...A Review of the Literature Concerning Ethical Leadership in Organizations Kelly Monahan Regent University The following article explores the literature regarding the topic of ethical leadership. Thirty-eight articles were identified that are written by authors who focused on four main topics. These topics are the definition of ethical leadership, the personal integrity and morality of a leader, how a leader ethically influences followers, and current challenges facing ethical leaders. These four topics are explored in further detail within the literature review. Overall, it is found that ethical leadership is complex and a relatively newer field of study. Yet, common themes include the need for establishing trust and gaining ethical knowledge by way of study and application. Also, major organizational failures, such as Enron, have ignited an interest within the field. Possible further research is recommended at the end of this review. T his article examines the literature regarding the topic of ethical leadership within organizations. The literature review was conducted by utilizing databases such as scholar.google.com, the Library of Congress database, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost Discovery, and OmniFile Full-Text Mega. Additional resources were secured at Barnes and Nobles bookstore. A list of keywords used during the search is ethical leadership, ethics, morality, virtues, values, morals, and management. Thirty-eight articles were ultimately selected due to their...
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...Leadership: Trustworthiness and Ethical Stewardship Northcentral University The problem to be investigated is the on-going debate of the ethical duties of leadership in business. The more focused questions and issues are: What is the ethical leader? What is the obligation of that leader? How does a leader create “buy-in” and trust within an organization? And Is a value-based system needed to create a successful business? James Carlopio described a leader in a recent article: ‘‘Today’s leaders must resist the powerful temptation of self-interest and must be motivated by broader values and principles ‘based on a morally established duty owed and a fiduciary obligation.” James Carlopio further explained that this ‘‘ethical stewardship’’ approach to leadership was essential if leaders expected to earn the trust of others (Carlopio, 2002, pp. 71–74). I strongly feel that leadership in any organization has a duty and are obligated to demonstrate the appropriate ethical stewardship in and outside of the business setting. Company stakeholders want to ensure that the organization is value-based. Stakeholders trust that every decision made is sound, ethical, and displays the company’s morals, values and mission. It is the duty of leadership to create an environment that cultivates all of the above. Lastly, leadership should be held accountable for unethical ventures and the message that it sends to its stakeholders...
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... Title : Ethical Leadership: The Effect on Employees Author : Atiya Alshammari, Naser N. Almutairi & Shebaib Fahad Thuwaini Year of Publication: February 27th, 2015 Source: International Journal of Business and Management, Vol.10, No.3;2015 The article, Ethical Leadership : The Effect on Employees focuses on the impact of this style of leadership and also its contribution to the performance, efficiency and productivity of employees of an organization that adapts ethical leadership in their business environment. The author believes ethical leadership is the key ingredients in ensuring the success of an organization. In recent years, a few companies has collapsed such as Lehman Brothers as a result of unethical behavior which caused harm to thousands of employees, forced the government to apply new strict regulations as well as losing customers confidence investing in financial industry. Cases like these proves that without ethical leadership, the tendency of negative influences to appear within the employees of the organization will generate trust issues among peers and lack of faith in the leadership of the leaders of the organization which will result in unproductive and inefficiency in the organization. Ethical leadership is defined as the process of influencing people through principles, values and beliefs of something that we believe as the right behavior. The practice of ethical leadership is increasingly popular in every modern organizations nowadays even...
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...business ethics and their relation to leadership, managerial decision making, corporate social responsibility and overall corporate structure. Increased corporate scandals and the discovery of a rise in unethical business practices have thrown the topic of business ethics into the spotlight. Organizations are expected by their stakeholders to implement strong ethics within their corporate structure and culture. This expectation could be accomplished through strong ethical leadership, formal structures and regulations that place emphasis on ethics, and by making a commitment to corporate social responsibility. Using these guidelines will help organizations overcome the various challenges allowing the business to build a strong ethical foundation that will ultimately benefit the company through increased customer and employee satisfaction, which could result in increased profits, organizational sustainability and social status. The review of the literature reveals that there is still plenty of room for exploration on the topic of business ethics and particularly with the topic of ethical leadership. It is recommended that more focus be placed on understanding the influence of strong ethical leadership within an organization and how this influence flows down the organizational structure. Once this flow of influence is understood, exploration is necessary to identify the best procedures for developing and sustaining strong influential leadership ethics within the organizational...
