Monday, March 21, 2011

Green Marketers

http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/oct2010/ca20101029_631610_page_2.htm

In "Green Marketers are still sinning" Andrew Wilson cites problems with marketers claiming their products are green. The five things he cites in this article about green marketers are: number of products making some sort of green claim is rising fast, majority of products claiming to be green are still committing at least one "sin", the sin of "worshiping false labels" is on the rise (false eco-labels are becoming a problem because 70% of them are false), categories with a long track record of green claims are doing the best, and claims about toxicity are on the rise.The article goes on to mention that their is evidence that large retailers "sin" less in green products than specialty green stores.

 This brings up important issues that are mentioned in chapter 15 of Northouse's textbook. First off, leaders need to strive to act altruistically. They should try and do the greatest good for the greatest amount of people. Not only their followers, but customers as a whole. If marketers are violating "sins" on their "green products" they are essentially lying to consumers. Consumers buy products they believe are helping the environment. Companies who are guilty of these "sins" are not being altruistic at all, but rather ethical egoistic. They are using the environmental friendly products (which are obviously not as environmentally friendly as they are stated to be) to trick consumers into buying them. Not only are these companies doing wrong, but they are setting the standard, basically saying it is alright to exaggerate their environmental friendliness. Yes, it could be an honest mistake, however I do not feel it is in most of these cases.

The next point that is mentioned is that large retailers are violated less "sins" than all of green specialty shops. This is astounding and exciting for us as consumers. Big box retailers such as target and Wal-Mart seem to be taking the green movement very serious. Although it has been said that going green is saving these companies millions of dollars in costs, it is still impressive to see it. On the other hand it is troubling that the specialty stores are having so much trouble violating green sins. I think we can all agree, we would expect it to be completely reversed. However, since these big box retailers are where most of us shop, it is positive, to say the least, that they have adopted a green philosophy.

On a ending note, this article raises several interesting ethical issues. It is troubling that products are sinning and exaggerating their green benefits. But, it is positive that big box retailers are doing such a good job keeping their products green. Who's responsibility do you believe the problem with the gree "sins" falls on? Do you believe they are honest mistakes? Lastly, would you go as far as to say (like the author did and a sample of evidence has shown) that big box retailers are doing a better job of not violating green sins than specialty green stores?

-Ryan Schaumburg

A Servant Leader

This is an interview with Irwin D. Simon who is C.E.O. of the Hain Celestial Group (a natural and organic food and personal care products company).When I was reading this article I thought that this must be a perfect example of an ethical leader.
In Northouse´s book, Greenleaf´s Servant Leadership is presented. In servant leadership perspectives is the leader-follower relationship central to ethical leadership. A servant leader focuses on the needs of followers and helps them to be more knowledgeable, free and autonomous. Greenleaf emphasizes the value of everyone´s involvement in community life and the importance of listening, empathy and acceptance of others.
It is apparent in the interview that Simon has a servant leadership style. He emphasizes the importance of empowering people and argues that he does not need to have the control. He shows that he is very focused on his followers when he talked about his philosophy of “no closed doors”. He brings interns into board meetings and asked their opinions and thoughts about different decision. Simon also encourages them to be involved in the community and tp go out of their comfort zone.
Simon says: “I love people to move to other parts of the world, just to see how the world works. I try to push people to do other things and see other things.”
In article I also noticed that Simon uses several concepts from the Leader-Member Exchange Theory. Northouse´s book presents the concepts of in-groups (more influence, information and concern from the leader) and out-groups (less compatible with the leader). Leadership making is a theory that the leader should develop high-quality exchanges with all the followers. 
Simon talks about these concepts in a similar view. He has earlier work experience when he was doing well if he was behind the right people (which is comparable with in-groups) and when he didn´t support certain people he was off the team (out-groups). Simon believes in the idea that they´ll are on the team together. The philosophy of brining everybody in is similar to Leadership Making.
Leadership making contains three phases: the stranger, the acquaintance and the partnership phase. The second part, the acquaintance phase, begins with an offer by the leader for improved career-oriented social exchange. When Simon brings interns to the board meeting is a good example of when he tries to move an employee to the acquaintance phase.
In both Leadership Making and Servant leadership, the leader-follower relationship is a central part. Leader-Member Exchange Theory seems to be a good and ethical theory for leader to practice. Can you find something unethical in this theory? Is Simon´s leadership making a good way to be a servant leader or can you find some unethical consequences?
-          Eva-Lena Juhlin

