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Leadership & Organization Development Journal
Integrity, ethical leadership, trust and work engagement
Amos S. Engelbrecht, Gardielle Heine, Bright Mahembe,
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Amos S. Engelbrecht, Gardielle Heine, Bright Mahembe, (2017) "Integrity, ethical leadership,
trust and work engagement", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 38 Issue: 3,
pp.368-379, doi: 10.1108/LODJ-11-2015-0237
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Integrity, ethical leadership, trust
and work engagement
Amos S. Engelbrecht and Gardielle Heine
Department of Industrial Psychology,
Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa, and
Bright Mahembe
Department of Industrial Psychology,
University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to investigate how leader integrity and ethical leadership can
influence trust in the leader and employee work engagement.
Design/methodology/approach –Data were collected using an electronic web-based questionnaire
completed by 204 employees from various business organisations. Data were analysed by means of item
analysis and confirmatory factor analysis conducted via structural equation modelling.
Findings –High levels of reliability were found for the measurement scales. Good model fit was
demonstrated for the measurement and structural models. Empirical support was found for all the postulated
relationships in the structural model.
Originality/value –This study is the first to analyse the joint relationships between leader integrity and
work engagement through the mediating role of ethical leadership (i.e. moral management) and trust in the
leader. The findings emphasise the key role played by ethical leaders in creating an ethical and trusting work
climate conducive for employee engagement.
Keywords Work engagement, Integrity, Trust in leader, Ethical leadership
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Identifying the situations that foster work engagement of employees is vital for the
sustainability and growth of organisations (Bakker and Demerouti, 2008; Den Hartog and
Belschak, 2012; Tims et al., 2011). Engaged employees are more productive, enjoy their
work, and are more efficient and involved in their work (Tims et al., 2011). One of the
conditions that are critical in strengthening work engagement is organisational trust
(Buckley, 2011). Because employees are more likely to engage in their work if they are drawn
upon themselves to perform their roles, trust on the part of management is essential.
Excessive monitoring and enforcement from management can hamper employees’tendency
to engage in their work.
Ethical leadership is critical to a leader’s credibility and his/her potential to exert meaningful
influence (Den Hartog and Belschak, 2012). This credibility of ethical leaders is likely to have a
significant influence on trust between a leader and followers (Eisenbeiss and Giessber, 2012).
Integrity, which refers to adherence to moral principles, captures the essence of ethical
values and therefore can be seen as an important driver of ethical leadership (Palanski and
Yammarino, 2011; Van Aswegen and Engelbrecht, 2009). One can also consider the impact
integrity has on the concept of trust in that followers have confidence in leaders who are
perceived as high on integrity (Schoorman et al., 2007).
Conceptualisation of ethical leadership
Researchers have begun to consider ethical leadership as a separate leadership
style in itself rather than focusing only on the ethical elements of other leadership
styles (e.g. transformational, authentic and servant leadership) (Brown et al., 2005;
Kalshoven et al., 2011; Yukl et al., 2011).
Leadership & Organization
Development Journal
Vol. 38 No. 3, 2017
pp. 368-379
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0143-7739
DOI 10.1108/LODJ-11-2015-0237
Received 2 November 2015
Revised 16 May 2016
Accepted 16 May 2016
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-7739.htm
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Resick et al. (2006) empirically distinguished various dimensions of ethical leadership, such
as character and integrity, altruism, motivating, encouraging and empowering. Kalshoven et al.
(2011) identified similar dimensions, namely fairness, integrity, people orientation, role
clarification, ethical guidance and power sharing. In line with these dimensions, Eisenbeiss
(2012) identified a humane orientation and a justice orientation of ethical leadership.
The definition of ethical leadership by Brown et al. (2005) is widely used in the literature.
Based on a qualitative study, Brown et al. (2005, p. 120) defined ethical leadership 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”. The first part of this
definition relates to the “moral person”facet of ethical leadership and the second part to the
“moral manager”facet (Brown and Trevino, 2006).
Leaders embracing the moral person perspective value integrity and are trustworthy,
caring, honest and fair. The moral manager or “ethical leadership”facet proactively
manages morality, and it refers to a leader’s efforts to influence subordinates and guide their
ethical behaviour, such as communicating ethical standards and disciplining employees
who demonstrate unethical behaviours. These behaviours further include making fair and
principled decisions, acting as role models for ethical conduct and recognising and
rewarding ethical behaviour. Mayer et al. (2012) consider the moral manager facet as most
unique to the ethical leadership construct.
