ethics and change – www.savvyessaywriters.net
ethics and change – www.savvyessaywriters.net
Assignment 1: Ethics and Change
In this module, you learned about the elements of change, how leaders and followers respond to change, and the ethical principles that are relevant to leading and effecting change within organizations. For the discussion in this module, you are asked to evaluate the role of ethics in leadership when effecting organizational change.
Tasks:
Examine an organization’s leadership and ethical decision-making framework and then analyze its effectiveness in bringing about change. For this discussion, use the context of your current (or previous) organization or that of an organization with which you are familiar.
Research organizational leadership, organizational change, and ethical decision making. Use resources from professional literature in your research. Professional literature may include the Argosy University online library resources, relevant textbooks, peer-reviewed journal articles, and websites created by professional organizations, agencies, or institutions (.edu, .org, or .gov).
Based on your research and experience, in a minimum of 400 words, respond to the following:
- Identify two features of effective change leadership and explain why you believe they are effective.
- Discuss the role of ethics in change leadership and decision making and explain how this might be significant in leading change.
- Recommend 1–2 ethical principles that may assist your organization’s leadership and decision-making framework; support your response with a rationale and professional literature.
Module 2 Overview
- Apply current research on organizational change and reform.
- Analyze the impact of diversity and organizational culture on change initiatives.
- Apply change theories and models to manage change initiatives, recommend process improvements, and effectively overcome change resistance.
- Recommend strategies to develop change leaders/followers and to effectively address the challenges of change leadership.
- Integrate ethical principles into the change process to facilitate healthy change within an organization.
Theoretical Foundations and Ethical Dimensions
Change theories are rooted in the theoretical foundations of leadership and the ethical dimensions of a leader. Therefore, leadership style is strongly reflected in the leader’s role in the change process, as it is up to the leader to determine how the change process is to be implemented.
In this module, you will learn about the elements of change and how leaders and employees may respond differently to these elements. You will review the theoretical foundations of change drivers and leadership roles and expand your understanding of employee readiness, attitudes, and organizational culture.
Furthermore, you will be introduced to the ethical dimensions pertaining to decision making and leadership behavior when leading organizational change. Hence, it is essential to have a good understanding of leadership and ethical theories, as these are the foundations that the leader uses to implement change.
Leadership Roles
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Leadership Styles
In discussing leadership styles, it is important to remember that not all situations are the same, and leaders may have to adjust their leadership styles to accommodate various situations. Leaders may also have to adjust their leadership styles to accomplish organizational objectives. This is especially true when resolving organizational conflict or implementing change.
When deciding what leadership style to use in a time of change, a leader should consider the existing organizational dynamics, climate, and challenges. In addition, ethical considerations should be used to ensure that there is no mistreatment of internal or external stakeholders when trying to accomplish their goals and objectives.
When choosing a leadership style that would be most effective in leading a change process, a leader must consider any ethical or moral dimensions that would impact the change initiative. The ethical and moral decisions that the leader makes will have an impact on the outcome of the change effort, and to that end, the leader should ensure that his or her decisions are in alignment with organizational outcomes and expectations.
The style that the team members adopt will normally be consistent with the ethical and moral values of the leader. Values and ethics are important issues in understanding and clarifying the strategies that leaders rely on when implementing organizational changes.
Six Basic Leadership Styles
Along with the different roles that a leader may display, a leader may also exhibit several different styles of leadership, depending upon the situation involved. Leaders are expected to adapt and adopt the most effective style (or a combination of styles) for a situation.
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Employee Readiness and Attitudes
Employee readiness and attitude for change can be described by the employees’ beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors to try to support the change implementation efforts.
The reasons for change in most organizations are brought about by the challenges of external competition and the need for internal improvements and efficiencies. A lot of this is due to increasing advancement in technology, which may increase competition by allowing others to perform more effectively and efficiently.
Employees should be open to change and ready to confront any personal resistance they may feel toward the change effort. The employees’ attitude toward accepting and committing to change can be influenced by:
- Their perception of the organizational culture
- Leadership relationships
- Their skill sets for dealing with the change
- Other workplace factors, such as the relationship between the employees and the organization
Future Employability
An additional factor in developing organizational readiness is to ensure that employees understand the importance of the organization’s future and the importance of their role as contributing employees. In the ever-changing organizational environment, it is important that employees work to increase their capabilities to adapt to and manage change. Changes in the marketplace often result in changes in job expectations, descriptions, and skill sets.
Not only is change important to an organization because of the competiveness that is created by the marketplace, but developing employee talents and skills helps an organization remain competitive within its industry. Developing employee skills is an essential activity in any industry because a well-developed workforce contributes to the overall health and viability of an organization. Therefore, an organization’s ability to sustain itself, or to even gain a competitive advantage, relies on its employees’ readiness and ability to adapt to change.
