Women Leaders in a Globalized World

Abstract

Patricia H. Werhane takes Rosener’s analysis of a transformational style of leadership one step further in presenting us with a new perspective on what may be needed in terms of leadership within contemporary organizational contexts. By drawing on her extensive expertise in the role that mental models play in moral imagination, Werhane makes it clear that ethical leadership has to be understood from more systemic perspective. Werhane introduces the reader to systems and systems thinking as a methodology for organizational thinking and leadership that challenges the traditional firm-centered stakeholder models and the hierarchical leadership paradigms those models perpetuate. An acknowledgement of the multidirectional influences of various stakeholders and other organizational dynamics precipitates a rethinking of leadership roles and characteristics. From a systemic perspective, leaders must have the ability to relocate themselves and their firm away from the center of the stakeholder map to various other positions, in order to be morally responsive.