PAGE 1 Running head: MANAGEMENT SHORTCOMINGS OF ROBERT MCDONELL Synopsis about the management issue. There is an underlying degree of required integrity, morals, principles and ethics necessary for successful management of any institution. Fortune 500 companies, universities, municipalities, and even countries are considered institutions; manage by its leaders, and composing of populations sectored into different roles. The success of business management is often parallel to the success of its leaders, his or her credibility and capability to “challenge the process, inspire shared vision, enable others to act, model the way and encourage the heart” (Bateman & Snell, 2013). Decided by the people under democratic terns, leaders are given power and the right to manage. However one could have not said it any better than from a quote by Sir John Edward Dalberg Acton who stated that “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” and therefore what happens when a leader becomes corrupt because of power and greed? After months of long investigation, former Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell and his wife were indicted on fourteen counts of federal corruption charges. A one time Republican rising star, McDonnel who was once even considered for the 2012 vice-president nomination, and his wife were found guilty on September of 4 of 2014, of public corruption, honest service wire fraud, obtaining property while in color of, and extortion under official right. Although McDonnel has repaid back the money that he had accepted, and issued a public apology, his image and credibility was already destroyed and on January 6 of 2015, the former governor even temporarily lost his freedom, and was sentence to two years in prison with additional of another two years of supervise release (Zapotosky, 2015). What factors led to the current situation? The main factors that lead to this current situation befalling unto the former governor, is due to the power of leadership he was given and misused, and the temptation of greed and money. Perhaps it might be an overstatement to say that, McDonell is as guilty as the very same person who “offered” him the gifts in the first place. McDonell and his wife had received and accepted more than $135,000 in gifts from Jonnie Williams Sr. a former CEO of a drug and dietary supplement company, Star Scientific (Helderman, Leonnig, & Horwitz, 2014). Had Williams not play the part of the snake and “tempted” McDonell to this “donation” in the first place, this federal indictment may not even have occurred. Alas, he did accept the temptation and he is, therefore where he is now, shamed and without power and freedom. Going back to my aforementioned statement earlier, Williams Sr., is as guilty as McDonnell himself. For what reasons, one may ask? Let us not forget that these donations are without strings attached. It is typically expected that favors are expected to be returned in some sort of form or fashion upon .

1. PAGE
1
Running head: MANAGEMENT SHORTCOMINGS OF
ROBERT MCDONELL
Synopsis about the management issue.
There is an underlying degree of required integrity, morals,
principles and ethics necessary for successful management of
any institution. Fortune 500 companies, universities,
municipalities, and even countries are considered institutions;
manage by its leaders, and composing of populations sectored
into different roles. The success of business management is
often parallel to the success of its leaders, his or her credibility
and capability to “challenge the process, inspire shared vision,
enable others to act, model the way and encourage the heart”
(Bateman & Snell, 2013). Decided by the people under
democratic terns, leaders are given power and the right to
manage. However one could have not said it any better than
from a quote by Sir John Edward Dalberg Acton who stated that
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts
absolutely” and therefore what happens when a leader becomes
corrupt because of power and greed?
After months of long investigation, former Virginia Governor
Robert McDonnell and his wife were indicted on fourteen
counts of federal corruption charges. A one time Republican
rising star, McDonnel who was once even considered for the
2012 vice-president nomination, and his wife were found guilty
on September of 4 of 2014, of public corruption, honest service
wire fraud, obtaining property while in color of, and extortion
under official right. Although McDonnel has repaid back the

