Write a PhD academic level research paper (1,000 – 1,150 words) that addresses the ways leaders can meet the future ethical challenges of technology and diversity in organizations. Include the following in your paper: 1.) A discussion of the potential ethical issues leaders may encounter in managing technology and diversity in an organization. 2.) A research supported discussion of strategies a leader can use to mitigate potential ethical issues created by technology and diversity. (Benchmarks C5.1: Develop a leadership style that can respond to the challenges and opportunities inherent in a global environment.).// PLEASE REVIEW full assignment instructions attached in uploaded document ASSIGNMENT-INSTRUCTIONS.pdf // ***NOTE*** Please use at least 10 reference sources provided in the uploaded articles ***********Benchmark-Technology, Diversity, and Ethics
Leaders need to understand how technology influences leadership and plays a role in work, work
processes, organizational culture, and performance as organizations move toward a collaborative
style that creates flatter organizations, project teams, and other unique traits. In addition, what is
perceived to be ethical in one culture may not be perceived to be ethical in another, requiring
leaders to understand how to make ethical decisions in diverse groups. In this assignment, you
will discusses the ways leaders can meet the future ethical challenges of technology and diversity
in organizations.
General Requirements:
Use the following information to ensure successful completion of the assignment:
• You are required to use APA style for this writing assignment.
• This assignment requires a minimum of 10 scholarly research sources (please select at
least 10 sources from the following list on the second page) related to this topic, and at
least one in-text citation from each source referenced to be included.
• Include an abstract, introduction, and conclusion section in your paper.
Directions:
View the videos by Townes-Whitley (2017) and Leonhard (2014).
Townes-Whitley (2017): https://ecorner.stanford.edu/in-brief/ethics-in-emerging-technologies/
Leonhard (2014): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZn0IfOb61U
Videos Citations:
Leonhard, G. (2014, December 6). Digital ethics and the future of humans in a connected world.
[Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZn0IfOb61U
Townes-Whitley, T. (2017, June 7). Ethics in emerging technologies [Video]. eCorner –
Stanford. https://ecorner.stanford.edu/in-brief/ethics-in-emerging-technologies/
Write a paper of 1,000 – 1,150 words that addresses the ways leaders can meet the future ethical
challenges of technology and diversity in organizations. Include the following in your paper:
1. A discussion of the potential ethical issues leaders may encounter in managing technology
and diversity in an organization.
2. A research supported discussion of strategies a leader can use to mitigate potential ethical
issues created by technology and diversity. (Benchmarks C5.1: Develop a leadership style
that can respond to the challenges and opportunities inherent in a global environment.).
Available Scholarly Research Sources
(please use at minimum 10 sources from this listing)
Blodgett, M. S., Dumas, C., & Zanzi, A. (2011). Emerging trends in global ethics: A
comparative study of U.S. and international family business values. Journal of Business
Ethics, 99(S1), 29–38. doi:10.1007/s10551-011-1164-7
Brusoni, S., & Vaccaro, A. (2016). Ethics, technology and organizational innovation. Journal of
Business Ethics, 143(2), 223–226. doi:10.1007/s10551-016-3061-6
D’Ambrosio, P. J. (2016). Approaches to global ethics: Michael Sandel’s justice and Li Zehou’s
harmony. Philosophy East and West, 66(3), 720–738. doi:10.1353/pew.2016.0068
Dexter, S., & Richardson, J. W. (2019). What does technology integration research tell us about
the leadership of technology? Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 52(1),
17–36. doi:10.1080/15391523.2019.1668316
Domínguez-Escrig, E., Mallén-Broch, F. F., Lapiedra-Alcamí, R., & Chiva-Gómez, R. (2018).
The influence of leaders’ stewardship behavior on innovation success: The mediating
effect of radical innovation. Journal of Business Ethics, 159(3), 849–862.
doi:10.1007/s10551-018-3833-2
Engel-Hills, P., Winberg, C., & Rip, A. (2019). Ethics “Upfront”: Generating an organizational
framework for a New University of Technology. Science and Engineering Ethics, 25(6),
1705–1720. doi:10.1007/s11948-019-00140-0
Fritsch-Oppermann, S. C. (2016). “Responsible Interim”: Revising hermeneutics and ethics in
the era of globalization and religious plurality. Philosophical and Sociological
Reflections on the Modern State of Religion. Studia Humana, 5(4), 45–56.
doi:10.1515/sh-2016-0023
Jones, M. T., & Millar, C. C. J. M. (2010). About global leadership and global ethics, and a
possible moral compass: An introduction to the special issue. Journal of Business Ethics,
93(S1), 1–8. doi:10.1007/s10551-010-0622-y
Mihelj, S., Leguina, A., & Downey, J. (2019). Culture is digital: Cultural participation, diversity
and the digital divide. New Media & Society, 21(7), 1465–1485.
doi:10.1177/1461444818822816
Moore, C., Mayer, D. M., Chiang, F. F. T., Crossley, C., Karlesky, M. J., & Birtch, T. A. (2019).
