treating people fairly, and acting responsibly. ‘‘Personal integrity’’
includes honesty, keeping promises, self-discipline, and kindness. We
propose to include these behaviors/attributes in the domain of moral
leadership.
With the proposed revision of the construct domains of PL dimen-
sions, the immediate need is to develop a new scale for measuring PL.
This is an essential task for the future development of PL research.
A multilevel approach to PL
Empirical research on PL following Farh and Cheng ( 2000 ) has taken
an individual approach, which focused on the influence of leaders
(typically lower-level managers) on their individual subordinates.
This is in sharp contrast with earlier ideographical/anthropological
research by Silin ( 1976 ), Redding ( 1990 ), and Westwood ( 1997 ),
which typically focused on the paternalistic management style of
CEOs and their influence on the entire organization. Since organizations
are complex systems that involve interlocking processes operating
at multiple levels, a complete account of PL’s effects in organizations
calls for a multilevel approach. InFigure 6.2, we outline a multilevel
model of PL.
At the upper level of the organization, PL refers to the overall
management style and practices used by the CEO and the top man-
agement team. They can be viewed as types of ‘‘ambient stimuli’’ that
pervade the work unit and are shared among unit members (Chen
and Kanfer, 2006 ; Hackman, 1992 ). PL manifests itself in manage-
ment practices (such as a centralized organization structure, top-down
decision-making style, and treating employees as family members) and
results in a paternalistic climate in the workplace. The paternalistic
management practices and accompanying climate influence work-unit
outcomes, with their specific effects contingent upon situational
factors such as the ownership structure of the firm, the environment
in which the firm operates, and the technology employed by the firm.
As Farh and Cheng ( 2000 ) suggest, the paternalistic management
style is expected to generate more positive outcomes in family-owned
businesses operating in a simple task environment using stable
technology.
At the lower level of the organization, PL refers to paternalistic
leader behaviors exhibited by middle- or lower-level managers toward
Paternalistic leadership in Chinese organizations 197