Discussing Ethical Leadership Through Academic Argumentation
Question
The Assessment Task
1.
Through
wide reading of current and relevant academic literature you are required to
develop discussions around what is ethical leadership and why is it growing in
popularity.
2. You are required to identify a specific sector /
industry of your choosing ranging from profit, not for profit, Government, and
social enterprises etc. Then apply academic critically
analyse to establish the challenges faced by the leadership role in terms of
ethical and responsible decision-making, in the context of leadership theory
appropriate to Level 7 academic study.
2.2 Academically evaluate the selected leadership
theory, examining the challenges of ethical and responsible decision-making in
dynamic and disruptive business environments.
3.
Evaluate how ethical and responsible leadership informs inclusive
organisational strategy and culture, and HRM operations within your identified
specific sector.
In
Details
1.
Structural
Guidelines
Introduction
– a brief
introduction to the report, please make sure that you write clearly and
succinctly (there is only 2000 words +/- 10%).
The growth of ethical leadership – succinctly and academically define what is
ethical leadership and why is has become important not just as a leadership
trait but as a leadership style in its own right.
Selected
leadership sector – academically discuss the importance of ethical
leadership in your chosen sector. Applying leadership theory, establish a baseline
relating to the decision-making issues faced by a responsible ethical leader.
Academically discuss how applied ethical leadership
informs an inclusive organisational culture
and HRM practices, through the prism of ethical leadership, can benefit an
organisation within your specific chosen sector.
Conclusion – provide an overview
of the report and the outcome of your discussion.
References – Please make sure
that all the references are according to Harvard Reference guidance provided
(see UON guidance).
2.
You
should continuously work on improving academic writing, critical analysis and
to understand the expectations at this level (Level 7 – UK qualifications)
3.
Please
make sure that you understand the issues related to late submissions, academic
misconduct, plagiarism and failing the module.
Learning Outcomes
The learning outcomes that are being assessed in this assessment
are:
c.
Differentiate and evaluate leadership theories, examining the
challenges of ethical and responsible decision-making in dynamic and disruptive
business environments.
d.
Appraise and analyse how ethical and responsible leadership informs
inclusive organisational strategy and culture, and HRM operations and strategy
in particular
e.
Communicate
different perspectives on a topic, presenting complex perspectives effectively
in a specified written format
Your grade will
depend on the extent to which you meet these learning outcomes in the way
relevant for this assessment. Please see the grading rubric at the end of this
assessment brief for further details of the criteria against which you will be
assessed.
Word Limits (where appropriate)
The maximum word limit for this assessment
is 2000 words
In
accordance with the as stated in section 4.40 where a submission exceeds
the stipulated word limit by more than 10%, the submission will only b marked
up to and including the additional 10%. Anything
over this will not be included in the final grade for the assessment item.
Abstracts, bibliographies, reference lists, appendices and footnotes are
excluded from any word limit requirements.
In
line with section 4.41 of the same Policy, where a submission is notably under
the word limit, the full submission will be marked on the extent to which the
learning objectives have been met.
Feedback and Grades
These
can be accessed through clicking on the Feedback and Grades tab on. Feedback
will be provided by a rubric with summary comments.


Solution
Discussing Ethical
Leadership Through Academic Argumentation
Introduction
In today’s world, organizations are
striving to optimally perform their business, something that has made them take
all options that make them improve. In order to maintain the market growth, the
organization needs to have leadership that is ethical as that will make it
continue striving in the market (Shakeel et al. 2019). This means that ethical
leadership is important to factor to the company because it can act as a tool
for the organization to achieve a competitive advantage because the executive
can use it to influence the employee behavior. As the name portrays, ethical
leadership is a leadership directed by ethical values and beliefs; thus, it is
related to significant factors such as honesty, fairness, charisma, and trust (Bachmann 2015).
