Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Servant Leadership and Its Relation to Ethics and Morality

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
The Palgrave Handbook of Servant Leadership

  • 35 Accesses

Abstract

The major aim of this chapter is to explain the importance of ethics/morality and its relationship between servant leadership. The outline of the chapter will be formed of three parts.

In the first part, ethics and morality will be defined. Each concept will be defined, and the difference between these two terms will be highlighted. Throughout the literature, there are many empirical studies about the factors affecting individual’s moral development. It is planned to add a section on moral development which will include Kohlberg’s and Piaget’s theories of moral development. This part will also include ethical making decision models and factors affecting ethical behavior. Since leaders are the tone of ethical behavior in the corporations and they are responsible for performing and implementing ethical behavior, ethical decision-making models which impact the leaders’ decisions and behaviors will be highlighted.

Following the first part, servant leadership will be defined. Leadership theories will be explained, and in addition to this, servant leadership will be explained in details. Subsequently, there will be a third part analyzing the impact of ethics/morality on servant leadership. This part would focus on the relationship between servant leadership and ethics/morality.

Throughout the development of the chapter, each concept regarding the subject will be stated under different headings. The sections will be formed based on literature review and empirical evidences by using academic English. As a result, it is expected that the chapter will be useful for both academicians and businessmen.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Anderson, R. C. (1959). Learning in discussions: A resume of the authoritarian-democratic studies. Harvard Educational Review, 29, 201–212.

    Google Scholar 

  • Avolio, B. J. (1999). Full leadership development: Building the vital forces in organizations. Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Avolio, B. J., & Bass, B. M. (1988). Transformational leadership, charisma and beyond. In G. Hunt, B. R. Balaga, H. P. Dachler, & C. Schriesheim (Eds.), Emerging leadership vistas (pp. 29–50). Permagon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Babin, B. J., Boles, J. S., & Robin, D. P. (2000). Representing the perceived ethical work climate among marketing employees. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 28(3), 345–358. https://doi.org/10.1177/0092070300283004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bass, B. M. (1988). Evolving perspectives on charismatic leadership. In J. A. Conger, R. N. Kanungo, & Associates (Eds.), Charismatic leadership: The elusive factor in organizational effectiveness (pp. 40–77). Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1993a). Transformational leadership: A response to critiques. In M. M. Chemers & R. Ayman (Eds.), Leadership theory and research: Perspectives and directions. Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1993b). Transformational leadership and organizational culture. Public Administration Quarterly, 17, 112–121.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bass, B. M., & Steidlmeier, P. (1999). Ethics, character and authentic transformational leadership behavior. Leadership Quarterly, 10(2), 181–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batten, J. (1997). Servant-leadership: A passion to serve. In L. C. Spears (Ed.), Insights on leadership: Service, stewardship, spirit, and servant-leadership (pp. 38–53). Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, M. E., Trevino, L., & Harrison, D. (2005). Ethical leadership: A social learning perspective for construct development and testing. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 97, 117–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burke, S., & Collins, K. M. (2001). Gender differences in leadership styles and management skills. Women in Management Review, 16(5), 244–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ciulla, J. (2001). Carving leaders from the warped wood of humanity. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 18(4), 313–319.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conger, J. A., Kanungo, R. N., & Associates. (1988). Charismatic leadership: The elusive factor in organizational effectiveness. Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Covey, S. R. (1990). Principle-centered leadership. Fireside Books ± Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Covey, S. R. (2005). Four traits of great leaders. Leadership Excellence, 22(11), 4–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crandall, L. (1973). The measurement of self-esteem and related constructs. In J. P. Robinson & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Measures of social psychological attitudes. Institute for Social Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daft, R. L. (1991). Management. The Dryden Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Den Hartog, D. N., House, R. J., Hanges, P. J., Ruiz-Quintanilla, S. A., & Dorfman, P. W. (1999). Culture specific and cross-culturally generalizable implicit leadership theories: Are attributes of charismatic/transformational leadership universally endorsed? Leadership Quarterly, 10(2), 219–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Derry, R., & Green, R. M. (1989). Ethical theory in business ethics: A critical assessment. Journal of Business Ethics, 8(7), 521–533.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehrhart, M. G. (2004). Leadership and procedural justice climate as antecedents of unit-level organizational citizenship behavior. Personnel Psychology, 57, 61–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farling, M. L., Stone, A. G., & Winston, B. E. (1999). Servant leadership: Setting the stage for empirical research. The Journal of Leadership Studies, 6(1/2), 49–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferrell, O. C., & Gresham, L. G. (1985). A contingency framework for understanding ethical decision making in marketing. Journal of Marketing., 49(3), 87–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ford, L. (1991). Transforming leadership: Jesus' way of creating vision, shaping values, and empowering change. InterVarsity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gastil, J. (1994). A definition and illustration of democratic leadership. Human Relations, 47, 954–971.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giampietro-Meyer, A., Timothy Brown, S. J., Neil Browne, M., & Kubasek, N. (1998). Do we really want more leaders in business? Journal of Business Ethics, 17(15), 1727–1736. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006092107644

