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W5. Healthy Ethical Climates in Organizations

Ethical climates in organizations, which are marked by inclusion, integrity, justice, organizational citizenship, structural and symbolic reinforcement, and trust. You will also learn how to prevent and eliminate destructive behaviors and collective corruption. In addition, you will discover how ethical leaders can make the most of the socialization process. Additionally, you will take a look at some examples of codes of ethics and you will analyze their benefits and challenges. Finally, you will assess your organization’s ethical climate to determine areas of strength and weakness.

1. W5.1: Code of Ethics

Codes of ethics are common tools that describe the standards and values of organizations. Codes focus attention on important ethical behaviors, outline expectations, protect employees from lawsuits, and help co-workers judge themselves when acting inappropriately (Johnson, 2021). While codes of ethics provide positive benefits within organizations, skeptics claim that codes can often be too vague to be useful, do not always improve organizational climate, are hard to apply across cultures, and often fail to spell out which ethical obligations should take priority (p. 338). However, Johnson concluded that creating codes of ethical standards are critical elements of organizational integrity.

Watch “How to Write and Implement a Code of Ethics” from the University Library.

Write a 250- to 300-word response to the following (Include a minimum of 4 APA 7 citations):

  • What are the biggest benefits and challenges associated with having a code of ethics?
  • What are some important considerations when implementing a code of ethics?
  • Include your own experience as well as 4 citations that align with or contradict your comments as sourced from peer-reviewed academic journals, industry publications, books, and/or other sources (FROM THE LAST 4 YEARS). Cite your sources according to APA guidelines. If you found information that contradicts your experience, explain why you agree or disagree with the information.

    References: present a more comprehensive assessment by citing multiple scholars.

    – These scholars should come from the required resource list below AND additional scholars to substantiate the arguments presented in the responses.

    2. W5.2: Code of Ethics Debate

    Ethics plays an important role in learning organizations. For example, educators and administrators must adhere to certain codes of conduct and codes of ethics when dealing with students, parents, and the community.

    Review the following resources:

  • “Model Code of Ethics for Educators” from National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC)
  • “Code of Ethics for Educators” from National Education Association (NEA)
  • “Model Code of Ethics for Educators (MCEE)” from Phillip Rogers
  • A transcript is available on YouTube.

    Reflect on the purpose of these codes of ethics and write a 250- to 300-word response to the following (Include a minimum of 2 APA 7 citations):

  • How are these codes of ethics similar and different?
  • Do you agree that those in learning organizations should adhere to codes of ethics such as these? Why or why not?
  • How are codes of ethics different from codes of conduct? Do you feel that both are necessary? Why or why not? Provide a rationale to support your response.
  • References: present a more comprehensive assessment by citing multiple scholars.

    These scholars should come from the required resource list below AND additional scholars to substantiate the arguments presented in the responses.

    3. W5.3 Self-Assessment: Ethical Climate

    Leaders must be aware of the climate and culture in an organization to ensure the organization is adhering to ethical standards. You will complete a survey to determine the climate of your organization or one with which you are familiar.

    Analyze the climate of your learning organization (or one with which you are familiar) using “Self-Assessment 10.1: Ethical Climate Questionnaire” on p. 578 in Ch. 10 of Meeting the Ethical Challenges of Leadership: Casting Light or Shadow.

    Write a 750-word analysis of the climate questionnaire in which you:

    o Explanation of Organizational Climate

    0. Explain why you would characterize the learning organization’s overall climate and culture as positive or negative.

    o Factors that Shape a Moral Atmosphere

    0. Explain the factors that shape a moral atmosphere in your learning organization.

    o A Leader’s Role in Organizational Formation and Maintenance

    0. Describe the role leaders have played in the learning organization’s formation and maintenance.

    o Dealing With Misbehaviors

    0. Explain the steps your learning organization takes to deal with faculty and staff misbehaviors.

    o Reinforcing or Failing to Reinforce Ethical Behaviors

    0. Explain how the learning organization reinforces (or fails to reinforce) ethical behavior.

    Include at least 4 peer-reviewed scholarly sources in your paper.

    References: present a more comprehensive assessment by citing multiple scholars.

    – These scholars should come from the required resource list below AND additional scholars to substantiate the arguments presented in the responses.

    Required Resources

    – Chapter 10 “Creating an Ethical, Inclusive Organizational Climate”

    – Gorsira, M., Steg, L., Denkers, A., & Huisman, W. (2018). Corruption in organizations: Ethical climate and individual motives. Administrative Sciences, 8(1), 4.

    – Rajan, M., & Bhaduri, N. (2020). Role of human resources in building ethical organisational culture. NHRD Network Journal, 13(2), 213–219.

    – Organizational Ethics (21:26)

    – How to Write and Implement a Code of Ethics (02:02) How and why to write a business code of ethics and the importance of sharing it with employees is explained.

