| The State of Moral Leadership in Business 2025 |
The HOW Institute for Society (Dov Seidman) |
Late 2024 / Early 2025 (The How Institute) |
This report finds that demand for moral leadership among U.S. workers is at an all-time high: 95% believe moral leadership is more urgent than ever. Clearly though, supply is falling short: only about 9% of CEOs and 11% of managers consistently demonstrate behaviors associated with moral leadership. The report also highlights how moral leadership contributes to organizational culture, trust, employee engagement, and performance. |
Accessible via The HOW Institute website. Full report PDF available. |
| An Examination of the Nexus Between Ethical Leadership and Corporate Governance and its Impact on Organizational Performance: Evidence from MTN Nigeria |
Odunsi Adenike Olufunmilayo, Enyioko Chilaka Onyekachi, Odeniyi Kolapo Demilade |
2025 (EconStor) |
Case study of MTN Nigeria; shows that ethical leadership + strong corporate governance explain a significant portion of performance outcomes. Specifically, ethical leadership transparency and governance enforcement were strong predictors of organizational performance. Significant R² (~0.63) in their model, indicating strong explanatory power. |
PDF available via EconStor (Open access) |
| Ethical Leadership and Its Role in Organizational Commitment |
Hafizullah Hakimi |
2025 (ResearchGate) |
Studied public sector employees (Ministry of Finance, Afghanistan). Finds a strong positive correlation between perceived ethical leadership and employee organizational commitment (correlation coefficient ~0.814). Highlights that ethical leadership elements are especially impactful among public institutions; also explores which elements matter most (e.g. moral character, fairness, etc.). |
Research article; PDF version available via ResearchGate / journal site. |
| How can ethical leadership increase employees’ bootlegging innovation behavior? |
J. Zhang et al. |
2025 (Frontiers) |
Explores how ethical leadership influences innovation that may be unauthorized but beneficial (“bootlegging innovation”). Shows that ethical leadership increases psychological well-being and psychological entitlement, which in turn increases this type of innovation behavior. Also finds chain mediation effects. Important for understanding how leadership can unlock creativity, even outside formal constraints. |
PDF available from Frontiers in Psychology (open access) |
| 2025 Ethics & Compliance Program Effectiveness Report |
LRN |
2025 (LRN) |
Focuses on ethics & compliance (E&C) programs across organizations globally. Key findings: there is often a gap between leadership’s stated ethical values and how employees perceive actual behavior; consistency of enforcement and clarity of policies greatly impact effectiveness; leadership plays a crucial role in shaping culture of ethics. |
Report PDF available on LRN’s website. |
| 2025 Global Leadership Development Study |
Harvard Business / associated research network |
2025 (Harvard Business Impact) |
Examines trends in leadership development — what organizations are training for in 2025. Finds increasing emphasis on ethical / values-based leadership, resilience, adaptability, inclusivity, and leading in uncertainty. Also notes that many organizations are struggling to embed ethical leadership into development programs rather than treating it as a “nice addon.” |
Summary insights available; full report may be behind membership / paywall depending on source. |