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graham, J. W. (1995). Leadership, moral development, and citizenship behavior. Business Ethics Quarterly, 5(1), 43–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenleaf, R. K. (1977). Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness (25th anniversary Ed). Paulist Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregen, D. (2006). Bad news for bullies. U.S. News & World Report, 140(23), 54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hackman, M. Z., & Johnson, C. E. (1996). Leadership: A communication perspective (2nd ed.). Waveland Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hannah, S. T., Avolio, B. J., & May, D. R. (2011a). Moral maturation and moral conation: A capacity approach to explaining moral thought and action. Academy of Management Review, 36(4), 663–685.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hannah, S. T., Avolio, B. J., & Walumbwa, F. O. (2011b). Relationships between authentic leadership, moral 180 academy of management annals January courage, and ethical and pro-social behaviors. Business Ethics Quarterly, 21(4), 555–578.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • House, R. J. (1977). A 1976 theory of charismatic leadership. In J. G. Hunt & L. L. Larson (Eds.), Leadership: The cutting edge (pp. 189–207). Southern Illinois University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, R. L., Ginnett, R. C., & Curphy, G. J. (1993). Leadership: Enhancing the lessons of experience. Richard D. Irwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunter, E. M., Neubert, M. J., Perry, S. J., Witt, L. A., Penney, L. M., & Weinberger, E. (2013). Servant leaders inspire servant followers: Antecedents and outcomes for employees and the organization. The Leadership Quarterly, 24(2), 316–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Irving, J. A., & McIntosh, T. (2007). Evaluating the reliability of the Evaluación Organizacional de Liderazgo among Spanish speaking Latin Americans. Proceedings of the American Society of Business and Behavioral Sciences, 14(1), 786–805.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaramillo, F., Grisaffe, D. B., Chonko, L. B., & Roberts, J. A. (2009). Examining the impact of servant leadership on sales force performance. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 29, 257–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jaramillo, F., Bande, B., & Varela, J. (2015). Servant leadership and ethics: A dyadic examination of supervisor behaviors and salesperson perceptions. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 35(2), 108–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koh, H. C., & Boo, E. H. Y. (2001). The link between organizational ethics and job satisfaction: A study of managers in Singapore. Journal of Business Ethics, 29, 309–324.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (1993). Credibility: How leaders gain and lose it, why people demand it. JosseyBass Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuczmarski, S. S., & Kuczmarski, T. D. (1995). Values-based leadership. Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lanctot, J. D., & Irving, J. A. (2010). Character and leadership: Situating servant leadership in a proposed virtues framework. International Journal of Leadership Studies, 6(1), 28–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laub, J. (1999). Assessing the servant organization: Development of the servant organizational leadership (SOLA) instrument. Dissertation Abstracts International, 60(2), 308. (UMI No. 9921922).

    Google Scholar 

  • Luthans, F. (2005). Organizational behavior (10th ed.). McGraw – Hill/ Irwin Publication.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luthans, F., & Kreitner, R. (1985). Organizational behavior modification and beyond: An operant and social learning approach. Scott Forsman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mac Donald, J. E., & Beck-Dudley, C. L. (1994). Are deontology and teleology mutually exclusive? Journal of Business Ethics., 13(8), 615–623.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malphurs, A. (1996). Values-driven leadership: Discovering and developing your core values for ministry. Baker Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, D. M., Kuenzi, M., Greenbaum, R., Bardes, M., & Salvador, R. (2009). How does ethical leadership flow? Test of a trickle-down model. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 108, 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCormick, R. (1973). Notes on moral theology. Theological Studies, 34(1).

    Google Scholar 

  • McMahone, M. (2012). Servant leadership as a teachable ethical concept. American Journal of Business Education, 5(3), 339–346.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mondy, R. W., & Premeaux, S. R. (1995). Management (7th ed.). Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ormrod, J. E. (2000). Educational psychology: Developing learners. Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palanski, M. E., & Yammarino, F. J. (2007). Integrity and leadership: Clearing the conceptual confusion. European Management Journal, 25, 171–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patterson, K. (2003). Servant leadership: A theoretical model. Dissertation Abstracts International, 64(2), 570. (UMI No. 3082719).

