NoRMAtive ethicS ANd Reflexive ethicS: WhAt Role iN ethicAl leAdeRShip of heAlth cARe teAM’S MANAgeRS?

Abstract

Research on ethical leadership have evolved from a prescriptive to a descriptive approach that describes practices of the ethical leadership in organizations. Inscribed in this second stream, this article analyzes the case of the health sector which, although ethics plays a major role in professional practices, has not been specifically studied. This paper contributes to precise the concept of ethical leadership by distinguishing two types of ethics (normative ethics that aims for «good» and reflexive ethics that aims for “right”). This distinction highlights that supervision mode, communications inside the team and even the definition of the role of the first line supervisor are significantly different depending on whether this supervisor refers himself to a normative or a reflexive definition of ethics. This article provides empirical results that leads to distinguish these two constructs.