Ethical Decisions in Leadership Class - Essay Example

Ethical Decisions in Leadership: PISCO Analysis Problem I am Lael Mathews and am currently the Human Resource Manager at a Fortune 500 Company in New York, New York. This report is a PISCO assessment I developed to ethically aid in determining which of a series of candidates the company should promote to a recently made available Supervisory position. The dilemma is complicated by the fact that this promotion is essential to the internal and external reputation of the company. The candidates have been narrowed down to three internal employees, who have varying experience levels, education, and levels of support among upper-level corporate executives. The essential problem is developing a decision that ethically considers the candidates qualifications and soundly determines which candidate to promote based on these ethical considerations. Input 1. Factual Considerations Liz: Liz is African American. She is 34. She is divorced and has one child. She graduated in the lower half of her college class at Northwest State. She has been in the industry eight years and the company four years. Her performance ratings are mediocre. Employee reviews indicate she has had difficulty in staff management. Her energy level has been indicated to be high. Roy: Roy is white. He is 57. He is married with three children. He graduated in the top half of his class from a private university. He has been in the industry thirty years and with the company for twenty years. He has mediocre performance ratings. He has produced many of the top sales performers in the past. His energy level has been indicated to be average-low. Quang Yeh: Quang is 27. She is Asian. She is single with no children. She graduated in the top 3 percent of her class at State University. She has been with the company for three years. The last area she managed showed record increases, however she lost a few older accounts. Her references indicate that she is intense and nothing will stop her from reaching her goals. They also indicated that she often puts in 60 hour work weeks and that her management style is meticulous. 2. Review of the Facts In ‘How to Make Unethical Decisions’ (Article 7) Sikula and Sikula discuss facts that should be considered relevant when determining employee promotion and hiring. They argue that appropriate subjects include education performance, learned knowledge, past experience, and pooled judgment. Following these standards it’s clear that Quang’s excellent college performance and her proximity to attending college indicate she excels above the other candidates in this category. When considering learned knowledge and past experience one must note that Roy has over thirty years experience in the industry and twenty of those with the company; however Quang has demonstrated outstanding results in her past output. It seems that the pooled judgment favors Quang, as both Roy and Liz have demonstrated mediocre performance ratings. 3. Anecdotal Considerations Liz: Her child has had medical problems, so higher pay would be helpful. Her child’s medical problems will also cause Liz to miss work for a period. If promoted, Liz would be the first African American female manager at this level. Liz and I have developed a trusting friendship. Promoting Liz might seem to indicate that I am playing favorites. Roy: Roy has been offered promotions in the past but has refused them because he didn’t want to relocate. This promotion would be his last before retirement. Many people in the company feel he has earned the promotion. One senior manager stated, “You know, Lael, Roy has been with us a long time. He has done many good things for the company, sacrificing not only himself but also his family. I really hope that you can see your way to promoting him. It would be a favor to me that I wouldn’t forget.” Quang Yeh: Quang sued her previous employer for discrimination and won. An upper management official stated, “You know, Lael, Quang is engaged to my son. I’ve looked over her personal files and she looks very good. She looks like a rising star, which would indicate that she should be promoted as quickly as possible. I realize that you’re not in my division, but the way people get transferred, you never know. I would really like to see Quang get this promotion.” Solution (Possibilities) 1. Liz Strengths: One of the primary strengths of the decision to hire Liz is the undeniable sense of trust that such a decision would engender. In ‘Building an Ethical Framework’ (Article 4, p.11) Krause and Voss state that, “fortune magazine’s list of top 100 companies to work for is a list of a wide-variety of companies with no common denominator. Salary, benefits, career opportunities, location and professional all vary. What they do have in common is trust between employee and employer.” By hiring Liz based on my friendship with her, as well as her familial need, the company would be developing a strong bond of trust with Liz. Weaknesses: There are a number of glaring weaknesses with the decision to hire Liz. The most glaring weakness is the difficulties she has had in managing her staff. Her educational record is less than stellar and her history with the company is less than Roy’s. While my friendship with her would engender trust, one could equally argue that this sense of trust could be undermined by the loss of