This book links ethical leadership theory to the implementation of improved leadership practices, particularly in highly operational environments. It builds on the recognition that bad forms of leadership lead to declining motivation and consequently to problems in the social climate and quality of work in organizations and the personal health of employees. It is based on a qualitative study from 100 in-depth interviews using inductive categorization, retrieving deep, rich and unprompted data from a highly developed and advanced production facility. The book reviews the current state of research in this field and describes the setup of the underlying study, linking it to the author’s professional experience. It discusses the research design, its testing and its adaption to organizational practice. The book presents the findings of the study, introduces specific issues arising from the analysis, then critically discusses the interpretation of the findings and matches these with theoretical concepts. One finding of the study is that CSR and ethics are too often implemented with a focus on governance, process and reporting, without looking at leadership on all levels as the critical component. Finally it discusses the conclusions and implications derived from the findings. Overall, the book critically assesses how ethical leadership can be practically implemented in business organizations as a means of transforming organizations into better-governed institutions that exhibit ethical behavior. Foreword by Prof Dr James F. O'Kane, Dean of The Business School, Edinburgh Napier University /div

The Ethical Leader showcases the necessity and practicality of using an ethics-based business model for competitive advantage and long-term organizational success. Ethical behaviour by businesses, or their staff, is often seen as the corporate and social responsibility icing on an organizational cake – something that is nice to do but never really essential. But by turning this view around – and making ethical behaviour a primary focus – Witzel shows how businesses can create and maintain long-term competitive advantage. Trust and respect among key stakeholder groups, particularly employees and customers, cannot be overstated in their importance to an organization's success: trust engenders loyalty and good reputation, which in turn builds brand value. However, while ethical behaviour is key to trust-building, in order for an organization to see lasting, positive outcomes it needs to go deeper than something managers do out of a sense of moral duty. The Ethical Leader shows why ethical practice has to be the platform on which a strong and enduring business can be built, and leaders and managers need to provide the necessary tools and insights to enable this to happen. Witzel offers a practical introduction to some of the key concepts in ethics, including how to deal with ethical paradoxes and making ethical decisions. The book explores the specifics of what makes an ethical leader, and how leaders can communicate values and standards across an organization in order to engage the trust of employees, consumers, shareholders and the wider community.

Are leaders morally special? Is there something ethically distinctive about the relationship between leaders and followers? Should leaders do whatever it takes to achieve group goals? Leadership Ethics uses moral theory, as well as empirical research in psychology, to evaluate the reasons everyday leaders give to justify breaking the rules. Written for people without a background in philosophy, it introduces readers to the moral theories that are relevant to leadership ethics: relativism, amoralism, egoism, virtue ethics, social contract theory, situation ethics, communitarianism, and cosmopolitan theories such as utilitarianism and transformational leadership. Unlike many introductory texts, the book does more than simply acquaint readers with different approaches to leadership ethics. It defends the Kantian view that everyday leaders are not justified in breaking the moral rules.

This book develops an interdisciplinary conceptualisation and a practical application of virtue ethics to leadership in international organisations.

Capitalizing on significant developments in social science over the past twenty years, this book explores both the positive and negative aspects of power, identifying opportunities and threats. It shows how managers and employees can manage power in order to make it a constructive force in organizations.

This book brings together a wide range of topics in leadership ethics and business ethics. It approaches these topics from the perspective of the humanities as well as the social sciences. About half of the book is on leadership and the other half on topics in business ethics. Besides these general areas of research, the book explores how to teach and study ethics in both business ethics and leadership studies. Specifically, it examines issues ranging from the nature of ethical leadership, to studies of authenticity, virtue, and the public and private morality of leaders. In business ethics, the subjects covered span from moral imagination, to casuistry, meaningful work, and workplace ethics. The book includes a section on the importance of liberal arts for studying and teaching ethics in business and professional schools. It concludes with a reflection on the ethical challenges of leaders and followers in a world where some leaders have inverted moral values.

As the leadership field continues to evolve, there are many reasons to be optimistic about the various theoretical and empirical contributions in better understanding leadership from a scholarly and scientific perspective. The Oxford Handbook of Leadership and Organizations brings together a collection of comprehensive, state-of-the-science reviews and perspectives on the most pressing historical and contemporary leadership issues - with a particular focus on theory and research - and looks to the future of the field. It provides a broad picture of the leadership field as well as detailed reviews and perspectives within the respective areas. Each chapter, authored by leading international authorities in the various leadership sub-disciplines, explores the history and background of leadership in organizations, examines important research issues in leadership from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives, and forges new directions in leadership research, practice, and education.