Despite organizational ethical training programs, some employees still engage in unethical behavior. As such, organizational researchers have sought to examine why employees engage in unethical behavior and whether interventions can improve ethical misconduct. While some instruments measure moral development or ethical/unethical behaviors toward the organization, this study utilized a unique scale which evaluates perceptions of ethical misconduct (PEMS). Data from a large Midwestern university, a large Southeastern university, and Amazon’s Mechanical Turk were used in the analyses. An exploratory and confirmatory (...) factor analyses were used in the creation of the PEMS. To examine the validity of the scale, the PEMS was correlated to scales which measure Dark Triad traits and Counterproductive Work Behaviors (CWBs). Findings showed a significant positive correlation between the PEMS and both scales. The results also show that the PEMS mediates the relationship between psychopathy and CWBs. (shrink)

Ethical leadership can lead to preparing the ground for employee voice, highlighting employees’ creativity, and encouraging knowledge-sharing behavior in the organization. Thus, this study examines the impact of ethical leadership on organizational identity with the mediating role of employee voice in digital startups. However, previous studies investigating the relationship between ethical leadership and organizational identity disregarded the intervening role of employee voice in this relationship. A cross-sectional design using a sample of 137 managers of digital startups in science parks. Through (...) the PLS3 software, the results show that employees tend to discuss their work-related opinions and concerns more often if they consider their leaders trustworthy, and this can lead to competitive advantage and quick responses to environmental crises. According to the findings of this study, ethical leadership can prepare the ground for employee voice, highlight employees’ creativity, and encourage knowledge-sharing behavior in the organization. Hence, we suggest that leaders demonstrate personal integrity, openly receive employees’ ideas and recommendations, treat employees impartially, and attempt to maximize the benefits to their employees. (shrink)

ABSTRACT In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders are facing an ethical dilemma and a tense tradeoff between employees’ health and economic performance. From the perspective of employees’ perceptions of the work situation, this study examines the way ethical leadership enhances employee creativity during the COVID-19 pandemic by using leader-member exchange and organizational ethical climate as mediators. The sample included 308 supervisor-employee pairs from 20 high-tech companies in eight provincial regions of China. Structural equation modeling was used to test (...) the proposed hypotheses. Results indicate that ethical leadership can significantly enhance employee creativity through the fully mediating roles of employees’ perceptions of leader-member exchange and organizational ethical climate. Moreover, leader-member exchange affects employee creativity directly as well as indirectly through the mediating role of organizational ethical climate. This study offers insights into the process linking ethical leadership to employee creativity and provides practical suggestions on ways of enhancing employee creativity in situations like the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. (shrink)