Leaders matter morally: The role of ethical leadership in shaping employee moral
cognition and misconduct. Journal of Applied Psychology, 104(1), 123–145.
doi:10.1037/apl0000341
Palanski, M., Newman, A., Leroy, H., Moore, C., Hannah, S., & Den Hartog, D. (2019).
Quantitative research on leadership and business ethics: Examining the state of the field
and an agenda for future research. Journal of Business Ethics, 1-11. doi:10.1007/s10551-
019-04267-9
Benchmark-Technology, Diversity, and Ethics
Abstract
The paper addresses how organizational leaders can cope with the future ethical challenges of technology and diversity. Organizational ethics consist of principles and guidelines, standards and ethical values that promote peaceful coexistence with the biosphere. The application of these elements dictates the leadership styles and ethical thinking of leaders. In an age where technology has become synonymous with business success, it is common to see companies investing in the latest technological advancements such as cloud and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platforms. The more businesses continue to integrate technology into their operations, the more the potential ethical concerns posed by technology become apparent. Leaders can avoid such ethical issues by upholding stewardship, increasing technology education in the company, gaining more knowledge about different cultures, and utilizing a business framework that is centered on ethics as the basis of decision making. Doing so can help companies cope with the ethical challenges presented by the adoption of technology.
Keywords: Business ethics, Stewardship
Benchmark-Technology, Diversity, and Ethics
Introduction
Technology is evolving at a swift pace, and ethical practices in business are required to evolve and grow with every step with technology. The continuous shift to more advanced technology creates new and more complex challenges which organizational leaders must contend with, which can be challenging considering leaders owe ethical obligations as well as continuous improvement in performance to stakeholders (Palanski, Newman, Leroy, Moore, Hannah, & Hartog, 2019). However, trying to create an ethical business environment that consistently adapts to new technology can be a great challenge for companies. The main reason being, technology has no ethics (Leonhard, 2014). Therefore, trying to address ethical concerns in companies while implementing advanced technology creates a wide variety of complexities. As stated by Townes-Whitley (2017), one example is the adoption of artificial intelligence, which creates issues of privacy and algorithmic bias. Leaders tend to draw their ethical and leadership reflections and practices from the environment which they interact with, but addressing the ethical concerns presented by technology adoption requires leaders to have a broad understanding of the complex landscape that encompasses technology.
Potential Ethical Issues Presented by Technology
The various issues presented by technology range from privacy concerns, bias, among others. Privacy is a significant concern in the current age of technology. Ethicists are continually debating about how much privacy individuals are entitled to. The main reason being, privacy affects security since for there to be complete security, then there needs to be zero percent privacy (Townes-Whitley, 2017). In the context of organizations, leaders are responsible for securing the information of the company and employees according to legislation. However, implementing new technology into the company’s operations increases the risk of potential hacks and loss of data. The issue of bias is also a concern for organizational leaders. Artificial intelligence is the latest trend in technology since the agents have proven to complete processes parallel to human beings. However, it creates issues such as job losses and AI bias. This presents the question of whether leaders’ decision to adopt efficient AI agents as opposed to human labor is ethical. Ethical problems have also become inherent in voice and facial recognition systems, which apply to businesses. The systems have biases and errors which are introduced by their creators (Townes-Whitley, 2017). The unfair environment created by the AI systems presents ethical issues for business leaders. The ethical issues presented by technology are therefore complex and require an examination from different angles for leaders to make informed decisions.
