Recent scandals in government, business, sport and even religious organisations have reaffiliated the importance of ethical leaders in our current day and age. Brown, Treviño and Harrison (2005) summarised ethical leaders as people who are considerate, truthful, principled individuals. They are balanced and fair decision makers who set clear ethical standards and communicate openly with their followers. Finally, they are proactive role models for ethical conduct as their deeds reflect their own ethical principles and values.
Social learning theory maintains that most individuals learn and mimic credible role models (Kohlberg, 1969; Treviño, 1986) and it is upon this theory which Brown and Treviño (2006) motivate that ethical leaders are the most likely sources of guidance because of their overall behaviour. Using the social learning theory framework, Brown et al. (2005) developed the Ethical Leadership Scale (ELS) questionnaire to
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Against the results from Cheteni and Shindika’s study, the aim of this study will be to expand on their initial study to investigate whether the ethical leadership style differs between public and private utilities in South Africa.
Recent scandals in government, business, sport and even religious organisations have reaffiliated the importance of ethical leaders in our current day and age. Brown, Treviño and Harrison (2005) summarised ethical leaders as people who are considerate, truthful, principled individuals. They are balanced and fair decision makers who set clear ethical standards and communicate openly with their followers. Finally, they are proactive role models for ethical conduct as their deeds reflect their own ethical principles and