Supervisor expediency to employee expediency The moderating role of leader–member exchange and the mediating role of employee unethical tolerance

We utilize social learning theory to test the role-modeling effect of supervisor expediency (i.e., a supervisor's use of unethical practices to expedite work for self-serving purposes). In particular, we examine the relationship between supervisor expediency and employee expediency, as moderate...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of organizational behavior Vol. 39; no. 4; pp. 525 - 541
Main Authors Greenbaum, Rebecca L., Mawritz, Mary B., Bonner, Julena M., Webster, Brian D., Kim, Joseph
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Chichester Wiley (Variant) 01.05.2018
Wiley Periodicals Inc
Subjects
behavioral ethics
Employees
Ethics
expediency
Leader-member exchange
leadership
Learning
LMX
Multisource
Organizational behavior
Organizational change
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Social learning
Supervisor-Subordinate interactions
Supervisors
Tolerance
unethical behavior
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:We utilize social learning theory to test the role-modeling effect of supervisor expediency (i.e., a supervisor's use of unethical practices to expedite work for self-serving purposes). In particular, we examine the relationship between supervisor expediency and employee expediency, as moderated by leader–member exchange (LMX) and mediated by employee unethical tolerance. We predict that employees are more likely to model their supervisors' expedient behaviors when their relationship is characterized by high-LMX (a high-quality exchange relationship that is rich in socioemotional support). Furthermore, we argue that supervisor expediency, especially when LMX is high, influences employees' attitudes of unethical tolerance, which then affects employees' expedient behaviors. Across 2 multisource field studies and a third time-lagged field study, we found general support for our theoretical predictions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
ISSN:0894-3796
1099-1379
DOI:10.1002/job.2258