Answer of leadership ethics individual assignment

June 14, 2020 MUKTAR EDRIS . ID.NO .PLM/022/12
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Leadership Ethics Individual Assignment (LEST 5021)
Name: Muktar Edris Burka
Id. No. PLM/022/12
Tele Phone. 0921207895
Email. muktaredris1@gmail.com
Department: - Project Leadership and Management
Submitted to: Dr.Asseffa.
June 14 /2020
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia

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Instruction: Give answers to any Five of your choice from the questions
provided below (Each question caries 10% point and this final exam caries a
total of 50% points)
1) Discuss in detail about the five principles of ethical leadership along with the
expected leader behaviors for each of them. Substantiate your argument for each of
them with practical examples.
2) Why do you think studies show that no single factor has a bigger impact on the
ethicality of an organization’s culture than the personal examples set by
organizations leaders? Discuss by supporting your views with pertinent examples.
3) What is Corporate Social Responsibility? What are the benefits of corporate social
responsibility? How do you, as a leader, create an ethical and socially responsible
culture? Discuss in detail by substantiating your arguments with practical
examples.
4) Ethical theories related to leadership are broadly divided between theories about
leaders’ conduct and about leaders’ characters. Discuss these theories and their sub-
theories by substantiating your arguments with relevant practical examples.
5) Conventional, principles based and ethical test approaches are the three major
approaches to ethical decision making practice in organizations. Discuss about each
of them in detail.
6) Discuss in detail about the factors affecting morality of managers and employees.
Substantiate your discussions with pertinent examples.
7) Ethical Culture in organization is concerned about moral decisions, moral
managers, and moral organizations. Discuss in detail about these three important aspects of
improving organizations’ ethical culture by adequately considering the roles of leaders.
8) Explain about the seven minimum requirements for ethics and compliance
programs and also discuss on the compliance Vs values orientation based requirements for
ethical practices in organizations.
9) Discuss about the Multisystem Framework for developing ethical culture within an
organization by considering formal system and informal systems approach. Give practical
example for each step in the Framework.
10) Ethical conflicts occur when there are two or more positions on ethical decision making
process. Discuss about the characteristics of five styles of Managing Ethical Conflict considering
their Assertiveness and Cooperativeness dimensions.
I select Q1, Q3, Q4, Q5 and Q10 for My Individual Assignment.

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Q1) Discuss in detail about the five principles of ethical leadership along with the
expected leader behaviors for each of them. Substantiate your argument for each of
them with practical examples.
ANSWER
.Ethical leadership
 Ethical leadership is organizational leadership that is centered around respect for
ethics and values, as well as the rights and dignity of others.
 The concepts of honesty, integrity, trust and fairness are all critical to ethical
leadership.
 Ethical leaders should demonstrate ethical and appropriate behavior in every facet of
their life over time, even when their behavior is not necessarily observable by their
employees.
 Ethical leaders also work to create an ethical work culture.
 In an ethical work culture, an organization’s management articulates a set of
principles that are understood, and bought in to, by everyone in the organization.
 Every element of the business from performance reviews and mentoring to
compensation reflects the ethical principles that are articulated from the top.
.Principles of ethical leadership
Practitioners and scholars of ethical leadership point to five key principles of ethical
leadership which are briefly explained as follow with expected leader behaviors and
example.
A. Respects Others principles
 Treating others as ends (their own goals) rather than as means (to leaders’ personal
goals)
 Leaders who convey respect to their peers and employers approach others with an
inherent sense of their worth and value as individuals.
 Respect means listening carefully to others and confirming their inherent value.
 Leaders should also mentor others to become aware of their own purpose, values
and needs so that ethical qualities spread throughout the organization.

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Leader behaviors:
 Listens closely to subordinates
 Is empathic
 Is tolerant of opposing viewpoints
Leader shall:
 Treat other people’s values and decisions with respect
 Allow others to be themselves with creative wants and desires
 Approach others with a sense of unconditional worth and value individual
differences
 Example. Respect for others is a complex ethic that is similar to but goes deeper than
the kind of respect that parents teach little children. When a leader exhibits respect
to subordinates, subordinates can feel competent about their work. In short, leaders
who show respect treat others as worthy human beings.
B. Serves others principles
 Follower centered based on the altruistic principle of placing followers foremost in
the leader’s plans.
 Ethical leaders demonstrate appropriate values to those around them via their own
behavior.
 Leaders who act with integrity can strengthen the organization by attracting talented,
ethical hires.
 People generally want to work for leaders they perceive as acting with integrity.
 Investors and customers feel the appeal of leadership that acts with integrity and are
more likely to be attracted to those organizations.
Leader behaviors
 Mentoring behaviors
 Empowerment behaviors
 Team-building behaviors
 Citizenship behaviors

