Discussion Questions
1. To what extent were the actions of Bernard Ebbers indicative of leadership, and to what extent did Ebbers display destructive deviant behavior? Provide examples of leadership and deviant behavior from the case.
Bernie “Ebbers lead WorldCom through over 60 acquisitions over a period of 15 years.”, which averages one new acquisition per quarter. (http://open.lib.umn.edu) In our reference text, Bernie was described by one WorldCom employee as being “...like a rock star.” (Trevino, L. and Brown, M., 2005, p. 89) The authors go on to state that, “Acquisitions occurred so quickly that there was no time to properly integrate new companies into WorldCom.” (Trevino, L. and Brown, M., 2005, p. 92) Bernie was a charismatic …show more content…
Consider the characteristics of the ethical leader described in Chapter 3. How does such a leader encourage ethical behavior among managers and employees and, at the same time, obtain successful organizational results? Could Ebbers have used these characteristics to accomplish his goals at WorldCom? Explain.
Whether one believes in the adage, “What goes around, comes around.”, or Karhma, or a variation on the Golden Rule, an ethical leader must model the kind of behavior that he or she wants to see reproduced in their organization. For we are creatures that learn by modelling. In the ancient world, the Greeks, Romans, and Jews recognized this, and had high regard for rearing children properly, in order to become good citizens. (Barclay, 1959)
For example, in the Old Testament, we have this parental instruction in Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (KJV) Many years ago, when I was working in Children’s Ministry, I researched this verse, going back to the original Hebrew. Unfortunately, I no longer have my notes. and retranslated it thus, “Train up a child, in the the course or manner of life, or the path already well worn with walking, and when he reaches puberty (or when he has hair on his chin), he will not depart from
1. To what extent were the actions of Bernard Ebbers indicative of leadership, and to what extent did Ebbers display destructive deviant behavior? Provide examples of leadership and deviant behavior from the case.
Bernie “Ebbers lead WorldCom through over 60 acquisitions over a period of 15 years.”, which averages one new acquisition per quarter. (http://open.lib.umn.edu) In our reference text, Bernie was described by one WorldCom employee as being “...like a rock star.” (Trevino, L. and Brown, M., 2005, p. 89) The authors go on to state that, “Acquisitions occurred so quickly that there was no time to properly integrate new companies into WorldCom.” (Trevino, L. and Brown, M., 2005, p. 92) Bernie was a charismatic …show more content…
Consider the characteristics of the ethical leader described in Chapter 3. How does such a leader encourage ethical behavior among managers and employees and, at the same time, obtain successful organizational results? Could Ebbers have used these characteristics to accomplish his goals at WorldCom? Explain.
Whether one believes in the adage, “What goes around, comes around.”, or Karhma, or a variation on the Golden Rule, an ethical leader must model the kind of behavior that he or she wants to see reproduced in their organization. For we are creatures that learn by modelling. In the ancient world, the Greeks, Romans, and Jews recognized this, and had high regard for rearing children properly, in order to become good citizens. (Barclay, 1959)
For example, in the Old Testament, we have this parental instruction in Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (KJV) Many years ago, when I was working in Children’s Ministry, I researched this verse, going back to the original Hebrew. Unfortunately, I no longer have my notes. and retranslated it thus, “Train up a child, in the the course or manner of life, or the path already well worn with walking, and when he reaches puberty (or when he has hair on his chin), he will not depart from