I would like to make a text-to-self connection between the article “Guest Column: Strong ethics provide guidance” and my personal experiences. I think that this speaks to my personal experience as I step into different leadership positions and have had to learn how to speak up, support others, collaborate and work through differences. I also think that this article speaks to the experiences I have had in the workplace and understanding how each person’s values lead them to make different decisions in their role. The article shares this idea in another way when it states, “We can remind ourselves that principles are immutable truths and that, like a lighthouse, they can guide our ship into port and safety.” I also think this article has a humble approach to acknowledging how ethics play a role in leadership when it says, “Ethical leadership reminds us no one is above these principles.” This creates a very relational perspective that allows me to look at ethical leadership as an objective experience rather than subjective. I think it takes a humble approach that acknowledges that ethical principles tie people together and create structure for work environments. I think as I take on new jobs, work with new people and learn new skills to use in my position, I do my best to take a humble approach and realize that the ethical values and principles in society and the company are what ties us together.

Strong_Ethics_Provide_Guidance.pdf

I would like to make a text-to-self connection based on the information that I learned in the source, “Value based leadership paradigm.” In this source, the proposed model reminded me of the topics I learned about in another class (COM 466). In this class we explore leadership challenges over the course of the semester and use those challenges to define problems and cultivate action steps to create innovation or needed change. In the model, it connects values and mission, duties, commitment and human relations. This reminds me of how I explored the importance of aligning missions, methods and resources. When the model is broken down more specifically, the final model embedded in this source, shows how each topic has necessary branches, and related components that make this leadership approach work and flow properly. This relates to what I am learning in the COM 466 class because we explore how organizations need to:

1. Aligning mission, methods, and resources
2. Earning the public trust
3. Balancing individual interest and the common good
4. Capitalizing on opportunities associated with diversity.
5. Moving beyond charity to systemic change

These leadership challenges bring to light the areas that are necessary to focus on in order to have an organization successfully led. What I have learned in this class through these challenges relates to the leadership components defined in both the proposed and more specifically the final model. In the conclusion section of this source, it is concluded that the behavioral patterns among organizations are controlled through the models. I see the same control over the organizations I have analyzed in the COM 466 class!

VBL Paradigm.pdf

I wanted to make a text-to-self connection between the text “Ethics Awareness” and myself. As I was exploring this information, I found it relevant to some of my experiences I have had learning about the intentions of universities. It talks about cultivating an ethical institution and I am reassured thar NC State is cultivating an ethical institution. I remember when I was looking for schools and NC State stood out as a school that promoted their ethical environment. They did this by telling me what I should expect from the school, shared reliable resources and had employees/professors that set the example for the students to see. As NC State is known for their excellence, the university continues to be respected and supported by students, fans, staff, etc. Their integrity is also built because of this level of excellence.

As I have taken time to really learn more about my own values, I have explored the “why” behind the core values that I live by and make me who I am. According to the article, “Ethical decision-making is based on core character values like trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and good citizenship. Ethical decisions generate ethical behaviors and provide a foundation for good business practices.” I think it is interesting that core values I have defined based on who I am translate into decision-making in the business world. This is reassuring that my personal career and professional career are very much tied together in a similar way. I think it also speaks to the fact that the work I put into myself is shown through my professional decisions.

Ethics Awareness

I thought that the article ” Ethical Decision Making by Individuals in Organizations: An Issue-Contingent Model” was interesting. I would like to make a text-to-world connection here. On page 374, it highlights the components of moral intensity. It shares how moral intensity involved the magnitude of consequences. It states, “The magnitude of consequences of the moral issue is defined as the sum of the harms (or benefits) done to victims (or beneficiaries) of the moral act in question. ” I think this is interesting because in our world there are a lot of terrible things that happen to people and the people who commit those things have to consider the consequences. I also think it is interesting that the weight and magnitude of a consequence to one person doesn’t necessarily hold the same magnitude or weight for another person. I think this is why a lot of the time one person’s rational thoughts are another person’s last choice.

