Ethics, social responsibility, leadership, governance. These terms are heard in the classroom, in the boardroom, and viewed on the front page of newspapers and magazines. Yet serious attention to the relationships among these concepts is lacking. Although commitments to leadership, ethics, and social responsibility are evident, individuals and companies are falling short in combining these duties into policies and cultures that guide behavior and decisions. The missing element is a broad-based and integrated approach to responsible leadership and governance. This volume provides the leading thinking on these issues and includes a discussion of emerging areas that require future attention. The contributors - leading scholars in the fields of leadership, governance and social responsibility - summarize the state of the literature, identify complementary insights and perspectives, discuss areas of conflict and disagreement, and include a provocative and stimulating agenda for further investigation. They point up practical consequences of these perspectives in light of developments that have exposed the shortcomings in practice. Several contributors focus specifically on the challenges faced by global companies in developing and maintaining leadership and governance practices that are responsive to different national institutional and cultural settings.

Thorough coverage and insightful discussion make this an essential reference for scholars and students of leadership, corporate responsibility and professional ethics, as well as for all those directly responsible for establishing the ethical codes and practices of their organizations.