Aim of the study
Work engagement is the driver behind an organisation’s competitiveness and success, in
that an engaged employee demonstrates the willingness to put extra effort into the work
and to reach optimal performance. Because the relationship between leaders and followers is
so important in the company, trust and leadership are key aspects that should be
considered, especially when it can contribute to the presence of employee work engagement.
Ethical leadership is considered important, because, together with leader integrity,
it promotes effective interaction between leaders and their followers. According to Brown
and Trevino (2006), ethical leaders are perceived as honest and trustworthy, which is
necessary for healthy working relationships.
The research objective of this study therefore was to make use of sound theoretical
research and logical reasoning to analyse the influence of leader integrity and ethical
leadership on trust in the leader and work engagement. The further aim was to validate a
theoretical model explicating the structural relationships between these variables in the
business context.
No study could be found that has examined leader integrity (i.e. moral person) as an
antecedent of ethical leadership (i.e. moral management). According to Stouten et al. (2012),
future research should determine whether moral persons and moral managers are truly
perceived as such by subordinates and whether they will respond differently as a result of
this. The theoretical model of this study posits that integrity motivates leaders to act in
ways that demonstrate ethical behaviour. Consequences of ethical leadership were also
explored, particularly trust in the leader and work engagement. No study could be found
that has analysed the relationship between ethical leadership and these outcomes.
This study aimed to address these gaps in the management literature.
The relationship between trust in leader and work engagement
Work engagement is present when an employee is fully committed to the work through
focussed energy and a positive state of mind (Tims et al., 2011). Trust in the leader can
be defined as the employee’s willingness to accept vulnerability on the basis of positive
expectations of the intentions of the leader (Schoorman et al., 2007).
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Social exchange relationships depend upon trust, feelings of personal obligation and
norms of reciprocity (Blau, 1964). The subordinates of ethical leaders are likely to perceive
themselves as being in social exchange relationships with their leaders because of the trust
they feel in their leaders (Brown and Trevino, 2006). As a result, the subordinates should be
inclined to go above and beyond the call of duty for these leaders through their job
dedication (Kalshoven et al., 2011) and work engagement.
In a study that was done on the effect of downsizing on trust in the organisation, it was
found that employees who experience an increase in trust also experience an increase in
work engagement (Buckley, 2011). Wong et al. (2010) through their study confirmed that
trust has a direct positive effect on work engagement. They indicated that increased trust
includes the free exchange of knowledge, ideas and information and that this trust will lead
to a climate in which employees are actively engaged in their work.
From the above assumptions and findings, the following can be postulated:
H1. Trust in the leader has a significantly positive influence on the follower’s work
engagement.
The relationship between ethical leadership and work engagement
When employees are treated in a fair and respectful way by their leaders, they are likely to
think about their relationship with their leader in terms of social exchange (Blau, 1964)
rather than economic exchange. Furthermore, they are likely to reciprocate by putting extra
effort into their work, through enhanced job dedication (Brown et al., 2005) and willing to
become more actively engaged in work (Macey et al., 2009).
When an employee has the freedom to make decisions and take action without
consulting the supervisor all the time, it can result in work engagement (Macey et al., 2009).
Bellingham (2003) states that ethical leaders want to empower employees through training
and support and they want to provide freedom to their employees to show initiative through
responsibility and authority.
Ethical leaders take their followers into consideration and through open communication
(Brown and Trevino, 2006) make it clear what the organisation’s goals are and what is expected
from subordinates, which leads to employee engagement in their work (Macey et al., 2009).
Brown et al. (2005) found a positive correlation between ethical leadership and job
dedication, which is a major element of work engagement (Schaufeli and Bakker, 2003).
Through regression analysis, Den Hartog and Belschak (2012) confirmed that ethical
leadership has a positive relationship with work engagement. They found that followers tend
to report higher engagement in their work when they perceive their leaders as acting ethically.
Consequently, the following can be postulated:
H2. Ethical leadership has a significantly positive influence on the follower’s work
engagement.
