THE IMPACT OF ETHICAL LEADERSHIP ON MEMBER’S CREATIVITY AND CAREER SUCCESS: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF LEADER-MEMBER EXCHANGE

Year 2018, Volume: 5 Issue: 3, 202 - 211, 30.09.2018

Canan Nur Karabey Zisan Duygu Aliogullari

Abstract

Purpose- The
aim of this study is to investigate possible direct and indirect effects
(through leader-member exchange-LMX) of member’s ethical leadership perception
on their career success and individual creativity.

Methodology- Survey
method was used to test the hypothesized effects in the proposed model. A total of 212 employees from private sector companies in a province
of Turkey participated in the survey. Survey results were analysed by
structural equation modelling.

Findings- The results
show that ethical leadership affects LMX positively and in turn LMX has a
positive and significant impact on creativity. Thus, ethical leadership was
found to have only indirect effect on creativity through LMX. On the other
hand, ethical leadership was found to have a positive and statistically
significant direct effect on career success.

Conclusion- Working
with an ethical leader brings close interaction between employee and the
leader, fosters employee’s loyalty to the leader and commitment to the
organizational tasks beyond formal requirements. In turn, high leader-member
exchange leads to an increase in employee’s creativity.  Moreover, if employees believe that their
leader adopts ethical beliefs and performs ethically, they would be satisfied
with their improvement in achieving career goals regarding promotion, salary
and work success regardless of the quality of their relationship with the
leader. 

Keywords

Leader-member exchange, ethical leadership, creativity, career success

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