Ethical and Leadership Dilemmas in FIFA

Discuss about the Ethical and Leadership Dilemmas in FIFA.

Ethics are moral codes that define an individual in choosing between right and wrong. The codes evolve from a set of established Values and principles that may vary from one organization to another. They help employees and leaders to make decisions based on acceptable behaviours and choices.  Managerial ethics are standards that dictate the conduct of managers and the way they should operate in a workplace.  Managers make decisions based on the procedure that have been established within the organization, but there are no rules that specify how managers should approach issues or make decisions. Therefore the code ethics becomes the only tool that guides managers how to approach issues. This code of conduct contains a set of Values and ethical principles that are from shared Values, principles and company policies about conduct. These codes are not written down by the organization, ,  and thus not enforceable but need to be observed by managers. Therefore the business environment presents many ethical dilemmas that managers can get in. Values are personal beliefs that guide a person’s life for ethics decision-making. They personalized ideas that guide an individual in making decisions. Values can be instrumental or terminal where the individual compiles a set of the two to develop an ethical behaviour that are unified to form ethical behaviour that characterizes their actions. The leader then develops morality standards based on a solid foundation with Values and principles that enable the individual differentiate between what is right and wrong (Cooper, 1998).

FIFA football's world governing body has been widely claimed with cases of corruption, since 2015. It was indicated that several top executives have been involved in corruption which led to banning of FIFA President Sepp Blatter and UEFA President Michel Platini for eight years. This scandal is traced to award of the 2022 world cup hosting to Qatar which is a small country rich in oil. It is believed that the bidding process lacked honesty and transparency. Questions were raised on the on the merit that was used to award the contract to Qatar.  Massive amounts of money have been associated with FIFA bidding processes being traced back to South Africa world cup hosting where documents emerged that showed FIFA officials had been involved in corruption and money laundering.  However,, Declan Hill describes corruption as being beyond the executives in FIFA to players and coaches who take bribes to achieve different ends (Nuseibeh, 2013).

Corruption is defined as abuse of public power for personal gain; it is normally equated with bribery where someone takes a bribe to favour another persona and thus not following the required procedure. It is thus a form of unethical conduct by a person entrusted with a position of authority for personal benefit. However, corruption extends beyond bribery to include extortions and kickbacks, graft, fraud and embezzlement. This, therefore, means that public officials can engage in corruption through different methods that are aimed at achieving personal gains through failing to follow the established procedure (Johnston, 2005). Corruption has become part of everyday transactions affecting every segment of society, business, government, education and even religion. It draws back to the time of Plato’s writings and the New Testament. Therefore it has become the glue that binds transactions and brings people together. Scholars have therefore defined corruption based on several standards that define the types of norms violated by the act, nature of the transaction, and the context in which the act happens. This analysis helps in defining the nature of corruption and defining strategies that can be used to tackle it.

Mishra(2006) argues that the systemic framework differentiates corruption based on the size and frequency pattern of within the system. That is not only focussing on the individual but rather on the context that the act occurs. This, therefore, leads to three forms of corruption, incidental, systemic corruption and institutional corruption.  Institutional corruption has been defined as the existence of strategic and systemic influences that undermine the effectiveness of an institution by diverting it from the intended purpose and thus weakening public trust or trustworthiness of the institution. On the other hand systemic corruption is an advanced level of institutional corruption where the vice is deeply rooted in society and therefore becomes structural. Many organizations are struggling with institutional and systemic corruption since it becomes very difficult to establish internal controls that can prevent the vice (Bardhan, 2006).

Resistance to transparency within FIFA increased the ethical issues that the organization was facing at that time. Anytime there were investigations being carried out on corruption; FIFA ensured that the findings of the cases were not reported publicly. This meant that the organization, ,  was not ready to fight corruption since hiding the contents of the report means that the top executives have been involved in the scandal and thus public reporting will taint their image. One scenario is the investigation report by Michael J. Garcia on the venue selections for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups where the investigator requested the organization to release the report in its original form but rather Fifa chose not to release the report until the resigning of the investigator, where FIFA redacted the report and released it (Lessig, 2013). Lack of transparency limits visibility of an organization making it difficult for stakeholders to understand the affair of the organization modern day managers and leaders have instituted transparency policies where they disclose to the public the functions of the organization and how the organization is fairing. This means that there are clear processes that guide how tasks are executed and sensitive decisions are made within the organization. Institutionalized policies are not for the individual but rather for the whole institution since these policies are implemented day in day out (Solomon, 2007).

