“Too much of a good thing?”: exploring the dark side of empowering leadership by linking it with unethical pro-organizational behavior

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xue Zhang ◽  
Guyang Tian ◽  
Chao Ma ◽  
Yezhuang Tian ◽  
Zhongqiu Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Behavior ◽  
Social Exchange ◽  
Social Exchange Theory ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Empowering Leadership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Indirect Relationship ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeGrounded in social exchange theory (SET), the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between empowering leadership and unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB), as mediated by duty orientation (including duty to members, duty to mission and duty to codes). Further, this study proposes that perceived leader expediency moderates indirectly between empowering leadership and UPB.Design/methodology/approachThis paper tests this social exchange model across a survey study using time-lagged data collections from 215 employees of a service company in China.FindingsThe results show that duty orientation mediates the relationship between empowering leadership and UPB. In addition, perceived leader expediency moderates the indirect relationship between empowering leadership and UPB through duty orientation (i.e. duty to members and duty to missions).Originality/valueThis research aids in understanding the impact of empowering leadership on follower outcomes by investigating the dark side of empowering leadership and examining the relationships between empowering leadership, duty orientation and UPB. The present study also challenges the notion that the phrase “the greater the empowerment, the better the outcomes” suggests that organizations should offer a conditional approach to the empowerment of followers by their leaders.

The relationship between abusive supervision and unethical pro-organizational behavior: linear or curvilinear?

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 369-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Limin Guo ◽  
Hongdan Zhao ◽  
Ken Cheng ◽  
Jinlian Luo
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Behavior ◽  
Social Exchange ◽  
Social Exchange Theory ◽  
Abusive Supervision ◽  
Proactive Personality ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Moral Awareness ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeBased on social exchange theory and research on proactive personality, this study aims to explore the relationship between abusive supervision and unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB), taking proactive personality as a boundary condition.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducted a two-wave questionnaire survey and used data from 353 Chinese employees of a diversified company to test the research hypotheses.FindingsThe relationship between abusive supervision and UPB varied with proactive personality. Specifically, abusive supervision had an inverted U-shaped effect on UPB when proactive personality was high, while abusive supervision was negatively related to UPB when proactive personality was low.Research limitations/implicationsMore research are encouraged to replicate our study in different cultural contexts. Besides, future research can gather data from dyads (e.g. supervisor–subordinate dyad and coworker–subordinate dyad) so as to increase the objectivity and validity of the data.Practical implicationsManagers should reduce abusive supervision and elevate proactive employees' moral awareness.Social implicationsThis study hopes that the authors’ findings will help practitioners to devote greater attention to managing proactive personality, abusive supervision and UPB in the organization.Originality/valueFirst, this study enriches the abusive supervision literature by identifying UPB as a consequence of abusive supervision. Second, this study provides a better understanding of the coping tactics used to combat abusive supervision. Third, this study uncovers a dark side of proactive personality by verifying the moderating effect of proactive personality.

When and how abusive supervision leads to knowledge hiding behaviors

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 794-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Khalid ◽  
Sajid Bashir ◽  
Abdul Karim Khan ◽  
Nida Abbas
Keyword(s):  
Social Exchange ◽  
Social Exchange Theory ◽  
Abusive Supervision ◽  
Time Lags ◽  
Interpersonal Justice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Values And Beliefs ◽  
Knowledge Hiding ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between abusive supervision and knowledge hiding behaviors. The authors further investigate how abusive supervision is linked with knowledge hiding behaviors, and why some subordinates, unlike others, tend to engage in more knowledge hiding behaviors in response to abusive supervision. The authors propose that interpersonal justice mediates the relationship between abusive supervision and knowledge hiding behaviors, and that Islamic work ethics (IWE) weaken the hypothesized relationship between abusive supervision and knowledge hiding behaviors. Design/methodology/approach The data were gathered in three time lags from 224 respondents working in the hospitality industry of Pakistan. Findings The results reveal that the abusive supervision is positively associated with a knowledge hiding behaviors. This relationship is mediated by perceptions of interpersonal justice, but the IWE moderated this relationship such that in the presence of high levels of IWE, the impact of abusive supervision on knowledge hiding behaviors is weak. Practical implications Employees’ values and beliefs can serve as a safeguard against reactions to abusive supervision. The impact of abusive supervision on employees’ behaviors may be minimized by building their ethical values around Islamic principles. Originality/value To the best of the knowledge, this is the first study to examine the relationship between abusive supervision and knowledge hiding behaviors. The authors integrate displaced aggression and social exchange theory with the IWE literature to offer new insights in-to the mechanisms and boundary conditions associated with the relationship between abusive supervision and knowledge hiding behaviors.

