Contemporary Management Capabilities: Critical Incident Report

This report addresses a critical incident where a company CEO faces credible accusations of sexual harassment from former employees, leading to media attention and stakeholder concerns. The report aims to formulate recommendations for the board of directors, focusing on the key personal competencies required to address the situation and mitigate damage. It investigates the CEO's competencies, identifies areas for improvement, and suggests actions such as a thorough investigation, a press statement, and potential CEO suspension or replacement. The report emphasizes the importance of ethical leadership, workplace ethics, and creating a safe environment for all employees. The report provides an unbiased analysis, evaluates evidence, and offers recommendations for a fair and informed decision-making process, ensuring the company's future stability and ethical standing. References from various sources are used to support the arguments.

Contemporary Management Capabilities
Contemporary Management Capabilities
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Contemporary Management Capabilities
Table of Contents
Introduction..............................................................................................................................3
Key Personal Competencies....................................................................................................4
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................7
References.................................................................................................................................7
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Contemporary Management Capabilities
Introduction
Creating a safe workforce for the employees is the first priority of any company. For, when
the employees are happy can they serve the consumers better. Any form of harassment with
the employees is completely intolerable and should be met with strict actions (Ventimiglio,
2015).
However, if such an act is carried out by the CEO or any top-level leader of the company it is
important to ensure that it is thoroughly looked into and all corrective measures are taken.
In the given case too, the situation is similar. Here, the person concerned is the CEO of our
company and has been charged with sexual harassment cases from the two employees
(former) from his former company. The claims are quite dependable and authentic, and due to
this situation, the news has spread in media and is gaining momentum. Because of this, the
current company is facing a lot of issues, especially because the stakeholders no more see any
value and are extremely angry. This situation is not at all desirable for the company, as this is
not only harmful to the company's image but is also against the ethical boundaries and rules
set. It is quite reflective that the CEO is in the denial phase. However, it is important to give
him a fair chance and investigate the matter thoroughly, without any bias whatsoever. Once
the matter has been looked into completely, perfect recommendations can be given for the
processes henceforth.
Aim: in this report, we will aim to formulate certain recommendations and aims to provide
solutions for this situation and how the CEO can himself take some rectification measures.
The report will also aim to contain the damage that has been created because of this situation.
The evidence will be evaluated keeping all the practices of the organization in mind and how
it can be completely free of any bias (Bischak & Woiceshyn, 2015).
Scope: the scope of this report expands to the organization only. It will be enforceable on the
CEO and if, in any case, he does not adhere to the recommendations mentioned here, he is
liable to step down from the post or be terminated.
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Contemporary Management Capabilities
We will not consider any implications in this report and any legal cases which (if) have to be
filed against any member in question. The report is simply investigative in nature and for the
purpose of helping the board of directors to evaluate the situation in detail.
Key Personal Competencies
Every human being in a workforce has certain skills and competencies based on which it is
decided if he or she is fit for the job or not. The competencies are a list of observable
behaviour which make the probable character of a person and renders his or her use to the
company (Cripe, 2012).
In this case, too, the list of competencies will help us in identifying the kind of person the
CEO is, our company's requirement and vision for its CEO and if he is able to live up to them
or not.
These competencies have been formed after the complete background check of the CEO
which are direct proofs of his conduct and his ability to head the company. We have asked for
a behavioural psychologist to help us with this. Being an independently chosen their person,
the psychologist is not at all biased and has ensured that she gives us an independent report of
her findings (Jabbouri & Zahari, 2014).
In an international business environment, it is important to develop these competencies in the
employees of the company, no less the leader as well. A CEO is responsible for the growth of
the business and is the bridge between the management and the employees and the company
and the outer world. Such a person should exhibit the highest amount of calibre, ethics,
humility and skill besides the regular domain knowledge (Forbes Coaches Council, 2017).
For the purpose of this report, it is essential to understand that the following keep personnel
competencies are essential in our CEO.
The core competencies which we require in our CEO are mentioned below:
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Contemporary Management Capabilities
 The CEO should be empathetic enough to understand the plight of the employees and
should be willing to take corrective actions
 The CEO should draw clear channels of communication to ensure proper flow of
information and that employees can clearly communicate their concerns to the
concerned person (Hackett, 2012)
 The CEO should be clear in his pursuit and vision for the organization and should
have the right planned chalked out as well
 The CEO should respect everyone and shall consider all the workplace ethics as
important and to be followed
 The CEO should focus more on the growth of the people than just his personal gains
(Riggio, 2014)
The following section will summarise the expected competencies of the CEO, the
competencies in the current CEO and if there is a sync between the two or not.
