Impact of behavioral integrity on organizational identification: the moderating roles of power distance and organizational politics

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between leader’s behavioral integrity and employees’ organizational identification as well as to test the moderating roles of power distance and organizational politics on that relationship. Design/methodology/approach – Data encompass 969 employees from 19 five-star hotels in Turkey. The relationship between behavioral integrity and organizational identification and the moderating roles of power distance and organizational politics on that relationship were tested using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and moderated hierarchical regression analyses. Findings – The PLS-SEM and moderated hierarchical regression analyses results reveal that there was a significant positive relationship between leader’s behavioral integrity and employees’ organizational identification. In addition, the positive relationship between behavioral integrity and organizational identification was weaker when both power distance and organizational politics were higher compared to that when they were lower. Practical implications – This study showed that leader’s behavioral integrity enhanced employees’ organizational identification. Leaders need to show the perceived alignment between their words and deeds and strive to form high quality leader–follower exchanges to create a trust-based culture that satisfies the necessary affective and cognitive components required for trust formation. Moreover, the results of this study indicated that perceived organizational politics weakened employees’ identification with their organizations. Organizational practices and policies, especially human resource practices, should be carefully designed and implemented as to prevent organizational politics, an important source of employee dissatisfaction and distrust. Originality/value – The study provides new insights into the influence that leader’s behavioral integrity may have on employees’ organizational identification and the moderating roles of power distance and organizational politics in the link between behavioral integrity and employees’ identification with their organizations. This paper also offers a practical assistance to employees in the hospitality industry and their leaders interested in fostering organizational identification and lowering perceived organizational politics.