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...Introduction of the relationship between leadership and ethics. First, leadership is a process that is not specifically a function of the person in charge. Leadership is a function of individual wills and individual needs, and the result of the dynamics of collective will organized to meet those various needs. Second, leadership is a process of adaption and of evolution; it is a process of dynamic exchange and the interchanges of value. Leadership is deviation from convention. Third, leadership is a process of energy, not structure. In this way, leadership is different from management-managers pursue stability, while leadership is all about change (Barker 2001, p.491). In organizational terms, as in life in general, ethics are beliefs about what is right or wrong, they provide a basis for judging the appropriateness of behavior and they guide people in their dealings with other individuals, groups and organizations, managers are witnessing to those right and wrongs. (Khar, Praveen & Aggarwal,2011; Hansen, 2011). As Wines (2008, p.484) commented: ‘At bedrock, those who profess ethics believe that human beings are autonomous moral actors capable of making meaningful choices’. 6Approaches to ethics tend to fall into one of two philosophical camps: the consequentialist (teleological) and the non-consequentialist (deontological) (Pettit2003; Harper et al, 1996). Consequentialists argue that ethical values are meaningless unless they are actively promoted. For consequentialists...
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...Business Ethics in Leadership Corey C Calhoun Sr. Liberty University 05/03/2016 Business Ethics in Leadership Recent corporate scandals, such as Enron, Parlamat, and WorldCom, have generated significant attention in the field of business ethics. Whereas the interest in this subject pre-dates these scandals, they have undoubtedly raised the profile of ethical concerns in business among scholars, practitioners, and governments (Knights & O’Leary, 2006). Additionally, there is a growing concern on what role leadership plays in perpetuating ethical values in an organization. Consequently, scholars are concerned with discerning leadership qualities that would ensure moral and effective practices in a company. What is the relationship between leadership and ethics? One of the key questions (or in some cases assumptions) in the literature on leadership is regarding the nature of the relationship between leadership and ethics. The definition question in leadership studies is not really about the question ‘‘What is leadership?’’ It is about the question ‘‘What is good leadership?’’ By good, I mean morally good and effective. This is why I think it is fair to say that ethics lies at the heart of leadership studies. Leaders worthy of the name, whether they are university presidents or senators, corporation executives or newspaper editors, school superintendents or governors, contribute to the continuing definition and articulation of the most cherished...
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...examine leadership behaviours especially Ethical Leadership as it impacts the third sector organizations’ performance. This chapter is comprised of reviewed literature regarding leadership, ethical leadership and the third sector organisations. Specifically, this chapter will be broken down into (a) Leadership (b) leadership behaviours (c) ethical leadership in the Third Sector (d) Organisation Performance (e) the impact of ethical Leadership in the third sector’s performance. 2.1 LEADERSHIP Leadership is one of the world’s oldest preoccupation. The understanding of leadership has figured strongly in the quest for knowledge (Bass 1990). Purposeful stories have been told through the generations about leaders’ competencies, ambitions, and shortcomings; leaders’ rights and privileges; and the leaders’ duties and obligations. A review of relevant literature has uncovered many different definitions of leadership. Leadership remains one of the most relevant aspects of organizational context (Nwokocha 2011). For more than five decades ago, the term leadership has been a researchable topic. Mostly, the research work focuses on issues of quality of leadership, ability of a leader, or leadership effectiveness, or leadership styles (Daft 2008, Bass 1990, Erez et al 2001 & Yukl 2006) Stogdill (1974, p. 259) stated that “ there are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept” and Yukl (2006) highlighted that leadership is a...
