Authentic Leadership and Ethical Behavior of Employees in Commercial Banks in Kenya

Abstract

This study conceptualized and tested the relationship between authentic leadership and ethical behavior of employees in commercial banks in Kenya. Previous researchers have argued that authentic leadership influences performance of organizations. Few studies that have looked at the relationship between authentic leadership and ethical behavior of employees have reported conflicting results. As a result, there was need to conduct more studies to establish the existence of the relationship between the study variables. The main objective of the study was to establish the relationship between authentic leadership and ethical behavior of employees in commercial banks in Kenya. The study specifically aimed at establishing the effect of authentic leadership on ethical behavior of employees. A descriptive survey design used structured questionnaires to collect data from 384 employees of commercial banks in Kenya. Inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Hypothesis test was done using simple linear regression analysis. The study findings indicated that authentic leadership had a significant influence on ethical behavior of employees. The findings made significant contribution to knowledge by validating the propositions of the theory that informed the study in commercial banks in Kenya. Further, the results provided value to policy makers in human resource management and commercial banks as far as entrenching authentic leadership in their organizations is concerned. The study therefore recommends that the commercial banks in Kenya leadership promotes authentic leadership so as to improve ethical behavior of employees in their respective banks. The study proposes that future studies consider other contexts and different research designs. Keywords: Authentic Leadership, Ethical Behavior & Commercial Banks