Running head: DISCUSSION 1 DISCUSSION 2 Discussion: First of Several Connections Made Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Discussion: First of Several Connections The first connection that I draw from the MSOLM program content, the Abrashoff texts and my professional experiences is the importance of leadership in team building. The MSOLM program sheds light on the idea that the leader should have a sense of personal purpose towards the attainment of the organization or team’s overall mission. To realize this objective, the leader plays an integral role in building and maintaining team cohesion by unleashing the energies of team members (Speak Inc, 2012). This can be attained through appealing to their natural impulses to learn. Thus, my understanding of leadership has been to engage employees into activities that they view as worthy of their utmost commitment. There is no better way to do this than to encourage the spirit of team work that makes use of each and every member’s maximum potentials towards the realization of the common objective and purpose. Like the MSOLM program, Abrashoff’s texts confirm the premise that effective leadership promotes team cohesion and strength. When Abrashoff takes command of the USS Benfold, he realizes that he is not only a leader, but also a team builder. During that turning point of his life, the morale of members was low, while the turnover was high and unprecedented. However, by employing leadership skills that bring team members together and focusing on each others’ strengths, his ship served as the benchmark for performance (Abrashoff, 2012). This inspiring text is founded on the vital leadership insights that Abrashoff gains as he leads the remarkable turnaround of the ship (SPEAK Inc, 2012). Unlike the traditional command and control model of leadership practiced in the military and other business organizations, Abrashoff employs a leadership style that empowers team members by making them feel that they form a special part of the entire organization. In so doing, he encourages members to actively participate in the decision-making process by providing their views and sentiments. As a result, Abrashoff manages to make sound decisions that are guided by insights from his followers. Based on the above insights and personal experiences, I have learned that most leaders erroneously think that the primary cause of poor performance and productivity is low wages. However, a rich collection of course contents and Abrashoff’s texts have enlightened me that lack of team spirit that encourages equality tops the list of possible causes of lack of team productivity. As Abrashoff (2012) states, not being treated with respect or dignity, and being deterred from making impact on the organization, reduce team morale. Therefore, encouraging a listening spirit and rewarding positive performance are manifestation of good leadership. References Abrashoff, D. M. (2012). It's your ship: Management t ...

1. Running head: DISCUSSION 1
DISCUSSION 2
Discussion: First of Several Connections Made
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Discussion: First of Several Connections
The first connection that I draw from the MSOLM program
content, the Abrashoff texts and my professional experiences is
the importance of leadership in team building. The MSOLM
program sheds light on the idea that the leader should have a
sense of personal purpose towards the attainment of the
organization or team’s overall mission. To realize this
objective, the leader plays an integral role in building and
maintaining team cohesion by unleashing the energies of team
members (Speak Inc, 2012). This can be attained through
appealing to their natural impulses to learn. Thus, my
understanding of leadership has been to engage employees into
activities that they view as worthy of their utmost commitment.
There is no better way to do this than to encourage the spirit of
team work that makes use of each and every member’s
maximum potentials towards the realization of the common
objective and purpose.
Like the MSOLM program, Abrashoff’s texts confirm the
premise that effective leadership promotes team cohesion and
strength. When Abrashoff takes command of the USS Benfold,
he realizes that he is not only a leader, but also a team builder.
During that turning point of his life, the morale of members was

2. low, while the turnover was high and unprecedented. However,
by employing leadership skills that bring team members
together and focusing on each others’ strengths, his ship served
as the benchmark for performance (Abrashoff, 2012). This
inspiring text is founded on the vital leadership insights that
Abrashoff gains as he leads the remarkable turnaround of the
ship (SPEAK Inc, 2012). Unlike the traditional command and
control model of leadership practiced in the military and other
business organizations, Abrashoff employs a leadership style
that empowers team members by making them feel that they
form a special part of the entire organization. In so doing, he
encourages members to actively participate in the decision-
making process by providing their views and sentiments. As a
result, Abrashoff manages to make sound decisions that are
guided by insights from his followers.
Based on the above insights and personal experiences, I
have learned that most leaders erroneously think that the
primary cause of poor performance and productivity is low
wages. However, a rich collection of course contents and
Abrashoff’s texts have enlightened me that lack of team spirit
that encourages equality tops the list of possible causes of lack
of team productivity. As Abrashoff (2012) states, not being
treated with respect or dignity, and being deterred from making
impact on the organization, reduce team morale. Therefore,
encouraging a listening spirit and rewarding positive
performance are manifestation of good leadership.
References
Abrashoff, D. M. (2012). It's your ship: Management techniques
from the best damn ship in the
Navy. London: Hachette UK.SPEAK Inc. (Producer). (2012).
Keynote Speaker: Michael Abrashoff [Motion Picttures]. USA:
SPEAK Inc.