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Leaders have
 A duty to help others pursue their own legitimate interests and goals
 To be stewards of the organization’s vision; in serving others they: clarify,
nurture, and integrate the vision with, not for, organization members
 An ethical responsibility to make decisions that are beneficial to their followers’
welfare
 Example. The leader’s ethical responsibility to serve others is very similar to the
ethical principle in health care of beneficence.). Like health professionals, ethical
leaders have a responsibility to attend to others, be of service to them, and make
decisions pertaining to them that are beneficial and not harmful to their welfare.
C. Shows Justice principles-
 Ethical leaders are concerned with issues of fairness and justice; they place issues
of fairness at the center of their decision making.
 These types of leaders prioritize treating everyone in an equal manner and placing
justice and fairness at the center of their decision making more broadly.
 They make a rule of never giving certain individuals special treatment, except when
a particular situation demands it for the purposes of justice.
Leader behaviors
 All subordinates are treated in an equal manner
 In special treatment/special consideration situations, grounds for differential
treatment are clear, reasonable, and based on sound moral values.
Leaders shall:
 Adhere to principles of distributive justice
 For example, many of us can remember being involved with some type of athletic
team when we were growing up. The coaches we liked were those we thought were
fair with us. No matter what, we did not want the coach to treat anyone differently
from the rest. When someone came late to practice with a poor excuse, we wanted
that person disciplined just as we would have been disciplined. If a player had a
personal problem and needed a break, we wanted the coach to give it, just as we
would have been given a break. Without question, the good coaches were those who

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never had favorites and who made a point of playing everyone on the team. In
essence, what we wanted was that our coach be fair and just.
D. Manifests Honesty principles –
 Honest leaders are authentic but also sensitive to the feelings and attitudes of others.
 Dishonest behavior is a form of lying or misrepresenting reality.
 Dishonest behavior by leadership creates an atmosphere of mistrust and can lead to
leadership being seen as not dependable.
 People will lose faith in dishonest leadership.
 As a result, it is critical for ethical leaders to behave with honesty.
Leader behaviors
 Don’t promise what you can’t deliver
 Don’t suppress obligations
 Don’t evade accountability
 Don’t accept “survival of the fittest” pressures
 Acknowledge and reward honest behavior in the organization
Leaders:
 Are not deceptive
 Tell the truth with a balance of openness and candor while monitoring what is
appropriate to disclose in a particular situation.
For Example. When we were children, grownups often told us we must “never tell a lie.”
To be good meant we must be truthful. For leaders the lesson is the same: To be a good
leader, one must be honest.

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E. Builds Community principles –
 A good ethical leader is build community by taking into account the purpose of
everyone involved in a group and be attentive to the interests of the community and
culture
 Concern for common good means leaders cannot impose their will on others; they
search for goals that are compatible with everyone.
 Ethical leaders behave with altruism.
 They place the welfare of their subordinates high in their esteem, and engage in
activities like team building, mentoring, and empowerment behaviors.
 This means ethical leadership helps to build community.
 These leaders take into account the values and purpose
Leader behaviors
 Takes into account purposes of everyone in the group
 Is attentive to interests of the community and culture
 Does not force others or ignore intentions of others
Ethical leaders & followers
 Take into account purposes of everyone in the group, and reach out beyond their
own mutually defined goals to wider community
 For Example. A transformational leader tries to move the group toward a common
good that is beneficial for both the leaders and the followers. In moving toward
mutual goals, both the leader and the followers are changed.

