Importance of Type of Leadership Style Used by a Manager - Essay Example

Name Lecturer Task Date My argument in this essay is that the type of leadership style used by a manager can greatly influence the ethical behavior of its members. Arguments will be based on facts borrowed from various sources. Many scholars such as Schwartz (2000) and others have argued that the ethicality of organizational members ought to be as a result of internal motivation rather than just a mere use of code ethics. In this essay, I will argue in support of this argument. Managers are the determinants of internal motivation among organizational employees. This implies that through appropriate leadership skills, employees can be motivated to engage in ethical standards of work. Similarly, these skills can transform the entire organization to self-management teams. I will therefore argue by opposing the idea of bureaucratic leadership that can be perceived by many to be effective yet it can turn to be troublesome as postulated by Barker (1993). It will also draw upon Gabriel’s (1997) argument of theory of followership in leadership being a crucial success factor. Ethics is a field of study concerned with moral responsibility and duties in social environments such as organizations. Currently, ethical issues are of great relevance in organizations owing to the fact there is a stiff competition as a result of more competitive organizations coming up. In addition to this, there has been a shift from old manufacturing industries to service industries (Schwartz, 2000: 173). Being service oriented, most industries are involved with everyday contact with people. Of great importance is for the service providers to maintain high ethical behavior when providing services to their clients if they are to remain competitive in the market. It is for this reason that most of the organizations have formulated sets of laws to govern everyday service delivery to the clients. Despite having undergone management training, it is a common thing for managers to be confronted with ethical challenges. Organizations do vary in the level of ethical values required. Singhapakdi et al. 1999; cited in Fernando, Dharmage & Almeida (2008: 147) argues that high ethical value organizations require high moral standards. Much has been done with regards to ethical behavior of members of an organization and code of ethics in relation to the success of an organization. However, less has been done on the side of establishing a relationship between leadership styles and ethical behavior of all members of an organization. Research studies have indicated that “emphasis in leadership increases with increasingly positive performance” (Meindl, Ehrlich &Dukerich, 1985: 85). Despite many research studies present, most of them did not establish a relationship between leadership and ethical behavior. This will have an implication that leadership has been perceived to be lacking a link with resultant ethical behavior of organizational members. Poor leadership style can impede organizational members from performing their tasks ethically. Leadership style selected by a manager ought to fit into the context as it has been put forward in the contingency theory (Browning, 2007: 185). Effectiveness of leadership style is therefore dependent on how it fits into certain context. Leadership has been considered to be the most influential factor towards ethicality in organizations. Leaders can influence other employees by acting ethically. They should lead by example. Leaders need to demonstrate Shackleton’s leadership style where employees are inspired towards achievement of organizational goals. Shackleton being a perfect example of an influential leader was able to convince his juniors by throwing away his gold cigarette casing and other gold valuables into snow (Browning, 2007: 187) to show his leadership by example. There are various occurrences that could occur in case he had left his valuables behind and tell his juniors to throw away theirs. One instance could be resistance. In the same way, managers should lead by example through acting ethically. Organizational members are more likely to go astray from set norms if they work under a manager who is irresponsible and incapable of communicating in the right way. In fact, leading by example is the best way of communicating with the employees. Through leading by example, leaders will avoid the bureaucratic kind of leadership. Bureaucratic leadership has been in existence since nineteenth century. It involves the use of set rules and reward system. This control strategy has proven to be ineffective and problematic (Barker, 1993: 409). It tends to result in non-ethical behaviors among the members of an organization. As Barker (1993) posits, bureaucratic rules restrain the members of an organization “as if they were in a cage bound by iron bars” (411). In addition to this, bureaucracy prevents workers from using their creativity and innovative strategies in their daily activities. In fact, some of the rules may not apply basically