ABSTRACT
The changing business environment, particularly as a result of the recent Global Financial Crisis, with an increase in boardroom volatility and focus on governance, requires a review of our thinking about leadership. Indeed the high-profile collapses of a number of the worlds’ largest corporations prior to the current Global Financial Crisis have led to a growing interest in how the leaders of these organizations have contributed to such failures either through their personal behaviours (including unethical practices) or their impact on the behaviours of others in their organizations (McCormick and Burch, 2005). Within this context it has been notable that dramatic failures have often been triggered by, or associated with, significant strategic change, such as major acquisitions (Higgs, 2009; Furnham, 2010a; Boddy, 2006). The collapse of organizations such as Enron, Tyco and Worldcom, and the recent Global Financial Crisis with the demise of companies such as Lehman Brothers and the nationalization of UK banks such as Northern Rock and RBS have prompted speculation about the role and impact of ‘bad’ leadership. In particular these high-profile examples have raised questions relating to the role of leadership in relation to both personal and organizational ethics.
