Ethical Leadership and Organizational Behavior

This assignment delves into the crucial role of ethical leadership in shaping organizational behavior. It examines various leadership styles, their influence on ethical decision-making, and the broader consequences for individuals and organizations. The analysis draws upon scholarly research and real-world examples to illuminate the complexities of ethical leadership in diverse contexts.

LEADERSHIP AND
MANAGEMENT,
THEORY AND PRACTICE

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Leadership style used by Elon Musk......................................................................................1
The leadership qualities of Elon Musk...................................................................................3
Elon musk exemplification of ethical leadership and its advantage and disadvantage. ........4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Leadership is the ability of individual to lead or assist other people , teams or entire
organization (Hoch and Kozlowski, 2014) . The leaders give right direction to their team or to
the organization in which they work for. The direction is set by them, vision is build and
something is new also created. In order to guide their team in the right direction the management
skills are been used by leaders. For the vision of the future the inspiration is been created by
them and to enhance the people in that vision the leader motivated and inspires the people. A
leadership style is the style of leaders that gives direction, implement plans and encourages
people.
In this report the leadership style that is been used Elon Musk will be explained and the
qualities of leadership that have lead him to the success or failures of his business will be
explained in this report. The advantages and disadvantages of ethical leadership will also
evaluate in this report.
Leadership style used by Elon Musk
In work environments the different types of leadership style exists. The style of leadership that
fits in the firm best is determined by the culture and goals of an organization. There are various
theories of leadership and some of them are as follows-:
Great man theory – This theory states that leader are born and are not made. With or without the
essential characteristic of leaderships a person is born. This theory states that people are born
with these traits and only great individual possess them (Paustian-Underdahl,Walker and Woehr,
2014).
Trait theory – From a person' s individual traits or the characters the great leadership is derived.
This is known as trait theory. The personality, social, physical or intellectual are traits that
differentiate leaders from non-leaders. On the great man theory the trait theory is based on and in
its analysis of leaders it is more systematics. It is also been assumed in this theory that personal
characteristic of leaders are their key to success. The traits such as intelligence, decisiveness,
maturity, self-actualization, power over others, Human relation attitude, inner motivation etc are
the some traits of the leaders. They are adaptive as they have a skills of creativity and fluency
and also have self-confidence in oneself (Day and McKee, 2014).
Behavioural theory – In terms of what leaders so the behavioural leadership describes leaders
and is completely opposite to trait theory. It is been presented in this theory that leadership is not
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a set of trait but it is a set of behavioural and style. More than the traits of the person the
leadership is been shown by act of the person. The leadership potential is been determined by the
pattern of actions used by different individuals. In two categories the behavioural theories
divides the leaders. With the task that is concerned and with the people that is created
(Blackburn, Hart and Wainwright, 2013).
Functional theory – It is the responsibility of the leaders to assess the need of their customers and
make sure that there needs are met. The five primary functions need to be performed by the
leaders such monitoring of environment, the subordinate activities need to be organized, the
training and coaching need to be given to sub-ordinates , the followers ned to be motivated and
encouraged and in the work of group participation must be there.
Traction theory – Based on the performance of the subordinated the elders have the ability to
rewards or punish them. A goals need to be used by the leaders and training need to be given to
sub-ordinate towards the achievement of that goal and then the analyse the performance of sub-
ordinate towards the gaols. And when the gaols are met the subordinate must be rewarded for
that .
Transformational theory – In this the attention is been paid on big picture and in order to
encourage the followed effectively and efficiently to execute true vision the communication is
been used. To be visible and accessible the transformational leadership calls for leaders and in
order to realize new ideas it seek out new ides.
Environmental theory – The psychology and self-awareness is been used by leaders in order to
foster self-sustaining environment to bring the best in each other. A culture is being created by
the leader that encourages and excited the embers to complete the work not because they are
required but for benefit of the group.