2. money that he had accepted, and issued a public apology, his
image and credibility was already destroyed and on January 6 of
2015, the former governor even temporarily lost his freedom,
and was sentence to two years in prison with additional of
another two years of supervise release (Zapotosky, 2015).
What factors led to the current situation?
The main factors that lead to this current situation befalling
unto the former governor, is due to the power of leadership he
was given and misused, and the temptation of greed and money.
Perhaps it might be an overstatement to say that, McDonell is as
guilty as the very same person who “offered” him the gifts in
the first place. McDonell and his wife had received and
accepted more than $135,000 in gifts from Jonnie Williams Sr. a
former CEO of a drug and dietary supplement company, Star
Scientific (Helderman, Leonnig, & Horwitz, 2014). Had
Williams not play the part of the snake and “tempted” McDonell
to this “donation” in the first place, this federal indictment may
not even have occurred. Alas, he did accept the temptation and
he is, therefore where he is now, shamed and without power and
freedom. Going back to my aforementioned statement earlier,
Williams Sr., is as guilty as McDonnell himself. For what
reasons, one may ask? Let us not forget that these donations are
without strings attached. It is typically expected that favors are
expected to be returned in some sort of form or fashion upon
request. Legislations which are supposed to help the population
are instead passed for the benefit of the company, even if it’s
contradictory and not in the interest of the people. Viewing, this
situation in a different perspective, one could even say that
Williams Sr., “bribe” McDonnell for future dealings and favors
(Heldermanand & Zapotosky, 2014).
Although McDonnell and his wife are not the only sole party
responsible for these turn of events, they are predominantly at
fault. Prior to the recent situation befallen unto the former
governor, he also came under fire for “misappropriating
thousands of tax dollars” for various personal purchases and
luxuries “such as body wash, sun screen, vitamins, and dry

3. cleaning” (Vozzella, 2013). These practices are unbecoming
from a person of power and even more so, as a leader. Money
that is hard earned by the people, are supposed to be returned to
society for further benefit and improvement of the community.
As a voted governor, he was entrusted to lead and manage the
state and its cities as a “dominant, self-confident, convinced of
the moral righteousness” charismatic leader. Instead, he was the
antithesis of what a leader’s proper behavioral approach should
be. Rather than to try to make “attempts to identify what leader
do-that is, what behaviors they exhibit” he instead approached
this situation for his own benefit (Bateman & Snell, 2013). One
could also add that Virginia’s lax ethic’s laws and its
inadequacy to monitor McDonnell’s daily activities allowed
corruption to prosper and initially go unnoticed (Robertson,
2014). In a company wherein an individual manages a sector has
the opportunity to illicit profit under his influential position,
has a higher tendency to take advantage of the situation when
there is inadequate monitoring. As in every management issues,
the outcome are usually dictated not only by the leader’s
decision, but by its own people as well. This leads me to my
next case.
What makes you sure this is a management issue? (Be specific
with your reasoning)
Although my choice of McDonell’s troubles as an example of
management issues seems off tangent, it is in fact, quite the
contrary. The United States is much like any other corporate
conglomerates out there. One can liken that our Commander and
Chief is the CEO, and the various governing bodies from within
the U.S, could be perceived as the board of directors. As in this
case, the position of Governor of Virginia was simply one of the
many governing braches, or a sector, involve in the management
of United State affairs. Therefore, how is this related
management issue?
First of all, company target goals are all similar to one another,

4. where optimizing productivity and maximizing profit is the very
definition of success. In order to achieve this goal of growth
and eventual success, proper management of employees is a
must. Contrary to the perception that great leaders makes
companies successful, it is actually the workers that dictates the
success of the company rather than the leader. It is the leader’s
job to motivate, guide and instill confidence onto his employees
for positive growth, and empowerment, leading to better
productivity and eventual success. The ability to instill great
outcomes from people is in fact, the very definition of a
successful management leader (Bateman & Snell, 2013).
There is no doubt that this situation is a management issue. As a
governor, it was his responsibility to oversee the passing and
vetoing of laws, and proper allocations of tax revenues in the
state of Virginia. McDonnell’s failure due to his greed and
corruption is a management issue and borderline management
failure. In this case, rather than utilizing his power and tax
revenues to create “quality of work life programs” that would
benefit the population of Virginia, he instead chose to benefit
himself. As an elected leader, he failed to manage ethically
within the confines of an honorable position. Mismanaged tax
revenues for his own selfish purpose, and failed his duties and
responsibilities bestowed upon him (Zapotosky, 2014).
Do you predict recovery (if a negative) or success (if a new
launch or revamping of a current policy/approach)?
Within time, the people of Virginia will certainly recover from
McDonnell’s deliberate breach of trust. Corruption and scandals
are as old, and will always be part of politics. Just like in any
other population and field, there are a handful of immoral
politicians in a world of many moralistic people. There will be
people in the government that are committed for the very sole
purpose of furthering America’s growth and success, and as
such, there will also be people willing to abuse their
management powers for the sake of personal gain.

