Perceived Leader Integrity As A Mediator Between Ethical .
Enwereuzor et al. BMC Psychology(2020) ARCH ARTICLEOpen AccessPerceived leader integrity as a mediatorbetween ethical leadership and ethicalclimate in a teaching contextIbeawuchi K. Enwereuzor1* , Ike E. Onyishi1, Florence Chiji Albi-Oparaocha2 and Kenneth Amaeshi3AbstractBackground: Scandalous incidents occurring in prominent organisations in the world have brought to limelightthe role of leaders in shaping the ethical climate of their organisations. As a result, several studies across differentorganisational/occupational contexts and climes have examined and unanimously proven that ethical leadershipwas positively related to ethical climate. However, there is rarely any of these studies that was conducted inteaching context. Besides, the mechanisms involved between ethical leadership and ethical climate seems not tohave been addressed in literature. Thus, this paper reports the findings of a study that investigated the mediatingrole of perceived leader integrity in the ethical leadership–ethical climate relationship among teachers.Methods: Data were collected from 336 teachers (105 male and 231 female) in three-time periods using measuresof ethical leadership, perceived leader integrity, ethical climate, and demographics.Results: The results from OLS regression-based path analysis showed that: 1) ethical leadership was positivelyrelated to perceived leader integrity, 2) perceived leader integrity was positively related to ethical climate, 3) ethicalleadership was positively related to ethical climate, and 4) the positive relationship between ethical leadership andethical climate was mediated by perceived leader integrity.Conclusions: The current study extends the social learning theory by identifying perceived leader integrity as amechanism underlying the relationship between ethical leadership and ethical climate. The findings have someimplications for personnel selection especially in relation to selection of ethical leaders.Keywords: Ethical climate, Ethical leadership, Head teacher, Leader, Organisation, Perceived leader integrity, School,Teaching contextBackgroundThe attention of the general public, researchers, andother stakeholders have been drawn to the inherent dangers of dubious organisational practices following thescandalous incidents that occurred in organisations suchas Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia, Siemens, Tyco International and the like. These incidents brought to the* Correspondence: ibeawuchi.enwereuzor@unn.edu.ng1Department of Psychology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nsukka 410001,NigeriaFull list of author information is available at the end of the articlefore the issue of ethically questionable behaviour in thecorporate environment and also suggest that unethicalbehaviour may be one of the probable major issues confronting the contemporary world of work. Unfortunately,it has equally been argued that some organisations areso engrossed with meeting their performance goals atthe detriment of taking into consideration the ethical aspect of accomplishing such goals [3, 13]. Evidence insupport of this stance comes from various forms of unethical practices that have been reported in organisationsacross countries (for details, see [2, 62]). For example, The Author(s). 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License,which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you giveappropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate ifchanges were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commonslicence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commonslicence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtainpermission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ) applies to thedata made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
Enwereuzor et al. BMC Psychology(2020) 8:52Hamilton and Gabriel [23] identified some fraudulentpractices perpetrated by organisations in Nigeria to include funds diversion, secret commission and bribery,false invoicing, theft of inventory assets, and chequeforgery.Nigeria is a West African country made up of 36 statesand the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) located inAbuja. She is regarded as the most populous in Africa.She is a member of the Organisation of PetroleumExporting Countries (OPEC), and regarded as one of themajor crude oil producers in the world, which constitutes the major source of foreign exchange revenue forthe country. However, in spite of being an oil-rich country and bestowed with many natural resources, she isstill amongst the poorest in the world. Recently, she waspronounced by the Brookings Institution based on datafrom the World Poverty Clock as the world’s povertycapital, having the highest number of people living inextreme poverty (see [59]). Furthermore, she has consecutively been ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world (see [51–55]).The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and otherOffences Commission (ICPC) are the two anti-graftagencies saddled with the responsibility of arresting andprosecuting persons involved in embezzlement of publicfunds in the country. Although, in the teaching/education context, offences such as cheating during examinations, impersonation, forgery of result slip, and stealingof question papers, among others, attract a fine of minimum of 50,000 and maximum of 5 years imprisonment as enshrined in the Examination Malpractice ActNo. 