fashioned. Without ethics, rooted in a spiritual practice that entails meditation, there is no possibility of a leadership emerging that would rest on principles of integrity, compassion and awareness. The lack of leadership, truth and integrity in public life exist simply because the world is...
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...Leadership: Trustworthiness and Ethical Stewardship Northcentral University The problem to be investigated is the on-going debate of the ethical duties of leadership in business. The more focused questions and issues are: What is the ethical leader? What is the obligation of that leader? How does a leader create “buy-in” and trust within an organization? And Is a value-based system needed to create a successful business? James Carlopio described a leader in a recent article: ‘‘Today’s leaders must resist the powerful temptation of self-interest and must be motivated by broader values and principles ‘based on a morally established duty owed and a fiduciary obligation.” James Carlopio further explained that this ‘‘ethical stewardship’’ approach to leadership was essential if leaders expected to earn the trust of others (Carlopio, 2002, pp. 71–74). I strongly feel that leadership in any organization has a duty and are obligated to demonstrate the appropriate ethical stewardship in and outside of the business setting. Company stakeholders want to ensure that the organization is value-based. Stakeholders trust that every decision made is sound, ethical, and displays the company’s morals, values and mission. It is the duty of leadership to create an environment that cultivates all of the above. Lastly, leadership should be held accountable for unethical ventures and the message that it sends to its stakeholders...
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...Trustworthiness and Ethical Stewardship The problem to be investigated is to address the relationship between “leadership behavior, perceptions about [a] leader’s trustworthiness, and the ethical duties” (Caldwell, Hayes & Long, 2012, p.497) associated with interdependent leadership style. As this author reflects upon the different leaders that he has served under over the past forty years, the good ones were epitomized by assigning responsibility and expecting subordinates to live up to those responsibilities, keep their word, and being congruent in keeping their own. On the other hand, the worst leaders were characterized by being unfaithful in keep their word, appearing not to care about those that worked for them, in being mediocre in their jobs, and tolerating mediocrity in others. This author realizes that principles are not established by individual experience, but the findings of Caldwell, Hayes, and Long, among others, empirically support the subjective experience of the author. Ethical Stewardship The idea of ethical stewardship is presented in Caldwell et al. (2010), who indicate that there are leaders who strive to “maximize long-term wealth creation” through “creating relationships that maximize stakeholder ownership and commitment” (p.501). Ryan, Buchholtz & Kolb (2010) reviewed research drawing from stewardship theory and “its assumptions of executive good will and firm-interest-maximizing motivation” (p. 681) in discussing relationships between CEOs and corporate...
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...Decisions and Ethical Leadership The role of leadership in decision-making is of crucial importance in relation to subprime loans and especially whether ethical or unethical decisions were made. Organizations or institutions are providing the loans but the decision making process is a set of individual decisions. Thus, leaders are shaping the policy through their ethical and unethical decisions. Ethical leadership as an ethical behavior has its advantages and consequences. In order to establish trustworthiness in the minds and hearts of followers, leaders have to respect and honor the social contract which will generate a positive outcome (Caldwell et al., 2010); but the issue is in relation to the social contract which differs from one company to another. Gilbert (2010), in the article Moral duties in Business, wrote: treat others fairly; observe the rights of others and the duties they impose; do not hurt others, directly or indirectly; follow the law; treat others as you would wish to be treated; treat others as you have been treated; be merciful; and be just (p.94) The social contract is a set of values, and companies do have a code of ethics to honor the social contract. Thus, leaders can justify their actions by supporting subprime loans solely by honoring the code of ethics. In addition, any responsibility on the different levels of an organization, business or nonprofit needs guidance and leadership. Thus, in order for social responsibility to accomplish goals and...
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...“Transformative Leadership: Achieving Unparalleled Excellence” For , MGT 3110 February 6, 2015 Abstract This paper summarizes the article written by Cam Caldwell, Rolf D. Dixon, Larry A. Floyd, Joe Chaudoin, Johnathan Post, and Gaynor Cheokas regarding the need for a new type of leadership in today’s social work environment, defined as Transformative leadership. The article itself varies in the definition, however in a broad sense Transformative leadership is maintaining good moral standing and sound business ethics among employees and individuals inside and outside the workplace. However, in order to reach this theoretical level of business related moral and ethical leadership known as Transformative leadership, one must be able to interpret and utilize the six other forms of leadership. The six forms of leadership discussed in this article are Charismatic, Level 5, Principle-centered, Servant, Covenantal, and Transformational leadership. There will be a total of ten propositions (P) that correspond to a given model of leadership and will be referred to as (P1, P2. etc.). When these six models of leadership are combined and used in conjunction, it is known as transformative leadership which makes up the content of this article. Keywords: Ethics, Transformative leadership, Covenantal leadership, Moral standing, Proposition, Level 5 leadership, Servant leadership, Principle-centered leadership, Transformational leadership, Charismatic leadership Executive...