    Google Scholar 

  • Piaget, J. (1932). The moral judgment of the child. The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Preble, J. F., & Miesing, P. (1984). Do adult MBA and undergraduate business students have different business philosophies? Proceedings of the National Meeting of the American Institute for the Decision Sciences, November, 346.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reed, L. L., Vidaver-Cohen, D. D., & Colwell, S. R. (2011). A new scale to measure executive servant leadership: Development, analysis, and implications for research. Journal of Business Ethics, 101(3), 415–434. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0729-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Resick, C. J., Hanges, P. J., Dickson, M. W., & Mitchelson, J. K. (2006). A cross-cultural examination of the endorsement of ethical leadership. Journal of Business Ethics, 63, 345–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rinehart, S. T. (1998). Upside down: The paradox of servant leadership. NavPress Publishing Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2015). Organizational behavior. Pearson Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, J. (1973). General attitudes toward people. In J. P. Robinson & P. K. Shaver (Eds.), Measures of social psychological attitudes. Institute for Social Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, J. P., & Shaver, P. R. (1973). Measures of social psychological attitudes. The University of Michigan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rokeach, M. (1973). The nature of human values. The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russell, J. (2001). Exploring the values and attributes of servant leaders. Dissertation Abstracts International, 61(12), 4856. (UMI No. 9999498).

    Google Scholar 

  • Russell, R. F., & Stone, A. G. (2002). A review of servant leadership attributes: Developing a practical model. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 23, 145–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sendjaya, S., & Pekerti, A. (2010). Servant leadership as antecedent of trust in organizations. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 31(7), 643–663.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singhapakdi, A., & Vitell, S. (1990). Marketing ethics: Factors influencing perceptions of ethical problems and alternatives. Journal of Macromarketing, 10(1), 4–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stead, W. E., Worrell, D. L., & Stead, J. G. (1990). An integrative model for understanding and managing ethical behavior in business organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 9(1), 233–242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toor, S. R., & Ogulana, S. O. (2008). Leadership skills and competencies for cross- cultural construction projects. International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, 8(3), 192–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trevino, L. K. (1986). Ethical decision-making in organizations: A person-situation interactionist model. Academy of Management Review., 11(3), 601–617.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trevino, L. K., Brown, M., & Hartman, L. P. (2000). Moral person and moral manager: How executives develop a reputation for ethical leadership. California Management Review, 42, 128–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trevino, L. K., Brown, M., & Hartman, L. P. (2003). A qualitative investigation of perceived executive ethical leadership: Perceptions from inside and outside the executive suite. Human Relations., 56, 5–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Dierendonck, D. (2011). Servant leadership: A review and synthesis. Journal of Management, 37(4), 1228–1261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Velasquez, M. G. (2001). Business ethics: Concepts and cases. Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walumbwa, F. O., Hartnell, C. A., & Oke, A. (2010). Servant leadership, procedural justice climate, service climate, employee attitudes, and organizational citizenship behavior: Across-level investigation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(3), 517–529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber, M. (1998). The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism (2nd ed., T. Parsons, Trans.). Roxbury.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whetstone, J. T. (2001). How virtue fits within business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 33, 101–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whetstone, T. (2005). A framework for organizational virtue: The interrelationship of mission, culture and leadership. Business Ethics: A European Review, 14(4), 367–378.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, R. K., & Lippitt, R. O. (1960). Autocracy and democracy: An experimental inquiry. Harper & Brothers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkes, C. (1996). Jesus on leadership: Becoming a servant leader. LifeWay Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodward, D. B., Jr. (1994). Leadership challenges, 2002. New Directions for Student Services, 66, 91–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Q., & Zhao, H. H. (2017). An analytical overview of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development in college moral education in mainland China. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 5(8), 151–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yasar University, Izmir, Turkey

    Deniz Zaptçıoğlu Çelikdemir

Authors
  1. Deniz Zaptçıoğlu Çelikdemir
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Deniz Zaptçıoğlu Çelikdemir .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Business, Woodbury University, Burbank, CA, USA

    Satinder Dhiman

  2. Robertson School of Government, Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA, USA

    Gary E. Roberts

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Çelikdemir, D.Z. (2022). Servant Leadership and Its Relation to Ethics and Morality. In: Dhiman, S., Roberts, G.E. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Servant Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69802-7_22-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69802-7_22-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-69802-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-69802-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Business and ManagementReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation