Ethical decision can be defined as the needs and concerns of all stakeholders to the problem. Ethics can also be defined as a system of moral principles governing the appropriate conduct for an individual or group. Leadership ethics can be applied in three categories (a) ethical virtues are viewed as “character test” of sobriety, chastity, abstention, kindness, altruism” – meaning personal rules of conduct, (b) ethical values include such traits as “honesty, integrity, trustworthiness, reliability …” and are important transactions with others, and (c) moral values include “order (or society), liberty, equality, justice, [and] community,” terms that deal with interaction with society. If applied to leadership, some definitions would provide a framework for seeking factors that influence leaders’ ethical behavior in decision making. Some scholars asserted that leadership ethics lies at the heart of leadership studies and has veins that run through all leadership research.
According to scholars, the discussions about ethics do not occur often. Many times ethics issue was ignored for fear that even broaching the subject might cause or raise suspicion. Certainly formal, established policy on how far an individual can go in deviating from internal rules and regulations would be unreasonable, but a discussion outlining the company’s attitude toward compliance is certainly advisable.