Ethics is a vital factor that has always been concerned with morals and values
that individuals or society may find important for their well-being. Every organization
aims to record consistent performance and strive in the market because that
enables them to expand its business in the market further. In the current world,
the corporate has been experiencing major scandals that have tarnished various
organizations’ brand reputations (Ehrich et al. 2015). These practices have been
contributed to the organization as a result of unethical leadership. Since then,
ethical leaders have received significant attention as a sign of mitigating
various corporate scandals that arose around the globe. Therefore, this paper discusses
how ethical leadership has contributed to relevant decision-making, informs
inclusive leadership, and improves organizational performance. It will also
discuss how ethical leaders influence decision-making and help the strive of
the organization in the market.
The Growth of Ethical Leadership
Leadership is essential to the function
of management because it is a factor that motivates people to a higher level of
performance. Therefore, as a leader, you must ensure that you direct individuals’
behavior towards the desired goal. Thus, ethical leadership is a crucial and
vital leadership style directed with respect for ethical values and beliefs (Moss et al. 2020).
It is primarily concerned with appropriate behavior that respects the dignity
and respect of others. When used in the organization, it inspires the employees
by motivating them to live up to the firm’s values. Ethical leadership simply
means that you need to inspire and motivate as a leader, thus making the people
you are leading feel motivated (Mayer, Kuenzi, and Greenbaum 2010). Different from
other modes of leadership, ethical leadership is concerned with guidance and
how as a leader, you can exploit such guidance to improve your effectiveness
and responsibility in the workplace (Aryati et al. 2018). In today’s business
world, ethics is an important element that each leader needs to have because it
helps motivate the company and build the corporate brand reputation in the
market. Therefore, it is important to say that leadership with ethics is very
important to develop and understand in the current business world. Having
ethical leadership within the organization is important because it helps
investors feel the organization is good and trustworthy to invest in.
Ethical leadership has become an
important leadership style and not just a trait because of its unique
structure. For instance, apart from just being a trait as a leadership style,
leaders in the organization can use it to build a competitive working place
among the employee. Some of the characteristics that distinguish ethical
leadership as a distinct style essential to both the individual and the
organization are that it requires the individual to take accountability (Giulia
Villirilli 2021). This implies that you must be willing to accept
responsibility for mistakes made as an ethical leader. A leader’s lack of accountability
can lead to confusion and waste of resources (Ullah, Hameed, and Kayani 2017).
As a result, ethical leadership is an essential leadership style since it
requires individuals to hold themselves accountable and accept responsibility
for any mistakes. Another factor that has made ethical leadership important not
as a trait but as a leadership style is because it makes leaders act fairly. A leader faces many
negotiations and decisions that require you to be ethical, as this will allow
you to achieve long-term success over short-term gains (Chan, McBey, and
Scott-Ladd 2011). Apart from being important in decision-making, it also
fosters inclusivity among people by requiring leaders to adopt a culture of
excellence and fair rights for persons regardless of social status or other
potential discrimination factors (Wang, Feng, and Lawton 2017). It is also an
act of Integrity because by embracing ethical leadership as a leader, you are
focused on practicing things that are valuable and aligned with everyone within
the company. That is an indication that you are leading by example. This
indicates that it helps leaders maintain their organizational well-being by
setting standards that bring equality to everyone apart from being a trait. Ethical
leadership teaches a leader that they have a mandate to put the needs of their
group members and organization ahead of their own (Lei, Ha, and Le 2019). Therefore,
from the analysis of ethical leadership, it is significant that apart from
being a trait, it is an important leadership style that any individual in
leadership needs to have to make informed decisions and improve the performance
within the workplace. More importantly, a type of leadership style makes a leader
have holistic thinking that embraces challenging and complex issues that an
organization might be facing daily (Kuenzi, Mayer, and Greenbaum 2020). This
indicates that as ethical leaders, you need both experience and knowledge so
that to make informed decisions on everything. Thus, as a leader practicing an
ethical leadership style, you need to stick to your principles to avoid
instances related to ethical issues.
Selected Leadership Sector
The sector I have chosen is the manufacturing
business, where ethical leadership plays a vital role in promoting business
growth and enhancing equality among the employees. As an Executive manager in the
business sector, ethical leadership style is important when embraced within the
business. For instance, with the ethical leadership style in business, you are
to build customer loyalty. In the current world, consumerism has evolved to
highlight the ethics and value of the company in relation to the services and
goods it provides (Copeland 2015). It is an indication that the overall
morality of the business has tremendous power to break or build brand identity.
