Ethical Leadership in Organizations
Concepts and Implementation

Authors: Bernhard Bachmann



Includes a comprehensive overview of ethical leadership theory

Presents evidence supporting the practical adoption of ethical leadership in business organizations

Introduces ethical leadership as a core concept in HR development

Discusses how improved forms of leadership can be implemented

Identifies leadership as the decisive and generally overlooked component for CSR and ethics implementation

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

Table of contents

Front Matter

Business Ethics Are Not Working

The Implementation of Business Ethics Explored: 11 “Key Themes” or Building Blocks

Literature Review: The Evolution of Ethical Leadership

Research Methodology and Methods

Research Data Collection and Analysis Framework

The Effects of Bad Leadership: Results and Findings from the Data

Discussion of the Findings: The Absence of Unethical Leadership Is Already a Success

Conclusions and Implications of this Research Study

Back Matter