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Q3) What is Corporate Social Responsibility? What are the benefits of corporate
social responsibility? How do you, as a leader, create an ethical and socially
responsible culture? Discuss in detail by substantiating your arguments with
practical examples.
ANSWER
 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is -
 The interaction between a business (an organization) and the social environment in
which it exists.
 By practicing corporate social responsibility, also called corporate citizenship,
companies can be conscious of the kind of impact they are having on all aspects of
society, including economic, social, and environmental.
 To engage in CSR means that, in the ordinary course of business (Organization), a
company is operating in ways that enhances society and the environment, instead of
contributing negatively to them.
 A self regulating business/Organizational model that helps a company be socially
accountable to itself, its stakeholders, and the public.
Stakeholders
 Stakeholders are all those who are affected by or can affect the activities of the firm.
 They can be from within or outside of the organization.
 Each Stakeholder has a different criterion of social responsiveness based on their
specific interest (or stake) in the organization.
 Employees - Social responsiveness based on their Work satisfaction
 Investors/ owners- Social responsiveness based on Managerial efficiency and
profit
 Customers- Social responsiveness based on Quality and availability
 Government- Social responsiveness based on Law compliance

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 . Benefits of corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility has different benefits for company/organization and
stakeholders among those of the use of CSR are listed below:-
 Winning new business
 Enhanced Relationship with stakeholders
 Attracting, Retaining and Maintaining a happy workforce
 Media interest and good reputation
 Access to funding opportunities
 Enhancing your influence in the industry
 Differentiating yourself from the competitor
 Saving money on energy and operating cost
 Increase in customer retention
 Positive impact on the community.
 Supports public value out come
 Promotes professionals and personal growth.
 To create an ethical and socially responsible cultures in an organization a leader
should :-
Yet, there are many ways that organizations can create a culture that supports and
nurtures ethics. And good ethics is good business in the end. Closely attending to just a
few important and easy to remember strategies to help create and sustain a culture of
ethics and socially responsible could be endorsed and shared with perhaps all
organizations. These include the following
 Ensure that ethical concerns procedures are established for internal problem solving.
 Involve line and staff employees in the identification of ethical issues to help them
gain understanding and resolve issues.
 Determine the link between departments and issues affecting the company and make
them known to employees in the departments

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 Integrate ethical decision making into the performance appraisal process.
 Publicize, in employee communications and elsewhere, executive priorities and
efforts related to ethical issues.
 Clear Expectations for What is Okay and Not Okay
 Modeling Desired Behavior (especially from organizational leaders)
 Reinforce the Behavior You Want, and Don’t Reinforce the Behavior that You Don’t
Want
 Focus on Skill Building and Problem Solving
 Provide the Tools People Need to Act Ethically
 Provide Corrective Feedback
Examples of CSR companies out there demonstrating good social responsibility.
 Google
Google's 'Google Green' effort includes recycling, conserving energy (like turning
off lights), and supporting renewable energy. Because of their efforts, they've been
carbon neutral since 2007, their data centers use 50% less energy than typical data
centers, and they purchase more renewable energy than any other corporation in the
world.
 Xerox
Xerox promotes social responsibility directly through their employees. In 2013 they
set aside over a million dollars to put into their 'Community Involvement Program',
which allowed thousands of employees to join in community projects. This increased
not only their overall community recognition, but their employee morale.
 Starbucks
Starbucks Coffee Company continually increases the amount of stores with LEED
certification in multiple countries, as well as having 99% of their coffee ethically
sourced. They buy renewable energy and promote recycling and reuse by installing
bins in their stores and offering a discount to those who bring their own reusable cup.

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Q4) Ethical theories related to leadership are broadly divided between theories
about leaders’ conduct and about leaders’ characters. Discuss these theories and
their sub-theories by substantiating your arguments with relevant practical
examples.
ANSWER
Ethical Theories in Leadership
There are two types of Ethical Theories which are briefly explained as follow.
1. CONDUCT THEORIES.
Focuses on rules or acts and what makes them right.
The conduct theories can be further subdivided into theories about consequences and
duties or rules.
1. Teleological/ Consequence Theories:
 focus on consequences of actions, results
 Focus on the goal of the ethical action.
 Consequentiality/Teleological theories are those that base moral judgments on the
outcomes of a decision or an action. If the outcomes of an action are considered to
be positive, or to give rise to benefits, then that action is held to be morally right.
 Conversely, if the outcome causes harm, then the action is held to be morally
wrong.
 The judgments of right or wrong depend on the consequences of the decision or
action.

