Abstract
The paper advances the conceptual understanding of responsible leadership and develops an empirical scale of discursive responsible leadership. The concept of responsible leadership presented here draws on deliberative practices and discursive conflict resolution, combining the macro-view of the business firm as a political actor with the micro-view of leadership. Ideal responsible leadership conduct thereby goes beyond the dyadic leader–follower interaction to include all stakeholders. The paper offers a definition and operationalization of responsible leadership. The studies that have been conducted to develop the discursive responsible leadership scale validated the scale, discriminated it from other leadership scales, and demonstrated its utility in affecting unethical behavior and job satisfaction in organizations. Responsible leadership is shown to be first, dependent on the hierarchical level in an organization; second, capable of reducing unethical treatment of employees; and finally, a means of enhancing the job satisfaction of employees. The paper concludes with study limitations, future research directions and practical implications.
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Notes
This is not the original response rate that relates all those recruited for the panel to the 150 persons answering the questionnaire; this would be 0.80 times the response rate of the initial panel recruitment.
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Appendix
Appendix
Discursive Responsible Leadership—Final Scale English
The following section often refers to the term “stakeholders”. Stakeholders are defined as the individuals and constituencies that can affect or are affected by your organization. Examples of stakeholders are, e.g., shareholders or investors, employees, customers and suppliers, the local community, the society or the government.
If the questionnaire items ask for the relevant stakeholders in relation to your superior’s actions or decisions, think about the stakeholders your supervisor interacts with (most frequently).
Please indicate how often your supervisor interacts with which stakeholder groups:
Not at all | Once in a while | Sometimes | Fairly often | Frequently, if not always | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
Customers | |||||
Employees | |||||
Employees or management of joint venture partners and alliances | |||||
Labor unions | |||||
Local community representatives (e.g. societies, associations, the church) | |||||
Non-governmental organizations (e.g., social or environmental activist groups) | |||||
Shareholders or investors | |||||
State institutions or regulatory authorities (this can reach from interactions with the government officials to interactions with the local city administration) | |||||
Suppliers | |||||
Top management | |||||
Other (including space to fill in): |
My direct supervisor…
Not at all | Once in a while | Sometimes | Fairly often | Frequently, if not always | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
…demonstrates awareness of the relevant stakeholder claims | |||||
…considers the consequences of decisions for the affected stakeholders | |||||
…involves the affected stakeholders in the decision making process | |||||
…weighs different stakeholder claims before making a decision | |||||
…tries to achieve a consensus among the affected stakeholders |
Diskursiv Verantwortungsvolle Führung—Final Scale German
Der folgende Abschnitt bezieht sich oft auf den Begriff “Stakeholder”. Stakeholder sind definiert als die Individuen oder Gruppen, die durch ihre Handlungen die Organisation betreffen oder die von den Handlungen der Organisation betroffen sind.
Beispiele für Stakeholder sind die Shareholder oder Investoren, die Mitarbeiter, die Kunden und Zulieferer, die lokale Gemeinde, die Gesellschaft oder die Regierung.
Wird in den Fragebogen-Items nach den relevanten Stakeholdern in Verbindung mit dem Handeln oder den Entscheidungen Ihres Vorgesetzten gefragt, denken Sie an die Stakeholder mit denen Ihr Vorgesetzter (am häufigsten) interagiert.
Bitte geben Sie an, wie häufig ihr Vorgesetzter mit welcher Stakeholder-Gruppe interagiert:
Niemals | Selten | Manchmal | Häufig | Extrem häufig, wenn nicht immer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
Kunden | |||||
Mitarbeiter | |||||
Mitarbeiter oder Manager von Joint Venture Partnern oder Allianzen | |||||
Gewerkschaften | |||||
Repräsentanten der lokalen Gemeinde (z.B. Vereine, Verbände, die Kirche) | |||||
Nicht-Regierungs-Organisationen (z.B. Sozial- oder Umweltgruppen) | |||||
Shareholder oder Investoren | |||||
Staatliche Institutionen oder Regulierungsbehörden (dies kann von der Interaktion mit offiziellen Regierungsvertretern bis zur Interaktion mit der lokalen Stadtadministration reichen) | |||||
Zulieferer | |||||
Top Management | |||||
Andere: |
Mein direkter Vorgesetzter…
Niemals | Selten | Manchma | Häufig | Extrem häufig, wenn nicht immer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
… zeigt, dass er/sie sich der Ansprüche relevanter Stakeholder bewusst ist | |||||
…berücksichtigt die Konsequenzen von Entscheidungen für die betroffenen Stakeholder | |||||
…bezieht die betroffenen Stakeholder in den Entscheidungsprozess mit ein | |||||
…wägt die verschiedenen Stakeholderansprüche ab, bevor er/sie eine Entscheidung fällt | |||||
…versucht unter den betroffenen Stakeholdern einen Konsens zu erzielen |
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Voegtlin, C. Development of a Scale Measuring Discursive Responsible Leadership. J Bus Ethics 98 (Suppl 1), 57–73 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-1020-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-1020-9