Job Satisfaction and Uncertainty
Employee readiness for change can also be affected by social and psychological constructs such as job dissatisfaction and uncertainty. This is why an organizational evaluation should be done to identify any issues that might interfere with employees’ readiness and capacity for change.
When employees are satisfied with their jobs they are more apt to trust the organization and are more apt to display readiness for change. On the other hand, uncertainty can develop resistance among employees and slow down the process of developing readiness for change.
It is up to the organization’s leadership to communicate with employees and make them feel that their satisfaction is important to the organization. Furthermore, leadership also needs to emphasize to employees that their readiness in assisting with change also contributes to the overall success of the organization.
Organizational Culture
Organizational culture is one of the strongest factors that can impact the success of an organizational change initiative. Organizational culture is identified by the values, leadership style, language, and routines that make an organization identifiable and unique.
All successful organizations have strong visions and distinctive organizational cultures. It is important to recognize that a culture that is open to change will be more flexible and better able to respond to internal and external forces.
Changes in an organization are often driven by external competition and by the organization’s life cycle. These changes can happen smoothly if the culture of the organization is supportive and has the capacity for managing changes. However, along with the change initiatives, leaders may also consider that the organizational culture itself might need to be changed to support the change initiatives.
In these situations, if the leaders do not consider cultural changes within the organization, the change initiatives may not be accepted. Until correcting of an unhealthy organizational culture is completed, it would be difficult to initiate any organizational efficiency or effectiveness change. The resistance to change generated by the unhealthy culture would make change implementation nearly impossible.
Subculture
All organizations have subcultures that are led by informal leaders. Informal leaders are those employees who are not in a formal position of authority but, nevertheless, have much influence within the organization. Depending on the strength of the organization’s leadership, these informal subcultures can have a lasting impact on organizational change efforts.
When discussing the issue of organizational culture and change, the importance of the subculture cannot be underestimated. It is important for the leader to understand the dynamics of the subculture and the strength of the informal leaders. The informal leaders and the subculture can have a vast amount of impact on change efforts and the readiness for change.
The commitment of the subculture can really have an impact on the success and readiness of change efforts as the subculture can often be stronger and more influential than the organizational culture itself.
Ethical Dimensions of Change Leadership
Ethical leadership involves leading according to ethical standards and values. The process of ethical leadership requires the leader to have a clear perception of ethics and responsibilities.
In a world where individual goals often come into direct conflict with organizational goals, ethical leadership can help strike a balance between the two. Moreover, the diverse ethical and moral dilemmas that leaders face every day can be addressed and resolved using value-based leadership skills. Even the relationship between a leader and his or her followers and stakeholders can be improved by using ethical leadership skills.
A good leader is expected to analyze, evaluate, consider, and then make decisions. The role of ethics in the decision-making process, to a great extent, determines the effectiveness of a decision.
Ethical leadership encourages leaders to make decisions based on principles of morals and virtue. An ethically upright decision facilitates organizational as well as individual growth in the long run. These reasons show how important it is to understand the components and characteristics of ethical leadership.
Moral Dimensions of Leadership
The ethical and moral dimensions of leadership can be observed though the decision-making process. The ethical or moral dimensions of a leader will play a very important part in the decisions he or she makes and in the strategies that he or she develops.
The moral dimensions of leadership are based upon the values a leader uses as a determinant in his or her decision-making process. Values, integrity, and moral competencies can all be part of the moral dimensions of leadership. Values play a major role in the dimensions because a leader will normally lead in accordance with his or her values. A value such as honesty becomes more of a virtue than a policy that needs to be regulated.
To expect employees to be supportive of organizational change, the ethical and moral values of the leader must be consistent with the leader’s decision-making strategies. Profit should not be allowed to become the overriding factor for the implementation of change. If employees perceive any inconsistencies in the leader’s ethical and moral values, they may not trust any proposed changes and thus not take actions to implement the changes.
Leaders must understand that ethical leadership and trust are all about consistency and meeting employees’ and stakeholders’ expectations. The more a leader appears to have consistency in his or her ethical and moral values when exercising the duties of the office, the more the employees and stakeholders will trust the leader.
Moral and ethical leadership is important because leaders are always leading by example. If a change process is to be carried out successfully, the leader has to establish trust by setting a positive, trustworthy, and ethical example. Ethical and consistent behavior by the leader will have a positive effect on the employees and will reduce the resistance to change.
Destructive Leadership Behaviors
Ethics begin with the leaders of the organization understanding the importance of placing the interests of the organization and its stakeholders above those of themselves or of any one person within the organization. Leaders have power, and some leaders may use their power for personal gain, while other leaders may neglect their power and fail to protect the organization.
