Perceived workplace fairness, ethical leadership, demographics, and ethical behaviors

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Abstract

This investigation examines the impacts of perceived workplace fairness, ethical leadership, and workers’ demographics on ethical behaviors within Nigeria’s public service. A sample was taken from ten local government areas of Oyo State, Nigeria. However, this investigation has utilized a survey study approach, where the researcher randomly dispersed questionnaires. Out of 500 questionnaires distributed, 452 were suitable for research and analyzed with the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS 27). This paper suggests that female civil servants exhibit more ethical behaviors than their male counterparts (Lu & Lu, 2010). Also, older civil servants with higher educational qualifications, who are also at the highest job level, exhibited more ethical behaviors. This paper further established that perceived workplace fairness and ethical leadership significantly and positively impact ethical behavior within Nigeria’s public service sector (De Schrijver Delbeke, Maesschalck, & Pleysier, 2010; Meyer, Sison, & Ferrero, 2019). Therefore, state governments should ensure good and sufficient communication amongst workers and managers in identifying and tackling the unfairness between employees’ dedications/contributions and their rewards. They should also always establish an employee-fairness policy that suggests treating employees equitably, inspiring increasing ethical behaviors. In addition, state governments and other public organizations should groom leaders that inspire and exemplify ethical behaviors.

Keywords: Equity, Learning, Reciprocity, Ethics, Civil Servants, Oyo State, Nigeria

Authors’ individual contribution: Conceptualization — F.P.A.; Methodology — F.P.A.; Software — F.P.A., Validation — F.P.A. and W.I.U.; Formal Analysis — F.P.A.; Investigation — F.P.A.; Resources — F.P.A.; Data Curation — F.P.A.; Writing — Original Draft — F.P.A.; Writing — Review & Editing — F.P.A. and W.I.U.; Visualization — F.P.A.; Supervision — W.I.U.; Project Administration — F.P.A. and W.I.U.; Funding Acquisition — W.I.U.

Declaration of conflicting interests: The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgements: The present Authors recognize the Department of Industrial Psychology and People Management, College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg in financing this investigation and its publication.

JEL Classification: J24, J53, M54

Received: 30.09.2021
Accepted: 11.05.2022
Published online: 13.05.2022

How to cite this paper: Adekanmbi, F. P., & Ukpere, W. I. (2022). Perceived workplace fairness, ethical leadership, demographics, and ethical behaviors [Special issue]. Journal of Governance & Regulation, 11(2), 244–256. https://doi.org/10.22495/jgrv11i2siart4