The relationship between ethical leadership and trust in the leader
Social exchange theory suggests that trust grows as leaders and subordinates interact in
high-quality relationships (Blau, 1964). Ethical leaders’fair and caring treatment and open
communication signal trust that subordinates are likely to reciprocate.
An ethical leader’s concern for the best interests of subordinates, openness to input,
fair decision making and actively managing morality should result in the leader’s
attractiveness as a role model. The treating people fairly element of ethical leadership would
particularly enhance the experiencing of ethical leaders as trustworthy by their subordinates
(Brown et al., 2005; Eisenbeiss, 2012).
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Dadhich and Bhal (2008) found that affective trust and cognitive trust are predicted by
ethical leadership. Brown et al. (2005) as well as Van den Akker et al. (2009) found that
ethical leadership is significantly related to the level of trust the follower has in the leader.
In addition, Johnson et al. (2012) reported a positive relationship between ethical
leadership and organisational trust. Kalshoven et al. (2011) found that ethical leader
behaviours, measured with the ELW as well as the ELS (Brown et al., 2005), were positively
correlated with trust in manager/leader. Therefore, the following can be postulated:
H3. Ethical leadership has a significantly positive influence on the trust in the leader.
The relationship between leader integrity and trust in the leader
Yukl (2013, p. 331) refers to integrity as “honesty and consistency between a person’s
espoused values and behaviour”. Drawing on social exchange, trust in leaders is built on
ethical leaders’behaviours such as integrity, and reliability behaviour, which likely result in
trust that subordinates may reciprocate. Thus, based on social learning theory,
subordinates will be inclined to trust ethical leaders because of their role modelling
behaviour demonstrated through their credibility and trustworthiness. Ethical leaders also
have the courage to transform their moral intentions into ethical behaviours, which can be
referred to as a high behavioural consistency (Zhu et al., 2004). When employees perceive
this consistency, followers’trust in the leader is likely to increase.
According to Colquitt et al. (2007), integrity offers a very logical reason to trust someone.
A feeling of fairness or moral character provides a sort of predictability that can help
individuals cope with uncertainty. A leader with integrity will therefore be perceived as
trustworthy, which will lead to trust in that leader.
Mayer and Gavin (2005) reported integrity as positively related to trust in the plant
manager and in the top management team. Both Palanski and Yammarino (2011) and
Kannan-Narasimhan and Lawrence (2012) found that leader behavioural integrity has a
positive impact on followers’trust in the leader. Engelbrecht and Cloete (2000) also reported a
positive relationship between integrity and interpersonal trust. Furthermore, Kalshoven et al.
(2011) found a positive correlation between integrity and trust in the manager/leader.
Therefore, the following can be postulated:
H4. Leader integrity has a significantly positive influence on the trust in the leader.
The relationship between leader integrity and ethical leadership
Brown and Trevino (2006) reported that leader traits such as honesty, integrity and
trustworthiness contributed to the “moral person”facet of ethical leadership. Mayer et al.
(2012) showed that an ethical leader’s personal values (e.g. integrity and altruism) are an
integral part of their social identity and help them to be a moral person. Integrity shows
some conceptual overlap with ethical leadership, yet is only one facet of ethical behaviour
(Palanski and Yammarino, 2007). Research by Mayer et al. (2012) shows that leader’s ethical
behaviour flows from the leader’own personal moral values.
Integrity and honesty should be crucial to the legitimacy and attractiveness of a role
model (Bandura, 1986) and has frequently been linked with ethical leadership (Brown and
Trevino, 2006). However, because ethical leadership encompasses more than truth-telling,
Brown et al. (2005) assert that honesty and ethical leadership will be positively related but be
empirically distinguishable from one another.
Brown et al. (2005) propose that integrity is the foundation of ethical leadership. Integrity
can therefore be described as a component of ethical leadership, but the concept of integrity
is such a comprehensive construct that it in itself also has an important impact on ethical
leadership. The focus of ethical leadership is on the management of ethics.
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If a person is rated highly on integrity, he/she will show personal consistency in behaviour
which is based on moral values (Palanski and Yammarino, 2007). This characteristic of
integrity will be a significant driver for the person to engage in ethical leadership in an attempt
to influence followers.
