Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Ethical Leadership

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Dark Side of Leadership

  • 1609 Accesses

Abstract

Many unethical and immoral scandals within organizations have surprised societies across the globe. Dark leaders are not only a problem for organizations, but also could be an important consideration for stakeholders. The importance of making an ethical stand in organizations therefore becomes apparent. Ethical leadership can be positioned at the opposite end of the spectrum to the dark side of leadership. In this chapter it is shown how an ethical and moral approach to leadership can contribute to the well-being of employees and organizations alike.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 64.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Avey, J. B., Palanski, M. E., & Walumbwa, F. O. (2011). When leadership goes unnoticed: The moderating role of follower self-esteem on the relationship between ethical leadership and follower behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 98(4), 573–582.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1999). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 2(1), 21–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benhabib, S. (1992). Situating the self: Gender, community, and postmodernism in contemporary ethics. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, M. E., & Treviño, L. K. (2006). Ethical leadership: A review and future directions. The Leadership Quarterly, 17(6), 595–616.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, M. E., Treviño, L. K., & Harrison, D. A. (2005). Ethical leadership: A social learning perspective for construct development and testing. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 97(2), 117–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chughtai, A., Byrne, M., & Flood, B. (2015). Linking ethical leadership to employee well-being: The role of trust in supervisor. Journal of Business Ethics, 128(3), 653–663.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ciulla, J. B. (2005). Integrating leadership with ethics: Is good leadership contrary to human nature? In P. D. Jonathan & A. S. Stephen (Eds.), Handbook on responsible leadership and governance in global business (pp. 159–179). Cheltenham/Northampton: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. R., Pant, L. W., & Sharp, D. J. (2001). An examination of differences in ethical decision-making between Canadian business students and accounting professionals. Journal of Business Ethics, 30(4), 319–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crane, A., & Matten, D. (2016). Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, A. L., & Rothstein, H. R. (2006). The effects of the perceived behavioral integrity of managers on employee attitudes: A meta-analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 67(4), 407–419.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeCelles, K. A., DeRue, D. S., Margolis, J. D., & Ceranic, T. L. (2012). Does power corrupt or enable? When and why power facilitates self-interested behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(3), 681–689.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Demirtas, O. (2015). Ethical leadership influence at organizations: Evidence from the field. Journal of Business Ethics, 126(2), 273–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Demirtas, O., & Akdogan, A. A. (2015). The effect of ethical leadership behavior on ethical climate, turnover intention, and affective commitment. Journal of Business Ethics, 130(1), 59–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diprose, R. (1994). The bodies of women. Ethics, embodiment and sexual difference. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drucker, P. F. (1981). What is business ethics? The Public Interest, 63, 18–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duska, R. (2000). Business ethics: Oxymoron or good business? Business Ethics Quarterly, 10(1), 111–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleming, P., Roberts, J., & Garsten, C. (2013). In search of corporate social responsibility: Introduction to special issue. Organization, 20(3), 337–348.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, R. E., Moriarty, B., & Stewart, L. A. (2009). What is ethical leadership? In R. J. Burke & C. L. Cooper (Eds.), Research companion to corruption in organizations (pp. 192–205). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • González-Benito, J., & González-Benito, O. (2010). A study of determinant factors of stakeholder environmental pressure perceived by industrial companies. Business Strategy and the Environment, 19(3), 164–181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Groom, B. (2011). Bosses put profit before ethics, says survey. Financial Times. Retrieved January 10, 2013, from http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/ceb08890-edd8-11e0-acc7-00144feab49a.html#axzz2w9htlolX