Lack of an effective culture that defines leadership within the organization has created cultural problems and rifts among colleagues in the institution. The executive committee had failed to establish an organizational culture that can be used in regulating activities. The committee was focussed on achieving their own ends through compromising decisions and recommendations of the investigator and other employees. Lack of a clear culture led to increased corruption where several employees in the top arm of leadership were later suspected of corruption and integrity issues (Hartman, 2011).  The failure of Fifa’s top executives was as a result of ethical issues that the organized failed in building a corporate culture. The linkage between culture and Values of an organization is in the kind of decisions that leaders make when charged with leadership situations. Organizational culture develops the mind, attitude and behaviour of individuals that are manifested through symbols and cultural manifestations that Hofstede (1994) calls onion rings. Business culture further becomes a determining factor where there is no provision in the law regarding the decision that the leader can make (Hofstede, 1994).

Kouzes & Posner (2007) argues that ethics is the heart of leadership since the two go hand in hand, in Meeting the Ethical Challenges of Leadership Craig E. Johnson argues that when individuals assume the power of leadership they also assume ethical burdens that come from leadership. Therefore the leader casts light through influencing people to follow the decisions that they make. The leader also judged based the ethical decisions that they uphold in the leadership style. Ethics, leadership and decision-making are interrelated concepts since they form part of the final result that the leader achieves. Decision-making is part of leadership while ethics is the core of good leadership that enables proper decision-making that makes a leader accountable. Leaders who have achieved in the areas that they are known in have exercised a high sense of ethical value through upholding morality levels that can be used to define a leader. World’s renowned leaders in history are recognised simply because they stood for certain principles in their life that determined the decisions they make through observing a certain code of ethics. Many organization s have a code of ethics that is followed by its employees in all areas of work (Kidder, 2007). Codes are open disclosures on the way an organization operates through providing visible guidelines for behaviour. This code when observed after sometime becomes a routine and a communication vehicle that reflects the covenant that an organization makes to uphold Values that determine the way employees handle the organization’s activities. This enables the organization to create an identity and an organizational culture that determines how the public perceives the organization.

Morality is magnified in leadership making leaders carry great volume of morality than non leaders.  History defines effective leaders based on their ability to bring change in the world through utilising their powers and privileges to make decisions that will have great impact on their subjects. Decision-making requires three steps: description, reflection and prescription. Sound decision-making defines the scope of the leader’s responsibility making the leader accountable for their actions. According to Drucker’s (1960) theory of management sound decision-making forms the scope of responsibility that the individual holds. This makes the leader accountable for the decisions they make and actions that they take about the powers that they have. This means that the leader exercises authority through judging and appraising situations and available options (Toubiana & Yair 2012).

Values are used in everyday decision-making and are regarded as the path to good leadership. They form believes that the leader has in relation to what they believe is right or wrong. This believes determine the mode of conduct that drives the individual to behaviour towards the desired state. The Values may exist in different forms to make up value system that determine the strength of the ethical value that the person develops to become a good leader. Decision-making is an integral element of leadership and strategic management. Leaders are faced with situations where they are supposed to make decisions regarding the direction that the organizations should take. There are models of decision-making that exist based on the type of leadership that exists. Many organizations have developed decision-making templates that are followed when making critical decisions about the needs of the organization.  Decisions making templates enable the leader to uphold consistency in the decisions that have been made. In her book The Responsible Administrator, Terry Cooper (1998), she argues that the leader has to start by obtaining information regarding the problem that exists. The leader should refrain from making labels based on good and bad but rather develop an accurate analysis of the issues in the problem through gathering relevant information.

Herbert Simon divided the concept into two main parts one is decision being arrived at and process of action. Mere making of decision is not enough and therefore its implementation. So both these sections are interconnected and impor­tant. Herbert Simon once said: a theory of administration should be concerned with a process of decision as well as a process of action. Simon pointed out that for the proper management of an organisation a policy of comprehensive in nature is required to be adopted. Herbert argues that decision-making is a compromising situation where different parties are affected based on the decisions that the leader makes.  The compromise is mainly to fulfil the objectives of the organization. This entails upholding integrity and high ethical Values to ensure that the decision made is rational and upholding the Values of the organization. Therefore the leader makes and upholds decisions to deal with the dynamic and complex nature of the society. In making decisions politics defines how decisions are made and thus the leader needs to ensure that the right decision is upheld through meeting the requirements (Curtis & O’Connell 2011).

