Abstract
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how ethical leadership and formal control systems influence employee opportunistic behavior.Design/methodology/approachUsing survey data collected from Chinese employees (N=430), the authors conducted regression analysis to test hypothesized relationships between ethical leadership and formal control systems and employee opportunistic behavior. Both direct effects and an interaction effect were tested.FindingsThe authors found that both ethical leadership and formal control systems individually play significant roles in reducing employee opportunistic behavior. In addition, the results indicate that ethical leadership and formal control systems function as complements to jointly constrain employee opportunistic behaviors.Originality/valueThis study contributes to an understanding of the relationship between supervisors and followers in China by demonstrating the effects of ethical leadership and formal control systems on employee opportunistic behaviors, including an interesting interaction effect.
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