Effects of ethical leadership and formal control systems on employee opportunistic behavior in China
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how ethical leadership and formal control systems influence employee opportunistic behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
Using survey data collected from Chinese employees (N=430), the authors conducted regression analysis to test hypothesized relationships between ethical leadership and formal control systems and employee opportunistic behavior. Both direct effects and an interaction effect were tested.
Findings
The authors found that both ethical leadership and formal control systems individually play significant roles in reducing employee opportunistic behavior. In addition, the results indicate that ethical leadership and formal control systems function as complements to jointly constrain employee opportunistic behaviors.
Originality/value
This study contributes to an understanding of the relationship between supervisors and followers in China by demonstrating the effects of ethical leadership and formal control systems on employee opportunistic behaviors, including an interesting interaction effect.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper forms part of a special section “Dynamic benchmarking issues in emerging markets: building relevant theories and examining evolving practices”.
Citation
Ko, C., Haney, M.H. and Lee, G. (2018), "Effects of ethical leadership and formal control systems on employee opportunistic behavior in China", Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 25 No. 5, pp. 1350-1362. https://doi.org/10.1108/BIJ-08-2017-0213
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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