The role of ethical leadership in fostering team initiative: Analyzing the effects of team identification and environmental dynamism

Ethical leadership has emerged as a crucial topic for understanding the effectiveness of team leadership. However, empirical evidence regarding the role of ethical leadership in cultivating team processes and proactive team outcomes is scarce. Employing the integrated social identity and the uncertainty management theories, this study tested a moderated-mediation model in which environmental dynamism was expected to increase the indirect effect of ethical leadership on team initiative through team identification. To test the proposed hypotheses, the study drew cross-sectional data from 68 team leaders and 254 of their respective team members demonstrated strong support for the moderated mediation model. The conditional indirect effect of ethical leadership on team initiative via team identification was stronger in team contexts characterized by highly dynamic work environments. The findings of this study contribute to the emerging literature on ethical team leadership and have implications for organizations that are seeking to strengthen team initiative under highly dynamic work environments.