Leadership Contributing to Sustainable Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility - Coursework Example

Lеаdеrshiр Соntributing Tо Sustаinаblе Еthiсs and Соrроrаtе Sосiаl Rеsроnsibility Name Date Leadership Contributing To Sustainable Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Introduction This essay will focus on how Practices of leadership contribute to the management of sustainable values and corporate social responsibility in the post bureaucratic era. According to Knights & Willmott (2006), leadership is an integral part of each and every company and where leadership is effective; the company performance in terms of ethics, success, responsibility and sustainability is usually awesome. Morgan, (2006) continues and affirms that leadership determines whether the workers and the employees in general will be motivated which is a paramount aspect for the growth in every business. The essay will demonstrate how leadership and ethics usually go hand in hand and the role of leaders in spearhead decisions that are based on ethical behaviors (Parker, 2002). A leader is an important figure in the company and he or she determines whether ethics formulated will be followed or not (Bakan, 2004). For example, the decisions made by the leader will impact every worker and associate of the company. For example, utilitarian approach affirms that happiness should be the ultimate goal if at all the action has to be moral. Therefore, when making a decision, the leader must take into account such consideration, and that counts all the reasons why leadership is important (Browning, 2007). The term leadership is defined as the ability to guide, encourage the business realize the goals and objectives set (Roberts et al,2005).Change in bureaucracy is more humanity and it usually focuses on the performance of the employee and his or her effectiveness. Effective leadership will culminate in success and better performance of any given company. Effectiveness in leadership is reflected through distribution of work according to the potential of the employee and ultimately expanding the business through enhancing the relationship between the leader and the follower (Stubbs & Cocklin, 2008).Therefore, it is paramount to consider the leadership style as it will impact the entire company. Bureaucracy is referred to as a model of business which is based on rules hierarchy, impersonality and ultimately the division of labor. It has been the dominant form of business over approximately one century. However, the style suffers from challenges such as lack of effective employee motivation, producer-focus inertia among other challenges. As a result, post-bureaucracy has recently been proposed as the new organizational design and it is more suited to the today’s business environment. Post –bureaucracy is mainly based on empowerment, trust, personal treatment and ultimately shared social responsibility. However, post bureaucracy has its own problems such as loss of control and the unfairness risk. The problems and models derive from the major mainstream of thinking. The thinking is mainly concerned with the narrow views of efficiency that is guided by the search for control and performance (Wenger & Snyder, 2000). The critical methods usually provide a more radical analysis of bureaucracy and the post-bureaucracy. From one end bureaucracy appear to be dehumanizing while the post bureaucracy on the other end is perceived to be an extension of control. Both of them are usually criticized since they seek efficiency from a particular people and especially those with power and at the same time neglecting the other people who are in that business. However, post bureaucracy enhances social responsibility and sustainable ethics in the long run. Post- bureaucracy usually follows the strict rules and at the same time allowing new methodologies and ideas to help the business and business to grow (Browning, B.W. 2007). The leadership that embraced in the post bureaucratic era organizations and companies is that which enhances the management of sustainable ethics and corporate social responsibility. it is paramount to note that leadership is not all about personality but it is more of the performance and the abilities and skills which will help the company achieve the goals ultimately. When discovering what the great leaders do, they are usually at their personal best when they are formulating some decisions that ultimately lead to the success of the business. Exemplary leaders have always followed the five practices of exemplary leadership model and it has proved to be effective and sufficient in the long run. The models have turned to be very effective for the leaders in achieving ethical standards and at the same time achieving social responsibility. The design turns the abstract concept of leadership into an easy practice and performance which can be taught to every individual who is willing to accept the challenge of leadership. (Wenger & Snyder, 2000). The first practice is modeling the way and it involves leaders establishing principles concerning the way of the people and stressing that people, peers, colleagues and customers should be treated alike in line with the way goals should be pursued. Standards of excellence are created and then set as an example for the others who are willing to follow. The prospects of complex change usually overwhelms the people and stifle their performance through setting interim goals in a way that people can manage to achieve the small wins as they are striving to work for greater and larger objectives (Wenger & Snyder, 2000). The second practice usually inspires a shared vision whereby leaders passionately believe that they are able to make a difference. They usually envision the future through creating ideal and authentic image of the business and what it might end up becoming. Through their magnetism, and the quiet persuasion, the leaders should enlist the others in their esteemed dreams and allow them to participate in one way or another. They usually breathe life in their visions and they get people to see the exciting possibilities for future. Challenging the