  • Haidt, J. (2008). Morality. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3(1), 65–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoch, J. E., Bommer, W. H., Dulebohn, J. H., & Wu, D. (2018). Do ethical, authentic, and servant leadership explain variance above and beyond transformational leadership? A meta-analysis. Journal of Management, 44(2), 501–529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoyt, C. L., & Price, T. L. (2015). Ethical decision making and leadership: Merging social role and self-construal perspectives. Journal of Business Ethics, 126(4), 531–539.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalshoven, K., Den Hartog, D. N., & De Hoogh, A. H. (2011). Ethical leader behavior and big five factors of personality. Journal of Business Ethics, 100(2), 349–366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaptein, M. (2017). The battle for business ethics: A struggle theory. Journal of Business Ethics, 144(2), 343–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lehnert, K., Park, Y. H., & Singh, N. (2015). Research note and review of the empirical ethical decision-making literature: Boundary conditions and extensions. Journal of Business Ethics, 129(1), 195–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mathieu, C., Neumann, C. S., Hare, R. D., & Babiak, P. (2014). A dark side of leadership: Corporate psychopathy and its influence on employee well-being and job satisfaction. Personality and Individual Differences, 59, 83–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, D. M., Kuenzi, M., Greenbaum, R., Bardes, M., & Salvador, R. B. (2009). How low does ethical leadership flow? Test of a trickle-down model. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 108(1), 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, D. M., Kuenzi, M., & Greenbaum, R. L. (2010). Examining the link between ethical leadership and employee misconduct: The mediating role of ethical climate. Journal of Business Ethics, 95(1), 7–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, D. M., Aquino, K., Greenbaum, R. L., & Kuenzi, M. (2012). Who displays ethical leadership, and why does it matter? An examination of antecedents and consequences of ethical leadership. Academy of Management Journal, 55(1), 151–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Medeiros, K. E., Watts, L. L., Mulhearn, T. J., Steele, L. M., Mumford, M. D., & Connelly, S. (2017). What is working, what is not, and what we need to know: A meta-analytic review of business ethics instruction. Journal of Academic Ethics, 15(3), 245–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muchlinski, P. (2012). Implementing the new UN corporate human rights framework: Implications for corporate law, governance, and regulation. Business Ethics Quarterly, 22(1), 145–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Fallon, M. J., & Butterfield, K. D. (2005). A review of the empirical ethical decision-making literature: 1996–2003. Journal of Business Ethics, 59(4), 375–413.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Online Cambridge Dictionary. (2018a, 07 March). Retrieved from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ethic

  • Online Cambridge Dictionary. (2018b, 07 March). Retrieved from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/moral

  • Piccolo, R. F., Greenbaum, R., Hartog, D. N. D., & Folger, R. (2010). The relationship between ethical leadership and core job characteristics. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 31(2–3), 259–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pullen, A., & Rhodes, C. (2015). Ethics, embodiment and organizations. Organization, 22(2), 159–165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rest, J. R. (1986). Moral development: Advances in research and theory. New York: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, M. S. (2005). Universal moral values for corporate codes of ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 59(1–2), 27–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sinclair, A. (1993). Approaches to organisational culture and ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 12(1), 63–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, R. S. (2017). Virtue ethics and moral knowledge: Philosophy of language after MacIntyre and Hauerwas. UK: London.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Trevino, L. K. (1986). Ethical decision making in organizations: A person-situation interactionist model. Academy of Management Review, 11(3), 601–617.

    Google Scholar 

  • Treviño, L. K., Butterfield, K. D., & McCabe, D. L. (1998). The ethical context in organizations: Influences on employee attitudes and behaviors. Business Ethics Quarterly, 8(3), 447–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Treviño, L. K., Weaver, G. R., & Reynolds, S. J. (2006). Behavioral ethics in organizations: A review. Journal of Management, 32(6), 951–990.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Gils, S., Van Quaquebeke, N., van Knippenberg, D., van Dijke, M., & De Cremer, D. (2015). Ethical leadership and follower organizational deviance: The moderating role of follower moral attentiveness. The Leadership Quarterly, 26(2), 190–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vogel, D. (2008). Private global business regulation. Annual Review of Political Science, 11, 261–282.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walumbwa, F. O., & Schaubroeck, J. (2009). Leader personality traits and employee voice behavior: mediating roles of ethical leadership and work group psychological safety. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(5), 1275–1286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walumbwa, F. O., Mayer, D. M., Wang, P., Wang, H., Workman, K., & Christensen, A. L. (2011). Linking ethical leadership to employee performance: The roles of leader–member exchange, self-efficacy, and organizational identification. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 115(2), 204–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walumbwa, F. O., Hartnell, C. A., & Misati, E. (2017). Does ethical leadership enhance group learning behavior? Examining the mediating influence of group ethical conduct, justice climate, and peer justice. Journal of Business Research, 72, 14–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weaver, G. R., Treviño, L. K., & Agle, B. (2005). Somebody I look up to: Ethical role models in organizations. Organizational Dynamics, 34, 313–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber, J. A. (2007). Business ethics training: Insights from learning theory. Journal of Business Ethics, 70(1), 61–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber, J., & Getz, K. (2004). Buy bribes or bye-bye bribes: The future status of bribery in international commerce. Business Ethics Quarterly, 14(4), 695–711.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, L. Z., Kwan, H. K., Yim, F. H. K., Chiu, R. K., & He, X. (2015). CEO ethical leadership and corporate social responsibility: A moderated mediation model. Journal of Business Ethics, 130(4), 819–831.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu, W., He, H., Trevino, L. K., Chao, M. M., & Wang, W. (2015). Ethical leadership and follower voice and performance: The role of follower identifications and entity morality beliefs. The Leadership Quarterly, 26(5), 702–718.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istanbul Aydin University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Bekir Emre Kurtulmuş

Authors
  1. Bekir Emre Kurtulmuş
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Kurtulmuş, B.E. (2019). Ethical Leadership. In: The Dark Side of Leadership. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02038-5_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation