Does perceived morality of CEO activism matter? Understanding employees' responses to CEO actions on sociopolitical issues
ISSN: 0025-1747
Article publication date: 1 February 2021
Issue publication date: 6 September 2021
Abstract
Purpose
From an internal perspective, the purpose of this study is to understand employees' responses to chief executive officer (CEO) activism, a phenomenon wherein a company's CEO expresses his/her own opinions and ideas on controversial sociopolitical issues. Integrating corporate social responsibility (CSR), public relations and leadership literature, this study examines the effects of employees' expectations toward CEOs and transformational CEO leadership on the perceived morality of CEO activism and its attitudinal and behavioral outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey was conducted with 417 full-time employees in the US whose CEO has been engaging in sociopolitical issues.
Findings
The results showed that employees' ethical expectations toward their CEOs and transformational CEO leadership were positively associated with perceived morality of CEO activism, whereas economic expectations toward CEOs had no significant relationship with it. In turn, perceived morality of CEO activism contributed to employees' positive attitudes and supportive behaviors for their CEOs and their companies.
Originality/value
This study is among the first attempts to examine the effectiveness of CEO activism from an internal perspective, drawing from CSR, public relations and leadership literature.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Funding: This work was supported by the School of Communication (SOC) Creative Activity and Research Grant at the University of Miami.
Citation
Lee, Y. and Tao, W. (2021), "Does perceived morality of CEO activism matter? Understanding employees' responses to CEO actions on sociopolitical issues", Management Decision, Vol. 59 No. 10, pp. 2329-2354. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-04-2020-0498
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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