IMPROVING SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY THROUGH ETHICAL LEADERSHIP: A PERCEPTIONS BASED VIEW

Ethical leadership is defined as “the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and the promotion of such conduct to followers through two-way communication, reinforcement and decision-making”. (Brown.et al. 2005). Like charismatic leadership, ethical leadership is a value-driven form of leadership. Such value-driven leaders affect the self-concept and beliefs of their followers which, in turn, affect their motivation, attitudes, and behaviors (Hartog and Belschak, 2012). Ethical leaders embody the purpose, vision, and values of the organization and of the constituents, within an understanding of ethical ideals. They connect the goals of the organization with that of the internal employees and external stakeholders (Bello, 2012). In the literature, it is proposed that leaders' social responsibility may be related to ethical leadership. Ethical leaders are expected to do what is morally right through an inner obligation (Kanungo & Mendoca, 1996). Thus, they are expected to have a high internal obligation as well as high moral standards. Further, they engage in virtuous acts or behaviors that benefit others. This implies they will have a high concern for others. In line with this, Kanungo (2001) argues that an internalized norm of responsibility (or social responsibility) forms the basis of the moral altruism motive and consequently the moral foundation of ethical leadership. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between ethical leadership dimensions of employees and their perceptions on social responsibility implications. The study will be conducted with employed students enrolled to an MBA programs of universities. The scale developed by Kalshoven, Hartog and Hoogh (2011) which bases on 7 different dimensions will be used to measure ethical leadership throughout the research. Social responsibility scale that will be used in the study was developed by Carroll (1999) and has 4 dimensions - economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic. Throughout the analyses, it will be investigated whether this relationship differ in terms of certain demographic variables such as gender, age and tenure. By understanding this relationship, certain practical recommendations will be presented accordingly. Such recommendations are especially important to shed light on the impact of ethical leadership dimensions on social responsibility practices and thus to bridge individual level perceptions to firm level implications. Basing on these linkages, specific important organizational interventions which will further contribute to organizational processes in this context will be discussed.