Ethical Leadership Analysis: The Boeing Company Case Study of Harry

This case study delves into the ethical conduct of Harry Stonecipher at The Boeing Company, examining his character, decision-making processes, and the influence of his spirituality and personal ethics on his leadership. It analyzes Stonecipher's application of ethical decision-making steps, highlighting the importance of moral sensitivity, judgment, motivation, and character, while also considering the interpersonal communication aspects within Boeing during his tenure. The analysis further explores how Stonecipher exercised power and influence, particularly in enforcing the company's code of conduct. The study concludes that while Stonecipher was effective in driving cultural change and enforcing ethical standards, his approach sometimes lacked moral consideration, leading to potential ethical implications. Desklib provides access to similar case studies and solved assignments for students.

Running head: CASE ANALYSIS 0
Boeing Company
Case Study Analysis
Student Name

CASE ANALYSIS 1
Introduction
The Boeing Company is the world’s largest aerospace company and the leading
manufacturer of jetliners, space and security systems. It is a top United States exporter which
supports airlines to government customers majorly in 150 countries, Boeing is divided into two
business units under which one is the Boeing Commercial Airplanes and second is the Boeing
Defence, Space and Security (Boeing, 2018). In August 1997 Boeing elected Harry Stonecipher
as the president and chief operating officer; in the month of May 2001 he was elected as the vice
chairman and retired in the month of June 2002. However; he returned from retirement and
named as the president and chief executive officer in the month of December 2003 and resigned
in the month of May 2005 (Romero, 2010).
The reason for resign of Stonecipher was that he was a faithful supporter of the code of
conduct and an inspiration for all the employees as minor violations were not tolerated, but
Stonecipher admitted to being in a personal relationship which lasted several weeks and the lady
was a long time Boeing employee. A packet of information was sent from an unidentified source
to Boeing's non-executive chairman Lewis Platt and several executives who made a series of
charges, several charges according to Platt did not stand any chances of internal investigation
(Oneal, 2005).
Personal Ethical Perspective
Harry’s Character: Influence on Decision Making
Harry Stonecipher is a blunt talking aerospace veteran, an enforcer; bottom line focused,
no-nonsense style, self-confident, dominant, active, higher frequency at personal interaction,

CASE ANALYSIS 2
warm, assertive, and enthusiastic depicts his character as of a leader (Bayram, 2017). The act of
choosing best alternative from all the others is defined as decision making; its process involves
multiple ways to achieve success as it depends upon the person’s own values (Moore, Zavaleta &
Shaw, 2012). As in the case of Stonecipher his character influenced his decision making
positively because he did well on all the positions as he persisted professionalism in his work. He
leaded well when he was with General Electric Financial services and further at The Boeing, also
received the “Wings Club Distinguished Achievement Award” in 2001.
Aspects of Harry’s Spirituality
Spirituality is a broad concept; in general sense it is a connection to something bigger than
human beings and involves searching a meaning in life (Hyson, 2012). The aspects of Harry’s
spirituality which may have influenced his decision making are mentioned below:
 First aspect is the hopefulness, spirituality add a sense of hope and optimism as
challenges encounter at every step of life but staying hopeful during such challenges is
the key to win over all the challenges (Chaplain, 2014). This aspect may have influenced
Harry’s decision making because it is related with optimism and winning over the
challenges.
 Second aspect is the sense of purpose and meaning which signifies a feeling life is of
some worth and there is a reason behind being alive, the sight is lost towards what is
important and meaningful without the sense of spirituality (Sinek, Mead & Docker,
2017). This aspect may have influenced Harry’s decision making because if he did not
have that sense of purpose, reaching such higher positions in the companies where he
worked is not possible without taking best decisions.

