To read this content please select one of the options below:

Ethical leadership, emotional leadership, and quitting intentions in public organizations: Does employee motivation play a role?

Mohammed Laid Ouakouak (College of Business Administration, Gulf University for Science and Technology, Mubarak Al-Abdullah, Kuwait)
Michel Georges Zaitouni (College of Business Administration, Gulf University for Science and Technology, Mubarak Al-Abdullah, Kuwait)
Bindu Arya (University of Missouri at Saint Louis, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA)

Leadership & Organization Development Journal

ISSN: 0143-7739

Article publication date: 20 February 2020

Issue publication date: 13 April 2020

7088

Abstract

Purpose

Motivation constitutes a central topic for business management, because of its critical impact on job performance. Therefore, understanding whether and how the style of leadership adopted by leaders in organizations promotes and maintains employee motivation is of great interest to both scholars and practitioners. Drawing on self-determination theory, this study investigates how ethical and emotional styles of leadership influence employee motivation and thus job performance.

Design/methodology/approach

An empirical study was conducted in the public sector in Kuwait. About 607 employees participated in this study. Structural equation modeling techniques were used for testing the causal relationships between constructs.

Findings

Results of our study indicate that both ethical and emotional leaderships enhance employee motivation. Furthermore, employee motivation has a positive impact on job performance. The results also show that job performance exerts a negative effect on quitting intentions. Finally, interest in the private sector moderates the job performance–quitting intentions relationship.

Practical implications

These findings provide theoretical contributions to the extant literature, as well as important practical implications for managers.

Originality/value

This study demonstrates the role of both ethical and emotional leaderships in shaping employee behaviors. To the best of our knowledge, this research is among the few that provides initial evidence regarding quitting intentions as an outcome of the impact of ethical and emotional leaderships on employee motivation and individual performance in Kuwait.

Keywords

Citation

Ouakouak, M.L., Zaitouni, M.G. and Arya, B. (2020), "Ethical leadership, emotional leadership, and quitting intentions in public organizations: Does employee motivation play a role?", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 41 No. 2, pp. 257-279. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-05-2019-0206

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

Related articles