The Role of Leaders in Shaping Organizational Culture and Ethics

Within the bricks and mortar economy, organizations focused more on profitability and require managers who can design and implement strategies over time. Nowadays, within the digital economy, e-business-oriented organizations focus on competitiveness and customer satisfaction, requiring astute leaders. Leaders who rely on intellectual or knowledge resources to initiate and implement a new set of company aims based on e-business initiatives. Leaders who can develop organizational cultures, ethics, and teams that can realize the potential of cutting-edge technology (the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence) for their business.

Investing in technology is important, but the critical success factor is getting people to use it effectively. Not every manager is a leader. Managers, as good leaders, should link competencies and resources within the organization to create and sustain a competitive advantage. Incumbent managers as leaders must maximize the e-space available within the organization by developing strategies for shaping culture and ethics that can operate effectively in the new environment. In this direction, the main goal of the paper is through surveying, descriptive analyses and by using practical case studies, to demonstrate leaders’ role in cultivating culture and ethics within the organization. Moreover, the paper elaborates how, thanks to skillful leaders, famous and successful organizations try to create organizational culture and ethics that are aligned with their goals for success.