Ethical Decisions in Leadership - Assignment Example

Ethical Decisions in Leadership Case Study Affiliation: An Ethical Dilemma Problem Karen Hathaway is a senior staff, charged with the duty and responsibilities of promoting managers. In the provided case scenario, she has three managers to choose from, and only the best should be granted that position. This is because making the wrong decision is not only harmful to the operations of the company, but also to the outside world. Her superiors are monitoring her actions and in one way or another try to influence her decision making process. Each of the superiors present a favorite candidate for the promotion, but only one of the three candidates should be promoted. Minority groups and women have had to deal with issues of ethical dilemma in work places, and Karen is no exception. There are three eligible managers for promotion, namely: Carmen, Ralph and Yingzi. Making a decision as to whom the position should go to is quite complex. This is due to the fact that each of the three seems best suited to the position. A critical analysis is therefore necessary to solve Karen’s problem. Input There are three eligible managers for the promotion. Each of the three persons has had a contribution to the company. A number of factors have to be considered in order to assess and evaluate the manager who is best suited to the promotion. In order to do so, all the three candidates have to be critically evaluated in the light of their suitability to the job. Each of the three will be considered individually. Carmen Carmen is an African American female aged 34 years. She is divorced and a mother of one; Heather. She is from time to time caught up in family crisis because her daughter has had medical problems. Minority groups and women have had issues in their places of work, thereby facing significant problems that related to their duties and responsibilities at their work place. From the case, it is evident that African Americans have hardly worked here. This is evidenced by the fact that promoting Carmen would be historical in the company since she would be the very first African American to reach such a position in the company. In considering her academics, qualifications and work experience, Carmen studied at Northwest State College. Her performance was average since she graduated in the lower half of her class. She has worked for the company for a period of four years. On the same note, she has been in this industry for not less than eight years now. In the work place, Carmen is considered a mediocre performer, and so are her ratings in the company. However, her energy level at work is promising, although she has had problems managing her staff. Failure to manage staff can be used to depict aspects of ineffectiveness and inefficiencies in management (Stansbury, 2009). This principle may deny Carmen significant points during her evaluation as the manager to promote. Her relationship with Karen may have potential influence in the final decision made. These two seems to get along quite well, evidenced by the fact that they are there for one another during such times that demand so. Ralph Ralph is a white male aged 57 years. He is married and a father of three. The notion of settling down to marriage life has been used to depict a sense of responsibility by many corporate organizations (Reilly, 2006). Ralph is well educated and experienced in his field of work. He attended a private university and had an above average performance. He graduated in the top half of his class. His years of work and experience gain are promising. Ralph has been with this company for 20 years now and in the industry for 30 years. This places him as one of the longest serving employees in the company. His contribution to the success of the company cannot be ignored. He has produced a significant number of the company’s top sales performers in the past. In fact, one of the senior managers acknowledges Ralph’s relentless efforts towards the company’s welfare, terming his family as another contributing factor. Ralph has been in the company for quite long. It is not once that he has been targeted for promotion, but his refusal to relocate denied him the chance to the position. His performance in the company averagely rated, meaning that he is a steady performer. His energy level at work however is not that good as it ranges from average to low. The advanced age may be termed as a contributing factor to this energy level. If promoted, it would his last promotion before he retires. His time and efforts in the company is considered an asset to the company, with many employees feeling that he actually deserves the promotion. Yingzi Yingzi is an Asian female aged 27 years and she is single. Her academic and work background and performance are the driving forces of the corporate world. She studied at a State University and had an excellent performance. She graduated in the top 3% of her class. She has not been with the company for long. Her presence in the company is not dated longer than three years. Yingzi strictly observes her work schedule. Her management style is termed meticulous and it has been criticized before by her sales staff. For the short time that she has been in the company, her area of management has recorded an increased performance even with the loss of some older accounts that could not bear Yingzi’s management style. It has been noted that Yingzi strives to achieve her purpose. She is a straightforward person who thinks that justice should be served at all cost. This is evidenced by the fact that she had sued her previous employer for discrimination allegations and won the case. She is a person who seems to embrace integrity. The personality and character of a person who aspires to be a leader are fundamental components of good qualities of a leader (Brown, Trevino & Harrison, 2005). Yingzi is