"Ethics in the News" - Subgroup 2 (Tuesdays)

Subgroup 2, please post your ethics news blogs in this thread. Thanks!

After 28 years of working with Sesame Street and being the voice of Elmo, Kevin Clash is most likely viewed with all of the sources of personal power, including LEGITIMACY, EXPERTISE, EFFORT and CHARISMA. However, with one recanted and one standing accusation of Clash engaging underage minors in sexual activities, it causes people to question whether he was ENGAGING IN UNETHICAL, ILLEGAL, AND CRIMINAL ACTS. As a beloved character for children, Clash's potential acts could be viewed as TOXIC LEADERSHIP.

With the Black Friday shopping day approaching us, I have been hearing more news about Walmart and the potential for some strikes by its employees. There is an organization, OUR Walmart, that is trying to unite and influence employees to boycott working this Friday. This has prompted some defensiveness on the part of Walmart. This non-union group feels that there is toxic leadership that is being exhibited by Walmart.....enforcing compliance with rules amongst its employee base, arrogance on the part of the leaders, and egos due to the size of the company. The management of Walmart though feels optimistic that this campaign will not have any effect on the holiday shopping season, and that ultimately the shoppers of Walmart will still exhibit their citizenship towards the retain chain.

After being reported missing by his mother, Emilliano Terry was found dead at a waste plant. Camilia has not been accused, but her wavering, inconsistent story makes it seem as if she didn't follow KANT'S CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE. It also calls into question whether she was acting ALTRUISTICALLY as a mother. She may have only been INCOMPETENT and lost track of her son, but perhaps there was an EVIL motive. Through her trial and JUSTICE AS FAIRNESS, hopefully the truth will be uncovered.

I saw the following news both on a back-page news article, and also recently mailed directly to me. I recieved in the mail the other day a recall notice from GM for my vehicle, relating to a part that needs replaced because a defect could potentailly lead to a fire inside the door. The dissapointing thing was that my vehicle is a 2006, so when I learned of this, the concept of ethics crossed my mind. This sounds like a moral/ethical sensitivity issue, in that the manufacturer likely knew of a defect, but instead waited to see if it would become a larger issue, and likely only issued the recall after receiving many complaints or being pressured by the government. This could have been prompted by a lack of citizenship to the customers, and could be an indiciation of toxic leadership on the part of management. It seems that if Nash's 12 questions were taken into consideration during the vehicle design or production, this and similar issues could be avoided. Also, if internal personnel knew of this design flaw before it became a larger issue, this could have potentailly been avoided if those individuals woudl have practiced courageous followership (specifically the courage to challenge).

Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, is likely one of the most INFLUENTIAL businesswomen in the US. She displays AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP by understanding her strengths and weaknesses, and working on the weaknesses she encounters. She was AWARE of how her product could really help women and utilized UNBIASED PROCESSING to learn more about what she had to do to be successful. She continued to take ACTION even when others rejected Spanx or hid them in the corners of department stores. Sara's decisive and knows where she wants to see the company grow.

I read an article this evening that spoke about how the SEC is charging some individuals with violating insider-trading rules. This obviously speaks directly to ethics on a number of levels. It is definitely an example of toxic leadership for a number of reasons……engaging in insider trading is an illegal act, it’s based on greed and arrogance, and also shows a lack of citizenship towards the investment banks these individuals work for. It is also an example of Kellerman’s Bad Leadership, specifically being corrupt in their actions. This easily could have been avoided if they would have used Nash’s 12 questions in their decision making process, or possessed moral sensitivity/recognition.