www.b2billinois.
com The Weekly Business-to-Business Forum
Ethical
Stewardship in
Organizations
Don Daake, PhD and Edward S. Piatt, MBA | B2B contributors
Have Your Business Processes in Place
Reneé Perry | B2B contributor
At a recent local chamber meeting, we had a couple of speakers
giving their advice on the basics of running a business. During the
meeting they asked business owners
how many hours a week they work.
They made it seem as if it should
be normal that you work eighty
plus hours a week. Eighty
hours?
Obviously, you will work tons
of hours in the first few years of
owning a business. I like to com-
pare it to raising my children. It
takes nurturing and care, and
then after a while, less time is
needed to physically be there. Why is
Manpower Outlook Survey Results
Mild Job Market Expected for Kankakee County,
Favorable Job Market Expected for Joliet
Submitted by Beth Brosseau | B2B contributor
Kankakee County employers expect to hire at a modest pace dur-
ing the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the Manpower Employ-
ment Outlook Survey. From October to December, 7 percent of the
companies interviewed plan to hire more employees, while none
expect to reduce their payrolls. Another 86 percent expect to main-
tain their current staff levels and 7 percent are not certain of their
hiring plans.
Employers anticipate staff levels to be lower than the third quar-
ter of 2008 when 20 percent of companies interviewed intended to
add employees, and none planned to reduce staff levels. Compared
to one year ago when 20 percent of companies surveyed planned to
increase staff levels and 23 percent expected to cut payrolls, hiring
intentions for the fourth quarter are stronger.
For the coming quarter, job prospects appear best in Non-Durable
Goods Manufacturing and Wholesale/Retail Trade. Hiring in Con-
struction, Durable Goods Manufacturing, Transportation/Public
Utilities, Finance/Insurance/Real Estate, Education, Services and
Public Administration is expected to remain unchanged.
Joliet area employers expect to hire at a steady pace during the
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According to Caldwell, Hayes, Karri and Bernal’s landmark article
Ethical Stewardship—Implications for Leadership and Trust,
great leaders are ethical stewards who generate high levels of com-
mitment from followers.
What implications does this have on ethical stewardship and gov-
ernance? Governance is concerned with how organizations seek to
optimize performance and accountability, how values and goals are
integrated within the systems and structures that are created, how
leaders develop and maintain relationships that generate commit-
ment and cooperation of those who work for them, and how princi-
pals of leadership and management are formally applied in the con-
duct of organizational business. Stewardship theory would mandate
that the leader (sometimes called the steward or agent), will not
substitute or trade self-serving behaviors for per-
sonal selfish gain but rather will seek the good of
the organization he or she works for.
Taking this concept into consideration then,
what are the factors that comprise an ethical
steward? An impressive body of research litera-
ture points out several defining characteristics or
traits of an effective steward. These traits include
the following: trust, integrity, moral principals,
virtues, values, commitment and primary concern
for the organization, vision, focus, and achieving
utility (common good) through organizational
achievement.
How can leaders fulfilling their roles as ethical
stewards impact the organization? By having the
ethical steward treat employees as highly valued
ends rather than as means, commodities or
human resources. By implementing a compelling
vision of what people and organizations can
become, and by seeking to protect the personal
interests of the followers by creating secure mutu-
al relationships, leaders can unlock the potential
of followers to transform the organization.
From this viewpoint, the focus of the leader/eth-
ical steward is long term, rather than short term.
The ethical steward honors the duty of long-term
wealth creation to benefit all stakeholders, rather
than pursing personal self interests. in Stephan
Covey’s book The 8th Habit, he defines leadership
as “communicating to people their worth and
potential so clearly that they come to see it in
themselves.” Ethical stewards build trust by truly
investing in and affirming the identities of those
whom they serve.
There has been widespread interest in ethical
behavior since the disasters of Enron and World-
Com. Questionable practices at non-profit agen-
cies like the National Red Cross, and untold sto-
this? If you have your processes in place, processes that cover all
bases, it will save you hours of wasted work-time a week.
