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Ethical Leadership and Reputation: Combined Indirect Effects on Organizational Deviance

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Abstract

The interest in ethical leadership has grown in the past few years, with an emphasis on the mechanisms through which it affects organizational life. However, research on the boundary conditions that limit and/or enhance its effectiveness is still scarce, especially concerning one of the main misconceptions about ethical leadership, its incompatibility with effectiveness (Brown, Organ Dyn 36:140–155, 2007). Thus, the present study (a) examines the relationship between ethical leadership and organizational deviance via affective commitment to the organization, as a reflection of the quality of the employee–organization relationship and (b) proposes this relationship is conditional on the supervisor’s personal reputation for performance (i.e., the moral standards are coupled with work effectiveness). Using a sample of 224 employees and their respective supervisors from 18 organizations, we confirmed our hypotheses (moderated mediation model). Our findings suggest that ethical leadership is positively related to employees’ affective commitment to the organization, particularly when supervisor’s reputation for performance is high, which in turn is associated with decreased organizational deviance. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings conclude the paper.

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Notes

  1. As one of the anonymous reviewers noted, it is possible that there are potential differences between organizations. Thus, we tested a fixed effects model using the pooled within variance (i.e., controlling for the variance within organizations) of the dependent variables. Our bootstrapping model provided an almost identical model: ethical leadership was related to affective commitment to the organization (B = 0.51, p < 0.01); the interaction effect was also significant (B = 0.30, p < 0.01); and affective commitment to the organization was related to organizational deviance (B = −0.08, p < 0.05).

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Acknowledgments

Pedro Neves would like to acknowledge the support received from Nova Forum.

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  1. Nova School of Business and Economics, INOVA, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Campus de Campolide, 1099-032, Lisbon, Portugal

    Pedro Neves & Joana Story

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  1. Pedro Neves
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Correspondence to Pedro Neves.

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Neves, P., Story, J. Ethical Leadership and Reputation: Combined Indirect Effects on Organizational Deviance. J Bus Ethics 127, 165–176 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1997-3

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