Analysis and Critique: Leadership Responsibility in Business Ethics

This report provides a critique of a business ethics blog post focusing on leadership responsibility. It summarizes the blog's main points, including the leader's role in decision-making, the concept of 'passing the buck,' and the importance of power in leadership. The critique offers feedback on the blog's strengths, such as identifying leadership as a role rather than solely a skill, and its weaknesses, including neglecting the positive aspects of decision-making and the influence of organizational culture. The report references various academic sources to support its analysis and critique of the blog's arguments.

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Summary
The study focuses on the leadership responsibility and the leadership style. The
leaders are responsible of any outcome of their activities and operation into the organization.
As the author expects, that the buck needs to be stopped somewhere similarly, the leadership
responsibility also needs to be passed on to other person as per the demand of the
organizational culture or process. As the whole responsibility relies on a leader, the leader is
responsible for taking decision. Therefore, any wrong decision puts a huge impact on the
company’s stakeholders. As the system suggests the leaders are appointed on the basis of
passing the responsibility. Hence, this cannot be said that the reason of sinking the board is
her fault. The role of leadership has been represented with an example of Truman Eschewe.
The Truman Eschewe’s responsibility toward his leadership has been recognized as this job
of taking responsibility. Hence, leadership cannot always be identified with the skill but as
the requirement of fulfilling the place of leader in the company (Tai & Chuang, 2014). While
understanding the responsibility of the leaders, this also includes the ability to perform in the
adverse situation. However, this has been seen that if the CEOs fail to accept the
responsibilities or to perform according to the desired level, they are being left alone. This led
them in moral failing. At the same time, this leads to the understanding the reason for
accepting the responsibility of leadership by them. As per the views of Bolman & Deal
(2014), the leaders’ responsibility can be accepted due to three reasons. Such as: following
the system as someone needs to take the responsibility of being boss (Giles, 2016). This
refers to the passing the buck as the time comes. Other one is following merely the
contractual term and the third one is to stay motivated and work harder as the leader knows
well that he or she will be blamed if things go badly. Furthermore, the analysis of the
leadership, takes the study to identify the power of a leader. While blaming a leader this
needs to understand that whether the leader is associated with all the powers which he/she
requires while accomplishing the responsibility. If not then the role of the leaders becomes
merely a whipping boy where the leadership becomes a liability (Stahl & Sully de Luque,
2014). However the author identifies that the leaders are borne to accept responsibility
complying with the organizational principles.
Feedback
The best part of the blog is the identification of the leaders’ role while leadership has
a comparison with the liability. The study has provided an idea on modern day leadership
style where the leaders’ trait has been minimized, as this can be gradually achieved through
the organizational working culture and work process. Furthermore, the leaders’ responsibility
has been held as a part of their job. The author has shown a situation where the leaders cannot
be blamed without being given the required power to accomplish a work (Anderson et al.,
2015). Therefore, the author explains the power of leaders which are required to accomplish a
work. Taking a side of CEOs, the author identifies the CEO as a whipping kid, as they have
the responsibility of taking blame of anything goes badly. Taking side of the leaders at every
level the author has put leadership into three aspects where the leadership has been
represented as a part of a job rather than being a traditional leader with the skill. The positive
side of leadership are shown through the nature of staying motivated into the working fields
at any point of time. This leads them to achieve their target through taking criticism. These
are being presented as the challenges of leadership which make them grow in their
performance. The author also explains the strength of taking decision for a leader which is a
virtue of a leader. While in the corporate sector, the decisions are made by the leaders
through understanding the obligations of the complex firm (Breslauer 2016). The study has
provided a scope of identification of quality decision making, where the leaders’ can be
evaluated thorough the organizational outcome and management efficiency.

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Criticism
The criticism leads the study to the identification of the loopholes of leadership skill
and trait. According to the traditional view the leadership has been presented as the trait,
where the leaders’ skills are being evaluated through the style of accomplishing the work and
management style into the working field but the author’s view limits the fact of leadership
style as the leadership is representing as merely a part of job. Therefore, the study ignores the
fact of leaders by choice. The study also ignores the fact of leader’s with unlimited
responsibility towards company’s success or failure. The study only focuses on the leadership
requirement while on the other hand the negative side of decision making has not been
evaluated. The study has not provided a proper idea over the “Effective leadership”
(McCaffery, 2018). The study only states the leader’s ability to accomplish the work while
the power has been given however, the leaders with the mismanagement has not been
addressed. The blog has provided idea on the failure of the leaders at an adverse situation but
the leader’s ability to achieve the task successfully at a contrary situation through making
strategic decisions has not been addressed. The strategy to survive alongside taking the
organization and stakeholders with them has not been discussed. The scenario where the
leaders get failed instead of having all kind of authority and powers has not been addressed
into this blog. Influenced from the views of Ayuso et al., (2014), leaders with the leadership
quality have been judged only when the leaders are being kept as answerable towards the
stakeholders. While the leadership has been addressed as the passing buck, the leadership
treat and having position of leader with the skill has not been addressed properly. As
suggested by the author on achieving leadership at every level, the author does not identify
the possibility of conflict in decision making. Lastly, the author did not relate the leadership
style with the organizational culture as the leader’s decision much relies on company’s value
and believe. Also hiring a leader much depends on organizational culture rather than
depending on a specific system or process of the organization.

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Reference
Anderson, G. F., Ballreich, J., Bleich, S., Boyd, C., DuGoff, E., Leff, B., ...& Wolff, J.
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Ayuso, S., Rodríguez, M. A., García-Castro, R., &Ariño, M. A. (2014). Maximizing
stakeholders’ interests: An empirical analysis of the stakeholder approach to corporate
governance. Business & society, 53(3), 414-439.
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and
leadership. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
Breslauer, G. W. (2016). Khrushchev and Brezhnev as Leaders (Routledge Revivals):
Building Authority in Soviet Politics. Abingdon: Routledge.
Giles, S. (2016). The most important leadership competencies, according to leaders around
the world. Harvard Business Review, 1-6.
McCaffery, P. (2018). The higher education manager's handbook: effective leadership and
management in universities and colleges. Abingdon: Routledge.
Stahl, G. K., & Sully de Luque, M. (2014). Antecedents of responsible leader behavior: A
research synthesis, conceptual framework, and agenda for future research. Academy of
Management Perspectives, 28(3), 235-254.
Tai, F. M., & Chuang, S. H. (2014). Corporate social responsibility. Ibusiness, 6(03), 117.