Women in Leadership- Indra Nooyi

Indra Nooyi is perhaps one of the most successful women CEOs of all time. Indra became CEO of PepsiCo in 2006 after serving for several years as VP. Indra capitalizes her leadership on "performance with purpose." "Performance with purpose"  means to generate as much profit as possible, but still remain socially responsible at the same time. Nooyi's effort to lead this type of change can be related to transformational leadership. She is inspiring not only her workers, but also the public of her desired change. Nooyi has a clear vision of successfully leading PepsiCo, but she also is highly focused on the greater good of the world. She clearly demonstrates all five aspect of Kouzes and Posner's model. I beleive the most important of all of the five aspects, is enabling others to act. Nooyi needs to listen to the views of others, include them in the process and decision making, and get others to follow her in her mission. 

Both in the present time while serving as PepsiCo's CEO, as well in the past before becoming CEO, Indra doesn't believe her leadership style has changed much. In the article, she talks about the fact that she believes all leaders should possess the necessary knowledge and skills to be successful throughout their entire career. By reflecting on the past leaders of a particular company and learning from their triumphs and mistakes, new leaders will be much more successful when combining all of the traits and characteristics of the leaders in the past. Taking all of this into consideration, it is clear that Indra believes that leadership can be a learned. This relates back to the skills approach we learned about earlier in the semester. Indra Nooyi is no longer worried about about the basic production lines at PepsiCo, or the small every day business that goes on inside the PepsiCo factories. Rather, she must focus much more on the conceptual ideas.

One of these ideas is that of "performance with purpose" which focuses on going green. In order to remain successful through the economic downturn, companies are going to have to come up with new and creative ideas. So far, Indra Nooyi has done an excellent job of using both her conceptual and human skills, much like the three-skills approach describes. 

It is also evident that Indra Nooyi encompasses many of the genuine and empathetic characteristics that are seen in more women than men in leadership. In the second article I posted, Nooyi mentions the fact that she doesn't think many corporations, or the government for that matter, have caught onto the idea that many women are looking for things such as daycare for their children at work. Part of this struggle for women in the workplace is due to the glass ceiling. I think many people would agree, including Nooyi, that the class ceiling is definitely still prevalent in today's workplace. Prejudice and stereotyping still exists, and it is up to not only the men in companies, but also the women to help lead, mentor, and guide female employees in order to break free of the glass ceiling. 

All in all, Nooyi has proven her ability to develop innovative ideas in order to stand out in the marketplace and yet still feels compassion for other working mothers. Most importantly, she has broken free of the glass ceiling, and is doing her best to help other females break free as well. 

I believe that Indra Nooyi's view on learned leadership is what has made her so successful. By listening, reflecting, and learning from what others have done, she has acquired a much deeper level of knowledge. By also encompassing a sense of transformational leadership in her effort for both environmental and work-life balance change, she is capitalizing on many of the leadership characteristics that women display more than men. So, what do you think? Do you believe that Indra Nooyi's transformational leadership combined with her view of skilled leadership is what defines a good leader? 

http://leadership.bcg.com/americas/nooyi.aspx

http://www.womenonbusiness.com/condoleeza-rice-and-indra-nooyi-talk-about-women-business-and-the-glass-ceiling/



- Kelly Moran 


Thursday, March 17, 2011

Indonesia needs more altruistic leaders

Altruism is an ethical approach to leadership that suggest that actions are moral if their primary purpose is to promote the best interest of others.  In fact, Altruism entails that a leader may even go against their own morals and values as long as it is in the best interest of others.  In this article I was looking at, Indonesia is in a time of crisis where the Country is going into debt and the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer.  With the standard in Indonesia that high ranking officials get big annual pay raises and luxury cars it is hard for the lower class of people to advance anywhere in society.


There is the argument that pay increases deter from corrupt officials and keep everyone in the cabinet honest and loyal.  There is the argument however that if officials are not paid enough then they cannot support their family and then in return they will end up stealing money from the state.  But how can high ranking officials argue over money when more than half the country in earning less than half of what the top ranking officials are. 

