The Importance of Leadership in Shaping Business Values

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Business ethics cases are usually about business leadersBusiness leaders or companiesValues that do bad things. However, there are also stories about admirable business behavior that catch the attention of the public and, hopefully, the imaginations of business students. This chapter mentions two such cases. The first, is about Aaron Feuerstein, owner of a textile factory in Massachusetts called Malden MillsMalden Mills. When Feuerstein’s factory burned down, he continued to pay his employees until it was rebuilt. The second case is about when the pharmaceutical company, MerckMerck, that decided to donate a drug that they developed to cure river blindness. This chapter discusses how the individual values of business leadersBusiness leaders matter in organizations. Understanding the values of a leader, organization, or society is a biographical and historical project. Sometimes the values of a company’s founder carry through from past to present, and sometimes they don’t. The paper applies leadership studies literature to business ethics. It looks at the origins of leaders’ virtues and values and how, by enacting values, they embed them in the fabric of an organization.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationIssues in Business Ethics
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media B.V.
Pages153-163
Number of pages11
DOIs
StatePublished - 2020
Externally publishedYes

Publication series

NameIssues in Business Ethics
Volume50
ISSN (Print)0925-6733
ISSN (Electronic)2215-1680

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Business and International Management
  • Philosophy

Keywords

  • CEOs
  • Company values
  • Leadership theories
  • Leader’s values
  • Moral silence
  • Roy Vagelos
  • Value consistency
  • Virtues

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