Developing a Multicultural Organizational Code of Ethics Rooted in the Moral Obligations of Citizenry

The increasing globalization of business and boundary-spanning government alliances has created a clash of values that can prevent effective working relationships. Given that each country wants to be considered an equal partner, this clash can strike at the core of effective communication. Various solutions posed to date have been unable to resolve this impediment. This treatise suggests a framework for establishing a shared set of values across cultures by focusing not on the ethics of business, but instead on the ethics of citizenship. A set of socio-ethical tenets is proposed as the basis for developing organizational ethics across cultures.     

Political Leadership, Cultural Ethics and Recovery: Louisiana Post-Katrina

The history of Louisiana colorful politics and corruption in government is legendary and, in Louisiana, something celebrated, or at least warmly embraced, as part of the cultural richness of the State. An oft-repeated phrase here is that Louisiana is no more corrupt than any place else, it’s just that Louisianians are more proud of it. Such sentiments permeate the discussion of federal and private financial assistance to the State in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and serves as an explanation regarding the lack of effective leadership and misuse of funds thus far distributed. Yet beyond concern for the loss of dollars in themselves are the very real and tragic consequences for the citizens who were most affected by hurricane Katrina, who have received but a trickle of the flood of money that poured into the State following the event. For these people, who remain without adequate shelter, resources, educational opportunities, healthcare, and separated from their support networks, the recovery progress remains little changed over the last 4 years. An overview of the political and ethical culture of Louisiana and reflections on how that contributed to and exacerbated administrative failure in the wake of Katrina is presented here.     

The political dimension of effective nonprofit executive leadership

Recent research by the authors adds to their evolving model of the leadership provided by effective chief executive officers of nonprofit organizations. Effective chief executives understand the centrality of their leadership role and accept responsibility as initiators of action—with their boards—to find resources and revitalize the missions of their organizations. These actions are carried out as part of the political dimension of effective executives. The importance of this criterion of leadership practice is examined in light of the hesitance of chief executives to espouse or advocate political action. Implications for chief executive training and development are discussed.     

The Influence of Ethical Reasoning on Leader Effectiveness

In making decisions about ethical issues for their organizations, effective nonprofit executives differ substantially from ineffective nonprofit executives according to the study reported here.     

How Will We Know It When We See It? Conceptualizing the Ethical Organization

How might one conceptualize the ethical organization? The argument presented here is that the truly ethical organization accentuates three main components. First it must be law-abiding in its basic execution of its organizational ethical responsibility. Second, the organization must exercise strong ethical leadership in its day-to-day operations and policies. Finally, at the organizational level, there must be ongoing monitoring processes ensuring compliance of the organization. Specific techniques for consistent, ongoing monitoring and enforcement of ethical compliance by an objective party are described.     

Making Privatization Work: Utilizing a Scorecard Model of Human Resource Strategy

Three-fourths of privatization efforts fail. Analyses of the other one-fourth have overlooked what is arguably the single most important element: successful management of human resources. In establishing the culture of change necessary to effect competitive initiatives and in motivating employees toward innovation and accountability, a scorecard-based human resource strategy is at the center of it all. A discussion of the strategic role of human resource management supporting privatization efforts in general, and of the remarkably successful Charlotte, North Carolina experience in particular, offers important lessons. Detailed here is a rubric of what works and why.     

Report Card on Katrina: Administrative Progress Four Years Hence

The history of Louisiana colorful politics and corruption in government is legendary and, in Louisiana, something celebrated, or at least warmly embraced, as part of the cultural richness of the State. An oft-repeated phrase here is that Louisiana is no more corrupt than any place else, it’s just that Louisianians are more proud of it. Such sentiments permeate the discussion of federal and private financial assistance to the State in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and serves as an explanation regarding the lack of effective leadership and misuse of funds thus far distributed. Yet beyond concern for the loss of dollars in themselves are the very real and tragic consequences for the citizens who were most affected by hurricane Katrina, who have received but a trickle of the flood of money that poured into the State following the event. For these people, who remain without adequate shelter, resources, educational opportunities, healthcare, and separated from their support networks, the recovery progress remains little changed over the last 4 years. An overview of the political and ethical culture of Louisiana and reflections on how that contributed to and exacerbated administrative failure in the wake of Katrina is presented here.