RT Article
T1 Leader Ethical Decision-Making in Organizations: Strategies for Sensemaking
JF Journal of business ethics
VO 107
IS 1
SP 49
OP 64
A1 Thiel, Chase E.
A1 Bagdasarov, Zhanna
A1 Harkrider, Lauren
A1 Johnson, James F.
A1 Mumford, Michael D.
A2 Bagdasarov, Zhanna
A2 Harkrider, Lauren
A2 Johnson, James F.
A2 Mumford, Michael D.
LA English
YR 2012
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1785644599
AB Organizational leaders face environmental challenges and pressures that put them under ethical risk. Navigating this ethical risk is demanding given the dynamics of contemporary organizations. Traditional models of ethical decision-making (EDM) are an inadequate framework for understanding how leaders respond to ethical dilemmas under conditions of uncertainty and equivocality. Sensemaking models more accurately illustrate leader EDM and account for individual, social, and environmental constraints. Using the sensemaking approach as a foundation, previous EDM models are revised and extended to comprise a conceptual model of leader EDM. Moreover, the underlying factors in the model are highlighted—constraints and strategies. Four trainable, compensatory strategies (emotion regulation, self-reflection, forecasting, and information integration) are proposed and described that aid leaders in navigating ethical dilemmas in organizations. Empirical examinations demonstrate that tactical application of the strategies may aid leaders in making sense of complex and ambiguous ethical dilemmas and promote ethical behavior. Compensatory tactics such as these should be central to organizational ethics initiatives at the leader level.
K1 Sensemaking
K1 Leadership
K1 ethical decision-making
K1 Ethical Behavior
K1 Cognitive strategies
DO 10.1007/s10551-012-1299-1