This technical note describes an important rationalization process called moral disengagement that helps explain why and how people make decisions that stray away from the values they claim to hold. This reading explains what moral disengagement is, how to identify it in the words and rationales people provide to explain their choices, and why it is such a pernicious problem facing leaders. At the Darden School of Business, this technical note has been taught in the second-year "Defining Moments" course, as well as many executive education formats. It would also be suitable for class discussion about making values-driven decisions.

Winter Storm Elliott was a major storm system that grounded air travel across the United States in the days before and after Christmas of 2022. While other major airlines recovered quickly and got passengers to their destinations, Southwest Airlines Co. struggled to recover, cancelling thousands of flights and stranding millions of people over the holidays. The president and CEO of Southwest, Bob Jordan, had only been in his position for about 10 months, and public pressures and media attention tested his leadership. This case explores Jordan's handling of the crisis and the internal and external responses it provoked. The case can be used for a discussion about the symbolic role of leaders during crises, as well as the impacts of making an authentic apology and working to restore trust.

Winter Storm Elliott was a major storm system that grounded air travel across the United States in the days before and after Christmas of 2022. While other major airlines recovered quickly and got passengers to their destinations, Southwest Airlines Co. struggled to recover, cancelling thousands of flights and stranding millions of people over the holidays. The president and CEO of Southwest, Bob Jordan, had only been in his position for about 10 months, and public pressures and media attention tested his leadership. This case explores Jordan's handling of the crisis and the internal and external responses it provoked. The case can be used for a discussion about the symbolic role of leaders during crises, as well as the impacts of making an authentic apology and working to restore trust.

In October 2018, Mike Bogan, CEO of LandCare, a nationwide commercial landscaping firm, was concerned about the significant headwinds facing not only LandCare but the entire landscaping industry at the time. As LandCare struggled to hire and retain employees who could prove their legal working status in the United States, it faced fierce competition from small firms, which frequently did not play by the same rules. Hoping to attract and motivate the right workers, Bogan enacted significant organizational change at LandCare after he became CEO in 2014; these changes included new practices and systems to improve performance, increase employee satisfaction, and drive cultural shifts within the organization. When Bogan saw positive results from his initial round of changes, he continued to expand. Readers are presented with Bogan's decision of whether to implement two additional organizational design elements: "jersey technology," which would allow him to accurately track individual movement and performance of his frontline landscape teams, and a daily pay system, which could potentially provide his lower-income workers with money on a more regular basis. Students must use their emerging understanding of the organizational design model (ODM) to consider each of these new systems and debate whether either system should be implemented.

This technical note helps explain what leadership really is, explores some of the factors that influence leader effectiveness, and introduces the basics of how people can begin to develop as leaders. It is an introduction to a very big topic area, but provides simple definitions and explanations of complicated concepts.

This case represents an amalgam of commonly reported experiences people have when interacting with others from different social class backgrounds and positions of power. The A case takes the perspective of Dan Marlow, who grew up with access to financial and cultural resources and has built his own construction company. He has just fired Robby Gomez, an otherwise great worker, for chronic lateness, and he wonders why he is having trouble motivating and keeping employees. The B case takes the viewpoint of Gomez, who works hard but has trouble getting to work on time because of practical difficulties like car trouble and obligations to family and others in his community. By comparing the perspectives and experiences of these two protagonists, students learn to see how our own experiences and cultural knowledge can inform our decisions and the employee programs that we design. Because we are not aware of cultural norms that we have not personally experienced, we need to include a diversity of viewpoints in the decision-making and design process in order to design effective systems and have effective interactions across differences.

B Case to case UV7765 This case represents an amalgam of commonly reported experiences people have when interacting with others from different social class backgrounds and positions of power. The A case takes the perspective of Dan Marlow, who grew up with access to financial and cultural resources and has built his own construction company. He has just fired Robby Gomez, an otherwise great worker, for chronic lateness, and he wonders why he is having trouble motivating and keeping employees. The B case takes the viewpoint of Gomez, who works hard but has trouble getting to work on time because of practical difficulties like car trouble and obligations to family and others in his community. By comparing the perspectives and experiences of these two protagonists, students learn to see how our own experiences and cultural knowledge can inform our decisions and the employee programs that we design. Because we are not aware of cultural norms that we have not personally experienced, we need to include a diversity of viewpoints in the decision-making and design process in order to design effective systems and have effective interactions across differences.

Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan are widely regarded as two of the greatest basketball players in NBA history. Both led their teams to championships, and both were named MVP and All-Star multiple times. But Bryant, the "Black Mamba," and Duncan, the "Big Fundamental," had very different styles of play and ways of interacting with their teammates, coaches, and fans. This case offers an overview of these two champions' careers and allows a lively conversation about star performers, leadership, key leader behaviors, how those behaviors relate to effectiveness, and the role of charisma in the leadership process. Importantly, students do not need to know anything at all about basketball to be on equal footing with those who are basketball fans, because the case exhibits provide evidence for quantitative comparisons, and the case text describes qualitative information that facilitates discussion.