Unraveling the Effects of Ethical Leadership on Knowledge Sharing: The Mediating Roles of Subjective Well-Being and Social Media in the Hotel Industry

Misbah Hayat Bhatti,Muhammad Hasnat Bhatti,Umair Akram,Hassan Rasool,Xin Su

doi:10.3390/su12208333

Abstract

Given the pivotal function of ethical leadership (EL) in the hospitality industry, this study explains how moral guidance can help to reduce mental stress. The modern complex and hectic working style of organizations demands ethical conduct, in order to sustain the positive behavior of employees for knowledge sharing (KS). For this reason, in this study, we restrict our awareness to the usage of social media (SM) for social identity and aspects of subjective well-being (SWB) for happiness intensity. The time-lag method is applied for data collection from 406 supervisors and subordinates of the hotel industry in Pakistan. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and bootstrapping are utilized to scan the data. The results of the current study demonstrate that ethical leadership provides motivational strength for knowledge sharing amongst employees. Moreover, the serial mediation effects of subjective well-being and social media boost knowledge sharing by the induction of ethical values. Our findings indicate that knowledge sharing is an important product of subjective well-being and social media. Therefore, we recommend that managers focus on ethical leadership values and employee well-being (e.g., life satisfaction), as well as highlight the individuality of employees to promote knowledge sharing. The presented research adds to the literature by establishing a new connection between ethical leadership and knowledge sharing by opening the black box of contextual (i.e., ethical leadership) and developmental (i.e., subjective well-being and social media) factors.

Highlights

Employee motivation to engage in knowledge sharing has been shown to result in a great deal of organizational effectiveness and success
We examined the process by which ethical leadership enhances knowledge sharing (KS) among employees, as employees are influenced by the behavior of leaders, who probe employee feelings for KS
Our results showed that ethical leadership is positively connected with KS, considering the mediating roles of subjective well-being (SWB) and social media (SM)

Summary

Introduction

Employee motivation to engage in knowledge sharing has been shown to result in a great deal of organizational effectiveness and success. Knowledge sharing enables others to approach specialized knowledge and provides leeway to claim the associated benefits, such as reputation and status [2]. Scholars have recently explored leadership as a tool to address this challenge and to facilitate knowledge sharing in organizations. The mechanisms through which leaders affect knowledge sharing at an individual level still have not been explored [5]. Bavik et al [5] considered the extrinsic motivation of followers, in combination with their moral identity, as mechanisms linking ethical leadership to employee knowledge sharing. The present research depicts a follower-centric mechanism that focuses on subjective well-being and social media in combination with ethical leadership, in order to promote knowledge sharing in employees

Results

Discussion

Conclusion