Indonesia is in desperate need of a altruistic leader and in need of one fast.  The people need a leader who can take a step back and look at what is happening to their followers and act accordingly to help.  Even though it is against the beliefs of way the officials should get paid, they need a leader who will go away from their personal beliefs and act to help the greater population.  Indonesia needs to freeze the pay raises to high ranking officials and needs to spend time and money on the people and restore their faith in their country.

Do you think it is right for a President to continue to give officials pay raises when the greater population is stuggling?

Do you agree or disagree with me that the President of Indonesia needs to display more Altruistic characteristics?

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/01/30/indonesia-needs-more-altruistic-leaders.html

-Kyle Turner

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Team Leadership and Ethical Egoism

In the article “Leadership Skills for Driving Innovation”, John R. Ryan argues that creativity, and the ability to nurture it, is going to be the most important leadership skills for the future. The main focus in the article is that you would “never fool yourself into thinking your business doesn't have time or money to foster creativity”.  In the article he presents a plan for leaders to unlock innovation in his or her company through collaboration. This focus on spending money to collaborate innovation, even during economic crisis, made me think of other things that could be more necessary. I wonder if what Ryan argues for can lead to “Ethical Egoism”.

Ryan´s plan has many similarities with the “Team Leadership” approach in Northouse´s book. According to Ryan, the right style of leadership is important to create innovation, and the breakthrough ideas almost always arise from collaborative creativity. He does not suggest actually team, but that people inside the organization must collaborate and the steps he presents are applicable in the Team Leadership model. Leadership Decisions is the first step in the model. The leader will decide if he or she should take action or monitor the situation. The leader will also decide if the issue needs task or relational support, and if he or she will intervene internally or externally. The main focus of this article is that the leader needs to take action to handle an insecure future.  Ryan aims that the people in the organization need to change how they think (relational) and that the leader provides the followers with the environmental resources that’s needed (externally). In the Team Leadership model means external operations for the team and executive action that the leader acts to prevent any negative changes in the environment from hurting the team. That’s I similar to Ryan view because he suggests that the leader should stimulate collaborative creativity to make the company succeed in an unsettled future. Next step in the Team Leadership model is the Leadership Actions. Ryan states that the leader must give the fundamental resources of people, time, money and intellectual property to succeed with the collaboration. That is comparable with negotiating support (secure necessary resources, support etc.) under the External Leadership Actions in the model. The last step in the model is Team Effectiveness, where development (cohesiveness of the team etc.) is one of the parts. This could be comparable with Ryan´s opinion that people inside the organization must collaborate to be motivated and feel satisfaction during to process to create innovative solutions.

This focus on spending money to succeed with innovation is a strategy to make the company succeed, but could it also be an ethical question? Ryan suggests that companies even during bad times would spend a lot of money on resources for collaborating. Does the Team Leadership Model create a too strong focus on the team that will lead to that the other things are forgotten? How about individual achievements or community good? Obviously, the company must have a strategy to succeed, but to what costs? In Northouse´s book states Ethical Egoism that a person should act so as to create the greatest good for herself or himself. Ethical Egoism is common in some business contexts to make decisions to achieve its goal of maximizing profits. Is the strong focus for innovation only a strategy to succeed or an example of maximizing profits and Ethical Egoism?

- Eva-Lena Juhlin

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Leading by Example

As we have all grown up, we have had people that we look up to. The examples our parents, older siblings, relatives, and even teachers showed are what have helped shape our own attitudes and behaviors about life. If we are older siblings or have younger relatives, we have heard about being a good "role model." There are people who look at our actions as examples of how to act, just as we have looked to our elders.

This happens in the workplace as well. If we see a manager talking on their cell phone in the back room, we assume that we can do it as well. If they are acting unethically by lying to a customer, misrepresenting financial figures, or practicing favoritism, we assume that these are acceptable behaviors to use as well.

Hewlett Packard's CEO Mark Hurd was a successful leader in the company, and was even considered a "TopGunCEO" by Brendan Wood International, an advisory agency, in 2009. He had a lot of success and was a good example of how to lead effectively, and ethically, as far as the public was concerned.

However, in April of 2010, he was sued for sexual harassment by a former contractor. He was not convicted, but was found to have acted unethically in the workplace. According to this article on huffingtonpost.com, "Hurd's 'systematic pattern' of submitting falsified financial reports to hide the relationship convinced the board that 'it would be impossible for him to be an effective leader moving forward and that he had to step down,' HP general counsel Michael Holston said."