3. Running head: SERVICE DELIVERY 1
SERVICE DELIVERY 2
Service Delivery: Key Benefits and Issues of Knowledge
Management for Businesses
Introduction
Knowledge management practices play a significant role in
improving service delivery. The significance of knowledge
management in service delivery takes many forms, such as
enhancement of quality and accessibility of services, provision
of efficient electronic service delivery, as well as raising the

4. degree of sufficiency of organizational decisions to meet
customers’ interests. Furthermore, knowledge management
ensures that there is an increased degree of transparency and
effectiveness of the organizational spending in different
services.
Improvement of services delivered to clients is viewed as
one of the essential themes of an organization’s knowledge
management initiatives. For instance, knowledge management
helps in properly defining services and developing methods of
measuring the quality of services. Further, knowledge
management forms an essential part of an organization’s efforts
to improve service delivery programs by establishing
centralized front-office structures and call centers. Provision of
important services to customers and users is a significant aspect
of any business. Thus, many firms strive to offer excellent
services to consumers. The role of user services or helpdesk
service is to offer information regarding the operations of
products and solving the challenges met by different user
groups.
A Synthesis of the Literature Reviewed
Needs and Issues
Knowledge management plays an essential role in service
delivery to users and customers. As service organizations
continue to assume a major place in the improvements of
economic development, there is an urgent need to understand
the different service needs in order to operate efficiently. One
such significant area where this understanding is absent is
knowledge management Kianto and Andreeva (2014) assert that
the service sector of the economy currently applies an
increasing proportion of labor force in the developed world.
Economic systems where the proportion of those employed in
the service sector is adequately high merits being regarded as
service-oriented economies. Thus, Kianto and Andreeva (2014)
identify the need to utilize knowledge management in value
creation and production services. To them, this requires a new
specialized knowledge that is founded on the presumption that

5. service activities basically differ from production. They define
knowledge management as a set of deliberate organizational and
managerial efforts aimed at improving knowledge procedures of
the firm. To better improve the service sector, Kianto and
Andreeva (2014) state that knowledge management must
effectively improve the key features of services, which are
inseparability and perishability. These features suggest that the
generation, delivery, and consumption phases should be closely
intertwined. This requires a form of heterogeneity, which
inevitably results in high consumer involvements in the
processes, as well as a more in-depth knowledge sharing
between service suppliers and clients.
Dong, Johar and Kumar (2011) also identify the need for
an improved service delivery mechanism for employees who
work in widely dispersed localities and interact with each other
to constitute knowledge-intensive service delivery networks.
Due to the complexities associated with having to deliver
services to consumers from such locations, Dong, Johar and
Kumar (2011) maintains that these employees require an
efficient knowledge management system that improves the
interactions between workflow decisions, structures of
information flow networks, as well as knowledge management
decisions. As such, they recommend that knowledge regarding
information flow networks and employee competence should be
effectively utilized for making workflow decisions.
The study conducted by Dong, Johar and Kumar (2011) plays a
significant role in the improved understanding of service
systems and service system improvements. The above scholars
assert that a good knowledge management system should
improve service delivery through value co-creation and
configurations of individuals, technologies, value propositions
linking internal and external service systems, as well as shared
information. As a way of meeting the need for value co-
creation, Dong, Johar and Kumar (2011) present a mixed integer
programming model that contains basic features of these value
co-creation configurations. This is important for investigating