In terms of within an organization, the text states, “Further, because moral issues are present in most organizational decisions, people concerned with minor issues would be morally agitated most of the time. Because people are not constantly agitated over moral issues, it is assumed that many moral issues fail to reach a threshold of magnitude of consequences.” I think this speaks to the common sense that most employees have within the organization. Most people naturally understand the appropriate way/ morally correct way to handle conflict, agitation, anger, etc. within the workplace.

Ethical Decision Making by Individuals in Organizations: An Issue-Contingent Model

I would like to make a text-to-self reference from the Harvard Business Review article “Personal Values and Corporate Strategy.” The article states, “For our purposes a value can be viewed as a conception, explicit or implicit, of what an individual or a group regards as desirable, and in terms of which he or they select, from among alternative available modes, the means and ends of action.” I see this explanation of a value play out in the workplace. I work for a nonprofit and we have core values that I deeply understand and pursue on a daily basis. The group, in this case, are the employees that work for the company. The group desires the 16 core values because they lead to the desirable actions that will help the company accomplish their goals/mission.

Another quote from the same article states, “Values may be identified by noting differences between individuals or groups in dealing with similar problems.” I think this speaks to conflict resolution in the workplace. Even though different employees have different roles with the company, each person has the company’s core values in common. As conflict is addressed, employees must remember the values that they must uphold as they are in partnership with the company. Another example is from my personal experience. As a part of a team, there will be times where I want to approach something with my individual interest as a priority. I must remember our core values of the company calls to humbly step into compassion. I take on the challenge of those core values by redirecting my actions to be more of a team player for the betterment of the mission and to lower myself to serve others.

Personal Values and Corporate Strategy

For my 9th DEJ, I would like to make a text-to-world reference based on the text “Transparency and Authenticity: The value of Open Communication.” I feel as though this text has revealed some concerns with current marketing practices, we see taking place in the world (on tv, sign ads, poster ads, even on menu boards). I think it has become normalized to see the marketing of certain products as “professional” when the authenticity of the marketing method should be in question. The section “Transparency across all touch points” says, “We thus avoid images wherever possible. In the rare cases where we feel we need to show images of our product in display cases, we use actual pictures of our products in their wrappers, and we make a concerted effort to choose images so true to life that consumers will feel they got what they saw.” It is interesting that so many fast-food places and restaurant chains take a different approach. It is noticeable that these places actually use these perfect images to give you a visual that leads you to desire/crave the food. I would argue that it actually leads people to be disappointed when their needs aren’t met because their expectations were set so high by the images presented by the fast-food place/restaurant chain. It also begs the question of how authentic the businesses are and what their goals are. Is the customer’s best interest in mind or is the claim to flawlessness all for the brand and the goal to real customers in?

SLC reading source.pdf

I would like to make a text-to-text connection between the article on the world’s most reputable CEOs. In this article I found it interesting that it highlighted the importance of corporate responsibility and how that is such a contribution to the success of the CEOs in today’s world. The article states, “There was a time and a place when it was good enough for leaders to deliver on financial performance, new products and innovative agendas, but that paradigm has changed,” he explains. “Social responsibility, employee responsibility and environmental responsibility.” I think it is interesting to see how priorities have changed, and the people of each generation are behind this change all because of their decision to support/engage in the company/business or not.

This article reminded me of another article I read called “A New Era in Corporate Responsibility.” This article highlights how times have changed, and this has caused companies to refine their missions and how they present themselves to the public eye. An interesting statistic says, “87% will purchase a product because a company advocated for an issue they cared about.” I think this speaks to this generation and how we have become empowered to share and advocate for what we want to see in this world, and this has led to a shift in how companies appeal to us. I am curious to explore more into this to determine the ethics behind the choices of this generation and how that influences the marketing and missions within certain companies. How honest are the missions and visions of the companies we know and love. Is it for appeal?

The World’s Most Reputable CEOs 2019 (forbes.com)

A New Era in Corporate Responsibility (shrm.org)

I would like to make a text-to-self connection from the article associated with the Hot Topic Headline for this module. In this article is speaks consistently of the chemicals that the people in the area have to interact with/are in danger because of the presence of the chemicals. I think it is interesting that the article asks, “The biggest question remaining is what, if anything, is still being released from the site, first and foremost,” said Peter DeCarlo, an environmental health professor at Johns Hopkins University. “If there are still residual chemical emissions, then that still presents a danger for people in the area.” This is an interesting question by DeCarlo because what we cannot see, we are unsure of the risks, and it is a dangerous game to play with risks like chemicals. It is interesting how natural disasters really do begin to beg the question of how people respond and ethically respond both personally, in the community, and on a larger scale (state/government response). On a personal note, my house caught on fire a few weeks ago and my family couldn’t stay there because of the chemicals involved in the fire. My family analyzed the responses of the neighbors, community, insurance companies, family members, etc. Seeing how they responded to the unexpected disaster was interesting. I also think it is noteworthy to share how my family responded to their safe call to move back in. Although they had the go ahead to move back into the house after it was cleaned and examined for chemicals, they weighed the risks/benefits and chose to stay in a hotel for a few more days until they felt safe and comfortable to move back in.

East Palestine residents wonder whether it’s safe to return after derailment – The Washington Post

I would like to make a text-to-self connection because I have found the article assigned for the Hot Topic Headline for module 3. While writing my response to the article and answering the assignment questions, I began to realize how ethics and the public trust go hand and hand. I considered my personal trust in the standardized testing experience and how it changed after the protocol and requirements were altered due to Covid-19. Although the Covid outbreak was a very serious and unpredictable occurrence, it seems to be considerably easy to make accommodations with the college application requirements. It begs the question of how important standardized testing is and if the results are truly that impactful in the college acceptance process. I was one of the students who didn’t have to submit my ACT score to college applications. I was relieved but also satisfied because after taking that kind of test I questions how it would hold such significance in my acceptance decision. I didn’t believe it was the most ethical way to measure a student’s knowledge or intelligence. Now knowing that other students are in college and successful without having submitted their ACT/SAT scores makes me question how significant that testing really is in the process.

Has our society allowed the standardized testing business to hold more significance than it should? Is the education system letting us down by creating a standard assessment that doesn’t accurately reflect an individual’s intelligence? Is standardized testing ethical? These are all questions I have asked myself as I have seen the modifications made due to external circumstances and personally experienced educational success without having submitted my ACT/SAT.

SAT scores for nearly 800 CPS students invalid after error | WGN-TV (wgntv.com)

I would like to make a notable connection between the article “A Framework for Ethical Decision Making” and the world. When this article explained what ethics is, it chose to compare ethics to religion which I thought was very interesting. I think our world sees ethics and this idea of morals as following a religion. In the article it says, “Ethics is not the same as religion. People are not religious but act ethically.” Then it goes on to say the same applies vice versa. This reminds me of the word morals and when people say “you have good morals” and assume you follow a traditional religion or grew up in a household that was religious. I am at fault for that assumption a lot and sometimes it is true, but other times there are people who have strong ethical beliefs and that is simply it. This idea is also supported through the different lens’. The common good lens described in the article can support why people just act in a respectful and compassionate manner because ethically they believe that is how their actions can contribute to a good and well-lived life. On the other end, there could be people who believe in God and have a heart for Him and live in a way that would be in accordance with His desires. This doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with ethics, but rather your personal beliefs. The reasoning behind people’s actions in our society are for a number of different reasons which is why ethics is not a religion and religion is not ethics.

A Framework for Ethical Decision Making – Markkula Center for Applied Ethics (scu.edu)