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The three main Teleological /consequentiality theories considered here are egoism,
utilitarianism and Altruism
a. Ethical egoism (create greatest good for the leader)
 Egoism is the theory that one's self is, or should be, the motivation for all of our
actions.
 It is worth distinguishing between egoism as a descriptive argument (an argument
that tells us how the world actually is) and egoism as a normative argument (an
argument that tells us how the world ought to be).
 Egoism as a descriptive argument describes human nature as self-centered.
 In its strongest form, it argues that individuals only ever act in their own self-
interest.
 Even where they appear to be acting in others' interests, descriptive egoism
explains that the person is really motivated by their own self-interest disguised by
arguments (rationalizations) of 'doing one's duty' or 'helping others'.
 Closely related to transactional leadership theories
Example: leader takes a political stand on an issue for no other reason than to get re-
elected
b. Utilitarianism (create greatest good for greatest number)
 Rather than maximize individual welfare, utilitarianism focuses on collective welfare
and it identifies goodness with the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of
people: the 'greatest happiness principle'.
 So maximizing benefits for the greatest number of people involves net assessments of
benefit: utility is the net result of benefits and 'disbenefits' or costs.
Example: leader distributes scarce resources so as to maximize benefit to everyone,
while hurting the fewest; like choosing-preventive health care vs. catastrophic illnesses
c. Altruism (show concern for best interests of others)
 An action is considered altruistic if it benefits others while harming oneself.

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 Altruistic acts are considered acts of self- sacrifice, and therefore, they are
generally regarded as the opposite of self-interested acts.
 The doctrine of altruism (sometimes called The Principle of Beneficence) states
that people have a moral duty to aid others, even at the sacrifice of individual self-
interests.
 Altruism (or Ethical Altruism) is an ethical doctrine that holds that individuals
have a moral obligation to help, serve or benefit others, if necessary at the sacrifice
of self interest.
 More precisely, an action is morally right if the consequences of that action are
more favorable than unfavorable to everyone except the agent.
 Generally, this doctrine is considered morally unacceptable because it mandates
actions which are supererogatory (i.e., morally praiseworthy but not morally
required)
 Authentic transformational leadership is based on altruistic principles
Example: the work of Mother Teresa, who gave her entire life to help the poor
2. Deontological Theories
 duty driven, for example, relates not only to consequences but also to whether
action itself is good
 Focus on the actions of the leader and his/her moral obligation and responsibilities
to do the right thing
Example: telling the truth, keeping promises, being fair
2. CHARACTER THEORIES
 Virtue-based Theories: about leader’s character
The virtue ethical theory judges a person by his/her character rather than by an
action that may deviate from his/her normal behavior.
It takes the person’s morals, reputation, and motivation into account when rating an
unusual and irregular behavior that is considered unethical.

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Virtue ethics (also sometimes called "character ethics") ignores the roles that
consequences, duties, and social contracts play in moral systems in determining the
appropriate standard for evaluating moral behavior.
Virtue-based ethical theories place much less emphasis on which rules people
should follow and instead focus on helping people develop good character traits,
such as kindness and generosity.
These character traits will, in turn, allow a person to make the correct decisions
later on in life. Virtue theorists also emphasize the need for people to learn how to
break bad habits of character.
Virtue ethics focuses on criteria having to do with the character development of
individuals and their acquisition of good character traits from the kinds of habits
they develop.
Focus on who people are as people
 Rather than tell people what to do, tell people what to be
 Help people become more virtuous through training and development
 Virtues are present within person’s disposition; practice makes good values
habitual
Examples: courage, honesty, fairness, justice, integrity, humility
Q5) Conventional, principles based and ethical test approaches are the three major
approaches to ethical decision making practice in organizations. Discuss about each
of them in detail.
ANSWER
Three major approaches to ethical decision making
a) Conventional Approach to ethical decision making practice in organizations that is
 Based on how normal society today views the organization/business ethics.
 The Conventional Approach to Organizational/Business Ethics based on how the
average person views ethics in businesses/organizations, and on common sense.
 The conventional approach to business/organizational ethics involves a
comparison of a decision or practice to prevailing societal norms.

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b) Principles Approach is the approach that practiced in an organization ethical
decision making that are:-
 Based upon the use of ethics principles to direct behavior, actions and policies
 Based on the use of ethics principles to justify and direct behavior, actions, and
policies.
 Managers desire to make decisions based on a more solid foundation than is
provided by the conventional approach to ethics.
 A principle of business ethics is an ethical concept, guideline, or rule that assists
you in taking the ethical course.
 Principles Approach is the approach that Anchors(align) decision making on
an ethical principle such as:
 Principle of Utilitarianism that focuses on an act that produces the
greatest ratio of good to evil for the greatest majority.
 Principle of Rights focuses on examining and possibly protecting
individual moral or legal rights.
 Principle of justice involves considering what alternative promotes
fair treatment of people.
 Virtue ethics focuses on individuals becoming imbued with virtues.
 Servant leadership focuses on serving others first, such as
employees, customers, and community
 Golden rule focuses on the premise that you should of unto others as
you would have them do unto you. “Do unto others as you would
have them do unto you.”

