One Week as Assistant Procurement Manager: A Costly Experience - Essay Sample

Introduction

I was only one week in the position of assistant procurement manager in my last job. One day the manager presented to me a budget meant to purchase new computers for replacing the old ones in my office. I realized that the budget was very high, yet I knew a firm that could supply the same eminence products by half the price. I told him so, which he agreed. Later, three computers were brought in my office under my consent. However, after two weeks of operation, the computer systems crushed. The procurement manager accused me and told everyone that it was my culpability and planned to snip the company's money by buying unworking computers. He even reported to the company director that I was bugling and incompetent and not fit for the job since I had brought a severe predicament to the company. I, however, later managed to explicate the whole event to the director. The firm I had bought the computers replaced them and maintained it was their mistake.

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Leadership Behaviors at the Forefront

After the director examined the issue, he realized some ill-motivated accusations that were directed towards me. The manager's behaviors became the forefront. Firstly, the manager was questioned why he, despite knowing I was a new staff went on to give me the task before the end of a one-month orientation period that is within the rules and regulations of the company. Secondly, the manager came on the lime line regarding the budget he had given me. After my explanation that I delivered to the director, he was an example of lousy leadership because he was inflating the expenses of the company. It was later discovered he wanted to fix me because his proposed candidate for the position as his assistant was not considered. The scenario made the top leadership of the company look for external auditors, whose report indicated that the procurement manager had been inflating the company expenses and was corrupt. Thirdly, the manager came to the forefront for sending rumors to other employees about me before he scrutinized the matter and also having grudges to those he was leading, including me.

Ethical Analysis of Leadership Behaviors

In an organization, ethical leaders are very important because they speak to the employees concerning their identities, self-awareness, how they live, and how they can live and perform better. Ethics denotes the well-founded ideas of right and wrong, which proposes what humans should do, generally in terms of rights, compulsions, benefits to society, fairness, or definite virtues. The behavior that is depicted in this case from the procurement manager is by far unethical and are of more harm than good in the company setup. In the dimension of utility, a morally right behavior produces the excellent balance of benefits more than the harms towards every affected person. The problem of utilitarianism is that it never considers whether these benefits are formed from lies, manipulation, or coercion like in this case. The procurement manager told every staff that I was a thief and unfit considering the benefit he would have if his manipulation and lies could cost my job. It was a behavior that was devoid of justice.

On the dimension of rights, the behaviors exhibited denied me my justified rights, especially when he told everyone about me negatively before examining the roots of the case. His conduct had no moral standards as codified in the workers' law. Moral rights stipulate that we have worth and dignity that must be respected and not abused or used against our own consent. However, in this case, the manager abused moral rights by using me as a mere means in advancing his interests.

Fairness refers to giving individuals whatever they deserve, which is referenced to a standard of rightness, as well as the ability to judge without reference to their interests or feelings. Fairness is a fundamental fragment of ethics and is supposed to be given outstanding consideration in our moral lives and judgments. While assessing a given moral decision, we must enquire if our actions treat everyone equally. In this case, the procurement manager lacked fairness, since his motives and decision were referenced to his interests and ill feelings because I had been chosen against his will.

The common good is a crucial ethical concept that refers to the totality of the social life conditions that permit social groups together with their individual adherents fairly thorough and equipped in accessing their fulfillment. The behaviors depicted by the procurement manager lacked common good since they are set for some individualistic individuals and not fulfillments of the genuine staff like myself. Virtues refer to the attitudes, temperaments, or character personalities that allow us to be and to act in ways that lead to our own development. They enable people to trail the epitomes they have adopted. The main examples of virtues include honesty, valor, empathy, kindness, trustworthiness, integrity, impartiality, self-control, and prudence. In the case of the procurement manager, it is deducible that he lacked these virtues as he was engrossed in greed and selfishness.

Behavioral Effects on Employee Motivation

Motivation is among the main forces leading to performance. It refers to the desire to achieve a goal or a specific performance level, which leads to goal-directed behavior. When referring to someone as being motivated, we insinuate that the person is working and trying hard to accomplish a certain duty. The two -factor theory of motivation by Frederick Herzberg indicates that people are motivated to work in hygienic working conditions and company policies (Bolles, 2016). The conditions in the company are not motivating to the employees.

The acts of telling people about the negatives of the others is dissatisfying in this context. Also, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs theory indicates that people are motivated when their esteem needs are met or when they receive an acknowledgment from others (Bolles, 2016). In the case of the procurement manager, his behavior is not of acknowledging, but rather is of discouraging. He went to the director to say that I was incompetent, which demotivated me extensively.

Political Dynamics Observed

Conflict theory, according to Karl Max, advocates that human behavior in social dimensions originates from conflicts amongst competing groups (Sun, Gergen, & Green, 2016). As depicted in the scenario, there was a competition of whom was to take the assistant procurement manager, which brought a political dimension of the case. In the behaviors depicted, the political pyramid is shown in a number of ways. There is this manager who is using his power to gain and spread unconfirmed information. He is competing for power and position and thinks he is at a threatened point because his proposed assistant was not hired. His own political motives were to be given an assistant that he knows, perhaps to use him fulfill his ill motivate of selfishness.

Hindsight - Leadership Styles Needed

The Contingency Theory of Leadership indicates that the effectiveness of a leader is contingent on how leadership style matches the situation. Manager (Harland, Jones, & Reiter-Palmon, 2015). Leadership styles denote the numerous methods used by management personnel to motivate their aides as they attempt to achieve a common goal. In this case, I would have applied a participative or democratic style of leadership. The reason I would choose this leadership style is that it would have helped the workers in developing a positive outlook towards the procurement manager, which in turn would lessen any resistance towards change. The approach would also increase the morale of assistants together with their job satisfaction level due to the consultative leadership style. Besides, I will also utilize Laissez-fair or the Free-Reign form of leadership because it will empower the workers, including the assistant manager, in taking and making decisions as well as maximizing the scope of development of the assistant procurement manager (Harland, Jones, & Reiter-Palmon, 2015).

Employee Engagement

A team refers to a group of people who works together towards a common goal manager (Harland, Jones, & Reiter-Palmon, 2015). Although the crisis that had occurred was basically between me, the assistant manager, and my boss, teamwork, would have significantly assisted in solving the issue quickly. Departmental teamwork, in this case, would have helped other staff to build trust in me and could not have believed what the procurement manager had said concerning me. Through teamwork, I would have benefited from the mutual support of other employees, which would have given me morale in addressing the case well. Also, teamwork would have facilitated in solving the conflict, and maybe it could not have reached the director, which cost the procurement manager his job.

Lessons Learned

Dealing with a depraved boss, from their slipups, can offer great opportunities sometimes to hone your leadership prowess. The first lesson I have learned is concerning the way to resolve a conflict in the workplace. It is supposed to be satisfactory and can save you from bad repute. Secondly, I have learned the importance of being resilient, as in my case, dealing with bad leadership and all the associated difficulties. Thirdly, in my own experience, I learn that a leader is vulnerable and accountable every moment, which builds trust and healthy working culture in the organization.

References

Bolles, R. C. (2016). Theory of motivation. New York, Evanston: Harper & Row.

Harland, L., Harrison, W., Jones, J. R., & Reiter-Palmon, R. (2015). Leadership behaviors and subordinate resilience. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 11(2), 2-14. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1062&context=psychfacpub

Sun, Y., Gergen, E., Avila, M., & Green, M. (2016). Leadership and job satisfaction: Implications for leaders of accountants. American Journal of Industrial and Business Management, 6(03), 268. Retrieved from https://www.scirp.org/html/5-2120682_64816.htm