Reference no: EM132018815

Write a response to the discussion below. Make the response address all components of the discussion question in detail

USE THE FOLLOWING GUIDELINE TO RESPOND TO THE DISCUSSION BELOW:

o Provide substantive comments

o contributing new, relevant information from course readings, Web sites, or other sources;

o building on the remarks or questions of others; or

o sharing practical examples of key concepts from your professional or personal experiences

Cecilia Salter DISCUSSION BELOW

Organizational behavior is the study of behavior within an organization and ethics is a tenant of that behavior. According to Derr (2012) ethics plays a significant role in life which in turn means plays a large role in business and organizational attitudes. Derr defines ethics as "the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation" (2012, p. 66).The morality and duty of ethics is intrinsic and can be taught to those as long as the lessons are tailored for them (Derr). Just as ethical behavior can be taught so can unethical behavior. According to Derr unethical behavior is just as common as ethical behavior.

Ethical leaders are essential to organizations because leaders should have a moral compass to know what is good from bad, right from wrong, practice fairness and justice, and equality. Additionally ethics and leadership can be vital asset to an organization (Derr, 2012). Ethical leaders can be role models for employees which contributes to an ethical organization.

Likewise, according Derr, "ethical leadership is a style that strives to motivate ethical behavior in employees by the display of the thoughts, values, attitudes and good behavior of the leaders (Martinez, Ruiz, & Ruiz, 2011)" (2012, p. 67).

Consequently, it is just as it is important for leaders to display ethical behavior and it is also important for high-level managers to display and promote ethical behavior within the organization's operations because it sets the tone for the whole organization (Derr). Likewise, according to Khokhar&Rehman (2017) the behavior of leaders can be very influential to behavior of their followers at many levels of the organization.

Deontological and the consequential perspectives might affect managers and leaders within an organization who are from different countries because of the different values, morals, and beliefs each manager or leader may have. For example, a leader who practices deontology may not believe in child labor because it is wrong and it is their duty to end unfair child labor laws compared to someone who is from a country whose organization uses child labor to manufacture goods at a lesser cost.

The end doesn't justify the means for a deontologist in this example. Consequentialism (Youtube, Unknown) is "an ethical theory that judges whether or not something is right by what its consequences are". For example, to save on costs it would be beneficial for an organization to layoff all those (5% of their workforce) who are due to retire after 20 years of being on the job. The layoffs would save thousands of jobs and save the organization from bankruptcy. However, the majority would not agree with this but the ends justifies the means.