Moral management in practice: a qualitative study of values, habits, and ethical interventions among top managers in Estonia

Top managers are leaders and role models for subordinates. Although numerous research papers have been published on ethical leadership, to the best of our knowledge, recent research has largely overlooked the phenomenon of how managers apply ethical principles in their everyday leadership practices. Moreover, we are interested in finding out how top managers see ethical behaviour. Our research relies on Carroll’s moral management theory. The current article focuses on how top managers’ values and habits influence ethical intervention and proactive ethical leadership, and identifies the conditions under which moral managers can act as influential drivers in shaping and strengthening organisational ethical culture. We conducted 12 semi-structured narrative interviews with top managers in Estonia, who described the ethical conflicts they encountered in workplace situations. Based on our study results, we demonstrate the model of moral managers regarding values and habits in the context of unethical behaviour occurring in everyday business life. By clarifying how managerial values shape ethical reasoning and action across diverse ethical situations, stronger support can be provided for leaders in cultivating an ethical climate that reinforces integrity and reduces unethical behaviour.