Dimensions for Executive

Leadership
Hollander 1978: While the leader is
the central and the most important
part of the leadership phenomenon,
followers
are
important
and
necessary factors in the equation
Peter Senge 1990: The leader is a
teacher but leadership is not just
about teaching people how to achieve
their vision; rather, it is about
fostering learning, offering choices,
and building consensus among
followers
Zaleznik 1990: Leadership is based
on a compact that binds those who
lead and those who follow into the
same
moral,
intellectual
and
emotional commitment
Moral Impact of Leadership:
Transactional and Transformational
leadership

Case 9.1 Infosys: Leadership crisis with top

management
In Infosys the power was concentrated with the cofounders for almost 30 years, without consideration
for employee who have given their life working for
Infosys. This lead to high attrition rates and
underperformance.
The Leadership in Infosys failed to give a proper
vision for the followers about what they would hope
to achieve in future. There were little choices for
people in top management due to which they defected
to other firms

The co-founders in Infosys had the power while other

employees even in top management were powerless.
While a good moral leader would have made it an
even playing field of fair interaction play

Transactional approach: Infosys went wrong in it as

they did not reward the employees with promotions
when it was essential.
Transformational approach: The top management was
selected not on the merits but if he was a co-founder
or not. Equality is void here.
Rost 1991: The leadership process is Infosys failed in this respect as some of the employees
ethical if the people in the did not agree with the final changes.
relationship
(the
leaders
and
followers) freely agree that the
intended changes reflect their mutual
purposes
Aristotle: The actions and strategies Infosys failed in both as the actions were not noble
of ethical and moral leadership and even the outcomes failed.
should be good and noble in
themselves, and not only in their
outcomes
Solomon 2004: Morally sensitive Narayan Murthy being partial to his son Rohan
leaders are the essential feature of Murthy shows that he was not morally sensitive.
any good organization
Ciulla 2004: Empowerment is about The talents of a large number of employees went
giving people the confidence, unnoticed as they were not given proper opportunities.
competence, freedom, and resources Due to which many changed ships.
to act on their own judgments
Peter
Senge
1990:
Steward The top management did not recognize that according

Leadership

Robert Greenleaf 1997: Servant

Leadership
Messick 2004: Three barriers to
sound
ethical
judgment
in
situations requiring moral leadership
- ethical fading, contextualizing
ethics, and the need for moral
courage

Moral Psychology of Leadership

Failure: Cognitive mistakes mistakes about the content of
morality and mistakes about the
scope of morality.

to Steward Leadership the ultimate purpose of ones

work is others and not self. Here the CEO position
was limited to few co-founders. Even after returning
N. Murthy was favouring his son to be the next CEO.
The CEO was not chosen not because they are proven
and trusted as servants (employees) but because they
were the co-founder of the Company.
Ethical fading: Ethical fading was taking place in
Infosys as the seat of CEO was reserved for a small
group of people for 30 years, and favoritism on part of
Narayan Murthy shown to his son Rohan to take up on
the top position.
Contextualizing ethics: Here it arose as Vishal Sikka
was brought in from outside when Infosys had a
Leadership Institute. The choice was between two
choices neither of which can be described as right or
wrong.
The need for moral courage: Here the situation was of
whistle-blowing where people like V. Balakrishnan
resigned and raised his voice against the unethical
practices that was going on inside Infosys.
Mistakes of Content: Here the Infosys leaders are
continuing to limit the growth of several individuals
by choosing the CEO from a small group of people for
30 years.
Mistakes of Scope: The Infosys top management
seems to be mistaken in scope as they have a duty to
their employees who are not getting the opportunities
that they deserve.