Empowering group leaders encourages knowledge sharing: integrating the social exchange theory and positive organizational behavior perspective

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 474-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei-Li Wu ◽  
Yi-Chih Lee
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Behavior ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Social Exchange ◽  
Social Exchange Theory ◽  
Psychological Capital ◽  
Work Group ◽  
Group Leaders ◽  
Empowering Leadership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Positive Leadership

Purpose Knowledge sharing usually happens in a work group context, but it is rarely know how group leaders influence their members’ knowledge-sharing performance. Based on social exchange theory (SET) and the perspective of positive organizational behavior (POB), this study aims to argue that a group leader’s positive leadership (e.g. empowering leadership) can help group members develop positive psychological capital which can increase their knowledge sharing. Design/methodology/approach The authors conduct a multilevel analysis to explore the interrelationship among empowering leadership, psychological capital and knowledge sharing. The sample includes 64 work groups consisting of 537 group members, and empirical testing is carried out by hierarchical linear modeling. Findings The results show that empowering leadership in a work group has a direct cross-level impact on members’ knowledge sharing and that psychological capital partially mediates the relationship between empowering leadership and knowledge sharing. As a result, this study shows that group leaders with positive leadership can help their members develop better positive psychological resources, which should lead to better knowledge sharing. Originality/value Based on the multilevel perspective and SET, this is the first study to explore how group leaders’ empowering leadership influences members’knowledge sharing. Depending on integrating the POB perspective into SET, this study is also the first one that connects two emerging and important research issues – POB and knowledge sharing.

Why and when does ethical leadership evoke unethical follower behavior?

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 500-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karianne Kalshoven ◽  
Hans van Dijk ◽  
Corine Boon
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Behavior ◽  
Social Exchange ◽  
Ethical Leadership ◽  
Organizational Identification ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Simultaneous Estimation ◽  
Regression Equations ◽  
Job Autonomy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – In examining whether social exchange or social identity mechanisms drive the relationship between ethical leadership and unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB), the purpose of this paper is to argue that the mechanism linking ethical leadership and UPB varies for different levels of job autonomy. Design/methodology/approach – Data were requested from 225 employees in several Dutch organizations, of which 156 questionnaires were returned. The authors used multilevel path analysis in MPlus to test the hypotheses, which allows for simultaneous estimation of different regression equations and for testing the significance of indirect effects. Findings – In line with the hypotheses, results revealed a direct relationship between ethical leadership and UPB when followers have little job autonomy. For followers high on job autonomy, the authors found that ethical leadership relates to UPB via organizational identification. Practical implications – It is advised to use ethical leadership with care when it focusses on reciprocity and identification. The results suggest that followers may be inclined to justify their unethical actions by appealing to the principle of higher loyalty – believing they are just doing what the organization wants them to do. Originality/value – Previous research has used social learning theory to show that ethical leadership is likely to stimulate and transfer ethical norms and behaviors. The current study however demonstrates the reciprocal and dark side of ethical leadership, as the authors found that ethical leadership can encourage UPB for followers with low job autonomy.