    Additional resources may be included but cannot be older than 4 years

    W6: Influence Tools for Ethical Leaders

    Explore the ethical issues surrounding the following influence tools that are particularly important to leaders: framing, compliance gaining, the communication of expectations, argumentation, and negotiation. In addition, you will discover how leaders can resist unethical influence attempts and avoid triggers, such as reciprocation, authority, and scarcity. You also will analyze case studies to determine how communication and other influence tools can be used to solve ethical dilemmas.

    4. W6.1 – Exercising Ethical Influence

    Scenario:

    In 2022, you will be eligible for tenure as a university professor in the College of Interdisciplinary Studies. One of the undergraduate courses you teach focuses on the critical analysis of how gender as a social construct informs our experiences and identities, the interrelationships between gender, sexualities, race, class, nation, and ability, and to connect such inquiry to issues within the local and global arenas. This is one of the most popular courses on campus. A major demonstration to address social injustices in various social settings including higher education is planned by numerous community organizers where the university is located. Your students want to play a major role in support of the event and have asked that you lead them in planning and organizing events to raise awareness on social injustices at the university. However, the university has not sanctioned its support for this event.

    Write a 250- to 300-word response to the following:

  • How would you exercise ethical influence to frame the moral value of this event for the university leadership?
  • What leadership expectations does the university have of you?
  • What competing frames of influence exist between students and university leaders’ expectations?
  • Do any of the frames invoke moral values?
  • (Include a minimum of 2 APA 7 citations)

    References: present a more comprehensive assessment by citing multiple scholars.

    – These scholars should come from the required resource list below AND additional scholars to substantiate the arguments presented in the responses.

    5. W6.2: Case Study 7.2

    Read “Case Study 7.2: Don’t Mess with the Mouse: Labor Negotiations at Disney” on pp. 387-390 in Ch. 7 of Meeting the Ethical Challenges of Leadership: Casting Light or Shadow.

    Write a 250- to 300-word response to the following:

  • Does the wide gap between the pay of low wage employees and Disney executives cast the shadow of privilege?
  • Do you feel this gap is ethically justified? Why or why not?
  • Should all workers be guaranteed a “living wage”? Why or why not?
  • How might this scenario relate to learning organizations?
  • Reference

    Required:

    Johnson, C.E. (2021). Meeting the ethical challenges of leadership: Casting light or shadow. (7th ed.). Sage.

    2 Additional Scholarly articles must be referenced.

    References: present a more comprehensive assessment by citing multiple scholars.

    – These scholars should come from the required resource list below AND additional scholars to substantiate the arguments presented in the responses.

    6. W6.3 Ethical Leadership Case Study Video

    As a leader in a learning organization, you will have many chances to deal with different people and a variety of challenges. Take a look at the following case study for an example of a real-life challenge faced by a leader in the field.

    Read “Case Study 7.1: Going Digital” on p. 385 in Ch. 7 of Meeting the Ethical Challenges of Leadership: Casting Light or Shadow.

    Create a 5- to 7-minute video in which you:

  • Initial Steps:
  • o Determine what initial steps Alicia Pia should take when arriving at South Town.

  • Framing the Change
  • o Explain how Alicia Pia should frame the change to employees at South Town Press

     What ethical messages should she communicate?

     What alternative frames might be offered by workers and subscribers?

  • Advantages of Communicating High Expectations
  • o Explain the advantages Alicia Pia has, as well as obstacles Pia faces, in communicating high expectations to the entire staff.

  • Obstacles of Communicating High Expectations
  • o Explain the advantages Alicia Pia has, as well as obstacles Pia faces, in communicating high expectations to the entire staff.

  • Fostering Self-Efficacy
  • o Explain how Alicia Pia can foster self-efficacy in her entire staff.

  • Using Indirect Channels for Communication
  • o Explain how Alicia Pia can use indirect channels to communicate high expectations to each individual member of her leadership team.

    Note: You may use Screencast-o-matic®, Vimeo®, YouTube®, Microsoft® Stream, or any other resource approved by your instructor to create your video.

    Include a transcript of your video in a Microsoft Word document.

    Cite at least 6 peer-reviewed scholarly sources to support your response.

    Format your references page according to APA 7 guidelines and add it to your transcript document.

    References: present a more comprehensive assessment by citing multiple scholars.

    – These scholars should come from the required resource list below AND additional scholars to substantiate the arguments presented in the responses.

    Required Resources

    – Chapter 7 “Exercising Ethical Influence”

    Influence Tools for Ethical Leaders

  • Gurley, D. K., & Dagley, A. (2021). Pulling back the curtain on moral reasoning and ethical leadership development for K–12 school leaders. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 16(3), 243–274.
  • Ethical Dilemmas for Leaders in Professional Services (25:49)
  • Vincent Neate describes different ethical dilemmas in business and suggests ways to help remedy those dilemmas. His main advice is to prepare to be vulnerable to the change you want to see in the world.
  • Additional resources should be used, but must be from the last four years.  

