Leadership and Accountability in Faith‐Based Institutions: Evidence From UK Mosques
通过访谈英国清真寺相关人员，研究宗教机构中的问责问题，发现领导责任边界模糊导致道德人士不愿担任领导，而自私者却占据职位，形成逆向选择。
ABSTRACT This study investigates accountability in religious institutions on the basis of evidence obtained from interviews with relevant parties in UK mosques. We mobilize prior theoretical contention regarding servant leadership and constraints on personal accountability to expose perceptions of seriously deficient discharge outcomes. In particular, we argue that a need exists for clear accountability boundaries in faith‐based institutions, ideally founded on spiritual morality. Such a development would address the problems caused by the undefined nature of the responsibilities that mosque managers face, which, we argue, may be causing a reluctance among those individuals with ethical propensities to put themselves forward as leaders. We suggest that this outcome represents a form of adverse selection where individuals with self‐serving inclinations—unlike their more ethically minded counterparts—are able to disregard the expectations placed upon them, with the result that they can often be found in charge of the institutions concerned. This conclusion supports the perspective of Messner and others that a meaningful degree of personal accountability is unrealistic when discharge demands are excessive and inexhaustible.