Abstract
Previous literature has demonstrated that ethical leadership could predict employees’ voice behavior. However, it’s not clear how to heighten these positive effects of ethical leadership on employees’ voice behavior. Building on the AET and moral disengagement studies, we developed an integrated model. A three-wave field study (N = 232) investigated the relationship between ethical leadership and voice behavior by focusing on the mediating role of employees’ affective commitment and the moderating role of employees’ moral disengagement. Our matched data analysis results indicated that: (1) employees’ affective commitment partly mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and employees’ voice behavior. In addition, employees’ moral disengagement moderated (2) the effect of ethical leadership on employees’ affective commitment and (3) the effect of employees’ affective commitment on voice behavior, similarly, (4) the indirect effect of ethical leadership on employees’ voice behavior via employees’ affective commitment. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.
Highlights
In an increasingly competitive market environment, employee voice — non-required behavior that emphasizes the expression of constructive challenges with an intent to improve rather than criticize — is an excellent way to help organization innovation and maintain sustainable development (LePine and Van Dyne, 1998; Hussain et al, 2019; Xue, 2020)
Consistent with the Affective Event Theory (AET), we propose that perceived ethical leadership is the best example of facilitating the accumulation of positive work events that lead to positive emotional responses that drive employee behavior
One of the main objectives of this study is to extend the research on the relationship between ethical leadership and employee voice by introducing a new mediator, affective commitment
Summary
In an increasingly competitive market environment, employee voice — non-required behavior that emphasizes the expression of constructive challenges with an intent to improve rather than criticize — is an excellent way to help organization innovation and maintain sustainable development (LePine and Van Dyne, 1998; Hussain et al, 2019; Xue, 2020). Even when an organization has an open-door policy or anonymous voice mailbox, employees remain silent and do not share their ideas or concerns with the organization (Milliken et al, 2003; Song, 2018b; Hussain et al, 2019). Scholars have found that many factors can hinder employees from voicing (Kakkar et al, 2016). Employees may feel that their voices are not heard and adopted (Detert et al, 2010). In many cases, employees will remain silent. The behavior of leaders is the critical factor affecting employees’ voice behavior, and the relationship between a leader’s behavior and employees’ voice behavior is the most discussed (Peng and Wei, 2020)
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