Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Mirroring the Boss: Ethical Leadership, Emulation Intentions, and Salesperson Performance

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Although a number of studies have demonstrated that perceived ethical leadership engenders beneficial follower outcomes, there is a dearth of research on ethical leadership in the sales context. This is surprising given that salespersons constantly face ethical challenges in their work environment and ethical leadership could provide them with appropriate guidelines for navigating such challenges successfully. Focusing on the salesperson’s perspective and responding to calls for investigating underlying processes responsible for the effects of ethical leadership, this study proposes that sales managers’ ethical leadership influences salespersons’ emulation intentions—i.e., their intentions to model or imitate the manager’s ethical behavior—which, in turn, influences both behavior and outcome performance. In addition, salespersons’ perceptions of the manager’s competence and gratitude toward the manager are examined as moderating mechanisms on the relationship between ethical leadership and salespersons’ emulation. Finally, three aspects of the ethical climate prevailing in the organization—ethical responsibility, peers’ unethical behavior, and unethical sales practices—are included as control variables. The proposed relationships are tested by using data from 290 business-to-business salespeople. Based on the findings, implications are offered for theory and practice.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Agnihotri, R., Rapp, A., Kothandaraman, P., & Singh, R. K. (2012). An emotion-based model of salesperson ethical behaviors. Journal of Business Ethics, 109(2), 243–257.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ahearne, M., Mathieu, J., & Rapp, A. (2005). To empower or not to empower your sales force? An empirical examination of the influence of leadership empowerment behavior on customer satisfaction and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(5), 945.

    Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong, J. S., & Overton, T. S. (1977). Estimating nonresponse bias in mail surveys. Journal of Marketing Research, 14(3), 396–402.

    Google Scholar 

  • Avolio, B. J. (1999). Full leadership development: Building the vital forces in organizations. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Babin, B. J., Boles, J. S., & Robin, D. P. (2000). Representing the perceived ethical work climate among marketing employees. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 28(3), 345–358.

    Google Scholar 

  • Babin, B. J., Griffin, M., & Hair, J. F. (2016). Heresies and sacred cows in scholarly marketing publications. Journal of Business Research, 69(8), 3133–3138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1986). The explanatory and predictive scope of self-efficacy theory. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 4(3), 359–373.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership: Good, better, best. Organizational Dynamics, 13(3), 26–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1993). Transformational leadership and organizational culture. Public administration quarterly, 17, 112–121.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bedi, A., Alpaslan, C. M., & Green, S. (2016). A meta-analytic review of ethical leadership outcomes and moderators. Journal of Business Ethics, 139(3), 517–536.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blau, P. M. (1964). Exchange and power in social life. Routledge: Transaction Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bock, D. E., Folse, J. A. G., & Black, W. C. (2016). When frontline employee behavior backfires: Distinguishing between customer gratitude and indebtedness and their impact on relational behaviors. Journal of Service Research, 19(3), 322–336.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bouckenooghe, D., Zafar, A., & Raja, U. (2015). How ethical leadership shapes employees’ job performance: The mediating roles of goal congruence and psychological capital. Journal of Business Ethics, 129(2), 251–264.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, M. E., & Treviño, L. K. (2006). Ethical leadership: A review and future directions. The leadership quarterly, 17(6), 595–616.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, M. E., & Treviño, L. K. (2014). Do role models matter? An investigation of role modeling as an antecedent of perceived ethical leadership. Journal of Business Ethics, 122(4), 587–598.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, M. E., Treviño, L. K., & Harrison, D. A. (2005). Ethical leadership: A social learning perspective for construct development and testing. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 97(2), 117–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bush, V., Bush, A. J., Oakley, J., & Cicala, J. E. (2017). The sales profession as a subculture: Implications for ethical decision making. Journal of Business Ethics, 142(3), 549–565.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carucci, R. (2016). Why ethical people make unethical choices. Harvard Business Review, 12. https://hbr.org/2016/12/why-ethical-people-make-unethical-choices. Accessed January 10, 2018.