In the give case study that is about Elon Musk the theory that is followed by him is the
transformational theory. On the high-level of communication from management the
transformation leadership style depends (Bharadwaj and Venkatraman, 2013). Through
communication and high visibly Elon Musk encourages employees and enhance productivity and
efficiency. In order to meet the goals of business there is a involvement of management. Within
an organization on the big picture the focus is been there and the small task are delegated to the
team to accomplish goals. It is been clear from the statement that transformational theory is been
use by him as he found great success as his vision was big. The great man theory also applied
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here in the leadership style of Elon Musk as he did have brains as at the age of 12 he created
videos games in the magazine for which he earned money also. The theory of transformational is
been used by him as in order to fulfil his visions all the risks are been take by Elon Musk. The
participate leadership style is been sued by him as the input from the team members ad peers
were been taken in order to make decision. And based on hat decisions were made by the
leaders. By making sue of this theory the moral of employees is boosted as the contribution is
been made by them in decision-making process. The people will be able to accept the change
easily by using participative leadership as in the process the role is bing played. In a shorter
period of time when Elon Musk wants to make decision then this style leadership is effective
(Bentley, Omer and Sharp, 2013).
The situational leadership was adapted by Elon Musk as he pay attention on the future and
permits the stability. The rational mind was used by him .He was a good leader as he believes in
doing the right things .He had a clear visions in his mind and his aim was to achieve that vision.
The management theories were used by him as focus on the role of supervision. He guided the
pole properly who were under him. He was a born leader and not made. So, this show the greater
man theories of Elon Musk
The leadership qualities of Elon Musk
As per the give case study it is been presented that vision of and the big dream of Elon Musk
have brought him this huge success. So, this clearly presented the transformation leadership
theory in which the goals and vision are been set and in order to achieve that vision all the
obstacle that are coming in between are fight by the leaders. Similarly was the case with this
leader Elon Musk who in order t be a successful leader deal with the risk and failures to achieve
his missions. He dreamt big and worked towards it sincerely. In this case study it is been shown
that from since childhood Elon Musk was creative as he made the picture of video games and
earned $ 500 for it .So, this shows that he was a borne leaders and represents great man theory.
In the success of Elon Musk the environment also played an essential role as in school he
was bullied and tease but when he went to Canada he got an opportunity to fulfilled his dream.
So, here situational leadership theory can be applied. In this the leadership is been affected by
situation room which a leader emerges and on which he works. The type of leadership is affected
by a group, the problem and its environment. One of the leadership qualities of Elon Musk was
that he was not afraid to loss anything and at time there was a situation where he could loss
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everything. In order to bring innovation Elon Mask make use of participative leadership or
democratic leadership (Bansal and DesJardine, 2014.). The input of members of team is being
valued in this. In decision-making process the group members or employees are taking more
participation. The discussion, ides are exchanged freely and all these opportunities are been to
everyone. Even though the group equality is been focused by democratic process but the leader is
still there to provide guidance and control the organization the creativity will be motived and
rewarded and the employees will feel more engaged. The qualities such as honesty, intelligence,
creativity, fairness, compete etc are being possessed by Elon Musk and he has not afraid of
failures and is always ready to bring new innovation in the organization. The path goals theory is
also used by him as in order to achieve the goals the assistance is been give by the ladders. In
this the leaders focus on the work that is to be done and the challenging goals are been set by
them.
Elon musk exemplification of ethical leadership and its advantage and disadvantage.
