Original Research

Promoting ethical follower behaviour through leadership of ethics: The development of the ethical leadership inventory (ELI)

H. Spangenberg, C. C. Theron
South African Journal of Business Management | Vol 36, No 2 | a623 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajbm.v36i2.623 | © 2018 H. Spangenberg, C. C. Theron | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 11 October 2018 | Published: 30 June 2005

About the author(s)

H. Spangenberg, Centre for Leadership Studies, Graduate School of Business, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
C. C. Theron, Department of Industrial Psychology, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

Full Text:

PDF (236KB)

Abstract

The Centre of Leadership Studies developed a model that defines and describes leadership behaviour required for creating an ethical and high performing organisation. Purposefully building an ethical organisational environment is a prerequisite for ethical organisational behaviour. To be an ethical high performance leader, a person must be both an effective leader and a leader of ethics. The purpose of this study is to develop a 360° instrument that can be used to assess the quality of ethical leadership of middle, senior and executive managers in public, private and not-for-profit organisations. The results reported here provide reasonable support for the use of the ELI. The possibility of causal influences existing amongst specific first-order leadership dimensions, however, needs to be investigated.

Keywords

No related keywords in the metadata.

Metrics

Total abstract views: 3347
Total article views: 2332

 

Crossref Citations

1. Virtues and leadership
Rick D. Hackett, Gordon Wang
Management Decision  vol: 50  issue: 5  first page: 868  year: 2012  
doi: 10.1108/00251741211227564

2. The principled leadership scale: An integration of value-based leadership
Karen Hendrikz, Amos S. Engelbrecht
SA Journal of Industrial Psychology  vol: 45  year: 2019  
doi: 10.4102/sajip.v45i0.1553

3. Ethical leadership: Mapping the terrain for concept cleanup and a future research agenda
George C. Banks, Thomas Fischer, Janaki Gooty, George Stock
The Leadership Quarterly  vol: 32  issue: 2  first page: 101471  year: 2021  
doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2020.101471

4. The antecedents of moral identity: A meta-analytic review
Xiaofeng Xu, Miaomiao Li, Ho Kwong Kwan, Xiaomeng Zhang
Asia Pacific Journal of Management  vol: 41  issue: 3  first page: 1697  year: 2024  
doi: 10.1007/s10490-023-09891-8

5. A systematic review of ethical leadership in tourism and hospitality settings
Majd Megheirkouni
International Journal of Tourism Research  vol: 25  issue: 6  first page: 581  year: 2023  
doi: 10.1002/jtr.2596

6. Promoting ethical voice in the police: a daily Examination of ethical vision, LMX ambivalence, and interpersonal justice
Mathieu Molines, Martin Storme, Matthieu Mifsud
Public Management Review  vol: 27  issue: 3  first page: 679  year: 2025  
doi: 10.1080/14719037.2023.2257213

7. Implementing a Dynamic Leadership Program: A Moral Construct for Adding Cultural Value
B. Tim Lowder
SSRN Electronic Journal  year: 2007  
doi: 10.2139/ssrn.1016601

8. Diffusion of Big Data Analytics Innovation in Managing Natural Resources in the African Mining Industry
Surajit Bag, Gautam Srivastava, Shivam Gupta, Saito Taiga
Journal of Global Information Management  vol: 30  issue: 6  first page: 1  year: 2022  
doi: 10.4018/JGIM.297074

9. Leadership and business ethics: A conceptual framework for responsible management
Billel Ferhani
Corporate Ownership and Control  vol: 22  issue: 1  first page: 111  year: 2025  
doi: 10.22495/cocv22i1art9

10. Influence of perceived congruence in basic moral values on perceived level of ethical leadership: A Russophone organization case
Alexey Belinskiy, Carl Olsen
F1000Research  vol: 13  first page: 1472  year: 2024  
doi: 10.12688/f1000research.153281.1

11. Integrity, ethical leadership, trust and work engagement
Amos S. Engelbrecht, Gardielle Heine, Bright Mahembe
Leadership & Organization Development Journal  vol: 38  issue: 3  first page: 368  year: 2017  
doi: 10.1108/LODJ-11-2015-0237

12. Προσδιορισμός των κυριότερων ηθικών και ηγετικών χαρακτηριστικών ενός εκπαιδευτικού στελέχους
Αντώνιος Σπυριδάκης, Ελευθερία Αργυροπούλου, Ελισσάβετ Λιντζεράκου
Έρευνα στην Εκπαίδευση  vol: 14  issue: 1  first page: 16  year: 2025  
doi: 10.12681/hjre.38949

13. Relationship Between Ethical Attitudes and the Dark Triad: Differences Among College Majors
Brandon M. Himes, Julie B. Olson-Buchanan, Damian Elson
The Journal of Psychology  vol: 155  issue: 8  first page: 695  year: 2021  
doi: 10.1080/00223980.2021.1953954

14. Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Questionnaire of Ethical Leadership (QueL)
Eirini M. Mitropoulou, Ioannis Tsaousis, Despoina Xanthopoulou, Konstantinos V. Petrides
European Journal of Psychological Assessment  vol: 36  issue: 4  first page: 635  year: 2020  
doi: 10.1027/1015-5759/a000533

15. Literature Review on Ethical Leadership
成涛 官
Service Science and Management  vol: 13  issue: 06  first page: 625  year: 2024  
doi: 10.12677/ssem.2024.136076

16. Effect of Ethical Leadership on Affective Organizational Commitment and the Mediating Role of Ethical Environment
Md Fazle Rabbi, Yongjun Park, Jyoti Aggarwal, Meghna Sabharwal
Public Integrity  vol: 28  issue: 1  first page: 93  year: 2026  
doi: 10.1080/10999922.2025.2490406

17. Does ethical leadership deter unethical behavior in the public sector? Exploring the mediating effects of public service motivation
Wazir Arif Hussain, Noore Alam Siddiquee
International Journal of Ethics and Systems  year: 2025  
doi: 10.1108/IJOES-07-2025-0387

18. Ethics and Risk in the Global Environment
Vernon T. Cox
SSRN Electronic Journal  year: 2005  
doi: 10.2139/ssrn.2050683

19. Ethical Leadership in the Field of Education in Europe: A Comparative Analysis
Evangelia Papaloi, Aikaterini Balasi, Georgios Iordanidis
European Journal of Education  vol: 6  issue: 1  first page: 1  year: 2023  
doi: 10.2478/ejed-2023-0001

20. Leadership Plan III
Vernon T. Cox
SSRN Electronic Journal  year: 2012  
doi: 10.2139/ssrn.2051778

21. School Leadership. Models and Tools: A Review
Vasileios Gougas, Lucia Malinova
Open Journal of Social Sciences  vol: 09  issue: 01  first page: 120  year: 2021  
doi: 10.4236/jss.2021.91009

22. Effect of ethical leadership and climate on effectiveness
Amos S. Engelbrecht, Janneke Wolmarans, Bright Mahembe
SA Journal of Human Resource Management  vol: 15  year: 2017  
doi: 10.4102/sajhrm.v15.781