  • Cron, W. L., Baldauf, A., Leigh, T. W., & Grossenbacher, S. (2014). The strategic role of the sales force: Perceptions of senior sales executives. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 42(5), 471–489.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Hoogh, A. H., & Den Hartog, D. N. (2008). Ethical and despotic leadership, relationships with leader’s social responsibility, top management team effectiveness and subordinates’ optimism: A multi-method study. The Leadership Quarterly, 19(3), 297–311.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeConinck, J. B. (2015). Outcomes of ethical leadership among salespeople. Journal of Business Research, 68(5), 1086–1093.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deeter-Schmelz, D. R., Goebel, D. J., & Kennedy, K. N. (2008). What are the characteristics of an effective sales manager? An exploratory study comparing salesperson and sales manager perspectives. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 28(1), 7–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Den Hartog, D. N., & Belschak, F. D. (2012). When does transformational leadership enhance employee proactive behavior? The role of autonomy and role breadth self-efficacy. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(1), 194.

    Google Scholar 

  • DuBrin, A. J. (2010). Principles of leadership (pp. 159–166). Canada: South-Western.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrell, O. C., Johnston, M. W., & Ferrell, L. (2007). A framework for personal selling and sales management ethical decision making. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 27(4), 291–299.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grisaffe, D. B., VanMeter, R., & Chonko, L. B. (2016). Serving first for the benefit of others: Preliminary evidence for a hierarchical conceptualization of servant leadership. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 36(1), 40–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, S. D., Alge, B. J., Brown, M. E., Jackson, C. L., & Dunford, B. B. (2013). Ethical leadership: Assessing the value of a multifoci social exchange perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 115(3), 435–449.

    Google Scholar 

  • House, R. J. (1971). A path goal theory of leader effectiveness. Administrative Science Quarterly, 16(3), 321–339.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunter, E. M., Neubert, M. J., Perry, S. J., Witt, L. A., Penney, L. M., & Weinberger, E. (2013). Servant leaders inspire servant followers: Antecedents and outcomes for employees and the organization. The Leadership Quarterly, 24(2), 316–331.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ingram, T. N., LaForge, R. W., Locander, W. B., MacKenzie, S. B., & Podsakoff, P. M. (2005). New directions in sales leadership research. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 25(2), 137–154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ingram, T. N., LaForge, R. W., & Schwepker, C. H., Jr. (2007). Salesperson ethical decision making: The impact of sales leadership and sales management control strategy. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 27(4), 301–315.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacquart, P., & Antonakis, J. (2015). When does charisma matter for top-level leaders? Effect of attributional ambiguity. Academy of Management Journal, 58(4), 1051–1074.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaramillo, F., Bande, B., & Varela, J. (2015). Servant leadership and ethics: A dyadic examination of supervisor behaviors and salesperson perceptions. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 35(2), 108–124.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaramillo, F., Grisaffe, D. B., Chonko, L. B., & Roberts, J. A. (2009). Examining the impact of servant leadership on sales force performance. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 29(3), 257–275.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaworski, B. J., & Kohli, A. K. (1991). Supervisory feedback: Alternative types and their impact on salespeople's performance and satisfaction. Journal of Marketing Research, 28(2), 190–201.