Violating Organizational Interests
Destructive leadership behavior is the continuous activities of a leader that violate the interests of the organization. An example is when a leader creates situations that do not protect the well-being of the organization and allows his or her personal interests to override organizational interests. Once it is perceived that the leader has this type of destructive behavior, it will be very difficult for the organizational members to trust that leader, and thus they will not be willing to support any organizational changes.
Laissez-Faire Leadership
Laissez-faire leaders often lack organizational support because when they see unproductive activities, they do nothing about them. This type of destructive leadership behavior occurs far more often than others, and it creates opportunities for the informal subculture of the organization to implement its own agenda. When this occurs, it may not always be in the best interests of the organization. Laissez-faire leadership can also result in a lack of consistency in organizational performance.
Unethical Behavior
Unethical behaviors are those activities and behaviors which are outside of acceptable professional practice when exhibited by leaders and employees. Such behaviors include those that are not normally considered morally right, they are lacking in moral principles, and they are not in accordance with established professional standards. This type of behavior can cause resistance to change and decrease organizational trust.
Because of the negative public perceptions of leaders, it can be difficult to gain community support for organizational changes. Many in the public believe that businesses are only concerned about profits and do not care about their employees or their communities. In addition to the challenges of public perception, leaders must be mindful of internal perceptions and be sure to treat their internal stakeholders with respect and fairness. Unmanaged, negative internal or public perceptions can drain an organization of its ability to enact change.
The Ethical Leader
The moral or ethical leader must make sure that the strategic direction is aligned with the organization’s vision by ensuring that the objectives are clearly defined and communicated. By taking a proactive approach, the moral or ethical leader can ensure the strategic direction and future change efforts are balanced with the organization’s vision and the stakeholders’ values.
Stakeholder Values
For organizations interested in sustaining long-term success, their moral and ethical leaders must understand the stakeholders’ mind-sets as they are the key players in the success of an organization’s mission and vision.
Stakeholder values are the motivational catalyst for stakeholder behaviors. They are the internalized ways of thinking that define right and wrong, moral and immoral, and ethical and unethical. Values influence aspirations and preferences, perceptions of situations and problems, and the types of behavior in a given situation. Understanding this will assist the leader in effecting change.
Rules Governing Ethical Leadership
There are no hard-and-fast rules that govern ethical leadership. In fact, each leader selects a different process for achieving his or her goals. Leaders’ ethical beliefs are essential in influencing followers for organizational success. The incorporation of values, ethics, and morals into the workplace becomes the driving force in accomplishing goals and plans.
Organizational leaders have moral reasoning and ethical approaches that are as diverse and complex as the companies they run. The ability to develop and maintain ethical standards in a changing environment is a critical skill for inspiring organizational followers. The social structures surrounding leaders can dictate the placement of their values and often the changing perspectives of ethical meaning. Although there are many elements that can persuade one’s views, Stephen Covey’s supporting foundation of morals and ethics is a critical element of organizational management and leadership.
Morals, Ethics, and Changing Environments
Incidentally, morals and ethics are two critical aspects of effective leaders in a diverse economy. The leader of the future must be able to endure uncertainty and constant change.
Click here to learn about Dr. Stephen R. Covey’s work.
Summary
In this module, you studied the theoretical foundations of leadership as they relate to the change process. You also gained insight into critical change elements and their drivers and how leaders and employees respond to them. Additionally, you were introduced to the ethical dimensions associated with decision making and leadership behavior when implementing change.
Here are the key points covered in the module:
- Leadership roles and styles are situational. Leaders use different styles or combinations of styles that best fit any given situation or setting, especially when resolving conflict or bringing about change.
- Reasons for change are usually driven by external competition and internal needs for improvement. Employee commitment to change stems from their readiness and attitudes, which are influenced by various factors such as their perceptions of the organization, their relationships within the organization, and their understanding of the intended change.
- One of the strongest factors affecting successful change is an organization’s culture. An organization with a strong and supportive culture can greatly reduce the amount of uncertainty within the organization and is more likely to accept change.
- It is important to closely examine and monitor an organization’s informal subculture as the subculture can often be stronger and more influential than the organizational culture itself. As such, this subculture can work to support or work against change efforts.
- The process of ethical leadership requires the leader to have a clear perception of ethics and responsibilities. The role of ethics in the decision-making process, to a great extent, determines the effectiveness of a decision.
- To expect employees to be supportive of organizational change, the ethical and moral values of the leader must be consistent with the leader’s decision-making strategies.
- The moral and ethical leader must ensure that the strategic direction is aligned with the organization’s vision and ensure that the organization’s objectives are clearly defined. The effective and moral and ethical leader avoids destructive leadership behaviors as these destructive behaviors inhibit the change process.
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