Ethical Leadership, Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction, Research Paper Example

Leadership Styles and Organizational Commitment

 Pierro et al. (2013) examines the relationship between leadership styles and commitment within organizations. The interaction model that is created to demonstrate the impact of power on communication is an interesting framework used to analyze leadership within organizations. The authors found, after reviewing related research that “transformational leadership style accentuates employees’ willingness to comply with soft power bases” (Pierro et al., 2013, p. 1133). The primary point the authors make is that transformational leadership has an inherent value that extends beyond traditional management practices. The idea that employees will be more compliant with power bases under the management of transformational leaders reveals that they identify a benefit from the leadership style, one in which they perceive as being worth investing a commitment.

Ethical Leadership and Organizational Commitment

Sedat, Bora, & Ali (2015) focused on analyzing the relationship between organizational commitment and ethical leadership traits. The authors clearly define ethical leadership; its traits and characteristics, while reviewing its relationship with organizational commitment and employees’ job satisfaction. A positive correlation between ethical leadership and both organizational commitment and job satisfaction was found.  The theory used for this study finds that there is a direct correlation between job satisfaction and ethical leadership. This undoubtedly has much to do with the direct impact a company has on society in furthering ethical causes as well as the ethics the company implements within its business structure and management. The main idea I take from this theory by the authors is that through the use of sound ethics in leadership it enhances employee organizational commitment due to the fact that employees feel as though they are contributing to a greater cause.

Business ethics plays a fundamental role in all operations of all organizations within all industries and markets respectively and it entails decisions and activities where business issues of right and wrong are the main focus (Lee, 2014). Authors point out that ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ we means morally right and wrong, which should “commercially, strategically, or ?nancially right or wrong. Moreover, by ‘business’ ethics, we do not mean only commercial businesses, but also government organizations, pressure groups, not-for-pro?t businesses, charities, and other organizations” (Crane & Matten 2010). Business ethics and ethics overall entails rational and moral rules that are applied within operations to create certainty within decision making about issues that present moral uncertainty (Crane & Matten 2010). There is something to be said for the value of feeling as though one is making moral or ethical decisions. I imagine that over the course of one’s workday, knowing you are engaging in unethical practices would take its toll.

Organizational Culture and Transformational Leadership

One of the main assumptions of leadership research, according to Veiseh et al. (2014, p. 114) is that “leaders play a key role in the organizational transformation” (Veiseh et al., 2014). Examining the impact of inspirational motivation, intellectual encouragement, purposive influence and individual observations on organizational culture, the authors found that some (not all) transformational leadership traits positively impacted organizational culture. Corporate culture, or organizational culture shapes a company, specifically in regards to how that company is seen in the public eye but also in shaping the internal working environment. Veiseh and authors present a concept that reveals that transformational leadership directly impacts corporate culture, which significantly impacts success and company performance. The problem that arises from their argument is that in some ways the concept is self-explanatory. It is to be assumed that transformational changes to a corporations fundamental operation structure, as well as transformations in external stakeholder performance can only be done through making significant changes to corporate culture.  I base this argument on the fact that when transformational development is implemented, it requires transitions from old performance results to achieving new desired objectives.  These transformations are usually sparked by some form of substantial change to corporate culture in the form of new employee regulations, such as dress codes, required volunteer programs, exercise programs, or improved design in infrastructural architecture to increase employee interpersonal and team interactions.

Evidence on the Impact of Ethical Leadership on Organizations

Demirtas (2015) examined how idealist and relativist ethical ideologies influence the culture of organizations. The field study provided evidence that ethics played an important role in creating norms for organizational behavior. The research was carried out reviewing the related literature and surveying one thousand public sector aviation employees. This position by Demirtas reaffirms data presented by Sedat, Bora, & Ali (2015), where the authors argue that ethical leadership improves performance results because it increases the drive with which employees pursue their work goals, knowing they are performing for the benefit of the company and society as a whole.  Companies that demonstrate social responsibility statistically show higher levels of performance due to newly prevalent concern over the environment and other issues. Public awareness that a company engages in ethical practices builds the credibility of the brand in addition to improving the performance of staff.  As previously noted ethics and ethics overall entails rational and moral rules that are applied within operations to create certainty within decision making about issues that present moral uncertainty (Crane & Matten 2010). In this respect, it makes sense that ethical leadership would have a significant impact on improving performance places an emphasis on heightened focus and morality in decision making.

Servant Leadership Theory

Parris & Peachey (2013) reviewed the servant leadership theory with regards to its impact on organizational behavior. The authors (Parris & Peachey, 2013) found that “servant leadership theory is applicable in a variety of cultures, contexts, and organizational settings”, therefore, it can be applied in various future research settings in order to create ethical frameworks for organizations. As Jeremiah Ole Koshal, (2003) notes on the effective implementation of servant leadership theory and why it works, stems from the relationship between the leader and the employee. The author notes that, “the leader grows more and lasts longer by placing the wellbeing of others above one’s own” (Koshal, 2003). What is revealed here is that the success of the theory relies heavily on the servants ability to trust the leader has their best interest in mind so they can focus primarily on serving to the best of their ability. The relationship that exists within the leadership servant theory model is a codependent one. This is a relationship where the leader relies as much on the employee’s commitment as the employee relies on the leader’s responsible and just reward for services.

References

Celik, S., Dedeoglu, B. B., & Ýnanýr, A. (2015). Relationship between Ethical Leadership, Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction at Hotel Organizations. Ege Academic         Review, 15(1), 53-63.

Crane, A., & Matten, D. (2010). Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.

Demirtas, O. (2015). Ethical leadership influence at organizations: Evidence from the field. Journal of Business Ethics, 126(2), 273-284.

Koshal, J. O. Servant Leadership Theory.

Lee, P. T. (2014, August). Business and Ethics. In International Forum Journal (Vol. 14, No. 2).

Northcentral University (n.d.) Website. Accessed:  3/21/2015

Parris, D. L., & Peachey, J. W. (2013). A systematic literature review of servant leadership theory in organizational contexts. Journal of Business Ethics, 113(3), 377-393.

Pierro, A., Raven, B. H., Amato, C., & Bélanger, J. J. (2013). Bases of social power, leadership styles, and organizational commitment. International Journal of Psychology, 48(6), 1122-1134.

Veiseh¹, S., Mohammadi, E., Pirzadian, M., & Sharafi, V. (2014) The relation between transformational leadership and organizational culture (Case study: Medical school of         Ilam). Journal of Business Studies Quarterly. March 2014, Vol. 5 Issue 3, p113-124. 12p.