    Google Scholar 

  • Judge, T. A., & Piccolo, R. F. (2004). Transformational and transactional leadership: A meta-analytic test of their relative validity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(5), 755.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kacmar, K. M., Andrews, M. C., Harris, K. J., & Tepper, B. J. (2013). Ethical leadership and subordinate outcomes: The mediating role of organizational politics and the moderating role of political skill. Journal of Business Ethics, 115(1), 33–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kark, R., Shamir, B., & Chen, G. (2003). The two faces of transformational leadership: Empowerment and dependency. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(2), 246.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, A., & Moosbrugger, H. (2000). Maximum likelihood estimation of latent interaction effects with the LMS method. Psychometrika, 65(4), 457–474.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawton, A., & Páez, I. (2015). Developing a framework for ethical leadership. Journal of Business Ethics, 130(3), 639–649.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liborius, P. (2014). Who is worthy of being followed? The impact of leaders’ character and the moderating role of followers’ personality. The Journal of psychology, 148(3), 347–385.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liborius, P. (2017). What does leaders’ character add to transformational leadership? The Journal of psychology, 151(3), 299–320.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu, J., Kwan, H. K., Fu, P. P., & Mao, Y. (2013). Ethical leadership and job performance in China: The roles of workplace friendships and traditionality. Journal of occupational and organizational psychology, 86(4), 564–584.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacKenzie, S. B., Podsakoff, P. M., & Rich, G. A. (2001). Transformational and transactional leadership and salesperson performance. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 29(2), 115–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mangus, S. M., Bock, D. E., Jones, E., & Folse, J. A. G. (2017). Gratitude in buyer-seller relationships: A dyadic investigation. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 37(3), 250–267.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maslowsky, J., Jager, J., & Hemken, D. (2015). Estimating and interpreting latent variable interactions: A tutorial for applying the latent moderated structural equations method. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 39(1), 87–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, D. M., Aquino, K., Greenbaum, R. L., & Kuenzi, M. (2012). Who displays ethical leadership, and why does it matter? An examination of antecedents and consequences of ethical leadership. Academy of Management Journal, 55(1), 151–171.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, R. C., & Davis, J. H. (1999). The effect of the performance appraisal system on trust for management: A field quasi-experiment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84(1), 123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, D. M., Kuenzi, M., & Greenbaum, R. L. (2010). Examining the link between ethical leadership and employee misconduct: The mediating role of ethical climate. Journal of Business Ethics, 95, 7–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, D. M., Kuenzi, M., Greenbaum, R., Bardes, M., & Salvador, R. B. (2009). How low does ethical leadership flow? Test of a trickle-down model. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 108(1), 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • McClaren, N. (2013). The personal selling and sales management ethics research: Managerial implications and research directions from a comprehensive review of the empirical literature. Journal of Business Ethics, 112(1), 101–125.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miao, F. C., & Evans, K. R. (2007). The impact of salesperson motivation on role perceptions and job performance—a cognitive and affective perspective. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 27(1), 89–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miao, Q., Newman, A., Yu, J., & Xu, L. (2013). The relationship between ethical leadership and unethical pro-organizational behavior: Linear or curvilinear effects? Journal of Business Ethics, 116(3), 641–653.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mintel (2015). 56% of Americans stop buying from brands they believe are unethical. http://www.mintel.com/press-centre/social-and-lifestyle/56-of-americans-stop-buying-from-brands-they-believe-are-unethical. Accessed January 15, 2018.

  • Moorman, R. H., Darnold, T. C., & Priesemuth, M. (2013). Perceived leader integrity: Supporting the construct validity and utility of a multi-dimensional measure in two samples. The Leadership Quarterly, 24(3), 427–444.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mulki, J. P., Caemmerer, B., & Heggde, G. S. (2015). Leadership style, salesperson’s work effort and job performance: The influence of power distance. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 35(1), 3–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mulki, J. P., Jaramillo, J. F., & Locander, W. B. (2009). Critical role of leadership on ethical climate and salesperson behaviors. Journal of Business Ethics, 86(2), 125–141.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (1998–2012). Mplus user’s guide (6th ed.). Los Angeles: Muthén & Muthén.

  • NBES (2013). National business ethics survey of the U.S. workforce. https://ethics.org/ecihome/research/nbes/nbes-reports/nbes-2013. Accessed January 15, 2018.

  • Neubert, M. J., Carlson, D. S., Kacmar, K. M., Roberts, J. A., & Chonko, L. B. (2009). The virtuous influence of ethical leadership behavior: Evidence from the field. Journal of Business Ethics, 90(2), 157–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Newman, A., Kiazad, K., Miao, Q., & Cooper, B. (2014). Examining the cognitive and affective trust-based mechanisms underlying the relationship between ethical leadership and organisational citizenship: A case of the head leading the heart? Journal of Business Ethics, 123(1), 113–123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ng, T. W., & Feldman, D. C. (2015). Ethical leadership: Meta-analytic evidence of criterion-related and incremental validity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(3), 948–965.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmatier, R. W., Jarvis, C. B., Bechkoff, J. R., & Kardes, F. R. (2009). The role of customer gratitude in relationship marketing. Journal of marketing, 73(5), 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piccolo, R. F., Greenbaum, R., Hartog, D. N. D., & Folger, R. (2010). The relationship between ethical leadership and core job characteristics. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 31(2–3), 259–278.

    Google Scholar 

  • Podsakoff, P. M., & Organ, D. W. (1986). Self-reports in organizational research: Problems and prospects. Journal of Management, 12(4), 531–544.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raconteur (2017). Targets should not encourage unethical sales. https://www.raconteur.net/business/targets-should-not-encourage-unethical-sales. Accessed January 15, 2018.

