Search results

This study aims to investigate the association between cognitive moral development (CMD) and unethical pro-organizational behaviour (UPB) by taking purchasing employees as research subjects. The moderating effect of perceived leader’s UPB is also explored.

Data were collected through a two-stage questionnaire survey on purchasing employees in companies across a spectrum of industries in Taiwan, and 492 purchasing employees were analysed in the study.

Research findings reveal that employees at the conventional level of CMD are more likely to conduct UPB than those at the pre-conventional and post-conventional levels. Perceived leader’s UPB will moderate the association between CMD and UPB. Employees’ UPB is strongly associated with their CMD when they perceive their leaders as being likely to perform UPB.

Although a variety of factors influencing UPB have been proposed in the literature, none of them have analysed the association between CMD and UPB. However, CMD is one important factor affecting ethical decision-making. The present study can promote further understanding of the role of CMD in UPB and contribute to a growing body of research on CMD and UPB.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the mediating effects of transformational and transactional leadership styles on the relationship between organizational ethics and workplace incivility.

The study employed cross-sectional survey design. Data were obtained from 209 employees from the telecommunication sector. The structural equation model was employed as the analytical tool to test the hypotheses of the study.

Organizational ethics was negatively related to workplace incivility. Both transformational and transactional leadership styles mediated the relationship between organizational ethics and workplace incivility.

Human resource developers and managers can employ, appraise, train and develop managers who can ethically demonstrate transactional, and transformational leadership behaviors to deal with workplace incivilities.

The paper makes an important contribution to the existing organizational literature by establishing the relevance of transformational and transactional leadership styles as mediators of the nexus between organizational ethics and workplace incivility in the telecommunication sector.

The purpose of this study is to test the mechanism of visionary leadership on subordinates' work withdrawal behavior through cognitive strain and psychological contract violation, and also to reveal the possible dark side of visionary leadership. The moderation effects of subordinates' facades of conformity and leader behavioral integrity in the cognition–affect dual-path process are also discussed.

This study conducted a three-wave longitudinal survey. The data were collected from 574 employees and their superiors in several Chinese enterprises. The authors used Mplus 7.4 and adopted a bootstrapping technique in the data analysis.

Visionary leadership has positive effects on cognitive strain and psychological contract violation; cognitive strain and psychological contract violation mediate the relationship between visionary leadership and work withdrawal behavior, respectively. Subordinates' facades of conformity and leader behavioral integrity moderate the positive effects of visionary leadership on cognitive strain and psychological contract violation, as well as the indirect effect of visionary leadership on subordinates' work withdrawal behavior through cognitive strain and psychological contract violation.

This study reveals the underlying mechanism of visionary leadership's negative impact on job outcome through the cognition and affective reaction of subordinates to visionary leadership, and broadens the scope of visionary leadership research. It also provides some practical suggestions on how to transmit the organizational vision effectively and reduce subordinates' work withdrawal behavior.

Ethical leadership has been recognized as a critical factor in encouraging employees’ moral voices. This study offers a dual-route model to understand this process. The boundary conditions of these two routes are discussed herein.

The data originate from a multiwave, multisource survey study of 212 leader–subordinate dyads in Taiwan drawn from a variety of industry sectors.

The findings validate both the cognitive (moral efficacy) and affective (affective attachment) pathways from ethical leadership to moral voice, influenced by the organizational factor of political climate. While the moral efficacy pathway is more pronounced in a situation of weak political climate, the affective attachment pathway remains effective regardless of the climate’s strength.

Managers need to identify if their organization prioritizes rational professionalism or interpersonal affection. In the former case, they should focus on the learning effects of ethical leadership. Conversely, in the latter, the emphasis should be on the leader-subordinate relationship. Doing so optimizes the effectiveness of ethical leadership in growing moral voices.

Considering both cognitive and affective routes from ethical leadership to moral voice could integrate social learning theory (SLT) and social exchange theory (SET). Identifying factors influencing these two routes resonates with the leader–situation interaction perspective. This research deepens the understanding of ethical leadership's effects on encouraging and protecting employee moral voice.

This study aims to examine the determinants of ethical decision-making (EDM) of professional accountants in Sri Lanka, drawing on Rest’s (1986) four-component EDM model. The level of corporate collapses and fraud, coupled with the high level of corruption in Sri Lanka, has highlighted the importance and the timely nature of this research in the EDM processes of Sri Lankan accountants.

Data was collected from a sample of 315 accountants through a questionnaire survey that included four written ethical vignettes and was analysed using partial least square-structural equation modelling techniques.

The findings revealed a significant relationship between ethical awareness and ethical judgement, providing support for Rest’s model. However, the study does not support Rest’s model on the direct relationship between ethical judgement and ethical intention. Intrinsic religiosity and moral intensity significantly influenced the ethical awareness of accountants. Several determinants including accountants’ age, education, intrinsic religiosity, organisational ethical culture, familiarity with the professional ethical code and moral intensity influenced ethical judgement. However, the findings did not report any significant relationships between the study’s variables and ethical intention.

The study adds to the existing literature by providing a bigger picture of how various determinants work together in one EDM model and demonstrating that the EDM of accountants is multifaceted. The new finding on an insignificant relationship between ethical judgement and ethical intention implies that the Rest’s EDM process may be mediated and moderated by other constraints blocking accountants’ intention to act due to various pressures in a corrupt society, Sri Lanka, where accountants operate.

Based on social cognitive theory, this study aims to explore the influence of supervisor bottom-line mentality (SBLM) on employee knowledge behavior (knowledge territorial behavior and knowledge sabotage behavior). The study first investigates the role of an ethical decision-making mechanism (moral disengagement) in mediating this relationship. In addition, it considers the possible boundary conditions to supplement research on the influence of SBLM in the knowledge management field.