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...through ethical leadership. An ethical corporate culture has been associated with trust, commitment to quality, customer satisfaction, employee commitment, and financial performance. There is an opportunity for managers to take a proactive approach to incorporating ethical concerns into strategic planning. In addition, there has been public policy support for top management to be responsible for organizational ethics. Academic researchers can assist by investigating the relationship between ethical leadership and organizational performance variables. The Role of Ethical Leadership in Organizational Performance There is increasing support that it is good business for an organization to be ethical and that ethical cultures emerge from strong leadership. The rewards to organizations supporting ethical cultures include increased efficiency in daily operations and decision making, employee commitment, product quality improvements, customer loyalty, and improved financial performance (Ferrell, Maignan, and Loe 1999). Three different approaches are used by companies to implement ethics initiatives. Through compliance an organization can use internal controls to gain ethical conformity. Organizations may use ethics in public relations to enhance their reputation and gain extra media attention. A third, more committed approach involves using a value-based philosophy that incorporates the first two philosophies and focuses on creating an ethical culture...
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...The role of Leadership in Organizational Integrity, and five modes of Ethical Leadership Components of Ethical Leadership. Ethical leadership begins with the way leaders perceive and conceptualize the world around them. Ethical leadership, organizational ethics, and social responsibility are inseparable concepts. They are developing concepts, to be sure, but inseparable. How ethical leaders relate to and come to understand the world around them involves judgment and action. These can be developed. In sum, the leader's role is to guide the human potential of the organization's stakeholders to achieve organizational aspirations in ways that liberate rather constrain their imaginations and judgment. Ethical leadership must, then, be effective, efficient, and excellent if it is not to waste human potential. It is not enough to be ethical in one's individual actions to be an ethical leader. To be effective, efficient, and excellent, four components of ethical leadership must be understood and developed: purpose, knowledge, authority, and trust. The relationship between these four components can be visualized as interrelated components, as described in the figure opposite. Attention to any one component alone is incomplete and misleading. * Purpose-The ethical leader reasons and acts with organizational purposes firmly in mind. This provides focus and consistency. * Knowledge-The ethical leader has the knowledge to judge and act prudently. This knowledge is found...
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...Leadership, Trustworthiness, and Ethical Stewardship Abstract The problem to be investigated in Caldwell et al.’s (2010) paper is the relationship between leadership, perceptions of interpersonal trustworthiness, and elements of ethical stewardship. With an increasing competition amongst businesses today, the role of leadership and trust into leaders by their followers (i.e., stakeholders, employees) plays an increasing role in the successful operation of business organizations. Moreover, the role of ethical stewards and their impact on successfully lead organizations has become more important in recent years. Understanding the impact and importance of these three key factors regarding to the success of business organizations is fundamental. Therefore, in this paper the key terms leadership, trustworthiness, and ethical stewardship are defined based on recent literature and their relationship to each other is discussed based on the findings of Caldwell et al.’s paper. Moreover, the effect of leadership and trustworthiness in today’s world of business is outlined, and the role of ethical stewardship is examined. Finally, it is addressed how these, partly subjective factors can be improved and successfully applied in today’s world of business. Terminology: Leadership, trustworthiness, ethical stewardship Leadership Leadership is fundamental in a successfully run business and seen in the hierarchical structure (i.e., CEO, management, departments, supervisors, employees)...
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...Leadership: Trustworthiness and Ethical Stewardship MGT7019-8: Ethics in Business Northcentral University Dr. Jo Ann Davis November 12, 2012 Leadership: Trustworthiness and Ethical Stewardship The problem to be investigated is the correlation linking the components of leadership, trustworthiness, ethical stewardship, and their effects on sustainable organizational culture. This paper will identify both the similarities and differences between the practices of those who have influence over the decision making process pertaining to the ethical issues faced by their organization. In addition, this essay will present an evaluation of the measures that a business may take to meet ethical considerations relative to social performance, financial performance and reputation. Finally, the paper will provide an assessment of the degree to which social, ethical and public issues should be considered regarding both internal and external shareholder connections. Among the international business market, the significance of comprehending the associations connecting management behaviors, awareness regarding manager’s trustworthiness and the moral duties inherent in the psychological bond are becoming progressively more important (Caldwell, Hayes, & Long, 2012). It is increasingly acknowledged that one’s moral character and competence are important prerequisites of the trademarks for leading with integrity and having the ability to build trust in organizations (Harrington, 2010)...
