HRMM080 Discussing Ethical Leadership Through Academic Argumentation Assignment Sample

HRMM080 Discussing Ethical Leadership Through Academic Argumentation

Introduction of HRMM080 Discussing Ethical Leadership Through Academic Argumentation Assignment Sample

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Ethics is defined as the expected code of conduct or behavior; it describes the behavior and moral requirements to be practiced (Munro and Thanem, 2018). This guides people's behavior and relationship in formal and informal gatherings, businesses, and meetings, among other day-to-day activities in social affairs. Therefore, moral principles are accepted as good and right in a given society as they differ from one place to another.

 Leadership ethics are the moral ethics that alters how the decision of something is made in an organization. Given what is expected and referred to as good or bad in a given society, it enables one to make a decision that will positively impact the community. Ethical leadership may be described as leadership that employs excellent behavior via personal acts and interpersonal interactions (Ayoko, 2022). This means that people employed have abilities to promote appropriate, ethical conduct and good relationships at the workplace. Leaders need to learn about ethical leadership to be equipped with the skills of moral behaviors. The essay encompassed more on the growth of ethical leadership and selected leadership sector discussion by providing an academic argument on ethical leadership.

The growth of ethical leadership

There has been increased use of ethical leadership in almost all sectors. This has been put in place to promote employee engagements, increase the marketability of goods and services offered and enhance brand reputation (Ciulla, 2020). This has enabled us to win more customers and increase profits, especially in the commercial sector. In different sectors, businesses have come up with values set to distinguish them in working relationships between employees and values to be employed when handling customers or other people in society. The deals include but are not limited to; character integrity, motivation, trust, and accountability (Randall, Saurage-Altenloh, and Osei, 2020).

As a means of achieving moral leadership, the leaders have put in place several methods of moral leadership, which include: values that guide the sector's commitment to achieving its goals, and industry vision that helps to identify its specific purpose and mission, a voice that articulates efforts to achieve the vision, and the practical realization of that vision. A commitment to the common good is combined with the principles applied in various sectors to produce these virtues (Permana et al., 2019).

The growth of ethical leadership in organizations has excellent benefits for professional excellence in various sectors, especially in business.

Leaders should make a commitment to follow the firm's high ethical standards, as stated in the mission statement, in order to view professionalism. Assume that the objective of the firm is to successfully promote and convey to consumers the moral attitude of the Organisation. There must be a clear explanation of what the organization's goals are in order for it to be successful (Glauner, 2018). In their personal lives, prominent executives offer a good model of ethical conduct and seek to unite the company's management and workers in order to maximize revenues. In addition, they have a high level of moral character in their work.

A mission statement acts as a direction for an organization's leaders. These suggestions may help you design behavioral strategies for reviving your staff as a starting point. It is the discipline of watching one's conduct to reduce undesirable behaviors. A corporate executive might use this strategy to identify negative behavioral patterns that conflict with the organization's values and detract from employee engagement and productivity. Employees seek to emulate those in leadership positions to support the company's principles and therefore act toward the well-being of the business (Kalshoven and Taylor, 2018).

These professionals must be aware of ethical employee behavior in their respective fields. Their own and others' cultural sensitivity must be developed to promote justice in an atmosphere free of prior cultural biases. They must also create a climate in which employees may share their concerns about prejudice in the workplace without fear of reprisal (Ratts, Manivong, and Arie, 2017). This will create a well-informed business running to enable compliance with society.

Top-performing CEOs put their employees' needs first, and they encourage them to express their opinions and concerns in a constructive manner (Kalshoven and Taylor, 2018). Working in an open and transparent environment can increase productivity while contributing to a more positive working environment. Those in positions of authority may choose to create an open- door policy to emphasize their significance to their staff which will, in turn, lead to increased growth.

Ethical leadership has also boosted morale, productivity, and the company's reputation all at the same time (Saha, 2020). Firms that practice ethical conduct and adhere to their mission statements and organizational goals have the potential to increase customer loyalty while also boosting sales and profits. This helps achieve the business's objectives and be competitive in the marketplace.

The public image of organizations that prioritize the well-being of their employees, communities, and consumers can be improved. Giving back to neglected communities is considered social duty (Raja et al., 2020). For example, for every $5 profit at a given company, $1 is donated to underserved communities as part of the company's aim to give back to the community. In such leadership, the members of the society feel firmly attached to the company, which enables it to thrive well.

Good human resource management, which is involved in manpower planning and development, ensures that employee who best fits the company goals and ethical values are employed (Knights,2021). This enables good collaboration in decision-making and working practices. It also allows solving conflicts that may arise in different sectors quickly. It also allows rewarding employees well by creating incentive systems to support ethical culture in the workplace (Mathis,2016).

A more favorable working environment is made possible due to this initiative. Having ethical business leaders helps create a healthier and more positive work environment for all employees. It helps to create an environment in which every employee understands that they will be treated with respect and courtesy. The atmosphere is supportive and friendly, with a strong emphasis on developing positive relationships between employees and upper management.

Employee morale is raised, employee attrition is reduced, and overall worker productivity rises due to this process over time (Fulmer, 2004). It's a fantastic way to bring order to the workplace. To be effective, ethical leadership styles must be consistent. When there is a lack of consistency in the workplace, ethics suffer. Laws and rules are not seen as impediments to be overcome. Excellent leaders, after all, look for ways to go above and beyond what is expected of them (Pomarón, 2020). When the same acts or decisions are made, a system must be in place that treats everyone equally.