  • Rapp, A., Ogilvie, J., & Bachrach, D. G. (2015). Sales leadership icons and models: How comic book superheroes would make great sales leaders. Business Horizons, 58(3), 261–274.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rich, G. A. (1997). The sales manager as a role model: Effects on trust, job satisfaction, and performance of salespeople. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 25(4), 319–328.

    Google Scholar 

  • Romani, S., Grappi, S., & Bagozzi, R. P. (2013). Explaining consumer reactions to corporate social responsibility: The role of gratitude and altruistic values. Journal of Business Ethics, 114(2), 193–206.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruiz, P., Ruiz, C., & Martínez, R. (2011). Improving the “leader–follower” relationship: Top manager or supervisor? The ethical leadership trickle-down effect on follower job response. Journal of Business Ethics, 99(4), 587–608.

    Google Scholar 

  • Satorra, A., & Bentler, P. M. (2010). Ensuring positiveness of the scaled difference Chi square test statistic. Psychometrika, 75(2), 243–248.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schetzsle, D., & Delpechitre, D. (2013). The impact of sales manager characteristics on salesperson’s trust and commitment to the relationship. Marketing Management Journal, 23(1), 102–119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwepker, C. H., Jr. (2015). Influencing the salesforce through perceived ethical leadership: the role of salesforce socialization and person–organization fit on salesperson ethics and performance. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 35(4), 292–313.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwepker, C. H., Jr., & Good, D. J. (2007). Sales management’s influence on employment and training in developing an ethical sales force. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 27(4), 325–339.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwepker, C. H., & Schultz, R. J. (2015). Influence of the ethical servant leader and ethical climate on customer value enhancing sales performance. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 35(2), 93–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwepker, C. H., Jr., Schwepker, C. H., Jr., Ingram, T. N., & Ingram, T. N. (2016). Ethical leadership in the salesforce: effects on salesperson customer orientation, commitment to customer value and job stress. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 31(7), 914–927.

    Google Scholar 

  • Selling Power (2017). 10 characteristics of a leader. http://www.sellingpower.com/content/article/?a=10253. Accessed September 10, 2017.

  • Shamir, B., House, R. J., & Arthur, M. B. (1993). The motivational effects of charismatic leadership: A self-concept based theory. Organization Science, 4(4), 577–594.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharif, M. M., & Scandura, T. A. (2014). Do perceptions of ethical conduct matter during organizational change? Ethical leadership and employee involvement. Journal of Business Ethics, 124(2), 185–196.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shin, Y., Sung, S. Y., Choi, J. N., & Kim, M. S. (2015). Top management ethical leadership and firm performance: Mediating role of ethical and procedural justice climate. Journal of Business Ethics, 129(1), 43–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shoemaker, M. E. (1999). Leadership practices in sales managers associated with the self-efficacy, role clarity, and job satisfaction of individual industrial salespeople. The Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 19(4), 1–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sujan, H., Weitz, B. A., & Kumar, N. (1994). Learning orientation, working smart, and effective selling. Journal of Marketing, 58(3), 39–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tanner, E. C., Tanner, J. F., & Wakefield, K. (2015). Panacea or paradox? The moderating role of ethical climate. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 35(2), 175–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Treviño, L. K., Brown, M., & Hartman, L. P. (2003). A qualitative investigation of perceived executive ethical leadership: Perceptions from inside and outside the executive suite. Human Relations, 56(1), 5–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valentine, S. (2009). Ethics training, ethical context, and sales and marketing professionals’ satisfaction with supervisors and coworkers. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 29(3), 227–242.

    Google Scholar 

  • Victor, B., & Cullen, J. B. (1988). The organizational bases of ethical work climates. Administrative Science Quarterly, 33(1), 101–125.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiss, H. M. (1977). Subordinate imitation of supervisor behavior: The role of modeling in organizational socialization. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 19(1), 89–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu, Y. C. (2017). Mechanisms linking ethical leadership to ethical sales behavior. Psychological Reports, 120(3), 537–560.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yammarino, F. J. (1997). Models of leadership for sales management. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 17(2), 43–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang, C. (2014). Does ethical leadership lead to happy workers? A study on the impact of ethical leadership, subjective well-being, and life happiness in the Chinese culture. Journal of Business Ethics, 123(3), 513–525.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zoltners, A. A., Sinha, P., & Lorimer, S. E. (2017). Ineffective sales leaders can cause lasting damage. Harvard Business Review Digital Article. https://hbr.org/2017/01/ineffective-sales-leaders-can-cause-lasting-damage. Accessed September 10, 2017.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marketing, McCoy College of Business Administration, Texas State University, 601 University Drive, San Marcos, TX, 78666, USA