Brown et al. (2005) found a positive correlation between leader honesty and ethical
leadership. Kalshoven et al. (2011) found a positive correlation between integrity and
ethical leadership measured with the ELS (Brown et al., 2005). Consequently, the following
can be postulated:
H5. Leader integrity has a significantly positive influence on ethical leadership.
Conceptual model
Based on the in-depth literature review and theoretical arguments presented above, a
structural model was formulated showing the postulated relationships between leader
integrity, ethical leadership, trust in the leader and work engagement. The structural
model, illustrated in Figure 1, reflects the various paths and linkages between the different
latent variables. It is clear from Figure 1 that integrity would be a significant driving
force for a person to engage in ethical leadership in an attempt to influence followers
(Brown et al., 2005; Kalshoven et al., 2011; Mayer et al., 2012; Palanski and Yammarino,
2007). A leader with integrity would be perceived as trustworthy, which will lead to trust
in the leader (Colquitt et al., 2007; Kalshoven et al., 2011; Kannan-Narasimhan and
Lawrence, 2012; Mayer and Gavin, 2005; Palanski and Yammarino, 2011). An ethical
leader’s concern for the best interests of subordinates, openness to input and fair
decision making would enhance the experiencing of ethical leaders as trustworthy by
their subordinates (Dadhich and Bhal, 2008; Eisenbeiss, 2012; Johnson et al., 2012;
Kalshoven et al., 2011; Van den Akker et al., 2009). Ethical leaders want to empower
employees through training and support, and they want to provide freedom to their
employees to show initiative through responsibility and authority, which leads to
employee engagement in their work (Den Hartog and Belschak, 2012; Macey et al., 2009).
When the employees perceive the leaders as fair in the distribution of rewards and
treatmentoftheirefforts,trustintheleaderswillincreasethatwouldleadtoaclimatein
which employees are engaged in their work (Buckley, 2011; Wong et al., 2010).
Method
Participants
This study uses non-probability convenience sampling as a way of obtaining the sample.
The research hypotheses were empirically tested using a sample size of 204 respondents
which consisted of employees operating within various organisations in South Africa.
The sample consisted of 123 females (60.3 per cent) and presented with an average age of
37.53 years. The race distribution was as follows: African (5.4 per cent), coloured (2 per cent),
Indian (34.8 per cent) and white (57.8 per cent). The majority of respondents were from
middle-level management (58.3 per cent) and from the retail industry (80.4 per cent).
Leader
Integrity
Ethical
Leadership
Trust in
Leader
Work
Engagement
Figure 1.
The structural model
representing the
relationships between
integrity, ethical
leadership, trust and
work engagement
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Measures
Work engagement was measured by the 17-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES).
The UWES developed by Schaufeli and Bakker (2003) contains three dimensions of work
engagement, namely vigour, dedication and absorption. The UWES has demonstrated
sound psychometric properties where the three-factor structure of the UWES fits well in the
data of various samples and therefore confirms factorial validity. The three scales are highly
internally consistent, with Cronbach’sαvalues exceeding 0.70 (Schaufeli and Bakker, 2003).
Sample items included the following: “At my work, I feel bursting with energy”;“Iam
enthusiastic about my job”; and “When I am working, I forget everything else around me”.
Trust in the leader was measured by the 13-item Leader Trust Scale (LTS), adapted from
the trust instrument developed by Bews (2000) and the Workplace Trust Survey developed
by Ferres et al. (2004). Sample items included the following: “I feel that my manager keeps
personal discussions confidential”and “I can depend on my manager”.
Ethical leadership was measured by the 17-item Leadership of Ethics Scale (LES), which
was specifically developed to measure the moral manager aspect of ethical leadership
(Brown et al., 2005). The LES items were adapted from different measures of ethical
leadership (Brown et al., 2005; Spangenberg and Theron, 2005; Yukl et al., 2011). The LES
combines different leader behaviours such as acting fairly, rewarding ethical conduct,
ethical visioning and ethical practices of ethical leaders. Sample items included the
following: “My manager communicates an ethical vision and inspires subordinate
commitment to the vision”and “My manager recognises and rewards ethical contributions
and behaviour”.
