This work is the result of a systematic review of the main contributions to ethics and leadership. The main purpose is to present, in a simple and essential way, the concepts and methods concerning both general ethics and ethics applied to the business context, with a particular focus on the importance of ethical values also in this field. We will also focus on the fundamental role of ethical and morally incorruptible leadership in achieving business results and objectives.
Individuals, who operate in public and private organizations, are constantly required to make morally right decisions by taking actions that do not cause harm to anyone and at the same time are aimed at creating and strengthening trusting relationships between individuals. The issue of ethics must be addressed according to a practical and constructive logic aimed at changing the erroneous, destructive and dysfunctional behaviors of individuals, organizations and society as a whole, promoting the so-called “Ethical Behavior”. The latter is the result of individual and organizational factors (internal and external) which together contribute to outlining the moral principles that managers should be inspired by in order to act correctly in the decision-making process, in the interest of the company and of all the stakeholders.