IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v145y2017i1d10.1007_s10551-015-2885-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Leading by Example: Values-Based Strategy to Instill Ethical Conduct

Author

Listed:
  • Arne Nygaard

    (Oslo School of Management)

  • Harald Biong

    (BI Norwegian Business School)

  • Ragnhild Silkoset

    (BI Norwegian Business School)

  • Roland E. Kidwell

    (Florida Atlantic University, College of Business)

Abstract

Years of research clearly shows that relying on traditional organizational power bases is not effective when companies want to promote business ethics and performance. It is not only that the use of legitimate power to establish ethics codes and coercive power to punish employees who do not comply does not work; this study—based on a multi-method research approach in the retail industry—indicates that the classic iron fist leads to unethical business values and lower service performance. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel for forward-looking managers. The ethical attitudes and behaviors of employees within international organizations is a dynamic variable that is possible to change by the use of values-based leadership. Our extensive study of a large grocery store chain owned by a multinational corporation indicates that managers who lead by example will boost team values and commitment.

Suggested Citation

  • Arne Nygaard & Harald Biong & Ragnhild Silkoset & Roland E. Kidwell, 2017. "Leading by Example: Values-Based Strategy to Instill Ethical Conduct," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(1), pages 133-139, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:145:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-015-2885-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-015-2885-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-015-2885-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-015-2885-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alchian, Armen A & Demsetz, Harold, 1972. "Production , Information Costs, and Economic Organization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(5), pages 777-795, December.
    2. Freeman, R. Edward, 1994. "The Politics of Stakeholder Theory: Some Future Directions1," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(4), pages 409-421, October.
    3. Guido Palazzo & Kunal Basu, 2007. "The Ethical Backlash of Corporate Branding," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 73(4), pages 333-346, July.
    4. Abagail McWilliams & Donald S. Siegel & Patrick M. Wright, 2006. "Corporate Social Responsibility: Strategic Implications," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 1-18, January.
    5. Basker, Emek, 2011. "The Causes and Consequences of Wal-Mart’s Growth," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 5, pages 110-134.
    6. Brown, Steven P. & Lam, Son K., 2008. "A Meta-Analysis of Relationships Linking Employee Satisfaction to Customer Responses," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 84(3), pages 243-255.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kristin Lee Sotak & Andra Serban & Barry A. Friedman & Michael Palanski, 2024. "Perceptions of Ethicality: The Role of Attire Style, Attire Appropriateness, and Context," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 189(1), pages 149-175, January.
    2. Fulford, Mark D. & Coleman, Robert A., 2021. "Maximizing the value of values-based leadership (VBL): A reconceptualization for leaders and organizations," Journal of Applied Leadership and Management, Hochschule Kempten - University of Applied Sciences, Professional School of Business & Technology, vol. 9, pages 61-72.
    3. Waites, Stacie F. & Farmer, Adam & Collier, Joel, 2024. "Good people good planet: Investigating the interconnection between social and environmental sustainability," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    4. Anna M. Rose & Jacob M. Rose & Ikseon Suh & Jay Thibodeau & Kristina Linke & Carolyn Strand Norman, 2021. "Why Financial Executives Do Bad Things: The Effects of the Slippery Slope and Tone at the Top on Misreporting Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 174(2), pages 291-309, November.
    5. Nelson Oly Ndubisi & Arne Nygaard & Celine Capel, 2019. "Mindfulness‐based business strategies and the environment," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 433-435, March.
    6. Esther Pagán-Castaño & Javier Sánchez-García & Fernando J. Garrigos-Simon & María Guijarro-García, 2021. "The Influence of Management on Teacher Well-Being and the Development of Sustainable Schools," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-23, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Harald Biong & Arne Nygaard & Ragnhild Silkoset, 2010. "The Influence of Retail Management’s Use of Social Power on Corporate Ethical Values, Employee Commitment, and Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(3), pages 341-363, December.
