Dear Colleagues,

In the current literature on organisational leadership, the complex, multidimensional and cultural environment in which leaders operate is often neglected. And yet, the same environment sets important ramifications and generates ‘VUCA world’ challenges for how leadership is enacted and how leader performance is perceived and evaluated (cf. Hartley, 2018; Liu, 2017; Fairhurst, 2009).

Although the importance of organisational context holds for all kinds of leaders and leadership, cultural context, in terms of the commonly accepted moral values and norms, beliefs and practices within society (Hofstede, 1980; cf. Dickson et al., 2003; Kirkman et al., 2017), is particularly relevant for the study and practice of ethical, values-based leadership in the political and public domain (Giacolone, & Jurkiewicz, 2017; Lasthuizen et al., 2019), as well as in international (business) settings (cf. Eissenbeiß & Brodbeck, 2014; Hopkins & Scott, 2016; Resick et al., 2006, 2011; Zhang et al., 2022).

Thus, for a deeper understanding of ethical leadership, it is of crucial importance to analyse how values, culture and place shape ethical leadership and vice versa, and whether there may exist cross-culturally concordances. Understanding these cultural contexts helps improve the way we interpret, define and research ethical leadership.

This call for papers is also inspired by the growing diversity of perspectives and approaches to theorising on (ethical) leadership and context, from the post-positivist and pragmatic (Liden & Antonakis, 2009) to the social constructivist (Grint & Jackson, 2010), discursive (Fairhurst, 2009), relational (Cunliffe & Eriksen, 2011; Uhl-Bien, 2006), philosophical (Flanigan, 2018) and critical (Collinson, 2014; Collinson et al., 2018; Price, 2018; Voegtlin, 2016).

In this Special Issue, we seek to encourage debate across various disciplines in order to broaden and deepen the interpretations and theorisations of ethical leadership in its cultural context. We are therefore interested in case studies that illuminate cultural contexts, especially from non-Western settings (cf. Van Eeden Jones & Lasthuizen, 2018), alongside studies that employ psychological or quantitative approaches in order to identify and compare how particular contextual factors affect ethical leadership (Eissenbeiß & Brodbeck, 2014), but also studies that explore how ethical leadership is constructed and contested historically, culturally and politically (Eissenbeiß, 2012; Knights & O'Leary, 2006; Liu, 2017).

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400-600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send these to the guest editors Dr. Prof Dr. Karin Lasthuizen, ([email protected]), Dr. Iris Van Eeden Jones ([email protected]), Dr. Elme Vivier ([email protected]), and copy /Administrative Sciences/ Editorial Office ([email protected]) after 1 October 2023. Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Any abstracts or full articles should be sent after 1 October 2023.

Collinson, D. (2014). Dichotomies, dialectics and dilemmas: New directions for critical leadership studies? Leadership, 10(1), 36–55. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715013510807.

Collinson, D., Smolović Jones, O., and Grint, K. (2018). ‘No more heroes’: Critical perspectives on leadership romanticism. Organization Studies, 39(11), 1625–1647. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840617727784.

Cunliffe, A. L., and Eriksen, M. (2011). Relational leadership. Human Relations, 64(11), 1425–1449. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726711418388

Dickson, M. W., Den Hartog, D. N., and Mitchelson, J. K. (2003). Research on leadership in a cross-cultural context: Making progress and raising new questions. The Leadership Quarterly, 14, 729–768. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2003.09.002

Eisenbeiß, S.A. (2012). Re-thinking ethical leadership: An interdisciplinary integrative approach,

The Leadership Quarterly, 23(5). 791–808, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2012.03.001

Eisenbeiß, S.A. and Brodbeck, F. (2014). Ethical and Unethical Leadership: A Cross-Cultural and Cross-Sectoral Analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 122, 343–359. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1740-0

Fairhurst, G. T. (2009). Considering context in discursive leadership research. Human Relations, 62(11), 1607–1633. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726709346379

Flanigan, J. (2018). Philosophical methodology and leadership ethics. Leadership, 14(6), 707–730.https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715017711823

Giacolone, R.A. and Jurkiewicz, C.L. (Eds.) (2017). Radical Thoughts on Ethical Leadership. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Grint, K., and Jackson, B. (2010). Toward “Socially Constructive” Social Constructions of Leadership. Management Communication Quarterly, 24(2), 348–355. https://doi.org/10.1177/0893318909359086

Hartley, J. (2018). Ten propositions about public leadership, International Journal of Public Leadership, 14(4), 202–217. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPL-09-2018-0048

Hofstede, G. (1980), Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values, Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, CA.

Hopkins, W. E., and Scott, S. G. (2016). Values-based leadership effectiveness in culturally diverse workplaces.Cross Cultural & Strategic Management, 23(2), 363–385. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCSM-11-2014-0125

Kirkman, B. L., Lowe, K. B., and Gibson, C. B. (2017). A retrospective on “Culture’s Consequences”: The 35-year journey. Journal of International Business Studies, 48(1), 12–29. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26169988

Knights, D., and O'Leary, M. (2006). Leadership, ethics and responsibility to the other. Journal of Business Ethics, 67(2), 125–137. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9008-6

Lasthuizen, K., Heres, L. and Webb, W. (2019). Ethical leadership within the public and political realm: A dance with wolves? Introduction to special symposium issue ‘Ethical Leadership and the Integrity of Public Institutions’. Public Integrity. (6): 549–552. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10999922.2019.1667663

Liden, R. C., & Antonakis, J. (2009). Considering context in psychological leadership research. Human Relations, 62(11), 1587–1605. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726709346374

Liu, H. (2017). Reimagining ethical leadership as a relational, contextual and political practice. Leadership, 13(3), 343–367. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715015593414

Price, T. L. (2018). A “critical leadership ethics” approach to the Ethical Leadership construct. Leadership, 14(6), 687–706. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715017710646

Resick, C. J., Hanges, P. J., Dickson, M. W., and Mitchelson, J. K. (2006). A cross-cultural examination of the endorsement of ethical leadership. Journal of Business Ethics, 63, 345–359. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-005-3242-1

Resick, C.J., Martin, G.S., Keating, M.A. et al. (2011). What Ethical Leadership Means to Me: Asian, American, and European Perspectives. J Bus Ethics 101, 435–457. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0730-8

Uhl-Bien, M. (2006). Relational leadership theory: Exploring the social processes of leadership and organizing. The Leadership Quarterly, 17(6), 654–676. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2006.10.007

Van Eeden Jones, I. & Lasthuizen, K. (2018). Building Public Sector Integrity in Indonesia: The Role and Challenges of Ethical Leadership. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration, 40(3): 175–185. https://doi.org/10.1080/23276665.2018.1515392

Voegtlin, C. (2016). What does it mean to be responsible? Addressing the missing responsibility dimension in ethical leadership research. Leadership 12(5): 581–608. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715015578936

Zhang, H and Wu, J and Wen, J and Douglas, D (2022) Ethical leadership in multinational companies’ control practices: culture as a moderating factor. International Journal of Organizational Analysis. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijoa-10-2021-2998

Prof. Dr. Karin Lasthuizen
Dr. Iris Van Eeden Jones
Dr. Elme Vivier
Guest Editors

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• ethical leadership
• societal values
• cultural diversity
• country studies
• multinational corporations
• ethical leadership theory