مقاله سال ۲۰۱۶

Ethical leadership can lead to many positive organizational outcomes, including better ethical decision making; pro-social behavior among employees; higher employee satisfaction, motivation, and commitment; and better self-monitoring (Brown & Trevin˜o, 2006; De Hoogh & Den Hartog, 2008; Kim & Brymer, 2011; Zhu, May, & Avolio, 2004). Many studies indicate that, projected over the long term, there is a correlation between ethical conduct (sometimes called ‘corporate social performance’) and profitability (sometimes called ‘corporate financial performance’; Campbell, 2007; Margolis & Walsh, 2001). In addition, firms that have high ethical standards will logically find themselves with fewer legal issues as well (Brickley, Smith, & Zimmerman, 2002; McWilliams & Siegel, 2001).

Though some work has been done on ethical leadership in international contexts (Resick, Hanges, Dickson, & Mitchelson, 2006), the existing literature on ethical leadership assumes a stable external environment. The business and peace literature assumesthat certain activities are achievable in different conflict contexts (Oetzel, Westermann-Behaylo, Koerber, Fort, & Rivera, 2009) but largely ignores the role of leadership within companies as a possible driver of these activities.

In the practitioner community, however, there is an increasing recognition that leaders of organizations are the key drivers of change in business supporting peace drivers. The Business for Peace Foundation, the foremost organization in the practitioner community, gives its annual award to business leaders who are promoting peace within their organizations. Each year, Nobel Prize winners in Peace and Economics select individuals on behalf of the Foundation from public nominations. The Foundation then honors these individuals at their annual awards ceremony. These business leaders are selected because they have engendered trust in their communities, advocated for ethical business practices, and lead by example (Business for Peace Foundation, n.d.b).