Integrating relational systems theory with ethical leadership: how ethical leadership relates to employee turnover intentions

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis J. Marquardt ◽  
Jennifer Manegold ◽  
Lee W. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Leadership ◽  
Turnover Intentions ◽  
Moral Identity ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
Relationship Conflict ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Working Adults ◽  
Time Points ◽  
Relational Systems

PurposeAs ethical leadership has advanced as a construct, the degree to which healthy relational systems explain its effect on employee outcomes has been understudied. With this manuscript we conceptualize and test a model based on a Relational Systems approach to ethical leadership and its relationship with conflict and turnover intentions.Design/methodology/approachTwo studies were conducted to test our hypothesized first- and second-stage moderated mediation model. In Study 1, online surveys were completed by 168 working adults across two different time points. Study 2 extended Study 1 by surveying 115 working adults across three time points using the Mechanical Turk platform.FindingsThe indirect relationship between ethical leadership and turnover intentions via relationship conflict was conditional based on follower moral identity. The negative influence of ethical leadership on relationship conflict and, in turn, turnover intentions was stronger for followers who had higher moral identities. In addition, our findings suggest that leader holding behaviors strengthen the negative indirect effects of ethical leadership on turnover intentions.Originality/valueThis paper demonstrates the usefulness of a Relational Systems theoretical approach to understanding ethical leadership. Specifically, ethical leaders, through their desire and ability to help employees feel known and not alone at work, are better able to reduce relationship conflict and, in turn, reduce employees' desire to leave the organization.

How Ethical Leadership Relates to Conflict and Turnover Intentions: A Relational Systems Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (1) ◽  
pp. 17863
Author(s):  
Dennis John Marquardt ◽  
Jennifer Grace Manegold ◽  
Lee Warren Brown
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Leadership ◽  
Turnover Intentions ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Relational Systems

As the tree is, so is the fruit? Examining the effects of ethical leadership on bootlegging from the perspective of leader–follower gender similarity

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuwen Li ◽  
Ruiqian Jia ◽  
Juergen H. Seufert ◽  
Huijie Tang ◽  
Jinlian Luo
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Leadership ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Moral Identity ◽  
Path Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Chinese Companies ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Gender Similarity ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Moral Efficacy

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore how and when ethical leadership enhances bootlegging. To achieve this purpose, the authors proposed a moderated dual-path model in this study. Design/methodology/approach The model was tested on two related studies. Study 1 was based on three-wave, collected data from a sample of 511 employees of Chinese companies. Data used in Study 2 was collected by survey from employees and their direct leaders of multiple departments of companies in China. Findings In Study 1, the authors found that moral efficacy and moral identity mediate between ethical leadership and bootlegging. Findings from Study 2 provide convergent support of moral efficacy’s and moral identity’s impact on the mediation relationship between ethical leadership and bootlegging. Moreover, the results of Study 2 further reveal that the relationship between ethical leadership and moral efficacy (or moral identity) was more significant among leader–follower with different genders. Originality/value This study not only enriches the literature on ethical leadership and gender (dis)similarity, but also helps managers to better understand the function of bootlegging.

scholarly journals Employees’ perceptions of corporate social responsibility and ethical leadership: are they uniquely related to turnover intention?

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehran Nejati ◽  
Michael E. Brown ◽  
Azadeh Shafaei ◽  
Pi-Shen Seet
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Ethical Leadership ◽  
Turnover Intention ◽  
Turnover Intentions ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the simultaneous effect of ethical leadership (EL) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) on employees’ turnover intention and examine the mediating mechanism in these relationships. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a field study of 851 employees across a variety of industries. This study applied partial least squares structural equation modelling for hypothesis testing. Findings The results show that employees’ perceptions of CSR as well as EL are both uniquely and negatively related to turnover intention. The authors also found that employees’ job satisfaction but not commitment, mediates these relationships. Research limitations/implications This study answers the recent call (Schminke and Sheridan, 2017) for ethics researchers to put competing explanations to the test to determine their relative importance. Research limitations have been discussed in the paper. Social implications Through providing empirical support for the positive impact of CSR and EL on employee-related outcomes and creating a decent and empowering work environment, this study provides further support for CSR and EL. As CSR and EL require accountability, responsible management and addressing societal well-being of stakeholders, this study can contribute to the United Nations sustainable development goals. Originality/value Previous research has found that both employees’ perceptions of supervisory EL and CSR are negatively related to employees’ turnover intentions. Yet, researchers know little about their relative importance because these relationships have not been adequately examined simultaneously.