The authors collected 256 data points from employees across three stages using convenience sampling. The authors then tested the proposed hypothesis using hierarchical regression and bootstrap methods.

The results demonstrated that SBLM promotes employees’ moral disengagement, leading to more knowledge territorial behavior and knowledge sabotage behavior. Furthermore, high power distance orientation among employees exacerbates the ill effects of SBLM according to the first stage of a moderated mediation model. Employees with such an orientation are more likely to respond to a SBLM by exhibiting a higher level of moral disengagement, thus increasing their knowledge territorial behavior and knowledge sabotage behavior.

Research on the influence of SBLM in the knowledge management field is limited. This study not only clarifies the relationships between SBLM and two types of knowledge behavior (knowledge territorial behavior and knowledge sabotage behavior) but also enriches the research on the antecedents of these two types of knowledge behavior.

This study aims to contribute novel insights into understanding and mitigating the harmful consequences of abusive supervision (AS) by examining the association between AS experiences, revenge, forgiveness, and the moderating role of emotional intelligence (EI). The key argument is that employees' EI can influence the AS experience through affective processes, countering supervisors' abusive behaviors.

A between-person scenario-based experiment was conducted with 366 participants divided into AS and control groups. The study explored the association between AS experience and revenge/forgiveness, mediated by core affect (valence and activation). EI abilities were measured as a moderator. Data analysis examined the relationships and interactions among AS, revenge/forgiveness, EI, and affective experiences.

The study reveals significant findings indicating that AS experiences were positively associated with revenge and negatively associated with forgiveness. The mediation analysis confirmed the role of core affect in these relationships. EI emerged as a moderator, shaping the association between AS experiences and revenge/forgiveness. Importantly, participants with higher EI exhibited lower revenge intentions, demonstrating the potential of EI to mitigate the adverse effects of AS. Unexpectedly, individuals with high EI also expressed fewer forgiveness intentions.

This study provides a comprehensive understanding of how employees can effectively counterbalance the impact of AS through higher levels of strategic EI. Examining core affect as a mediator offers novel insights into coping mechanisms in response to AS experiences and their consequences.

The study acknowledges several limitations, as the scenarios may only partially capture the complexities of real-life AS situations. The focus on a specific context and the sample characteristics limit the generalizability of the findings. Future research should explore diverse organizational contexts and employ longitudinal designs.

The findings have practical implications for organizations as enhancing employees' EI skills through training programs interventions and integrating EI into organizational culture and leadership conduct.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Abusive supervision provokes subordinates’ interpersonal deviant behavior. It is, therefore, essential to explore the contingent factors of this relationship. Drawing upon gender role theory, this study aims to explore how subordinate and leader genders moderate the relationship between abusive supervision and subordinate interpersonal deviance. Furthermore, this study posits a three-way interaction effect of abusive supervision with leader and subordinate genders on interpersonal deviance.

Multisource survey data were collected from 45 supervisors and 170 subordinates in eight companies in China. The data were analyzed using the PROCESS macro in SPSS.

The results showed that the positive relationship between abusive supervision and interpersonal deviance was stronger among female leaders than male leaders. Furthermore, the authors found a three-way interaction effect between abusive supervision and leader and subordinate genders on subordinates’ interpersonal deviance. Compared with female subordinates, male subordinates engaged in significantly more interpersonal deviance when experiencing abusive supervision from a female leader than from a male leader.

The authors reveal that gender differences exist in the effect of abusive supervision on subordinates’ interpersonal deviant behavior. Furthermore, the authors demonstrate that subordinate and leader genders jointly influence the effect of abusive supervision. Finally, the findings extend the literature on gender’s moderating effects from constructive and neutral leader behaviors to destructive leader behaviors.

This study aims to investigate the influences of perceived and preferred coaching behaviors and the discrepancy between them on job satisfaction, mediated by the quality of the relationship with the immediate supervisor and adaptive performance.

The research adopted a cross-sectional survey design. A total of 220 Korean employees, small-sized team members, were recruited from the automotive industry for the study. This research explored the relationship between perceived and preferred coaching behaviors using the Pearson correlation. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the relationships among perceived and preferred managerial coaching behaviors, the discrepancy between them, the quality of the relationship with the immediate supervisor, adaptive performance and job satisfaction.

Perceived and preferred coaching behaviors exhibited a weak correlation. Perceived coaching behaviors indirectly influenced job satisfaction through the quality of the relationship with the immediate supervisor and adaptive performance. The discrepancy between perceived and preferred coaching behaviors directly and indirectly influenced job satisfaction via adaptive performance. However, all paths related to preferred coaching behaviors were found to be insignificant.

Although the results of this research may be generalized to the Korean automotive industry, the findings highlight perceived and preferred coaching behaviors and the discrepancy between them as independent variables. The findings shed light on the influences of managerial coaching on the quality of the relationship with the immediate supervisor within Korean workplace cultures and how coaching behaviors contribute to triggering subordinates’ adaptive performance. In addition, the study provides how managerial coaching influences job satisfaction in the workplace.

Based on the findings, an organization should cultivate self-directed learning environments to enhance employees’ adaptive performance. The coaching training session should be added to the leadership development program for new managers. Team leaders need to consider their members’ preferences during managerial coaching.

The variables, such as preferred coaching variables and the discrepancy between perceived and preferred coaching behaviors, along with the research framework, represent a novelty in managerial coaching, as well as within the Korean context.