The Effects of Ethical Leadership on Job Satisfaction: Mediating Role of Employee Engagement

윤리적 리더십이 직무만족에 미치는 영향: 종업원 참여의 매개역할

  • You, Jeong-Sook (Graduate School of Entrepreneurship and Industrial Management, Chung-Ang University) ;
  • Lee, Jong-Keon (School of Business Administration, Chung-Ang University)
  • Received : 2021.09.11
  • Accepted : 2021.12.08
  • Published : 2021.12.31

Abstract

This study examined the influence of ethical leadership on employee job satisfaction and the mediating role of employee engagement in the relationship between these two variables. In this study, employee engagement was divided into job engagement and organization engagement. Data were collected from 183 employees working for Korean companies. The results of this study are as follows. First, it was found that ethical leadership was positively related to both job engagement and organization engagement. Second, ethical leadership was also positively related to job satisfaction of employees. Third, job engagement and organization engagement were found to partially mediate the relationship between ethical leadership and job satisfaction respectively. The results of this study suggest a theoretical contribution in that it expanded existing studies on the relationship between ethical leadership and job satisfaction. This study is significant in that it revealed a mechanism that ethical leadership directly affects job satisfaction in the relationship between ethical leadership and job satisfaction, but indirectly positively affects employee engagement variables such as job engagement and organization engagement. The results of this study also suggest practical implications that CEOs should strive to help organizational managers demonstrate ethical leadership. In addition, the results of this study suggest practical implications that managers and human resource development experts need to seek ways to increase the level of engagement of employees in the organization. Finally, this study presented limitations to be revised and supplemented in future studies and future research directions.

본 연구는 종업원의 직무만족에 대한 윤리적 리더십의 영향과 이 두 변수 간의 관계에 대한 종업원 참여(직무참여, 조직참여)의 매개역할에 대해 분석하였다. 분석자료는 한국 기업에서 일하는 218명의 종업원으로부터 수집되었다. 본 연구의 결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 윤리적 리더십은 직무참여와 조직참여 둘 다에 정(+)의 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 둘째, 윤리적 리더십은 또한 직무만족에 정(+)의 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 셋째, 직무참여와 조직참여는 윤리적인 리더십과 직무만족 간의 관계를 부분적으로 매개하는 것으로 밝혀졌다. 본 연구는 윤리적 리더십과 직무만족 간의 관계에 관한 기존의 연구를 확장하였다는 점에서 이론적 기여를 한다. 본 연구는 윤리적 리더십과 조직만족 간의 관계에 있어서 윤리적 리더십이 직무만족에 직접적인 영향을 미치지만, 종업원 참여의 하위 차원인 직무참여와 조직참여 각각을 통해 간접적으로 긍정적인 영향을 미친다는 메커니즘을 밝혀냈다는 점에서 이론적 시사점이 있다. 또한, 본 연구결과는 CEO들이 조직의 관리자들이 윤리적 리더십을 발휘할 수 있도록 힘써야 한다는 실무적 시사점을 제시한다. 한편으로, 본 연구결과는 경영자 및 인적자원개발 전문가들은 조직 내 종업원들의 참여 수준을 높이는 방안을 모색할 필요가 있다는 실무적 시사점을 제시한다. 마지막으로, 본 연구는 향후 연구에서 수정 및 보완되어야 할 한계점과 향후 연구방향을 제시하였다.