Leader integrity was measured by the nine-item Behavioural Integrity Survey
(BIS), specifically developed to measure the moral person dimension of ethical leadership
(Brown et al., 2005). The BIS was designed to measure the word-action consistency, promise
fulfilment and honesty/morality dimensions of integrity (Palanski and Yammarino, 2007;
Simons et al., 2007). Sample items included the following: “My manager always tells me the
truth”and “My manager shows a strong concern for moral values”.
Results
Reliability analysis
SPSS (Version 20) was used to perform item analysis on all four measurement scales. After
examination of all the scales, it was concluded that all the Cronbach’sαvalues exceeded the
required 0.70 cut-off value, and all items presented high item-total correlations (see Table I).
Each scale was therefore considered to be internally consistent and reliable.
Evaluating the measurement models
LISREL 8.80 ( Jöreskog and Sörbom, 2006) was used to perform confirmatory factor analysis
on all the scales used in this study.
Scale Number of items Mean
a
SD Cronbach’sαItem-total correlation
UWES: absorption 6 28.95 5.65 0.89 0.62-0.80
UWES: dedication 5 25.10 4.86 0.91 0.69-0.88
UWES: vigour 6 29.47 4.99 0.88 0.61-0.78
LTS 13 68.48 11.54 0.97 0.71-0.89
LES 17 85.87 14.71 0.97 0.63-0.88
BIS 9 46.36 8.34 0.96 0.69-0.90
Notes: UWES, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale; LTS, Leader Trust Scale; LES, Leadership of Ethics Scale;
BIS, Behavioural Integrity Survey.
a
Based on total scores
Table I.
Reliability of the
measurement scales
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The modification indices were investigated to determine the possibility of deleting items with
lower loadings on the completely standardised solution matrix. From the UWES, a poor item
from the absorption subscale and one from the vigour subscale were removed in order to
increase the model fit. All items included in the LTS loaded satisfactorily (W0.50) on the latent
variable. Three items of the LES and one item of the BIS were deleted because of their lower
factor loadings. The deletion of these items resulted in an improvement in the fit indices.
The final step in the analysis of the measurement models was to test the fit of each
measurement model in terms of goodness-of-fit statistics. The fit indices of the refined
subscales of the UWES are represented in Table II.
The fit indices indicate that the measurement models of absorption, dedication and
vigour present acceptable fit with the data. The RMSEA suggests that the refined
measurement models fit the obtained data adequately (0.00-0.055) (Hair et al., 2006;
Kelloway, 1998). The p-value for Test of Close Fit (RMSEA o0.05) ranges from 0.38 to 0.69
(pW0.05), supporting the conclusion that the various measurement models show close fit.
The RMR and standardised RMR values are all below the 0.05 threshold, providing evidence
of a relatively good model fit (Diamantopoulos and Siguaw, 2000; Hair et al., 2006). The GFI
for each of the measurement models are close to 1 and above 0.90. This indicates that good
absolute fit has been achieved for each measurement model (Kelloway, 1998).
The results of the incremental fit indices indicate that all the measurement models
achieve NFI and CFI indices that are W0.90, which represents good fit (Hair et al., 2006).
These comparative indices therefore, appear to reveal a positive picture of model fit.
Overall, the reported indices indicate that satisfactory measurement model fit was also
achieved for the LTS, LES and BIS measurement models (see Table II).
Evaluating the structural model
An interpretation of all the fit indices led to the conclusion that the structural model fitted
the data well (see Table II). Only the GFI did not indicate good fit.
Examination of the modification indices suggested that there were no additional paths
between any latent variables that would significantly improve the fit of the proposed
structural model. These results therefore indicated that the structural model was successful
to the extent that it explained the observed covariance amongst the apparent variables.
