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Ethical Behavior Matters!
In a Nutshell
Nowadays the pressure on companies to commit to high standards of ethical behavior increases and the latest scandals, such as the FIFA
corruption affaire, increased the necessity to extend the ethical dimension on the leadership level. However, leader integrity does not only
serve the external image of a company it can also increase the affective commitment of the employees and therefore the company’s
performance. Further, we show that as well cultural differences can influence the affective commitment.
Our Hypothesis
Theory
Gender
Egalitarianism (GE)
Social Learning Theory
H2
Affective
Commitment
Leader Integrity
H1
Hypothesis 1
Leader integrity does
positively influences the
affective commitment.
Hypothesis 2
The positive influence of
leader integrity on affective
commitment is higher in low
gender egalitarian countries.
Results & Implication
Identification with the leader and shared values increase the
employees satisfaction, motivation and finally the affective
commitment.
The Interaction Effect
Hypothesis 1 is supported
Hypothesis 2 is supported
A leader with integrity can act
as a credible role model for his
employees and higher their
affective commitment.
In a low GE country the
influence an ethical leader can
have is higher.
High commitment leads to the
willingness to do extra effort,
increases job satisfaction and
lowers the employee turnover.
Individuals learn by paying attention to and imitating attitudes,
values and behaviors of credible role models.
Ethical leaders, who care about their employees, treat them fair
and act credible are attractive role models.
Therefore it is more important in
low GE countries to hire a
leader with integrity because
the ethical behavior is not as
embedded in the society as it
is in high GE countries.
Employees will imitate their
role model more.
The GLOBE Societies in Our Study
Latin America
South East Asia
Germanic Europe
Eastern Europe
Middle East
Latin Europe