33 of 1999, however, it is not devoid of unethicalpractices. For instance, in 2017, the Joint Admissionsand Matriculation Board (JAMB) blacklisted 72 out ofthe 600 Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres for theirinvolvement in examination malpractice in the 2017Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME; see[39]). In that same year, JAMB also recorded 2508 casesof examination malpractice which, however, dropped to208 in 2018 (see [42]). Similarly, the West AfricanExaminations Council (WAEC) in its 65th NationalExaminations Committee meeting decried the increasingrate of collusion to perpetrate examination malpracticewhich led to the cancellation of entire results (CER) orcancellation of specific subjects of some candidates.Some candidates were also barred from participating inthe council’s examinations for a number of years [24].All in all, these call into question the ethical climate ofthe teaching/education context of Nigeria which calls forscholarly attention.Ethical climate refers to an aspect of organisational climate that represents the holistic impression of employeesconcerning the content and extent of the prevalent values,Page 2 of 11norms, attitudes, and behaviours of the organisationalmembers [5] as it pertains to ethics. Organisational valuesthat concern ethical issues, as well as those that stipulatewhat are regarded as ethically acceptable behaviour, constitutes the ethical climate of an organisation [61]. In otherwords, it involves the shared perceptions of what ethicallycorrect behaviour is and how ethical issues should beaddressed [37] in the workplace. Through formal andinformal socialisation process in an organisation, employees learn how to behave. They become aware of thevalues that are upheld and rewarded in the organisationand the ones that are unacceptable [61].Notwithstanding that ethical climate has been extensivelystudied in a variety of organisations including technology,insurance, hotels and restaurants, accounting and financial,legal, and medical organisations, among others (e.g., [17,34, 35, 60]), only few studies have been conducted in educational settings (e.g., [4, 47, 48]). However, these studieswere conducted outside the Nigerian teaching/educationalsetting which may differ from that of Nigeria.As Van Aswegen and Engelbrecht [60], and Sağnak[47] point out, organisational leaders play an importantrole in determining the ethical climate of an organisation. When faced with ambiguous ethical climate andethical dilemmas, subordinates often turn to theirleaders for guidance and direction [11, 28]. In teachingcontext for example, if the head teacher as a leader isseen as someone who condones unethical practices, thenthe rest of the teachers (subordinates) may also decideto engage in unethical practices such as aiding the pupils/students in engaging in examination malpractice inexchange for money or other benefits from the parents.In this respect, leaders cannot be completely exoneratedfrom shaping the ethical (or unethical) climate of anorganisation.However, ethical aspect of leadership has been mostlyunexplored, even when it offers great avenues for noveldiscoveries [10]. Given that research on ethical leadership is just emerging [36], only limited number of studies have been conducted on the link between ethicalleadership and ethical climate (e.g., [16, 35, 41, 49]). Assuch, Mayer et al. [36] advocate for research on the linkbetween ethical leadership and ethical climate to be conducted. However, most of the studies that have paidheed to the call so far were conducted outside teachingcontext.While these studies seem to have sufficiently proventhat ethical leadership promotes ethical climate, a keyquestion, however, that is yet to be answered in literatureto our knowledge is how ethical leadership promotes ethical climate. To address this issue, the current study,therefore, attempts to identify a probable mechanismunderlying the relationship between ethical leadership andethical climate in teaching context. In that sense, this
Enwereuzor et al. BMC Psychology(2020) 8:52study attempts to open the black box of the link betweenethical leadership and ethical climate by proposing perceived leader integrity as a mechanism that can facilitatethe relationship between head teachers’ ethical leadershipstyle and the perception of ethical climate by subordinateteachers.Although a previous study by Van Aswegen andEngelbrecht [60] have attempted to examine the moderating role of perceived leader integrity in the relationship between transformational leadership and ethicalclimate, no studies that we are aware of have explicitlyexamined the mediating role of perceived leader integrity in the relationship between ethical leadership andethical climate. This study thus examines a model inwhich the influence of ethical leadership on ethical climate is mediated by perceived leader integrity amongteachers. The rationale for teachers in this study wasbecause they are at the forefront of educating students.Therefore, they have great influence on the lives ofmany individuals who pass through them throughouttheir teaching career. They also serve as role modelsand mentors to their students who look up to them forguidance and direction in life. Therefore, how ethicallycompliant teachers are may reflect in the ethical conduct of their current and former students. Hence, understanding the role of leadership in ethics amongteachers appears worthwhile. Besides, there is rarelyany study of this nature that has been conducted inteaching context. The results of this