Editor’s Note
Prof. Madhumita Bhattacharya, teaches Business Communications at Globsyn Business School – which has always been considered to be one of the best b schools in Kolkata. Prof. Bhattacharya has more than 20 years of experience across various premiere academic institutions of Eastern India, where she has held leadership positions. She has demonstrated ability in teaching as well as relevant academic administration. Her core areas of expertise include Business Communication, Interpersonal Skills, Professional Etiquette, Interview Skills, and Networking Strategies. She has been part of several industry-academia training programs, and has conducted workshops. Her teaching is marked by a blend of business acumen and psychological insights, which she leverages to enhance students’ understanding of effective communication in professional settings. Prof. Bhattacharya has proven expertise in Curriculum Design, Performance Evaluation & Mapping, and Training Needs Analysis (TNA). She has been part of various MDPs and FDPs, and is a joint recipient of the Education Excellence Award by Times of India.
Have you ever faced an ethical dilemma?
You found a wallet with a large sum of money but no identification. Do you keep the money or turn it over to authorities, knowing it might never be returned to the owner?
A classmate or colleague asks you to help them cheat on an assignment or test. Helping them compromises your integrity, but refusing could strain your relationship. What do you do?
In these scenarios, the right answer isn’t always clear. In business or corporate life, you’re bound to encounter ethical dilemmas, especially if you are a leader.
As a leader of your organisation, you have ethical responsibilities primarily to four stakeholder groups—customers, employees, investors, and society. In addition to creating value for your business, you’re responsible for making a positive, or at least neutral, impact on society and the environment.
In order to understand the context better, let’s go through a Havard Business School Case Study on ‘How to Create a Culture of Ethics and Accountability in the Workplace’.
Starbucks’s Racial Bias Incident
If one of your employees made a critical decision based on racial bias, how would you respond? That was the question Kevin Johnson, then-CEO of coffee shop chain Starbucks, had to answer in April 2014.
One day, two Black men entered a Starbucks in Philadelphia and asked to use the bathroom. The manager on duty told them the restroom was for paying customers only, so they sat down to wait for their friend to arrive before ordering. The manager called the police, who arrested the men for trespassing. Although no charges were filed, the arrest went viral and sparked protests throughout the United States.
Starbucks, which prides itself on being an ethical brand has one of the most diverse leadership groups in corporate America—five of the board’s 14 members are women, and five are from racial minority groups. This racially motivated incident clashed with its values. Johnson fired the manager who called for the arrest, apologized to the two men, and announced racial bias training for all Starbucks employees.
To emphasize the training’s importance, Johnson closed 8,000 locations on May 29, 2018, to educate 175,000 employees. This cost Starbucks an estimated 12 million dollars in lost profit but spread the message that it cares about its customers, employees, and society.
According to Social Learning Theory, ethical leaders act as role models for their followers. Behaviour, such as following ethical practices and taking ethical decisions, are observed, and consequently followed. Rewards and punishments given out by the leader create a second social learning opportunity, that teaches which behaviour is acceptable and which is not.
In Social Exchange Theory, the effect of ethical leadership on followers is explained by transactional exchanges between the leader and their followers. The leader’s fairness and caring for followers activate a reciprocatory process, in which the followers act in the same manner towards the leader.
A commonly used measure of ethical leadership is the Ethical Leadership Scale (ELS), developed by Brown et al. in 2005. It consists of 10 items with an internal consistency of alpha = .92 and shows a satisfying fit, with indices at or above recommended standards. Other scales include the Ethical Leadership at Work Questionnaire proposed by Kalshoven et al. with 38 Items and the Ethical Leadership Questionnaire (ELQ), composed of 15 Items and proposed by Yukl et al. in 2013.
Though conceptionally close to and partly overlapping with other leadership styles such as transformational leadership, spiritual leadership, and authentic leadership, ethical leadership nonetheless describes a unique leadership style with noticeable differences. The most apparent differentiating feature is ethical leadership’s focus on the setting of moral standards and moral management, which sets it apart from transformation leadership’s focus on vision and values and spiritual leadership’s focus on hope and faith. Additionally, the nature of ethical leadership lies in the awareness of others, and not of the self, differentiating it clearly from authentic leadership.
The question is, do we follow ethical practices at Globsyn Business School(GBS) and how do we inspire our students to be ethical leaders in future years?
The curriculum integrates courses or modules on business ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and sustainability, encouraging students to consider ethical implications in decision-making. Faculty and administrative leaders at GBS likely model ethical behaviour in their professional and interpersonal dealings. This sets a tone of integrity and transparency, inspiring students to emulate these values.
Additionally, GBS engages in CSR activities, such as hosting events at schools for the underprivileged, encouraging participation in community service, emphasizing the importance of giving back to society. The B-School has policies in place to address issues like harassment, discrimination, and academic dishonesty, ensuring a campus culture built on respect and trust.
Through these practices, Globsyn Business School fosters an ethical culture that prepares students to be leaders who prioritize principles over convenience, both in their personal and professional lives.
Prof. Madhumita Bhattacharya
Faculty – Business Communications
Globsyn Business School