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Running head: C206 ETHICAL LEADERSHIP TASK 2

C206 Ethical Leadership Task 2

Western Governors University

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C206 ETHICAL LEADERSHIP TASK 2

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Table of Contents

Contents A.

Corporate Social Responsibility................................................................................3 A1. Primary and Secondary Stakeholders of Paradigm Toys..........................................3 A2. How Paradigm Toys should meet their CSR for their Stakeholders.........................4

B1. & B1a. Ethical Culture is Important.............................................................................4 B2. The Purpose of an Ethics Audit.....................................................................................5 B2a. The Value of an Ethics Audit...................................................................................5 C1. Ethical Framework........................................................................................................5 C2. Potential Solutions....................................................................................................6 C3. Recommended Solution............................................................................................6 D1. & D1a. Implementing an Ethics Training Program......................................................7 D2. & D2a Delivering the Ethics Training Program...........................................................7 References............................................................................................................................9

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C206 Ethical Leadership Task 2 A. Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an opportunity to use the benefits of the company to minimize the weaknesses which can affect the primary and secondary stakeholders and society overall. There are three different types of CSR concepts: People, the planet, and profit for the company. This means companies are required to show responsibility in three areas: Society, Environmental, and Economic. A company can show societal responsibility by obeying the laws, donating to charities within the community and putting together programs that help build up the community. A company can show environmental responsibility by making sure they are following all environmental regulations when it comes to disposing of any waste from manufacturing processes, and putting together programs that help environmental issues such as carpooling groups and working from home programs. A company can show economical responsibility by producing accurate financial statements and performing regular financial audits. (Trevino & Nelson, 2016) There are three different point of views; The Pragmatic point of view, the Ethical point of view, and the Strategic point of view. The Pragmatic point of view is where the company understands that they have power in the community. The Ethical point of view is where an answer from the company regarding social problems of the communities, the government or their employees is voluntary. The strategic point of view is where the company wants to create their strategic plan where everyone wins. (Trevino & Nelson, 2016) A1. Primary and Secondary Stakeholders of Paradigm Toys Two primary stakeholders that I have identified are the employees and the customers of Paradigm Toys. These stakeholders have a direct interest in Paradigm Toys. Two secondary

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stakeholders that I have identified are the community in which they reside, and the media. These stakeholders have an indirect interest in Paradigm Toys. A2. How Paradigm Toys should meet their CSR for their Stakeholders Paradigm Toys should provide their employees with a safe work environment, generous benefits, and professional development training. Paradigm Toys should provide their customers with excellent customer service and quality products. For their community, Paradigm Toys should sponsor a toy drive every year during the holidays where they will match the number of toys the community donates for needy kids. Another activity Paradigm Toys should do for their community is host a Summer Toy Festival for kids where they can come out and play on bounce houses, play games, etc. All the proceeds generated from the festival will go to a local charity for kids. With the community activities Paradigm Toys puts on, the media will be able to publish news articles regarding the activities Paradigm Toys are engaging in and the media will be able to get the word out that Paradigm Toys is benefiting the community in many ways. B1. & B1a. Ethical Culture is Important Ethical culture is especially important for an organization to have because it affects the way employees behave in potential unethical situations. The leaders of an organization can create and maintain an ethical culture by what they say and do. The ethical culture of a company can have a direct impact on employee’s day to day functions. An organizations ethical culture needs to be clear and well known to everyone in the company. Training should be done for every new hire and refresher training should be done yearly for all employees. This will allow employees to know what kind of behavior is expected from them and from their leadership. (Trevino & Nelson, 2016)

