CLF Seminar with Professor Suzanne van Gils (BI Norwegian Business School)

"The Future of Ethical Leadership Research" and "The Ethical Implications of Crowdsourcing Research"

Abstract
My talk will cover two recent discussion papers published in Journal of Business Ethics that cover an outlook on the direction JBE hopes to take with regards to topics in leadership, as well as the use of crowdsourcing research. In the editorial, my co-editor Mayowa Babalola and build on recent discussions in the field arguing that leadership research has stagnated with the use of too narrow a range of perspectives and methods and too many overlapping concepts. They propose that novel insights could be achieved by investigating the lived experience of leadership (through interviews, document analysis, archival data); by focusing on topics of concern to society; by employing different personal, philosophical, or cultural perspectives; and by turning the lens on the heroic leader (through “dark-side” and follower studies). The paper on crowdsourcing research provides a nuanced discussion on how, despite the various advantages online crowdsourcing platforms offer, there are substantial concerns regarding not only data validity issues, but also the ethical, societal, and global ramifications arising from the prevalent use of online crowdsourcing platforms. This paper seeks to expand the dialogue by examining both the “internal” aspects of crowdsourcing research practices, such as data quality issues, reporting transparency, and fair compensation, and the “external” aspects, in terms of how the widespread use of crowdsourcing data collection shapes the nature of scientific communities and our society in general.. The paper thus highlights the need for researchers to consider the markedly different political, economic, and socio-cultural characteristics of the Global North and the Global South when undertaking crowdsourcing research involving an international sample; such consideration is crucial for both increasing research validity and mitigating societal inequities. 

About Professor van Gils
Suzanne van Gils, PhD, is a professor communication at BI Norwegian Business School. Her research interests focus on (im)moral behavior in organizations, identity processes, and incivil behavior online. Recent projects focus among others on the leadership communication and ethical behavior in (digital) teams. Before joining BI in 2019, Suzanne has worked as an assistant professor at Maastricht University, and as a post-doctoral research fellow at Kühne Logistics University in Hamburg. Suzanne's work has been published in journals such as Journal of Applied Psychology, Human Relations, Leadership Quarterly, and Journal of Business ethics. Moreover, Suzanne is the section co-editor of the section quantitative leadership for the Journal of Business Ethics.