Ethical Leadership: An Analysis of the Case Study

Running head: ETHICAL LEADERSHIP
ETHICAL LEADERSHIP: AN ANALYSIS OF THE CASE STUDY “AN OFFER YOU
CAN’T REFUSE?”
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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TASK 1
Ethics and Ethical decision making highlighted in the case study “An offer you can’t
refuse?”
As opined by Barry (2016), the business corporations for the attainment of long-term
growth or for that matter sustainability are required to take into account the concept of business
ethics and also model their business activities or operations on the basis of the same. Crane et al.
(2019) are of viewpoint that the adequate usage of the concept of business ethics helps the
business corporations to not only ethically conduct their business operations but also create as
well as capture value for the stakeholders who are directly influenced by the conduct of their
business operations. However, as discussed by Ferrell and Fraedrich (2015), the most important
problem arises because the majority of the business corporations for the purpose of attaining a
higher level of growth are completely disregarding the concept of business ethics. More
importantly, the business corporations are taking the help of the kind of business measures or for
that matter the business activities which are completely detrimental from the perspective of their
long-term growth or sustainability and also the stakeholders as well (Trevino and Nelson 2016).
Furthermore, the unethical business practices which the business corporations use for the
enhancement of their profitability although provide them success in the short-term range yet in
the long-term range they adversely affect the success of the corporations (Chell et al. 2016).
McMurrian and Matulich (2016) are of the viewpoint that the business corporations for
the purpose of making the kind of decisions which would be completely ethical in nature and
also beneficial from the perspective of the stakeholders who are associated with them need to

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take into account the process of ethical decision-making. More importantly, as discussed by
Shaw (2016), the concept of ethics as well as the likely benefits that the stakeholders would
derive through the usage of the concerned decisions should underpin the entire decision making
framework which is being used by the business corporations for the purpose of making different
important decisions. However, at the same time it needs to be said that there are various factors
or for that matter principles which influence the usage of the different unethical measures or
practices by the business corporations. For instance, as per the narrow view of corporate social
responsibility (CSR), the most important responsibility of the business corporations is to make
profit and thereby contribute towards the economic development or for that matter the growth of
the nations in which they conduct their business (Bowie 2017). This aspect in turn had made the
business corporations of the contemporary times to focus solely on the aspect of profitability and
the enhancement of the same regardless of the measures which they take for the enhancement of
the same (Werhane 2019).
The case study under discussion here highlights an event which is completely related to
the aspect of business ethics and also the aspect of ethical decision-making which the business
corporations need to follow for the purpose of making the kind of decisions which would be
completely ethical in nature. In this relation, it needs to be said that the case study under
discussion here presents a dilemmatic situation wherein the principal character is required to
make a decision, that is, whether she should take the help of unethical measure for the purpose of
furthering the prospects of her career and also the growth of the business corporation that she
works or stick to the concept of ethics. For instance, Sheila had been approached by a
dissatisfied-employee of the rival business corporation who wants to take revenge for the
derogatory treatment he had received at the hands of his manager in his business firm. More

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importantly, it is seen that the dissatisfied-employee who had approached Sheila wants to give
her the future marketing plan of his business corporation in lieu for the promise that when he
approaches the business corporation that Sheila works for he would be given a better job than he
presently has. Thus, Sheila has a choice to use the marketing plan of the rival business
corporation to get a promotion and also enhance the growth of the business corporation that she
works for or on the other hand stick to the concept of business ethics and thereby do the right
thing, that is, avoid the entire incident.
Quarshie, Salmi and Leuschner (2016) are of the viewpoint that an important trend which
is being seen within the spectrum of the contemporary business landscape is the fact that the
business corporations in order to attain a higher level of success are increasingly taking the help
of the ethical theory of Kantianism. As discussed by Davies (2016), one of the most important
precepts of the ethical theory of Kantianism is the fact that “the end justifies the means or for that
matter the method which had been taken for the achievement of the concerned end”. This theory
of ethics as a matter of fact is being used by the different business corporations for the purpose of
justifying the unethical business measures which are being used by them for the attainment of the
desired level of success (Strobel, Tumasjan and Welpe 2015).
More importantly, as discussed by Mea and Sims (2018), the usage of this ethical theory
is completely justified from the perspective of the different business corporations since over the
years it had been seen that the effective usage of this ethical theory had helped the business
corporations to enhance the level of growth or for that matter the success attained by them. On
the basis of this theory, it can be said that if Sheila decides to use the marketing plan which is
being offered to her by the employee of the rival business corporation it would not be unethical.
For instance, it would enable her to not only derive personal benefits through the usage of the