because they are out of date and may deem irrelevant at a certain period. However, it has proved effective in some cases in instilling ethical behavior among the members of an organization. Success in using this strategy is dependent on how a leader balances its use. Many employees have always had a perception of workplace being places of suffering and pain (Kanov et al., 2004: 809). Poor leadership is the main cause of employees having this negative attitude. This has also been accelerated by code of ethics that have been formulated and many of them feel that these codes of ethics tend to restrict them from doing according to their own thinking; “a perception of being in a cage bound by iron bars” (Barker, 1993: 411). Codes of ethics are formulated by the management to instill work standards in an organization. According to Fernando, Dharmage & Almeida (2008), proper use of codes of ethics will result to managers considering their moralities of their actions. Dienhart 1995; cited in Schwartz (2000: 178) argues that code of ethics is one of the ways of promoting ethical behavior in organizations. Similarly, Wray-Bliss, (2007: 520) argued that “rules, procedures, uniforms, targets, quotas and other forms of bureaucratic and cultural mechanisms have been formulated to control behavior in organizations”. Schwartz (2000) underscores the fact that if employees are allowed to act on their own and without code of ethics, they may engage themselves in blind activities which are un-ethical. He drew this idea from Dienhart 1995 who highlighted the fact that codes of ethics provides a chance for resolving ethical mishaps. However, some scholars have argued that codes of ethics are not helpful in this case, but rather result to more problems. They posit that codes of ethics comprises of rules which have always been a major source of problems. In fact, codes of ethics are created based on vested interests of those formulating them. Fernando, Dharmage & Almeida (2008: 147) highlight the fact that there has been a continued uncertainty on the importance of codes of ethics. According to them, doing the right originate from internal motivation. However they do agree with the fact that they can prove helpful in some cases. According to Schwartz (2000: 179), codes of ethics may appear sensible to some professionals such as dentists. Internal motivation is a crucial factor affecting many aspects of an organization. It is for this reason that leadership is a crucial thing when it comes to instilling ethicality in organizations. Barker’s argument is quite interesting and to some extent debatable. It is a common thing in our contemporary organizations that sets of rules have been formulated to guide all stakeholders towards ethicality. It is true that these sets of rules can make employees feel like they are being restrained in a kind of a cage surrounded by iron bars as Barker (1993) argues. Perhaps we can consider his argument by imagining existence of an organization without rules and codes of ethics. Barker’s takes an unrealistic position by arguing that codes of ethics ought to be done away with. In fact we can conclude that he arrives at this argument by offering a one-sided view in this concept. He only considers the side of employees being important without considering the fact that not all of them can work without guidance. Like it has been argued by scholars such as Wray-Bliss (2007) and Schwartz (2000), rules are necessary for controlling behavior of employees. However, we cannot ascertain that their arguments are perfectly right. For example, they have omitted the idea of creativity and innovation in their arguments. Leaders need to give room for innovative activities as well among their subordinates. The two contrasting arguments should therefore be considered. Consideration of the two factors will therefore be a key factor and it will depend on the leadership style used by a manager. Leadership style has a considerable effect on the work standards of members of an organization. Presence of codes of conduct may deem unhelpful in promoting ethical behavior among employees if the leadership style within it is unfit. Schwartz (2000: 179) postulates that professionals themselves can steer unethical behavior in spite of code of ethics’ presence. This will imply that codes of ethics cannot help in promoting ethical standards singly. A combination of good leadership skills and codes of ethics will steer good ethical behavior among the members of an organization. Ethicality in an organization is a very important concept. The overall ethicality of an organization can be enhanced through good ethical behavior among all the stakeholders. Organizations that are perceived to be ethical benefit from a myriad of opportunities such as attracting loyal customers, good public relations and ethics in itself is a unique marketing point (Wray-Bliss, 2007: 513). Ethical behavior of employees is also influenced by how leaders are trusted. Trust committed to leaders of an organization will have an effect on how employees abide by