ETHICAL LEADERSHIP, LEADER-FOLLOWER RELATIONSHIP AND PERFORMANCE: A STUDY IN A TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY

NIEMEYER, JEANE RODRIGUES LUCENA; CAVAZOTTE, FLÁVIA DE SOUZA COSTA NEVES

doi:10.1590/1678-69712016/administracao.v17n2p67-92

Acessibilidade / Reportar erro

Brasil

RAM. Revista de Administração Mackenzie

Español English

Brasil

Español English

sumário « anterior atual seguinte »

Sumário

Human and Social Management • RAM, Rev. Adm. Mackenzie 17 (2) • Mar-Apr 2016 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-69712016/administracao.v17n2p67-92 copy

ETHICAL LEADERSHIP, LEADER-FOLLOWER RELATIONSHIP AND PERFORMANCE: A STUDY IN A TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY

LIDERANÇA ÉTICA, RELACIONAMENTO LÍDER-SEGUIDOR E DESEMPENHO: UM ESTUDO EM UMA EMPRESA DE TELECOMUNICAÇÕES

LIDERAZGO ÉTICO, RELACIÓN LÍDER-SEGUIDOR Y EL DESEMPEÑO: ESTUDIO REALIZADO EN UNA EMPRESA DE TELECOMUNICACIONES

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

Purpose:

Analyze the influence of ethical leadership on the relationship between leaders and followers, as well as its consequences for individual performance, commitment to work goals, and organizational citizenship.

Originality/gap/relevance/implications:

Although ethics in leadership is supposed to promote positive consequences in the work context, its association with performance and other relevant aspects in the business environment - such as the commitment to goals - has not yet been empirically studied. The present research contributes by filling this gap, therefore expanding the knowledge about the implications of ethical leadership in Brazil.

Key methodological aspects:

A survey was conducted in a multinational telecommunications company, with a sample of 161 store clerks and 15 managers responsible for the sales units located in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The statistical analysis was done using the software SPSS, through multiple regression analyses conducted with the variables studied.

Summary of key results:

The results corroborate the benefits of ethical leadership. They show a positive association between ethical leadership and both the quality of the leader-follower relationships and employee performance.

Key considerations/conclusions:

The research suggests that ethical leadership seems to have a positive impact on work productivity, by building a better relationship with employees. Therefore, based on the findings, it is possible to recommend specific actions in leadership development programs, calling attention to the importance of discussing ethical dilemmas, behaviors, and models of practice.

KEYWORDS
Ethical leadership; LMX; Individual performance; Goal commitment; Organizational citizenship

VARIABLES	AVERAGE	SD	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
1. Gender	1.46	.50	–
2. Age	28.24	4.68	-.11	–
3. Education	13.96	1.50	.07	.20^ p < 0.01.	–
4. Experience (clerk)	5.48	2.83	.04	.41^ p < 0.01.	.19^* * p < 0.05;	–
5. Time in company	4.85	2.51	-.01	.46^ p < 0.01.	.26^ p < 0.01.	.33^ p < 0.01.	–
6. Time working with the leader	0.88	.48	.15	-.17^ p < 0.01.	-.14	-.01	-.00	–
7. OCB	4.19	.26	-.08	.02	-.10	.04	.07	-.02	(0.51)
8. LMX	3.62	.72	.09	.03	.00	.00	-.08	.14	.11	(0.85)
9. Ethical leader (subordinate's evaluation)	5.80	1.10	.15	.10	.03	.04	.01	.05	.15	.74^ p < 0.01.	(0.92)
10. Performance	3.79	.86	.07	.17^* * p < 0.05;	.02	-.03	.15	.11	.10	.23^ p < 0.01.	.14	(0.90)
11. Goal commitment	2.09	.69	.09	.08	.14	.02	.21^ p < 0.01.	.04	-.11	-.29^ p < 0.01.	-.19^* * p < 0.05;	-.14	(0.65)
12. Achievement of the goals	0.77	.16	.04	.02	.12	-.10	.00	-.06	.04	-.10	-.03	.11	.03	–