Keywords

References

  1. Ahmad, I., & Gao, Y.(2018). Ethical Leadership and Work Engagement: The Roles of Psychological Empowerment and Power Distance Orientation. Management Decision, 56(9), 1991-2005. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-02-2017-0107
  2. Alam, M., Gul, F., & Imran, M.(2021). The Impact of Ethical Leadership & Civility on Organizational Commitment: The Mediating Role of Work Engagement. Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, 8(1), 173-188.
  3. Aronson, E.(2001). Integrating Leadership Styles and Ethical Perspectives. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 18, 244-256. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1936-4490.2001.tb00260.x
  4. Avolio, B. J., Walumbwa, F. O., & Weber, T. J.(2009). Leadership: Current Theories, Research, and Future Directions. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 421-449. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.60.110707.163621
  5. Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A.(1986). The Moderator-Mediator Variable Distinction in Social Psychological Research: Conceptual, Strategic, and Statistical Considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(6), 1173-1182. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173
  6. Bass, B. M., & Steidlmeier, P.(1999). Ethics, Character, and Authentic Transformational Leadership Behavior. The Leadership Quarterly, 10(2), 181-217. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1048-9843(99)00016-8
  7. Baumruk, R.(2004). The Missing Link: the Role of Employee Engagement in Business Success. Workspan, 47, 48-52.
  8. Bedi, A., Alpaslan, C. M., & Green, S. A.(2016). Meta-Analytic Review of Ethical Leadership Outcomes and Moderators. Journal of Business Ethics, 139(3), 517-536. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2625-1
  9. Brown, M. E., Trevino, L. K., & Harrison, D. A.(2005). Ethical Leadership: A Social Learning Perspective for Construct Development and Testing. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 97(2), 117-134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2005.03.002
  10. Chughtai, A., Byrne, M., & Flood, B.(2015). Linking Ethical Leadership to Employee Well-Being: The Role of Trust in Supervisor. Journal of Business Ethics, 128(3), 653-663. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2126-7
  11. Chung, B. K., & Lee, S. S.(1999). A Study on the Mediating Effect of Trust in the Effect of Organizational Justice on Organizational Effectiveness. The Journal of Management, 15(1), 209-224.
  12. Dailey, R. C., & Kirk, D. J.(1992). Distributive and Procedural Justice as Antecedents of Job Satisfaction and Intent to Turnover. Human Relations, 45(3), 305-317. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872679204500306
  13. De Clercq, D., Bouckenooghe, D., Raja, U., & Matsyborska, G.(2014). Servant Leadership and Work Engagement: The Contingency Effects of Leader-Follower Social Capital. Human Re source Development Quarterly, 25(2), 183-212. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.21185
  14. De Hoogh, A. H. B., & Den Hartog, D. N.(2008). Ethical and Despotic Leadership, Relationships with Leader's Social Responsibility, Top Management Team Effectiveness and Subordinates' Optimism: A Multi-Method Study. The Leadership Quarterly, 19(3), 297-311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2008.03.002
  15. Dole, C., & Schroeder, R. G.(2001). The Impact of Various Factors on the Personality, Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intentions of Professional Accountants. Managerial Auditing Journal, 16(4), 234-245. https://doi.org/10.1108/02686900110389188
  16. Feldman, M. S., & Khademian, A. M.(2003). Empowerment and Cascading Vitality. In K. S. Cameron, J. E. Dutton and R. E. Quinn(Eds.), Positive Organizational Scholarship: Foundations of a New Discipline. San Francisco, CA: Berret-Koehler.
  17. Fu, P. P., Tsui, A. S., Liu, J., & Li, L.(2010). Pursuit of Whose Happiness? Executive Leaders' Transformational Behaviors and Personal Values. Administrative Science Quarterly, 55(2), 222-254. https://doi.org/10.2189/asqu.2010.55.2.222
  18. Jaffar, F., Iqbal, Q., & Randhawa, T. A.(2017). Assessment of Job Satisfaction among Medical Sales Representatives Working in Karachi City, Pakistan. Indo American Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 4(6), 1717-1722.
  19. Jung, H. K., Shim, D. S., & Kim, M. J.(2013). The Effects of Leaders' Ethical Leadership on Followers' Job Performance, Organizational Commitment and Organization Citizenship Behaviors: The Mediating Effect of Organization-Based Self-Esteem And the Moderating Effect of Corporate Ethical Values. Korean Journal of Business Administration, 26(4), 801-827.
  20. Kahn, W. A.(1990). Psychological Conditions of Personal Engagement and Disengagement at Work. Academy of Management Journal, 33(4), 692-724. https://doi.org/10.2307/256287
  21. Kanungo, R. N.(2001). Ethical Values of Transactional and Transformational Leaders. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 18(4), 257-265. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1936-4490.2001.tb00261.x
