Over the last few decades, business fraud and examples of scandalous management behaviors have sparked a lot of attention among several interested stakeholders. These increasing scandals have necessitated the question on the necessary steps required to prevent their frequent occurrence. The lack of commitment to strong ethical standards by management has been underpinned as the cause of ethical misconducts in organizations. The fiscal crisis of 2007-2009 witnessed many leadership misconducts and abuse of leadership responsibility. The fiscal crisis revealed the loss of about $11 trillion in household wealth, 26 million Americans losing their jobs, and 4.5 million Americans who could not afford their mortgages. These events and statistics show the prevalent lack of ethical leadership in organizations. While leadership ethics is a concern for all stakeholders within business organizations in the United States, only a few segments of the industry are taking steps to incorporate ethical awareness within their global organizations.

The chapter addresses how ethical actions deliver value through sustainable competitive advantage. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has a proven role in developing audience trust that increases brand equity among target audiences and stakeholders, thus ensuring that the brand sustains its competitive advantage through improved profitability and reputation in the market. Not only do businesses have a social responsibility to the markets from which they earn revenues, but buyers expect ethical businesses to have an established CSR program in place. Businesses that engage in CSR activities within the process of corporate brand management experience stronger reputation that drives loyalty and sales, resulting in a competitive, sustainable market advantage.

The chapter addresses how ethical actions deliver value through sustainable competitive advantage. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has a proven role in developing audience trust that increases brand equity among target audiences, thus ensuring that the brand sustains its competitive advantage through improved profitability, increased social trust, and favorable reputation in the market. Not only do businesses have a social responsibility to the markets from which they earn revenues, but buyers expect ethical businesses to have an established CSR program in place. Socially fluent, publicly held firms that share their ESG (environmental impact, social impact, and governance) ratings with stakeholders enjoy the reputational benefits of increased trust and confidence regarding corporate ethical behavior. Businesses that engage in CSR activities within the process of corporate brand management experience stronger reputation that drives loyalty and sales, resulting in a competitive, sustainable market advantage.

With the current post-pandemic unpredictable work environment characterized by remote and hybrid work, the leadership culture of an organization is important in fostering a desirable working environment. Such a culture of leadership is modeled by leaders of the organization and instilled in new leaders, as leadership helps motivate, inspire, and engage employees. The purpose of this study was to analyze if the four types of leadership culture (mentoring, risk-taking, result-oriented, and coordinating) as determined by the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) have a direct influence on the level of engagement of employees. To analyze the influence of organizational leadership culture on remote employee engagement, this study implemented a quantitative non-experimental correlational design. Remote employee engagement was measured using a validated instrument called EENDEED (Enhanced Engagement Nurtured by Determination, Efficacy, and Exchange Dimensions). Data were collected through an online survey from 325 participants, all remote workers in organizations within the United States and a multiple regression analysis was conducted. The findings of this study confirmed that there was a statistically significant relationship between an organization’s leadership culture and its employees’ level of engagement. In other words, the organization leadership culture as defined by OCAI contributes to employee engagement. Mentoring was shown to be the highest contributor in employee engagement. In other words, a mentoring-based leadership culture produced more engaged employees. While risk-taking and coordinating produced a statistically significant positive contribution to employee engagement, a result-oriented culture was not significant in contributing to employee engagement.