Ebbers Deviant Behavior

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The case of Bernard Ebbers has described by Trevino and Brown (2005) showed a lack of moral leadership that resulted in the largest bankruptcy in US history. Researchers further stated that business leaders set the ethical tone in their organizations and with the use of rewards and punishments they can reinforce positive ethical behaviors (Trevino & Brown, 2005).
Bernard Ebbers was seen has a strong innovative leader that took the communications industry by storm. He was charismatic and business savvy and within a few years he had grown his company tremendously. The rapid growth and expansion of his business was a concern to some but for most it was just another example of hard work and forward thinking. Ebbers was seen as an exemplary leader by some because he loaned money to senior executives to buy company stock. The troubling nature of Ebbers rapid expansions brought up the questions of sustainable growth strategies - which was integral to future success, financial stability and business continuity. Ebbers deviant behavior did not begin with the falsification of accounts but rather with his entire business model. Examples of deviant behaviors Ebbers displayed was his drastic cost cutting measures and the $400 million low …show more content…

He could have used his leadership style which I would say is more transactional to foster a culture of ethics within the company. The transactional leadership style focuses more on the needs and achievements of the individual versus the group at large. However, transactional leaders rely on the system of punishments and rewards to motive employees to act in a certain way. Interestingly, the literature on ethical leadership also found that ethical leaders also uses the punishment and reward system to reinforce ethical behaviors (Trevino,

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