Ethical Dilemma in Leadership - Essay Example

Ethical Dilemma in Leadership Case Study of the of OLS 26300 October 6, Case Study Solution: Ethical Dilemma in Leadership Case Study PROBLEM In the given case study, Karen Hathaway in her current position has to promote one of the three managers in her company. Karen is confused in determining the most suitable candidate for the position while avoiding any unethical or discriminatory practice because her wrong decision might have bad impacts on the company and personal lives of the three potential candidates. INPUT All the information about the three potential candidates for Managerial position has been summarized in the given table. The information in the table shows that Carmen is a lady with high energy level and the motivation factor to promote her is the financial support to her family. On the other hand, Ralph has low energy but he has significant experience and he is a potential candidate because of his experience and expertise in the industry. The third candidate Yingzi is a very talented woman and she can bring new innovative managerial practices in the company and retaining her in the organization is very important. Carmen Ralph Yingzi Gender Female Male Female Age 34 57 27 Marital Status Divorced Married Single Children One child Three children - Qualification Graduation in lower half of class Graduation in top half of her class Graduation in top 3 percent of class Working in company 4 years 20 years 3 years Experience in industry 8 years 30 years - Nationality African American White Asian Strengths Mediocre performance ratings High energy level Steady performer with average ratings Produced many of company’s top sales in the past Meticulous management style She brought a record business in the last area she managed Enduring attitude and it is evident from the fact that she sued her last employer for discrimination and won Intense and goal oriented Good personal record Weaknesses Faces problems in managing staff Energy level is average to low Facing criticism because of meticulous management style and for putting in sixty hours a week A loss of few old accounts happened because they did not like dealing with Yingzi SOLUTIONS Solution 1: Promote Carmen The first solution is to promote Carmen because for being an ethical organization, company has to show concern towards employees especially the women and minority. Carmen is one of those who is both an African American and she is also qualified for the position. However, following is the SWOT analysis of making this decision. Strengths Weaknesses Carmen’s promotion might be beneficial for the company because of the high energy level of Carmen Carmen will get financial support for her child Image of company “concerns towards employees” will further improve. From maternal ethics concept, the consideration given towards mother-child relationship can improve the nature and quality of workplace interactions (Frederick, 2002). Managing staff will become difficult for Carmen as she is weak in this area Carmen performance is actually weak and the decision will not be performance-based. Opportunities Threats This decision will also give an opportunity to Karen to improve her relations with her immediate supervisor Company will be able to improve its public relations through this decision. Actually in business world activities which appear as a result of generosity are the attempts of companies to make public relations (Flynn, 2008). The promotion of Carmen can appear as a strong example of it, if she is promoted. Other employee may feel discrimination because promotion of Carmen may show the favoritism attitude of Karen Performance of company may go down if Carmen fails to manage people Yingzi may file a discrimination case against the company Karen may face huge opposition of Ralph and company’s vice president Solution 2: Promote Ralph No doubt Carmen and Yingzi are the suitable candidates for the managerial position however, Ralph should be promoted because he has worked twenty years with the company and he is the most experienced as compared to other two. What should be the criteria of the company while promoting people? Most of the policies of organizations promote employees based on seniority bases; however, even the ethical nature of policy is sometimes challenged. The promotions which are based on seniority alone seem mindless whereas, the decisions which are based on qualification seem heartless, therefore, companies should take it as a challenge to merge the dual responsibilities of qualification and seniority (Padilla, 2004). Strengths Weaknesses Good sales performance in the past therefore, company can expect to generate more in future Promotion of Ralph will be like a reward for Ralph before retirement A reward for long term service with the company will also encourage other employees and will impact turnover rate Low energy level of Ralph may not be beneficial for the company Opportunities Threats Company will be able to establish the image that there is no favoritism and seniority and experience is very important while making promotions. Yingzi may feel that the promotion has been given because Ralph’s son was getting married to