Examining the Impact of Ethical Leadership on Employees’ Ethical Behavior: The Role of Organizational Justice and Employees’ Moral Identity

Halbusi, Hussam Al; Ismail, Mohd Nazari; Omar, Siti Sarah

doi:10.30880/jtmb.2019.06.02.004

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 96 publications

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“…Consequently, this study contributes to this limited stream of research with findings that support and help generalize this relationship in another country and context, which encompasses different ethnicities. Iraq is considered a Halbusi et al, 2019a), thus this study is a an asset for the generalization of this relationship across different culture.…”

Section: Theoretical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, no similar studies have been conducted on Middle Eastern cultures, such as the culture of Iraq. Often Iraqi organizations have a strong focus on profits, and it can be suggested they lack development in moral values, principles, and code of ethics (Al Halbusi et al, 2019a). After April 2003, the Iraqi economy collapsed due to the misconduct, mismanagement, corruption and misuse of power (Khalil, 2016).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Linking ethical leadership and ethical climate to employees' ethical behavior: the moderating role of person–organization fit

Halbusi

Williams

Ramayah

et al. 2020

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119

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PurposeWith the growing demand for ethical standards in the prevailing business environment, ethical leadership has been under increasingly more focus. Based on the social exchange theory and social learning theory, this study scrutinized the impact of ethical leadership on the presentation of ethical conduct by employees through the ethical climate. Notably, this study scrutinised the moderating function of the person-organisation fit (P-O fit) in relation of ethical climate and the ethical conduct of employees.Design/methodology/approachTo evaluate the research hypotheses, two-wave data were collected from 295 individuals who are currently employed in various Iraqi organizations (i.e. manufacturing, medical and insurance industries).FindingsIn line with the hypotheses, the outcomes from a sample of 295 workers working in different Iraqi entities exhibited a positive relation between the ethical behaviour of leaders and the ethical conduct of employees in the ethical climate. Moreover, it was observed that the P-O fit of employees moderated the relationship between ethical climate and the ethical conduct of employees such that the relationship was more robust for those with a high P-O fit in comparison to those with a low P-O fit.Research limitations/implicationsThe primary limitation of this study is in the data, which was obtained from a single source. Although the study conducted two surveys and utilised a mediation and moderation variables model that was less likely to be influenced by common method bias (CMB) (Podsakoff et al., 2012), one cannot completely rule out CMB. Apart from the potential effects of the CMB, the consistency of the empirical findings could have also been compromised since self-reported data were utilised in measuring ethical behaviour, which can be a very complex and sensitive issue. For this reason, the social desirability response bias cannot be ruled out completely. When possible, future studies must gather data from multiple sources. Furthermore, supervisors must evaluate the ethical behaviour of employees. Another limitation was that the findings of this study were based on a sample in a Middle Eastern cultural context such as in Iraq. Perhaps, the particular cultural features of this context, which encompassed, among other things, a strong adherence to religious values (Moaddel, 2010), could have influenced the findings of this study. It is true that the effects of differences (P–O fit) are highly likely to replicate across cultural contexts (Triandis et al., 1988). However, it can be seen that further studies are needed to evaluate the context-sensitivity of these findings (Whetten, 2009) by analysing other cultures, where the importance of religiosity is on the decline (i.e. in Western countries, Ribberink et al., 2018) or where the cultural features are very much different from those that apply to Iraq. Lastly, other external factors were not taken into account by this study as it tried to explain ethical behaviour. Ethics is a highly complex subject and is influenced by numerous variables at the organisational, individual and external environment levels. Thus, caution must be observed when making inferences from the present study which, to a certain degree, offered a simplified version of ethical behaviour by concentrating on a few variables such as the Arab culture's traditional ideology, which dominates even science (Abu Khalil, 1992). In addition, there are the political conflicts in the Middle Eastern cultural context such as what is happening in Iraq (Harff, 2018). Thus, it is important to include such aspects in future researches.Practical implicationsIn terms of management, the findings send a clear signal to those in the upper echelon that, without ignoring the issue of ethics in organizations, employees are a critical aspect to be taken into account to encourage ethical behaviour at the workplace. This study has important practical implications. First, this study determined that ethical leadership (here, of the supervisors) positively influences the behaviour of subordinates (refers to the supervisors here); this in turn further improves the ethical behaviour of employees. It is vital that managers or supervisors are motivated to practice ethical leadership because they directly influence the employees. It has been suggested that top managers, especially chief executive officers, have the ability to shape the ethical climate, which also influences the ethical behaviour of employees further. This study offered several feasible ways that managers can apply to achieve that. In particular, top managers may utilise the ethical climate as a way of communicating the ethical values that they have to their subordinates, thereby serving as a motivation for the subordinates to adopt an ethical behaviour. It was also suggested by this study that ethical climate and the P–O fit may, to some degree, substitute each other as they influence the ethical behaviour of employees. Therefore, firms that were identified to have a low level of ethical standards, practices, and policies, at least from the employees' perspective, are better poised to conduct ethical issues in order to construct the ethical behaviour of their subordinates. More importantly, it is highly essential that the value congruence between an organization and its followers be considered.Social implicationsThis study highlighted the notion of ethics and how it’s essential for society. Ethics refer to the norms, standards, and values that direct the behavior of an individual. Ethical behaviour is vital in society because we need to be treated with respect as human beings.Originality/valueThis study responds to recent calls for more research to identify factors which may strengthen or mitigate the influence ethical behavior in the workplace such as ethical leadership, ethical climate and Person–Organization.