Ethical leadership and organizational commitment: the dual perspective of social exchange and empowerment

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongkyu Kim ◽  
Christian Vandenberghe
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Social Exchange ◽  
Ethical Leadership ◽  
Organizational Support ◽  
Social Exchange Theory ◽  
Structural Equations ◽  
Normative Commitment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Indirect Relationship ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeGiven recent prominent ethical scandals (e.g. Tesla, Uber) and the increasing demand for ethical management, the importance of business ethics has recently surged. One area that needs further research regards how ethical leaders can foster followers’ organizational commitment. Drawing upon social exchange theory, the current research proposes that ethical leadership relates to follower affective and normative commitment through perceived organizational support (POS). Moreover, based on self-determination theory, we expected follower psychological empowerment to positively moderate the relationship between ethical leadership and commitment components.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using a three-wave study among employees from multiple organizations (N = 297) in Canada. Structural equations modeling and bootstrapping analyses were applied to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results showed that ethical leadership was positively related to follower affective and normative commitment through POS. Furthermore, the relationship between ethical leadership and POS was stronger at high levels of empowerment. This moderating effect extended to the indirect relationship between ethical leadership and commitment components.Originality/valueThis study counts among the few investigations that have examined the mechanisms linking ethical leadership to followers’ organizational commitment and boundary conditions associated with this relationship. Moreover, our findings were obtained while controlling for transformational leadership, which highlights the incremental validity of ethical leadership.

Relationship closeness paradox: contingency analysis in B2B sales

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 971-982 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yonggui Wang ◽  
Daniel Peter Hampson ◽  
Myat Su Han
Keyword(s):  
Social Exchange ◽  
Social Exchange Theory ◽  
Sales Performance ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Contingency Analysis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Market Expansion ◽  
Relationship Closeness ◽  
Business Customers

Purpose This study aims to examine the positive and negative consequences of relationship closeness between salespersons and their business customers in a B2B sales context: sales performance and salesperson passive opportunism. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the social exchange theory, the authors develop a conceptual model of positive and negative consequences of relationship closeness. The authors empirically test the model using matched survey data from 269 salesperson-sales supervisor dyads and individual sales performance ratings from one of the largest distribution and market expansion companies in Myanmar. Findings Results provide evidence of positive (i.e. sales performance) and negative (i.e. salesperson passive opportunism) consequences of salesperson’s perceived relationship closeness. These relationships are, however, contingent on organization-level and employee-level factors. High extent of supervision enhances the effects of salesperson’s perceived relationship closeness on sales performance but attenuates its influence on salesperson passive opportunism. The effect of salesperson’s perceived relationship closeness on salesperson’s passive opportunism is stronger for salespersons with a promotion (vs prevention) focus. Research limitations/implications The results offer guidelines to firms seeking to optimize the efficacy of close relationships between their salespersons and customers. For example, higher levels of supervision could increase the likelihood of positive outcomes of relationship closeness while minimizing its negative consequences. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to demonstrate not only the benefits of relationship closeness between salespersons and customers but also its dark side: the relationship closeness paradox.

Residents’ perceptions of the impact of tourism in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 551-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nada Hammad ◽  
Syed Zamberi Ahmad ◽  
Avraam Papastathopoulos
Keyword(s):  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Social Exchange ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Social Exchange Theory ◽  
Cultural Influences ◽  
Abu Dhabi ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to investigate residents’ perceptions of tourism’s impact on their support for tourism development in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires from Abu Dhabi residents (n = 407), who represented 30 nationalities residing in the emirate. Based on social exchange theory, structural equation modeling was used to test hypotheses. Findings Results suggest that Abu Dhabi residents perceive the impacts of tourism positively and are more sensitive to the environmental and economic influences of tourism than the social and cultural influences. Research limitations/implications This study was limited to Abu Dhabi residents; findings cannot be generalized to other emirates in the UAE, or other countries. Originality/value This study adds value to extant tourism literature by investigating residents’ perceptions of the influence of tourism in one of the richest cities worldwide, which aspires to be one of the fastest growing tourism destinations in the Middle East.

