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Leaders, Values, and OrganizationalClimate: Examining LeadershipStrategies for Establishing anOrganizational Climate RegardingMichael W.GrojeanChristian J. Resick
Marcus W. DicksonD. Brent SmithEthicsABSTRACT. This paper examines the critical role thatorganizational leaders play in establishing a values basedclimate. We discuss seven mechanisms by which leadersconvey the importance of ethical values to members, andestablish the expectations regarding ethical conduct thatbecome engrained in the organizations climate. We alsosuggest that leaders at different organizational levels rely
on different mechanisms to transmit values and expectations. These mechanisms then influence members practices and expectations, further increase the salience ofethical values and result in the shared perceptions that formthe organizations climate. The paper is organized in threeparts. Part one begins with a brief discussion of climatesregarding ethics and the critical role of values. Part twoprovides discussion on the mechanisms by which leadersexamines ethical leadership and the critical linkages betweenleadership and organizational ethics. He has presented onthese topics at professional conferences around the world andhis publications appear is several journals.Marcus W. Dickson, Ph.D., is Associate Professor and AreaDirector in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at WayneState University in Detroit, Michigan. He received his doctorate in I/O Psychology from the University of Maryland.His work focuses on issues of leadership and culture, and hasappeared in The Leadership Quarterly, Journal of Applied Psychology, The Handbook of OrganizationalCulture and Climate, and Organizational Behavior andHuman Decision Processes, among others. He formerlyserved as Co-Principal Investigator or the GLOBE Project, a62-nation study of leadership and culture, and continues toexplore issues of societal cultures influence on leadership.D. Brent Smith is an associate professor of management andpsychology and director of the Rice Center for OrganizationalEffectiveness Studies at Rice University. Dr. Smith holds aPh.D. in organizational psychology from the University ofMaryland (1999). His research focuses on the personalitycorrelates of managerial and workplace behavior. Dr. Smithhas twice been honored with the Scholarly AchievementAward from the Human Resources Division of the Academyof Management and recently received the Outstanding Publication Award from the Organizational Behavior Division ofthe Academy of Management.Michael W. Grojean. Currently serving in the faculty at AstonBusiness School, Birmingham UK, as well as the director ofthe Aston Centre for Leadership Excellence, Doctor MichaelGrojeans career in both practicing and researching leadershipspans two and a half decades. He is certified as a HumanResource Manager, Training Developer, and MasterInstructor. Receiving his Masters Degree and...