Review of practical implications in ethical leadership studies

Abstract

Unfavorable effects of unethical treatments and transactions have been under serious consideration both academically and professionally. The question of how to improve ethical sensitivity in decision-making has begun to attract more and more attention. Thus, professionals have tried to consider developing ethical leadership in their organizations substantially, while scholars have begun to study its possible antecedents and outcomes. Emphasizing practical implications of ethical leadership, this study aims to analyze leaders' behaviors based on their ethical decisions, their adoption level of ethical leadership, the degree that they have integrated ethics into their management styles, and their relations with the followers and subordinates. In this respect, authors investigate ethical leadership studies in top organizational behavior journals and categorize these studies according to their implications. The practical implications of these studies, which are related to ethical leadership, are examined in detail to excerpt a common idea about this specific style of leadership and its consequences in various industries.