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Accountability And Moral Competence Promote Ethical Leadership, Kassem A. Ghanem, Patricia A. Castelli

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

Accountability and moral competence are two factors that may have a positive effect on ethical leadership in organizations. This study utilized a survey methodology to investigate the relationship among accountability, moral competence and ethical leadership in a sample of 103 leaders from a variety of industries and different countries. Accountability was found to be a significant positive predictor of ethical leadership. Moral competence was also found to moderate this relationship such that increases in moral competence enhanced the positive effects of accountability on ethical leadership. The results of the study suggest that organizations can increase ethical leadership throughout the company …