young, energetic, entrepreneurial and likely to be creative and innovative. Emerging Issues Karen’s seniors have each aired their favorite and best suited person to be promoted. Different reasons have been put forward to support each of the three seniors’ opinions. Different attributes of the three candidates have been highlighted, but the most important thing is that all the three candidates have been suggested as potential personalities to the position. Twisting events have been experienced in the process of having Karen to make a decision on this. An emergency situation that calls for Karen to help emerges when Carmen’s daughter is involved in an accident. Carmen is likely to face a financial crisis due to the medical condition of her daughter. The promotion seems to be a way out for Carmen’s problems since the promotion would guarantee a higher pay. Solution Ralph He is the longest serving employee in the company. He has remained committed to his duty and responsibility over the years earning the trust of the management and fellow employees. His education and service to the company and the industry at large are his strengths. He is well informed of all the variables in the company and the industry that need to be manipulated in order to achieve a desired result. This factor makes him fit for the job given that he understands the customer base of the company very well. His energy level at work constitutes Ralph’s weakness. His advanced age may consistently lower his yielding ratio and performance over time. However, the promotion is an opportunity for him to take the company to that level that he has always aspired during his stay and work at the company. The fact that he is retiring in a few years’ time may affect his performance in the company. Threats of ineffective and inefficiencies of his office are likely to occur sooner or later (Watts, 2008). Yingzi Yingzi is a young corporate fellow. She has a high energy level and affinity to work. She has portrayed her commitment to work and her purpose to meet her personal goals alongside those of the company. Being a young tuck and freshly pumped into the corporate world, her strengths include being ambitious, creative and innovative as well as success driven. Her entrepreneurial knowledge and skills have been experienced in the sales department where there significant improvements have been realized since she took over the management of the department. Her managerial skills are rather strict, but yields positive return in the long run. Her weaknesses could be being authoritative and dictatorial since several older accounts could not bear her supervisory roles. Yingzi is a high performer and strict when it comes to time management, thus improved company performance within a short period of time. Her academics and work performance at a young age present her opportunities. Her growth and development is likely to be merged with expansionary, growth and development strategies of the company. However, the there is a possible threat of being over confident and extraordinarily ambitious, which may result in frustrations if the desired results are not achieved. She is a person best suited for this position although the fact that she is engaged to the company’s vice president’s son poses a great challenge to her appointment. Karen has to consider that a bad deed against Yingzi may result in court proceedings. Choice Yingzi is the most appropriate candidate for the promotion. Although Ralph has in the company worked for many years, his performance recently has been on the decline. He will also be retiring in the next few years. He has also had many chances of getting the position but refused to relocate. Yingzi is a young corporate icon. Her qualities for the position are outstanding. The social aspect of marriage cannot be a firm base against her promotion if she deserves the position. Karen should decide on Yingzi. Operational Plan After Karen makes her decision about which to promote of the three managers, the first step is to let her seniors know of her decision. That is, inform her seniors that she recommends Yingzi for the promotion. Secondly, Karen should make a brief of all Yingzi’s attributes that led to her decision. The third step is to let Yingzi and all the other employees know that a promotion decision has been arrived at and what the decision made is. To do this, the right protocol and procedure should be followed in order to enhance cooperation in the company. The future of corporate organizations is placed at the hands of those who oversee the goals and objectives of the organizations prior to the expectations of all stakeholders (Trevino, Brown & Hartman, 2003). The fourth action is to familiarize Yingzi with her new duties and responsibilities in the new office. The authority and power exercised by her office should be defined to order to avoid conflict of interest between and among the various departments within the company. Karen’s evaluation finds Yingzi most appropriate because her skills are a crucial force that will drive the company to a higher level. References Brown, M. E., Trevino, L. K., & Harrison, D. A. (2005). Ethical leadership: A social learning Perspective for construct development and testing. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 97, 117-134. Reilly, E. C. (2006). The future entering: Reflections on and challenges to ethical leadership. Educational Leadership and Administration, 18, 163-173. Trevino, L. K., Brown, M., & Hartman, L. P. (2003). A qualitative investigation of perceived Executive ethical leadership: Perceptions from inside and outside the executive suite. Human Relations, 56(1), 5-37. Watts, T. (2008). Business Leaders’ Values and Beliefs Regarding Decision Making Ethics. Los Angeles, CA: LULU. Stansbury, J. (2009). Reasoned Moral Agreement: Applying discourse ethics within Organizations. Business Ethics Quarterly. 19(1), 33-56. Read More