Machiavellianism, locus of control, moral identity, and ethical leadership among public service leaders in Malaysia: the moderating effect of ethical role modelling

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nor Farah Hanis Zainun ◽  
Johanim Johari ◽  
Zurina Adnan
Keyword(s):  
Locus Of Control ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Ethical Leadership ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Moral Identity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Role Modelling ◽  
Ethical Role

PurposeThe 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/approachA 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.FindingsMoral 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/implicationsThis 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 implicationsThe 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/valueThe 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.

Exploring the links between ethical leadership, customer orientation and employee outcomes in the context of retailing

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (7) ◽  
pp. 1642-1658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arto Lindblom ◽  
Sami Kajalo ◽  
Lasse Mitronen
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Ethical Leadership ◽  
Service Management ◽  
Turnover Intentions ◽  
Customer Orientation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Frontline Employee ◽  
Employee Job Satisfaction ◽  
Related Stress ◽  
Job Related Stress

Purpose – In the increasingly competitive retail environment, retailers’ ability to elevate frontline employees’ customer orientation (CO) can make the difference between the success and failure of their stores. However, the question of how to enhance employee CO is a tricky one. It has been stated that employee CO is a stable work value or disposition that is consistent over time, and therefore, difficult to manage. However, one factor that might be an important driver of employee CO is the retailers’ ethical leadership behaviour. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to focus on exploring the links between retailers’ ethical leadership, frontline employee CO and frontline employee job satisfaction, job-related stress and turnover intentions. Design/methodology/approach – For the purpose of this study, the authors develop five hypotheses about the retailers’ ethical leadership, frontline employee CO and frontline employee job satisfaction, job-related stress and turnover intentions. Using structural equation modelling, the authors test the hypotheses using a sample of 208 respondents from the Finnish retail industry. Findings – As a first important contribution, the findings of the present study indicate that frontline employee perceptions of their retailer’s ethical leadership are strongly linked to employee CO. As a second contribution, our results suggest that employee CO is positively related to job satisfaction. As a third contribution, this study shows that frontline employee job satisfaction is negatively related to their turnover intentions. Originality/value – This study contributes to service management and retail marketing literature by broadening the current understanding of the links between the ethical leadership of retailers, frontline employee CO and frontline employee job satisfaction, job-related stress and turnover intentions.

The influence of ethical leadership on academic employees’ organizational citizenship behavior and turnover intention

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 583-605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raad Abdulkareem Shareef ◽  
Tarik Atan
Keyword(s):  
Intrinsic Motivation ◽  
Organizational Citizenship ◽  
Ethical Leadership ◽  
Organizational Citizenship Behavior ◽  
Turnover Intention ◽  
Turnover Intentions ◽  
Citizenship Behavior ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of ethical leadership on followers’ organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and turnover intention and to examine the mediating role of intrinsic motivation in the relationships.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed a quantitative research method with a sample of 351 supervisor–subordinate dyads in three large public universities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The statistical analysis was conducted using Statistical Package for Social Science software, through multiple regression analyses to test the research hypotheses.FindingsThe results indicated that ethical leadership positively related to OCB and negatively related to turnover intentions. The results also showed that intrinsic motivation fully mediates the relationship between ethical leadership, OCB, and turnover intentions.Originality/valueThis study recognized the gap in the literature, and it contributes to the body of knowledge through an examination of the mediating role of intrinsic motivation between ethical leadership, OCB and turnover intention, relying on the cognitive evaluation theory.

Blaming leaders for team relationship conflict? The roles of leader-member exchange differentiation and ethical leadership

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingjian Zhou ◽  
Shuisheng Shi
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Leadership ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Relationship Conflict ◽  
Leader Member Exchange ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lmx Theory ◽  
Member Exchange ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Extended Power

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to extend our understanding of the role of leaders in team relationship conflict. Leader-member exchange (LMX) differentiation was hypothesized to be positively related to team relationship conflict. Additionally, ethical leadership was hypothesized to moderate relations between LMX differentiation and team relationship conflict. Design/methodology/approach – Hypotheses were examined in a sample of 79 working teams. Data were collected via a questionnaire containing measures of LMX, team relationship conflict and ethical leadership. Findings – Hypotheses were supported by the data. LMX differentiation was positively related to team relationship conflict, and ethical leadership weakened the relationship between LMX differentiation and team relationship conflict. Originality/value – This is the first theoretical analysis and empirical study of relationships between LMX differentiation and team relationship conflict. Theoretically, by using LMX theory to account for team-level outcomes, this study extended power of LMX theory. Practically, these results suggest that leaders may be responsible for team relationship conflict.

