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Ethical Challenges in the Leader-Follower Relationship

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

Edwin P. Hollander
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Abstract:

Leadership and followership are unified in an interdependent relationship exemplified by the idea of teamwork. Ethical concerns are among the valuational elements essential to developing loyalty and trust in this relationship. However, because of their need to maintain power and distance, self-serving leaders may become detached from how their actions are perceived and reacted to by followers. This pattern can be especially damaging to teamwork when leaders continue to receive disprortionate rewards despite their poor performance, especially when coupled with organizational downsizing and layoffs. Implications are drawn regarding the ethics of equity, responsibility, and accountability in the exercise of authority and power.

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Articles
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Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 5 , Issue 1 , January 1995 , pp. 55 - 65
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Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 1995

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