TY - JOUR
T1 - Doing well by doing good? Analyzing the relationship between CEO ethical leadership and organizational performance
AU - Eisenbeiss, SA
AU - van Knippenberg, Daan
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Business ethics and firm economic performance
have traditionally often been regarded as mutually
exclusive ends. We challenge this ‘‘either-or’’ belief and
analyze when and how ethical firm leadership and firm
performance may harmonize well. In extension of earlier
research on ethical leadership and performance at the
individual and team level, we study the context–dependency
of the organization level relationship between CEO
ethical leadership and firm performance. We propose a
moderated mediation model of the link between CEO
ethical leadership and firm performance, identifying
mediating (organizational ethical culture) and moderating
(organizational ethics program) variables unique to the
organization-level of analysis. CEO ethical leadership is
argued to work through organizational ethical culture
which promotes firm performance under the condition that
there is a strong corporate ethics program in place. Results
from a multisource cross-sectional study, in which we
surveyed 145 participants from 32 organizations and validated
organizational performance ratings by objective
performance data, showed support for our conceptual
model.
AB - Business ethics and firm economic performance
have traditionally often been regarded as mutually
exclusive ends. We challenge this ‘‘either-or’’ belief and
analyze when and how ethical firm leadership and firm
performance may harmonize well. In extension of earlier
research on ethical leadership and performance at the
individual and team level, we study the context–dependency
of the organization level relationship between CEO
ethical leadership and firm performance. We propose a
moderated mediation model of the link between CEO
ethical leadership and firm performance, identifying
mediating (organizational ethical culture) and moderating
(organizational ethics program) variables unique to the
organization-level of analysis. CEO ethical leadership is
argued to work through organizational ethical culture
which promotes firm performance under the condition that
there is a strong corporate ethics program in place. Results
from a multisource cross-sectional study, in which we
surveyed 145 participants from 32 organizations and validated
organizational performance ratings by objective
performance data, showed support for our conceptual
model.
U2 - 10.1007/s10551-014-2124-9
DO - 10.1007/s10551-014-2124-9
M3 - Article
SN - 0167-4544
VL - 128
SP - 635
EP - 651
JO - Journal of Business Ethics
JF - Journal of Business Ethics
IS - 3
ER -