Ethical Leadership Assignment: Culture in Strategic Decision Making

Learning Outcomes

As part of the formal assessment for the programme you are required to submit an Ethical Leadership assignment in two separate parts. You must achieve a qualifying mark of 40% in each part in order to pass. Please refer to your Student Handbook for full details of the programme assessment scheme and general information on  preparing and submitting assignments.

Learning Outcomes:

After completing the module, you should be able to:

1. Evaluate own practice as a leader
2. Critically appraise ethical leadership in organisations
3. Demonstrate an understanding of potential challenges and solutions associated with cross cultural management
4. Critically consider the issues of leading across cultures
5. Reflect on the student’s own experience of conflict caused by an ethical decision and its impact
6. Apply ethical considerations to a strategic leadership decision.
7. Undertake critical analysis and reach reasoned and evidenced decisions, contribute problem-solving skills to find and innovate in solutionsYour assignment should include: a title page containing your student number, the module name, the submission deadline and a word count; the appendices if relevant; and a reference list in Arden University (AU) Harvard format. You should address all the elements of the assignment task listed below. Please note that tutors will use the assessment criteria set out below in assessing your work.

You must not include your name in your submission because Arden University operates anonymous marking, which means that markers should not be aware of the identity of the student. However, please do not forget to include your STU number.

Please note that exceeding the word count will result in a reduction in grade proportionate to the number of words used in excess of the permitted limit.

Assignment Tasks

Part 2: Case Study

Ralph was a sales representative of a small but fast-growing mobile and social advertising platform. Working directly with the co-founder, Mike, Ralph was responsible for door-to-door sales, pitching the company's platform that helped clients gain a virtual following of customers as well as overall company marketing.The business owners in the area often spoke English as a second language, making clear communication between the two parties a key concern for Ralph.On one sales call, Ralph approached a small hair salon and secured a contract along with a £100 signup fee. However, the situation soon turned sour, as the hairdresser was furious after learning that she would have to operate the online platform herself, as opposed to the full service deal she thought she had signed. Mike, Ralph's boss, now found himself stuck in tough situation. Ralph claimed that he was blatantly clear what the contract was offering, though mentioned communication was strained due to the language barrier. Under the company's philosophy of putting the customer first, Mike refunded the £100 signup fee and voided the contract. This was not the first time Mike had to refund a contract under these conditions, causing Mike to revisit both the contract and Ralph's sales pitch to ensure that the language was as clear as possible. After this incident, it was clear that adjustments have not made an impact, and the company continued to lose money on negated contracts and time wasted not pursuing interested customers. Mike began to consider redrawing their target areas away from those where English is not the predominantly spoken language but is concerned that would be an injustice to those potential customers. In the recent past, Mike has been considering setting up a small manufacturing company in China but is concerned about how best to staff it given his current challenges.

Task 1:

Critically evaluate the role and impact of culture within strategic ethical decision

making in business engagement across cultures, and critically appraise ethical leadership in this and other types of companies.

Should Mike make the decision to work only with English-speaking customers? Is that an ethical solution given the globalised nature of business? Are there any alternatives? Justify your recommendations.