Ethics in Leadership
Adherence to the ethical standards is the key to success in all the spheres of life. Ethical organization environment is the cornerstone of any organization’s success. Ethical leaders understand that an ethical organization environment is brought by a positive relationship built by openness, integrity, fairness, trust, and accountability. The corporate leadership of an organization determines the direction of an organization and ethical failure of a corporate leader results in the failure of an organization at large. Greed is a key reason that leads to unethical leadership. Dennis Kozlowski demonstrated unethical leadership during his administration at Tyco International company because he was obsessed with personal benefits than the success of the company.
Dennis Kozlowski, who served as the Chief Executive Officer for the Tyco International oversaw a period of both success and failures during his time of leadership. Kozlowski joined the Tyco International in 1975 and became the Chief Executive Officer of the company from 1992 until the time he left the company in 2002 (Martin, 2017). In the 1990s, Tyco International was one of the largest companies in the world dealing with security systems. The company showed signs of bankruptcy when Dennis Kozlowski was the Chief Executive Officer, hence making Kozlowski become popular. During his leadership at the Tyco International, Kozlowski abused many corporate prerogatives because of greed (Carrigan, 2015). Kozlowski demonstrated a dictatorial leadership style where he made decisions without consulting other members of the company to meet his interests. Dennis Kozlowski soaked the Tyco International several millions because he lacked integrity and accountability as a corporate leader.
Due to lack of integrity and accountability, Kozlowski has had several scandals, trials and conviction, hence he is considered as an unethical corporate leader. Between 1996 and 2002, CEO Kozlowski soaked Tyco International $150 million in unearned bonuses and loans (Eshiet, 2017). The selfish leader used the money from the company to live a notorious and luxurious life. Kozlowski was not fair in his leadership, and he lacked openness. The unethical leadership of Kozlowski led to the bankruptcy of the Tyco International. Due to his disloyalty and lack of integrity as a corporate leader, Kozlowski together with his chief financial officer Mark Swartz were convicted and jailed for about eight years (Laczniak, 2016). The financial documents signed by Kozlowski during his period at the Tyco International were not clear, which shows a lack of openness and integrity. Kozlowski was disloyal, and dishonesty and the Tyco International filed against Kozlowski in 2002 for compensation of the benefits he had received during his disloyalty leadership period. Dennis Kozlowski was an unethical leader, which led to the failure of Tyco International company and his failure as a corporate leader.
In conclusion, ethical standards are the cornerstone for the success of organizations and progress for individual corporate leaders. Positive relationship in an organization built by openness, honesty, accountability, and integrity forms the basis for ethical leadership in the corporate world. Dennis Kozlowski, who was the Chief Executive Officer, lacked integrity and openness in his administration, which led him to use the company’s resources for his gains illegally. Due to his greed, he was jailed, and he failed as a corporate leader. Also, due to a lack of ethics, Kozlowski led to the failure of Tyco International. Therefore, corporate leadership determines the direction of an organization, and unethical leadership by the corporate leaders subsequently results in the failure of the organization in the corporate world.
References
Carrigan, M. D., & Alex, T. C. (2015). Recovery from ethical lapses in American business: TYCO. International Journal of Arts & Sciences, 8(5), 529.
Eshiet, U. E. (2017). IMPLICATIONS OF ACCOUNTANTS’UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR AND CORPORATE FAILURES–. In 1st Academic Conference of Accounting and Finance (p. 671).
Laczniak, G. R., & Murphy, P. E. (2016). Ethical leadership for improved corporate governance and better business education. In Business ethics: New challenges for business schools and corporate leaders (pp. 187-207). Routledge.
Martin, J. A., & Butler, F. C. (2017). Agent and stewardship behavior: How do they differ?. Journal of Management & Organization, 23(5), 633-646.