This brings us to the question of leadership ethics. In our book we read about how ethics is defined. Page 378 relates ethics in this way:
            "Ethics is concerned with the kinds of values and morals an individual or society finds desirable or appropriate."                          and,
            "The choices leaders make and how they respond in a given circumstance are informed and directed by their ethics.'

This article also gives good examples on considering if we act ethically or not in the workplace, and even mentions Mark Hurd's situation. 

Hurd did not have very strong values or morals concerning honesty and following company policies. The appropriateness of paying a woman for work she did not do and the choice he made in this circumstance heavily relay the message of just how unethical Hurd really was/is.
 

"Hurd acknowledged there were 'instances in which I did not live up to the standards and principles of trust, respect and integrity that I have espoused at HP.'"

He was found to have falsified expense reports and other financial documents to conceal the relationship with the woman who had sued him. We can all agree that falsifying reports is not right and is an unethical practice. But what is he showing those who look up to him? The article states that he has two children, now what is he showing those kids? How can they look up to a father who helped a company prosper, yet had to find another job because he lied in financial documents in the end?

Considering an article I posted before in this blog concerning the severance packages of unethical leaders, Hurd was given a $12.2 million severance payment and nearly 350,000 shares of HP stock worth about $16 million. Now what kind of example does this give? Even though he lied he still left millions of dollars richer?

Overall, leaders have a choice to make while in their positions. They can act ethically within the domains of conduct and character (Page 378 in our book explains theories on conduct and character; look to Table 15:1), or they can chose another route.

If they are successful enough before the cheating, lying, etc., they may receive millions of dollars upon their severance from the company, thus creating a great example for those who look up to these leaders. 

-Melissa Beechy

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Patagonia - Yvon Chouinard

After reading up about Yvon Chouinard, I have noticed that he has led a revolutionary change to how he runs his business.  He is the founder of the company Patagonia.  Many may be familiar with the climbing and environmental brand.  He quickly found a way to make higher quality and less damaging climbing equipment over the last 40 years.  His focus has more shifted to empowering his employees in order to become a higher quality company. "Under Chouinard's fearless leadership, Patagonia has been a consistent innovator in coporate practice, giving away a percentage of its gross annual sales to small-scale non-profit work around the world and switching to only organically grown cotton and other recycled materials in its production."  This is an example of how Chouinard is keeping in tact with CSR.  He focuses on leading his company through long-term sustainability and good citizenship.

He has recently wrote a book called "Let My People Go Surfing."  This is a book concentrated on how his company has turned into one of the world's most inspiring companies.  In order to keep sustainability within the company, he takes very good care of his employees.  Not only does he encourage his employees to volunteer their time, emphasize the importance of the environment, and let his people leisure throughout the work day, he only hires people who's goals match up with the company's goals.  He provides surfboards for his employees to enjoy while they are on their lunch and break.  He also has a bicycle rental for employees that need to go somewhere on their breaks, to cut back on putting chemicals into the air by using cars.  The building itself has solar panels in order to create energy for the company to operate.  He blends work, play, and social duty in order for his comany to be successful.

This article shows a great example that Chouinard offers of his leadership through the "Team Leader Management" of the Blake & Mouton Model.  He offers very high concern for his people, and also has very high concern for the product or "task" at hand.  Through the examples I have mentioned above, he has covered both of these aspects.  He treats his employees with very high respect and in return sees the same.  He wants to satisfy relationships and work culture by offering them different opportunities for leisure.  This enhances their liking and caring for the environment, which is a common goal for the company and its employees.  He is agreeable and eager to help his employees.  There is a high degree of dedication and team work because the employees are actively involved in the CSR quality of the company.

I also believe this is an example of the Leader-Member Exchange, and treats all of his members as "in-group" employees.  He offers them a high quality relationship and the employees are more dependable.  They are highly involved and communicative because these leisure activities are offered to them.  They become more involved with the company by doing volunteer work that Patagonia offers for them.  Graen & Uhl-Bien's studdies found that high-quality leader-member exchanges resulted in greater organizational committment.  It is also known that Patagonia's employees stay with the company for extended amounts of time because of this. 

All in all, Yvon Chouinard possesses many leadership qualities and traits that are obviously shown through his work at Patagonia.

http://www.patagonia.com/us/patagonia.go?assetid=4626

-Lauren Mowers