Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics

Courageous, Fearful, Bureaucratic, and Quantum Organizational Types, and Personal Ethics

Lucinda Parmer — 2024-11-19

Integrating the perspective of the values in action classification theory (Peterson & Seligman, 2004), which asserts that personal attributes, such as fearlessness, authenticity, enthusiasm, and perseverance, create courage, and the deontological theory of ethics (Kant, 1996), which posits that what is wrong for one person to do is wrong for anyone and that morality is for everybody, this research examined four organizational types—courageous, fearful, bureaucratic, and quantum—to determine their effects on ethical behavior. The type of organization an employee works in can influence ethical behavior regarding supporting fairness and dignity, advocating for personal beliefs, challenging discrimination, defending colleagues’ rights, empowering underrepresented voices, and championing meritocracy and inclusivity (Kilmann et al., 2002). A statistically significant difference between fearful and quantum organizations was identified. This research affirms that individuals who worked in fearful organizations rated lower on personal ethics than those in quantum organizations, who rated higher on personal ethics. Furthermore, ethnicity emerged as the only statistically significant socio-demographic variable regarding the relationship between organizational type and personal ethics.

Leader Perceptions of Gender (In)equality in the Workplace

Maureen Snow Andrade — 2024-11-19

Despite gains in gender equality in the workplace, data collection and reporting inconsistencies may mask ongoing issues. Research categorizes employment concerns into four areas: representation, pay, health, and satisfaction. These categories help organizations identify issues and metrics to assess progress. However, meaningful change requires shifts in mindsets and practices. This qualitative study explores insights on gender (in)equities through interviews with 36 leaders. Data, analyzed using the Four for Women framework, reveal a focus on representation and satisfaction for women in the workplace over health and pay and suggest the need for a deeper understanding of gender issues at work.

Complexity Leadership: The Third Decade

Steven M. Walker — 2024-11-19

Complexity leadership, complex adaptive leadership, and adaptive leadership are distinct yet interconnected research areas, originating in the early 1980s. This article extends a systematic review, focusing on the third decade of literature in these fields. The authors examined 778 business-related articles, narrowing down to 91 published between 2003 and 2012 for detailed deductive analysis. Findings from this decade highlight a shift from traditional, leader-centric models to adaptive, holistic frameworks that emphasize emergence, nonlinearity, feedback loops, and interdependence. Key themes include adaptive capacity, self-organization, and distributed cognition, which underscore the importance of collaborative leadership in managing complex, volatile environments. These insights offer practical guidance, illustrating how organizations can use these principles to foster continuous innovation, adaptability, and resilience—laying the groundwork for the most recent fifteen years of complexity leadership research.