Discussion
The relationship between trust in leader and work engagement
A positive relationship was found between trust in the leader and employee engagement
(t¼2.33, po0.05) (see Table III). The structural equation modelling results led to the rejection
Model S-Bχ
2
df RMSEA p
close fit
RMR SRMR GFI NFI CFI
Absorption 4.791 5 0.00 0.69 0.03 0.02 0.99 0.99 0.99
Dedication 6.950 5 0.044 0.48 0.03 0.02 0.98 0.99 0.99
Vigour 8.044 5 0.055 0.38 0.03 0.03 0.98 0.99 0.99
LTS 124.865* 65 0.067 0.06 0.03 0.03 0.86 0.98 0.99
LES 146.103* 77 0.067 0.052 0.04 0.04 0.87 0.98 0.99
BIS 37.558* 20 0.066 0.195 0.03 0.03 0.93 0.99 0.99
SMODEL 1,877.089* 1,170 0.055 0.052 0.06 0.05 0.68 0.97 0.99
Notes: S-Bχ
2
, Sattora-Bentler Scaled χ
2
; df, Degrees of freedom; RMSEA, Root-mean-square error of
approximation; p
close fit
,p-value for Test of Close Fit (RMSEA o0.05); RMR, Root-mean-square residual;
SRMR, Standardised root mean residual; GFI, Goodness-of-fit index; NFI, Normed fit index;
CFI, Comparative fit index; LTS, Leader trust scale; LES, Leadership of Ethics Scale; BIS, Behavioural
Integrity Survey; SMODEL, structural model. *po0.05
Table II.
Goodness-of-fit indices
for all the scales and
subscales
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of null H1. The finding is consistent with the results obtained in the literature (Buckley, 2011;
Wong et al., 2010).
The results support the study by Wong et al. (2010), which found that a climate in which
employees are engaged in their work can be created through the trustworthy behaviours of
the leader. If employees trust their leader, they assume that the leader will make decisions
with the employees’best interest in mind, and the employees will be more willing to engage
in their jobs (Buckley, 2011).
It was confirmed in the present study that a relationship expressive of trust in the leader
will promote the presence of employee engagement; the employee will be driven and
committed to the work on the basis of the trust he/she has in the leader to make informed and
fair decisions regarding the work.
The relationship between ethical leadership and work engagement
Support was found in the present study for a positive relationship between ethical
leadership and follower’s work engagement (t¼2.27, po0.05) (see Table III). This
subsequently led to the confirmation of H2.
This result offers support to similar research findings in the literature (Brown et al., 2005;
Den Hartog and Belschak, 2012; Macey et al., 2009). The positive relationship sustains the
work of Den Hartog and Belschak (2012) who found that followers are highly engaged in
their work when they perceive their leaders as acting ethically.
Leaders who promote ethical behaviour empower employees by providing them with the
necessary opportunities to become capable in executing their jobs. Ethical leaders treat
employees equally and promote fair and principled decision making. They communicate
openly to their followers about goals and expectations (Brown and Trevino, 2006). Ethical
leaders inspire employees through an ethical vision and provide the freedom to employees to
take initiative in the workplace. These behaviours of an ethical leader provide the
environment and the opportunity for the employees to be fully engaged in their work.
The relationship between ethical leadership and trust in the leader
The hypothesised relationship between ethical leadership and trust in the leader was
confirmed in this study (t¼5.01, po0.05) (see Table III), which supported H3. The positive
relationship between these two latent variables is also well documented in the literature
(Brown and Trevino, 2006; Dadhich and Bhal, 2008; Johnson et al., 2012; Kalshoven et al., 2011;
Van den Akker et al., 2009; Wong et al., 2010).
The degree to which the leader is perceived as trustworthy will influence the way in
which the follower places his/her confidence, trust and belief in the leader. A leader who
Latent variable Ethical leadership Trust Integrity
Trust 0.52 0.43
(0.10) (0.09)
5.01* 4.60*
Work engagement 0.31 0.32
(0.14) (0.14)
2.27* 2.33*
Ethical leadership 0.85
(0.11)
7.90*
Notes: Completely standardised path coefficients in italic; standard error estimates in brackets;
t-values ⩾│1.96│indicate significant parameter estimates. *po0.05
Table III.
The γand βmatrix
of path coefficients for
the structural model
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values ethics and manages ethics in the workplace is likely to display fairness and care
towards the employees (Brown and Trevino, 2006).
An ethical leader is dedicated to open communication and to involving others in
decisions (Brown and Trevino, 2006). These behaviours of an ethical leaders are concurrent
with leaders who are trusted by their followers.
When an employee perceives his/her leader as someone with concern for ethical
behaviour and who will take employees’needs into consideration when important decisions
are made, he or she will be likely to display sincere trust in the leader (Wong et al., 2010).