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c) Ethical Tests Approach ethical decision making –
 Is an approach that practiced in an organization based on short, practical questions
to guide ethical decision making and behavior and practices.
1. Test of Common Sense-“Does the action I am getting ready to take really make
sense?” Think before acting.
2. Test of One’s Best Self-“Is this action or decision I’m getting ready to take
compatible with my concept of myself at my best?”
3. Test of Ventilation-Do not isolate yourself with your dilemma. Get feedback
from others before acting or deciding.
4. Test of the Purified Idea -“Am I thinking this action or decision is right just
because someone with authority or knowledge says it is right? You may still be
held responsible for taking action.
Q10) Ethical conflicts occur when there are two or more positions on ethical
decision making process. Discuss about the characteristics of five styles of Managing
Ethical Conflict considering their Assertiveness and Cooperativeness dimensions.
ANSWER
Ethical conflicts occur when there are two or more positions on an ethical decision.
 Will not be brought to management’s attention without effective mechanisms for
transparent communication.
 Employees themselves should be trained to handle conflict situations.
 Based on two dimensions Assertiveness (is acting in one’s own best interests) and
Cooperativeness (means working toward the best interests of the other person)
conflict management Categorized into five styles: competing, avoiding,
accommodating, collaborating, and compromising.
1. Competing conflict management style: – This is the “win-lose” approach.
 You act in a very assertive way to achieve your goals, without seeking to cooperate
with the other party, and it may be at the expense of the other party.

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 This approach may be appropriate for emergencies when time is of the essence, or
when you need quick, decisive action, and people are aware of and support the
approach.
 Highly assertive, not very cooperative, believe in winning at any cost, and measure
success by how much the other side loses.
2. Avoiding conflict management style:– This is when you simply avoid the issue.
 You aren’t helping the other party reach their goals, and you aren’t assertively
pursuing your own.
 This works when the issue is trivial or when you have no chance of winning.
 It can also be effective when the issue would be very costly. It’s also very
effective when the atmosphere is emotionally charged and you need to create some
space.
 Sometimes issues will resolve themselves, but “hope is not a strategy”, and, in
general, avoiding is not a good long term strategy.
 Not effective because they avoid conflict at any cost even if it leads to misconduct,
are uncooperative, and are non-assertive.
3. Accommodating conflict management style: –
 This is when you cooperate to a high degree, and it may be at your own expense,
and actually work against your own goals, objectives, and desired outcomes.
 This approach is effective when the other party is the expert or has a better
solution.
 It can also be effective for preserving future relations with the other party.
 Highly cooperative, non-assertive, and give in to the other side even if it means
sacrificing their own interests and values.
4. Compromising conflict management style: –
 This is the “lose-lose” scenario where neither party really achieves what they
want.
 This requires a moderate level of assertiveness and cooperation.
 It may be appropriate for scenarios where you need a temporary solution, or where
both sides have equally important goals.

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 The trap is to fall into compromising as an easy way out, when collaborating
would produce a better solution.
 In between the assertiveness and cooperativeness dimensions, believe best
approach to resolving conflicts is for each side to give something up in order to
gain something of value.
5. Collaborating conflict management style –
 This is where you partner or pair up with the other party to achieve both of your
goals.
 This is how you break free of the “win-lose” paradigm and seek the “win-win.”
 This can be effective for complex scenarios where you need to find a novel
solution.
 This can also mean re-framing the challenge to create a bigger space and room for
everybody’s ideas. The downside is that it requires a high-degree of trust and
reaching a consensus can require a lot of time and effort to get everybody on board
and to synthesize all the ideas.
 Most advantageous, leaders are cooperative and assertive, and leaders collaborate
with others to find a creative way to obtain a beneficial solution.
The Figure that shows characteristics of five styles of Managing Ethical Conflict
considering their Assertiveness and Cooperativeness dimensions.

Answer of leadership ethics individual assignment

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