Ethical leadership in simple words can be defined as that leadership that is based on the
respect for ethical belief, dignity, right and value of others. In this individual shows the conduct
for the common good that is not only acceptable and appropriate in its own field but in every
area of their life. It composed of three major elements that an ethical leader lead people by giving
them example (Demirtas and Akdogan, 2015). This type of leader rely on action rather than
words to prove their points. By practicing and demonstrating unselfish, ethical and honest
behaviour to subordinate they easily began to earn the respect of their peers. Second in this
leadership focus lies on the overall importance of the ethics, including ethical and other ethical
issue. An ethical leader teach its pears about ethics and how to resolve the conflicts that are
arisen because ethical issue in workplace (Strom, Sears and Kelly, 2014). Communication is
another key that make ethical leader different. A leader must understand different way of
communication as each person have their own preference based on their personality. Some prefer
open conversation while other prefer to talk via mail. It's the job of ethical leader to
communicate with the each member of the team, and also allow room for open conversation for
those people who may have question and concern that are needed to be addressed (Shockley-
Zalabak, 2014).
Elon mask is one of the greatest example of ethical leadership Elon musk has adopted 4-
V model of ethical leadership. THE 4-V model includes 4 sides of ethical leadership that include
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values, vision, voice and virtue. Value act as the primary factor within the model. Elon musk
started the fight with the core value passion and intensity and become one of the leading
entrepreneur of time. Elon musk identified it owns vision where he wanted to bring something
more than slightly greener version of the vehicle than what other were presenting (Shapiro and
Stefkovich, 2016). He wanted to improved the world by inventing solar charged car that does not
compromise on power and clean energy. By identifying his vision he was able to align his action
and was able to do right things.
Illustration 1: 4-v Model of Ethical
Leadership
(Source: Ethical leadership 2015)
ELON Musk express his voice and vision through his management. He focuses his all
energy in making a world a better place. In order to do so he makes sure that his team is working
efficiently he makes aggressive targets and pay extra attention on the launching a product so that
best result can be obtained. The virtue of Elon Musk was displayed by his purpose of serving the
common good. For e. g. even after the decline in the stock of Tesla the focus of the firm did not
deter from energy friendly car and customer satisfaction. This help them in gaining the trust of
many investors and buyers have shown faith in the company (van Gils and et.al, 2015). With
they help of Elon Musk leadership the brand image of Tesla has reached new heights they have
changed the expectation of everyone's regarding auto.
Advantage of ethical leadership
Increased job satisfaction: The one of the biggest advantage of ethical leadership is that it help in
providing employee with satisfaction that help firm in retaining their valuable staff. This theory
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focus on the communication and collaboration. The opinion of employee are kept as important as
that of the CEO. This help the firm in maintaining the relationship between the higher
management and employee at lower level (Graham, Ziegert and Capitano, 2015). All employee
disregard of their position are treated on mutual respect and work of each employee get
appreciated by the staff. In addition to it as we have discussed earlier that ethical leader lead by
setting example, this help them in spreading same type of behavior across the organization.
Problem solving: The strong leadership and ethical framework help in resolving workplace
problem at much faster rates. Ethical framework help employee in reporting the problem quicker.
It helps firm in resolving the problems before it start affecting the working of the firm. It helps
firm in maintaining the efficiency in their working.
Additional collaborative benefits: AS we have discussed before ethical framework support
collaboration between the employees and higher authority. This type of leadership doesn't just
imply co operation within the firm but actually make sure that they do implement activities
through which proper cooperation from the member could be get (Yang, 2014). The
collaboration is not just between the employees, but sometime the firm also seek collaboration
with other cited firm that share same ethical framework. The open approach of dealing can boost
innovation within the corporate.
Reduce costly errors: This leadership model help firm in reducing business liability. It has also
been found that good leadership help in improving bottom line of the firm. The firm with higher
quality CEO has an average asset return of 9.35% over two year period (Liden and et.al, 2014).
Disadvantage
In order to be effective its necessary to align the ethical framework of the leader to fall in line
with the vision of organization, which is quite difficult. In addition to this its not only the leader
and entity that has aligned with each other but many time employees also find it difficult to work
in environment that has specific ethical standard (Choudhary, Akhtar and Zaheer, 2013). There
are high chances that what organization consider ethical may not be consider ethical for other
person. The different perception and view create tension within the company.