Strategies that Leaders Can Implement To mitigate Ethical Issues
One strategy for reducing ethical issues is to ensure that the value of human beings continues to stand above that of technology. Blodgett, Dumas, and Zanzi (2012) suggest upholding family ethical values, which, according to their findings, are capable of ensuring high levels of ethics, respect, and quality. Applying the family business values can help define the ethical foundation as well as the strategies for governing businesses. Similarly, Brusoni and Vaccaro (2017) also stress the importance of having intrinsic fundamental values to guide decision making. Moreover, stewardship can also be an effective means of tackling such ethical issues presented by technology. Stewardship requires leaders to act in a manner that subjugates their interest to protect that of others (Dominguez-Escrig, Mallen-Broch, Lapiedra-Alcami, & Chiva-Gomez, 2017). This means that despite the need for innovation, leaders should be more concerned about the welfare of others and be willing to make the right decisions concerning innovation with much consideration on how the technology might affect employees or other stakeholders. Such principles can be useful when making decisions about the future adoption of technology. A similar argument has been made by Engel-Hills, Winberg, and Rip (2013), who state that leaders should construct an organizational framework that prioritizes ethical issues in the decision-making processes. Such a framework could incorporate the introduction of debates within the organization that enable leaders and employees to discuss the possible effects of certain innovations. These discussions can deepen the understanding of technology as well as the ethical issues they present. Additionally, company leaders should ensure that they have adequate knowledge about technology before making decisions on which technology to implement in the company. Research by Dexter and Richardson (2020), indicates that having a deeper understanding of technology can help make informed decisions as to which technology can be integrated into the existing organizational culture. Furthermore, understanding the different cultures can also be useful in making informed decisions concerning technology adoption. As indicated by Mihelj, Leguina, and Downey (2019), the failure of leaders to understand different cultural perspectives leads to the incorporation of poor cultural policies concerning technology, which can lead to future ethical concerns. Moreover, the presence of diverse cultures means that individuals have a different perspective on what they consider ethical, and this overrules the universal principles adopted by organizations. As argued by Jones and Millar (2010), rational thinking and emotional understanding of situations should guide ethical principles rather than abstract principles. Moreover, Fritsch-Oppermann (2016) declares that intercultural studies are necessary to understand the moral views of various people to make better-informed decisions concerning the influence of technology on individuals from different cultures. As such, knowledge about different cultures as well as technology education, can help leaders make informed decisions that would reduce their chances of having future ethical concerns. However, having a deeper understanding of technology can prove useless in making the right ethical decisions, especially if the company’s culture is morally disengaged. As a result, leaders should strive to ensure that the employees are ethically responsible for being able to positively contribute to debates concerning which technology might or might not result in future ethical issues. A study by Moore et al. (2019) indicates that ethical leaders can positively influence their followers to be morally responsible. Therefore, ethical leadership helps to avoid future ethical issues presented by technology.
Conclusion
Ethics is a primary concern for leaders, especially in an era where technology continues to accelerate performance. This means that company leaders are faced with the dilemma of implementing technology that might compromise the integrity of the organization or limiting the company’s adoption of technology to maintain ethics in the organization. Nonetheless, ethical values should be the guiding principle of the company, and therefore, leaders should strive to create an environment that upholds ethics. Leaders can achieve this by utilizing ethical values as the framework for making business decisions, improving technology education in the organization, sustaining stewardship, and gaining more knowledge about different cultures.
References
Blodgett, M. S., Dumas, C., & Zanzi, A. (2011). Emerging trends in global ethics: A comparative study of U.S. and international family business values. Journal of Business Ethics, 99(S1), 29–38. doi:10.1007/s10551-011-1164-7
Brusoni, S., & Vaccaro, A. (2016). Ethics, technology and organizational innovation. Journal of Business Ethics, 143(2), 223–226. doi:10.1007/s10551-016-3061-6
Dexter, S., & Richardson, J. W. (2019). What does technology integration research tell us about the leadership of technology? Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 52(1), 17–36. doi:10.1080/15391523.2019.1668316
Domínguez-Escrig, E., Mallén-Broch, F. F., Lapiedra-Alcamí, R., & Chiva-Gómez, R. (2018). The influence of leaders’ stewardship behavior on innovation success: The mediating effect of radical innovation. Journal of Business Ethics, 159(3), 849–862. doi:10.1007/s10551-018-3833-2
Engel-Hills, P., Winberg, C., & Rip, A. (2019). Ethics “Upfront”: Generating an organizational framework for a New University of Technology. Science and Engineering Ethics, 25(6), 1705–1720. doi:10.1007/s11948-019-00140-0
Fritsch-Oppermann, S. C. (2016). “Responsible Interim”: Revising hermeneutics and ethics in the era of globalization and religious plurality. Philosophical and Sociological Reflections on the Modern State of Religion. Studia Humana, 5(4), 45–56. doi:10.1515/sh-2016-0023
Jones, M. T., & Millar, C. C. J. M. (2010). About global leadership and global ethics, and a possible moral compass: An introduction to the special issue. Journal of Business Ethics, 93(S1), 1–8. doi:10.1007/s10551-010-0622-y
Leonhard, G. (2014, December 6). Digital ethics and the future of humans in a connected world. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZn0IfOb61U
Mihelj, S., Leguina, A., & Downey, J. (2019). Culture is digital: Cultural participation, diversity and the digital divide. New Media & Society, 21(7), 1465–1485. doi:10.1177/1461444818822816
Moore, C., Mayer, D. M., Chiang, F. F. T., Crossley, C., Karlesky, M. J., & Birtch, T. A. (2019). Leaders matter morally: The role of ethical leadership in shaping employee moral cognition and misconduct. Journal of Applied Psychology, 104(1), 123–145. doi:10.1037/apl0000341
Palanski, M., Newman, A., Leroy, H., Moore, C., Hannah, S., & Den Hartog, D. (2019). Quantitative research on leadership and business ethics: Examining the state of the field and an agenda for future research. Journal of Business Ethics, 1-11. doi:10.1007/s10551-019-04267-9
Townes-Whitley, T. (2017, June 7). Ethics in emerging technologies [Video]. eCorner – Stanford. https://ecorner.stanford.edu/in-brief/ethics-in-emerging-technologies/
