Strategic leadership of ethical behavior in business

• Published in: Academy of Management perspectives 2004-05, Vol.18 (2), p.56-66
• Main Authors: Thomas, Terry, Schermerhorn, John R., Dienhart, John W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Business ethics; Business strategies; Business studies; Corporate culture; Ethics; Leadership; Managers; Shareholder relations; Social behaviour; Strategic management
• ISSN: 1558-9080; 1079-5545; 1943-4529
• DOI: 10.5465/ame.2004.13837425

The strategic leadership of ethical behavior in business can no longer be ignored. Executives must accept the fact that the moral impact of their leadership presence and behaviors will rarely, if ever, be neutral. In the leadership capacity, executives have great power to shift the ethics mindfulness of organizational members in positive as well as negative directions. Rather than being left to chance, this power to serve as ethics leaders must be used to establish a social context within which positive self-regulation of ethical behavior becomes a clear and compelling organizational norm and in which people act ethically as a matter of routine. This article frames the responsibility for strategic leadership of ethical behavior on three premises: 1. It must be done - a stockholder analysis of the total costs of ethical failures confirms the urgency for ethics change. 2. It can be done - exemplars show that a compelling majority of an organization's membership can be influenced to make ethical choices. 3. It is sustainable - integrity programs help build and confirm corporate cultures in which principled actions and ethics norms predominate. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]