Investigating the Impact of Ethical Leadership on Student Perceptions of Ethical Decision-making in Business Management: Evidence from Bangladesh

Abstract

The objective of this research is to examine the impact of ethical leadership on the ethical decision-making beliefs of students in the field of business management, specifically focusing on the data collected from Bangladesh. The study covers a heterogeneous sample of 406 participants, including individuals of all genders and varying age ranges, mostly from Dhaka University and North South University. The results indicate that all participants had a reasonable level of acquaintance with ethical leadership, indicating a consistent level of awareness among them. The participants expressed mostly favorable perspectives towards ethical leadership, as a substantial majority agreed that ethical leaders demonstrate integrity and act as exemplars of ethical conduct within the professional setting. Regarding the matter of ethical decision-making within the realm of business management, a considerable agreement exists, emphasizing its indispensability for the long-term prosperity of a firm. However, divergent viewpoints are evident about its effects on reputation, customer trust, staff morale, organizational culture, and sustainable practices. The research further examined the observation of ethical leaders, experiences with ethical challenges, and the incorporation of formal ethical training into company management. The vast majority of participants said that they had seen the presence of ethical leaders and had faced ethical challenges, underscoring their widespread occurrence. Additionally, a significant majority expressed support for the incorporation of structured ethical training within the realm of corporate management. In spite of these findings, a statistical analysis using ordered logistic regression revealed that the associations between the independent variables (Ethical Decision-Making, Observation of Ethical Leaders, Encounter with Ethical Dilemmas, Belief in Formal Ethical Training) and the ordinal dependent variable did not reach statistical significance at conventional thresholds. This finding indicates that, based on the parameters of this study, the variables in question did not demonstrate a strong predictive relationship with the ordinal dependent variable. However, this research provides significant contributions to the understanding of how students in Bangladesh perceive ethical leadership and ethical decision-making. It highlights the significance of ethics education and the presence of ethical role models in the realm of business management.