    2. Heugens, P.P.M.A.R. & Kaptein, S.P. & van Oosterhout, J., 2007. "Contracts to Communities: A Processual Model of Organizational Virtue," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2007-023-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    3. Tomina Saveanu & Daniel Badulescu & Sorana Saveanu & Maria-Madela Abrudan & Alina Badulescu, 2021. "The Role of Owner-Managers in Shaping CSR Activity of Romanian SMEs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-19, October.
    4. Deepa Sharma & Suman Chakraborty & Ashwath Ananda Rao & Lumen Shawn Lobo, 2023. "The Relationship of Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Performance: A Bibliometric Overview," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(1), pages 21582440231, March.
    5. Eleanor O’Higgins, 2010. "Corporations, Civil Society, and Stakeholders: An Organizational Conceptualization," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 94(2), pages 157-176, June.
    6. Boeddeling, Jann, 2011. "Corporate Social Responsibility: Fundamentalstellung für Kapitalismus und Wirtschaftssoziologie," Wittener Diskussionspapiere zu alten und neuen Fragen der Wirtschaftswissenschaft 17/2011, Witten/Herdecke University, Faculty of Management and Economics.
    7. Allen Kaufman & Ernie Englander, 2011. "Behavioral Economics, Federalism, and the Triumph of Stakeholder Theory," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 102(3), pages 421-438, September.
    8. Francesco Gangi & Jérôme Méric & Rémi Jardat & Lucia Michela Daniele, 2019. "Business for society," Post-Print hal-02382307, HAL.
    9. Amin, Abu & Chourou, Lamia & Kamal, Syed & Malik, Mahfuja & Zhao, Yang, 2020. "It’s who you know that counts: Board connectedness and CSR performance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    10. Suham Cahyono & Iman Harymawan & Hadrian Geri Djajadikerta & Abu Hanifa Md. Noman, 2024. "Corporate business strategy, CEO's managerial ability, and environmental disclosure: The perspective of stakeholder theory," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(8), pages 8149-8189, December.
    11. Henri Kuokkanen & William Sun, 2020. "Companies, Meet Ethical Consumers: Strategic CSR Management to Impact Consumer Choice," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 166(2), pages 403-423, October.
    12. Asuman Erben Yavuz & Bade Ekim Kocaman & Mesut Doğan & Adalet Hazar & Şenol Babuşcu & Raikhan Sutbayeva, 2024. "The Impact of Corporate Governance on Sustainability Disclosures: A Comparison from the Perspective of Financial and Non-Financial Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-21, September.
    13. Shaker A. Zahra & Mike Wright, 2016. "Understanding the Social Role of Entrepreneurship," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 610-629, June.
    14. Michael O. Erdiaw-Kwasie & Khorshed Alam & Md. Shahiduzzaman, 2017. "Towards Understanding Stakeholder Salience Transition and Relational Approach to ‘Better’ Corporate Social Responsibility: A Case for a Proposed Model in Practice," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 144(1), pages 85-101, August.
    15. Sharon Bolton & Rebecca Kim & Kevin O’Gorman, 2011. "Corporate Social Responsibility as a Dynamic Internal Organizational Process: A Case Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(1), pages 61-74, June.
    16. Iñigo González-Ricoy & Pablo Magaña, 2024. "The Demos of the democratic firm," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, , vol. 23(4), pages 346-367, November.
    17. Marc Orlitzky & Céline Louche & Jean-Pascal Gond & Wendy Chapple, 2017. "Unpacking the Drivers of Corporate Social Performance: A Multilevel, Multistakeholder, and Multimethod Analysis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 144(1), pages 21-40, August.
    18. Asif Saeed & Ammar Ali Gull & Asad Ali Rind & Muhammad Shujaat Mubarik & Muhammad Shahbaz, 2022. "Do socially responsible firms demand high‐quality audits? An international evidence," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2), pages 2235-2255, April.
    19. Glavas, Ante & Fitzgerald, Erin, 2020. "The process of voluntary radical change for corporate social responsibility: The case of the dairy industry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 184-201.
    20. Edina Eberhardt-Toth & David Wasieleski, 2013. "A Cognitive Elaboration Model of Sustainability Decision Making: Investigating Financial Managers’ Orientation Toward Environmental Issues," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(4), pages 735-751, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:145:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-015-2885-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.