Table of contentsIntroductionEarly lifeManagement practicesEthical implicationsCultural conflictRemunerationAffirmative actionDiversityDownsizingConclusionIntroductionMr. Ghosn, at 64, has many achievements under his belt to boast about. After saving Japan's second-largest automaker from the brink of disaster in 1999, he became something of a cultural icon and hero to Japanese nationals. The gravity of his feat is illustrated by this, because Japanese culture, being very inclusive, does not let foreigners invade its territory very easily. Even at this age, he maintains his determined work ethic, moving from country to country to oversee the great empire in his charge. He is the current CEO and President of Renault in France, and President of Nissan and Mitsubishi in Japan. The latter company, Mitsubishi, was bought by Nissan in a move orchestrated by Ghosn himself in what may secretly be his third consecutive success in turning around another struggling automaker. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay In every company he had been tasked with saving, Mr. Ghosn had to make complex decisions according to his proven formula for success, the implications what could be within the interests and control of leadership ethics. In examining the ethical implications of his leadership, the scope of this article is contained within his tenure at Nissan, where the most significant implications of ethical issues – diversity, cultural conflicts, affirmative action, compensation and downsizing – appear most clearly. Ghosn was born in Brazil to a family of Lebanese origin in Porto Velho in 1954. His childhood spanned from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, to Beirut, Lebanon and finally to Paris, France, where he obtained a degree in engineering from École Polytechnique in 1974. His grandfather was a successful businessman who had led several countries in various fields. Carlos Ghosn followed in the spiritual footsteps of his grandfather. He worked at Michelin for 18 years, training and gaining experience at various Michelin facilities in Germany and France, and was named COO of Michelin's South American operations and tasked with turning around their Brazilian operations. This would be the start of his series of successful transformations of multinational business organizations. His penchant for exploring new cultures around the world, partly cultivated by growing up in several different cultures and localities, led him to join major Japanese company Nissan when the opportunity arose. presented. He then joined Renault as chief executive in 1996 and managed to return the struggling company to profitability. He achieved this through various workforce and cost reduction measures, earning him the nickname “The Cost Killer.” Thanks to a joint alliance between Renault and Nissan, Ghosn had an additional role in addition to his responsibilities with Renault. As Nissan's new CEO in 2001, he took Nissan from approximately $20 billion in debt to one of Japan's most profitable companies. In 2016, Nissan, led by Ghosn, successfully acquired Mitsubishi when the latter company found itself in a difficult situation due to its emissions cheating scandal, giving rise to the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance , which made it the third largest automobile group in the world. manager, Ghosn understood the need to accept and manage cultural conflicts in a mannerpositive and productive. When he arrived in Japan, Ghosn knew that cultural conflict was inevitable when he saw the strikingly different corporate culture of consensus, complacency and tunnel vision within Nissan's management. He had to address these issues without showing employees any idea that he was importing and imposing his own culture among them, because doing so would backfire the massive turnaround plan he had envisioned for Nissan. Ghosn focused on three major philosophies: transparency, execution and communication. These philosophies resulted in replacing the long tradition of seniority rule with a performance-oriented hierarchy, cultivating a sense of responsibility instead of blaming each other, and developing cross-functional teams, a configuration that Ghosn appreciated because it had earned him past successes. . In order to generate profitability, it focused on four main areas: product line development, brand image improvement, investment in research and development, and cost reduction. In terms of cost reduction, Ghosn saw a lot of unnecessary spending and tied up capital. He closed several factories, retreated to unnecessary assets and eliminated traditional keiretsu practices of investing in other businesses to strengthen relationships, a move that freed up enormous amounts of capital. But perhaps his most scrutinizing decision was the massive layoffs (about 14 percent of Nissan's entire workforce), which drew sharp criticism from the media and disappointment from the Japanese government. He has also been scrutinized for demoting or firing senior management for failing to meet targets and quotas. “The Cost Killer” had struck again. The ethics of these management decisions will be examined in detail with respect to diversity, compensation and downsizing. Ethical Implications Cultural Conflict One of the first things Ghosn did at Nissan was to challenge some of the cultural practices that made Nissan ineffective. He divested Nissan's shares in keiretsu (a Japanese term meaning corporate linkage) investments, set targets for engineering teams, increased funds for R&D, and implemented CFTs that examined practices within the company that could be improved or eliminated to reduce costs. By giving certain goals to teams, he sparked greater employee performance across all departments, fostered communication and cohesion between departments, and ended the blame game culture plaguing the company. Ghosn's performance-driven attitude and decisions also conflicted with the culture of prioritizing senior employees despite their performance. However, the change went well because he took a bottom-up approach, working with all employees using a similar MBO approach, communicating and listening to employee concerns. and making them believe that decisions were ultimately for the greater good of the company they held dear. As a result, his decisions were respected and employees accepted the changes in the usual way of doing things.CompensationThe compensation structure within Nissan was an important structure to reform in order to achieve the performance that Ghosn expected from Nissan. By eliminating the seniority rule, it made employee performance the primary indicator of promotion and compensation. Although this initially sparked cultural disapproval, as mentioned previously, thisevolution from an ethical point of view can be considered fairer compared to the old practice. Under Ghosn, the gender disparity at Nissan has continued to narrow, with the latest figures showing that women earn on average 15% more than men, but men compensate by earning more bonuses. Under his leadership, Nissan continues to narrow the gender pay gap and increase its female workforce. Affirmative ActionIn Nissan's early days, women held fewer management positions at Nissan, although this figure was still higher than the Japanese average. Its leadership team launched several programs, including manager mentoring programs, technical training programs, “Ladies First” dealership programs and many others specifically aimed at women, to attract more women into the business. its workforce. As a result, while the industry average for female participation has remained stable, Nissan's female participation has increased, particularly in leadership positions. As reported in 2017, 10.1% women held management positions, up from just 1.6% in 2004. DiversityDiversity is the inclusion of different cultures, ethnicities, races, affinity orientations, genders, religious sects, abilities, social conditions. classes, ages and national origins of individuals in a company. According to Ghosn himself, Nissan's success over the years, as well as the success of the Renault-Nissan alliance, is due to the alliance's ability to unlock the potential of its cultural diversity. At Nissan, 20 of the 52 top executives represented 10 nationalities outside of Japan. Ghosn believes that as Nissan operates globally, it integrates the expertise and know-how of people from its diverse workforce to be able to cater to a diverse customer base and remain profitable. It was also his leadership decision to create the Diversity Development Office at Nissan which reported to him and was responsible for accelerating the participation of women in the workplace to achieve its diversity goals and effectively meet the requirements of a diverse workforce in a business. , the workforce at Nissan has also been reduced. Some 21,000 people, or about 14% of Nissan's employees, were laid off in order to cut costs. Even line and middle managers in all departments were not exempt from layoffs if they failed to perform. Although downsizing is not unethical, especially when viewed through the prism of utilitarianism in which Ghosn had acted for the greater good of all Nissan employees, an analysis compliant with the EPIC framework can identify some gray lines, if any. could be considered erroneous or inappropriate. From an employee's perspective, the framework is: Keep in mind: This is just a sample. Get a personalized document from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Empathy – the decision would certainly seem unsympathetic to workers who were fired despite meeting the standards. .Patience – Nissan had been struggling for years and had already used several cost-cutting measures to no avail. Ghosn's decision to fire redundant employees therefore came after a long wait. Integrity – Nissan's culture has always been about loyalty and assertiveness within its ranks. of work in exchange. For the workers, it could be said that they were betrayed to this end. For white-collar workers, the story may be different, as most of them had been fired for their practices.