6. the above research problem. They also suggest the utilization of
IT-based knowledge management system for performing
integrated business analytics that merges the aforementioned
factors in support of the service workflow procedures. To them,
the significance of such modeling can be found in their capacity
to identify the essential factors and organize the controversies
relating to trade-offs that influence the link between service
orientation and business values. To them, their proposal can
help in inducing organizational change. Moreover, such an
endeavor would be in line with the overall of service
understanding for the advancement of an organization’s
capacity to develop, improve, as well as scale the service
systems for the purpose of business and society.
How Knowledge Management Strategies Support and Inform
Management Decisions, Innovation, and Key Business Processes
In view of the above challenges that need, various scholars have
proposed ways in which knowledge management can be
instrumental in supporting and informing management
decisions, innovation and basic business processes for service
delivery. For instance, Stewart and Wadell (2008) argue that
knowledge management supports management decisions in
service delivery sectors by improving the level of quality
management. They assert that knowledge management is
composed of two main components-knowledge acquisition and
knowledge dissemination. Knowledge acquisition includes the
procedures that the firm pursues as a way of determining what
the clients’ expectations are of the services. Managers utilize
quality procedures to ensure that they gather the kinds of data
that they require to be able to better inform key decisions
regarding consumers’ expectations and future needs. These
formal quality procedures are considerably rampant and are
regularly present in organizations that have achieved ISO 9000
certification.
While Stewart and Wadell (2008) hold that knowledge
management in the service sector promotes managerial decision

7. making through supporting quality management, Galanc,
Kolzwan and Pieronek (2014) affirm that knowledge
management helps to improve management decision making by
organizing and structuring data gathered in a logical fashion.
Through knowledge management, organizational decision
makers are able to decide the kind of information processed is
important, that is, what is true and what is hearsay. They argue
that logic is a major component of science, and is being utilized
by knowledge management teams to make decisions through
operationalization of logics.
Departing from the significance of knowledge management
systems in management decision making in service sectors,
Mangiarotti and Mention (2015) choose to view knowledge
management with respect to innovation. To them, knowledge
management in the service sector improves innovation through
codification and personalization efforts at both personal and
joint levels. This helps in enhancing innovation propensity and
innovation outputs. After gathering data from the Community
Innovation Survey for Luxembourg, Mangiarotti and Mention
(2015) found that personalization and codification impacts on
innovation are strongly comparable. This is especially true on
personalization, which exerts a firm impact on innovation
output.
In sharp contrast to the above findings on innovation, Leal-
Rodriguez et al. (2013) maintain that knowledge management
boosts innovation through relational learning. Focusing on
healthcare services as a case study, they reveal that knowledge
management systems necessitate the sharing, gathering and use
of explicit and tacit knowledge play a significant role in
supporting organizational innovation. Further, they found that
relational learning and innovation results are strongly
correlated. This is because deep and wide knowledge base
results in improved innovation outcomes, Furthermore, their
survey showed that service industries such as hospitals that
allocate much funds and take part in relational learning
strategies are more likely to enhance innovations. Thus, they

8. agree with Davenport’s views that knowledge management as a
new discipline links it to innovation.
Long-Term Stability
The significance of knowledge management in service delivery
extends to have major impacts on long-term stability. This fact
is widely recognized by many scholars, but they conceive it in
varying ways. For example, in his discussion of the significance
of knowledge management on customer relationship
management services, Wilde (2011) asserts that firms can only
be able to survive in a highly turbulent surrounding if they
initiate consumer –oriented learning procedures. Wilde (2011)
adds that important knowledge management trends involve
promotion of knowledge sharing culture within an organization
and the collaboration between firms and their consumers. For
Wilde, these practices are prerequisites for ensuring long-term
stability in a tightly competitive environment that is
characterized by tough economic times. Therefore, he links
long-term stability to customer relationship knowledge
management initiatives.
Al-Shammari (2010), however, views the relationship
between knowledge management and long-term stability of a
firm differently. He argues that long-term stability is primarily
motivated by long-term commitment, which requires knowledge
management systems. Al-Shammari (2010) describes long-term
commitment as the urge to develop a stable relationship,
readiness to make short-term sacrifices to keep the relationship,
as well as having the confidence in the stability of the
relationships. When an organization is devoted to a long-term
relationship, the benefits that stem from the relationship will
call for establishing utmost efforts to maintain it. The
repetition and enhancement of tasks over time pushes people
involved to come up with common knowledge and shared
interpretations, thereby making sure that they understand where
to seek data when needed. These conditions are important for
long-term stability.
Conclusion