    W7: Characteristics of Ethical Crises

    Examine ethical leadership in crisis situations, such as natural disasters, mass shootings, or terrorist attacks. You will discover the three stages of a crisis, which include the precrisis, the crisis event, and the postcrisis. You will review the 7 ethical principles of moral duties to address crises, including assuming broad responsibility, practicing transparency, demonstrating care and concern, taking decisive (heroic) action, engaging the head as well as the heart, improvising from a strong moral foundation, and building resilience. In addition, you will research, analyze, and critique a journal article that evaluates the crisis response of an organization.

    7. W7.1: Responding to a Crisis

    Johnson (2021) noted crises are major unexpected events that pose significant threats to groups and organizations. The way that leaders manage crises is the crucial test of ethical leadership. Leaders must make quick, rational decisions under increased scrutiny. Yet, many leaders fail to meet the ethical challenges when faced with a crisis. To address crises ethically, leaders must draw on values, moral reasoning, normative leadership theories, ethical decision-making, character, communication skills, and influence tools for ethical crisis management (p. 654).

    Experts in crisis management identified 10 types of crises: public perception, natural disasters, product or service, terrorist attacks, economic, human resource, industrial, oil and chemical spills, transportation, and outside environment. Regardless of the type, each crisis passes through 3 stages: precrisis, crisis, and postcrisis. Therefore, leaders have a moral obligation to carry out specific tasks to address each (p. 655).

    Think about a crisis in an educational organization (preferably as an educational leader on the campus or within the district) you experienced either personally or professionally.

    Write a 250- to 300-word response to the following:

  • Describe the crisis, including the precrisis, crisis event, and postcrisis.
  • How did you respond to the crisis?
  • Reference

    Johnson, C.E. (2021). Meeting the ethical challenges of leadership: Casting light or shadow. (7th ed.). Sage.

    A minimum of 2 additional scholarly articles should be included as references.

    References: present a more comprehensive assessment by citing multiple scholars.

    – These scholars should come from the required resource list below AND additional scholars to substantiate the arguments presented in the responses.

    8. W7.2: Crisis Communications

    One of the most important things you will do as a leader during a crisis is communicate with others.

    Watch “Three Things You Need to Know About Crisis Communications” from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

    A transcript is available on YouTube.

    Write a 250- to 300-word response to the following:

  • What did you learn from watching this video about crisis competence?
  • How would what you learned from the video change how you would address the crisis you shared in Discussion 1? Would you do anything different? Why or why not?
  • A minimum of 2 scholarly articles should be used as references.

    References: present a more comprehensive assessment by citing multiple scholars.

    – These scholars should come from the required resource list below AND additional scholars to substantiate the arguments presented in the responses.

    9. W7.3: Journal Analysis

    As a leader of an organization, you never know when a crisis, such as a natural disaster, might strike. Therefore, it is important to be prepared with strategies for dealing with a variety of crisis situations. In this assignment, you will review current literature to determine how an organization responded to the crisis and whether the organization applied ethical standards when dealing with the crisis. This assignment will also allow you to practice your research skills by analyzing a journal article.

    Select a research article (using any methodology) from a peer-reviewed journal that evaluates the crisis response of an organization to a problem (e.g., hurricane, mass shooting, computer data theft, etc.) using the ethical standards and strategies described in Ch. 12 of Meeting the Ethical Challenges of Leadership: Casting Light or Shadow.

    Write a 700- to 1,050-word analysis and critique in which you:

  • Explanation of Problem
  • o Explain what problem the article addresses

  • Purpose of the Article
  • o Explain the purpose of the article.

  • Researcher’s Methodology
  • o Identify the methodology the researcher used in the study.

  • Relationship Between the Problem and the Methodology
  • o Explain the relationship between the study’s problem and the methodology used to conduct the research.

  • Crisis Response Evaluation
  • o Evaluate the crisis response of the organization using the ethical standards and strategies described in Chapter 12 of Meeting the Ethical Challenges of Leadership: Casting Light or Shadow

  • Critiquing the Approach
  • o Critique the author’s approach to the research

    o Make recommendation for the research method to use if you had designed the study

  • Conclusion
  • Include a link to the article you researched.

    Format your paper according to APA 7 guidelines.

    References: present a more comprehensive assessment by citing multiple scholars.

    – These scholars should come from the required resource list below AND additional scholars to substantiate the arguments presented in the responses.

