Contemporary Business Leaders : Anne Mulcahy

Bell, a city of 35,000 people, has remained to be the greatest scandal in California. For a long time, the manager of Bell City Robert Rizzo and the people he was working with exploited the governance systems and the finances of the city (McGrath 122). They used vast sums of money to pay their salaries. They also transformed the development agency of the town into a piggy bank, from where they borrowed funds in an improper way, deposited money in retirement accounts that was illegal, purchased property without accounting in and documents, approved fees and taxes that were illegal and found out a way of exempting themselves from state law. Court documents provide evidence to show that indeed, those people committed the crime of corruption.

The Bell California trial was a corruption scandal that cost the small community of Bell California millions of dollars (Freeman, 2012). Robert Rizzo was the city manager of Bell. During his tenure, he along with several other city officials managed to increase their salaries and retirement pensions without the residence of Bell knowing it. Some of the amounts in increase far surpassed the head of the Los Angeles Police Departments salary. The salary and pension increases were done by illegal tax increases as well as other means that the taxpayers were unaware of (McGrath, 2013). Some of the monies were acquired by shaking down businesses for extra fees or threatened with their businesses being closed for failure to pay. The small community

It is argued that bribery and other forms of corruption for financial gain is a far from unexpected outcome given the fact that police officers and many other public servants are inadequately paid for the job they do. Low pay is frequently cited as a cause of a lack of integrity for people in all positions, particularly in societies where material objects are highly valued but salaries are low (Westmarland, 2005). However, even in societies where police officers are reasonably well paid, and where corrupt activities are deemed unacceptable, the fact that there is a perceived disparity between income and responsibilities may lead to the development of corruption. Similarly, perceived inequities of income within police forces may also make the temptations toward corruption more attractive (Banks, 2013). The issue of pay and the perceived disparity in the level of responsibility for that pay is not unique to United States law

There are a lot of people out there in leadership positions, but not many that really exemplify the true qualities of a leader. While conducting this interview I asked L.A. what she thought the true qualities of a leader was and was pleasantly surprised to learn that she had very high standards when it comes to her idea of leadership characteristics. The first two things she touched on where people skills and patient care because she believes those go hand in hand. Without the skills to communicate effectively with the patients there is no point in caring for them at all. Another huge quality for L.A. is she believes in straight forward honesty, and integrity. If you are straight forward from the beginning with staff whether the news good or bad then they will learn to trust you and they know they can count on what you say, being the nice guy all the time and sugar coating everything you are

Colleen Barrett, otherwise known as Mother Nurture, rose from secretary to president at Southwest Airlines. She exemplifies the definition of a “superleader” in that she is an “inspirational impact on others” (Schermerhorn, 2011, p. 233). During her rise within corporate America she has never ceased to treat her employees like family. On the New York Stock Exchange, Southwest Airlines trades under the symbol LUV. This symbolizes the vision of airlines to become “the World’s Most Loved, Most Flown, and Most Profitable airline” as well as their value statement which encourages all to have a “fun-LUV-ing” attitude and a servant’s heart. (“Culture,” n.d.) Ms. Barrett is well known for developing this culture within Southwest airlines. In corporate America, love is not a word that is used often, but, Southwest Airlines has used it from the beginning. (Shinn, 2003, p. 18) Ms. Barrett has been with Southwest airlines since 1978. She became vice-president of administration in 1986 and rose to the position of president. In 2007, she received the Tony Jannus Award for distinguished achievement in commercial air transportation and in 2008, she won an award from the Women’s Leadership Exchange. She recently stepped down from her role as president in 2008. She continues to work for Southwest Airlines but in a roll that allows her to work in the field, with the employees that she loves to lead.

In my opinion, there were several factors that lead to the Bell corruption scandal. First and foremost, there seemed to be no checks and balances to control Robert Rizzo and other city officials. Furthermore, they gradually eliminated any controls that were place were, eventually earning absolute control (Goffard, 2010, para. 46-47). This behavior extended to individuals as Rizzo built a city staff that would go along with his corruption (para. 39). However, I do think Rizzo influenced the unethical conduct of city officials. Just as Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina (2007) points out in the video Gauging Ethics in an Organization, leaders have to walk the walk when it comes to values. Prince (1995) highlights this principle as well, “the leader can influence the moral conduct of others by demonstrating the desired behavior” (p. 491). Indeed, the leader sets the tone. The city officials experienced a similar situation as the managers of H. J. Heinz during the 1970s. Rizzo created an unhealthy moral environment “where it does not make sense for a person to be honest, fair, loyal or trustworthy…[where]…doing what is morally right is more difficult than usual and sometimes requires great courage” (Ciulla, 1995, p. 493). Second, the local newspaper, The Industrial Post, went out of business leaving a void in government transparency and accountability. Third, the lack of citizen engagement resulting in poor turnout in elections and city council meetings made it easier

