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Understanding the effects of empowering, transformational and ethical leadership on promotive and prohibitive voice: A moderated mediated examination

Umamaheswara Rao Jada (Vinod Gupta School of Management, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, India)
Susmita Mukhopadhyay (Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, India)

Personnel Review

ISSN: 0048-3486

Article publication date: 14 March 2019

Issue publication date: 20 March 2019

2454

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to compare the direct and indirect effects of transformational, ethical and empowering leadership (EL) on promotive and prohibitive voice behavior. The study also explores the mediating effects of leader-member exchange (LMX) and moderating effects of individual power distance orientation (IPDO) in the hypothesized model. The research conducted attempts to identify the most suitable leadership style for encouraging promotive and prohibitive voice behavior in service sector organizations in India.

Design/methodology/approach

Purposive and snowball sampling was used for data collection. Necessary condition analysis (NCA) was conducted to identify the most suitable style for encouraging promotive and prohibitive voice behavior. The results NCA were later verified using the structural equation modeling technique.

Findings

Results of the study displayed the supremacy of EL style in promoting high-quality LMX and “promotive and prohibitive” voice over transformational and ethical leadership in Indian service organizations. Considering the overall results of the study, EL appears to be the most suitable style for encouraging promotive and prohibitive voice in a high power distance country like India.

Research limitations/implications

Self-reported measures utilized in the study might have affected the findings and hence, should be interpreted with caution.

Practical implications

Researchers propose the adoption of EL style for encouraging promotive and prohibitive voice in Indian service sector organizations. The researchers also highlight the noteworthy impact of LMX and IPDO on promotive and prohibitive voice behavior, which makes it a point for the leaders to work toward lowering IPDO amongst followers to promote both promotive and prohibitive voice behavior for the growth of an organization.

Originality/value

The study is the first one to conduct a comparative moderated mediated examination to analyze the effects of transformational, ethical and EL in encouraging promotive and prohibitive voice behavior in Indian organizations.

Keywords

Citation

Jada, U.R. and Mukhopadhyay, S. (2019), "Understanding the effects of empowering, transformational and ethical leadership on promotive and prohibitive voice: A moderated mediated examination", Personnel Review, Vol. 48 No. 3, pp. 707-730. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-11-2017-0365

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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