Effects of ethical leadership, job satisfaction and affective commitment on the turnover intentions of accountants

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuri Gökhan Torlak ◽  
Cemil Kuzey ◽  
Muhammet Sait Dinç ◽  
Ali Haydar Güngörmüş
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Organizational Behavior ◽  
Ethical Leadership ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Affective Commitment ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Turnover Intentions ◽  
Negative Association ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The paper aims to analyze the relationships between ethical leadership (EL), job satisfaction (JS), affective commitment (AC) and turnover intention (TI) that might make accountants quit withdrawal and become productive and useful in private organizations operating in Istanbul. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through an online survey using a simple random sampling methodology, obtained from 153 accountants working in companies in Istanbul. The methodology included descriptive statistics, factor analysis, structural equation modeling and mediation analysis. Findings Concerning direct relationships between EL, JS, AC and TI, EL has significant positive associations with JS and AC, whereas EL has a significant negative association with TI. JS has a significant positive association with AC, whereas JS has a significant negative association with TI. Also, AC has a weak significant negative association with TI. Given indirect relationships among EL, JS, AC and TI, JS and AC mediate the relationship between EL and TI. Finally, a similarity is found when comparing Generation X and Generation Y in terms of overall JS, AC and TI. Research limitations/implications The study is limited solely to companies functioning in Istanbul and incorporates a low number of respondents. Therefore, the results cannot be considered to be accurate for the whole country. The study might guide both private and public organizations in which owners/managers develop strategic plans. Originality/value The study fills the gap in research on organizational behavior where little has existed until now that probes the EL–JS–AC–TI links in Turkey. A few studies measure the TIs of accountants. Furthermore, EL and AC are rarely evaluated in the field of accounting in Turkey.

A study on the effect of ethical leadership on teachers’ moral motivation at schools in Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 965-985 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shazia Rehman Khan ◽  
David C. Bauman ◽  
Uzma Javed
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Style ◽  
Ethical Leadership ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Moral Identity ◽  
Moral Motivation ◽  
Component Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Moral Person ◽  
The City ◽  
Moral Manager

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to examine the influence of ethical leadership on moral motivation of teachers in the schools of Pakistan.Design/methodology/approachScenario-based experimental design was used to collect data (N = 174 teachers) from 25 schools in the city of Islamabad. Participants included 156 females and 18 males aged 23–37 years. Ethical leadership was measured at both construct and component levels (moral person and moral manager).FindingsThe results found that the moral person component of ethical leadership style heightens the moral identity (internalization)-based moral motivation, while the moral manager component and ethical leadership at construct level style increases moral identity (symbolization)-based moral motivation. Interestingly, in the absence of reward, only the moral person component of ethical leadership style maintained participants’ moral motivation.Originality/valueThe originality of this study lies in highlighting the divergence in ethical leadership style at component level that explains the differences in moral motivation of the teachers.

Examining the linkages between relationship conflict, performance and turnover intentions

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Razia Shaukat ◽  
Amna Yousaf ◽  
Karin Sanders
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Turnover Intentions ◽  
Contextual Performance ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Relationship Conflict ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Three Dimension ◽  
Conflict Task ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to offer insights regarding the consequences of relationship conflict among employees in terms of their task performance, contextual performance and turnover intentions. Utilizing a resource depletion approach in the backdrop of Conservation of Resources theory, it is hypothesized that the three-dimension burnout (exhaustion, cynicism and interpersonal strain) play a mediating role in influencing the linkages between relationship conflict and outcomes. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 306 telecom engineers and their supervisors and analyzed using structural equation modeling to test the interrelationships among the study constructs. Findings Results indicated that relationship conflict is negatively related to task performance and contextual performance and positively relates to turnover intentions, and that the three dimensions of job burnout, i.e. exhaustion, cynicism and interpersonal strain at work, distinctively mediate the linkages between relationship conflict, task and contextual performance and turnover intentions. Originality/value This study explores how relationship conflict transmits its effect to job performance and turnover intentions through mediation of burnout. All in all, the findings have important practical as well as theoretical implications for managers and academicians alike.

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