Running head: COURSE ANALYSIS MOL 627 E

MOL 627E Course Analysis Summary

Medaille College
Lorraine Sennett

Author Note
This paper was prepared on August 18, 2015 for MOL 627E, taught by Marianne Sullivan.

COURSE ANALYSIS MOL 627 E

There is a wealth of information and knowledge that I have gained during this course and
feel that I have gained a better understanding of the importance of diversity and multiculturalism
within organizations. As a leader it is so important to conduct self-assessments of ones own
principles and morals along with the belief systems that contribute to them in order to have
insight into ones own ethical perspective and practices. Only then, can we implement healthy
ethical perspectives into the culture of organizations and create diversified environments. The
importance of having self-awareness and cultural acceptance is critical in a world where
globalization is the trend in the modern business world. I have learned that avoiding processed
like group think and being open and willing to challenging traditional belief systems is critical to
the process of diversification. I have learned the importance of leadership having to value
diversity and information provided by the text Diversity in Organizations was helpful providing
information on the importance of valuing diversity including the promotion of cooperative
behaviors amongst coworkers to improve teamwork and outcome performances based on
identified strengths and skill sets offered by each individual.
I learned that just because we may not act so much on traditional prejudice beliefs we
need to be aware of the unexamined and unintended belief systems we all have. Prejudice is an
attitude whereas discrimination is behavior based on the attitude. Given the power to act and the
absence of sanctions for doing so, discriminatory behavior may result from prejudice (Bell, p.
42). We need to be aware of how exposure to stereotypes have influenced our belief systems
and be willing and open as leaders to challenged them. Through research I found suggestions to
help with this process from the article Supporting Diversity as a Manager including; asking
exploratory questions, examine the culture and diversity within the current organization and
group of team members, support diversity in your actions, interactions, and words, manage to

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each individuals strengths and weaknesses, and provide opportunities for ongoing learning and
mentoring. I was also able to gain information on the policies related to FMLA and BFOQ and
the importance related to diversity.
I found research on the glass ceiling effect to be eye not new but a little disappointing that
we have not progressed as much as we should have related to Equal Rights. As leaders we need
to be taking a closer look within our own systems and admitting if this type of inequality exists.
One of the most well researched and supported systems changes to increase gender diversity is to
commit to a system change of establishing a formalized pay structure and have one that is based
on merit and base salary vs. cash incentive bonus providing more equality. This includes looking
at policies around equal pay and harassment policies within organizations. There should be
training for entire organizations as a standard. These principles taught need to be supported by
and modeled by leaders of the agencies code of ethics. This is inclusive of all areas, not just
women.
There is still a lack of legislature related to those discriminated against based on sexual
orientation. This is expected to change with the recent Supreme Court decision on the
legalization of gay marriage. The policies and procedures need to be more specific by including
the terminology sexual orientation to eliminate the variability on each States determination of
the law. Agencies also need to be aware of their social media policies and review based on
loopholes related to concerted activities to ensure proper practice of the use of social media
within organizations.
The text Meeting the Ethical Challenges of Leadership; Casting Light or Shadow was
helpful in providing the pros/cons of the dilemmas leaders are faced with in the modern day

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world. Learning ethical behaviors to avoid toxic leadership was very helpful in my continued
journey of developing positive characteristics that are of moral fiber that will be common to
those around me in hopes of developing high performance teams and successful outcomes.
Some of the ethical burdens provided by Johnsons text for leaders to be aware of are: power,
privilege, information, consistency, loyalty, and responsibility. There are important virtues that
leaders should consider and they are: courage, wisdom, justice, optimism, integrity, humility,
reverence, and compassion. If a person is able to internalize these virtues and aspire to act in
moral and ethical ways, they will be more apt to include them within the organizations they work
for. There are ethical perspectives to consider such including; Utilitiarism, Kants Categorical
Imperative, Justice as Fairness, Pragmatism, and Altruism. There are four decision making
formats and are Kidders Ethical Checkpoints, the SAD Formula, Nashs 12 Questions, and The
Case Study Method. Kidders Ethical Checkpoints is based on a nine checkpoint systems when
faced with ethical dilemmas. I also learned about the different styles of leadership and how they
can influence ethical perspectives and are: Transformational Leadership, Servant Leadership,
Authentic Leadership, Aesthetic Leadership, Responsible Leadership, and Taoism. In creating a
code of ethics I would address the following; conflicts of interest, records, funds, and assets,
information, outside relationships, employment practices, and other practices such as health and
safety issues and use of technology with an understanding of the social responsibility to those
outside the organization as well. Completion of the whistleblower assignment was also helpful
in gaining insight into the process. The expatriate is no longer traditional in the sense that they
are out on long term assignments for long periods of time, rather will complete the long term
assignments with shorter term projects. There are policies and procedures that need to be
revised related to this process and is a work on progress related to globalization.

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I enjoyed working on the group project related to how the company Sturdell evolved into
an international company. It was interesting to see the processes that were involved. I found the
information to be helpful in gaining knowledge and insight from someone that is committed to
organizational learning and was willing to share his experiences with persons interested in
leadership. It was nice to see the workings of the company and getting a tour of the facility. The
individual project was fun to do as it gave an opportunity to develop a program with the
knowledge and skills we gained during the course. This is always helpful to be able to see how it
would all come together while getting feedback. I have found program development to be
something that I enjoy doing. I did find this to be something beneficial allowing me to take a
look at my own ethical perspectives and beliefs during the process.
I feel that I have developed proficiency in the area of diversity and multiculturalism and
will continue to develop healthy ethical characteristic traits. I find that self-assessment ongoing
will help to keep an open mind and awareness of judgments.

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References

Bell, M. P. (2011). Diversity in Organizations. Cengage Learning.

Coleman, J., Gulati, D., & Segovia, W. O. (2012). People: Leading a Diverse World.
How Next-Generation Leaders Embrace Workplace Diversity. Harvard Business Publishing.
Retrieved from https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/content/37811773
Gaines, L., Wilson, A. (2005). Supporting Diversity as a Manager. Retrieved from
http://people.rice.edu/uploadedFiles/People/TEAMS/Supporting%20Diversity%20as%20a
%20Manager.pdf
Johnson, C. E. (2015). Meeting the Ethical Challenges of Leadership; Casting Light or
Shadow (5th ed.). CA. Sage Publishers Inc.

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