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...Leadership and ethics Name Professor Course Date Some of the ethical issues that management may need to address include corporate social responsibility. This refers to the operation of a business or organization in a manner that takes into consideration the environmental and social aspects created by enterprise. It implies the commitment to create policies that include responsible practices in the undertakings of the entity. Corporate social responsibility policies serve as self-regulatory measures for the organization in monitoring and ensuring that it complies with ethical standards, regulations and societal norms. This practice takes responsibility of the organizations actions to facilitate a positive impact of the organizations...
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...Leadership, Trustworthiness, and Ethical Stewardship Leadership, Trustworthiness, and Ethical Stewardship The problem to be investigated is to identify the correlation between leadership, trustworthiness, and ethical stewardship. Leadership is the epicenter for any group or organization. In order for an organization to be successful it is imperative that the employees trust the leaders. This trustworthiness will allow the leader to be identified as ethical stewards. Caldwell, Hayes, and Long (2010) contend that these ethical stewards can direct an organization’s efforts toward fortune for all stakeholders. Leadership In understanding leadership’s role within an organization, its role must be clearly defined. There are many definitions of leadership. Each definition has its own characteristic based on the perspective of the individual providing it. Lussier and Achua (2004; as cited by Caldwell, Hayes, & Long, 2010) define leadership as “the process of influencing leaders and followers to achieve organizational objectives through change” (p. 5). This translates to mean that the leader must have the ability to make decisions that will be beneficial for the organization and not promote their own self-interest. Their decisions will impact many different stakeholders such as the company, venders, customers, economy and themselves. In order for the leader to be effective in making decisions they must have specific skills. These specific skills include project management, technical...
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...Leadership Theory The Chicago School of Psychology May 31, 2015 Ethical and Relational Leadership Principles Honoring the APA and TCS Codes of Conduct Licensed professionals in the legal, accounting, engineering, medical and other healing professions are held to a higher legal and ethical standard of professional behavior than people who work in other commercial, not-for-profit or government enterprises. As noted by the American Psychologists Association (APA) , “If this Ethics Code establishes a higher standard of conduct than is required by law, psychologists must meet the higher ethical standard.” (p. 2). The rationale for this higher standard is that legislation gives these professions and the people who are members of them unique and special rights to serve the public within their specific discipline. With these rights come added responsibilities to protect the public trust. As noted by the APA (2010), “Psychologists are committed to increasing scientific and professional knowledge of behavior and people’s understanding of themselves and others and to the use of such knowledge to improve the condition of individuals, organizations, and society…They strive to help the public in developing informed judgments and choices concerning human behavior.” (p. 2). In Canada, most professional bodies are governed by provincial legislation that gives authority to accredit professional training programs, confer professional licenses, monitor professional practice of individual...
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...Defining ethical leadership. Many scholars have tried to define ethical leadership, and although the definitions differ, researchers believe that ethical leaders shape the moral conduct of their employees (Monahan, 2012). Cumbo (2009) preferred to place emphasis on the leader and defined ethical leadership as making decisions based one's morals and living a virtuous life. Another scholar, Martinez-Saenz (2009), defined moral leadership using five constructs: altruism, egoism, legalism, autonomy, and communitarianism. No construct is proposed to have more value or weight over the other (Martinez-Saenz, 2009). An altruistic leader acts due to selfless motives while an egoistic leader does the right thing for selfish reasons (Martinez-Saenz,...
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