9. From the above discussions, knowledge management plays a
significant role in service delivery. These include: increased
accessibility to services by consumers, strengthening customer
relationship services, enhancing innovation in the service
sector, as well as informing management decisions. Most
significantly, knowledge management ensures that there is long-
term stability in organizations.
The information that I have amassed from the above
discussions has reshaped my thinking and perception of
knowledge management. This is especially true when it comes
to strengthening long-term stability by improving commitment
and a culture of knowledge sharing. Furthermore, I have learned
that knowledge management plays a significant role in
supporting management decision-making for the strategic
benefit of an organization.
References
Al-Shammari, M. (Ed.). (2010). Knowledge Management in
Emerging Economies: Social,
Organizational and Cultural Implementation: Social,
Organizational and Cultural
Implementation. Hershey: IGI Global.
Dong, S., Johar, M. S., & Kumar, R. L. (2011). A Benchmarking
Model for Management of
Knowledge-Intensive Service Delivery Networks. Journal Of
Management Information
Systems, 28(3), 127-160.
Galanc, T., Kołwzan, W., & Pieronek, J. (2014). Role of the
normal logical form in decision

10. making and knowledge management. Operations Research &
Decisions, 24(2), 35-58.
doi:10.5277/ord140202
Kianto, A., & Andreeva, T. (2014). Knowledge Management
Practices and Results in Service-
Oriented versus Product-Oriented Companies. Knowledge &
Process Management,
21(4), 221-230. doi:10.1002/kpm.1443
Leal-Rodríguez, A. L., Roldán, J. L., Leal, A. G., & Ortega-
Gutiérrez, J. (2013). Knowledge
management, relational learning, and the effectiveness of
innovation outcomes. Service
Industries Journal, 33(13/14), 1294-1311.
doi:10.1080/02642069.2013.815735
Mangiarotti, G., & Mention, A. L. (2015). Investigating firm-
level effects of knowledge
management strategies on innovation performance. International
Journal of Innovation
Management, 19(01), 1550012.
Stewart, D., & Waddell, D. (2008). Knowledge Management:
The fundamental component for
delivery of quality. Total Quality Management & Business
Excellence, 19(9), 987-996.

11. doi:10.1080/14783360802227803
Wilde, S. (2011). Customer Knowledge Management: improving
customer relationship through
knowledge application. New York: Springer Science &
Business Media.
Running head: DIVERSITY TRAINING 1
DIVERSITY TRAINING 5
How Strategic Management and Finance Affect Diversity in the
Pennsylvania Army National Guard
Literature Review
Abstract
Organizations utilize strategic management concepts and their
financial capabilities to manage diversity programs. This is
especially true with governmental organizations such as the
Pennsylvania Army National Guard. In an effort to understand
this relationship, a comprehensive literature review was carried

12. out. The literature review revealed that strategic management
plays an important role in managing diversity in the military
since it is utilized in ways such as talent management, fair
recruitment practices, and matching skills based on capabilities
as opposed to race, gender, and religious discrimination.
Finance comes into play since diversity programs must be
funded for them to bear fruits.
Key Words: strategic resources, defense’s financial
management, leadership in diversity, strategic leadership,
National Guard financial management awareness, National
Guard diversity strategic plan and training
How Strategic Management and Finance Affect Diversity in the
Pennsylvania Army National Guard
Introduction
The Pennsylvania Army National Guard is increasingly
becoming diversified. However, it still lacks a comprehensive
talent management system that takes into account the need for
integrating, recruiting, coaching, mentoring, and training
personnel on diversity. Some of the key factors that have been
identified as important in the implementation of diversity
training programs in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard
include strategic management and finance. While the influence
of strategic management and finance on diversity training is an
issue that has extensively been explored by researchers in other
fields of management, there still exists a dearth in knowledge
that relate these findings to the military, especially the
Pennsylvania Army National Guard (McDonald & Parks, 2013).
In view of the above, there is need to conduct a comprehensive
literature assessment on the effects of strategic management and
finance on diversity training in the Pennsylvania Army National
Guard, especially with respect to talent development,
encouragement of inclusivity, and reduction of discrimination.
Literature Review
Research on the effects of strategic management and finance on
diversity training in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard has
attracted a lot of scholarly attention. For instance, in his bid to