study have the potential to provide valuable information not only toschool management and teachers but also to otherstakeholders in the education sector.Theoretical foundations and hypothesesdevelopmentSocial learning theory serves as a theoretical foundationfor contending that ethical leadership will engender ethicalclimate in teaching context. Social learning theory proposes that individuals are influenced by observing rolemodels in their environment [7]. According to Bandura[7], almost anything that can be learned through directexperience can also be learned by vicarious experience,through observing other peoples’ behaviour and its attendant consequences. Such consequences make it easy tolearn in an anticipatory way.In work setting, employees can learn what type of behaviours are accepted, commended, and penalisedthrough role modelling. Thus, they become informedabout the advantages of the modelled behaviour and thedisadvantages of improper behaviour. For a person to beregarded as a role model, the person must be seen byothers as credible and attractive. Being seen as credibleand attractive are hinged on the power and status of theindividual in question [7]. When those that are looked atPage 3 of 11by others as likely role models occupy high status orpowerful position, others will attempt to emulate their behaviour because it expresses expectations and approvednorms [7]. A leader such as a head teacher is a significantand possible source of such role model due to theirassigned role, high standing status in a school, and theirpositional power to influence the behaviour of otherteachers to accomplish schoolwork-related outcomes.A social learning viewpoint on ethical leadership willsuggest that ethical leaders (head teachers) influence theethical behaviour of their subordinates (i.e., otherteachers who occupy lower cadre in the school) throughmodelling. Thus, if head teachers as leaders are to beviewed as ethical leaders who can affect their subordinates’ ethical conduct, they must first of all demonstrateexemplary credibility in their own conduct as rolemodels because other teachers may be suspicious aboutethical assertions made by such leaders. A head teacherbecomes attractive and credible as an ethical role modelby engaging in behaviours that are appraised by subordinates as ethical.Therefore, ethical leaders become social learning modelsby rewarding proper conduct and meting out punishmentfor misconduct [56]. By setting the ethical tone of a schooland providing a road map to guide the ethical conduct ofthe subordinates, such leaders are likely to be perceived bythe subordinates as leaders who maintain high level of integrity in discharging their leadership responsibilities. Inturn, such perception of leader integrity may cascade tothe ethical climate of the school. In other words, teachersare likely to see ethical head teachers as those with integrity which, over time may contribute to the formation ofethical climate of the school. Thus, we extend the sociallearning perspective by incorporating perceived leader integrity as a potential mechanism that helps transmits theinfluence of ethical leaders in a teaching context. That is,ethical leadership will lead to perception of leader integritywhich subsequently will lead to perception of beingsurrounded by high level of ethical climate in the school.Previous studies based on social learning theory haveprovided support for this theory especially in the areas ofethical leadership and ethical climate (e.g., [35, 49]) as wellas perceived leader integrity [44] and their links to important organisational outcomes.Ethical leadership and ethical climateGrojean, Resick, Dickson, and Smith [22] assert that besides enhancing organisational efficiency, leaders equallyhave the responsibilities of guiding the behaviours oftheir subordinates and institutionalising the ethicalvalues and conduct of members of the organisation. Onestyle of leadership that seem to align themselves withthese responsibilities is ethical leadership given that theystrive to convey high ethical values to their subordinates.
Enwereuzor et al. BMC Psychology(2020) 8:52Accordingly, ethical leadership refers to the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through personalactions and interpersonal relationships, and the promotion of such conduct to followers through two-way communication, reinforcement, and decision-making [italicsin original] ([11], p. 120). Behaving in a normativelyappropriate way means to behave in accordance withgeneral expectations on how leaders ought to behave ina corporate environment. This suggests that leaders shouldbe honest, fair, trustworthy, and caring and answerable fortheir conduct, as well as to reward and punish subordinatesaccordingly in order to hold them accountable for theiractions.By acting as role models of normatively appropriateconduct and using reward and punishment to encourageethical conduct [11, 56], ethical head teachers signal tothe subordinates (i.e., lower-cadre teachers) that nothingshort of doing the right thing is expected from them andvalued by the organisation. In no time, the lower-cadreteachers are more likely to perceive an ethical climate intheir school. Consistent with this view, Grojean et al.[22] acknowledge that even though other factors mightcontribute to the determination of ethical climate,leaders exert the greatest influence on the ethical climateof an organisation.Lending support to the above argument, Neubert et al.