Collective Efficacy: Linking Paternalistic Leadership to Organizational Commitment

• Published in: Journal of business ethics Vol. 159; no. 2; pp. 587 - 603
• Main Authors: Chen, Ying, Zhou, Xiaohu, Klyver, Kim
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer 01-10-2019; Springer Netherlands; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Authoritarianism; Business and Management; Business Ethics; Cognition; Companies; Correlation analysis; Education; Efficacy; Employee behavior; Ethics; Leadership; Management; Management styles; Organizational behavior; Organizational commitment; Original Paper; Philosophy; Quality of Life Research; Social cognitive theory; Social cohesion; Studies; Teams; Organizational commitment; Paternalistic leadership; Moral leadership; Collective efficacy; Authoritarian leadership; Benevolent leadership
• ISSN: 0167-4544; 1573-0697
• DOI: 10.1007/s10551-018-3847-9

Based on social cognitive theory, we theorize that collective efficacy plays a mediating role in the relationship between paternalistic leadership and organizational commitment and that this mediating role depends on team cohesion. The empirical results from a study of 238 employees from 52 teams at manufacturing companies show that benevolent leadership and moral leadership, both components of paternalistic leadership, are positively related to organizational commitment and further that collective efficacy mediates the moral leadership–organizational commitment relationship. We did not find a relationship between authoritarian leadership and organizational commitment. Besides, it was found that team cohesion negatively moderates the relationship between moral leadership and collective efficacy and positively moderates the relationship between collective efficacy and organizational commitment. Explanations and directions for future research are discussed.