IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/asiapa/v40y2023i1d10.1007_s10490-021-09781-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The more you exploit, the more expedient I will be: A moral disengagement and Chinese traditionality examination of exploitative leadership and employee expediency

Author

Listed:
  • Ken Cheng

    (Zhejiang University of Technology)

  • Limin Guo

    (Tongji University)

  • Jinlian Luo

    (Tongji University)

Abstract

Drawing on social cognitive theory, we build a comprehensive understanding of how, why, and when exploitative leadership relates to employee expediency by identifying moral disengagement as one psychological mechanism and Chinese traditionality as one boundary condition. To test our model, we administrated a three-wave survey to collect data from 350 employees in China. The results showed that exploitative leadership was positively related to employee expediency and that moral disengagement mediated this relationship. Additionally, we found that Chinese traditionality buffered the positive relationship between exploitative leadership and moral disengagement as well as the indirect effect of exploitative leadership on employee expediency through moral disengagement. Theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Ken Cheng & Limin Guo & Jinlian Luo, 2023. "The more you exploit, the more expedient I will be: A moral disengagement and Chinese traditionality examination of exploitative leadership and employee expediency," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 151-167, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:asiapa:v:40:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s10490-021-09781-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s10490-021-09781-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10490-021-09781-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10490-021-09781-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Buunk, Abraham P. & Gibbons, Frederick X., 2007. "Social comparison: The end of a theory and the emergence of a field," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 102(1), pages 3-21, January.
    2. Peixu He & Zhenglong Peng & Hongdan Zhao & Christophe Estay, 2019. "How and When Compulsory Citizenship Behavior Leads to Employee Silence: A Moderated Mediation Model Based on Moral Disengagement and Supervisor–Subordinate Guanxi Views," Post-Print hal-02054246, HAL.
    3. Chun Hui & Cynthia Lee & Denise M. Rousseau, 2004. "Employment Relationships in China: Do Workers Relate to the Organization or to People?," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(2), pages 232-240, April.
    4. Roberta Fida & Marinella Paciello & Carlo Tramontano & Reid Fontaine & Claudio Barbaranelli & Maria Farnese, 2015. "An Integrative Approach to Understanding Counterproductive Work Behavior: The Roles of Stressors, Negative Emotions, and Moral Disengagement," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(1), pages 131-144, August.
    5. Peixu He & Zhenglong Peng & Hongdan Zhao & Christophe Estay, 2019. "How and When Compulsory Citizenship Behavior Leads to Employee Silence: A Moderated Mediation Model Based on Moral Disengagement and Supervisor–Subordinate Guanxi Views," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 259-274, March.
    6. Jae Hyeung Kang & James G. Matusik & Lizabeth A. Barclay, 2017. "Affective and Normative Motives to Work Overtime in Asian Organizations: Four Cultural Orientations from Confucian Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 115-130, January.
    7. Greenberg, Jerald & Ashton-James, Claire E. & Ashkanasy, Neal M., 2007. "Social comparison processes in organizations," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 102(1), pages 22-41, January.
    8. Eissa, Gabi, 2020. "Individual initiative and burnout as antecedents of employee expediency and the moderating role of conscientiousness," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 202-212.
    9. Klaus Meyer, 2007. "Asian contexts and the search for general theory in management research: A rejoinder," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 527-534, December.
    10. Jian Peng & Zhen Wang & Xiao Chen, 2019. "Does Self-Serving Leadership Hinder Team Creativity? A Moderated Dual-Path Model," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 419-433, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhining Wang & Shuang Ren & Doren Chadee & Yuhang Chen, 2024. "Employee Ethical Silence Under Exploitative Leadership: The Roles of Work Meaningfulness and Moral Potency," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 190(1), pages 59-76, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lijing Zhao & Long W. Lam & Julie N. Y. Zhu & Shuming Zhao, 2022. "Doing It Purposely? Mediation of Moral Disengagement in the Relationship Between Illegitimate Tasks and Counterproductive Work Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(3), pages 733-747, September.
