The Relationship Between Paternalistic Leadership and Organizational Commitment: Investigating the Role of Climate Regarding Ethics

Abstract

ABSTRACT. One of the important factors influencing perceptions of the existence of an ethical climate is leader behaviors. It is argued that paternalistic leadership behaviors are developed to humanize and remoralize the workplace. In various studies, leadership behaviors and climate regarding ethics were evaluated as antecedents of organizational commitment. In this sense, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between paternalistic leadership behaviors, climate regarding ethics and organizational commitment. Data were obtained from 142 individuals. Results indicated that benevolent paternalistic leadership had a moderate effect on affective commitment and strong effect on continuance commitment. Moreover, it was found that paternalistic leadership had an effect on the perception of an ethical climate. Strong relationship was found between climate regarding ethics and affective commitment; moderate relationship was found between climate regarding ethics and continuance commitment. Finally, results indicated that climate regarding ethics had a mediating effect between benevolent paternalistic leadership and affective commitment.

The Measurement of the Effectiveness of Leadership Styles for Organizational Commitment in Pakistan

“…Likewise, Emery and Barker (2007) enlightened that transformational leadership style has the capability to enhance the employee commitment level. Equally, Erben and Guneser (2008) the result revealed that employee commitment level has increased by implementing transformational leadership style.…”

A Study on the Influence of Paternalistic Leadership on Organizational Commitment: Focus on the Mediating Effect of Organizational Identification

“…Employees who work under high moral leader tend to be more sociable and more active in organizational citizenship behavior [28]. Erben & Güneser (2007) demonstrates that the leader, who is the model for the employees and shows the ethically acceptable behavior, plays an important role in forming a psychologically meaningful perception of the organization's ethical processes and policies, and implies that it has an influence on the value commitment of employees [29]. Chou, Cheng, and Jen (2005), based on social exchange theory, found that employees with a high level of dependence on the organization are more likely to devote their jobs to achieving their goals, or to receive leadership attention and fair treatment [30].…”

Academic Cheating in Egyptian Universities: Is It All about Corporate Code of Ethics?

“…Using the same approach of Erben & Güne er (2008) and Dickson et al (2001), the term `climate regarding ethics` will be used in this study instead of the term `ethical climate`. As justified by Erben & Güne er (2008), this is because of two main reasons.…”

“…As justified by Erben & Güne er (2008), this is because of two main reasons. First, ethical climate implies that the behaviors are seen as ethical in the large society.…”

“…Nevertheless, the term `ethical climate` implies a macro-level analysis/construct. However, the term `climate regarding ethics` focuses on the micro-level and individual decision making in the organization (Erben & Güne er, 2008;Wyld & Jones, 1997). This is useful for this research that focuses on the individual perception of ethics and its impact on decisions and behaviors within the organization.…”