Effects of suppliers’ trust and commitment on customer involvement

2015 ◽  
Vol 115 (6) ◽  
pp. 1041-1066 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Li ◽  
Gang Li ◽  
Taiwen Feng
Keyword(s):  
Social Exchange ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Social Exchange Theory ◽  
Exchange Theory ◽  
Governance Mechanism ◽  
Relational Governance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Customer Involvement ◽  
Specific Investment ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships among suppliers’ trust and commitment, transaction-specific investment, switching cost, and customer involvement within the context of relational governance mechanism and the social exchange theory. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use survey data from 214 Chinese manufacturing firms and employ the structural equation model to verify the conceptual model. Findings – Relational governance benefits customer involvement. Transaction-specific investment mediates the relationship between trust and commitment of suppliers. Switching costs negatively moderate the relationship between suppliers’ trust and customer involvement, but positively moderate the relationship between suppliers’ commitment and customer involvement. Research limitations/implications – The authors focus on two key elements of relationship, namely, trust and commitment of suppliers, but neglect other relational factors, such as relational norms and interdependence. Originality/value – These findings broaden the understanding and present new directions for the implementation of customer involvement from the perspective of relational governance and social exchange theory.

The Indirect Effect of Justice Perceptions on Job Satisfaction Among Hispanic Employees

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 486-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Heron ◽  
Robert Coseano ◽  
Valentina Bruk-Lee
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Organizational Behavior ◽  
Social Exchange ◽  
Social Exchange Theory ◽  
Exchange Theory ◽  
Attitudes And Behaviors ◽  
Justice Perceptions ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Overall Job Satisfaction ◽  
The U.S

The notion that justice perceptions greatly influence behaviors and attitudes at work has been supported in the organizational behavior literature. Given the significant increase of Hispanic employees in the U.S. workforce in the last two decades, more research is needed to understand how justice relates to important outcomes in this population. The present study uses social exchange theory to examine conflict as a mediator of the relationship between justice and overall job satisfaction, and three individual facets of job satisfaction in a sample of 154 working Hispanic young adults in a variety of jobs. Findings indicate that conflict mediates the relationship between each dimension of justice and overall job satisfaction, and between two out of three examined facets of job satisfaction. The results provide evidence for the importance of justice perceptions in determining the attitudes and behaviors of Hispanic employees in the workplace.

scholarly journals Too much reciprocity?

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 473-491
Author(s):  
Zhe Sun ◽  
Qi Ai
Keyword(s):  
Social Exchange ◽  
Social Exchange Theory ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Chief Executive ◽  
Political Connections ◽  
Political Connection ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Chinese Multinationals ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Using the evidence of Chinese outbound mergers and acquisitions (M&As) enacted between 2006 and 2014, this study aims to investigate the role played by home political connections on the cost implications of Chinese multinationals. It also examines whether home political connections – at different levels and of different configurations – impact the operational cost of Chinese multinationals. Design/methodology/approach The data were analysed using a multivariate regression model. To examine their heterogeneous effect on Chinese multinationals, the political connection data were further split into higher and lower level political connections and in chief executive officer (CEO) and chairperson political connections. Findings This study implies the negative effect of home political connections on the internationalisation of Chinese multinationals. At the same time, the impact of lower-level political connections is stronger than that of their higher-level counterparts. Moreover, CEO political connections have a stronger effect on the operational costs of Chinese multinationals than their Chairperson equivalents. Originality/value By unravelling the “black box” of Chinese internationalisation from the social exchange perspective, through the informal political connection networking ties between Chinese firms and the government, this study advances emerging market multinational theory, contributes to the understanding of the heterogeneous nature of political connections and sheds new light on social exchange theory from the perspective of the emerging phenomenon of Chinese internationalisation.

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