Servant leadership and corruption intention in construction companies: role of ethical climate and Machiavellianism

Abstract

Corruption is usually an activity that is deliberately hidden so that it is difficult to know until it becomes a scandal. Indonesia is progressing with many infrastructure projects that are prone to corruption cases. Cases of corruption in infrastructure projects usually involve government officials and company leaders. Previous studies have linked the leadership style of a company leader with corruption, and many studies have discussed corruption in the construction sector. This research will provide a new perspective on corruption intentions as a starting point for acts of corruption related to several factors that have yet to be widely discussed in previous studies. We analyze data from 100 respondents who work in the construction sector using a linear regression technique by analytic tools of PROCESS IBM SPSS Statistics Version 22. This research shows that servant leadership is related to corrupt intentions, which would be much more significant if mediated by a low corporate ethical climate and moderated by Machiavellianism in this moderated mediation model and nevertheless might play the role of a moderator in future studies. The improved ethical climate is a preventive way to reduce corruption intention. On the other side, company leaders should be more cautious in understanding followers' Machiavellianism related to corruption intention.

Keywords

• Corruption intention
• Servant leadershhip
• Construction
• Invention

References

1. Agbo, A. A., & Iwundu, E. I. (2016). Corruption as a Propensity: Personality and Motivational Determinants Among Nigerians, The Journal of Psychology, 150 (4), 502-526.
2. Ahdiat, A. (2022, Juni 29). BUMN Dominasi proyek infrastruktur Terbesar RI pada 2020. Katadata.co.id. Dikutip dari https://databoks.katadata.co.id/datapublish/2022/06/29/bumn-dominasi-proyek-infrastruktur-terbesar-ri-pada-2020
3. Ariani, V., Jumas, D, Y., Utama, W, P., & Wahyudi, W, W. (2023). "Indikator penyebab praktik korupsi pada industri kontruksi di sumatera barat. Rekayasa Sipil, 17 (1), 15-22.
4. Arnaud, A. (2010). Conceptualizing and measuring ethical work climate: Development and validation of the ethical climate index. Business and Society, 49, pp. 345–357.
5. Arnaud, A. and Schminke, M. (2012). The ethical climate and context of organizations: A comprehensive model. Organization Science, 23, 1767-178.
6. Asnawi, Sahlan. (2001). Kepemimpinan dan Kepengikutan dalam Lokus Politik Indonesia Kontemporer: Era Soekarno-Soeharto-Habibie-dan Abdurrahman Wahid Suatu Pendekatan Psikologi Politik dan Psikologi Organisasi. Jakarta, Studia Press.
7. Bagus, K. (2017, April 9) Mengenal Gaya Kepemimpinan Servant Leadership Ala Presiden Jokowi https://www.finansialku.com/gaya-kepemimpinan-servant-leadership-ala-presiden-jokowi-yang-harusnya-dimiliki-setiap-pemimpin-perusahaan/
8. Cohen, J., Y. Ding, C. Lesage, & H. Stolowy. (2010). Corporate fraud and managers' behavior: Evidence from the press. Journal of Business Ethics, 95 (Supp. 2), pp. 271–315.