A leader for a good or bad cause, is a person who can gather different individuals under one accord and move towards the same objective. They are good at inspiring people. You may not always agree with their perspective. However, leaders are good at bringing people together. All exceptional leaders past and present possess integrity. It takes a strong individual to be a leader, but it takes an even stronger person to be a leader with integrity. A part of being a leader is setting standards for others to follow. Integrity is a characteristic that does not happen overnight. It is embedded in all outstanding leaders. Knowing to do the right thing when no one is watching takes strong determination. Talk show host Oprah Winfrey once described

Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind discuss the company Enron’s executives and how success made the executives lose touch with common decencies such as working alongside with women. This piece shows the imbalance with the treatment of sexes in the workplace and how money makes people insensitive to what is around them. The authors want to reach an audience of common people. They use the fall of Enron to warn about what happens when a business is lead with weak morals. McLean and Elkind shift the tone of the passages from exciting stories about the executives, to pointing out how the glitzy lifestyles are a façade to their collapsing business. This strategy makes the reader go from envy to concern about the priorities of the company.

The Bell California corruption was a scandal in a small blue collar community involving city officials that misappropriation of public funds by increasing property taxes and using voter fraud. These official were a greedy criminal who created large salaries for themselves. According to Bell City Council stated that Robert Rizzo was the ringleader in the alleged corruption. The Council collected a total of $1.3 million by serving on the committee that did not exist. For those that serve on the board and increase their salary to $100,000 a year working part-time only which included retirement and medical benefits. In reality, the board did not perform any duties except 34 minutes was given for a brief meeting in which they talk about increasing

Great leaders have shaped the World we live in today and they are remembered for what they were able to accomplish during their lifetime. The history books are filled with leaders that changed the very nature of something by taking a different road or challenging the way everyone perceived things. Leaders would not be able to accomplish these daring feats without the help of their followers, the individuals in the background giving them their support (Schermerhorn & Uhl-Bien, 2014). Colleen Barrett was able to break through the glass ceiling and led Southwest Airlines (SWA) to become one of the most successful airlines in the industries (Dierendonck & Patterson, 2010). In the following pages will explore Colleen Barrett’s leadership

Concerning Path-goal theory: In Fiorina’s case 3 types can be identified: directive style, participative style, and achievement-oriented style. As an example of the directive style, in early 1996, Fiorina stayed up all night with Lucent Comptroller, Jim Lusk, and other employees to make sure the prospectus for a stock offering was perfect. Concerning participative style, Fiorina imposed reorganization on HP but failed to adequately delegate

According to Johnson (2012) leaders are powerful role models, and policies will have a little effect if leaders do not follow the rules they set. In Enron case, corruption and ethical misconduct were deeply embedded in their business culture where profitability was more important than ethics. In this paper, I will address the factors that had led to the development of the culture of profit before principle at Enron. Also, I will create my personal code of ethics that will guide me in my professional and personal decision making and doing the right thing when faced with ethical challenges.

Mulally went at lengths to communicate and make people feel comfortable about the change and to explain their role in the process. His positive influence over the company eventually caught on and even his doubters begin to believe in his ability to pull this thing off.

This era has become very competitive and in order for organizations to be successful they need leaders to establish and manage relationships and lead their subordinates accordingly in order to achieve the company’s mission and objectivity. Leadership overall plays a very important role in the success of a company because the leader controls their subordinates behavior. If subordinates have uncertainties that are not directed accordingly it can result in an unhealthy environment, and in turn it will affect the growth of the organization, therefore good leadership is necessary.

I have learned many lessons from Jack Welch on leadership. Jack Welch has been with the General Electric Company (GE) since 1960. Having taken over GE with a market capitalization of about $12 billion, Jack Welch turned it into one of the largest and most admired companies in the world by the time he stepped down as its CEO 20 years later, in 2000. Jack Welch used his uncanny instincts and unique leadership strategies to run GE, the most complex organization in the world and increased its market value by more than $400 billion over two decades. He remains a highly regarded figure in business circles due to his innovative leadership style. Jack Welch demonstrated Kouzes and Posner’s five practices of modeling the way, inspiring a shared