Responsible Leadership in Projects: A Literature Review

The study aims to highlight the growing impact of responsible leadership in projects and temporary organizations, examining the existing literature on the subject to validate shared definitions and understand implications for project management goals and behaviors. Responsible leadership has increasingly become a trending subject in academic literature over the last 20 years, especially given that many scandals in the business world have been traced back to ethical decision-making issues. The practical implications of responsible leadership in project management have only recently started to be studied and analyzed. Project managers often encounter various types of ethical issues related to transparency, relationships, optimization, and political or legal questions. However, there are currently few empirical studies on how these problems arise and are addressed. After highlighting how ethical decision-making has gained prominence in recent years, this article seeks to review the existing literature on the subject and understand the meaning and impact of responsible leadership for project managers, team members, and stakeholders.