9. Dahling, J. J., Whitaker, B. G., & Levy, P. E. (2009). The development and validation of a new Machiavellianism scale. Journal of Management, 35, pp. 219–257.
10. Dewangga, O, S., & Fiky, M. (2020, Januari 17). KPK Tetapkan 10 Tersangka Kasus Korupsi Proyek Jalan di Bengkalis. Rakyat Merdeka.id. Dikutip dari https://rm.id/baca-berita/nasional/26481/ kpk-tetapkan-10-tersangka-kasus-korupsi-proyek-jalan-di-bengkalis
11. Direktorat Jenderal Bina Konstruksi. (2021). Penduduk Usia 15 Tahun ke Atas yang Bekerja Seminggu yang Lalu pada Sektor Konstruksi Menurut Pendidikan dan Provinsi. Kementerian Pekerjaan Umum dan Perumahan Rakyat. https://data.pu.go.id/dataset/penduduk-usia-15-tahun-ke-atas-yang-bekerja-seminggu-yang-lalu-pada-sektor-konstruksi.
12. Dodd, Regan; Achen, Rebecca M.; and Lumpkin, Angela (2018). Servant Leadership and Its Impact on Ethical Climate. The Journal of Values-Based Leadership, 11 (1).
13. Ehrhart, M. G. (2004). Leadership and procedural justice climate as antecedents of unit-level organizational citizenship behavior. Personnel Psychology, 57, 61-9.
14. Fatima, T., Majeed, M., Jahanzeb, S., Gul, S., & Irshad, M. (2021). Servant leadership and machiavellian followers: A moderated mediation model. Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 37(3), 215–229.
15. Gandolfi, F., Stone, S., & Deno, F. (2017). Servant leadership: An ancient style with 21st-century relevance. Review of International Comparative Management/Revista de Management Comparat International, 18(4).
16. Gorsira, M., Steg, L., Denkers, A., and Huisman, W. (2018b). Corruption in organizations: ethical climate and individual motives. Administrative Sciences. 8, 1–18.
17. Jay (2019, Novemer 20) Presiden Jokowi: Ketersediaan Infrastruktur Menjadi Pondasi Indonesia Menuju Negara Maju. Sda.pu.go.id. Dikutip dari https://sda.pu.go.id/balai/bwssumatera1 /article/presiden-jokowi-ketersediaan-infrastruktur-menjadi-pondasi-indonesia-menuju-negara-maju
18. Jonason, P. K., & Webster, G. D. (2010). The dirty dozen: a concise measure of the dark triad. Psychol. Assess. 22, 420–432.
19. Khan, M. H. (2004). State failure in developing countries and strategies of institutional reform, in Tungodden, Bertil, Nicholas Stren and Ivar Kolstad (eds) Toward Pro-Poor Policies: Aid Institution and Globalization, Proceedings of Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics, pp. 165–195, Oxford: Oxford University Press and World Bank. Dikutip dari https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/3683>
20. Li-Ping Tang, T., Chen, Y. J., & Sutarso, T. (2008). Bad apples in bad (business) barrels: The love of money, Machiavellianism, risk tolerance, and unethical behavior. Management Decision, 46(2), 243-263.
21. Manara, M. U., van Gils, S., Nübold, A., & Zijlstra, F. R. H. (2020). Corruption, Fast or Slow? Ethical Leadership Interacts with Machiavellianism to Influence Intuitive Thinking and Corruption. Frontiers in Psychology. 11:578419.
22. Nathan, E., Mulyadi, R., Sen, S., Dirkvan, D., & Robert, C. L. (2018). Servant leadership: A systematic review and call for future research. The Leadership Quarterly, 30(1), 111-132.
23. Newman, A., Schwarz, G., Cooper, B., & Sendjaya, S. (2017). How servant leadership influences organizational citizenship behavior: The roles of LMX, empowerment, and proactive personality. Journal of Business Ethics, 145(1), 49–62.
24. O'Boyle, E. H. Jr., Forsyth, D. R., Banks, G. C., & McDaniel, M. A. (2012). A meta-analysis of the dark triad and work behavior: A social exchange perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97, pp. 557– 579.
25. Olusegun, A.E., Benson, A., Esther, I. and Michael, A.O., 2011. Corruption in the construction industry of Nigeria: Causes and solutions. Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Science, 2(3), pp.156–159
26. Rijsenbilt, A., & Commandeur, H. (2013). Narcissus enters the courtroom: CEO narcissism and fraud. Journal of Business Ethics. 117 (2), 413–429.
27. Rogers, M. K., Seigfried, K., & Tidke, K. (2006). Self-reported computer criminal behavior: A psychological analysis. Digital Investigation, 3(Supp), 116-120.
28. Sniehotta, F. F., Scholz, U., and Schwarzer, R. (2005). Bridging the intention–behavior gap: planning, self-efficacy, and action control in the adoption and maintenance of physical exercise. Psychol. Health 20, 143–160.
29. Sugiyono. (2006). Metode penelitian kuantitatif, kualitatif dan R&D. Bandung: Alfabeta.
30. Tabish, S. Z. S., & Jha, K. N. (2012). The impact of anti-corruption strategies on corruption-free performance in public construction projects. Construction Management and Economics, 30(1), 21–35.
31. Whetstone, J. T. (2002). Personalism and moral leadership: The servant leader with a transforming vision. Business Ethics: A European Review, 11(4), 385-392.
32. Yang, J., Gu, J., & Liu, H. (2019). Servant leadership and employee creativity: The roles of psychological empowerment and work-family conflict. Current Psychology, 38(6), 1417-1427.
33. Yee, L. K. (2019). Corruption practices in the Malaysian construction industry: Analysing causes and preventive strategies. (Bachelor report, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kajang). Dikutip dari https:// http://eprints.utar.edu.my/3378/