[Podcast] Ethical leadership style and beyond-the-role-of-public-servant behaviors
29 July, 2024
Keywords: ethical leadership, public service motivation, interpersonal citizenship behavior
Promoting the ethics of leaders in public organizations is a central content of State Management work. Besides, performing behaviors such as setting an example and encouraging the practice of ethical standards is a contemporary topic in the field of management in general. Therefore, a systematic understanding of the influence of ethical leadership on employee attitudes and behaviors is an important contribution to providing empirical evidence confirming why organizations need to promote the practice of ethical leadership style. Therefore, the author’s research conducted at University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) fills the gaps in both theory and practice in terms of public management on the mechanism of how ethical leaders can make employees go beyond the roles prescribed in their job descriptions with the purpose of collectively contributing to the organization’s goals.

The study on “Ethical leadership style and beyond-the-role-of-public-servant behaviors” is conducted to survey civil servants working at local government levels regarding their feelings towards their direct superiors as well as the psychological and the behavioral aspects of these employees during working under the influence of leadership style. The research results indicate that ethical leadership style has a direct impact on individual-oriented organizational citizenship behavior within the organization (Interpersonal Citizenship Behavior – OCBI). As a result, the ethical aspects of leadership, from the perspective of social learning theory, operate as a trustworthy model for employees in organizations to learn and to follow. In addition, the research focuses on the specific behavioral perspective of civil servants in the form of supportive behaviors directed towards their surrounding colleagues to achieve the organization’s goals.
This study also discovers the mediating role of the relationship among managers and employees in connecting the impact of ethical leadership style on the behaviors beyond individual roles. The previous studies have devoted efforts to better understand the mechanisms from ethical leadership to off-duty behavior. Scholars have found that ethical leaders can enhance employee psychological well-being listed as trust (Huang et al., 2021), endogenous motivation (Shareef and Atan, 2019). On the other hand, few studies have paid attention to employees’ perceptions regarding their personal relationships with their leaders as a mediating factor although ethical leadership can promote exchange communication activities among supervisors and employees within the organization, leading to off-task performance (Arshad et al., 2021). This study provides the evidences confirming the role of a healthy manager-employee relationship in linking leadership style and employee behavior. Through this foundation, the study describes the role of relationships at work and how leaders can leverage this method in order to achieve the desired results for the organization.
Following this content, public service motivation (PSM), a special characteristic of employees in the public sector, has been found to play an important role in connecting the impact of both leadership style and leadership style. Ethics and the relationship between superiors and subordinates affect the ethical behavior of employees. Unlike the previous studies, public service motivation was suggested to play a mediating role in transferring the impact from leaders to employees (Gnankob et al., 2022). In accordance with social learning theory, this study proposes a framework to consider two aspects of the work environment, including leadership and workplace relationships concurrently. The results of the analysis support the hypothesis that employee behavior in the public sector can be motivated through social service motivation. To stimulate public sector employee motivation, organizations can depend on ethical leadership practices and relationship building between superiors and subordinates.
In terms of the conclusions regaring this research topic, some management implications are presented for the managers in the public sector to promote positive behaviors of civil servants towards surrounding individuals. To encourage behavior that goes beyond the day-to-day role of civil servants, leaders must be the enablers. Specifically, public organizations can increase employees’ voluntary off-duty behavior through emphasizing ethical leadership practices. To achieve this, managers must prioritize ethical leadership behavior in their operations, including modeling ethical behavior, promoting ethical values, and providing ethical guidance within the organization. Public organizations can develop training programs to educate managers on ethical values practices to reinforce the importance of ethical behavior to employees. Through ethical policies, leaders need to integrate their concerns towards employee welfare in order to create relationships and to nurture the ideology of public service. Employees who perceive that their superiors subtly demonstrate concern for work and life will display prosocial behavior as a form of ‘return’ behavior for the benefits received from the organization.
Second, the study finds that the relationship between subordinates and supervisors mediates the positive relationship between ethical leadership and personally oriented organizational citizenship behavior. This implies that public organizations can prioritize developing healthy relationships between supervisors and subordinates to enhance employees’ OCBI. To achieve this, public organizations should encourage the open communication among supervisors and subordinates, promote trust and respect, and create an environment that fosters positive relationship. Organizations should develop the training programs that emphasize the importance of healthy relationships among supervisors and subordinates.
This research demonstrates that public service motivation mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and OCBI. This suggests that public organizations can enhance employees’ OCBI through promoting public service motivation. In addition, this finding is related to other empirical research demonstrating the “dynamic” nature of PSM, which can be enabled through management activities (Hameduddin and Engbers, 2022). Leaders in public organizations can create an environment that emphasizes the importance of public service and promotes the values of public service to their employees. Furthermore, civil servants’ public service motivation is activated through not only interactions with leaders but also observing leaders’ daily behavior. Leaders in the public sector need to set examples of trustworthy role models by demonstrating ethical living.
Last but not least, public service motivation plays a mediating role in the relationship between superiors – subordinates and OCBI. This suggests that public organizations can enhance employee OCBI by promoting public service motivation through developing healthy relationships between supervisors and subordinates. Public organizations can create a public service culture that emphasizes the importance of public service and promotes public service values.
Please refer to the full article titled “Ethical leadership style and beyond–the–role–of–public–servant behavior” HERE.
Author group: MSc. Nguyen Le Hoang Long – Faculty of Government Administrtion, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH).
This is an article in a series of articles spreading research and applied knowledge from UEH with the message “Research Contribution For All – Research For The Community”, UEH respectfully invites readers to read the upcoming UEH Research newsletter Insights #125.
News, photos: UEH Department of Marketing and Communications

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