    2. Ulf Schaefer & Onno Bouwmeester, 2021. "Reconceptualizing Moral Disengagement as a Process: Transcending Overly Liberal and Overly Conservative Practice in the Field," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 172(3), pages 525-543, September.
    3. Chenqian Xu & Zhu Yao & Zhengde Xiong, 2023. "The Impact of Work-Related Use of Information and Communication Technologies After Hours on Time Theft," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 187(1), pages 185-198, September.
    4. Matt Grimes, 2010. "Strategic Sensemaking within Funding Relationships: The Effects of Performance Measurement on Organizational Identity in the Social Sector," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(4), pages 763-783, July.
    5. Tsang-Kai Hung & Chih-Hung Wang & Mu Tian & Ming Lin & Wen-Hsiu Liu, 2022. "How to Prevent Stress in the Workplace by Emotional Regulation? The Relationship Between Compulsory Citizen Behavior, Job Engagement, and Job Performance," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, June.
    6. Miaomiao Li & Xiaofeng Xu & Ho Kwong Kwan, 2023. "The antecedents and consequences of workplace envy: A meta-analytic review," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 1-35, March.
    7. Madera, Juan M. & Spitzmueller, Christiane & Yu, Heyao & Edema-Sillo, Ebenezer & Clarke, Mark S.F., 2024. "External review letters in academic promotion and tenure decisions are reflective of reviewer characteristics," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(2).
    8. Denni Arli & Felix Septianto & Rafi M. M. I. Chowdhury, 2021. "Religious But Not Ethical: The Effects of Extrinsic Religiosity, Ethnocentrism and Self-righteousness on Consumers’ Ethical Judgments," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 171(2), pages 295-316, June.
    9. Breidenthal, Amy P. & Liu, Dong & Bai, Yuntao & Mao, Yina, 2020. "The dark side of creativity: Coworker envy and ostracism as a response to employee creativity," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 242-254.
    10. Zejun Ma & Hira Salah ud din Khan & Muhammad Salman Chughtai & Mingxing Li & Bailin Ge & Syed Usman Qadri, 2023. "A Review of Supervisor–Subordinate Guanxi: Current Trends and Future Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, January.
    11. Goodman, Paul S. & Haisley, Emily, 2007. "Social comparison processes in an organizational context: New directions," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 102(1), pages 109-125, January.
    12. Matthew J. Quade & Rebecca L. Greenbaum & Mary B. Mawritz, 2019. "“If Only My Coworker Was More Ethical”: When Ethical and Performance Comparisons Lead to Negative Emotions, Social Undermining, and Ostracism," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 567-586, October.
    13. Zi Wang & Guiquan Li, 2018. "You don’t actually want to get closer to the star: How LMX leads to workplace ostracism," Frontiers of Business Research in China, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-13, December.
    14. Natalie J. Shin & Jonathan C. Ziegert & Miriam Muethel, 2022. "The Detrimental Effects of Ethical Incongruence in Teams: An Interactionist Perspective of Ethical Fit on Relationship Conflict and Information Sharing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(1), pages 259-272, August.
    15. Peixu He & Rui Sun & Hongdan Zhao & Linlin Zheng & Chuangang Shen, 2022. "Linking work-related and non-work-related supervisor–subordinate relationships to knowledge hiding: a psychological safety lens," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(4), pages 525-546, September.
    16. Gianluca Marchi & Giuseppe Nardin, 2014. "Alleanze internazionali e mercati emergenti: l?esperienza del distretto ceramico di Sassuolo," ECONOMIA E SOCIET? REGIONALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(2), pages 44-54.
    17. Sophia Soyoung Jeong & Yuanyuan Gong & Alexandra Henderson, 2023. "Sympathy or distress? The moderating role of negative emotion differentiation in helping behavior," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 1429-1458, December.
    18. Ming Kong & Jie Xin & Wenxiao Xu & Haonan Li & Dandan Xu, 2022. "The moral licensing effect between work effort and unethical pro-organizational behavior: The moderating influence of Confucian value," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 515-537, June.
    19. Mehwish Iftikhar & Muhammad Imran Qureshi & Shazia Qayyum & Iram Fatima & Sriyanto Sriyanto & Yasinta Indrianti & Aqeel Khan & Leo-Paul Dana, 2021. "Impact of Multifaceted Workplace Bullying on the Relationships between Technology Usage, Organisational Climate and Employee Physical and Emotional Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-19, March.
    20. Malin Sundström & Anita Radon, 2015. "Utilizing The Concept Of Convenience As A Business Opportunity In Emerging Markets," Organizations and Markets in Emerging Economies, Faculty of Economics, Vilnius University, vol. 6(2).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:asiapa:v:40:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s10490-021-09781-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.