The Role of Leaders in Influencing Unethical Behavior in the Workplace
The Role of Leaders in Influencing Unethical Behavior in the Workplace
Linda Klebe Treviño Michael E. Brown
A
fter years of focusing on explaining and predicting positive employee attitudes (e.g., job satisfaction, employee commitment) and behaviors (e.g., employee citizenship, work performance), organizational behavior researchers have increasingly turned their attention to understanding what drives costly misconduct in organizations (Bennett & Robinson, 2000; Giacalone & Greenberg, 1997; Robinson & Bennett, 1995; Robinson & O’Leary-Kelly, 1998; Treviño, 1986; Vardi & Wiener, 1996). Although researchers have used a variety of terms to describe such employee behavior (e.g., deviance, antisocial behavior, misbehavior, counterproductive behavior, unethical behavior), all of them share a concern with counternormative behavior intended to harm the organization or its stakeholders (O’Leary-Kelly, Duffy, & Griffin, 2000). Unethical behavior in organizations has been widely reported in the wake of many recent high-profile corporate scandals. As researchers and practitioners consider what may be driving such behavior, leaders are coming under increasing scrutiny not only because many senior executives are accused of having committed unethical acts but also because of the role that leaders at all levels are thought to play in managing the ethical (and unethical) conduct of organization members. For example, Bernie Ebbers, the former chief executive officer of WorldCom, was hailed as a great leader for growing the company into a telecommunications superpower.
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Ebbers, however, was later discredited for his failure to provide moral leadership as WorldCom became engulfed in financial scandals that resulted in the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history (for more on Ebbers, see Case 3). As Turner, Barling, Epitropaki, Butcher, and Milner (2002) suggest, organizational
Linda Klebe Treviño Michael E. Brown
A
fter years of focusing on explaining and predicting positive employee attitudes (e.g., job satisfaction, employee commitment) and behaviors (e.g., employee citizenship, work performance), organizational behavior researchers have increasingly turned their attention to understanding what drives costly misconduct in organizations (Bennett & Robinson, 2000; Giacalone & Greenberg, 1997; Robinson & Bennett, 1995; Robinson & O’Leary-Kelly, 1998; Treviño, 1986; Vardi & Wiener, 1996). Although researchers have used a variety of terms to describe such employee behavior (e.g., deviance, antisocial behavior, misbehavior, counterproductive behavior, unethical behavior), all of them share a concern with counternormative behavior intended to harm the organization or its stakeholders (O’Leary-Kelly, Duffy, & Griffin, 2000). Unethical behavior in organizations has been widely reported in the wake of many recent high-profile corporate scandals. As researchers and practitioners consider what may be driving such behavior, leaders are coming under increasing scrutiny not only because many senior executives are accused of having committed unethical acts but also because of the role that leaders at all levels are thought to play in managing the ethical (and unethical) conduct of organization members. For example, Bernie Ebbers, the former chief executive officer of WorldCom, was hailed as a great leader for growing the company into a telecommunications superpower.
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10/29/2004
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Page 70
70——MANAGING ORGANIZATIONAL DEVIANCE
Ebbers, however, was later discredited for his failure to provide moral leadership as WorldCom became engulfed in financial scandals that resulted in the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history (for more on Ebbers, see Case 3). As Turner, Barling, Epitropaki, Butcher, and Milner (2002) suggest, organizational