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...states. The workforce includes heavy and light equipment operators, civil engineers, and project managers along with an administrative staff in the headquarters facility with support staff in each of the 16 field offices. The company has 2,300 year-round employees and will surge to an average of 4,500 employees during peak construction periods. Currently, XYZ Construction Inc. is a privately owned company that began as a family business in the 1950s. Ownership has decided to go public with XYZ. The job of Carlton LLC is to highlight key points in the Initial Public Offering. These key points will consist of marketing, management, business ethics, global dimensions, accounting, financial, economic, legal, information management, research, leadership, and business integration aspects of the company. Marketing for XYZ In the next 12 months we will be going through an Initial Public Offering (IPO). The purpose of an IPO, again, is to take the company public. An initial public offering (IPO) is the first time a company offers its shares for sale to general investors. The process is called “going public.” The shares are listed subsequently on a national securities exchange, for example, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). This method is used by small, medium and large companies to raise funds. The company receives all of the proceeds of the offering. The timing of an IPO is crucial. It depends on a favorable market for a company’s products or services (Kielmas,n.d). As is known XYZ...
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...| ACCOUNTING CHANGES | | | Sabrina Whitehead | Dr. M. Austin ZekenAccounting Undergraduate Capstone Acc 499 | 4/26/2012 | | Discuss the primary reason for the restatement and the impact to the financial results for the Company. Dell computers has delivered technology solutions for more than twenty-six years and has transformed countries, communities and the private sector to help achieve their goals at work, home and school. Michael Dell created PCs Limited but later changed the name to Dell Computer Corporation in 1984, as a freshman attending the University of Texas. The young entrepreneur purchased computer parts from wholesale distributors, installed them in his version of the IBM, and then began selling the custom-built person computers from his dorm room. After one year of successful business Michael Dell left college and incorporated his business and the Dell Company went public, selling stock market shares for $8.50 per share. After years of financial accomplishment in 2006 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) made inquiries of Dell internal accounting and Dell Inc. was investigated after a review of past accounting and reporting practices and company eventually disclosed wrongful conduct for deferring revenue coming from software sales, errors and irregularities which took place from 2003 through 2007. The investigation concluded that a number of adjustment were improper, including the creation and release of accruals and reserves...
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...Economic effects of subprime lending A subprime lending is an option for individuals that have difficulty meeting mortgage payment schedules or for individuals who have low credit scores and considered risky borrowers. For example, an applicant with a low credit score of 500 will have a very difficult time locating a loan. Subprime lending comes with a high cost to borrowers. Lenders see bad credit applicants as riskier than applicants with better credit scores. Borrowers in turn pay for this risk by accepting loans with a higher interest rate. Subprime lenders offered the realization of the American dream of home ownership to borrowers who would otherwise be denied credit. Interest only loan options were offered, and combined with the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) added so much liquidity that in turn created a housing boom. Over time borrowers end up paying higher interest rates with zero payment application against their loan amount. Unemployment setbacks that ultimately resulted in defaults, added to the economic crisis. Consequently, more homes were placed in a market that is already saturated with newly constructed homes. This created less demand resulting to more houses that builders were unable to sell. Controls of banking rules and regulations during the 1980’s were relaxed, and monitoring policies for these were not the highest priority. Jimmy Carter’s “Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980” was a window for financial institutions...
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...A Primer on Sarbanes-Oxley By Steven Williams Activity 7 MGT7019-8 NorthCentral University Abstract This paper identifies issues, activities and practices,in financial reporting by public companies that were sanctioned by the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation Act of 2002 (SOX). This act was passed with the intent to restore public confidence and increase transparency in financial reports of publicly held companies, due to the aftermath of the financial scandals that plagued companies such as Enron and Worldcom (Jennings, 2012). The problem to be investigated is the ethical issues that were legislated by SOX, the cost associated with the implementation of the new act on different stakeholders, and new governance practices required of public companies to insure compliance with the new act. Introduction SOX was implemented in 2002 as “an act to protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures made pursuant to the securities laws, and for other purposes” (Jennings, 2012, p.212). This act focused primarily on the independence of auditors who are responsible for auditing public companies, the corporate responsibilities of Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Chief Financial Officer(CFO), the proper disclosure of financial statements, the conflict of interest between the parties involved, criminal fraud accountability of those involved, and the imposition of the penalty in case of violations. The Public Accounting oversight Board (PAOB) was...
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...The problem to be investigated in this assignment is the ethics of institutions. Are businesses operating in an ethical or unethical manner? Goldman like many other operations use behaviors that were unethical and grossly unfair to clients. Shaded areas are areas to be defined by the individual interpretation itself. Many say money is the root to all evil and as this case dictates, true. Ethics should always be at the forefront of any organization. Operating a business requires adequate consideration to a number of issues outside the traditional scope of making money, of which ethics is mostly certainly one. As a business grows, so does its significance. Businesses impact lives and the environment in which they strive to exist. Jobs, wealth and inspiration of entrepreneurship is created when businesses are birthed. This is why business ethics are important because they not only affect the business itself but its employees as well; individual names and faces are linked to businesses and how they are ran. There are many benefits to operating a business in an ethical way: long-term success, profitability, good client relationship, corporate growth, competitive edge and trustworthiness. The initial intent of Mr. Goldman was to be trustworthy and build his company with good business ethics but mishaps set in. Discussion Question 1: Go back through the case and make a list of each action or practice that could be called a gray area: 1. Goldman’s initial investment strategy...
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