Abstract

Social-political legitimacy requires leaders to do things right (normative legitimacy) and correctly (regulatory legitimacy). However, it is more challenging to manage normative legitimacy in diverse organizations. Leaders use normative legitimacy to help align organizational values to the social environment in which it operates. The ability to manage normative behaviors is an ethical virtue and may establish a link with organizational identity. This research applies the leadership ethics and decision-making (LEAD) model. The LEAD model suggests that employee perception of ethics requires leaders to conduct an outward examination of their decisions using integrity, assurance, and pragmatism. Previous research suggests that the LEAD model may act as an ethical guide to "doing things right" and potentially fill the gap in managing normative legitimacy by influencing organizational identity. The results conclude that outward examinations account for employee perceptions and that the LEAD model is a suitable ethical leadership concept. Integrity, assurance, and pragmatism have significant positive relationships with and predict organizational identity. The findings reveal that the LEAD model discerns ethical leadership behavior, appropriately manages normative legitimacy, and creates a purpose-driven workforce by developing organizational identity.

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