Ethical Leadership in SA 6 Cases of Unethical Leadership

Running head: ETHICAL LEADERSHIP: A STUDY
ETHICAL LEADERSHIP: A STUDY
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ETHICAL LEADERSHIP: A STUDY1
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................ 2
Discussion.................................................................................................................. 2
South African context................................................................................................. 3
Literature Review....................................................................................................... 3
Possibilities of ethical leadership in SA.......................................................................6
Cases of unethical leadership.................................................................................. 6
Lessons learnt......................................................................................................... 7
Recommendations...................................................................................................... 7
Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 8

ETHICAL LEADERSHIP: A STUDY2
Introduction
Ethical leadership can be defined as leadership which is built on, and directed by ethical
beliefs and values, taking care of dignity and rights of others. Ethical leadership is based on the
ideas such as trust, honesty, consideration, fairness, justice and charisma (Demirtas and Akdogan
2015). Organizations and businesses are a part of the society where we live and which is also
guided by certain code of conduct and mannerisms which is found to be appropriate and
desirable. Thus, the leaders, who are in charge of the organizational departments also, are
expected to follow the morals, ethics and code of conduct of the society. A leader’s choice, most
of the time, is influenced by their intrinsic moral and ethical development. The respective paper
is a research piece on the condition of ethical leadership in South African business and its realty
in the contemporary world of trade and commerce. The paper has utilized five peer reviewed
journals based on the given topic in order to deduce and evaluate the given topic thereafter.
Discussion
Ethical leadership can also be called as leadership which is built on, and directed by
ethical beliefs and values, taking care of dignity and rights of others. Ethics in a society play a
very important role in maintaining harmony and peace in the society. Ethical leadership is
strictly based on the ideas such as trust, honesty, consideration, fairness, justice and charisma.
Organizations and businesses are a part of the society where we live and which is also guided by
certain code of conduct and mannerisms which is found to be appropriate and desirable
(Demirtas and Akdogan 2015). Thus, the leaders, who are in charge of the organizational
departments, too are expected to follow the morals, ethics and code of conduct of the society. A
leader’s choice, most of the time, is influenced by their intrinsic moral and ethical development.

ETHICAL LEADERSHIP: A STUDY3
Certain definite and most significant characteristic traits of ethical leadership are justice, a habit
of respecting every individual, humane quality, value driven decision making and value
awareness.
South African context
The South African government, in the year 2005, launched an initiative which was named
“Batho Pele” which literally meant “People first” and the main objective of the initiative was to
improve the integrity with public administration through a tight scrutiny and monitoring of the
performances of officials and compliances with the ethical practices. Such initiatives had a
greater aim of putting unethical behavior in the organizations of South Africa to an end.
Although there have been considerable research on ethics, ethical leadership was blatantly
ignored by the South African researchers and institutions. As the African countries are known for
maladministration and corruption in their institutions and establishments, many scholars argue
that it is due to lack of “ethical leadership”. For such situation, the authoritarian and hierarchical
culture of South African organizations and business can be easily blamed. Main reasons for such
unethical leadership in business in South Africa, as management experts say, are due to the rigid
status quo and lack of proper communication between the leaders and the subordinates. A
literature review is presented in order to understand where South Africa is standing in terms of
ethical leadership practices in business.
Literature Review
A literature review is a narrative review where articles and journals are reviewed and
evaluated. A literature review is a scholarly paper that includes the current knowledge including
substantial findings, theoretical and methodological contribution to a particular subject. The