EXAMINING THE EFFECT OF ETHICAL LEADERSHIP ON GREEN WORK OUTCOMES: A MODERATED MEDIATION ANALYSIS
Keywords:
Ethical Leadership, Employee Green Commitment, Employee Green Knowledge, Employee Green Innovative Work Behavior.Abstract
The current study examines the direct effect of ethical leadership (EL) on employee green commitment (EGC) and the indirect effect on employee green innovative work behavior (EGIWB). It also tested the moderating effect of employee green knowledge (EGK) in the relationship between EL and EGC. Data were collected from 359 employees working in the manufacturing sector of Pakistan. Time lagged and conveniences sampling technique was adopted. The statistical results showed that EL was positively related to EGC. EGC enhances the EGIWB. Moreover, results showed that EGK moderates the relationship between EL and EGC. Such that employees having high green knowledge have more inclination towards green commitment. The results also showed that EL enhances EGIWB via EGC. Moderated mediation results also showed that EGK strengthens the indirect relationship between EL and EGIWB. Result depicted that employee having high green knowledge shows more green innovative work behavior via increased green commitment. The study brings important practical implications for top and middle managers and addresses their concerns about green practices and green innovations in their firms.
Downloads
References
Aboramadan, M. (2020). The effect of green HRM on employee green behaviors in higher education: the mediating mechanism of green work engagement. International Journal of Organizational Analysis.
Aboramadan, M., Kundi, Y. M., & Farao, C. (2021). Examining the effects of environmentally- specific servant leadership on green work outcomes among hotel employees: the mediating role of climate for green creativity. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 1-28.
Abuzaid, A. N. (2018). The relationship between ethical leadership and organizational commitment in banking sector of Jordan. Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences.
Addai, P., Avor, J., Ofori, I. N., & Tweneboah, D. N. (2019). Ethical leadership and productive work attitudes among micro financial institutions in Ghana. Management Research Review.
Afsar, B., Cheema, S., Javed, F. J. C. S. R., & Management, E. (2018). Activating employee's pro‐environmental behaviors: The role of CSR, organizational identification, and environmentally specific servant leadership. 25(5), 904-911.
Ahadiat, A., & Dacko-Pikiewicz, Z. (2020). Effects of ethical leadership and employee commitment on employees’ work passion. Polish Journal of Management Studies, 21.
Ahmad, S., Islam, T., Sadiq, M., & Kaleem, A. (2021). Promoting green behavior through ethical leadership: a model of green human resource management and environmental knowledge. Leadership & Organization Development Journal.
Ahmed Iqbal, Z., Abid, G., Contreras, F., Hassan, Q., & Zafar, R. (2020). Ethical leadership and innovative work behavior: The mediating role of individual attributes. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 6(3), 68.
Ansari, N. Y., Farrukh, M., & Raza, A. (2020). Green human resource management and employees pro‐environmental behaviours: Examining the underlying mechanism. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management.
Ansari, N. Y., Farrukh, M., & Raza, A. (2021). Green human resource management and employees pro‐environmental behaviours: Examining the underlying mechanism. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 28(1), 229-238.
Asif, M., Miao, Q., Jameel, A., Manzoor, F., & Hussain, A. (2020). How ethical leadership influence employee creativity: A parallel multiple mediation model. Current Psychology, 1-17.
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1986.
Bentler, P. M., & Bonett, D. G. (1980). Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance structures. Psychological bulletin, 88(3), 588.
Brannick, M. T., Chan, D., Conway, J. M., Lance, C. E., & Spector, P. E. J. O. R. M. (2010). What is method variance and how can we cope with it? A panel discussion. 13(3), 407- 420.
Brown, M. E., & Treviño, L. K. (2006). Ethical leadership: A review and future directions. The Leadership Quarterly, 17(6), 595-616. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2006.10.004
Brown, M. E., Treviño, L. K., & Harrison, D. A. (2005). Ethical leadership: A social learning perspective for construct development and testing. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 97(2), 117-134. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2005.03.002
Brown, M. E., Treviño, L. K., Harrison, D. A. J. O. b., & processes, h. d. (2005). Ethical leadership: A social learning perspective for construct development and testing. 97(2), 117-134.
Brunetto, Y., Xerri, M., Shriberg, A., Farr-Wharton, R., Shacklock, K., Newman, S., & Dienger,
J. (2013). The impact of workplace relationships on engagement, well-being, commitment and turnover for nurses in Australia and the USA. 69(12), 2786-2799. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.12165
Cantor, D. E., Morrow, P. C., & Montabon, F. J. J. o. S. C. M. (2012). Engagement in environmental behaviors among supply chain management employees: An organizational support theoretical perspective. 48(3), 33-51.