the rules. If the leaders are untrustworthy, subordinates are more likely to go against the rules and regulations. The effect of leadership style can be well explained by the theory of social learning and Gabriel’s (1997) argument of theory of followership. Social learning theory argues that human beings learn by seeing what others are doing. Similarly, the theory of leadership argues that leaders’ characteristics will dictate their subordinate’s characteristics. If leaders are doing what is ethically right, subordinates will do the same as a result of admiration. It is therefore crucial for leaders to ensure trustworthiness and good ethical deeds when dealing with employees. Leaders who are effective try to sustain integrity in their everyday activities through clear communication with junior organizational members. Leadership is all about being a good example to the rest. Managers ought to emulate transformational leadership where the act of embracing moral values and collective interest is common. Currently, managers are being encouraged to adopt this ethical leadership. By displaying a strong attachment to ethical behavior and demanding the same commitment from the workers, managers will be increasing the confidence in the company. Leaders need to demonstrate that no one is above the rules. Shackleton was able to demonstrate ethical leadership by beginning with his valuable items to reduce weight (Browning, 2007). His juniors could not resist abiding by the strict policies that had been set basically because their leader had not broken them. In the same way, leaders need to lead by example by following set rules. As a matter of fact, organizations are in the center of social environment where they operate. Currently, ethical values dictate the success of an organization. This is owed to the fact that structures of organization are constantly changing and globalization has become a major issue. To survive stiff competition originating from globalization effects, organizations need to ensure that they have good ethics. Importantly, as Fernando, Dharmage & Almeida (2008) highlights, internal motivation is a key determinant of compliance to ethical codes. Employees can be motivated through rewards. Reward system is a common feature in modern day organizations. In conclusion, it is neither the presence nor their absence of rules that will make an organization prosper. Yet we can argue that rules are important, in the same way we can also argue that employees should be allowed to engage their innovative ideas that can instill ethicality. Leadership style used should create a room for employees to engage their innovative ideas of achievement of high ethical standards Leadership is therefore key factor that can shape the ethical behavior of organizational members. Leaders are role models and therefore, they should act according to the required codes of ethics of an organization. By acting ethically, leaders can make employees feel autonomy and worthiness of their work. Leadership is not all about removing un-ethical behaviors but rather helping subordinates acquire high standards of ethics. The style of leadership should encourage employees to act ethically irrespective of being guided by codes of ethics. According to Dawson 1994; cited in Schwartz (2000), being ethical implies that one should act in a moral way rather being guided by rules. It is important for leaders to remember that their deeds to employees are also influential to some extent. Treating employees fairly and with integrity will help in enhancing good ethical behavior among them. Organizations need to focus on enhancing high ethical standards in order to survive the current competition. References Barker, J. R. 1993. Tightening the Iron Cage: Concertive Control in Self-Managing Teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 38: 408-437. Browning, B. W. 2007. Leadership in Desperate Times: An Analysis of Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage Through the Lens of Leadership Theory. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 9(2): 183-198. Fernando, M., Dharmage, S. & Almeida, S. 2008. Ethical Ideologies of Senior Australian Managers: An Empirical Study. Journal of Business Ethics, 82: 145-155. Gabriel, Y. 1997, 'Meeting god: When organizational members come face to face with the supreme leader'. Human Relations, 50(4): 315-42. Herman, S. 2007. Leadership Training in a “Not-Leadership” Society. Journal of Management Education, 31(2): 151-155. Kanov, J. M., Maitlis, S., Worline, M. C., Dutton, J. E., Frost, P. J. & Lilius, J. M. 2004. Compassion in Organizational Life. American Behavioral Scientist, 47: 808-827. Meindl, J. R., Ehrlich, S.B. & Dukerich, J. M. 1985. The Romance of Leadership. Administrative Science Quarterly, 30(1): 78-102. Schwartz, M. 2000. Why Ethical Codes Constitute an Unconscionable Regression. Journal of Business Ethics, 23: 173-184. Wray-Bliss, E. 2007, ‘Ethics in work’, in D. Knights &H. Willmott (eds), organizational behaviour and management, Thomson Learning, pp. 506-33. Read More