13. explore the elements of strategic management that promote
diversity training in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard,
Reyes (2006) identified success factors for attaining a
diversified military. They include: leadership commitment,
strategic planning, accountability, employee involvement, and
training and mentoring of employees. Reyes (2006) adds that
strategic management efforts that seek to address workforce
diversity in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard must place
its attention on establishing measurable methods through which
diversity training can be utilized to support direction, goals, and
objectives of companies. A case in point is the development of a
Balanced Workforce Strategy, which involves the tracking of
workers’ population and the creation of long-term goals and
yearly targets. This plays an integral role in putting managers to
account for the upsurge in mobility. Most significantly, Reyes
(2006) asserts that strategic management efforts that seek to
enhance diversity training must place emphasis on monitoring
and coaching candidates from marginalized groups that are
poised for senior assignments. Participants must also make use
of their promotional prospects in the organization through
capitalizing on their training.
While Reyes (2006) stresses on the need to develop a
diversity strategic plan and monitor, track, and coach candidates
from marginalized groups, the Department of Defense (2012)
state that strategic management efforts must be placed on
developing, mentoring, and retaining top talents from across the
total force. This means that people from different cultural,
religious, and gender groups must be included in the training
programs. To realize this objective, the Pennsylvania Army
National Guard must establish a policy framework that makes it
an employer of choice through the creation of a merit-based
workforce life-cycle that emphasizes on individual and
professional development via training, education, and the
development of employment flexibility that is essential to the
retention of highly-skilled and talented workforce from
different multicultural groups. According to the Department of

14. Defense (2012) strategic management initiatives should also be
channeled towards ensuring that the recruitment practices in the
Pennsylvania Army National Guard effectively reach out to all
the segments of the social system. This includes the need to
evaluate the efficacy of the present branding and recruitment
programs for all demographic groups and markets in order to
ascertain actionable measures to increase the access and
positioning of training initiatives. Moreover, the Department of
Defense (2012) recommends that a framework needs to be
developed to gather, review, and assess the applicants’ flow
data and recruiting trends. This must be compared to relevant
civilian labor force data and eligible applicant pool in order to
identify gaps.
Global Strategic Management Thinking
Taking an entirely different position, Begeç and Saruhan (2013)
argue that strategic management concepts should approach the
idea of diversity training in the Pennsylvania Army National
Guard by embracing global thinking. Begeç and Saruhan (2013)
note that in common cases, diversities are often approached in
personal, organizational and managerial perspectives. To them,
global reasoning affects strategic management and organization
systems. Strategic management provides diversity training a
place to active leadership. In a study composed of participants
who are mainly from foreign countries in the Army, Begeç and
Saruhan (2013) revealed that the diversities that face the
managers are mostly in the individual, organizational and
managerial areas. In addition, globalization of information has
highly influenced diversity in management. Individual
diversities of people who work in the management procedures
are not stumbling blocks for the Pennsylvania Army National
Guard managers, but they serve as coercive powers for the
increment in the rate of success. In addition, the researchers
state that all the functional and structural assets of an
organization are not different. As a matter of fact, they form
significant components of a whole. Thus, the political,
authoritarian, power, coupled with the strategic managerial

15. diversities provides benefits.
Begeç and Saruhan (2013) argue that military officers and
top managers have the task of meeting the necessities of their
subordinates and improve the methods that cause satisfaction
and dissatisfaction. Dissatisfied feeling may stem from response
to immediate situations or overall responses to series of
circumstances and experiences. They range from pay,
opportunities for marginalized groups, and the nature of the
work itself. Therefore, when training programs on diversity are
offered, army officials and managers need to ensure that
subordinates fulfill the missions within the framework of the
United Nation or NATO in economically and socially
underdeveloped nations such as Somalia, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
This provides them with an opportunity to draw comparison of
the conditions in such nations with their own country. Such a
comparison can make the participants to appreciate diversity.
Moreover, managers need to internalize diversity management
and training in order to use the information management process
in an efficient and effective manner.
Strategic management informs the process of utilizing
diversity to strengthen an organization. To this end, Zoogah,
Vora, Richard, & Peng (2011) draws upon the previous works
done on the strategic alliances, teams, and diversity. Zoogah et
al. (2011) note that strategic alliances are long-term
participative programs between two or more parties to execute
specific transactions for the common good, and to improve
performance via cost reductions, acquisition of knowledge, as
well as market extension. They vary with respect to location,
rivalry, and investment. Considering the extensive literature in
organizational behavior relating to diversity in firms, and the
significance of strategic alliance groups in realizing the desired
results, the authors assert that diversity is important in
competitive teams. This is especially true with respect to
nationality, gender, as well as functional backgrounds. Zoogah
et al. (2011) observe that the importance of diversity in
strategic management comes in two different ways. First, teams

