The dark side of leadership: ineffective training and poor ethics education

Editorial verdict

Context-specific and exploratory. The qualitative findings from 15 Algerian public sector leaders are internally consistent, but the small, geographically constrained sample limits transferability — treat as hypothesis-generating, not conclusive.

Executive summary

This study addresses the influence of ethics training and education on unethical leadership behavior within Algerian public companies, a context marked by persistent administrative corruption and limited prior empirical investigation. The authors argue that both ineffective organizational training programs and deficient pre-professional ethics education are significant antecedents of unethical leadership conduct. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 leaders and top managers from four Algerian public companies, analyzed using thematic analysis facilitated by ATLAS.ti 8 software. Two primary themes emerged: (1) the inadequacy of early ethics education provided by families, educational institutions, and society; and (2) the ineffectiveness of in-organizational training programs in developing leaders' ethical character. Respondents consistently reported that existing training programs lack quality and ethical focus, and that leaders' moral foundations are largely shaped before they enter organizations. The study concludes that ethical leader development requires coordinated effort across social, educational, and organizational domains, and that organizations alone cannot compensate for deficiencies in pre-professional ethical formation. The findings are positioned as a reference point for Algerian and broader African public sector reform efforts.

Frameworks mentioned

References

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