Ethical Leadership in Manufacturing

Ho Kah Keat

Figure 1 Teleological vs Deontological
Source: Bernice, 2023

Teleological ethics places an emphasis on the purpose or result of an activity, and it mentions that morality depends on whether the result is favorable or unfavorable (Knoll, 2019).

On the contrary, deontological ethics assesses the morality of an action based on its intrinsic wrongness or rightness instead of the result (Bowie, 2002).

What are Ethical Leaders?

Ethical leaders are constantly striving to incorporate moral concepts into their daily lives and beliefs. They behave ethically when interacting with the surrounding people and make ethical actions and decisions (Askew, 2022).

Why ethical leadership is important?

Recently, there have been several noteworthy trends and advancements in ethical leadership (Kimura & Nishikawa, 2018).

Employees might sense a stronger emotional connection to their company when ethical leaders create the right atmosphere. Employees will then feel obliged to repay with improved performance (Jim, 2021).

Ethical leaders may guarantee their firms retain legal and regulatory compliance. Conscientious customers frequently seek for firms with ethical leaders.

Investors may be more attracted to companies with ethical leaders since transgressions of business ethics may have disastrous effects on a company’s reputation and finances. Investing in organizations with unethical leadership may be dangerous (Jacob, 2023).

Deontological Ethics

• Ethical Example

Johnson & Johnson is an example of a manufacturer that upholds deontological principle. Seven people in Chicago died by swallowing Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules, but Johnson & Johnson was not found to be at fault for the product’s contamination. The capsules were tampered with once they arrived on the market.

Nevertheless, Johnson & Johnson chairman James E. Burke immediately took the costly initiative to voluntarily recall thirty million Tylenol products and lost more than $100 million (Judith, 2002). Handling this scenario might have disastrous financial consequences in the short run. However, it built goodwill and a position for financial success in the long run.

• Unethical Example

Volkswagen’s dieselgate scandal is an example of a “bad” deontological principle. In 2015, Volkswagen admitted to installing illegal software in its vehicles to control the emission test results (Reuters, 2017).

Teleological Ethics

• Ethical Example

For business expansion and to give health-conscious consumers and diabetic sufferers a healthier chocolate option, Hershey created low- and zero-sugar chocolates (Oliveira et al., 2022; Natalie, 2019).

Figure 2 Wage Comparison
Source: Dr. Bronner’s, 2023

To advocate employee welfare and maintain high retention, the minimum pay at Dr. Bronner’s has continually been greater than the California official minimum wage. Therefore, their staff turnover rate has been lower than 10% (Roger, 2019).

• Unethical Example

British American Tobacco emphasized the possibilities of expanding its markets in war-torn African and Middle Eastern countries. These cities were being destroyed by violence, and BAT only focused on the opportunities to become the largest tobacco business in the world (Sarah, 2017).

Takata decided to use the low-cost material ammonium nitrate in its airbag inflators. These inflators created a safety problem for the user and led the company toward bankruptcy at the end (Hiroko, 2016; Naomi, 2017).

Figure 3 Takata refutes the need for a nationwide recall
Source: ABC News, 2014

3M is dedicated to pinkwashing. It spent $500,000 to conduct a “pink ribbon” campaign and increased sales of Post-it Notes by eighty percent in 2004. Nevertheless, it also manufactures toxic forever chemicals that may raise breast cancer risk (Elman, 2019).

Challenges of Ethical Leadership

It may be very difficult to maintain ethical leadership consistently. In some scenarios, acting morally might not be as advantageous and will increase costs (Chron, 2020).

Poor organizational culture and a lack of a sufficient and competent workforce will make it harder for leaders to act ethically (Barkhordari-Sharifabad et al., 2017).

Egocentric, impatient, resistant to new ideas, afraid of failure, and lacking in confidence All these are the potential barriers to being an ethical leader.

Recommendations

Figure 4 The 4V Model
Source: Grace & Grace, 1998

According to the 4V model, leaders should find out their core values, develop a vision, convey the vision through motivation, and then advance the common good.

Regardless of whether the leader believes in deontological or teleological ethics, they should lead by example, set a clear morality expectation within the organization, listen to the ground, reward ethical practices, enhance transparency, punish unethical behavior, and inspire employees (Max H, 2020).

