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Article
Publication date: 19 May 2021

Muhammad Asim Faheem, Ishfaq Ahmed, Insya Ain and Zanaira Iqbal

The ethical issues arising at work demand the role of both leader and employees, but how both the levels are linked in determining the ethical responses is an area that has not…

Abstract

Purpose

The ethical issues arising at work demand the role of both leader and employees, but how both the levels are linked in determining the ethical responses is an area that has not gained due attention in the past. Against this backdrop, this study aims to address the influence of a leader’s authenticity and ethical voice on ethical culture and the role ethicality of followers.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey design has been used, and a questionnaire is used to elicit the responses. In total, 381 filled questionnaires were used for data analysis.

Findings

The findings of this study highlight the role of authentic leadership in predicting the role ethicality of followers both directly and through the mediation of ethical culture. Furthermore, a leader’s ethical voice strengthens the authentic leadership and outcome relationships (with ethical culture and followersrole ethicality). The moderated-mediation mechanism has proved as the leaders’ voice foster the indirect mechanism.

Originality/value

There is a dearth of literature that has focused on leadership traits (authenticity) and behavior (ethical voice) in predicting the followers’ outcomes (perceptions – ethical culture and behaviors – role ethicality). The moderated-mediation mechanism has been unattended in the past.

Details

International Journal of Ethics and Systems, vol. 37 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9369

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 August 2021

Yujie Tang and Yang Li

This study examines how ethical leadership (EL) influences followers' willingness to conduct unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) via reciprocity beliefs at the individual…

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines how ethical leadership (EL) influences followers' willingness to conduct unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) via reciprocity beliefs at the individual level and political climate at the group level.

Design/methodology/approach

Two-point survey data were collected from 423 Chinese followers from 81 groups, and multilevel structural equation modeling was conducted to test the hypotheses.

Findings

Individual-level EL unintentionally increases follower UPB willingness by fostering reciprocity beliefs, while group-level EL intentionally reduces follower UPB willingness by controlling the political climate. The political climate plays both a cross-level moderated mediation role and a mediated moderation role between EL and UPB.

Practical implications

When seeking to decrease followers' intention to conduct UPB, managers are advised to use individual-level EL with care when the focus is on reciprocity, and they should consider using group-level EL more when the focus is on controlling political climate.

Originality/value

The study supports two distinct mediating mechanisms by examining individual-level EL (as a moral person) vs group-level EL (as a moral manager) on UPB, thereby revealing the reason for the mixed effects of EL on UPB.

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 37 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 September 2022

Gordon Wang and Rick D. Hackett

Guided by the importance ascribed to the self-cultivation of virtue, the authors examined virtues-centered moral identity (VCMI) as a mediator of the positive relationship between…

Abstract

Purpose

Guided by the importance ascribed to the self-cultivation of virtue, the authors examined virtues-centered moral identity (VCMI) as a mediator of the positive relationship between virtuous leadership and several valued personal and organizational outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

Hypotheses were tested using data from 131 leader–subordinate dyads based in the USA and Canada, using the SPSS Statistics Software 27.0 PROCESS Macro v 3.5.

Findings

Leaders’ VCMI mediates the positive effects of virtuous leadership (subordinate-rated) on leaders’ moral behavior (subordinate-rated) and their self-rated happiness. Followers’ VCMI mediates the positive effects of virtuous leadership on organizational citizenship (as judged by leaders) and self-rated happiness of followers. Followers’ VCMI did not mediate between virtuous leadership and followers’ moral behavior.

Research limitations/implications

Although participants of this study were from a variety of industries, the sample was based in the USA and Canada; hence, any culture-specific leader behaviors and processes were likely missed. Moreover, some of the relationships examined involved data from the same source such that these associations may have been artificially inflated by common method variance. Even so, in each case, the sources we used (leader and follower) were appropriate to the research question. Nonetheless, for example, to collect Virtuous Leadership Questionnaire (VLQ)-based assessments from other stakeholders (e.g. peers and customers) remains of interest.

Practical implications

A practiced strong sense of VCMI has the potential to short-circuit unethical behavior and contribute to happiness among both subordinates and leaders. VCMI is implicated in the fostering of subordinates’ organizational citizenship as well.

Social implications

The authors' findings imply that leaders and followers can acquire knowledge structures associated with moral virtues and virtuous acts through formal and informal learning, suggesting an affirmative answer to the question, “Are virtuous acts teachable? This is an important starting point in developing theoretically sound programs for promoting virtuous acts as called for by many scholars and practitioners. The authors' study highlights the importance of virtues-related education because VCMI is likely developed through formal learning.

Originality/value

The authors' VCMI mediation-based findings offer a completely new explanation for the positive functioning of virtuous leadership, which formerly had been grounded in attribution and social learning processes only.