VARIABLES	MODEL 1 DEMOGRAPHY		MODEL 2 BIOGRAPHY		MODEL 3 ETHICAL LEADERSHIP
VARIABLES	β	t	β	t	β	t
Age	0.04	0.52	0.05	0.50	-0.03	-0.51
Gender	0.10	1.22	0.08	0.97	-0.04	-0.65
Education	-0.01	-0.17	0.01	0.17	0.01	0.12
Experience (clerk)			0.04	0.41	0.02	0.38
Time in company			-0.15	-1.64	-0.10	-1.68
Performance			0.24	2.99^ p < 0.01;	0.15	2.78^ p < 0.01;
Ethical leadership					0.73	13.57^* ***** p < 0.001.
R²	0.01		0.08^ p < 0.01;		0.58^* ***** p < 0.001.
R² aj.	-0.01		0.04^ p < 0.01;		0.56^* ***** p < 0.001.
Δ R²	0.01		0.07^ p < 0.01;		0.51^* ***** p < 0.001.

VARIABLES	MODEL 1 DEMOGRAPHY		MODEL 2 BIOGRAPHY		MODEL 3 ETHICAL LEADERSHIP
VARIABLES	β	t	β	t	β	t
Gender	0.10	1.21	0.10	1.30	0.09	1.15
Age	0.19	2.32*	0.20	2.11*	0.19	1.99
Education	-0.03	-0.32	-0.03	-0.36	-0.03	-0.39
Experience (clerk)			-0.14	-1.62	-0.14	-1.67
Time in company			0.11	1.15	0.14	1.55
Ethical leadership					-0.12	-1.05
LMX					0.32	2.78^ p < 0.05;
R²	0.04		0.06		0.12^ p < 0.05;
R² aj.	0.02		0.03		0.08^ p < 0.05;
Δ R²	0.04		0.02		0.06^ p < 0.05;

VARIABLES	MODEL 1 ETHICAL LEADERSHIP		MODEL 2 LMX
VARIABLES	β	t	β	t
Gender	-0.01	-0.11	-0.01	-0.09
Age	0.03	0.36	0.03	0.38
Education	-0.11	-1.36	-0.11	-1.35
Ethical leadership	0.18	2.18^* * p < 0.05.	0.14	1.20
LMX			0.04	0.35
R²	0.04^* * p < 0.05.		0.04
R² aj.	0.01^* * p < 0.05.		0.01
Δ R²	0.02^* * p < 0.05.		0.00

VARIABLES	MODEL 1 DEMOGRAPHY AND BIOGRAPHY		MODEL 2 LMX
VARIABLES	β	t	β	t
Age	0.09	1.19	0.12	1.62
Gender	0.01	0.06	0.04	0.39
Education	0.09	1.14	0.09	1.20
Experience (clerk)	-0.08	-0.86	-0.08	-0.90
Time in company	0.21	2.29	0.17	1.93
LMX			-0.31	-2.73^ p < 0.01.
R²	0.06^* * p < 0.05;		0.15^ p < 0.01.
R² aj.	0.03^* * p < 0.05;		0.11^ p < 0.01.
Δ R²	0.03^* * p < 0.05;		0.04^ p < 0.01.

HYPOTHESIS	STATISTIC	RESULTS
H₁: The ethical leadership, evaluated from the perspective of followers, is positively associated with the quality of the relationship between the leader and the follower (LMX).	R² = 58%	Accepted hypothesis; a leader considered ethical by his team maintains a good relationship with their subordinates.
H₂: The quality of the relationship between leaders and followers (LMX) is positively associated with individual performance.	R² = 12%	Accepted hypothesis; a good relationship established between leader and follower influences the individual performance of subordinates.
H₃: Ethical leadership is positively associated with OCBi.	R² = 4%	Accepted hypothesis; a leader considered ethical by his team influences their subordinates organizational citizenship behaviors.
H₄: The quality of the relationship between leaders and followers (LMX) affects positively the commitment to the work-related goal.	R² = 15%	Accepted hypothesis; the higher is the quality of the relationship between leader-follower, the greater the commitment for the achievement of sales goals.

Editora Mackenzie; Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie Rua da Consolação, 896, Edifício Rev. Modesto Carvalhosa, Térreo - Coordenação da RAM, Consolação - São Paulo - SP - Brasil - cep 01302-907 - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: revista.adm@mackenzie.br

Acompanhe os números deste periódico no seu leitor de RSS

[TFN01] Note: Diagonal values in parentheses correspond to the Cronbach’s alpha;

[TFN02] ^*
p < 0.05;

[TFN03] ^**
p < 0.01.

[TFN04] Source: Elaborated by the authors