Transactional and transformational leadership

Transactional and transformational leadership styles influence the ways in which executives interact with subordinates. The views of three influential leadership analysts--Warren Bennis, Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jay Alden Conger--are considered in terms of the strategies they recommend for leaders. The ethical framework of organizations, including the various relationships that companies have, is then examined as is the development and importance of a values statement and evaluation of different rewards systems. Finally, the research considers ways in which leaders are educated about ethics, and ways that this education might be modified to produce improved ethical behavior in a corporate setting.

Recent corporate scandals, including the implosion of Enron and the restating of earnings by WorldCom, have renewed attention on the issue of corporate ethics. President Bush has called for jail terms for those involved in corporate wrongdoing, and his rhetoric targets those at the highest levels of the organization--in short, its leaders. The ethical stand of an organization may well be shaped by the ethical positions of its leaders as well as the corporate culture that they establish and reinforce. This research considers various types of leadership strategies, the role of ethics within organizations, and ways in which leadership strategies influence corporate ethical behavior. In addition, changes in the ways in which leaders are educated about ethics

Related Essays

Two Types of Leadership & Business Examples The line between .... Comparison of Transactional and Transformational Leadership Transactional leaders are interested in output, or production, and have minimal interactions with .... (1919 8 )

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP and EXECUTIVE ETHICS .... Many present-day researchers distinguish between transactional and transformational leadership, originally identified by Burns (1978) with refining work by .... (3601 14 )

ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP .... leadership styles are separate dimensions of a single model, which means a leader can exercise both transactional and transformational leadership styles (Bryman .... (1193 5 )

MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP .... Does the transactional-transformational leadership paradigm transcend organizational and national boundaries? American Psychologist, 52, 130-139. .... (1456 6 )

Organizational Culture Leadership is a necessary part of an .... Comparison of Transactional and Transformational Leadership Transactional leaders are interested in output, or production, and have minimal interactions with .... (2483 10 )

the values statement should be required of all employees, including those at the director level. If employees perceive that only line staff are held to the value statement while decision makers are not, ethical behavior is not likely to result ("Corporate America," 2002). The Reward System Pay for performance, whether at the sales representative level or the chief executive level, can encourage unethical behavior. Sales representatives may lie to customers, while chief executives may encourage accounting practices that effectively result in lying to shareholders. In both cases, individuals are rewarded for short-term performance at possible long-term detriment to the firm (Strout, 2002). The Role of Leaders in Ethical Organizations Leaders provide the standards by which those within the organization make decisions. If the leaders lack strong ethics, the organization as a whole is likely to, as well. Leaders can put into place controls which encourage ethical behavior or punish unethical behavior, but their own influence on the organization is critical (Rothschild, 2002). Incorporating Ethics in the Education of Leaders Fred Luthans maintains that the nature of leadership within organizations is changing as companies embrace i

Category: Business - T