CASE ANALYSIS 3
 Third aspect is the inspiration and appreciation as life is full of inspiration and if the
search is done then the result comes that life is more than just struggles and challenges
that are faced by the human being (Kontos, 2016). This aspect may have influenced
Harry’s decision making because inspiration play an important role while taking the
decisions.
Aspects of Transformation in Action: Evident with Case
Business transformation consists of making changes in the fundamentals i.e. changes in
the manner the business is being conducted to cope up with the environmental changes (Uhl &
Gollenia, 2016). The aspects of transformation action which are evident with the case of Harry
Stonecipher are mentioned below:
 First is embracing the hypocritical self i.e. feeling like different at time when at work,
with partner, with family, and alone. Thinking about being more, being different, and
having any tangible or social skill of which no one is sure to actually possess that in real
life, however the shadow self forms from unconscious mind through repressed instincts,
ideas, weakness, perversions and desires (Edwards, 2010).
 Second is transcending fear i.e. overcoming fear and exploring how the fear and anxiety
are connected, mistakes become learning opportunities for success and focusing on the
things which can be controlled directs towards overcoming the fears. Finding right
support makes huge difference in overcoming the fears and knowing the potential
opportunities caters in fulfilling it (Edwards, 2010).
 Third is disturbing the systems i.e. systems are moving towards new levels of complexity
because of which they are disturbed, systems were designed to prevent disturbances and
maintain a steady course. But when these systems are deviated and disturbed they straight

CASE ANALYSIS 4
away triggers the resistance, the only way to get through this is to purify oneself then
only the purpose is fulfilled and the transformation takes place (Edwards, 2010).
Ethical Decision Making and Action
Application of Steps by Harry for Sound Decision Making
Harry Stonecipher firstly never gathered any facts by any means from Boeing
employees, secondly; issues identified by Harry were that cultural changes were needed in the
company after the merger took place between Boeing and McDonnel Douglas, thirdly;
stakeholders who were most affected in this were not Harry Stonecipher concerns as he just
focused on bringing the cultural change, fourthly; consequences were never given importance by
Harry that many of the employees may leave the job or will not be happy at the workplace,
fifthly; obligations were that Harry was bound to his own code of conduct as he pushes out
executives who fail to deliver, sixthly; Harry always considered his character as the blunt one as
he straight away says towards changing the culture that it should run like a business rather than
an engineering firm because people invest in a company to make money, seventhly; thinking
creatively about potential actions was used by Harry as he always tried to push people for best
results as a marks of good leadership, eighthly; Harry did checked his gut because he reviewed
all the actions in terms of the cultural changes he brought to the company.
Importance of Moral Sensitivity, Judgement, Motivation and Character in Decision
Making
 The skill which is involved in making good decisions is the sensitivity towards the moral
issues which are faced in daily life, when a decision has to be taken the problem must not

CASE ANALYSIS 5
always be seen as a technical one because they can consist moral components (Mower,
Robison & Vandenberg 2015).
 Moral judgement and decision making in situations is used where tensions arises between
moral principles, theory of social judgement is that people act and reason diversely on the
situations which are faced as they are governed by moral rules, social conventions, and
personal discretion (Bartels, Ross, Medin & Skitka, 2009).
 In societies individual achievements are rewarded and serious threat arises from those
people who cheat the systems for personal gains, maintaining higher standard is
demanded from the people and setting active goals which are important in decision
making triggered by motivation.
 A person who consist practical wisdom is a wiser one, and is able to perceive appropriate
degree of passion and action in response to the problem for which the decision is to be
taken.
The above were not evident in Harry Stonecipher’s case because the way Harry executed his
decision making was absolutely blunt and never thought what any moral implications may arise
from the decisions that are taken by him.
Ethical Interpersonal Communication
Interpersonal Communication Aspects which Arise at Boeing
First is the Emotional Intelligence; it referred as the capability of an individual in
managing and controlling emotions of oneself and also possessing the ability of controlling
others emotions. It is a very vital skill in context with the capabilities of leadership and the
biggest single predictor for achieving success at the workplace (Petrovici & Dobrescu, 2014).

