Ethics in Corporate America
Not what you're looking for?
I need help with the following:
Imagine that you are a shareholder of two large corporations: one whose leadership was just involved in very public questionable business practices and the other whose leadership is involved in high-profile social responsibility programs. Write a report to the board of directors of the first corporation expressing your concerns about the leadership and your recommendations for improvement.
To prepare for this assignment, complete the following activities:
Review Table 6-3: "Examples of Unethical Behavior by Business Leaders."
Use the Internet to find the current status of two (2) of the executives from this table.
Read Chapter 6 Leader in Action: "Joe Crosby of Coach' Low Country Brands Helps the Community." (Ch 6 found here:
http://www.coursesmart.com/SR/4011017/70000LTI01406/166?__hdv=6.8
Go to www.wholefoodsmarket.com and read about the company's social responsibility programs and its CEO John Mackey.
Write a four to five (4-5) page answer that responds to the following:
1. Compare and contrast the organizational performance of companies with unethical business leaders and companies with ethical leaders.
2. Analyze the consequences to business leaders who engage in unethical business practices based on your research.
3. Evaluate the impact of social responsibility programs on organizational performance, using Whole Foods as an example.
4. Assess the leadership qualities of an ethical business leader and determine why those qualities have a positive impact on organizational performance.
Purchase this Solution
Solution Summary
Ethics in Corporate America is explained in a structured manner in this response. The answer includes references used.
Solution Preview
1. Compare and contrast the organizational performance of companies with unethical business leaders and companies with ethical leaders.
The organizational performance of companies with unethical business leaders and companies is doomed. Unethical business leaders seek to increase their personal wealth and income at the cost of organizational growth and development. Unethical business leaders do not protect the interests of shareholders, employees, investors, or creditors. Instead, they make money for themselves. They are unethical because they misuse their own positions. Let us consider the case of Lay, Skilling, and Fastow, in the Enron scandal. These leaders misled investors by inflating the earnings of Enron. Even though the actual performance of the company was declining they showed that the company was performing very well. These leaders spent their time and money in fudging accounts instead of making Enron more competitive in the business. The organizational performance of Enron declined 'till the scandals were exposed and the company went into liquidation. In contrast, consider a company with an ethical leader. John Mackey's name has been suggested. Consider the current organizational performance of Whole Foods. The net income applicable to common shareholders of Whole Foods has improved from $119 million in 2009 to $343million in 2011. This increase shows that the organization has performed well and the leader John Mackey has protected the interests of its shareholders. Similarly, consider the organizational performance of another ethical leader, the late Steve Jobs. Under him, Apple Inc. has recovered and grown substantially.
2. Analyze the consequences to business leaders who engage in unethical business practices based on your research.
The future of business leaders are tied in several ways to the companies they lead. If the organizations ...
Education
- BSc , University of Calcutta
- MBA, Eastern Institute for Integrated Learning in Management
Recent Feedback
- "I read your comments, and thank you for this feedback. Do I need to find other studies that applied this methodology Ive used? That's where I'm stuck at."
- "Thank you kindly sir. "
- "Excellent and well explained. --Thank you kindly. "
- "Awesome notes. I appreciate you."
- "I have the follow-up project and I will assign that to you very soon. "
Purchase this Solution
Free BrainMass Quizzes
Understanding Management
This quiz will help you understand the dimensions of employee diversity as well as how to manage a culturally diverse workforce.
Employee Orientation
Test your knowledge of employee orientation with this fun and informative quiz. This quiz is meant for beginner and advanced students as well as professionals already working in the HR field.
Marketing Management Philosophies Quiz
A test on how well a student understands the basic assumptions of marketers on buyers that will form a basis of their marketing strategies.
Transformational Leadership
This quiz covers the topic of transformational leadership. Specifically, this quiz covers the theories proposed by James MacGregor Burns and Bernard Bass. Students familiar with transformational leadership should easily be able to answer the questions detailed below.
Introduction to Finance
This quiz test introductory finance topics.