To improve the sustainability and long-term viability of businesses, ethical leadership plays an important role. Making decisions without regard to ethics can have disastrous effects on the company’s ability to survive. Therefore, most businesses today place a strong emphasis on developing their leaders’ ethics (Ostwal, 2017).

Figure 5 Ethical Leadership
Source: Linda, 2013

References

ABC News. (2014). Takata Airbag Safety Exec Denies Need for Nationwide Recall. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/takata-airbag-safety-exec-denies-nationwide-recall/story?id=27053071

Askew, N. P. (2022). What Makes a’Good’Ethical Leader?. Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, 19(1), 135-145.

Barkhordari-Sharifabad, M., Ashktorab, T., & Atashzadeh-Shoorideh, F. (2017). Obstacles and problems of ethical leadership from the perspective of nursing leaders: a qualitative content analysis. Journal of medical ethics and history of medicine, 10.

Bernice. (2023). Greatest Warriors in History. Facts. Net. https://facts.net/greatest-warriors/

Bowie, N. E. (2002). A Kantian approach to business ethics. Ethical issues in business: A philosophical approach, 7, 61-71.

Chron. (2020). Challenges of Ethical Leadership. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/challenges-ethical-leadership-52620.html

Dr.Bronner. (2023). https://www.drbronner.com/

Elman, R. A. (2019). BDS & the Queer Appropriation of Pinkwashing. Academic Engagement Network, 6.

Grace, B., & Grace, W. J. (1998). Ethical leadership: In pursuit of the common good (Vol. 1). CEL publications.

Hiroko, T. (2016). A Cheaper Airbag, and Takata’s Road to a Deadly Crisis. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/27/business/takata-airbag-recall-crisis.html

Jacob, I. (2023). The Role of Ethical Leadership in Business. North Central College. https://www.northcentralcollege.edu/news/2023/05/24/role-ethical-leadership-business#:~:text=More%20specifically%2C%20ethical%20leaders%20can,maintain%20legal%20and%20regulatory%20compliance.

Jim, C. (2021). 3 Benefits of Ethical Leadership in the Workplace. Dr. Jim Collins.com. https://www.drjimcollins.com/3-benefits-of-ethical-leadership-in-the-workplace/.

Judith, R. (2002). Tylenol made a hero of Johnson & Johnson: The recall that started them all. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/23/your-money/IHT-tylenol-made-a-hero-of-johnson-johnson-the-recall-that-started.html

Kimura, T., & Nishikawa, M. (2018). Ethical leadership and its cultural and institutional context: An empirical study in Japan. Journal of Business Ethics, 151(3), 707-724.

Knoll, M. (2019). Machiavelli’s consequentialist ethics of responsibility. History of Political Thought, 40(4), 631-648.

Linda, F.H. (2013). Ethical Leadership is a Journey. Leading in a context.com. https://leadingincontext.com/2013/07/10/ethical-leadership-is-a-journey/

Max H, B. (2020). A New Model for Ethical Leadership. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2020/09/a-new-model-for-ethical-leadership

Naomi, T. (2017). Japanese airbag maker Takata files for bankruptcy, gets Chinese backing. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-takata-bankruptcy-japan-idUSKBN19G0ZG

Natalie, S. (2019). Can I Eat Chocolate with Diabetes? Everything You Need To Know. Lark. https://www.lark.com/resources/is-chocolate-good-for-diabetes#:~:text=There%20is%20no%20specific%20%22diabetic,no%20effect%20on%20blood%20sugar.

Oliveira, B., Falkenhain, K., & Little, J. P. (2022). Sugar-free dark chocolate consumption results in lower blood glucose in adults with diabetes. Nutrition and Metabolic Insights, 15, 11786388221076962.

Ostwal, P. (2017). Major Challenges of Ethical Leadership. Asian Journal of Management, 8(2), 181-186.

Reuters. (2017). TIMELINE-Volkswagen’s long road to a U.S. Dieselgate settlement. https://www.reuters.com/article/volkswagen-emissions-timeline-idCNL5N1F04W7

Roger, S. (2019). Top-ranked midsize company: Dr. Bronner’s marches to its own drummer. The San Diego Union Tribune. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/story/2019-11-17/top-ranked-midsize-company-dr-bronners-marches-to-its-own-drummer

Sarah, B. (2017). Revealed: how British American Tobacco exploited war zones to sell cigarettes. The Guardian.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/18/british-american-tobacco-cigarettes-africa-middle-east