Abstract This article explores the issue of rebuilding an organization's reputation following an ethical scandal. We divide our discussion into four parts. First, we discuss the concept of reputation. We note its relevance to today's organizations, offer several contemporary definitions along with highlighting its benefits and downsides. In the second section, we offer the work of anthropologist, Victor Turner, on social drama along with other views on organizational efforts to rebuild their reputation to include reputation management routines. In the third section, Turner's redressive actions are integrated with Edgar Schein's leadership mechanisms for building or changing culture to provide further understanding of organizational efforts to rebuild reputation following ethical scandals. Finally, in the fourth section of the article, we extend the integration of the Turner and Schein work with single- and double-loop redressive actions for rebuilding reputation. Show
Journal Information The Journal of Business Ethics publishes original articles from a wide variety of methodological and disciplinary perspectives concerning ethical issues related to business. Since its initiation in 1980, the editors have encouraged the broadest possible scope. The term 'business' is understood in a wide sense to include all systems involved in the exchange of goods and services, while 'ethics' is circumscribed as all human action aimed at securing a good life. Systems of production, consumption, marketing, advertising, social and economic accounting, labour relations, public relations and organisational behaviour are analysed from a moral viewpoint. The style and level of dialogue involve all who are interested in business ethics – the business community, universities, government agencies and consumer groups. Speculative philosophy as well as reports of empirical research are welcomed. In order to promote a dialogue between the various interested groups as much as possible, papers are presented in a style relatively free of specialist jargon. Publisher Information Springer is one of the leading international scientific publishing companies, publishing over 1,200 journals and more than 3,000 new books annually, covering a wide range of subjects including biomedicine and the life sciences, clinical medicine, physics, engineering, mathematics, computer sciences, and economics. Rights & Usage This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. What is ethical leadership?Ethical leadership means that individuals behave according to a set of principles and values that are recognized by the majority as a sound basis for the common good. These include integrity, respect, trust, fairness, transparency, and honesty. Ethical leadership must be a conscious decision. As Fred Kofman writes in his book Conscious Business, “To be conscious means to be awake, mindful. To live consciously means to be open to perceiving the world around and within us, to understand our circumstances, and to decide how to respond to them in ways that honor our needs, values, and goals.” He continues, “To be unconscious is to be asleep, mindless… Consciousness enables us to face our circumstances and pursue our goals in alignment with our values. When we lose consciousness, we are swept away by instincts and habits that may not serve us. We pursue goals that are not conducive to our health and happiness, we act in ways that we later regret, and we produce results that hurt us and those we care about.” Why is it essential to be an ethical leader?There are many good reasons to be an ethical leader. From a collective perspective, leaders can inspire those around them to behave ethically. By setting an example and giving the direction for ethical behavior, others will observe and act similarly. In this way, ethical leaders can positively influence many others, presenting them with a set of actions that they can adopt for the greater good. On a personal level, being an ethical leader is essential for credibility and reputation. If one aims to be a leader, it is a long game. Behaving unethically can automatically take a leader out of the A-league and may heavily damage their personal or company brand. Moreover, unethical behaviors often deteriorate one's self-esteem, leading to a suboptimal outcome and a missed opportunity to express one’s full potential. 6 elements that define ethical leadershipEthical leadership encompasses many things but ultimately boils down to these six main elements.
Which are the traits of an ethical leader?“The best way to do is to be.” – Lao Tzu Leaders play a crucial role in corporations, as they have been chosen to guide others. What do great ethical leaders do, and what ethical traits do they have in common?
7 ways ethical leadership can affect an organizationEthical leadership provides enormous benefits to organizations, in many ways.
How to improve your ethical leadership skills?Great leaders know there is always room for improvement. Here are some ways you can become a better ethical leader.
Examples of good ethical leadershipWant to see what ethical leadership looks like in action? These ethical leadership examples will demonstrate some real-world scenarios.
An ethical leadership example in actionImagine you’re on a call with your biggest customer, alongside your boss, and the customer is extremely dissatisfied. Your product had an outage that severely impacted their business and they want to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Your boss assures them this is a one-time occurrence, and that it won’t be a problem in the future. When you hang up, you remind your boss that this issue has been occurring among customers with increasing frequency and that a fix is still in the works. Your boss nods and says, “Yes, but they don’t need to know that just before their contract renewal.” Fast forward a couple of months, and your customer calls to cancel their contract following another outage. Your boss again gets on the line to say how sorry they are and that this is a rare occurrence, but that they can’t cancel their contract without ample notice. Is that the kind of person you want to work for? Or do business with? They knowingly put their customer in a bad position, so they could get credit for a contract renewal. This not only creates a strained relationship with your customer, but it also demonstrates to everyone on your team that this sort of behavior is expected. As others emulate this behavior, your company begins to get a bad reputation, lose customers, and struggle to find new customers. Now imagine if your boss had owned up to the outages, promised to keep the customer in the loop about fixes, and sincerely asked the customer to stay onboard. The customer may or may not renew, but they wouldn’t be leaving with bad blood. They may even come back at a later date or refer other potential customers. That’s the difference ethical leadership can make. It may literally be the difference between survival and failure. Final thoughts on ethical leadershipEthics and leadership go hand-in-hand. While some tend to think there is a choice to make between being profitable and successful, or behaving ethically, That’s simply not the case. Ethical people and leaders are necessary drivers for success. What if we give ethical leadership a chance? Published April 9, 2021 Read NextStay connected with BetterUpGet our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research. |