Business Ethics Chapter 5 Homework Also Spend Time Thinking About The Opposite

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Chapter 5: Leadership

Sample Discussion Answers

1. In your view, what is leadership? Why is it important and why is studying it filled

with pitfalls?

2. What is the canonical model of leadership? How does ethics fit into it? (p. 145)

The canonical model of leadership tries to organize all the factors that influence

leadership into four variables (the leader, the follower, leadership processes and skills,

3. How does amoral leadership theory help? Where does it fall short? (p. 145)

4. Who are values-based leaders? How do they help in thinking about putting ethics

and leadership together? (p. 147)

5. What is different about ethical leadership (theory)? How do you practice it? How

do you know if you are an ethical leader? (p. 149; 152-4)

Ethical leadership theory strives to underscore the ethical content built into every aspect

of leadership. In one sense, ethical leadership starts with the understanding of the deep

and necessary connections between ethics and leading – one cannot lead without ethical

6. What is “leading from the middle,” and how does that influence your view of

leadership in organizations? (p. 151)

“Leading from the middle” refers to the idea that much of leadership in organizations

happens not at the top of the hierarchy, but at the middle and lower levels of the

Business Cycles and Employment Practices in a Domestic

Garment Industry

Teaching Notes

Synopsis

You are on the management team of a private apparel company. The fundamental

philosophy behind the company is that apparel manufacturing should be profitable

without exploiting workers. This philosophy has shaped the companies policies and the

reputation of the company. This summer, the company hired an additional 1,000 workers

to keep pace with orders. The company knows, however, that sales will decrease in

winter and that the company will not be able to afford to keep all its employees (at least

not under the current wages). Your task is to decide what to do in this situation.

Objectives

As actions reflect leadership styles, this case challenges students to think about what kind

of leaders they wish to become. The case provides a rich context to reflect on the

connections between the realities of the global marketplace in the garment industry and

our ideals about what it means to be a good leader. To what extent can leaders be

compassionate, make decisions that look out for the interests of their workers,

communicate openly and truthfully with employees, and at the same time create strong

returns for shareholders and uphold their brand within the marketplace? What kinds of

leadership challenges emerge from this case and how does a leader committed to ethics

frame and address these challenges?

Questions for Discussion

1. Stepping back from the particulars of this case, what does it mean to be a good leader

in today’s business environment? What approaches should managers take to truly lead

workers given the realities of the market and worker-manager relationships?

2. What are the main alternatives in this case? What kind of leadership would you

associate with each of these options? From a leadership perspective, which of these are

most desirable?

3. Are there any alternative solutions not mentioned in this case? What should a good

leader’s priorities be in this case?

4. What does it mean to “exploit” workers? What does management need to do to make

sure it doesn’t exploit workers? What would it mean for the company to treat them well?

5. What role does process play in this case and how important is it for leading

stakeholders and making decisions that stakeholders embrace?

6. What decision should be made? Why?

Suggested Lesson Plan (85 minutes)

1. Question 1 (15 minutes): take some time to push students to think about the state

of relations between workers and managers in the current environment. What are

the expectations of both parties? What does it take to successfully manage them?

2. Question 2 (15 minutes): It is clear that, due to finances, some kind of cutting

back will be necessary: wages may have to be reduced, people may have to be

3. Question 3 (10 minutes): Take some time to envision some alternatives that may

not be obvious from the case – are there some things we are missing? Take some

4. Question 4 (15 minutes): What is your definition of exploitation? What practices

can be deemed acceptable or unacceptable by this company? What principals

underlie your definition of exploitation? For example, how does justice and equity

5. Question 5 (15 minutes): Process may provide a key consideration in leading

within this context. How important is it, and how can process be used as a lever to

both lead and make decisions that stakeholders embrace? If you choose to cut

wages, how will this be decided (e.g. unilateral decision, upper-management

6. Question 6 (15 minutes): Bring the conversation back to what should be done.

Evaluate the different options and get students to advocate for their view – both

Jeri Caldwell at Moex, INC*

Teaching Notes

Synopsis

Jeff Fairbanks, vice president of Strategic Human Resources at MOEX Corporation,

faces a challenging leadership issue. He must decide how to raise a discriminatory issue

that a subordinate and friend of the family, Jeri Caldwell, informally described to him.

Caldwell, an engineer from MIT, feels that she had been denied a due promotion at

MOEX for the second time primarily because she is black and female. Upon hearing that

she was denied the promotion she thought she deserved, Caldwell lost her temper at her

boss and stormed out of the building. Fairbanks has been with MOEX for 18 years and is

currently the highest-ranking African American in the company. In 36 hours, he will be

meeting with members of the executive leadership team where the issue of Caldwell’s

case and diversity at MOEX may be brought to attention.

Objectives

Leaders have to deal with any number of ethical dilemmas. As the role of diversity in

organizations is still a controversial issue, we felt that this could be a particularly

challenging and instructive topic for students to grapple with ethical leadership.

Topics that could be explored in this case may include:

– The systemic dynamics that hinder organizations from gaining competitive

advantage from diversity.

– The failure to develop and enhance opportunities for people of color

The A case explains the backgrounds of MOEX, Fairbanks, and Caldwell; it then

describes the informal gathering Fairbanks attends at Caldwell’s private dwelling. The

array of guests flushes out individual experiences with discrimination and how each

person relates to functioning within the company. Students are asked to decide how

Questions for Discussion

1. What are the problems presented in this case?

2. Where do these problems come from?

3. What kinds of changes could address problems related to diversity at MOEX?

4. What should Fairbanks do?

Suggested Lesson Plan (85 minutes)

1. Question 1 (10 minutes): A Broad range of discussion points will arise. Many

students may initially see the case as revolving around Caldwell’s desire to be

promoted and respected, Fairbank’s own position of attracting and retaining

2. Question 2 (15 minutes): It is helpful to be expansive in this discussion and to

encourage students to look at a variety of causes for these problems. Since many

students may hesitate to discuss problems in terms of being individually

generated, the discussion may need prompting. Would a white person who

exploded at a boss for not being promoted be viewed in the same way as

Caldwell? Would Fairbanks have acted in a similar fashion? Even with a nudge,

3. Question 3 (15 minutes): Students often feel more comfortable discussing

systemic problems. You may wish to suggest broad themes such as recruitment

policy, selection expansion, and training programs. How can one design systems

that will effectively manage cultural differences? Press the students. A brief

4. Question 4 (15 minutes): Although he is several steps removed from the incident,

Fairbanks does take the issue to heart as he himself had struggled to climb the

company ladder. At the same time, while he may sympathize with Caldwell, he

must be able to frame the issue in a way that would not undermine his own

credibility. Note that we are only given partial information – we do not know the

intentions of Caldwell’s supervisor (and in real life may never truly know). It may

be useful to check with Caldwell’s supervisor to ascertain the reason for

Caldwell’s non-promotion (was it a universalizable reason?). Could Caldwell’s

non-promotion have been influenced by race, even subconsciously? If so, would

that suggest a systemic problem? How can one reasonably approach and correct

6. Ask the students what they think of Fairbanks’ proposal. (20 minutes): Have the

students debate the merits of Fairbanks’ proposal in the B case. What parts have

merit? What parts are weak? What could be improved? What could have

undesirable consequences?

7. Closing comments (5 minutes): Diversity in the workplace can be a sensitive

* This teaching note is based on the teaching note prepared by Gerry Yemen under the