The effect of leader moral development on ethical climate and employee attitudes

    Authors

    M. Schminke; M. L. Ambrose;D. O. Neubaum

    Comments

    Authors: contact us about adding a copy of your work at STARS@ucf.edu

    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Organ. Behav. Hum. Decis. Process.

    Keywords

    leaders; ethics; ethical climate; attitudes; moral development; PERSON-ORGANIZATION FIT; DECISION-MAKING; BUSINESS ETHICS; JUDGMENT; DEVELOPMENT; JOB-SATISFACTION; VALUE CONGRUENCE; WORK CLIMATE; BEHAVIOR; MANAGERS; CULTURE; Psychology, Applied; Management; Psychology, Social

    Abstract

    This study examines the effect of leader moral development on the organization's ethical climate and employee attitudes. Results indicate that the relationship between leader moral development and ethical climate is moderated by two factors: the extent to which the leader utilizes his or her cognitive moral development (i.e., capacity for ethical reasoning), and the age of the organization. Specifically, the influence of the leader's moral development was stronger for high utilizing leaders, those whose moral actions were consistent with their moral reasoning. Additionally, the influence of the leader's moral development was stronger in younger organizations. Finally, as predicted, congruence between the leader's moral development and the employee's moral development was positively associated with job satisfaction and organizational commitment and negatively associated with turnover intentions. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

    Journal Title

    Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

    Volume

    97

    Issue/Number

    2

    Publication Date

    1-1-2005

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    135

    Last Page

    151

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000229809800004

    ISSN

    0749-5978

    Share

    COinS