Scribd
Upload
129 views4 pages

University of Immaculate Conception Bonifacio Street, Davao City Corporate Social Responsibility

This document contains the responses to a midterm exam question about the leadership of Dennis Kozlowski at Tyco International. The responses discuss whether Kozlowski was an effective leader and if his actions were ethical. It is noted that while Kozlowski grew the company, issues like conflict of interest arose from using company funds for personal expenses. The document also considers how entitlement bias may have affected Kozlowski's behavior and rationalizations he could have used to justify his actions. Additionally, the potential impact of unethical leadership on employee behavior is discussed, and other examples of leaders abusing their power like Tsuyoshi Kikuwa are provided.

Uploaded by

Maritess Munoz
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
129 views4 pages

University of Immaculate Conception Bonifacio Street, Davao City Corporate Social Responsibility

This document contains the responses to a midterm exam question about the leadership of Dennis Kozlowski at Tyco International. The responses discuss whether Kozlowski was an effective leader and if his actions were ethical. It is noted that while Kozlowski grew the company, issues like conflict of interest arose from using company funds for personal expenses. The document also considers how entitlement bias may have affected Kozlowski's behavior and rationalizations he could have used to justify his actions. Additionally, the potential impact of unethical leadership on employee behavior is discussed, and other examples of leaders abusing their power like Tsuyoshi Kikuwa are provided.

Uploaded by

Maritess Munoz
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

University of Immaculate Conception

Bonifacio Street , Davao City


Corporate Social Responsibility

Maritess L. Muᾗoz Presentacion Acosta, DBM


Student Professor

MIDTERM EXAM

1. Do you think Dennis Kozlowski was an effective leader for Tyco International? Were

his actions ethically permissible? Why or why not?

Answer:  Kozlowski leadership style is not in question. He has done his best in taking Tyco to

great heights by doing multiple delas in short span of time. However, on his actions of gifting his

wife on company expense and funding his own apartment at the parties. I believe that Dennis

Kozlowski started as an effective leader for Tyco International. Kozlowski grew the company

immensely and within his first six years as CEO secured 88 deals worth over $15 billion. The

major issue addressed in Tyco International's case study is the issue of conflict of interest. A

conflict of interest occurs when a person in a position of trust is involved in a situation where his

personal interests or obligations are incompatible with those who trust him. Furthermore, a

conflict of interest occurs when a person prioritizes self-interest over the interests of the party

they serve. The leaders in Tyco International were caught for involving in various unethical

deeds. While they were holding the position of trust as board of directors, they involved

themselves in issues that conflict with their positions. All the crimes they did showed that they

gave priority to self-interest rather than the interest of the shareholders of the company.

2. As CEO of a major company, how might entitlement bias have affected Kozlowski’s

behavior?
Answer:

According to the narrator of the video Ethical Leadership Part I, entitlement bias is

defined as "...if they are told that they have been selected as the “leader" of the

team, even if they have done nothing to deserve that title, they tend to keep a much

larger share of the resources for themselves." I personally do not believe that this

entirely applies to Kozlowski, as he has proven himself to be an effective leader by

turning the company around from what it was to a corporate juggernaut by the late

1990s; this is why he was named one of the Top 25 Managers of the Year for 2001

and was included on Fortune Mag's list of people to watch. What did affect

Kozlowski's behavior, however, was [more or less] the greed component of this

"bias," in that he believed that taking a lump sum of the company's own assets for

himself was acceptable because of the mentality of "I have contributed greatly to the

transformation of this company into what it is now (which he did), so I think it's okay

to take a little bit more for myself."

3. What rationalizations do you think Kozlowski might have used to justify his behavior

in his own mind?

Answer :

The company, in my opinion, should also cultivate an ethical corporate culture. To

accomplish this, the company should establish a code of conduct. According to the

International Labour Organization a code of conduct is a company's statement that

explains ethical standards and applications that employees should follow. A code of

conduct could encourage ethical and moral behavior among company employees.

Employees could avoid being convicted of a conflict of interest if they followed the
code of conduct. Employees should be given the guidelines to the code of conduct

so that they can better understand it. Maybe Kozlowski action and behavior because

he thinks that he is the one who do the effort and build up leadership to improve the

company and become successful in the industry.

4. If you were in Kozlowski’s position, how do you think your actions would affect the

behavior of your employees? Why?

Answer:

If I am in Kozlowski’s position improper leadership behavior usually has a direct impact

on my employees’ attitudes and performance. Employees who act ethically, for example,

may begin to believe that following the rules will not get them ahead in the company.

This causes otherwise model employees' motivation and performance to deteriorate

over time. On the other hand, some employees may witness unethical behavior and

believe it is acceptable to emulate it. If a restaurant manager is caught stealing money

from the cash register at the end of the day, the bartenders and servers will begin to

believe they should do the same. Employee relationships in the workplace will suffer as

a result of unethical leadership. Employees are often compelled to act strange or

awkward in the presence of leaders who are known to engage in inappropriate behavior.

Employees will frequently avoid these leaders because they have lost respect for them.

People who follow the rules will grow to resent those who have gotten ahead by

"cheating," which will eventually lead to a decrease in the overall sense of trust and

community that successful businesses rely on. So, if you notice awkward interactions

between leaders and employees, or a growing sense of resentment, it could be a sign of

unethical leadership.
5. Can you think of any other examples of leaders who have abused the power of their

position? What similarities and differences do you see between them and Kozlowski?

Tsuyoshi Kikuwa, CEO of Olympus, a world-leading camera manufacturer, is another example

of a leader who abused their position. They are similar in the sense that they both engage in

unethical behavior and abuse their positions in order to gain personal satisfaction while utilizing

the company's resources. Tyco International's leaders were apprehended for a variety of

unethical practices. While serving on the board of directors, they became involved in issues that

were in conflict with their positions. All of the crimes they committed demonstrated that they

prioritized self-interest over the interests of the company's shareholders. The majority of Tyco

International's ethical issues were related to conflicts of interest. Embezzling funds, bribery, and

accounting fraud are all issues related to conflict of interest that we discussed in previous

paragraphs. All of these issues were unethical from other perspectives aside from the conflict of

interest. These issues had also violated other ethical theories, which we had elaborated on.

You might also like