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Ethical and Unethical Leadership: A Cross-Cultural and Cross-Sectoral Analysis

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  • Silke Eisenbeiß
  • Felix Brodbeck

Abstract

Current literature on ethical leadership and unethical leadership reflects a Western-based private sector perspective, pointing toward a compliance-oriented understanding of ethical and unethical leadership. As today’s executives increasingly have to ethically lead across different cultures and sectors, it becomes vitally important to develop a more holistic picture how ethical and unethical leadership is perceived in the Western and Eastern cultural cluster and the private and the public/social sector. Addressing this issue, the present study aims to identify cross-cultural and cross-sectoral commonalities and differences in international executives’ perceptions of ethical and unethical leadership. Findings from in-depth interviews (N = 36) with executives from Western and Eastern cultures working in the private or the public/social sector reveal collectively held perceptions of ethical leadership (including leader honesty, integrity, concern for responsibility/sustainability, and people orientation) and of unethical leadership (referring to leader dishonesty, corruption, egocentrism, and manipulation). Results indicate limited support for a compliance-oriented perspective on ethical and unethical leadership but yield a much greater trend toward a value-oriented perspective. Concrete practice examples illustrate these different perspectives. Cultural and sectoral particularities of executive perceptions of ethical and unethical leadership are discussed. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Silke Eisenbeiß & Felix Brodbeck, 2014. "Ethical and Unethical Leadership: A Cross-Cultural and Cross-Sectoral Analysis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(2), pages 343-359, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:122:y:2014:i:2:p:343-359
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-013-1740-0
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    8. Kubilay Gok & John J. Sumanth & William H. Bommer & Ozgur Demirtas & Aykut Arslan & Jared Eberhard & Ali Ihsan Ozdemir & Ahmet Yigit, 2017. "You May Not Reap What You Sow: How Employees’ Moral Awareness Minimizes Ethical Leadership’s Positive Impact on Workplace Deviance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(2), pages 257-277, December.
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    12. Ibrahim A. Elshaer, 2024. "Come and Gone! Psychological Resilience and Organizational Resilience in Tourism Industry Post COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Life Satisfaction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-18, January.
    13. Jesse T. Vullinghs & Annebel H. B. Hoogh & Deanne N. Den Hartog & Corine Boon, 2020. "Ethical and Passive Leadership and Their Joint Relationships with Burnout via Role Clarity and Role Overload," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(4), pages 719-733, September.
    14. Jie Feng & Yucheng Zhang & Xinmei Liu & Long Zhang & Xiao Han, 2018. "Just the Right Amount of Ethics Inspires Creativity: A Cross-Level Investigation of Ethical Leadership, Intrinsic Motivation, and Employee Creativity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(3), pages 645-658, December.
    15. Chikelu Okey Felix. PhD & Bala Aliyu Kardi & Mustapha Shehu, 2020. "The Congruence of Ethical Leadership: An Examination of Leadership and Organizational Ethical Climate in Nigeria," International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation, International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI), vol. 7(5), pages 289-293, May.
    16. Anna Napiorkowska, 2022. "The Managers’ Approach to Legalization of CSR: A Cross-cultural Study," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(1), pages 657-669.
    17. Sharfa Hassan & Puneet Kaur & Michael Muchiri & Chidiebere Ogbonnaya & Amandeep Dhir, 2023. "Unethical Leadership: Review, Synthesis and Directions for Future Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(2), pages 511-550, March.
    18. Kohnert, Dirk, 2019. "L'éthique de l'intégration régionale et continentale africaine [The ethics of African regional and continental integration]," MPRA Paper 95579, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Ling L. Harris & Scott B. Jackson & Joel Owens & Nicholas Seybert, 2022. "Recruiting Dark Personalities for Earnings Management," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 178(1), pages 193-218, June.
    20. Kohnert, Dirk, 2019. "The ethics of African regional and continental integration," EconStor Preprints 205257, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    21. Lisa Ritzenhöfer & Prisca Brosi & Matthias Spörrle & Isabell M. Welpe, 2019. "Satisfied with the Job, But Not with the Boss: Leaders’ Expressions of Gratitude and Pride Differentially Signal Leader Selfishness, Resulting in Differing Levels of Followers’ Satisfaction," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(4), pages 1185-1202, September.
    22. Yazhou Qin & Yuhua Xie & Fang Lee Cooke, 2023. "Unethical leadership and employee knowledge-hiding behavior in the Chinese context: a moderated dual-pathway model," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(2), pages 740-764, April.

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