16. often suffer from distinct challenges that can affect their
outcomes, such as communication, conflicts, and collaboration.
Thus, nationality diversity is important in ensuring that teams
attain partner goals. Gender diversity also affects interactions
and alliance results. When teams are made up of different
members, they are most likely to function efficiently and
effectively.
Finance Strategic Decision Making
Management of finance also affects how the Pennsylvania Army
National Guard carries out its diversity training initiative. In
connection to that, Moore (2012) maintains that diversity
programs are heavily reliant on the availability of finance and
other resources. In a comprehensive discussion of women in the
Pennsylvania Army National Guard, Moore (2012) argues that
the Pennsylvania Army National Guard has been assigning
women the role of serving in combat service support units from
the onset of the Second World War. For these units to continue,
the Pennsylvania Army National Guard must offer supports that
come in the form of finance, transportation, and medical
assistance. On top of that, Moore (2012) observes that
management must set priorities on where to allocate funds in
order to ensure that diversity training programs continue.
Measures such as introducing policies that remove barriers that
deter women and other marginalized groups from entering the
Pennsylvania Army National Guard help planners to allocate
funds into diversity programs. For instance, Moore (2012) lauds
the steps taken by congress to repeal the naval exclusion law in
order to accommodate more marginalized groups such as women
in the military.
Philips and Sherman (2015) stress on the importance of
finance in supporting strategic decision-making processes that
are related to diversity training in the Pennsylvania Army
National Guard. These researchers state that since the onset of
humanity, financial power has often played a strategic role in
expanding military might through multicultural diversity. In
that respect, territorial expansions within and beyond Europe

17. was mainly catapulted by the scissors effect that raised the
military expenses and stagnant or dwindling cash revenues
allocated on all the larger regimes such as European and non-
European. In the United States, the imperatives of military
finance has driven states to strengthen internal controls and to
focus on including diverse groups of people from external
conquest. In the modern world, such forces presently operate
within a globalized reach and they are reinforced through means
of deployment of people, knowledge, and control over physical
resources. Financial capabilities are at the heart of military
competition for ideas and innovation. Therefore, an
organization that welcomes diversity is ready to allocate a lot of
money for recruiting different groups of people, from diverse
cultures, genders, religious, and nationalism into its workforce.
This enables it to generate innovative ideas that are supportive
of growth and military might.
Conclusion
With the coexistence of workers from different backgrounds in
the workplace, diversity remains one of the vital assets that
determine the performance and success of an
entity.Organizations that have a diversified workforce enjoy
competitive advantage over their rivals. This is because such
firms encourage sharing of ideas and creativity from different
groups of people, thereby promoting an innovative culture. For
instance, the Pennsylvania Army National Guard is one of the
most diversified organizations in the country. Nonetheless, the
success of diversity in an organization is hinged on the presence
of supportive practices within the company. Strategic
management practices and financial factors have enabled this
institution to effectively implement policies on diversity.
References
Begeç, S., & Saruhan, Ş. C. (2013). More Effective
Management Perspective by Using
Diversities: In The Army Examples. Journal of Yasar
University, 30(8), 5009-5020.