Ethical leadership in Social Enterprises

Ethical leaders in social enterprises are notable because they use a two-pillar approach to ethical leadership (Pasricha, Singh, and Verma, 2018). Furthermore, as a moral person, an honest leader serves as a role model for ethical behavior and actively participates in a prosocial activity to assist the social enterprise in achieving its goals while also helping the public interest. When a moral leader in a social organization performs in a self-starting, change-oriented manner, it is known as ''living the talk''. Team morale is influenced by team members' ability to serve as role models for their coworkers' prosocial conduct and attitudes (Tang and Pok, 2016). As a result of the hybrid qualities of social enterprises, teams' capacity to achieve their social objectives within this framework is significantly diminished. Ethical team leaders in a social organization can communicate with their team about its social mission and how to accomplish these goals through initiative activities (Kong,2010). This relates to one of the foundational principles of ethical leadership. The act that they are moral managers, and ethical leaders, gives out proactive signals about the need to prioritize social purpose to deliver social value to those who would benefit. When ethical leaders in social enterprises use a rewards and punishments system, they can effectively establish team norms around the techniques they will employ to achieve their societal goals. Team members must handle their professional responsibilities proactively and pro-socially, prioritizing the social aim above the financial plan. Members of the team are encouraged to go above and above to secure social resources for the benefit of the socially disadvantaged by the team's ethical leaders. There is no way to overstate the importance of team ethical leadership in social enterprises, so this study aims to perform a complete (i.e., qualitative and quantitative) inquiry of this theoretical concept.

Leadership theory

There are several leadership theories Great Man theory, Traits theory, Behavior theory, Contingency theory, and Situational theory (Ramus et al., 2018). According to the behavior approach theory, a leader's performance is determined more by their code of conduct than by their inherent qualities. It involves observing and evaluating a given situation that helps in decision- making in response to given conditions. It associates successful leaders with people born with good traits, and can be their behavior can be modified to be best in leadership positions (Bolden,2003). A fundamental tenet of leadership theory holds that all leaders can grow and improve their performance by adopting ethical behaviors. Consequently, leaders become more conscious of their actions and how they influence the performance and morale of the teams under their supervision. The behavioral leader can be; people-oriented, task-oriented, dictatorial, opportunistic, or paternalistic, depending on the environment.

When there is a problem in the social enterprise's team, the task-oriented leaders tend to look at the whole process and adjust the workflow to ensure everything is being carried out smoothly. On the other hand, the people-oriented leaders will go to the individuals and consult where there are issues. This difference in approach to problem-solving helps to solve the problems differently. Behavioral leadership theory enables leaders to focus on their response action towards challenges to develop well-evaluated decisions and, in turn, be great leaders(Bhatt, 2022). In ethical leadership, there are apparent mental conflicts between the moral imperatives, also known as a moral paradox; the leaders always experience ethical dilemmas considering the moral goals and ethical goals. The dilemma gap results when the decision made behaves contrary to what is known or felt right. To have an advanced ethical culture, leaders strive to bridge the gap between the policies, practices, and moral theory.

Challenges in ethical leadership.

Leadership decisions have significant consequences in every sector, either positive or negative. The leader has to critically think and take the time to critically weigh the consequences of a particular decision to his/her organization, team, and society. To make well-informed decisions, one has to consider the past choices and their results so that he/she can make critical judgments that will have more benefits than costs (Badrinarayanan, Ramachandran, and Madhavaram, 2019.). As a result of their efforts to achieve material or social advancement, leaders are subjected to attacks on their character and credibility. Because of differing perceptions, this occurs when a superior disagrees with him on what is considered ethical, resulting in dire consequences for him. In such a situation, the leaders bear the brunt of the criticism from the general public, and the general public suffers the consequences of a decision that they were not aware came from a different authority that was forced to implement it (Ewest, 2018).

 The leaders also may lack moral clarity after making a wrong decision. When a bad decision is made, it results in poor consequences, and leaders may wish to justify that it was good (McComas, 2019). This challenges the credibility, which requires internal self-assessment on accountability, integrity, and reliability; an increase in these failures may lead to more unethical without ever agreeing on the ethical behavior. Increased conflicts between ethical and unethical leaders are also a significant challenge faced in organizations. These conflicts may arise in interest in decision-making or agreements, lack of clarity and transparency, poor morale and organizational ambiguities, and poor financial status. Therefore, ethical leaders are needed to be better equipped with conflict solving skills to run their different sectors effectively.

Conclusion

 Ethics are essential in day-to-day affairs. To build strong relationships with who may be customers, workers, or associates in different business fields, there is a need to be educated and employ ethical leadership skills. There has been increased growth in ethical leadership to have the interest of both the social enterprise sector. The need to have an excellent ethical culture ensures all the members of the society are properly handled, and the beliefs are highly valued. It also provides that the sectors are run smoothly following the mission, vision, and the highlighted strong values. Even though ethical leadership faces numerous challenges, such as conflicts and dictatorship from higher powers, they have a great and recognizable significance that has the potential to make a positive difference.

Several theories provide additional insight into ethical leadership; for example, according to the behavior approach theory, leaders possess natural characteristics and engage in actions in response to specific situations. According to this theory, leaders are not born but rather are the result of years of education. Social enterprises are characterized by consistent public-benefit strategies, such as the organization's mission statement, vision, and cultural values. Achieving ethical leadership in various sectors of the economy is deserving of our consideration.

References

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Pomarón, V.M.M., 2020. Ethics and leadership from the perspective of university students and professionals. Journal of Management and Business Education, 3(3), pp.266-296.

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