The relationship between leader integrity and trust in the leader
A positive relationship was found between leader integrity and trust in the leader
(t¼4.60, po0.05) (see Table III). Alternative H4 was therefore supported. Various other studies
have also confirmed the positive relationship between these two constructs (Engelbrecht and
Cloete, 2000; Kalshoven et al., 2011; Kannan-Narasimhan and Lawrence, 2012; Mayer and Gavin,
2005; Palanski and Yammarino, 2011; Schoorman et al., 2007; Simons, 2002).
Trust is widely associated with moral behaviour, such as exhibited in fairness,
consistency, benevolence and integrity (Colquitt et al., 2007; Schoorman et al., 2007).
As mentioned previously, integrity is associated with consistent and reliable behaviour,
which is based on moral standards. A leader with integrity is therefore also perceived as
trustworthy, which will strengthen the trust in that leader.
This study confirmed Simons’(2002) argument that behavioural integrity has a strong
influence on trust in the leader. A leader who actively demonstrates integrity through
honesty, consistency and moral behaviour will be successful in establishing trust in the
leader/subordinate relationship.
The relationship between leader integrity and ethical leadership
A positive relationship was found between leader integrity and ethical leadership (t¼7.90,
po0.05) (see Table III). This subsequently led to the rejection of null H5. This result supported
the positive relationship between these variables found by Kalshoven et al. (2011).
Palanski and Yammarino (2007) proposed that a person with integrity will demonstrate
behaviours that are based on moral values. The fact that integrity is part of the moral value
drive behind ethical leadership may support the assumption that a leader with integrity will
be encouraged to engage in ethical behaviour in an attempt to influence followers
(Den Hartog and Belschak, 2012).
A leader who values ethics and manages ethics in the workplace is likely to display
honesty, fairness and care towards the employees (Brown and Trevino, 2006; Van Aswegen
and Engelbrecht, 2009). Behavioural integrity can therefore have a considerable effect on a
leader who is dedicated to the management of ethics in the workplace.
Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research
Although this study offers valuable insights about the consequences of ethical leadership, some
limitations need to be considered for the purpose of providing information on how future studies
can be improved and extended. First, this study was a single-source study. Multiple sources of
data could be considered in future studies, such as leader self-assessments of their own integrity
and ethical leadership, and peer ratings.
Second, future studies could explore other mediating and moderating variables
(e.g. integrity-related personality traits, altruism, psychological empowerment, ethical
climate and organisational justice) to clarify the nomological network that may influence
ethical leadership and work engagement. It is also suggested that a longitudinal study of the
proposed conceptual model should be executed to enable more substantial causal inferences.
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A third limitation concerns the sampling method that was used. It is suggested,
therefore, that future studies should avoid making use of a convenient sample, but could
make use of a quota sampling technique. Future studies should also make use of a larger
sample chosen on the basis of greater probability and randomness. This will ensure that the
sample is more representative of the general business population.
Managerial implications
As confirmed through this study, mutual trust and employee engagement will strengthen
when integrity behaviour and ethical leadership are present in the work environment.
The good fit indices of the measurement models confirmed the postulation that moral
persons and moral managers are perceived as such by subordinates (Stouten et al., 2012).
As stated by Brown et al. (2005), it remains important to be a moral manager, not just a
moral person, through implementing moral values and an ethical vision, making it visible by
living it out in the organisation. Practical guidelines therefore would suggest leading
through ethical role modelling, developing performance criteria that reward ethical
behaviour, facilitating fair and ethical solutions to problems and conflict, monitoring fraud
and corruption through internal and external audit systems and promoting a code of
ethical conduct (Yukl, 2013). To prepare managerial leaders for dealing with typical moral
challenges and dilemmas, training programmes should be developed aimed to create ethical
awareness and to develop managers’capacity to find morally justifiable solutions by using
interactive learning techniques (e.g. case studies, role play and coaching).
Conclusion
Organisations should take full responsibility for ensuring that ethical leaders drive
management practices and that trust in the leaders is developed through the presence of
ethically based business systems and functions. By strengthening these factors, work
engagement is promoted amongst employees because of the trust they have in their leaders
for taking their interests into consideration, and for behaving in a fair and ethical manner
when decisions are made in a changing work environment.
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Corresponding author
Amos S. Engelbrecht can be contacted at: ase@sun.ac.za
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