Details

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 43 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7739

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 September 2014

Stijn Decoster, Jeroen Stouten and Thomas M. Tripp

Even though leaders often are seen as responsible guides, they sometimes behave in a self-serving way, for example, by spending the company's budget on their own, frivolous needs…

Abstract

Purpose

Even though leaders often are seen as responsible guides, they sometimes behave in a self-serving way, for example, by spending the company's budget on their own, frivolous needs. In this study, the authors explore an aspect of such behavior: the authors examine how an organizational budget policy makes such spending more legitimate in the eyes of followers. Specifically, the authors examine when followers will react to a leader's self-serving behavior as a function of: the role of organizational budget policies, and whether followers are directly affected by the leader's behavior. The authors test two particular budget policies, i.e. carry-forward vs non-carry-forward (a.k.a., “use-it-or-lose-it” budget policies), which differ on whether a department/team's allocations not spent by the end of the fiscal year flow back to the central administration. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

Study 1 is a multi-source field study that should enhance the external validity of the results. Study 1 was analyzed with regression analyses and bootstrapping techniques. To be able to draw causal inferences, the authors also conducted an experimental study (Study 2).

Findings

Followers react more negatively – by showing increased turnover intentions and decreased commitment and cooperation – to a leader's self-serving behavior in a carry-forward policy than in a use-it-or-lose-it budget policy. Thus, organizational policies, such as the budget policy, affect how followers react to self-serving leaders.

Originality/value

The authors focus on self-serving leader behavior. The authors show that followers’ reactions to self-serving leaders are not necessarily negative and are influenced by the specific organizational context in which the self-serving behavior occurs. More specifically, the authors add to the literature by introducing budget policies as influencing followers’ reactions to leaders’ behavior.

Details

American Journal of Business, vol. 29 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1935-5181

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 January 2017

Guangyou Liu and Hong Ren

This paper aims to investigate the impacts of audit engagement team’s ethical leadership, trainee auditors’ reporting intent and other selected factors on their likelihood of…

1037

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the impacts of audit engagement team’s ethical leadership, trainee auditors’ reporting intent and other selected factors on their likelihood of reporting client’s irregularities.

Design/methodology/approach

The present investigation is based on 150 effective questionnaire responses provided by a group of trainee auditors working for certified public accounting (CPA) firms. The questionnaire items relating to trainee auditors’ likelihood of reporting client’s irregularities are based on Crawford and Weirich’s (2011) classification of common forms of fraudulent financial reporting. The authors’ measurement of the audit engagement team leaders’ ethicality is based on the ethical leadership scale developed in Newstrom and Ruch (1975) and Kantor and Weisberg (2002). Regression models are used to testify the authors’ hypotheses on the correlations of the trainee auditors’ likelihood of reporting client’s irregularities with audit engagement team’s ethical leadership, trainee auditor’ reporting intents and other selected factors.

Findings

The major conclusion of this study is that there is a significantly positive correlation between trainee auditors’ likelihood of reporting client’s irregularities and their perception of audit engagement team leader’s ethicality. This paper also points out that trainee auditors’ higher evaluation of stable firm–client relationship reduces their likelihood of reporting client’s irregularities, whereas their concerns with future career development increase the likelihood of reporting. In addition, this paper documents the fact that male trainee auditors more easily perceive the ethicality of their team leader than females, and that trainee auditors with less academic achievements (lower GPA) tend to perceive more easily the ethicality of their team leader than those with better academic achievements (higher GPA).

Research limitations/implications

Two business ethics variables constructed and used in this study, i.e. trainee auditors’ likelihood of reporting client’s irregularities and engagement team leader’s ethicality, can be applied in future research on whistleblowing in the audit profession.

Practical implications

Practical implications can also be drawn from the findings to enhance the ethical management at both engagement and firm levels.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the audit research literature by providing evidence on the significant positive impacts of team leader’s ethicality on the entry-level audit professional’s likelihood of reporting client’s irregularities.

Details

Journal of Financial Crime, vol. 24 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-0790

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 November 2023

Cheryl K. Stenmark

Sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) is a trait that affects people's thinking and behavior. People who are higher in SPS are more sensitive to internal and environmental stimuli…

Abstract

Purpose

Sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) is a trait that affects people's thinking and behavior. People who are higher in SPS are more sensitive to internal and environmental stimuli. The present study examined the effects of transformational and transactional leadership behaviors on follower ethical cognition and perception and the role that follower SPS plays in that process.

Design/methodology/approach

Participants read vignettes in which their leader was described as transformational or transactional. Participants then qualitatively answered a series of four emails asking questions about an ethical problem. Then they completed measures of ethical perceptions and SPS. Qualitative data were content coded to evaluate ethical cognition.

Findings

Results indicated that people higher in SPS had lower ethical perceptions than people lower in SPS when their leader was transactional. However, when their leader was transformational, people higher in SPS had higher ethical perceptions than people lower in SPS. Results suggest that a match between a follower's SPS and a leader's behaviors can influence followers' ethical perceptions. Findings suggest that organizational leader and management development interventions should encourage leaders to use transformational behaviors to improve followers' ethical perceptions.

Originality/value

Previous research has examined the effects of transformational and transactional leadership on many outcomes for followers, including ethical attitudes and behaviors. The present study contributes to this literature by examining the effects of transformational and transactional leadership behaviors on ethical cognition and perceptions.

