Reflective Assessment on Ethical Decision-Making in Leadership

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Reflective Assessment
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Brief of Diagnostic tools..................................................................................................................3
MCI scoring scale........................................................................................................................3
Personality test.............................................................................................................................3
Schwartz value scale....................................................................................................................3
Overview of case study 1: All Asia Airways...................................................................................6
Overview of case study 2: The Gold and Diamond watch..............................................................8
Ethics as a leader.............................................................................................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11
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Introduction
This is a reflective assessment which will analyze two case studies based on pre-determined
tests. The essay will give an overview of the case study and then the analysis will be made on the
basis of 3 diagnostic tools. The tools will help to gain insight about the moral and ethical values
that must be taken into consideration by an individual before making any decision. The tools will
provide knowledge about the ethical conditions that a leader must fulfil while running a business
and dealing with the other business associated parties. At the end of the essay, there will be
recommendations that a person can adopt while being a leader and handling business operations.
This reflective essay is of great importance to gain information about the moral principles of
business.
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Brief of Diagnostic tools
MCI scoring scale
MCI scoring scale stands for management competency index. This is the rating scale by which
an individual can know about the leadership and management competencies. The scale is
effective in analyzing the behaviour of an individual as a manager or leader. At the MCI scoring
scale, people are given a rating from 1 to 6. The people getting 1 rating are least objectionable
and do have most of the management competencies. The people scoring 6 are the least
objectionable and have least management competencies (Zadeh, et. al., 2016).
Personality test
The personality test is the test of a person for analyzing his personality traits. There are some of
the basic personality traits that a person can have. The five traits are Openness,
Conscientiousness, extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism. Scores about these personality
traits are analyzed are given, and the personality is analyzed (Rouw & Scholte, 2016).
Schwartz value scale
This is the value scale that is effective in determining the importance of ethical values for a
person. There are several ethical values that are analyzed by this scale like self-direction,
universalism, security, power, tradition, conformity, benevolence and stimulation. Ranks are
given from -1 to 7. The people having the score-1 are opposed to the values, and the people
scoring high on this scale considers these values in making any decision. This means that ethical
values are important for them (Becker, et. al., 2017).
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Overview of case study 1: All Asia Airways
The first case is associated with the company All Asia airways. Richard change was the owner of
the company, and he had expanded his business to a great extent. The company started with a
simple transport business, but now the business included aircraft to provide airway services to
the people travelling from one country to another. Richard was a very practical man and was
ruthless also as stated by the case study. He fired many employees from the organization just
because they were not successful in achieving the targets of the company. Richard also fired
some of his family members from the business because they were not competent. The targets set
by Richard were sometimes non-realistic. When Richard wanted to expand the business into the
Canadian market, the company had to register itself as an American company and also follow the
rules of Sarbanes Oxley and the foreign Corrupt practice act. David Leong joined the AAA and
worked in the purchasing department of the company. One day David came to know that there
was a defect in the fuel pump of one of the aircraft and all the other aircrafts were also not
permitted to take off. David asked to form his senior for suggestion in that situation. The senior
advised David to do whatever it takes but make sure that the planes are in the air.
Analysis of the case
 MCI scoring scale: According to the MCI scoring scale, Richard must be ranked as 5, David
must be ranked 5 and Gearme must be ranked as 6. According to the MCI scoring scale,
David was the one who was not able to take his own decisions. He had to trust his seniors for
making effective and moral decisions. David did not think about his own personality but just
blindly followed the suggestion of his senior. I think David could not be a good leader.
Talking about Richard, the score that he got shows that he was very ruthless and just wanted
his business to grow. For him, the feelings and sentiments of his employees did not mean
anything. Although he had all the knowledge that giving personal gifts and bribery was a
punishable offence under the Sarbane’s Oxley and the foreign Corrupt practice act, then also
he continued to take such decisions. Richard had no ethical principles. His main motive was
to ear high profits eve at the cost of other’s life. Graeme was ranked 6 as he was very well
aware of the consequences that of the defective fuel pump but then also he advised David to
do anything for making the aircraft fly. This was the height of irresponsibility. Graeme also
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thought about his own profits as he knew that if he did not do anything, Richard would fire
him as well.
 Personality test: According to the personality test, I think Richard had an emotionless
personality. He had high Neuroticism personality trait. He was not concerned with the
emotions of his employees as well as the customers. He was concerned with money. David
has a dual personality. He was concerned with the lives of the passengers but at the same
time was confused about the decision. Graeme was a person with an extrovert personality. He
wanted to enjoy lunches and dinner parties but was not able to make ethical decisions. He
was just like a puppet to Richard.
 Schwartz value scale: Richard scored -1 as he had no ethical and moral values and
principles. He had no time to thin for the good of others. He adopted many unethical ways
like bribery a donations to improve and grow his business. David scored 1 on the scale as he
did not have his own personal views on the situation; he always followed the decisions taken
by his seniors. Graeme scored 0 in the value scale as the values were mot important for him.