[41] collected Internet-based data from full-time employeesand found a positive relationship between ethical leadershipand ethical climate. Mayer et al. [35] examined the mediating role of ethical climate in the ethical leadership–employee misconduct relation among employees from avariety of organisations in the United States. Mayer et al.’sresults show that ethical leadership was positively related toethical climate, and that ethical climate mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and employee misconduct. Similarly, in South Korea, Shin [49] found a positiverelationship between chief executive officers’ (CEOs’) selfrated ethical leadership and employees’ aggregated perceptions of the ethical climate of the organisation. In similarvein, Lu and Lin [32] also found positive relationship between ethical leadership and ethical climate based on datacollected from employees of Taiwan International PortsCorporation (TIPC) in Taiwan. Demirtas and Akdogan [16]examined the indirect relationship between ethical leadership and organisational outcomes (i.e., affective commitment and turnover intention) through ethical climate. Theparticipants involved middle-level managers, engineers,chiefs of the maintenance shops, and blue-collar full-timeemployees of aviation industries. The results show thatethical leadership was positively related to ethical climate.Ethical climate partially mediated the relationship betweenethical leadership and affective commitment. Also, ethicalclimate partially mediated the relationship between ethicalleadership and turnover intention. More recently, AlPage 4 of 11Halbusi, Williams, Mansoor, Hassan, and Hamid [1] foundthat ethical leadership was positively related to employees’ethical behaviour in Baghdad (Republic of Iraq).In sum, the above studies have unanimously providedstrong evidence showing that ethical leadership hasdirect positive relationship with ethical climate acrossdiverse climes and organisational/occupational contextsbut not teaching. Moreover, most of these studies wereconducted in the United States and Asia with their owncultural peculiarities. As such, research is yet to ascertainwhether similar findings would be obtained in Nigerianteaching context. Besides, one key question that remainsto be addressed in literature bothers on how ethical leadership influences ethical climate. That is, what mechanism is involved in the ethical leadership-ethical climaterelationship? Asking such a question is very importantbecause according to Baron and Kenny [8], when thereis such consistency in the relationship between two variables, then it is likely that there is a mediator betweenthem that tend to facilitate the relationship. Accordingly,in response to that question, we propose perceivedleader integrity as a mechanism (i.e., mediator) underlying the link between ethical leadership and ethical climate. As such, the cu
to engage in unethical practices such as aiding the pu-pils/students in engaging in examination malpractice in exchange for money or other benefits from the parents. In this respect, leaders cannot be completely exonerated from shaping the ethical (or unethical) climate of an organisati
efficacy and perceived ease of use were however found to be significant in predicting the perceived usefulness of e-government services. The implications of these findings are discussed. Keywords: E-government services, Perceived Ease of Use, Perceived Usefulness, Computer self-efficacy, Moderation role. INTRODUCTION
Integrity ONE* 41x51x15.5cm Integrity DUE XL* 43.5x67x21cm Integrity TOP* 37x51x15.5cm Integrity Q* 41x51x17.5cm Integrity, the Silestone kitchen sink Seamless Integration More than 90% Quartz and 100% Innovation Integrity ONE In one single piece ONE is the model which embodies Integrity's concept. A single kitchen sink in one piece.
2.2 Perceived value In marketing, customer perceived value, which is linked with competitiveness, is vital for an organization’s success (Wang et al., 2004). Given its importance, many scholars have offered their understanding of perceived value. Generally speaking, perceived value is defined as the consumer’s subjective evaluation of the .
The perceived value is likely to be high if the perceived benefit is higher than the perceived cost and vice versa (Doods et al. 1991; Wen et al. 2005). According to means-end model of Zeithaml (1988), the perceived value affects the behavioral intention. Past studies have shown evidence that perceived value significantly
RESEARCH QUESTIONS a. Conceptualize the construct of perceived value price b. Examine methods to build perceived value c. Issues in management of perceived value d. Empirical study e. Implications for pricing strategists PERCEIVED VALUE PRICING CONSTRUCT The conceptualization starts with the conventional price line as given below
May 20, 2008 · Power Integrity in System Design CAE / Design Simulation Skipper Liang 5/20/2008. 2 Agenda Introduction Power Integrity Concept DC Analysis for Power Integrity AC Analysis for Power Integrity Summary Q & A 1. Observe from Frequency Domain 2. Observe from Time Domain. 3 Introduction Power Integrity Concept DC
Integrity. A single sink, in one piece, measuring 41x51x15,5cm., ONE is 1, with its curved outline, the perfect choice for lovers of fluid design and originality. Integrity Integrity DUE L Integrity ONE Integrity DUE S Integrity DUE XL. . Price Groups Silestone .
H1: Brand trust mediates the impact of perceived value on the purchase decision. H2: Perceived value of store brands has a significant positive impact on the brand trust. H3: Perceived value of store brands ha