CASE ANALYSIS 6
This aspect arise at the Boeing in the situation when the merger was under process and Harry
Stonecipher took the charge of bringing cultural change although Harry was successful in
controlling emotions of himself as he did well in applying ethical code of conduct and made
others also follow it strictly otherwise gave them the option to walk off from the organization.
Second is managing the conflict; whenever two individuals or groups convey different
opinions and do not show any will to compromise, conflicts are raised. Conflicts at workplace
arises due to numerous reasons, sometimes mutual acceptance is lacked, sometimes due the
organizational change conflicts are there between the top management and the employees or the
unions, and like this reasons persist on the basis of organization to organization (Liddle, 2017).
This aspect can be linked with Boeing in respect with the conflicts that were between the
employees and Harry Stonecipher i.e. the way Harry was implementing changes in the whole
organization so rapidly the old employees of the Boeing before the merger took place were not
happy as they had issues that politics of the McDonnel Douglas company was brought to Boeing
which was not accepted by the old employees.
Exercising Ethical Influence
Way Harry Exercised Power and Influence
In the case of Harry Stonecipher the kind of power which was imparted in his leadership
were the legitimate power and coercive power. Legitimate power is the type of power that a
leader possess through status and the position in the company and coercive power reflects that
leader can punish any employee or team, as threat of getting punished will push the employee to
act in the best way (Prooijen & Lange, 2014). Harry exercised these mentioned powers over his
staff in the first instance when he retired but as he was the single largest shareholder in the

CASE ANALYSIS 7
company, Harry remained as one of the board of director and when the ethic scandal came into
the picture in 2003 done by Phil Condit and two other executives, they all were sent to prison by
Harry.
In the second instance the coercive power used by Harry Stonecipher at Boeing was in
the form of communicating executives who were working under him that if they will not obey
the ethical code of conduct in their working or they do not work as they are told, they will be
fired straight away from the organization. These were the instances from Boeing which signifies
that how Harry Stonecipher exercised power and influence over his staff.

CASE ANALYSIS 8
Conclusion
The case analysis concludes about the ethical conduct in context to the Boeing Company;
how the company and its top management gave importance to the code of conduct, few of the
incidents took place at Boeing which questioned the company’s value towards the code of
conduct. Initially the case analyses the personal ethical perspective under which Harry
Stonecipher’s character is discussed and its influence on decision making, aspects of his
spirituality are discussed and aspects of transformation in action which are evident with the case
are thrown light. Ethical decision making and action are concluded further under which
discussion upon the steps taken by Harry Stonecipher for sound decision making and importance
of moral sensitivity, moral judgement, motivation, and character in the decision making and
concluding that Harry was too blunt to think about morality in his decision making.
Ethical interpersonal communication is discussed further under which interpersonal
aspects; emotional intelligence and managing the conflict are elaborated and linked with
instances from the case of Boeing Company. Lastly; exercising ethical influence is analysed in
respect with the case under which the ways are discussed through which Harry Stonecipher
exercised power and influence over the staff at Boeing and the conclusion is that legitimate and
coercive power were used by Harry for which the instances have been stated which justifies the
conclusion .

CASE ANALYSIS 9
References
Bartels, D.M., Ross, B.H., Medin, D.L., & Skitka, L. (2009). Moral Judgment and Decision
Making. United Kingdom: Routledge.
Bayram, N. (2017). Decision-Making Styles and Personality Traits. International Journal of
Recent Advances in Organizational Behaviour and Decision Sciences, 3(1), 905-915.
Boeing. (2018). Company Overview. Retrieved from:
http://www.boeing.co.in/about-boeing/company-overview.page
Chaplain, R. (2014). 5 aspects of the value of Spirituality. Retrieved from:
https://achaplainsjourney.wordpress.com/2014/11/19/5-aspects-of-the-value-of-
spirituality/
Edwards, M. (2010). Organizational Transformation for Sustainability: An Integral Metatheory.
United Kingdom: Routledge.
Hyson, P. (2012). Coaching with Meaning and Spirituality. United Kingdom: Routledge.
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Moore, S., Zavaleta, E., & Shaw, R. (2012). Decision-making Under Uncertainty: An
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CASE ANALYSIS 10
Mower, D., Robison, W.L., & Vandenberg, P. (2015). Developing Moral Sensitivity. United
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Oneal, M. (2005). Boeing CEO fired over relationship. Retrieved from:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-boeing-story.html
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Sinek, S., Mead, D., & Docker, P. (2017). Find Your Why: A Practical Guide for Discovering
Purpose for You and Your Team. United Kingdom: Penguin UK.
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