    Vishag Badrinarayanan

  2. Department of Management, McCoy College of Business Administration, Texas State University, 601 University Drive, San Marcos, TX, 78666, USA

    Indu Ramachandran

  3. Department of Marketing, Monte Ahuja College of Business Administration, Cleveland State University, 1860 E. 18th Street, BU 446, Cleveland, OH, 44115, USA

    Sreedhar Madhavaram

Authors
  1. Vishag Badrinarayanan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Indu Ramachandran
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sreedhar Madhavaram
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vishag Badrinarayanan.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Appendix: Construct Scales

Appendix: Construct Scales

Construct/source

Indicators

Ethical Leadership (Brown et al. 2005)

My sales manager

 

1. Listens to what employees have to say

 

2. Disciplines employees who violate ethical standardsa

 

3. Conducts his/her personal life in an ethical manner

 

4.Has the best interests of employees in mind

 

5.Makes fair and balanced decisions

 

6. Can be trusted

 

7. Discusses business ethics or values with employees

 

8. Sets an example of how to do things the right way in terms of ethics

 

9. Defines success not just by results but also the way that they are obtained

 

10. When making decisions, asks “what is the right thing to do?”

Emulation (Liborius 2014; Rich 1997)

1. I willingly and gladly imitate my manager’s behavior

 

2. My manager exhibits the kind of work ethic and behavior that I try to imitate

 

3. I try to model my own behavior to be consistent with my manager

 

4. I consciously try to mirror my manager’s behavior

Competence (Mayer and Davis 1999)

1. My manager is very capable of performing his/her job

 

2. My manager contributes a lot to my company’s performance

 

3. My manager is knowledgeable about the work that needs to be done

 

4. My manager is well qualified

Gratitude (Adapter from Palmatier et al. 2009)

1. I feel grateful to my manager for his/her contribution to my own performance

 

2. I am thankful to my manager for his/her contribution to my own performance

 

3. I feel appreciative of my manager for his/her contribution to my own performance

Outcome performance (Sujan et al. 1994)

Evaluate how well you believe you performed in the following areas relative to other salespeople in the organization at the time of your last performance review (“Much Worse” to “Much Better”)

 

1. Contribution to your company’s market share

 

2. Selling high profit margin products

 

3. Generating a high level of dollar sales

 

4. Quickly generating sales of new company products

 

5. Identifying and cultivating major accounts in your territory

 

6. Exceeding sales targets

 

7. Assisting your sales supervisor in meeting his or her goals

Behavior Performance (Miao and Evans 2007)

1. I am very effective in maintaining good customer relations

 

2. I am very effective in providing accurate information to customers and other people in my company

 

3. I am very effective in providing accurate and complete paperwork

 

4. I am very effective in acquiring the necessary knowledge about my products, competitors’ products and my customers’ needs

Ethical Responsibility (Babin et al. 2000)

1. All employees here are held accountable for their actions

 

2. Employees here act first to further their customers’ interest

 

3. People always get treated justly here

 

4. Employees here are truly committed to high moral standards in their treatment of others

Unethical Peer Behavior(Babin et al. 2000)

1. Employees here have performed unethical acts.

 

2. Some of the people I work with do things that I feel are unethical

 

3. I’ve seen other employees do things that bother me from a moral viewpoint

 

4. Employees here do things based on the ‘CYA’ (protect yourself) principle

Unethical Sales Practices (Babin et al. 2000)

1. Employees here are encouraged highly to ‘up-sell’ customers

 

2. Employees here are required to be very aggressive in making ‘suggested sales’ or selling ‘add-ons.’

 

3. Customers here are sometimes encouraged to buy something they might not truly needa

  1. aIndicates item was dropped during measure purification process

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Badrinarayanan, V., Ramachandran, I. & Madhavaram, S. Mirroring the Boss: Ethical Leadership, Emulation Intentions, and Salesperson Performance. J Bus Ethics 159, 897–912 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-3842-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-3842-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation