Question

3. Outline how you think Branson demonstrates the elements of either ethical or non- ethical leadership. What ethicat behaviours is he demonstrating? How is he demonstrating the 'traits' of an ethical leader? 4. If you were a consultant hired to improve leadership at Foxconn, what changes would you recommend to Terry Gou to create a workplace that is more harmonious, less stressful and less toxic for employees. Do you believe the nature of some of the characteristics of Chinese culture may influence the success of these changes?

Answer 1

(3): Branson tangibly demonstrates elements of ethical leadership by focusing on factors like trust, integrity, relationships and transparency. As a leader Branson clearly believes that a leader and an organization should be reliable and employees and customers of the organization can easily trust and rely on the company to take care of them by providing good working conditions, fair pay and fair work environment (for employees) and trustworthy services and goods (for customers). The ethical behavior that Branson is most demonstrating is concern for others and respect for others. Unlike other corporate leaders Branson clearly states that his employees comes first and not customers. If employees are treated well then customers will automatically be treated well by them. Branson is demonstrating the traits of an ethical leader by putting in practice his believes in the working of his companies. For instance employees are allowed to think and self-lead, by having non-policy for staff holidays etc.

(4): As a consultant my first set of recommendations for creating a more harmonious, less stressful and less toxic workplace would be to change the nature of the work as well as the working conditions. The nature of the work is repetitive and monotonous and this mentally tires the employees. To enable the employees to give their best they should be exposed to different roles and different job types. Thus job rotation should be a primary aspect that should be introduced at Foxconn. Secondly the work should be made stress free by removing elements like forced overtime, working at unearthly hours like 4 am in the morning. A proper work schedule and time table should be made for employees and this should be adhered to at all times. Workers should be treated with respect and should not be exploited. Yes, I do believe that nature of some of the characteristics of Chinese culture will influence the success of these changes. China has a culture of overwork and so it will be difficult to stop the exploitation of workers and introduce a culture in which workers are not made to overwork. This can be overcome by focusing more on innovation. Innovation will help increase efficiency and productivity and this will, in the long run, reduce the burden of the employees.