Inhibiting Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior: Harnessing The Effects of Responsible Leadership and Leader Member Exchange

Abstract

Although leadership styles tend to impact unethical pro-organizational behaviour (UPB), there has been little empirical study on employees' ethical conduct as a result of responsible leadership. This study investigates the favourable influence of responsible leadership on unethical pro-organizational behaviour (UPB) via the mediator, leader member interchange (LMX). Responses were collected in two waves from 200 full-time working employees in Pakistan, and structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. According to the findings, LMX moderated the link between responsible leadership and UPB. Our research also found a negative link between responsible leadership and workers' propensity to engage in UPB, as well as a negative relationship between LMX and UPB. Furthermore, the results of mediation and direct relationships were stronger for employees who had spent more than seven years in the business compared to those who had spent less than seven years. The leader's responsible behaviour trickles down to his or her subordinates and inspires their workers to do the same. Through LMX, we also demonstrated that responsible leadership affected employees' UPB participation. Organizations that embrace a responsible leadership style through training methods and assessment tools may enhance the quality of the exchange connection between leader and subordinates, therefore lowering UPB. This is one of the few empirical research that has looked at the link between responsible leadership, LMX, and UPB. The findings of our study add to those of previous studies on the antecedents of UPB. In contrast to prior research, our findings indicate that LMX can contribute to ethical conduct, i.e., lower UPB.