The Importance of Business Ethics in Ireland

This paper will first discuss briefly what ethics are and provide the definition for an ethical issue. An ethical leadership issue is identified and explained for this author’s practice area. We will then identify and discuss key strategies for leadership that are pertinent to the ethical issue. Next, empirical evidence which supports the strategies discussed will be analyzed. Then, the impact and importance of the strategies will be stated. The final step will be to provide a conclusion to the reader that summarizes the content and strategies.

Ethical leadership surrounds the idea that there are behaviours which are accepted as “good” or “bad” and that leaders can base their views and styles on these behaviours. There have been many cases throughout history of highly ethical leaders and some very unethical leader. An example of an ethical leader would be Abraham Lincoln for his ideals to abolish slavery as a leader even facing opposition.

Business ethics refers to the consideration of moral decisions and responsibilities in the process of operating a business. Business ethics, practiced throughout the deepest layers of a company, become the heart and soul of the company 's culture and can mean the difference between success and failure. Values drive behavior and therefore need to be consciously stated, but they also need to be affirmed by actions. Ethical business environments are created with foundations of integrity, accountability and commitment.

Leaders that demonstrate a commitment to behaving in an ethical manner are viewed as trustworthy and subordinates gravitate toward them. Ethical leaders have a foundational belief in honesty and trustworthiness and disseminating these principles throughout the organization. This paper will present ethical leadership models as tools for merging diverse cultures into the existing organizational culture. An overview of which leadership models, styles, and traits are most commonly accepted as ethical across the greatest array of social cultures will be discussed. The paper will culminate with a selection of a particular leadership model as a tool for shaping organizational culture and the rationale for selecting that model.

Ethical leadership can be defined in different ways. And also the definitions may include internal personality of leadership, which are values, traits and behaviours. Furthermore, ethical leadership can describe the features of motives and behaviour (Yukl, 2010). Ethical leadership is the leaders who have the good behaviour and performance and the right morals. Moreover, ethical leaders manage and organize performance, morals, and points of view into the culture of companies (Freeman and Steward, 2006).

M., Aquino, K., Greenbaum, R. L., & Kuenzi, M. (2012). Who displays ethical leadership, and why does it matter? An examination of antecedents and consequences of ethical leadership. Academy of Management Journal, 55(1), 151-171.

Ethical leaders espouse moral values, altruism, civic virtue, good citizenship behavior and conscientiousness both in their personal and professional lives. They imbibe the same core values in their followers. They demonstrate moral judgement in their decision making process, influenced by the long term interest of the stake holders. Also ethical leaders hold their followers accountable for their conduct and establish a reward and vicarious learning process for ethical conducts

In today’s society, a person can make a single decision, which can positively and negatively affect their family, employer, co-workers and/or even the entire world. That said, the life we as individuals lead reflects the strength of a single trait and that is our personal character. Though personal ethics vary from person to person; people want to be known as a good person, someone who can be trusted and who is concerned about his or her relationships and personal reputations. However, ethics has a major issue in leadership positions. In order to create a strong ethical based environment, it is critical to have an appropriate leader and leadership integrity. According to Johnson (2013), ethical leadership can be perceived as both a moral person and a moral manager. In this essay, I will evaluate the importance of ethical leadership and the role it plays in daily lives. Lastly, I will apply my personal leadership perspective. My perspective will include the path goal theory and the ethical practices that I find to important to leadership.

Ethical leaders embody the purpose, vision, and values of the organization and of the constituents, within an understanding of ethical ideals. They connect the goals of the organization with that of the internal employees and external stakeholders. Leaders work to create an open, two-way conversation, thereby maintaining a charitable understanding of different views, values, and constituents’ opinions. They are open to others’ opinions and ideas because they know those ideas make the organization they are leading better. (Edward & Steward,

By incorporating the principles of ethical leadership it provides the foundation for the development of a ethical organization which will help with decision making. Ethical leaders need to respect others, service others, show justice, manifest honesty, and builds the community. In an organization I believe all leaders should be required to go through a training to teach the development of ethical leadership. I believe we must start with the leaders in order to get others to follow along with the right behavior. Mangers in an organization should also be required to attend a program and training to become more ethically effective at work and in life and to help make ethical decisions. Managers and leaders can benefit and use the information to have a better understanding of themselves and strengthen their own leadership skills. Leaders must understand that to be an ethical leader, they must be sensitive to the needs of others, treat others in ways that are just, and care for

Organizations have different approaches to setting and achieving their goals. For instance, Greyston is an organization that is grounded in a philosophy of bettering the living conditions in the community. The philosophy has made the organization popular and able to achieve its strategic goals and objectives. One of the primary goals of Greyston is to provide employment opportunities to the locals as this is considered as the best way to help the members of the society out of poverty. Greyston Bakery was therefore opened in 1982 to give the hard to employ a chance of getting a source of income. The founder, Roshi Bernie Glassman, had recognized the need to offer employment opportunities to the society irrespective

This broader concept of ethical leadership empowers leaders to incorporate and be explicit about their own values and ethics. The following list provides a framework for developing ethical leadership. It is based on the observations of and conversations with a host of executives and students over the past 25 years, and on readings of both popular and scholarly business literature. Written from the perspective of the leader, these ten facets of ethical leaders offer a way to understand ethical leadership that is more complex and more useful than just a matter of “good character and values.”

Today, business ethics is one of the most important topics in discussion. With recent scandals come to the public of huge corporations, the public has lost its trust of businesses and require ethics be important to companies. Ethics, however, is not based solely on individual employees. In order for companies to comply with ethical standards, teamwork is necessary between the employees and the organization as a whole to create an ethical company culture that guides the actions of all members in an organization.

A leader isn’t always a manager, but can be a manager in an organization. When you combine the two into ethical leadership you have a strong dynamic. According to Yukl (2010) in cross-cultural research on the essential traits for effective leadership, integrity is near the top of the list in all cultures that have been studied. Most scholars consider integrity to be an important aspect of ethical leadership” (p. 409).

I will examine the importance of personal ethics in leadership and how ethics produce effective leaders in organizations today. The importance of understanding ethics, motivation to act as a role model and developing a plan of action for an organization are discussed because of their importance regarding development of good leadership. These key points suggest personal ethics positively affect leadership and when made a priority for leaders will produce ethical and effective leadership. With so many definitions of leadership, the question evolved from “what is the definition of leadership?” to “what is good leadership” (Ciulla, 2004, p. 13). To develop a system of values one must compile a list of the most important instrumental values and terminal values. These lists are unique to every individual because they are determined by personal importance. Instrumental values, such as honest, helpful, ambitious, responsible, etc. should reinforce terminal values. Once a leader’s means are consistent with desired goals, their value system is unified and they have climbed the staircase from the lobby to the first level of values. The climb from the first floor to the second floor results in a person incorporating principles into their newly developed values. Although values act as the bedrock of ethics, principles are required because alone, “values are far too vague to have much meaning in ethical analysis” (Cooper, 1998, p. 12). Morals are ideals that help us decipher between right