  22. Kanungo, R. N., & Conger, J. A.(1993). Promoting Altruism as a Corporate Goal. The Academy of Management Executive, 7(3), 37-48.
  23. Khantia, R., & Suar, D.(2004). A Scale to Assess Ethical Leadership of Indian Private and Public Sector Managers,. Journal of Business Ethics, 49(1), 13-26. https://doi.org/10.1023/b:busi.0000013853.80287.da
  24. Koh, H. C., & Boo, H. Y.(2001). The Link Between Organizational Ethics and Job Satisfaction: A Study of Managers in Singapore. Journal of Business Ethics, 29(4), 309-324. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1010741519818
  25. Koh, W. L., Steers, R. M., & Terborg, J. R.(1995). The Effects of Transformational Leadership on Teacher Attitudes and Student Performance in Singapore. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 16(4), 319-333. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.4030160404
  26. Lacap, J. P. G.(2018). The Mediating Effect of Employee Engagement on the Relationship of Job Satisfaction and Affective Commitment. ITMSOC Transactions on Innovation & Business Engineering, 3, 1-9.
  27. Lee, H. J., & Lee, J. K.(2000). An Empirical Study on the Relationship between Employee Perception of Corporate Ethical Climate and Organizational Effectiveness. Journal of Business Ethics, 2, 107-129. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00381701
  28. Lindblom, A., Kajalo, S., & Mitronen, L.(2015). Exploring the Links between Ethical Leadership, Customer Orientation and Employee Outcomes in the Context of Retailing. Management Decision, 53(7), 1642-1658. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-04-2015-0126
  29. Macey, W. H., & Schneider, B.(2008). Engaged in Engagement: We Are Delighted We Did It. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1(1), 76-83. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1754-9434.2007.00016.x
  30. MacLeod, D., & Clarke, N.(2009). Engaging for Success: Enhancing Performance Through Employee Engagement, London: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Crown Copyright.
  31. Mathis, R. L., Jackson, J. H., Valentine, S. R., & Meglich, P. A.(2017). Human Resource Management (15th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
  32. May, D. R., Gilson, R. L., & Harter, L. M.(2004). The Psychological Conditions of Meaningfulness, Safety and Availability and the Engagement of the Human Spirit at Work. Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology, 77(1), 11-37. https://doi.org/10.1348/096317904322915892
  33. McColl-Kennedy, J. R., & Anderson, R. D.(2002). Impact of Leadership Style and Emotions on Subordinate Performance. The Leadership Quarterly, 13(5), 545-559. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1048-9843(02)00143-1
  34. Meyer, J. P., Gagne, M., & Parfyonova, N. M.(2010). 'Toward an Evidence-Based Model of Engagement: What We Can Learn From Motivation and Commitment Research". In S. L. Albrecht(Ed.), Handbook of Employee Engagement: Perspectives, Issues, Research and Practice, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing.
  35. Northouse, P. G.(2021). Leadership: Theory and Practice (9th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  36. O'Reilly, C., & Chatman, J.(1986). Organizational Commitment and Psychological Attachment: The Effect of Compliance, Identification and Internalization on Procedure Behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71(3), 492-499. https://doi.org/10.1037//0021-9010.71.3.492
  37. Ozden, D., Arslan, G. G., Ertugrul, B., & Karakaya, S.(2017). The Effect of Nurses' Ethical Leadership and Ethical Climate Perceptions on Job Satisfaction. Nursing Ethics, 26(4), 1211-1225. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733017736924
  38. Park, J. H., & Sim, D. C.(2018). The Effect of Ethical Leadership on Work Engagement of Members of Public Organizations: Focused on Mediating Effect of Procedural Justice and Public Service Motivation. Korean Public Personnel Administration Review, 17(2), 59-90.
  39. Piccolo, R. F., Greenbaum, R., Hartog, D. N. D., & Folger, R.(2010). The Relationship between Ethical Leadership and Core Job Characteristics. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 31(2-3), 259-278. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.627
  40. Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P.(2003). Common Method Biases in Behavioral Research: A Critical Review of the Literature and Recommended Remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879-903. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879
  41. Porter, L. W., Crampon, W. J., & Smith, F. J.(1976). Organizational Commitment and Managerial Turnover: A Longitudinal Study." Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 15(1), 87-98. https://doi.org/10.1016/0030-5073(76)90030-1
  42. Quinn, P. R., & Stains, G. I.(1979). The 1977 Quality of Employment Survey. Ann Arbor. MI: Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.
  43. Rahman, M. E. A., & Muhammad, N.(2013). Job Performance of the Medical Representatives in Relation to Big Five Personality Factors. Bangladesh Psychological Studies, 23, 1-14.
