Leadership: Philosophical Perspectives and Qualitative Analysis of Ethics—Looking Back, Looking Forward, Looking Around

Abstract

This virtual special issue of theJournal of Business Ethicsexplores the topic, and the related section at the journal, ofLeadership: Philosophical Perspectives and Qualitative Analysis of Ethics. It introduces a collection of seven papers previously published at the journal and gives thought to future development of scholarship at the intersection of leadership and ethics. As two people active in the business ethics scholarly community, we would like to share our views on the field of philosophical and qualitative approaches to the intersection of ethics and leadership. Why do you and we study this very relevant topic? If we only take a few short minutes to think about this question, we find ourselves with a wide range of responses. For us specifically, we do this work to try to change the world for the better, idealistic as that sounds. That means that we see our jobs as more than just conducting research, providing education, writing scientific articles, or being section editor of this journal. We see that we are all role models, in terms of academic practice and leadership practice. In this respect, we are under a greater obligation than some to practice what we preach. We are also committed to thinking through implementation of the theories and suggestions we develop in our analyses, to inform the use and effect of ethics for a better world. This journal is a key source of data, theory, and practice, and always has been. At this key moment, we provide here a brief history of leadership/ethics debates in this journal and relate them to contributions published in other spaces.