Chen, Y.-S., & Chang, C.-H. (2013). The Determinants of Green Product Development Performance: Green Dynamic Capabilities, Green Transformational Leadership, and Green Creativity. Journal of Business Ethics, 116(1), 107-119. doi:10.1007/s10551-012- 1452-x
Chiou, T.-Y., Chan, H. K., Lettice, F., & Chung, S. H. (2011). The influence of greening the suppliers and green innovation on environmental performance and competitive advantage in Taiwan. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 47(6), 822-836. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tre.2011.05.016
Conway, J. M., Lance, C. E. J. J. o. B., & Psychology. (2010). What reviewers should expect from authors regarding common method bias in organizational research. 25(3), 325-334.
De Roeck, K., & Farooq, O. (2018). Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethical Leadership: Investigating Their Interactive Effect on Employees’ Socially Responsible Behaviors. Journal of Business Ethics, 151(4), 923-939. doi:10.1007/s10551-017-3656-6
Devece, C., Palacios-Marqués, D., & Alguacil, M. P. J. J. o. B. R. (2016). Organizational commitment and its effects on organizational citizenship behavior in a high- unemployment environment. 69(5), 1857-1861.
Diehl, M.-R., & Seeck, H. (2017). Hannele Seeck & Marjo-Riitta Diehl (2016): A literature review on HRM and innovation – taking stock and future directions, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2016.1143862. The International Journal of Human Resource Management. doi:10.1080/09585192.2016.1143862
Edwards, J. R., & Lambert, L. S. (2007). Methods for integrating moderation and mediation: a general analytical framework using moderated path analysis. Psychological methods, 12(1), 1.
Ejaz, T., Anjum, Z.-u.-., Rasheed, M., Waqas, M., & Hameed , A. A. (2022). Impact of ethical leadership on employee well-being: the mediating role of job satisfaction and employee voice. Middle East J. Management, In press.
Elçi, M., Şener, İ., Aksoy, S., & Alpkan, L. (2012). The Impact of Ethical Leadership and Leadership Effectiveness on Employees’ Turnover Intention: The Mediating Role of Work Related Stress. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 58, 289-297. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.09.1003
Farid, T., Iqbal, S., Khan, A., Ma, J., Khattak, A., & Naseer Ud Din, M. (2020). The Impact of Authentic Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: The Mediating Role of Affective‐and Cognitive-Based Trust. Frontiers in psychology, 11, 1975.
Font, X., & Lynes, J. (2020). Corporate social responsibility for sustainable tourism: Routledge.
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. J. J. o. m. r. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. 18(1), 39-50.
Fryxell, G. E., & Lo, C. W. H. (2003). The Influence of Environmental Knowledge and Values on Managerial Behaviours on Behalf of the Environment: An Empirical Examination of Managers in China. Journal of Business Ethics, 46(1), 45-69. doi:10.1023/a:1024773012398
Gallagher, D. R. (2012). Environmental leadership: A reference handbook: Sage Publications.
Hair, J. F., Anderson, R. E., Babin, B. J., & Black, W. C. (2010). Multivariate data analysis: A global perspective (Vol. 7). In: Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Hameed, A. A., Waqas, M., & Anjum, Z.-u.-. (2022). Does ethical leadership enhance employee green behaviour? Examining the mediating influence of employee green commitment. Middle East J. Management, In press.
Hansen, S. D., Alge, B. J., Brown, M. E., Jackson, C. L., & Dunford, B. B. (2013). Ethical leadership: Assessing the value of a multifoci social exchange perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 115(3), 435-449.
Hayes, A. F., & Preacher, K. J. J. M. b. r. (2010). Quantifying and testing indirect effects in simple mediation models when the constituent paths are nonlinear. 45(4), 627-660.
Irefin, P., Mechanic, M. A. J. J. o. H., & Science, S. (2014). Effect of employee commitment on organizational performance in Coca Cola Nigeria Limited Maiduguri, Borno state. 19(3), 33-41.
Jabbour, C. J. C., Santos, F. C. A., & Nagano, M. S. (2008). Environmental management system and human resource practices: is there a link between them in four Brazilian companies? Journal of Cleaner Production, 16(17), 1922-1925.
Khan, M. A. S., Ali, M., Usman, M., Saleem, S., & Jianguo, D. (2019). Interrelationships between Ethical Leadership, Green Psychological Climate, and Organizational Environmental Citizenship Behavior: The Moderating Role of Gender. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 1977.
Kim, Y. J., Kim, W. G., Choi, H.-M., & Phetvaroon, K. (2019). The effect of green human resource management on hotel employees’ eco-friendly behavior and environmental performance. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 76, 83-93. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2018.04.007
Kline, R. B. (2011). Convergence of structural equation modeling and multilevel modeling: na.
Lasrado, F., & Zakaria, N. (2020). Go green! Exploring the organizational factors that influence self-initiated green behavior in the United Arab Emirates. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 37(3), 823-850.
Lee, T. H. (2011). How recreation involvement, place attachment and conservation commitment affect environmentally responsible behavior. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 19(7), 895- 915.
Lin, Y.-H., & Chen, Y.-S. (2017). Determinants of green competitive advantage: the roles of green knowledge sharing, green dynamic capabilities, and green service innovation. Quality & Quantity, 51(4), 1663-1685.
Liu, L., & Zhao, L. (2019). The Influence of Ethical Leadership and Green Organizational Identity on Employees’ Green Innovation Behavior: The Moderating Effect of Strategic Flexibility. Paper presented at the IOP conference series: Earth and environmental science.
Liu, Z., Wang, X., Hu, X., Lin, Y., & Mao, T. (2020). Green Transformational Leadership and Green Creativity: The Mediating Role of Green Commitment and the Moderating Role of Green Values. Design Engineering, 409-421.
Lu, W.-L. (2011). The research of building enterprise competitive advantages through green entrepreneurial leadership.
Luu, T. T. (2018). Employees’ green recovery performance: the roles of green HR practices and serving culture. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 26(8), 1308-1324.
Luu, T. T. (2019a). Building employees’ organizational citizenship behavior for the environment: The role of environmentally-specific servant leadership and a moderated mediation mechanism. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Luu, T. T. (2019b). Green human resource practices and organizational citizenship behavior for the environment: the roles of collective green crafting and environmentally specific servant leadership. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 1-30.
Marthis, R., & Jackson, J. H. J. N. J. P. H. A. o. M. R. (2000). Human resources management.
(3), 418-428.
Mesmer-Magnus, J., Viswesvaran, C., & Wiernik, B. M. (2012). The role of commitment in bridging the gap between organizational sustainability and environmental sustainability.
Meyer, J. P., & Herscovitch, L. J. H. r. m. r. (2001). Commitment in the workplace: Toward a general model. 11(3), 299-326.
Meyer, J. P., Stanley, D. J., Herscovitch, L., & Topolnytsky, L. J. J. o. v. b. (2002). Affective, continuance, and normative commitment to the organization: A meta-analysis of antecedents, correlates, and consequences. 61(1), 20-52.
Montabon, F., Pagell, M., & Wu, Z. (2016). Making Sustainability Sustainable. 52(2), 11-27. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/jscm.12103
Nguyen, V. T., Siengthai, S., Swierczek, F., & Bamel, U. K. (2019). The effects of organizational culture and commitment on employee innovation: evidence from Vietnam’s IT industry. Journal of Asia Business Studies, 13(4), 719-742. doi:10.1108/JABS-09-2018-0253
Paharia, P. (2019). Stakeholder Orientation of Ethical Leadership: A Qualitative Study. OPUS: HR Journal, 10(2), 1-20.
Paillé, P., Valéau, P. J. O., & Environment. (2021). “I Don’t Owe You, But I Am Committed”: Does Felt Obligation Matter on the Effect of Green Training on Employee Environmental Commitment? , 34(1), 123-144.
Perez, O., Amichai‐Hamburger, Y., & Shterental, T. (2009). The dynamic of corporate self‐regulation: ISO 14001, environmental commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior. Law & Society Review, 43(3), 593-630.
Pham, T. N., Tučková, Z., & Phan, Q. (2019). Greening human resource management and employee commitment towards the environment: An interaction model. Journal of Business Economics and Management.
Ponnu, C. H., & Tennakoon, G. (2009). The association between ethical leadership and employee outcomes-the Malaysian case. EJBO-Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies.
Preacher, K. J., Rucker, D. D., & Hayes, A. F. (2007a). Addressing Moderated Mediation Hypotheses: Theory, Methods, and Prescriptions. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 42(1), 185-227. doi:10.1080/00273170701341316
Preacher, K. J., Rucker, D. D., & Hayes, A. F. J. M. b. r. (2007b). Addressing moderated mediation hypotheses: Theory, methods, and prescriptions. 42(1), 185-227.
Robertson, J. L., & Barling, J. (2013). Greening organizations through leaders' influence on employees' pro‐environmental behaviors. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34(2), 176-194.
Robertson, J. L., & Carleton, E. (2018). Uncovering how and when environmental leadership affects employees’ voluntary pro-environmental behavior. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 25(2), 197-210.
Ruiz, P., Ruiz, C., & Martínez, R. (2011). Improving the “Leader–Follower” Relationship: Top Manager or Supervisor? The Ethical Leadership Trickle-Down Effect on Follower Job Response. Journal of Business Ethics, 99(4), 587-608. doi:10.1007/s10551-010-0670-3
Saeed, B. B., Afsar, B., Hafeez, S., Khan, I., Tahir, M., & Afridi, M. A. (2019). Promoting employee's proenvironmental behavior through green human resource management practices. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 26(2), 424- 438.
Safari, A., Salehzadeh, R., Panahi, R., & Abolghasemian, S. (2018). Multiple pathways linking environmental knowledge and awareness to employees’ green behavior. Corporate Governance: The international journal of business in society, 18(1), 81-103.
Saleem, M., Qadeer, F., Mahmood, F., Ariza-Montes, A., & Han, H. (2020). Ethical Leadership and Employee Green Behavior: A Multilevel Moderated Mediation Analysis. Sustainability, 12(8), 3314.
Seeck, H., & Diehl, M.-R. (2017). A literature review on HRM and innovation – taking stock and future directions. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 28(6), 913-944. doi:10.1080/09585192.2016.1143862
Shafique, I., Ahmad, B., & Kalyar, M. N. (2019). How ethical leadership influences creativity and organizational innovation. European Journal of Innovation Management.
Shu, C., Zhou, K. Z., Xiao, Y., & Gao, S. (2016). How green management influences product innovation in China: The role of institutional benefits. Journal of Business Ethics, 133(3), 471-485.
Siengthai, S., Swierczek, F., & Bamel, U. K. J. J. o. A. B. S. (2019). The effects of organizational culture and commitment on employee innovation: evidence from Vietnam’s IT industry.
Silverman, V. J. S. H. R. (2017). Thomson Reuters innovation case study.
Su, X., Xu, A., Lin, W., Chen, Y., Liu, S., & Xu, W. (2020). Environmental Leadership, Green Innovation Practices, Environmental Knowledge Learning, and Firm Performance. SAGE Open, 10(2), 2158244020922909. doi:10.1177/2158244020922909
Tabachnick, B. G., Fidell, L. S., & Ullman, J. B. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (Vol. 5): Pearson Boston, MA.
Thamrin, H. J. I. J. o. I., Management, & Technology. (2012). The influence of transformational leadership and organizational commitment on job satisfaction and employee performance. 3(5), 566-572.
Treviño, L. K., Brown, M., & Hartman, L. P. (2003). A Qualitative Investigation of Perceived Executive Ethical Leadership: Perceptions from Inside and Outside the Executive Suite. Human Relations, 56(1), 5-37. doi:10.1177/0018726703056001448
Treviño, L. K., Hartman, L. P., & Brown, M. (2000). Moral Person and Moral Manager: How Executives Develop a Reputation for Ethical Leadership. California Management Review, 42(4), 128-142. doi:10.2307/41166057
Umrani, W. A., Channa, N. A., Yousaf, A., Ahmed, U., Pahi, M. H., & Ramayah, T. (2020). Greening the workforce to achieve environmental performance in hotel industry: A serial mediation model. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 44, 50-60.
Unsworth, K. L., Dmitrieva, A., & Adriasola, E. (2013). Changing behaviour: Increasing the effectiveness of workplace interventions in creating pro-environmental behaviour change. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34(2), 211-229. doi:10.1002/job.1837
Usman , M., & Hameed , A. A. (2017). The Effect of Ethical Leadership on Organizational Learning: Evidence from a Petroleum Company. Business & Economic Review(4), 1-22%V 29.
Usman, M., & Hameed, A. A. (2017). The Effect of Ethical Leadership on Organizational Learning: Evidence from a Petroleum Company. Business & Economic Review, 9(4), 1- 22.
Wang, Y.-F. (2016). Modeling predictors of restaurant employees’ green behavior: Comparison of six attitude-behavior models. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 58, 66-81. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2016.07.007
Weng, H.-H., Chen, J.-S., & Chen, P.-C. (2015). Effects of Green Innovation on Environmental and Corporate Performance: A Stakeholder Perspective. Sustainability, 7(5), 4997.
Wood, B. P., Eid, R., & Agag, G. (2021). A multilevel investigation of the link between ethical leadership behaviour and employees green behaviour in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 97, 102993.
Wu, L.-Z., Kwan, H. K., Yim, F. H.-k., Chiu, R. K., & He, X. (2015). CEO ethical leadership and corporate social responsibility: A moderated mediation model. Journal of Business Ethics, 130(4), 819-831.
Ying, M., Faraz, N. A., Ahmed, F., & Raza, A. (2020). How does servant leadership foster employees’ voluntary green behavior? A sequential mediation model. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(5), 1792.
Zhang, Y., & Chabay, I. (2020). How “green knowledge” influences sustainability through behavior change: Theory and policy implications. Sustainability, 12(16), 6448.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
