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Influence of Authentic Leadership on Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior: The Intermediate Role of Work Engagement

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  • Tomasz Gigol

    (Institute of Management, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, ul. Madalińskiego 31/33, 02-554 Warszawa, Poland)

Abstract

Business ethics are an important part of corporate sustainability. Sustainability concerns not only the environment but also the well-being of employees, which includes work engagement. Authentic leadership has an impact on the work engagement and well-being of subordinates. The aim of the current research is to present the interdependencies between leadership, work engagement, and unethical pro-organizational behavior. A group of 623 employees from various organizations working in various positions in Central and Eastern Poland was surveyed. The relationships between the variables were analyzed using CB-SEM structural modeling methods. The estimation was completed on the basis of the highest probability method. The CB-SEM model was applied in order to verify the hypotheses that had been formulated. The current paper presents an intermediate role of work engagement between supervisors’ leadership and the unethical pro-organizational behavior of subordinates. The survey shows that authentic leadership induces subordinates to engage in unethical pro-organizational behavior. Practical implications were formulated, including company board greater integration of ethics into the core values of organizations and emphasis on learning business ethics in universities and MBA studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Tomasz Gigol, 2020. "Influence of Authentic Leadership on Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior: The Intermediate Role of Work Engagement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-14, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:3:p:1182-:d:317496
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Matthias Gotsch & Carsten Gandenberger & Luisa Serafimov & Mathias Miemiec, 2023. "Top‐down and bottom‐up strategies for the implementation of corporate social responsibility: A qualitative survey of an international IT services company," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 1645-1663, July.
    3. Ki Baek Jung & Seung-Wan Kang & Suk Bong Choi, 2020. "Empowering Leadership, Risk-Taking Behavior, and Employees’ Commitment to Organizational Change: The Mediated Moderating Role of Task Complexity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-18, March.
    4. Stanley Y. B. Huang & Chih-Wen Ting & Yu-Ming Fei, 2021. "A Multilevel Model of Environmentally Specific Social Identity in Predicting Environmental Strategies: Evidence from Technology Manufacturing Businesses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-13, April.
    5. Feng Zeng Xu & Yun Zhang & Huixin Yang & Bob T. Wu, 2020. "Sustainable HRM through Improving the Measurement of Employee Work Engagement: Third-Person Rating Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-22, August.

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