A Theoretical Model of Authentic Leadership for Emerging Economies: Development and Estimation

Believe Q Dedzo

Background: Leadership failures in corporations and wider societal challenges have drawn scholarly and practitioner references to positive forms of leadership, such as authentic leadership. Prior research argues for studies of authentic leadership to be conducted in diverse cultural and emerging economies. Authentic leadership studies assume its effects to be context-free and ignore critical contextual factors in empirical research models. Drawing on authentic leadership and the positive psychology literature, this research tests a theoretical model of authentic leadership for emerging economies. Research Design/Methods: This research applied sequential exploratory mixed methods design to conduct two phases of investigation in Ghana – representing emerging economies context. Study 1 involves exploratory research that draws on qualitative in-depth interviews (N=12) with authentic leaders. Study 2 involves a cross-sectional survey of employees (N=247) across institutions of varying sizes. Results were analysed using structural equation modelling and SPSS including Process macro to test the index of moderated mediation. Findings: Findings from Study 1 show the multifactorial structure of authentic leadership, with an emerging dimension described as collective orientation. Study 2 results show psychological ownership and moral courage are critical mechanisms through which authentic leadership mediates its effects on follower ethical voice and performance outcomes. Authentic leadership has an indirect positive influence on voice and performance via moral courage but negatively via psychological ownership. Results of the moderated-mediated model indicate that unlike corporate ethical virtues, the cultural value of power distance moderates the indirect effect of authentic leadership on follower performance via psychological ownership but not via moral courage, with the effect stronger in high-power distance conditions. These findings are consistent with organisational behaviour and positive psychology research, highlighting cultural values as integral for corporate work values and behaviour in emerging economies. A Theoretical Model of Authentic Leadership for Emerging Economies: Development and Estimation Conclusions: This research advances authentic leadership research to validate authentic leadership dimensions and validates a theoretical model in an emerging economy. The findings advance the methodological debates and expand the evidence to test authentic leadership via alternative methods and in new cultural contexts. The findings offer managerial and theoretical implications for this context.

A Theoretical Model of Authentic Leadership for Emerging Economies: Development and Estimation

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