Why do leaders practice amoral management? A conceptual investigation of the impediments to ethical leadership

Abstract

We present a theoretical model of amoral management in an effort to understand impediments to ethical leadership. We posit that a number of anticipated negative consequences of engaging in ethical leadership are positively related to amoral management and these relationships are strengthened by contextual factors. Furthermore, we argue that under certain conditions, amoral managers may experience enough moral motivation to engage in initial ethical leadership practices. However, if the leader’s newly acquired ethical leadership practices are met with resistance, such that the leader experiences substantial role stressors and reductions in short-term performance and becomes a victim of supervisor-directed deviance and/or workplace ostracism, then the leader will abandon ethical leadership practices and return to the status quo of being an amoral manager.