vice president’s daughter The concept of glass ceiling can appear as a major threat in this case because the number of women on senior positions (Francis & Mishra, 2009) may become very low after getting Ralph on board as a manager. Lack of financial support might be very threatening for Carmen’s family Solution 3: Promote Yingzi If Yingzi is promoted she can introduce the innovative and new management practices in the company. It will also enhance the image of the company as an ethical organization which offers equal opportunities to the women and minorities. The major drawback of this solution is the very low experience of Yingzi as compared to Ralph. Actually employees in an organization make perceptions of broad climate which can influence the organization and the major perceptions are related to climate for fairness in organization such as promotions, pay etc (Linda K. Trevino, 2010). Therefore, decisions made on strong bases and with fairness will develop a position perception in the minds of consumers. Justifying Ralph’s promotion based on his experience show fair procedures of the company. Strengths Weaknesses Meticulous management style will improve management of people and their performance Performance of Yingzi in the last area of management will definitely improve the other areas of company The enduring attitude of Yingzi is also suitable for this position Intense and goal oriented attitude of Yingzi will motivate other employees and improve the culture of company that promotions are based on performance Good personal record shows that the decision of performance is only based on past and current performance of Yingzi and free from any favoritism Meticulous management style of Yingzi may also have a negative impact on employees The behavior of Yingzi has also brought some significant losses to company Opportunities Threats Company will get the opportunity to introduce new managerial practices New talent will improve the innovative managerial style This decision might create a sense of discrimination among the employees that Yingzi has been promoted with a very less experience only because she was getting married to a person from senior level management CHOICE In my opinion, the best solution to the problem faced by Karen is the solution II that is the promotion of Ralph who is the most experienced out of the three candidates OPERATIONAL PLAN In order to implement the solution II and to avoid any threats and to reduce the weaknesses, following operational plan is recommended to Karen. Consult the Policy Policies and rules defined by the organization play a very significant role to avoid any kind of immoral or unethical practices. Karen should consult the policy of the company based on which the decision of promotion is made. Since this information is not available in the case, therefore, in consideration to the available information it is recommended to Karen that promotion should not be the sole function of performance and qualification. Karen should also consider the experience and time which Ralph has spent in the organization. Develop a Comparison Scale Karen, HR representatives and senior management should develop a scale based on which the scores could be compared. A sample comparison sheet has been shown. Carmen Ralph Yingzi Experience in industry Experience in company Qualification Performance evaluation rating Rating on managerial competencies such as management of people, personality traits etc. Call a Meeting A meeting should be called in which Karen should propose the comparison sheet based on which Ralph will be promoted. The major reason is that Ralph is going to complete a long tenure with the organization and his performance has been pretty good. In the meeting a new policy on medical insurance should be developed through which company will agree to bear the medical cost of dependents of employees. If the company is not previously not covering the medical expenses of dependents then it will be costly for the company, however, to ensure ethical practices providing such assistance to deserving employees is important. Carmen is not very competent that she should be promoted therefore; company will only provide financial assistance to Carmen. It should be also communicated in the meeting that promoting Ralph is not a discriminatory practice. Out of the three the best suitable candidate was Ralph. He is not only senior than Yingzi but he also has more experience in the industry and the company. Yingzi needs to take some more experience to get closer to the people and to learn the culture of the organization. Issuance of Final Promotion Letter After the meeting one week will be given in which the other candidates can make an appeal. If none of the candidate makes appeal, the final promotion letter of Ralph should be issued. Bibliography Flynn, G. (2008). Leadership and Business Ethics. Ireland: Springer. Francis, R. D., & Mishra, M. (2009). Business Ethics. India: Tata McGraw-Hill. Frederick, R. E. (2002). A Companion to Business Ethics. USA: Blackwell Publishing. Linda K. Trevino, K. A. (2010). Managing Business Ethics. USA: John Wiley and Sons. Padilla, R. (2004). Business Ethics. Philippine: Rex Bookstore Inc. Read More