18. Department of Defense. (2012). Diversity and Inclusion
Strategic Plan 2012-2017. Department
of Defense. Retrieved from
http://diversity.defense.gov/Portals/51/Documents/DoD_Diversi
ty_Strategic_Plan_%20fi
nal_as%20of%2019%20Apr%2012%5B1%5D.pdf
McDonald, D. P., & Parks, K. M. (Eds.). (2013). Managing
diversity in the military: The value of
inclusion in a culture of uniformity. New York: Routledge.
Moore, B. L. (2012). Army women assigned to combat units:
Perceptions of the military equal
opportunity climate. Managing Diversity in the Military:
Research Perspectives from the
Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, 351.
Phillips, A., & Sharman, J. C. (2015). International order in
diversity: War, trade and rule in the
Indian Ocean (Vol. 137). Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Reyes, A. D. (2006). Strategic Options for Managing Diversity
in the US Army. Joint Center for
Political and Economic Studies Inc Washington DC.
Zoogah, D. B., Vora, D., Richard, O., & Peng, M. W. (2011).

19. Strategic alliance team diversity,
coordination, and effectiveness. The International Journal of
Human Resource
Management, 22(03), 510-529.
Running head: ETHICS IN THE WORKPLACE 1
ETHICS IN THE WORKPLACE 7
Ethics in the Workplace
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Ethics in the Workplace
Introduction
Ethical dilemmas are some of the problems that military
employees face. This is particularly true to senior military
professionals who are charged with the responsibility of
awarding tender or projects to businesses. For a long time,
policymakers have struggled with the daunting task of avoiding
conflicts of interest in the procurement process. Ethical
decision-making models can provide strategies that are effective
in addressing ethical dilemmas.
Description of the Ethical Situation

20. A former programs director for the General Services
Administration (GSA) confessed to have taken advantage of his
status at Fort Monmouth to provide payments from the
government to himself and his family members. The former
director executed this violation by awarding tenders and
projects to two business persons, who would in turn hire the
workers’ personal business enterprise and his daughter as
subcontractors (Department of Defense, 2007). Three years
later, they were paid more than $80000 in terms of fee from the
government. Despite receiving large sums of money from the
government, neither the employee’s personal organization nor
his daughter really provided any service for the government at
all. Besides the clear embezzlement to which the former
worker, his wife, and his daughter pled guilty, the federal rules
also bans federal workers from making decisions that relate to
issues in which they or their family members have personal
financial interests.
Although the former general service administration worker
and his family members had really provided any of the services
that they were paid for, the former worker would still be held
culpable for contravening federal rules (Department of Defense,
2007). This is because he awarded tenders and projects to
contractors in the first place since his own financial interests
were involved. As a result, the former general service
administrator and all his family members involved in the
scandal were compelled to pay more than $800000 in
restitution. They were also sentenced to 12 to 46 months in
prison. This is because serious issues related to conflict of
interests were raised by the court.
Ethical Dilemma that Impacts Decision-Making
An ethical dilemma can exist in various situations. Ethical
dilemmas exist when there are confusions that are brought by
lack of obvious right or wrong choice; conflicts that exist
between an employee’s own principles and those of other
professionals; and situations in which a person’s conduct is
viewed from an emotional perspective instead of rationally-

21. based (Zerbe, Härtel & Ashkanasy, 2008). From the above
definitions, the former general service administration employee
found himself in a dilemma over whether to stick to his own
personal principles or those of his professional and legal
obligations. Moreover, he was also confused on whether to
please his emotional feelings or rational and objective feelings
(Zerbe, Härtel & Ashkanasy, 2008). His personal principles
were clearly inclined towards fulfilling his family obligations
by providing money and taking care of their needs, whereas his
professional obligations required him to award tender to the
winning bidder without favor. By choosing to award projects
worth more than $800000 to a business linked to his family, the
former GSA director chose to stick to his personal views as
opposed to his professional principles and obligations (Zerbe,
Härtel & Ashkanasy, 2008). Moreover, since family members
may pose emotional concerns, he chose to please the emotional
attachment that he had with a firm linked to his family instead
of awarding tender to those who rightfully deserved it.
Conflicts of interest pose one of the most challenging
ethical dilemmas in the workplace, especially the military
profession. This is the main source of ethical dilemma for the
former GSA director. A conflict of interest exists when a
businessperson or employee struggles with a circumstance in
which a decision that benefits one person has the potential to
inflict harm on another. This is the case when the individual’s
own interests conflict with those of the public, fellow
employees, the laws, and all stakeholders (Boone & Kurtz,
2010). In this situation, the former GSA director faces ethical
problems related to conflict of interest. This is because he
awards projects to a firm that is linked to his family members.
In so doing, he is advancing his personal interests in the
tendering and procurement process as opposed to those of the
rightfully deserving candidates. Honesty and integrity are some
of the esteemed principles that promote trust. However, an
individual’s immediate self-interest may appear to require
violation of such principles (Boone & Kurtz, 2010). The same

