Brief Definitions of the Key Terms for Chapter 5
Ethics: Principles of right conduct or a system of moral values.
Theory X: A pessimistic view of others resulting in managers who rely heavily on
coercive, external-control methods to motivate workers because workers are not
industrious or motivated by nature.
Theory Y: A view that most people are intrinsically motivated by their work; rather than
needing to be coaxed or coerced these workers value a sense of achievement, personal
growth, pride, and respect for a job well done.
Values: Constructs representing generalized behaviors or states of affairs that are
considered by the individual to be important—values clearly affect behavior and choice
mechanisms.
Moral reasoning: The process leaders use to make decisions about ethical and unethical
behaviors.
Dual-process theory: Moral judgments dealing primarily with “rights” and “duties” are
made by automatic emotional responses while moral judgments made on a more
utilitarian basis are made more cognitively.
Ethical dilemmas: Situations where a person is forced to choose between two courses of
action that could both be considered “right”.
Truth vs. loyalty ethical dilemmas: Acting honestly when doing so could compromise
real or implied loyalty to others.
Individual vs. community ethical dilemmas: Protecting a person’s confidentiality when
that act may itself may pose threat to the larger community.
Short-term vs. long-term ethical dilemmas: Making decisions for short-term benefit at
the expense of long-term benefit.
Justice vs. mercy ethical dilemmas: Following through with what is just or showing
mercy and foregoing justice.
Ends-based thinking: Known as utilitarianism in philosophy, this is premised on the idea
that right and wrong are best determined by considering the consequences or results of an
action.
Rule-based thinking: Characterized as “following the highest principle or duty”,
determined by the kinds of standards everyone should uphold all the time, whatever the
situation.
Care-based thinking: A “do what you want others to do to you” approach that applies the
criterion of reversibility in determining the rightness of actions.
Implicit prejudice: Judgments about some group being systematically biased without the
judger’s awareness.
In-group favoritism: Providing favors and acts of kindness or making exceptions that
favor someone who is “like us.”
Overclaiming credit: Overrating the quality of our own work and our contributions to the
groups and teams we belong to.
Conflicts of interest: Situations where our judgment or decision could be potentially
biased by personal involvement.
Moral justification: Involves reinterpreting otherwise immoral behavior in terms of a
higher purpose, which can be seen most readily in the behaviors of combatants in war.
Euphemistic labeling: Dissociating behaviors from one’s espoused moral principles by
using “cosmetic” words to defuse or disguise the offensiveness of otherwise morally
repugnant or distasteful behavior.
Advantageous comparison: Allows one to avoid self-contempt for behavior by
comparing it to an even more heinous behavior by others.
Displacement of responsibility: People are able to violate personal moral standards by
attributing responsibility to others (i.e., people who are merely carrying out orders).
Diffusion of responsibility: Morally reprehensible behavior is easier to engage in and
live with because others are behaving in the same manner.
Distortion of consequences: A mechanism whereby people minimize the harm caused by
their behavior—this can be a significant problem when people are insulated from the
consequences of the decisions they make.
Dehumanization: Another way of avoiding moral consequences for our actions that
allows an individual to treat others badly when they are assigned epithets that make them
less than human.
Attribution of blame: An attempt to justify immoral behavior by claiming that it was
caused by someone else’s behavior and not their own.
Moral potency: The idea that moral courage, moral efficacy, and moral ownership affect
ethical decision making.
Moral ownership: A felt sense of responsibility not only for the ethical nature of one’s
own behavior but also for one’s commitment not to allow unethical things to happen
within their broader sphere of influence including others and the organization.
Moral courage: The fortitude to face risk and overcome fears associated with taking
ethical action.
Moral efficacy: Belief or confidence in one’s capability to mobilize various personal,
interpersonal, and other external resources to persist despite moral adversity.
Moral person: A principled decision maker who cares about people and the broader
society
Moral manager: A manager who strives to “make ethics an explicit part of their
leadership agenda by communicating an ethics and values message, by visibly and
intentionally role modeling ethical behavior.”
Authentic leadership: Leadership that is characterized by exhibiting a consistency
between values, beliefs, and actions.
Servant leadership: Leadership that stems in part from the teachings of Jesus that says
that servanthood is the essence of worthy leadership.
Upward ethical leadership: “Leadership behavior enacted by individuals who take action
to maintain ethical standards in the face of questionable moral behaviors by higher-ups.”
Ethical climate: A climate in which ethical standards and norms have been consistently,
clearly, and pervasively communicated throughout the organization and embraced and
enforced by organizational leaders in both word and example.
Unethical climate: A climate in which questionable or outright unethical behavior exists
with little action taken to correct such behavior, or (worse) where such misbehavior is
even condoned.
Principle-centered leadership: An approach that postulates a fundamental
interdependence between personal, interpersonal, managerial, and organizational levels
of leadership.