Bernard Ebber Ethical Behavior

Analysis of leadership role in influencing employees’ ethical and unethical behavior, A Case study of Bernard Ebbers (Ex - CEO WorldCom)
Written By
Oluwakemi Annafi
Kidus G. Mehalu and Addis Ababa (2011) defined ethics as concerning itself with human conduct or activity that is done knowingly or consciously and does have applicability to organizational life. Organizations as entities do not make decisions; individuals acting in the interests of the organizations do, this fact is buttress by Erondu et al (2004), he pointed out that ethics focuses on the standards by which a human action can be judged good or bad.
Further explanations on ethical behavior, impact and implications shall be discussed in the analysis of the case study questions

11) worried that charismatic leadership of self-serving leaders could result in deception and exploitation of followers but argued that most leaders pursued both personal and organizational interests. This was clearly evident in the irregularity discovered after his dismissal and financial manipulations to inflate the growth rate of WorldCom from 5% to 15% (Trevino and Brown 2005), this was done to hype his personality and that of the

He could have used his influence and leadership to curb deviant behavior among subordinates by maintaining a high moral and ethical standard.
Question 3: Identify some theoretical linkages between Ebbers’s leadership style as practiced and the behavior that occurred within WorldCom.
Answer:
Ebbers”s leadership style is indicative of a charismatic style of leadership. Charismatic leadership has the distinct ability to dissect and decipher any inefficiency within an organization. This was evident in his constant cost cutting messages. These visionary traits attributed to this leadership style often result from critical thinking, the compilation of facts and finding ways to solve a variety of problems (teamwork)
4. The law firm report identified Ebbers as the source of a culture that resulted in the company’s accounting fraud. How did Ebbers’s leadership style contribute to the values and actions of key managers? How could key managers perform their jobs effectively and ethically in the WorldCom culture?