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A role the leadership of Paradigm Toys can foster for an ethical culture in the workplace is by leading by example. Set the standard for what behavior is expected from everyone and then follow it. Employees are likely to see how their leaders are behaving and will emulate that behavior. If the leadership of Paradigm Toys is behaving ethically in their everyday routines, then employees will see that behavior and will most likely want to behave the same way. B2. The Purpose of an Ethics Audit The purpose of an ethics audit is to look at the current ethical policies and practices of a company and determine if it aligns with the company’s ethical culture. There are several different methods on how an ethics audit can be conducted to determine if there are problems within their ethical culture. One method is by conducting surveys and interviews with all the employees that ask a certain set of questions regarding ethical behavior. The data that is collected from these surveys and interviews is then analyzed and evaluated by human resources. (Trevino & Nelson, 2016) B2a. The Value of an Ethics Audit The value of an ethics audit is bringing awareness to Paradigm Toys and be able to determine any ethical problems the company may have in their ethical culture. Once any problems are identified, employees can be trained and educated before an ethical dilemma arises. By preventing ethical dilemmas before they happen, Paradigm Toys can continue to run their business knowing they have a strong ethical culture that fosters good ethical behavior from their leadership and employees. (Trevino & Nelson, 2016) C1. Ethical Framework An Asparagus packing company had just opened a packing warehouse and was getting ready for the asparagus season. Since this was their first season, they did not have any

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procedures or policies in place yet. The office manager was new to the company, young, and did not have much experience. The plant manager had asked the office manager to call up a few portable toilet companies to get estimates on toilets for the season. Once all the estimates were received, the plant manager took a few days to review them and decide. After a day, one of the toilet companies had stopped by and caught the offer manager outside while she was walking to her car. He had asked her if the plant manager had decided on which company he was going to go with for the portable toilets. The office manager explained the situation to him and told him the plant manager would be getting back to everyone soon. He then offered the office manager an incentive to convince the plant manager to use his company by offering her a percentage of the sale. At first the office manager thought that was strange for a business to do but told him that she would see what she could do. The office manager was struggling financially and could really use the money for her family, however something in her gut told her that there was something wrong with that kind of offer. C2. Potential Solutions One potential solution to this ethical dilemma is to inform the plant manger about what happened and decline the offer. Another solution would be to tell the toilet company no thanks, but then not say anything to the plant manager about what happened and let him decide without any input from the office manager. C3. Recommended Solution The recommended solution to this ethical dilemma is to inform the plant manager and decline the offer. This solution is the more ethical choice because it allows the office manager to completely excuse herself from the situation and allows the plant manager to be informed of the unethical behavior of the toilet company. With the plant manager now informed of the situation,

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the decision to use the toilet business or not is his. The ethical decision is to not use this toilet company and I personally would tell the toilet company why I decided not to use them. This solution is the most ethical because doing business with a company that behaves unethically reflects unethically on your business as well. D1. & D1a. Implementing an Ethics Training Program There are three key topics that I would recommend being implemented into an ethics training program for Paradigm Toys. They are maintaining a respectful workplace, protecting the resources and information of the company, clients, and fellow employees, and avoiding conflicts of interest. Maintaining a respectful workplace is extremely important and employees should be trained on what a respectful workplace looks like and what kind of behavior is expected of them. It must be clear that the employee is responsible for making sure their actions are always ethical. Protecting the resources and information of the company, clients, and fellow employees would provide guidelines on what resources can be used and how they are used. It would also provide details on how to keep certain information private and how not to disclose private information to the wrong people. Lastly, training on what a conflict of interest is and how to avoid them and if necessary, how to report a situation, if one occurs. D2. & D2a Delivering the Ethics Training Program The preferred delivery method for the ethics training program would be in person facilitator led training for all new hires. While classroom training is more expensive and time consuming, there is a bigger chance for a lasting impact on the employees when they can ask questions and have conversations about the topics being discussed. Actual physical participation in a classroom setting will increase the employee’s likelihood of remembering what they have

C206 ETHICAL LEADERSHIP TASK 2 learned and being able to apply what they learned in an ethical situation. Going forward, a computer-based refresher training should be taken by all employees on an annual basis.

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Nelson, L.K. Trevino, K. A. (2017). Managing Business Ethics: Straight Talk about How to Do It Right. [Western Governors University]. Retrieved from https://wgu.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781119298519/...