The leader should then define the ethical issue that needs to be addressed in the decision. This helps the leader to separate each problem from others. Then the leader identifies alternative courses of action that can be taken. The leader projects probable consequences that may arise from the outcome of the decision that they take. This is the connection between moral imagination and emotional dimensions of the ethical considerations that will arise from the decision. This means that morals and ethics form the basis of the decision that the leader makes. Further leaders are held accountable through judging their morality and ethics based on the decisions that they make. In developed economies leaders are subjected to integrity test based on their ethics and morality through appraising decisions that they make. This, therefore, means that the leader upholds high sense of ethical value through decision-making to be able to stand the test of integrity. Leaders therefore, use their highest philosophical level of reflection when making decisions (Christ, 2013). 

Leadership is based on the leader creating the desire future for the organization. The role of the leader is to give strategic direction through appropriate decisions that through addressing the gaps within. Leaders have to uphold certain integrity levels since anytime the organization faces any difficulty, leadership is blamed for failing to make decisions that can solve the problem. There are leadership models that exist within literature that can be followed by leaders. This enables leaders to develop quality initiatives and efficiencies. Contingency theorists argue that there is no exact way in which a leader should lead. They argue that situations create the basis on which leaders make decisions and thus require different leadership traits. Management solutions are contingent on the factors that determine the situation that the leader is in. The contingent leader develops two behaviors of consideration and initiation of structure. Through this the leader can set structure that can be followed in decision-making within the organization (Christ 2013).

Feddler defied three situations that leaders find themselves in when making decisions regarding particular situations that they find themselves in. these situations are leader-member situations, task structure and positive power. From the situations mangers are rated based on being task oriented or relationship oriented. The leader will thus combine the variables in a favourable decision. The leader will therefore experience satisfaction through position power and measure of authority that the manager perceives as right. The need to approach organizations s as open systems that need careful management through balancing of internal and environmental circumstances is the basis of contingency theory (Hartman, 2011).  Fifa has suffered from leadership problems due to challenges in decision-making. In understanding the leadership situation at FIFA, the management style that had been adopted by the executives was based on a vertical structure that gave powers to higher ranks. The organization was suffering from an effective leadership style due to this structure. It was operating autonomously where decisions were being made and could not be easily challenged.

Vroom identified five types of decision-making processes that vary depending on the participation by the leader. The manager decides, consults, facilitates and delegates responsibilities through making decisions that impact the court. The leader will have several leadership decisions based on the situation that they have. The leader is supposed to identify characteristics that are unique to the problem; the leader then combines the available decision-making. The Vroom tree provides an approach on how a leader makes decisions following a yes path to establish the best-recommended approach to decision-making (Vroom, Yetton, & Jago 1998). However the rational actor model of decision-making model suggests that the leader needs to make decisions based on the benefits that the organization, , al can get from the decision. This decision has to be consistent with persona Values and a code of ethics that governs the organization. The decision is based on goals and objectives of the organization’s available alternatives, consequences and the choice benefits that the solution presents.

Firms are established on decision-making practises that mangers and leaders make every day. From simple every day task to strategic direction that the organization takes, decision-making is part of management and cannot be compromised. Ethical issues in decision-making are the reasons behind the performance of any organization. The need to uphold ethics in decision-making is the overall requirement that the leader fulfils as being loyal to organization. For organizations to develop leadership and ethical approaches, organizational culture is used to shape the attitudes that employees have towards the organization. Through this employees develop loyalty to that makes them draw their decisions from a set of procedures that are not necessarily written down but form a code that defines relationships within the organization. Therefore leadership has to develop key characteristics in areas of power, bureaucracy, achievement and innovation and support. This helps to build trust levels within employees and makes them attached to the organization. Employees become responsible based on the decisions that they make and how they can be accountable to them (Allison, 1999).

Organizations also need to develop an ethics compliance program that prevents unlawful conduct among employees. This is through developing guidelines that enable staff to understand the requirements that the organization, demands from them. These programs are basically used to address unethical issues in the organization to instil the required Values in employees. Some organizations use a code of conduct to instil ethical behaviour in employees. The management can control and govern through establishing a code of conduct that defies integrity and the way of doing tasks.

No organization, can avoid decisions making in its ability to meet the objectives of existence. Managers have to make decisions that are based on the objective of the organization and the desired needs through prioritizing the available options and resources. Leaders who have achieved in leading organizations have exercised high ethical levels that have seen them transform their organization s to greater heights. However, when employees put personal against first, the ethical Values is compromised as the case that was seen in FIFA. This makes the organization to lose integrity in society since the society judges organizations based on what they do. Despite being faced with difficult situations to make decisions from, leaders have to clearly analyse the available options and make decisions that uphold the ethical value of the organization, and their personal responsibility (Tannenbaum & Schmid, 2010).

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