process falls under the third step where by the leaders will always seek opportunities that change their status quo. They do so, by looking for innovative ways that they can use to improve the business and in so doing they experiment and take risks that are in the way. The leaders usually know that risk taking involves mistakes and at times failures, they will always accept the inevitable disappointments and take the as learning opportunities (Klein, 2000). Enabling others to act is another level of leadership and it has proved to be very significant in the process of leadership. The leaders usually actively involve the other members of the company and through the action they manage to “outsource knowledge and relevant skills” that are in the company. Through doing that, they understand that mutual respect is essential in maintaining the extraordinary efforts and they will always ensure that conducive and enabling atmosphere is enhanced to ensure human dignity is enhanced. Through doing that, they will always strengthen others and, therefore, making them to feel powerful and capable in the long run. Encouraging the heart is also another way of ensuring that companies work hard. In an effort to keep the determination and hope alive, the leaders should recognize the contributions that individuals make in effort to ensure that to ensure that every member feels as part and parcel of the company (Gold, Hahn, & Seuring, 2013). The changing nature of bureaucracy raises issues for the managerial control and managerial identity. Management in itself is a controversial concept and there is much disagreement concerning the same. The way in which a problem concerning management is framed contributes to understanding of the term definition and practice. Many are times managers are not passive in the process and they will usually work in pursuit of their own practice and identity. The conventional approaches in organizing have continued to explain the social experience of management in a more logical and rational way. This is done through isolating the putative skills which are involved in the management and how they have developed within the managers. In addition, the issues and the questions pertaining managerial identity that may arise through the process of becoming a manager are highly highlighted. When management and leadership are in line with the goals and m mission of the organization, it is paramount to note that the mission of the organization will ultimately be achieved (Thompson& McHugh,2002). Ethics is acceptable code of conducts that are expected to be displayed in organizations. When leadership and management are sharp and authentic, they will ultimately ensure that social responsibility is achieved. The leadership, ethics and social responsibility are intertwined in such a way that they depend on each other. Leadership paves a way for ethics, and ethics paves way for social responsibility. The leadership principles outlined above will always help in modeling the way. Leaders at this stage usually formulate principles in describing the ways in which people should be treated to ensure that all is good. The people in the organization be it employees or customers form the foundation of the organization and without proper treatment it is not possible to achieve the desired objectives. Therefore, with effective leadership, the ethical theories and more especially utilitarian will be applied dictating that all what the company does must be for the good of all the people (KwarciÅ„ski, 2012) Moreover, when people feel that their interests are taken into account, they will assume responsibilities and eventually embracing the social responsibility (Fulop & Linstead, 2004). Moreover, from deontological approach, managers who formulate rules after consulting with the employees and other concerned stakeholders will always have an easy time. Deontological theory asserts that the issue is ethical if only it follows the stipulated rules(duty).In such a case where duty is duly adhered to, the resultant action will be ethical and it will ultimately contribute to social responsibility. The employees and other stakeholders will adhere to duties since they are part and parcel of formulating those duties. Therefore, it will ultimately be easy for the manager to spearhead realization of the organizational goals and objectives since all the parties involved are working for the same. In such environment, achieving social responsibility and sustainable, ethical practices is always easy since the relevant parties are cooperating. However, it should be noted that leadership spearheads it all and without effective leadership, it is not possible to attain such standards (KwarciÅski, 2012).). In conclusion, it is evident that leadership is paramount in every organization. The success or failure of a given organization is highly dependent on leadership and management and, therefore, it is crucial to establish a sound and strong foundation in leadership. Sustainable ethics and social responsibility will be achieved upon enhancing effective leadership style. Ethics normally many decisions in any given organization and utilitarian and deontology are among the best approaches to base practices and decisions. For instance, utilitarian approach seeks to ensure that all people aim and direct their actions towards the overall happiness and such an approach seeks to get everybody in the organization involved. References Bakan, N. (2004) The Corporation, Amazon Publishers. London Browning, B.(2007), ‘Leadership in desperate times: An analysis of endurance: Shackle ton’s incredible voyage through the leans of leadership theory’, Advances in developing Human Resources, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 183-98. Fulop, L. and Linstead, S. (2004) Management: A Critical Text, Melbourne: Macmillan Publishers. New York City. Gold, S., Hahn, R. & Seuring, S. 2013, 'Sustainable supply chain management in “base of the pyramid” food projects—a path to triple bottom line approaches for multinationals?', International Business Review, vol. 22, no. 5, pp. 784-99. 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