Leadership: Where organization studies meet ethics

Leadership Studies is a new interdisciplinary field of Organization Studies that is growing at a steady rate all over the world. Leadership studies are seen as a branch of Management and Organization Sciences despite its philosophical roots that can be traced back to Plato’s philosophical writings such as Laws, Politics, or The Republic. Starting from Burns’ seminal book, Leadership (1978), and subsequent discussions with American business ethics pioneer Joanne Ciulla, a fundamental methodological question emerged: whether Leadership studies are a normative or a descriptive field of study.