Reconstructive Journals
The topic of leadership for a purpose is intriguing in that it shows that the company’s purpose determines its actions and its extent in promoting ethical behavior. For instance, companies are able to achieve their anticipated profits and act ethically while those whose purpose is profit-oriented tend to act unethically.
The ability of organizations to behave ethically is often determined by the mode of leadership and their capability to take the right course of action. Most organizations, particularly well-established corporations often strive to promote ethical behavior coupled with corporate social responsibility in a bid to increase their profits and reputation in the community. Starbucks, H&M, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, and Patagonia are among the companies that are known for acting ethically and striving hard to promote customer and community needs and satisfaction beyond their need to make profits (Eva, Robin, Sendjaya, van Dierendonck, & Liden, 2019). For instance, Starbucks is committed to the use of coffee that is sustainably sourced through the Coffee and Farmer Equity Practices (C.A.F.E) in order to maximize its sustainable sourcing. In this system, the organization’s actions are founded on the need for quality, social responsibility, economic transparency, and environmental leadership. Additionally, it often strives to purchase coffee from the farmers at a fair price while ensuring that the activities involved in planting, purchasing, processing, and harvesting are executed ethically.
The style of leadership plays a critical role in determining the ability of an organization to act ethically. While these practices have contributed to the company’s reputation, the ability of Starbucks to act ethically can be attributed to the adoption of an effective leadership method. According to Sullivan (2019), Starbucks adopted servant leadership where the main aim of a leader is to serve which is different from traditional leadership whereby the main focus of lehttps://sharksavewriters.com/how-commitment-and-performance-influence-my-leadership/aders is to maximize profits such as Coca-Cola and Amazon. Through this approach, Starbucks has managed to promote the performance of individual employees to increase their morale which has translated to customer satisfaction (McCann & Sparks, 2019). This has consequently led to the growth of the organization and has become revered in the industry owing to its organizational culture, corporate social responsibility, and ethical operations, that create a warm and friendly environment for the employees, managers, stakeholders, and shareholders.
Although most established organizations have the ability to act ethically, most of them such as Coca-Cola has failed in its priorities due to the adoption of profit-oriented perspective. While it is expected for Coca-Cola to engage in the promotion of the well-being of the community and its employees at large, it has been listed amongst the most unethical organizations in the world. With more than 3.3 million tons of plastic annually, Coca-Cola has failed to act ethically and to prioritize the needs of the community by adopting constructive leadership practices. Additionally, it is regarded as the main contributor to the growing rate of obesity in the United States owing to the high contents of sugar in its products (Chua et al., 2020). Although Coca-Cola and Amazon have the ability to change the world by adopting healthy ingredients and effective manufacturing, distribution, and recycling processes, the company has failed owing to the adoption of a profit-oriented style of management and leadership.
As such, this is evidence that although it is expected that big companies will be ethical while small companies are likely to be profit-oriented, the ability of organizations is often determined by the style of leadership and management. This is the reason why, Starbucks has managed to remain ethical by adopting servant leadership while Coca-Cola and Amazon are unethical due to the adoption of autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire style which encourages a profit-oriented approach.
References
Chua, J. Y., Kee, D. M. H., Alhamlan, H. A., Lim, P. Y., Lim, Q. Y., Lim, X. Y., & Singh, N. (2020). Challenges and Solutions: A Case Study of Coca-Cola Company. Journal of the community development in Asia, 3(2), 43-54. https://doi.org/10.32535/jcda.v3i2.810
Eva, N., Robin, M., Sendjaya, S., van Dierendonck, D., & Liden, R. C. (2019). Servant leadership: A systematic review and a call for future research. The Leadership Quarterly, 30(1), 111-132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2018.07.004
McCann, J., & Sparks, B. (2019). The effects of leadership styles on innovative work behavior and the role of locus of control in the manufacturing environment. Journal of Organizational Psychology, 19(1), 79-94.
Sullivan, G. S. (2019). Servant Leadership: An Introduction. In Servant Leadership in Sport (pp. 31-39). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11248-6_2
Why Are Women Paid Low Compared to Men?
Since time immemorial, the position of women in society has always been one where their value has had diminished value and significance compared to their male counterparts. After graduating, women are likely to settle for low-paying occupations such as social work and nursing compared to men who choose more demanding occupations such as welding, IT, and advanced manufacturing. Although lucrative industries such as automotive repair and welding are likely to suffer inadequacies, most women are likely to choose occupations that are considered safe and flexible such as cosmetology and child care. According to Srivastava & Cheema (2019), this segregation may be facilitated by the threat of workplace harassment and lack of support in occupations that are considered to be male-oriented.
Having more women in non-traditional programs such as engineering is likely to solve the problem of labour shortage while solving the issue of poverty in society. However, this does not conspire to owe to the fact that most women prefer to have a work-life balance that is difficult to achieve in demanding jobs. For instance, most girls are likely to resign from their positions in the corporate world after getting married in a bid to have more time with their children. According to Young, Hassan, & Hatmaker (2019), there is a high possibility for men and women in the same occupation to have different salary owing to the fact that men are highly sensitive to salary signals compared to the women. This can be understood from the perspective that men view themselves as caregivers and providers who should make enough for themselves and their families. The ability of women to earn more than their male counterparts is often curtailed by the ability to get satisfied in less than average due to support from their families. The society expects men to provide for their families, an aspect that creates positive grounds to argue their case compared to women.
Sex segregation in the job market has been facilitated by societal norms and beliefs. As such, education and creation of awareness on the position of women in the society can assist to change societal perspectives in the next generations. For instance, schools in New Zealand have made attempts to educate children that all occupations should be respected since they are equally important. Although social service is considered a feminine role, schools are educating children that occupations are not gender-oriented but rather, depend on people’s passions and abilities. As such, willing women can become engineers and welders while men can be nurses and social workers. However, in order to achieve the anticipated level of success in de-gendering occupations, the government should implement laws that restrict gender-based discrimination and facilitate harassments in occupations that are considered male-oriented, an aspect that affects the ability and desire of women to take part in such occupations.
In order to create more value for female-oriented occupations, organizations should begin by rewarding all occupations equally to reduce gender-based discrimination. Education facilities should recruit women in male-oriented occupations and follow up after graduation to ensure that they are employed and provided with reasonable payments. Lastly, women should be educated on believing in themselves and in their abilities to achieve their responsibilities like their male counterparts.
References
Young, K. A., Hassan, S., & Hatmaker, D. M. (2019). Towards understanding workplace incivility: gender, ethical leadership and personal control. Public Management Review, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2019.1665701
Srivastava, R., & Cheema, S. (2019). How Gender Integration Can Reduce the Income-Inequality Gap. Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal, 13(2), 32-52. doi:10.14453/aabfj.v13i2.3