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Some perspectives of managerial ethical leadership

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Abstract

If managerial leadership means deciding responsibly in a complex situation, the ethical dimension of leadership — besides its analytical and instrumental aspects — has to be clarified. I present and discuss several essential aspects of managerial ethical leadership: (a) some major presuppositions (the concepts of leadership and responsibility), (b) three normative-ethical tasks of the activity of leadership (perceiving, interpreting and creating reality — being responsible for the effect of one's decisions on the human beings concerned — being responsible for the implementation of corporate goals) and (c) some claims on the leader as a subject responsible for his or her own activities. I shall conclude by adding some reflections on the limits of managerial ethical leadership.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Saint Gall Graduate School of Economics, Law, Business and Public Administration, Guisanstrasse 11, CH-9010, St. Gallen, Switzerland

    Georges Enderle

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  1. Georges Enderle
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Georges Enderle is a private tutor for business ethics at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. Since 1983 he has been Director of the Institute for Business Ethics. He is the author of Sicherung des Existenzminimums im nationalen und internationallen Kontext — eine wirtschaftsethische Studie,and he has written various articles on business ethics.

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Enderle, G. Some perspectives of managerial ethical leadership. J Bus Ethics 6, 657–663 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00705782

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00705782

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