Leaders’ Integrity and Power Abuse
Prof. Xu HUANG, Chair Professor, Department of Management, Marketing and Information Systems, School of Business, Hong Kong Baptist University
Date: 24 Oct 2023 (Tue)
Time: 3:00pm – 4:30 pm
Venue: E22-1065
Abstract
Leaders’ displayed integrity refers to behaviors characterized by moral principles, word-deed alignment, and situational consistency. Worldwide, leaders’ integrity is considered one of the most important leadership qualities by employees and leaders themselves. I will report the findings of two papers, in which we investigate how leaders’ displayed integrity influences their subordinates and other managers. In Study 1, we theorized and examined the idea that higher-up leaders (boss’s boss) displayed integrity functions as a monitoring mechanism to regulate subordinate managers’ use of power. While higher-up leaders’ high levels of integrity may reduce managers’ tendency to misuse their power, it may promote managers to exercise their power to benefit others. Results partially supported our propositions. In Study 2, we investigated an unanticipated consequence of leader integrity. We theorized and demonstrated that abusive supervision exercised by leaders high on integrity has stronger negative impact on employees’ self-esteem and performance than abusive supervision exercised by leaders low on integrity does. We offered and tested the explanations for these counter-intuitive findings using attribution theories.
All are welcome!