Competencies Required Competencies Present Sync between the
organization
Should have a focussed
approach towards the
company and the work
Is extremely skilled and
focussed
Yes
Should be humble and well
mannered
Comes out to be a little
arrogant but not often
No
Should behave ethically and
be free of biases
Has been accused by two
women for harassment and it
has a lot of pre-conceived
notions about everything
No
Should be focused on
developing future
competencies and vision for
the company
Is more noise than work, but
is able to pull off successful
feats
Yes
Should allow the free flow
of communication amongst
the employees
Believes in controlling
things
No
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Contemporary Management Capabilities
Should focus more on
developmental needs of the
company
Have mixed thoughts on it Can’t say
There were various other questions which were asked to him during the interview, and it was
felt that while he was a good CEO in terms of his knowledge and skills, his personal beliefs
and ideas often clouded his judgement and rendered him biased in this transactions.
It was felt that the CEO was not really in grip of his accounts that day. Even though his plans
for the company were ready, he lacked basic implementation methods as well.
On being asked about the harassment issues, he showed visible signs of discomfort but still
stuck to his denial story and simply termed those women to be opportunists. This situation is
tough since the CEO appointed is good in work, but with all the allegations levied against
him and his outright denial, apparently unsupported by any facts, makes it difficult to count
upon his integrity and take his word for it (Snellman, 2015). There are chances that the
female employees of our company, who are currently enraged might not feel comfortable
with the decision of sticking him around. But at the same time, finding a better replacement,
better in terms of skills and knowledge can be a tough road.
Following recommendations have been formulated for the members of the board after a
diligent interview with the CEO and the committee. These recommendations are guiding
principle for a better and informed decision-making process, which is free of all the bias.
 The CEO should be given a last fair chance to come clean in the matter
 The board should give a press statement at the earliest possible to control the fake
news and all the corresponding damage the company is facing over these allegations
 The board should also conduct a meeting with all the relevant shareholders and
investors to ensure that their confidence remains intact
 PR activities to be rolled out for better outreach and image cleansing for the company
 The CEO should be asked to submit a detailed clarification
 A random and unbiased background check of the CEO from the previous company,
especially the female staff to understand his work cultures and work ethics
 Temporarily suspending the CEO till some progress is obtained and reinstating an
acting head
 Initiate the search and nomination for a new CEO (Sunanda, 2018)
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Contemporary Management Capabilities
The board members are hereby requested to go through the report in detail and understand the
current situation from an independent perspective. While we may have supporters of the
current CEO in the board, it is important to first thing about the company and its slowly but
steadily tarnishing image because of these unfortunate incidences.
A thorough and bias-free understanding is requested following which a meeting can be
scheduled to decide on the future of the current CEO and the company.
Conclusion
With this, we can understand how companies and the board function when the ethical norms
of a company are violated (Saremi & nezhad, 2014). It is essential to create such an
environment in a company where laws apply to everyone equally and women are safe. In this
case, a bias-free understanding is essential to reach a decision as soon as possible.
References
Cripe, E. J. (2012). 31 Core Competencies Explained. Retrieved from
https://www.workforce.com/2002/09/03/31-core-competencies-explained/
Jabbouri, N. I., & Zahari, I. (2014). THE ROLE OF CORE COMPETENCIES ON
ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY IN THE IRAQI
PRIVATE BANKING SECTOR. European Scientific Journal, 1.
Forbes Coaches Council. (2017). If You Want To Be 'CEO Material,' Develop These 15
Traits. Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2017/12/29/if-you-want-to-be-
ceo-material-develop-these-15-traits/#4b9dd5a44ed3
Ventimiglia, L. (2015). The Benefits & Importance of Ethics in the Workplace. Retrieved
from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/benefits-importance-ethics-workplace-larry-
ventimiglio/
Riggio, R. E. (2014). The Top 10 Leadership Competencies. Retrieved from
https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/cutting-edge-leadership/201404/the-top-
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10-leadership-competencies
Sunanda, D. K. (2018). IMPACT OF WORKPLACE ETHICS ON EMPLOYEE AND
ORGANIZATION PRODUCTIVITY. International Journal of Management, 9(1).
Saremi, H., & nezhad, B. m. (2014). ROLE OF ETHICS IN MANAGEMENT OF
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Snellman, L. (2015). Ethics Management: How to Achieve Ethical Organizations and
Management? Business, ManageMent and education, 13(2).
Hackett, R. D. (2012). Virtues and leadership: An integrating conceptual framework founded
in Aristotelian and Confucian perspectives on virtues. MANAGEMENT DECISION,
50(5).
Bischak, D. P., & Woiceshyn, J. (2015). Leadership Virtues Exposed: Ethical Leadership
Lessons From Leading in Rock Climbing. Journal of Leadership & Organizational
Studies.
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