Title: Financial Insecurity and Declining Ethical Standards: A Study on the Impact of Financial Insecurity on Ethical Leadership

Lecturer: Yuanmei Qu, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Rowan University

Time: July 5, 2024 (Friday) 14:00-16:00 pm

Venue: School of Business 318

Organizer: Department of Business Administration

Synopsis:

  As the recent COVID-19 pandemic and other crises—such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict and economic recession forecasts—threaten the financial stability of global organizations, leaders may not only face challenges testing their ethical leadership, such as layoffs, but may also personally experience financial insecurity. However, our understanding of how leaders' ethical leadership behaviors are affected under such circumstances remains limited. In this study, we draw upon uncertainty management theory to explore the potential impact of financial insecurity on ethical leadership. Specifically, we propose that financial insecurity triggers anxiety in leaders, thereby inhibiting their ethical leadership. We further suggest that organizational pay equity moderates this process: leaders who perceive their compensation as fair are less likely to experience anxiety from financial insecurity than those who perceive it as unfair. Our hypotheses are supported by findings from two multi-source, multi-stage studies.

Introduction to the Lecturer:

  Yuanmei Qu is an Associate Professor at the Rowan University School of Business. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Miami. Her research interests include leadership, ethics, and emotions. Her work has been published in journals such as Human Relations, Human Resource Management, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and Journal of Business Ethics.