Linking ethical leadership to employees' change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior: A multilevel moderated mediation model

Abstract

The importance of research related to organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) regarding organizational change is increasingly evident. We focused on the significance of leaders' ethical cues and organizational climate that may help employees best cope with organizational change by stimulating their change-oriented OCB. Therefore, we explored the cross-level effect of ethical leadership on employee change-oriented OCB via the mediator of affective commitment to change and the moderator of ethical climate, using social exchange theory and cue consistency theory. Results show that ethical leadership was positively related to change-oriented OCB through affective commitment to change, and that this indirect relationship was amplified by ethical climate. Thus, ethical leadership and ethical climate worked together to motivate employees toward affective commitment and provide support for change. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.