9.3 Reflection Blog: Final Post

Throughout this course, I’ve been able to reflect on my personal ethical framework and how there are alignments and gaps between the organizations I associate with. I’ve examined my company’s ethics, the organizations where I volunteer, and even the politicians I support. This has allowed me to understand where I stand within ethical principles. A recurring theme I’ve found in my ethical leadership framework is how I highly consider the common good and include others. This is also reflected in how cohesive an organization’s ethical framework functions. We’ve learned how much teamwork is used to create cohesion and collaboration so that everyone’s ideas are shared (Mercader et al., 2021). This realization allows me to combine my personal value of inclusivity and the ethical practices of teamwork.  

Some changes I’d like to make to my own ethical framework is my loyalty to companies and politicians. I’d like to be more cautious of my spending habits and who is profiting off of my purchases. In the past year, I’ve noticed how many companies do not have true ethical practices and I don’t want to be a part of that problem. For example, a few years ago I was purchasing clothes from Shein because they were cheap and easy to get shipped. Unfortunately, it has been found that their employees are working in horrible conditions and their supply chain is unethical (Jones, 2021). Moving forward as I make consumer choices, I want to be aware of the company’s ethical practices. I can’t call myself an environmentalist if I am neglecting a company’s environmental ethical decisions. 

I think something more recent that has caught my attention in terms of organizational ethics and leadership has been the killing of United Healthcare’s CEO. In module eight of this course, we learned about Corporate Social Responsibility and how a CEO is responsible for their company’s choices. In a study found in the Journal of Management and Organization, it is found that a CEO’s leadership temperaments can affect the CSR practices of their organization (Ullah et al, 2022). This shows how much a leader influences their organization and how they can act as the face of their organization or the “person to blame” when something bad happens.  

After completing this course, I am more mindful of how I make decisions based on my ethical framework. I am also more knowledgeable about how all of us, regardless of leadership position, are responsible for making ethical decisions for the organizations we represent – even if this means calling out our organizations for unethical practices.  

 

Jones, L. (2021, November 12). Shein suppliers’ Workers Doing 75-hour week, Finds Probe. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59245708 

Mercader, V., Galván-Vela, E., Ravina-Ripoll, R., & Cristina Raluca, G. P. (2021). A Focus on Ethical Value under the Vision of Leadership, Teamwork, Effective Communication and Productivity. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 14(11), 522. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm14110522 

Ullah, I., Raja, M. H., Nida, Z. K., & Fazal, Y. (2022). CEO ethical leadership and corporate social responsibility: Examining the mediating role of organizational ethical culture and intellectual capital. Journal of Management and Organization, 28(1), 99-119. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2019.48