It takes time to set up a process. How are you going to set up your
files that make it easy for you to manage your customer’s accounts
receivables, invoices, and database for
marketing? You must keep in mind
that having this information avail-
able for your accountant in an
organized manner is extremely
important. If the time comes
that you get audited, it’s impor-
tant to have your information
available, and that means know-
ing where to find it easily and
quickly. What process will you
use to hire and/or fire employees?
There are important regulations to fol-
fourth quarter of 2008, according to the Survey. From October to
December, 22 percent of the companies interviewed plan to hire
more employees, while 4 percent expect to reduce their payrolls,
according to Manpower spokesperson Suzanne Cosme. Another 70
percent expect to maintain their current staff levels and 4 percent
are not certain of their hiring plans.
“Employers anticipate staff levels to be much lower than the third
quarter of 2008 when 50 percent of companies interviewed intend-
ed to add employees, and 10 percent planned to reduce staff levels,”
said Cosme. “Compared to one year ago when 20 percent of com-
panies surveyed planned to increase staff levels and 7 percent
expected to cut payrolls, hiring intentions for the fourth quarter are
stronger.”
For the coming quarter, job prospects appear best in Durable and
Non-Goods Manufacturing, Transportation/Public Utilities and Edu-
cation. Employers in Wholesale/Retail Trade voice mixed hiring
intentions. Hiring in Construction, Finance/Insurance/Real Estate,
Services and Public Administration is expected to remain
unchanged.
Of the 14,000 employers surveyed in the U.S., 22 percent expect
to increase their staff levels during the October – December period,
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ries of political leaders failing to behave honestly have also con-
tributed to a renewed focus on ethics. By diligently utilizing stew-
ardship thinking and actually applying the principals of ethical
stewardship, leaders can regain the public trust.
Ethical stewardship can facilitate building trust, both inside and
outside the organization. Leaders and employees can become “ser-
vants and debtors” in honoring their ethical responsibilities as stew-
ards of their organization. Understanding the role of ethical stew-
ardship within the organization and applying its principals provides
business leaders the opportunity to build trust in their organiza-
tions, improve employee commitment, and create long-term wealth
and sustainable competitive advantages.
Don Daake, Ph.D. is professor of busi-
ness and director of The Weber Lead-
ership Center at Olivet Nazarene Uni-
versity. Edward S. Piatt is an Ed.D. stu-
dent at Olivet Nazarene University.
low on employee issues that you must be knowledgeable of.
The bottom line is there’s a process for every situation to help
you create space and time for yourself. Once you have that down,
and your employees understand their processes and follow through,
it should be fairly smooth sailing. It’s also a good idea to take the
time and tweak them every year.
What is slowing your work week down? What process can you put
in place to make your business day easier? Is there anything you
can delegate?
First identify the problem, and then brainstorm solutions to that
problem. Ask employees if they have any ideas, because they too know
that time is money. Developing your processes will transform your
wasted work-hours into profitable time invested in your business.
Reneé Perry is a small business coach and consultant.
She can be contacted at renee.perry@earthlink.net.
while 13 percent expect to reduce their payrolls, resulting in a Net
Employment Outlook of 9 percent. Fifty-nine percent expect no
change in hiring and 6 percent are undecided about their Quarter 4
2008 hiring plans. The next Manpower Employment Outlook Sur-
vey will be released on December 9, 2008 to report hiring expecta-
tions for Quarter 1 2009.
About the Survey
The employment services company, Manpower Inc., releases the
Manpower Employment Outlook Survey quarterly to measure
employers’ intentions to increase or decrease the number of
employees in their workforce during the next quarter. It is the only
forward-looking survey of its kind, unparalleled in size, scope,
longevity and area of focus. The survey has been administered for
more than 45 years and is one of the most trusted surveys of
employment activity in the world. A highly respected economic
indicator, the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey reports on
findings from 32 countries and territories around the world. The
U.S. results are based on interviews with more than 14,000 pub-
lic and private employers in 460 market areas across the country.
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