  44. Rayton, B. A., & Yalabik, Z. Y.(2014). Work Engagement, Psychological Contract Breach and Job Satisfaction. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 25(17), 2382-2400. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2013.876440
  45. Rayton, B., Dodge, T., & D'Analeze, G.(2012). The Evidence: Employee Engagement Task Force "Nailing the Evidence" Workgroup. London: Engage for Success.
  46. Reichers, A. E.(1985). A Review and Reconceptualization of Organizational Commitment. Academy of Management Review, 10(3), 465-476. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.1985.4278960
  47. Ren, S., & Chadee, D.(2017). Ethical Leadership, Self-Efficacy and Job Satisfaction in China: The Moderating Role of Guanxi. Personnel Review, 46(2), 371-388. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-08-2015-0226
  48. Rich, B. L., Lepine, J. A., & Crawford, E. R.(2010). Job Engagement: Antecedents and Effects on Job Performance. Academy of Management Journal, 53(3), 617-635. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMJ.2010.51468988
  49. Richman, A.(2006). Everyone Wants an Engaged Workforce How can You Create It?. Workspan, 49(1), 36-39.
  50. Rothbard, N. P.(2001). Enriching or Depleting? The Dynamics of Engagement in Work and Family Roles. Administrative Science Quarterly, 46(4), 655-684. https://doi.org/10.2307/3094827
  51. Saks, A. M.(2006). Antecedents and Consequences of Employee Engagement. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 21(7), 600-619. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940610690169
  52. Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B.(2004). Job Demands, Job Resources, and Their Relationship With Burnout and Engagement: A Multi-Sample Study. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25, 293-315. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.248
  53. Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B.(2010). Defining and Measuring Work Engagement: Bringing Clarity to the Concept". In A. B. Bakker and M. P. Leiter (Eds.), Work Engagement: A Handbook of Essential Theory and Research, 12, 10-24.
  54. Schaufeli, W. B., Bakker, A. B., & Salanova, M.(2006). The Measurement of Work Engagement With a Short Questionnaire: A Cross-National Study. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66(4), 701-716. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164405282471
  55. Schaufeli, W. B., Salanova, M., Gonzales-Roma, V., & Bakker, A. B.(2002). The Measurement of Engagement and Burnout: A Two Sample Confirmatory Factor Analytic Approach. Journal of Happiness Studies, 3(1), 71-92. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015630930326
  56. Schminke, M., Ambrose, M. L., & Noel, T. W.(1997). The effect of ethical frameworks on perceptions of organizational justice. Academy of Management Journal, 40(5), 1190-1207. https://doi.org/10.2307/256932
  57. Schwepker Jr, C. H.(2001). Ethical Climate's Relationship to Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60, 318-328. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0076756
  58. Shaw, K.(2005). An Engagement Strategy Process for Communicators. Strategic Communication Management, 9(3), 26-29.
  59. Shin, C. W.(2005). An Empirical Study on the Difference Analysis among Manufacturing and Financial Businesses in Relationship between Leadership Style and Organizational Effectiveness by Focusing Moderating Effect of Ethical Integrity. Korean Journal of Resources Development, 7(1), 1-31.
  60. Shuck, B., Adelson, J. L., & Reio, T. G., Jr.(2017). The Employee Engagement Scale: Initial Evidence for Construct Validity and Implications for Theory and Practice. Human Resource Management, 56(6), 953-977. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21811
  61. Sonnentag, S.(2003). Recovery, Work Engagement, and Proactive Behavior: A New Look at the Interface between Nonwork and Work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(3), 518-528. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.3.518
  62. Trevino, L. K., Brown, M., & Hartman, L. P.(2003). A Qualitative Investigation of Perceived Executive Ethical Leadership: Perceptions from Inside and Outside the Executive Suite. Human Relations, 56(1), 5-37. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726703056001448
  63. Viswesvaran, C., Deshpande, S. P., & Joseph, J.(1998). Job Satisfaction as a Function of Top Management Support for Ethical Behavior: A Study of Indian Managers. Journal of Business Ethics, 17(4), 365-371. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1017956516324
  64. Vitell, S. J., & Davis, D. L.(1990). Ethics Beliefs of MIS Professionals: The Frequence and Opportunity for Unethical Behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 5(1), 63-70. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02116145
  65. Weeks, W. A., & Nantel, J.(1992). Corporate Codes of Ethics and Sales Force Behavior: A Case Study. Journal of Business Ethics, 11(10), 753-760. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00872307
  66. Zehir, C., Erdogan, E., & Basar, D.(2011). Charismatic Leadership, Ethical Climate, Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment in Companies. Journal of Global Strategic Management, 10, 49-58. https://doi.org/10.20460/JGSM.2011515797