Details

Journal of Management Development, vol. 43 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0262-1711

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Responsible Investment Around the World: Finance after the Great Reset
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-851-0

Article
Publication date: 24 December 2020

Nor Farah Hanis Zainun, Johanim Johari and Zurina Adnan

The objective of this study is to examine the predicting role of Machiavellianism, locus of control and moral identity on ethical leadership. This study also assessed the…

1022

Abstract

Purpose

The objective of this study is to examine the predicting role of Machiavellianism, locus of control and moral identity on ethical leadership. This study also assessed the moderating role of ethical role modelling in the linkage between Machiavellianism, locus of control, moral identity and ethical leadership.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 202 public service leaders in Malaysia participated in the study. A quantitative study was conducted and structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

Moral identity poses a substantial influence on ethical leadership. Ethical role modelling is a significant moderator in the association between moral identity and ethical leadership.

Research limitations/implications

This study contributes to the social learning theory by assessing Machiavellianism, locus of control and moral identity as the predictors of ethical leadership among public service leaders in Malaysia. Future study can be further extended to both managerial and support staff to understand the ethical phenomenon in Malaysian public sector.

Practical implications

The study highlights the need for public sector to give considerable attention to moral identity in boosting ethical leadership among public service leaders in Malaysia's public sector. Furthermore, the element of ethical role modelling should not be neglected as this factor is a valid moderator in nurturing ethical leadership among public service leaders.

Originality/value

The study deepens the knowledge on the importance of ethical role modelling as a moderator in assessing the influence of the predictors on ethical leadership. Further, this study demonstrates that public service leaders who reported high moral identity would have higher ethical leadership if they experienced good ethical role modelling.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 41 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 24 September 2018

Anne Laajalahti

Recently, ethical leadership has become a widely studied research topic. Simultaneously, many studies have begun to emphasise the role of interpersonal communication competence…

Abstract

Recently, ethical leadership has become a widely studied research topic. Simultaneously, many studies have begun to emphasise the role of interpersonal communication competence (ICC) in successful leadership. However, there has been little discussion on the links between ethical leadership and leaders’ ICC. To address this research gap, this study aims to compare and combine the research traditions of ethical leadership and leaders’ ICC. The study is based on two literature reviews examining (a) ethical leadership (substudy 1; N = 27) and (b) leaders’ ICC (substudy 2; N = 18). The research questions are as follows: (a) How are the requirements of leaders’ ICC noticed in the literature of ethical leadership? (substudy 1) (b) How are the requirements of ethical leadership noticed in the literature of leaders’ ICC? (substudy 2) The findings reveal that (a) studies in ethical leadership rarely pay attention to leaders’ ICC and (b) studies in leaders’ ICC do not often discuss ethical aspects of ICC, at least explicitly. While a larger sample would have been preferred, the study contributes to previous research by addressing a research gap between ethical leadership and leaders’ ICC and suggests integrating these research traditions to better understand the nature of ethics and ICC in leadership. By promoting novel interdisciplinary research perspectives, the study provides a foundation for further research and development of (a) a competence-based approach to ethical leadership and (b) an ethics-focused approach to competent leadership communication.

Article
Publication date: 28 October 2014

Guangyou Liu and Xiaohui Wang

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between ethical leadership and Ba Ling (霸凌) perceived by Certified Public Accounting (CPA) interns, and the influence of gender…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between ethical leadership and Ba Ling (霸凌) perceived by Certified Public Accounting (CPA) interns, and the influence of gender factor of leaders and followers on the relation. Moreover, Workplace Ba-Ling (职场霸凌, a derivation of workplace bullying) as a new conceptual idea, specifically extracted from Chinese context, is first taken into consideration.

Design/methodology/approach

This research is based on the questionnaire responses of accounting interns enrolled in a university-CPA firms cooperative education programs, and the classical Ethical Leadership Scale and Negative Acts Questionnaire were applied in the survey to get empirical results.

Findings

The empirical results reveal the fact that ethical leadership of the audit project teams is negatively related to workplace bullying perceived by the accounting interns working in the CPA firms. No significant impacts were found of the gender factor on workplace bullying and ethical leadership; however, the further breakdown of the gender factor into the four dimensions of the leader – follower gender differences lead to the significant difference of ethical leadership among the four redefined gender difference groups. The ranking order in terms of ethical leadership further proves that female leaders tend to show higher ethicality than male ones.

Research limitations/implications

As public accounting industry has acted an important role throughout the drastic Chinese economic growth of more than three recent decades, this paper provides knowledge of the gender-differentiated relationship between ethical leadership and workplace bullying, which implies serious concerns to be given in the varied business and workplace contexts in China and other emerging economies.

Originality/value

There has been an increasing literature trend discussing workplace bully in Western business studies; however, rarely has existing literature addresses this kind of issue in the emerging economies like China, where workplace ethics has become a commonly criticized concern with the fast economic growth in recent decades. Additionally, this paper proposes the new Chinese term of Ba Ling corresponding with the Western workplace bullying.

Details

Chinese Management Studies, vol. 8 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-614X

Keywords

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