Ethical leadership within consultancy services: a qualitative research at Het Zuiderlicht consultancy to the role of ethical leadership within consultancy services

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to learn about the role of ethical leadership within consultancy services on the basis of an exemplary case being Het Zuiderlicht, to contribute to the literature gap on the role of ethical leadership within consultancy services. To achieve the purpose of this study, the central question is: ‘what is the role of ethical leadership within consultancy services?’ To answer this research question seven consultants were interviewed on the basis of a semi-structured interview. The results of this inductive qualitative study show that the role of ethical leadership within consultancy services is mainly implicit and in some consultancy firms non-existent.