Ethical Breakdown and Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethical Breakdown and Leadership - Essay Example Although the vice has changed dramatically in the past decade, consider the past infamous Ford Pinto case which was produced during the 1970s. The car brand became disreputable for its tendency to leak fuel and explode into flames. Many deaths and injuries were recorded due to the manufacturing faults before they were recalled to correct the hitch. Investigations revealed that due to competition from Volkswagen, and other manufacturers the production of the cars was rushed, although the engineers noticed the mishaps during the reproduction crash tests, they went on with the production (Bazerman & Tenbrunsel, 2011). The main reason for the leaders of Ford to go on with the production is mere greed rather than a marketing decision which was highly unethical. US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel recently commented on the unethical behavior of the military, after it emerged that 30 officers of the US navy cheated on an exam for nuclear reactor instructors. The test in question is expected to gauge knack by launch officers in handling â€Å"emergency war orders†. The Pentagon describes the scandal as an ethical issue, although others may view it differently. Others may see the problem as more of a cultural problem (Ortiz, 2014). Personally, the breakdown mainly occurs due to the high standards that have been put by the system for the officers to achieve. The pressure to get good grades and a zero tolerance for wrong answers can be one of the reasons that the officers decided to cheat during exams. The failure by the authorities to notice the breakdown also raises some questions about their leadership abilities (Ortiz, 2014). This is due to the fact that it took one sailor who saw this as unethical to report the matter to the seniors.