As an executive leader, in this case, if you embrace ethical leadership in the business,
you will be able to maintain corporate growth in one way or another. Also, the establishment
of ethical leadership in business helps establish trust in partners, employees,
and the community, thus boosting the company’s performance. Another significant
factor about ethical leadership in my business sector as an executive manager
is that it will help to enhance a healthier working environment where each
individual will feel valued and inspired to work.
Leadership theories are an essential
factor in giving the reason for how certain individuals become leaders. These
theories try to explain and emphasize traits and behaviors an individual needs
to adopt to boost their leadership abilities (Leadership theories 2020). From
the view of these theories, such as the great man theory, Contingency theory,
and situational theory, individuals were able to build ethical leadership,
which has been effective in decision-making and enhancing equality within the
organization (Tourigny, Han Baba, and Pan 2019). They are decision-making
issues related to ethical leadership, including having multiple alternatives,
personal implications, and other factors (Madachian et al. 2016). The factor
contributing to these issues is that leaders make decisions based on defined
values such as trust, accountability, respect, and equality in ethical
leadership.
The applied ethical leadership plays
a vital role in informing inclusive organizational culture and HRM practices. It
is clear that enhancing the aspect of ethical leadership within the
organization helps raise an organization’s culture and employees’ values to a
higher level of ethical behavior because it always makes the corporate look
inclusive (Angelos
et al. 2021). Ethical leadership within the organization helps promote a
high level of Integrity, thus helping to stimulate a sense of trustworthiness
among the employees and their leaders (Voegtlin 2016). It is also significant that
ethics in leadership has helped inform the culturally diverse organization.
With inclusivity, the corporates have been able to strive in their performance
because the employees are motivated and inspired by ethical leaders who are
people-oriented (Copeland 2013). In HRM, ethical leadership is essential because
it helps them foster fairness and justice for all employees and organizations
with respect and dignity (Pasricha, Singh, and Verma 2018). Since the HRM has
the mandate of ensuring that the organization has talented and innovative
employees, they can embrace ethics as that will help them enhance equality and
professionalism within the workplace. This analysis shows that ethical
leadership significantly benefits my selected sector because it will help
improve job performance and workplace equality.
Conclusion
From the information I have gathered,
it is clear that leaders such as Human Resources managers and other stakeholders
within the organization need to consider ethical factors as part of their decision-making.
Similarly, this article discussion has tried to give an overview of what
ethical leaders need to look like and how embracing an ethical leadership style
influences their decision-making within the organization. It has also been
clear from the discussion that ethical leadership greatly impacts decision-making
and organization performance (Thapa 2019). In today’s workplace, managers like H.R.
have embraced ethical leadership styles to enhance equality within the
organization, which has helped the positive growth of many businesses today. Further,
from the outcome of the discussion, it has been indicated that today’s leaders
influence the welfare of a number of people in society (Kooskora 2012). The
discussion also has shown that ethical leaders influence the organization’s
future they are involved in and for stakeholders, employees, community, and
suppliers. As a result, in the report’s conclusion and discussion of the
article, it is reasonably apparent that organizational achievement and
ethical leadership are linked, indicating that the organization must
embrace this type of leadership in today’s competitive market. This discussion
has tried to overview how ethical leadership has played a significant role in
the current organization’s performance (Khuong and Nhu 2015). Based on the evidence
mentioned above, ethics in leadership positively influences the organization’s
performance; thus, leaders need to embrace this style and traits for successful
business strive. This discussion has given a comprehensive overview of how
ethical leadership is a significant factor in the current leadership style.
References
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A., Hadiwidjaja, D. and Noermijati, N., 2018. The influence of ethical leadership
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Bachmann, B.,
2015. Concepts of ethical leadership and their potential implementation
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and Scott-Ladd, B., 2011. Ethical leadership in modern employment
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Copeland, M.K., 2013. The
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