Question Description
Week 5 Discussion – Leadership, Ethics & Statistics
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Although there is a quote attributed to Mark Twain about statistics, its not clear if it came from him or someone else. Have you ever heard of the phrase lies, damned lies, and statistics? There are three URLs below that provide a little information on the quote, but its uncertain who can claim ownership. Please review a minimum of one of these three:
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/mark_twain_128372 (Links to an external site.)
Chapter 5 focuses on statistics and the use of statistics and quality assurance. Statistics are used every day in our regular lives, and when used, quality assurance defines the expectations of the consumer and the designer. Therefore, it is necessary to know the basics of statistics even if you are not involved in calculating formulas and hands-on with quality assurance that uses statistics.
This is also an essential area for leadership because the courts have held that leadership is responsible (look at the Enron case, for example) for being truthful and ethical in all aspects of the organization. This includes many things, such as representing statistics truthfully and honestly, not deliberately misleading people, and using them appropriately. We see all kinds of misuses of statistics every day, but we are not aware of all of them unless we investigate these claims and how support from statistics is presented. For example, if you are unfamiliar with the Enron case, information on Enron can be found in many please, such as:
Baldrige is very clear on leaderships responsibility for ethical conduct; please review Criterion 1 for specifics on leadership and ethics and expectations. Baldrige also has a structured approach to measurement. See p. 46 in the Baldrige book for the definition of approach. Please also review the scoring system information (we DO NOT score in this course, but understanding how it is accomplished is very helpful) on p. 29 of the Baldrige book, ADLI (process dimensions), and Results (LeTCI). These are good to remember for the final exam.
The assignment for this discussion board is to find an example of the use of statistics either in your organization (no need to provide the name, we protect the guilty and the innocent), from some source on the Internet or any other area – where statistics are being used to mislead people. I would suggest avoiding politics because this course is not about politics; its about ethics, leadership, and the use of statistics. Provide your example and explain the leadership and ethical issues involved with the use of statistics based on information in the textbook and in Baldrige. Review the Ethics of Care (EoC) URL below and explain how the EoC is related to leadership and continuous improvement/Baldrige (1-2 sentences will do). What should leadership do in your example?
https://leadingincontext.com/2011/10/05/leadership-and-ethics-of-care/