5. As a result of all this negative publicity, the Commonwealth of
Virginia has taken the appropriate measures to rectify and
prevent the situation from reoccurring. Although it is hard to
say that the state will be able to prevent corruption from
happening again, it made its intentions clear by indicting the
parties involved in the corruption scandal. Furthermore, a
reassessment of Virginia’s ethics lax laws was made clear to the
public, in hopes that these actions reverse some of the collateral
damage, caused by the former governor (Robertson, 2014). The
state is hopeful that these actions were enough to alleviate the
cynicism and suspicion by the citizens of the state, as well as
others, whom have followed this story as a result of this
corruption scandal. The state will continue to grow, under a new
governor.
Based on what you've learned, is the organization handling this
management issue appropriately?
Pertaining to this management issue specifically, the indicted
party involved in this scandal, received “their just desert” and
therefore was handled appropriately. Although one could agree
that this case is not particularly serious given the amount of
money, and the decision by McDonnell to return $120,000
dollars from what was received previously, one cannot overlook
that it is still corruption and a breach of trust, especially given
his position as governor. The state of Virginia and federal
government quickly acted and punished those involve.
Although, I wished the party providing the “bribe” should have
also been punished or penalized somehow, rather than receiving
a public “slap on the wrist” from negative publicity (Zapotosky,
2014).
Although the federal government handled this situation
correctly, one cannot help but think that there is some hypocrisy
on the government’s part. If receiving money, from other people
and or companies, in a form of a cash donation, is deemed as
“corruption”, then how does that differ from candidate

6. fundraisers accepting donations during elections? Most money
spent on campaigns comes from rich company owners
supporting the candidates, in hopes of receiving favorable
legislations.
Conclusion (One paragraph max)
Where is the borderline between ethics and efficiency when it
comes to management? Would one be efficient at a cause of
losing ethics, or vice versa? Sadly, this is not the case with
former governor and now convicted, McDonnell, since he failed
in both fronts. His failure to manage ethically ruined his
credibility and caused him his freedom while simultaneously
publicly shamed the Commonwealth of Virginia. In the end, it is
important for management to follow a strict code of ethics and
principles, to alleviate temptation and continue success.
References
Helderman, R., Leonnig, C., & Horwitz, S. (2014, January 21).
Former Va. Gov. McDonnell and wife charged in gifts case.
Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-
politics/former-va-gov-mcdonnell-and-wife-charged-in-gifts-
case/2014/01/21/1ed704d2-82cb-11e3-9dd4-
e7278db80d86_story.html
Helderman, R., &Zapotosky, M. (2014, September 4). Ex-Va.
governor Robert McDonnell guilty of 11 counts of corruption.
Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-
politics/mcdonnell-jury-in-third-day-of-
deliberations/2014/09/04/0e01ff88-3435-11e4-9e92-
0899b306bbea_story.html
Robertson, G. (2014, September 9). Top Virginia lawmakers
back stiffer ethics law after ex-governor's conviction. Retrieved
from http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/09/us-usa-
virginia-ethics-idUSKBN0H41S620140909
Vozzella, L. (2013, June 13). Mansion spending records indicate
improper billing by Virginia governor and his family. Retrieved
from http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/va-politics/mansion-
spending-records-indicate-improper-billing-by-virginia-
governor-and-his-family/2013/06/16/6008bfdc-c240-11e2-8c3b-

7. 0b5e9247e8ca_story.html
Bateman, T. S., & Snell, S. A. (2013). M: Management. New
York, NY, USA: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Zapotosky, M (12 December 2014). "Early federal sentencing
recommendation for McDonnell: At least 10 years in prison".
The Washington Post. Retrieved 13 December 2014.