    Required Resources

    – Chapter 12 “Ethical Crisis Leadership”

    – Keselman, D., & Saxe-Braithwaite, M. (2021). Authentic and ethical leadership during a crisis. Healthcare Management Forum, 34(3), 154–157.

    Additional scholarly articles should be used but should not be more than 4 years old 

    W8: Moral Decision-Making

    Examine the role of reason and intuition/emotion in ethical decision-making. You will also gain an understanding of the role of logic and emotions in moral decision-making (including moral sensitivity, moral judgment, moral motivation, and moral character). In addition, you will review the Kohlberg and Rest models of moral development and factors that increase or decrease the motivation to follow through on ethical choices. Finally, you will research a contemporary educational ethical issue and determine how to resolve the issue.

    10. W8.1: Ethical Decision-Making

    Review Professor Richard Kyte’s Four-Way Method of Ethical Decision-Making (truth, consequences, fairness, and character) on pp. 318-320 in Ch. 6 of Meeting the Ethical Challenges of Leadership: Casting Light or Shadow.

    Scenario:

    You are a new superintendent of a diverse school district. The student enrollment consists of a majority of minority students with more than 50 percent of children on free and reduced meals. There is a high number of English language learners and students with special needs. Student absenteeism and dropouts are significant, and the high school graduation rate is below the state average. While there is a stable teacher workforce, the majority of teachers have less than 5 years of professional experience. Overall, students perform average on state and local assessment; however, marginalized student groups’ performance remains below proficiency. Your board has charged you with moving all student groups to proficiency, at a minimum, on all assessment measures within the next 2 years.

    Write a 250- to 300-word response to the following:

  • Which decision-making approach would you use to resolve this ethical dilemma?
  • What moral judgments played a role in your decision-making?
  • What ethical blind spots did you acknowledge in your decision-making process?
  • Include a minimum of 2 scholarly, peer-reviewed articles as reference.

    11. W8.2 – Case Study 6.1

    Read “Ethical Scenarios for Analysis” on pp. 335-338 in Ch. 6 of Meeting the Ethical Challenges of Leadership: Casting Light or Shadow.

    Select and analyze one of the 5 scenarios provided.

    Write a 250- to 300-word response to the following:

  • Which decision-making approach would you use to resolve this ethical dilemma?
  • How will you respond to the question below the ethical dilemma you selected?
  • Be sure to identify which scenario you selected in your response.

    Include a minimum of 2 scholarly, peer-reviewed articles as reference.

    References: present a more comprehensive assessment by citing multiple scholars.

    – These scholars should come from the required resource list below AND additional scholars to substantiate the arguments presented in the responses.

    12. W8.3: Ethical Decision-Making and Behavior

    Assignment Content

    Scholars agree that ethical decision-making is a dual process based on logic and intuition to make moral choices in social situations. Finding a balance between logic and intuition is often the tricky part to decision-making. In the text, Johnson (2021) suggests decision-making guidelines or formats are tools to help leaders make better ethical choices. Using a systematic approach helps leaders carefully define the problem, gather information, apply ethical standards and values, and identify and evaluate alternatives to defend their decisions (p. 317).

    Write a 1,400- to 1,750-word paper in which you research a contemporary educational ethical issue where your personal beliefs and values may conflict with legal and societal expectations. The contemporary issue should explore widely accepted moral and ethical values that come in conflict with legal requirements and societal thought.

    Address the following in your paper:

    o Summarize Issue

    0. Summarize the selected issue

    1. Present the legal stance

    2. Assert what you believe the societal stance to be

    o Expected Consequences and Benefits

    0. Outline the expected consequences and benefits of the selected issue based on the accepted value systems.

    o The Conflict and Decision

    0. Describe the conflict and the decision or action you would take if you had no ethical compass.

    1. What would the consequences and benefits be in that situation?

    o Ethical Course of Action

    0. Explain what ethical course of action you would take if this issue arose in your institution. Consider the following questions:

    0. Would that course of action be based on your personal values or ethical decision-making?

    1. How would you sell your ideas to other leaders, parents, students, and/or the community?

    2. If your ideas were not accepted, what would your fallback position be, if you had one?

    3. If your institution is a global organization, how would this change the nature of the issue and the course of action that would be taken as a leader?

    Include at least 8 peer-reviewed scholarly sources in your paper (NOT OLDER THAN 4 YEARS).

    References: present a more comprehensive assessment by citing multiple scholars.

    – These scholars should come from the required resource list below AND additional scholars to substantiate the arguments presented in the responses.

    Required Resources

    – Chapter 6 “Ethical Decision Making and Behavior”

    – Gao, R., Liu, J., & Yin, B. (2020). An expanded ethical decision-making model to resolve ethical dilemmas In assessment. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 68, 1-12.

    – Hartmann, D. J., & McLaughlin, O. (2018). Heuristic patterns of ethical decision making. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, 13(5), 561–572.