IBM7016 Responsible and Ethical Leadership Assignment 2, Case Study, UK

Assignment Task:

Chose ONE of the following questions, and answer, with reference to the concepts, theory and philosophy we have covered in the lectures, supplemented by your own understanding and additional research.
As part of these assessments you must select a case study organisation that you can scrutinise through the lenses that we have acquired in the lectures, as well as those that you have developed through your own study. In your case study, it will help you to concentrate on a single event like a single strategic decision or crisis, that that organisation was involved in. This means that you MUST ENSURE THERE IS SUFFICIENT INFORMATION ON BOTH THE LEADERSHIP, THAT ORGANISATION AND THAT EVENT IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN FOR YOU TO GIVE A DETAILED ANSWER. Please refer to the University Assessment Criteria for a detailed breakdown of how your assessments will be marked. Successful answers will balance four objectives:

1. Introduce the case study in a clear and comprehensible way.

2. Frame the case through as a management or leadership topic that we have covered on the course, i.e. strategic management, moral engagement or disengagement, corporate governance, individual leadership or employee management.

3. Consider the case through theories and philosophy of ethics which we have covered throughout the course. This must include reference to one or more of the five core papers. 

4. Provide recommendations for how the organisation might be able to act more responsibly, according to theories of management, leadership and ethics that you have chosen to focus on.

There are no specific requirements for how you balance your word count between the four elements of the question, and you do not necessarily need to address the four points in this order. Coherent, persuasive arguments that meet the criteria of the assessment guide will be rewarded. I recommend depth over breadth in your approach to the question. You will be more likely to score well if you provide a detailed study of your case through the lens of one or two theories of management and one or two approaches to ethical philosophy.

CHOOSE ONLY ONE OF THE BELOW QUESTIONS

Option 1
‘Find an example organisation, and make the argument that it has exhibited irresponsible strategic management. Provide recommendations for the implementation of responsible strategic management in that organisation.’

Option 2
‘Find an example organisation, and make the argument that an individual within it has exhibited irresponsible leadership. Provide recommendations for the implementation of responsible leadership in that organisation.’

Option 3
‘Find an example organisation, and make the argument that it has exhibited irresponsible employee management. Provide recommendations for the implementation of responsible employee management in that organisation.’

Your answer must indicate that you have read and understood at least one of the following papers. You must analyse your chosen ethical issue in terms of the content of one or more of these papers. If you fail to do so, we may initiate an investigation into the authorship of your submission. It is highly advisable that you include evidence of wider reading and associated analysis in your answer as this list alone is insufficient for the full assignment.

1. Bauman, D.C., 2018. Plato on virtuous leadership: An ancient model for modern business. Business Ethics Quarterly, 28(3), pp.251-274. 

2. Moore, C. et al. 2019 Leaders matter morally: The role of ethical leadership in shaping employee moral cognition and misconduct.Journal of Applied Psychology, 104(1), pp.123-145 

3. Gardiner, R.A., 2018. Ethical responsibility - an Arendtian turn. Business Ethics Quarterly, 28(1), pp.31-50.

4. Cremer, D. et al. 2020. Toward a Better Understanding of Behavioral Ethics in the Workplace. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 77, pp. 369-393

5. Liu, E-H., Chambers, C.R., Moore, C. 2023. Fifty years of research on leader communication: What we know and where we are going, The Leadership Quarterly, 34(6), 101734. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2023.101734.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Evaluate the role and the context of strategic leadership and the legal and ethical responsibilities of those in different positions within corporate organisations.
2. Understand the wide variety of different approaches taken by leaders of organisations historically and at the current time to embed ethical and responsible behaviour in business models.
3. Reason analytically about ethically contestable issues and produce professional and critically reflective analysis on issues related to leadership in organisations.