22. is true of the former GSA director, who has decided to serve his
immediate self-interest by violating federal standards that
prohibit awarding of projects to businesses that are associated
with the individual who should be in charge of selecting the
most suitable and qualified businesses to be awarded the
projects.
Conflicts of interest are at the center of many other forms
of ethical problems, such as all cases of corruption and many
instances of fraud and insider trading (Kaplan & Walker, 2015).
In many business areas such as government-contracting in the
military, conflicts of interest-related regulations have been
extensively enforced, due to the extensiveness of the conflicts
of interest-based challenges. In nearly all organizations,
conflicts of interest risks exist. More than most other risk areas,
conflicts of interest tend to be personal as is the case with the
former GSA director. This can create major challenges to
tackling them in the most appropriate manner. For instance, one
difficult question raised is when the former GSA director
awarded the tender to the organization after determining that it
was the most qualified, although it is linked to his family
members (Kaplan & Walker, 2015). This implies that conflicts
of interest can be personal, not just to winners, but also to
losers, such as the business that was never awarded the project.
In light of the above, it is the task of the former director of
GSA to understand conflicts of interest issues. In addition,
conflicts between management team and other stakeholders in
the military must be resolved in an amicable and legal manner.
Decision-Making Model to the Dilemma
In order to avoid possible ethical violations, the former GSA
should have employed the positive models of ethical decision-
making proposed by Jones. The Jones model offers one of the
most comprehensive synthesis models of ethical decision-
making (Michalos & Poff, 2012). It introduces the issue of
moral intensity. The foundation of Jones model is based on
Rest’s four stages to link positive ethical decision-making and
presumes that ethical choices are not merely individual

23. decisions, but are influenced by social learning within an
organization. The first step is recognizing an issue. At this
point, the former GSA director should have identified possible
conflicts of interest as the ethical issue to confront.
Recognizing an issue should be guided by moral evaluations
through moral philosophies such as deontology and teleology
(Michalos & Poff, 2012). Timely recognition of possible
conflicts of interest enables better control and best possible
outcomes.
The next stage of the ethical decision-making process
should be making moral judgment. This entails processing and
eliminating possible solutions (Michalos & Poff, 2012 The
former director should have examined different sides of the
moral debate on whether he should award tender to a business
linked to his family or the most qualified business. This must be
done by taking into account perspectives from all parties
involved, including the legal perspectives. The third phase is
known as moral motivation, which entails thinking beyond
possible consequences. This includes thinking first about the
consequences of serving his personal interests on the quality of
services that are going to be delivered. The final stage of the
decision-making model is referred to as moral action, which
involves acting by making judgments (Michalos & Poff, 2012
After evaluating both sides of the ethical dilemma, the former
director ought to have taken action that does not have the worst
consequence on the organization that he served. In this case, he
should have avoided possible conflicts of interest.
Conclusion
Conflicts of interest are one of the leading causes of ethical
dilemmas in all business organizations. This includes the
military, which awards tender to many businesses. Senior
employees may sometimes use their influence to award projects
with large sums of money to businesses or entities that they
have links with. Therefore, ethical decision-making models can
offer solutions in cases where company policies fail.

24. References
Boone, L., & Kurtz, D. (2010). Contemporary business 2010
update. New Jersey: John Wiley &
Sons.
Department of Defense. (2007). Encyclopedia of ethical
failures. Washington DC: Department
of Defense.
Kaplan, J. M., & Walker, R. (2015). Board conflicts of interest
in an age of behavioral ethics.
Corporate Board, (214). 11.
Michalos, A. C., & Poff, D. C. (Eds.). (2012). Citation classics
from the journal of business
ethics: Celebrating the first thirty years of publication (Vol. 2).
New York: Springer
Science & Business Media.
Zerbe, W. J., Härtel, C. E., & Ashkanasy, N. M. (Eds.). (2008).
Emotions, ethics and decision-
making. Boston: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.