Impact of ethical leadership on organizational citizenship behaviour : group and individual level mediators

Abstract

The proliferation of unethical behaviours and the various instances in which leaders have behaved unethically in the past decade have resulted in a series of negative impacts on their respective firms and organizations. This study examines the impact of ethical leadership on organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) by focusing on individual and group level mediators between the two constructs. The field of ethical leadership and its influence on OCB is under researched. More specifically the extent to which individual and group level mediators promote OCB practices through ethical leadership. The study adopted a qualitative case study approach in the public sector with a focus on a state owned company (SOC), in the water services sector in South Africa. The study was anchored in social learning theory. The study found that the ethical leadership style of leaders positively impacts the OCB of employees in an organization. The study also identified the group level and individual level mediators that promote OCB in employees. The study furthermore found that there is no specific behaviour that can be categorized only as existing at a group level or at an individual level. The study expands the body of knowledge of ethical leadership and OCB through examining the mediating group level and individual level mediators between ethical leadership and OCB in the context of South Africa in the water sector. The study further contributes to the literature on possible sequential mediating effects of the ethical leadership–OCB relationship.