He was just concerned about his job and the company. The interest and lives of other people
were not of his interests.
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Overview of case study 2: The Gold and Diamond watch
The case study is associated with the company Anderson office supplies. Ryan was a salesman in
the office and worked very hard to get the orders. Abdul, one of the client, asked Ryan for a gold
and diamond watch in return for a very big order for the company. Ryan asked Charles about the
deal, but Charles refused to do. Ryan asked for advice from his friend Angus, Angus advised
Ryan to get a watch and gift it to Abdul and take the order. Mr Grey, the bank manager, gave a
personal loan to Ryan without asking him about the reason for the loan. Jane who as the
secretary of Charles saw Ryan buying a gold and diamond watch worth $10000. Jane informed
Charles about this. Charles got furious as he told Ryan not to accept the offer of Abdul, but he
did that. Charles fired Ryan.
Analysis of the case
 MCI scoring scale: I ranked Ryan as 5 on the MCI rating scale. It means that Ryan was not
aware of his ethical values and principles. Ryan thought of earning high commission for his
children and family, but he did not give much importance to the unethical behaviour that he
was following. I gave 6th rank to Abdul on the scale as he was a corrupted person. He asked
for a bribe which is a punishable act under all the rules. Charles was a good and ethical
person, so I give 1 rank to him. He knew that the act of bribery can ruin the goodwill of their
company in the market. He was also concerned about the ethical and moral values that are
followed in the organization. Angus was ranked 3 by me. This is because he advised Ryan to
bribe Abdul in return of the order. He was concerned about his friend but his must have
thought of the consequences of the act too. Mr. Grey was ranked as 4 as he did his job with
irresponsibility. He must have asked for the reason for taking such a big loan and asked for
some documentation also. I ranked Jane as 2, she was correct on her part to inform Charles,
but she could have asked Ryan at the immediate point about what he was doing.
 Personality test: If I talk about the personality of all the characters in the case. I would like to
say that Ryan was a good person, but his need for money and greed forced him to do the
unethical act. Jane was a responsible person as she informed her boss about the act of Ryan.
Abdul had a negative personality with unethical principles and no moral values. Charles had
an open personality trait and was open-minded. He accepted challenged but did not believe in
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the breach of ethics for earning profits. Mr Grey was at fault and had a personality with the
trait of irresponsibility.
 Schwartz value scale: In my view, according to the Schwartz value scale, Ryan was ranked
as 2 as he was a man of principles but he also wanted to earn money, and for that, he decided
to bribe Abdul. Mr Grey was ranked as 0 on this scale, as he did not bother to ask for the
reason of loan to Ryan. Charles was ranked as 7 as ethical principles were of great
importance to him, and he wanted that ethics must always be followed in the organization. I
gave 4 scores to Jane, as she was ethical but and values were important for her. Angus scored
1 on the scale as he advised his friend to give bribe to Ryan, but he must have stopped Ryan
from doing so and encouraged him to do work in an ethical manner.
Ethics as a leader
In my opinion, if I would be a leader in a company, I would always follow the rules of ethics. Y
moral would be my priority in all my acts. It is important for me to take care of the interest of my
customers rather than my own benefit. I believe that if a firm and the employees act ethically and
in a socially responsible manner, the firm would automatically grow and prosper (Gibson-
Graham, et.al, 2013). I think that a person should incorporate ethical and moral values in all his
acts. If I were a leader, I would consider the interest of my employees at the top of my own
interest. This would encourage my employees to do better work and the goodwill of my firm
would also increase.
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Conclusion
The reflective essay concluded that it is important for a person to act ethically in all situations. If
ethics are followed in business, the business will surely reach its destination of success. There is
no need to adopt unethical ways to earn higher profits (Demirtas & Akdogan, 2015). The essay
provided information about three diagnostic tools that are effective in analyzing the personality
of people. The three diagnostic tools are Management competency Index (MCI), Personality test
and the Schwartz value scale. The essay also reflected the importance of ethical behaviour in
business.
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References
 Becker, J. R., Engelbrecht, A., Boonzaaier, M., Finch, J. D., Meiring, D., & Louw, G.
(2017). The measurement of values: A psychometric evaluation of the Schwartz Value
Survey in the South African context. Management Dynamics: Journal of the Southern
African Institute for Management Scientists, 26(2), 21-41.
 Demirtas, O., & Akdogan, A. A. (2015). The effect of ethical leadership behavior on
ethical climate, turnover intention, and affective commitment. Journal of Business
Ethics, 130(1), 59-67.
 Gibson-Graham, J. K., Cameron, J., & Healy, S. (2013). Take back the economy: An
ethical guide for transforming our communities. University of Minnesota Press.
 Rouw, R., & Scholte, H. S. (2016). Personality and cognitive profiles of a general
synesthetic trait. Neuropsychologia, 88, 35-48.
 Zadeh, M. T., Dehghan, R., Ruwanpura, J. Y., & Jergeas, G. (2016). An index to assess
project management competencies in managing design changes. International Journal of
Construction Engineering and Management, 5(1), 11-24.
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