Impact of Leadership Style on Organizational Ethical Decision-Making in Emerging Markets in South Africa

Purpose: To aim of the study was to analyze the impact of leadership style on organizational ethical decision-making in emerging markets. Methodology: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries. Findings: Leadership style strongly influences ethical decision-making in emerging markets. Transformational leaders promote ethical behavior by inspiring trust and encouraging long-term ethical practices, while transactional leaders focus on rewards and punishments, which are less effective in fostering ethics. Transformational leadership also leads to better corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. In regions with weaker governance, ethical leadership is essential for sustainable business practices. Companies should prioritize transformational leadership to enhance ethical decision-making and align with global standards. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Transformational leadership theory, ethical leadership theory & servant leadership theory may be used to anchor future studies on the impact of leadership style on organizational ethical decision-making in emerging markets. Organizations in emerging markets should prioritize leadership development programs that promote transformational, ethical, and servant leadership. Governments and industry regulators in emerging markets should establish clear standards for ethical leadership and decision-making.