Does ethical leadership enhance group learning behavior? Examining the mediating influence of group ethical conduct, justice climate, and peer justice

Fred O. Walumbwa, Chad A. Hartnell and Everlyne Misati

Journal of Business Research, 2017, vol. 72, issue C, 14-23

Abstract: The link between ethical leadership and employees' ethical behaviors is well established, but are ethical leadership's benefits confined to ethical behaviors? This study aimed to address this question by examining the extent to which ethical leaders create an environment conducive to cultivating a broader set of desirable behaviors such as group learning behavior. We drew upon and integrated insights from social learning theory and the social marketplace model to develop and test a model that illuminates how ethical leadership enhances group learning behavior. We propose that group ethical conduct, justice climate, and peer justice are three contextual mechanisms through which ethical leadership improves group learning. Using data collected over two time periods from 95 supervisors and 323 work group members from a large financial institution in the United States, we found that ethical leadership significantly relates to group learning behavior, and that this relationship is partially explained by group ethical conduct and peer justice, but not justice climate. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Keywords: Ethical leadership; Behavioral ethics; Justice climate and fairness; Group learning behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:72:y:2017:i:c:p:14-23

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.11.013

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