trust I would gain with other employees who believe that I played favorites. While my conscience tells me I should promote Liz because of her familial situation, I am drawn Article 7 (Sikula & Sikula) that states hiring or promoting based on conscience is ethically unjustified. It’s also a strong possibility that Liz’s familial situation will lessen her ability to offer her full potential. Opportunities: As upper-level management has explicitly stated the external importance of this decision, one of the crucial opportunities hiring Liz creates is the public relations boost of hiring the first female African-American for her position. Another opportunity is the ability to offer Liz a job that would grant her the ability to pay for her child’s medical expenses. Threats: While it would be a public relations benefit to promote her to become the first female African-American in the position, one must consider if this ethically and functionally sound. Executive Order 11246 (U.S. Department of Labor) considers hiring an individual based on race or gender to be discrimination and the possible public relations gains could be mitigated by a lawsuit. Indeed, the Krause and Voss articles states that, “the relative costs of preventing a protracted ethical dilemma or full-fledged scandal is exponentially lower than the costs associated with fixing ethical problems.” 2. Roy Strengths: The most prominent strength of Roy’s candidacy is his exceptional experience in the industry and long-time employment with the company. Indeed, in ‘Hiring Older Workers’ (Article 15) Bastien gives ten convincing reasons for hiring experienced workers, including punctuality, dedication, honesty, maturity, mentoring abilities, and pride in a job well-done. Roy has also produced many top-sales performers in the past. Weaknesses: While Roy is less likely to leave the company based on his past record, he has indicated that he plans on retiring soon; therefore, his promotion might be short lived. Roy’s advanced age, as demonstrated in his low-average energy level could be indicative of his diminishing potential. Opportunities: The main opportunity in hiring Roy is rewarding him for his long-term commitment to the company and industry. This would send a message to other employees that their continued commitment to the company will be rewarded. Threats: It’s possible that his long-term experience and advanced age could be detrimental to the promotion of new ideas and perspectives. 3. Quang Yeh Strengths: Quang has a number of strengths that make her a superior candidate to the other choices. The first of her strengths is her exceptional academic record, having graduate in the top 3 percent of her class. She has demonstrated exceptional results in her management history. She also has a meticulous management style and a strong worth-ethic. Furthermore, she is engaged to the son of an upper-management executive, which indicates that she has demonstrated trust and long-term responsibility with the company. Weaknesses: Quang’s main weakness is her lack of experience and young age relative to the other candidates. It has not yet been determined if Quang will be able to successfully meet the responsibility demands of the promotion. Opportunities: One of the main opportunities in hiring Quang would be to send the message to the other employees that promotion will be based on merit and results. Her hire would also create an opportunity for ethically sound leadership on my part, as research such as Wells’ ‘Are you too Family Friendly?’ (Article 10) indicates the frequency discrimination towards unmarried workers without children occurs in the workplace. It also attests to the increased levels of commitment to the company such workers oftentimes exhibit. Threats: There are a few threats to hiring Quang. Her past reference stated that she is willing to do anything to reach her goals; while this may be a good trait, one must also consider that she has sued her employer in the past (however, she did win). Another threat is that Quang could possibly relocate to another company, as her continued success will surely make her a valuable asset. Choice The choice of who to hire has been determined through this analysis to be Quang Yeh. Her superior performance in relation to the other candidates, greatly outweighed her potential risks and made her both the best ethical and operational decision. Operation (Action Plan) 1. The decision will be first announced to upper-level management to gain company approval. 2. Quang Yeh will then be approached and informed of the company’s decision to promote her. Here it will be determined if she will accept the promotion. 3. The other candidates will be thanked for their interests, and informed of the company’s decision to hire a different candidate. 4. An open and honest response will be given to internal and external enquiries into the nature of the decision: Quang Yeh was chosen for her meritorious work history and future management potential. References Bastien, Stephen. ‘Hiring Older Workers’ Krause, T., Voss, P. ‘Building an Ethical Framework’ Sikula, A. Sikula, J. ‘How to Make Unethical Decisions’ U.S. Department of Labor ‘Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)’ http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/fs11246.htm, retrieved February 4th, 2010. Wells, Susan. ‘Are you too Family Friendly?’ Read More