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Section: Theoretical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking ethical leadership and ethical climate to employees' ethical behavior: the moderating role of person–organization fit

Halbusi

Williams

Ramayah

et al. 2020

Self Cite

119

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Numerous corporate scandals (e.g., Volkswagen, the London Interbank Offered Rate) have occurred in recent years, at causing great harm to society (Al Halbusi et al, 2019 , 2020b ; Babalola et al, 2019 ) and to organizations (Padilla et al, 2007 ). As a result, there is growing interest in understanding the sources of influence of unethical behavior in organizations, raising the need to implement measures to produce more ethical and humane businesses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Upper/Middle Managers' Ethical Leadership Activates Employee Ethical Behavior? The Role of Organizational Justice Perceptions Among Employees

et al. 2021

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Several studies have been conducted on ethical leadership and workplace ethical behavior but little is known about the role of organizational justice and each of its dimensions (procedural, distributive, interpersonal, informational) in this relationship. This study predicts that ethical leadership enhances organizational justice perceptions, including each of its specific dimensions, which in turn enhances employee ethical behavior. The results from two-wave survey data obtained from 270 employees in the Malaysian manufacturing industry confirm that ethical leadership has a positive impact on employee ethical behavior, and that organizational justice and each of its justice dimensions mediate this relationship, both individually and together. Importantly, interpersonal and informational dimensions show the strongest mediation effects. This paper highlights the actions and strategies that can help managers to effectively elevate the moral tone in their organizations. In particular, our findings show where managers must put more emphasis to foster an ethical workplace: on providing fair treatment (interpersonal justice) and honest information (informational justice).

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“…Moreover, it is also one of the most important and most frequent subjects of business ethics research since it is very critical and essential for organisations to implement socially responsible and ethical business practices. The subject of organisational behaviour is regarded as a function of an organisation's employees (Ones and Dilchert, 2012;Al Halbusi et al, 2019a). Employee responsible behaviours are individual-level employee actions that contribute to or detract from corporate social, ethical, and environmental performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Employee responsible behaviours are individual-level employee actions that contribute to or detract from corporate social, ethical, and environmental performance. The establishment of ethical behaviours requires guidance and clear values and structures which is very critical to set up (Treviño et al, 2014;Al Halbusi et al, 2019a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethical leadership and employee ethical behaviour: exploring dual-mediation paths of ethical climate and organisational justice: empirical study on Iraqi organisations

Halbusi

Ismail

Omar

2021

IJBGE

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Due to ethical lapses of leaders, interest in ethical leadership has grown, raising important questions about the responsibility of leaders in ensuring moral and ethical conduct. Research conducted on ethical leadership failed to investigate the active role that the characteristics of ethical climate and organisational justice have an increasing or decreasing influence on the ethical leadership in the organisation's outcomes of employees' ethical behaviour. Thus, this study examined the dual-mediations of work ethical climate and organisational justice on the relation of ethical leadership and ethical behaviour of employees. A total of 620 full-time employees from five Iraqi provinces working at 33 Iraqi organisations in the field of manufacturing, retailing, medical, insurance, information technology, legal, finance, and telecommunication responded to the questionnaire survey. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to test the model and data analysis was carried out using structural equation modelling-partial least square (SEM-PLS). The results revealed that there is a significant relationship between ethical leadership behaviour and the ethical behaviour of employees. Primarily, the study also found that ethical climate and organisational justice play a very significant mediating role between ethical leadership and employees' ethical behaviour.

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Examining the Impact of Ethical Leadership on Employees’ Ethical Behavior: The Role of Organizational Justice and Employees’ Moral Identity

Cited by 10 publications

References 96 publications

Linking ethical leadership and ethical climate to employees' ethical behavior: the moderating role of person–organization fit

Linking ethical leadership and ethical climate to employees' ethical behavior: the moderating role of person–organization fit

How Upper/Middle Managers' Ethical Leadership Activates Employee Ethical Behavior? The Role of Organizational Justice Perceptions Among Employees

Ethical leadership and employee ethical behaviour: exploring dual-mediation paths of ethical climate and organisational justice: empirical study on Iraqi organisations

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