In this the firm highly relies on the leader ability. In this employee shows immense trust on the
capabilities of the leader and turn blind eye to its mistake of leader. They start following leader
without critical approach (Lin and et.al, 2015) . They can lead to the failure of the firm because
one wrong decision of firm can lead to downfall of whole firm.
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CONCLUSION
From above report it can be concluded that leadership play important role in the success
of an organization. Elon Musk has shown great quality of leadership. He has adopted ethical
leadership in his style where value, honesty and ethical belief become the base of the leading.
Ethical leadership help in bringing efficiency in the working but its quite difficult to uphold that
framework without affecting the profit of the
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bansal, P. and DesJardine, M. R., 2014. Business sustainability: It is about time. Strategic
Organization. 12(1). pp.70-78.
Bentley, K.A., Omer, T.C. and Sharp, N.Y., 2013. Business strategy, financial reporting
irregularities, and audit effort. Contemporary Accounting Research. 30(2). pp.780-817.
Bharadwaj, A. and Venkatraman, N.V., 2013. Digital business strategy: toward a next generation
of insights.
Blackburn, R.A., Hart, M. and Wainwright, T., 2013. Small business performance: business,
strategy and owner-manager characteristics. Journal of small business and enterprise
development. 20(1).pp.8-27.
Choudhary, A. I., Akhtar, S. A. and Zaheer, A., 2013. Impact of transformational and servant
leadership on organizational performance: A comparative analysis. Journal of Business
Ethics. 116(2). pp.433-440.
Day, D.V. and McKee, R.A., 2014. Advances in leader and leadership development: A review of
25years of research and theory. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), pp.63-82.
Demirtas, O. and Akdogan, A. A., 2015. The effect of ethical leadership behavior on ethical
climate, turnover intention, and affective commitment. Journal of Business
Ethics. 130(1). pp.59-67.
Graham, K. A., Ziegert, J. C. and Capitano, J., 2015. The effect of leadership style, framing, and
promotion regulatory focus on unethical pro-organizational behavior. Journal of Business
Ethics. 126(3). pp.423-436.
Hoch, J.E. and Kozlowski, S.W., 2014. Leading virtual teams: Hierarchical leadership, structural
supports, and shared team leadership. Journal of applied psychology, 99(3), p.390.
Liden, R. C. and et.al., 2014. Servant leadership and serving culture: Influence on individual and
unit performance. Academy of Management Journal. 57(5). pp.1434-1452.
Lin, P. Y. and et.al., 2015. The influences of nursing transformational leadership style on the
quality of nurses’ working lives in Taiwan: a cross-sectional quantitative study. BMC
nursing. 14(1). pp.33.
Paustian-Underdahl, S.C., Walker, L.S. and Woehr, D.J., 2014. Gender and perceptions of
leadership effectiveness: A meta-analysis of contextual moderators. Journal of applied
psychology, 99(6), p.1129.
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Shapiro, J. P. and Stefkovich, J. A., 2016. Ethical leadership and decision making in education:
Applying theoretical perspectives to complex dilemmas. Routledge.
Shockley-Zalabak, P., 2014. Fundamentals of organizational communication. Pearson.
Strom, D. L., Sears, K. L. and Kelly, K. M., 2014. Work engagement: The roles of organizational
justice and leadership style in predicting engagement among employees.Journal of
Leadership & Organizational Studies. 21(1). pp.71-82.
van Gils, S. and et.al., 2015. Ethical leadership and follower organizational deviance: The
moderating role of follower moral attentiveness. The Leadership Quarterly. 26(2).
pp.190-203.
Yang, C., 2014. Does ethical leadership lead to happy workers? A study on the impact of ethical
leadership, subjective well-being, and life happiness in the Chinese culture. Journal of
Business Ethics. 123(3). pp.513-525.
Online
Ethical leadership. 2015. [Online]. Available through;
<https://aishaumarmohammed.wordpress.com/2015/02/25/25/>
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