Ethical Leadership and Its Implication on Decision-Making in Organizations: A Literature Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53819/81018102t30131Abstract
Leadership is fundamentally about influence, and the conduct of leaders has significant impacts on organizations and society. Ethical leadership involves leading through ethical values, decision-making, and relationships. This literature review examines the current context and understanding of ethical leadership. The purpose is to provide an overview of ethical leadership theories and components, discuss ethical leadership’s role in influencing organizational decision-making, and highlight distinguishing characteristics of ethical leaders. Despite increased attention, ethical crises persist across sectors, pointing to a need for greater comprehension of dynamics shaping leader behavior. Lack of shared ethical leadership definitions also contributes to inconsistencies. This review helps consolidate insights from existing scholarship to advance conceptual clarity. Key frameworks like virtue ethics and social learning theory are reviewed. Ethical leadership is defined in terms of being both moral persons and moral managers – personally exhibiting ethical conduct, and promoting ethics in followers. Decision-making represents a vital arena for ethical leaders to shape culture and model principled choices. The review outlines ethical decision-making processes drawing on literature which points to four key phases: recognizing moral issues, making ethical analyses to judge situational morality, forming moral intentions, and ethical action. Traits that set ethical leaders apart encompass integrity, justice, accountability, care for people, and concern for social impacts. But contexts mediate perceptions of ethical leadership. This literature analysis reveals gaps in understanding leaders’ ethical development and competencies that help translate moral awareness into consistent, values-based behavior - especially amid complex, high-stakes decisions. Further research would strengthen scholarship on dynamics that cultivate principled leadership. Therefore, ethical leadership remains critical for organizational trust, sustainability and societal wellbeing.
Keywords: Ethical, Leadership, Decision-Making, Organizations
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