ETHICAL LEADERSHIP IN THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP: EVIDENCE FROM THREE CANADIAN SURVEYS

Abstract

The purpose of this program of research was to investigate ethical leadership as an antecedent, mediator, and outcome of variables of pragmatic importance to the workplace. Three interrelated studies examined the ethical imperative of the employment relationship using three independent datasets. Ethical leadership, as explained by social cognitive theory, was the central concept modeled in each study. Sample sizes of approximately 1,500 military members of the Canadian military were randomly selected for each study to participate in single-source, cross-sectional surveys conducted in a field setting. Correlation and Multiple Regression analyses were used to test relationships at the individual level of analysis. Key results and measures were replicated utilizing confirmatory factor analytic techniques. These studies contribute to ethical leadership research in three ways. First, findings indicated that a follower’s rank was positively associated with perceptions of ethical leadership of the immediate supervisor. Second, perceptions of ethical leadership were moderated by the type and level of follower ethical predispositions in boundary-spanning positions. Third, ethical leadership functioned as a partial mediator transmitting the effect of follower rank onto the workplace outcomes of follower affective commitment, organizational fairness climate, and career satisfaction. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. As a whole results suggest that organizations can effectively address the ethical imperative of the employment relationship through the clear lens of the individual being led – the ubiquitous follower.

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