1. Ebbers actions were indicative leadership because of the role he played in influencing employees ethical and unethical conduct. Ebbers displayed destructive deviant behavior by the example that he set to his subordinates on what was important in the company and what was not. Leaders are supposed to be the key source of guidance when it comes to ethical and moral decisions due to the authoritative role that they play (Trevino & Brown, 2005.) When leadership places a higher priority on the company bottom line than the well being of shareholders involved with a company, a moral dilemma is created.
During Worldcom's rise, Ebbers had acquired many companies that were in competition with him. One of the reasons Ebbers was able to acquire so many …show more content…
Ebbers's leadership style was described by his former associates as very high energy and charismatic. In his book Telecosm author George Gilder described Ebbers as “one of the most fascinating, improbable, and inspiring in North American business” (Gilder, 2002). Indeed the man that built the Worldcom empire from a humble beginning to a multi-billion dollar company that completed over 70 mergers and acquisitions no doubt was very charismatic and had strong leadership. However, with great leadership comes great responsibility. According to the article, modeling is acknowledged to be one of the most powerful means for transmitting values, attitudes, and behaviors. One of Ebbers's goals running the company was to be the best and the biggest, and he stopped at nothing to ensure WorldCom would be on top of the telecommunication industry. Indeed there is a link between Ebbers's high emphasis on the bottom line and his low concern for the impact his behavior might have on his employees, shareholders, and others that are affected by WorldCom's …show more content…
An ethical leader such as the one described in chapter 3 encourages ethical behavior by using a reward system that encourages ethical behavior. Ethical leaders send a clear message to organizational members about the expected behavior and use a reward system that holds everyone accountable to those expectations (Trevino & Brown, 2005). While a company doing the ethical and right thing does not guarantee company success, companies like WorldCom can show us the failure that a company can eventually come to if the there is not a solid ethical culture in place. Ebbers absolutely could have used these characteristics to accomplish his goals at WorldCom because showing by example that ethics didn't matter clearly was a contributing factor to WorldCom's demise. Doing the right thing may not have guaranteed Ebbers his total goal of Telecommunications domination, but by not doing the right thing it only helped fuel the fire of the companies
During Worldcom's rise, Ebbers had acquired many companies that were in competition with him. One of the reasons Ebbers was able to acquire so many …show more content…
Ebbers's leadership style was described by his former associates as very high energy and charismatic. In his book Telecosm author George Gilder described Ebbers as “one of the most fascinating, improbable, and inspiring in North American business” (Gilder, 2002). Indeed the man that built the Worldcom empire from a humble beginning to a multi-billion dollar company that completed over 70 mergers and acquisitions no doubt was very charismatic and had strong leadership. However, with great leadership comes great responsibility. According to the article, modeling is acknowledged to be one of the most powerful means for transmitting values, attitudes, and behaviors. One of Ebbers's goals running the company was to be the best and the biggest, and he stopped at nothing to ensure WorldCom would be on top of the telecommunication industry. Indeed there is a link between Ebbers's high emphasis on the bottom line and his low concern for the impact his behavior might have on his employees, shareholders, and others that are affected by WorldCom's …show more content…
An ethical leader such as the one described in chapter 3 encourages ethical behavior by using a reward system that encourages ethical behavior. Ethical leaders send a clear message to organizational members about the expected behavior and use a reward system that holds everyone accountable to those expectations (Trevino & Brown, 2005). While a company doing the ethical and right thing does not guarantee company success, companies like WorldCom can show us the failure that a company can eventually come to if the there is not a solid ethical culture in place. Ebbers absolutely could have used these characteristics to accomplish his goals at WorldCom because showing by example that ethics didn't matter clearly was a contributing factor to WorldCom's demise. Doing the right thing may not have guaranteed Ebbers his total goal of Telecommunications domination, but by not doing the right thing it only helped fuel the fire of the companies