Ethical leadership in a complex environment: A case study on Nunavik health organizations

Abstract

Despite being the primary homeland of Quebec's Inuit people, Nunavik's health care is typically planned and provided by non-Inuit newcomers. This retrospective case study investigates the effects of ethical leadership on the Westernized local Nunavik health care system's cultural sensitivity to its disproportionately Inuit populations. An integrative framework is developed that considers the dimensions of ethical leadership and the omnibus and discrete dimensions of context. This study shows that some Nunavik health care managers seek to improve and adapt the system to the needs of their Inuit populations, while others do not. Unfortunately, the context restricts the former managers' ability to act consistently with their moral responsibilities and beliefs. Specifically, the findings show various institutional barriers to providing respectful and sensitive health care to Inuit. This study contributes to the scientific literature on ethical leadership by proposing an integrative conceptual framework. This framework illustrates how ethical leadership is inseparable from organizational context, identifying 16 contextual factors influencing managers' ethical behavior.Finally, three practical recommendations are proposed to highlight the omnibus and discrete context elements.

Cultivating Ethical Leadership Through Legal Thinking: Strategies to Enhance Local Autonomy

“…In the philosophy of ethical leadership, leaders influence and inspire others through acts of honesty, integrity, and care to drive the growth and success of the organization. This leadership style aims to achieve success and ensure that ethics remains high (Morin, G. & Talbot, D.,2023). As a result, ethical leaders constantly strive to make the right decisions when faced with complex ethical decisions and set an example regarding ethical principles and social responsibility.…”