Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, Issue 66, 2016, 373-388

Influence of School Managers’ Ethical Leadership Behaviors

on Organizational Culture: Teachers’ Perceptions¹
Esef Hakan TOYTOK*
Saduman KAPUSUZOGLU**

Suggested Citation:
Toytok, E. H., & Kapusuzoglu, S. (2015). Influence of school managers’ ethical
leadership behaviors on organizational culture: Teachers’ perceptions.
Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 66 373-388
http://dx.doi.org/10.14689/ejer.2016.66.21

Abstract
Problem Statement: Frequently researched, organizational effectiveness is
influenced by leadership, organizational culture and climate,
organizational commitment, and job satisfaction; additionally, for
effective, sustainable management, ethical leadership, which also
influences organizational culture, is emphasized. To our knowledge, no
previous studies exist on the relationship (and predictiveness) between
ethical leadership and organizational culture. Therefore, this study’s
general purpose was to identify the influence of school managers’ ethical
leadership behaviors on organizational culture as perceived by teachers.
Purpose of the Study: The general purpose of this study is to identify the
influence of ethical leadership behaviors of school managers on
organizational culture as perceived by teachers. It thus aims to fill a
scientific gap in this field and make a contribution by sharing results and
suggestions based on our findings.
Method: Based on the relational screening model, this descriptive study’s
participants were 3302 teachers serving in 323 schools in the city of Duzce
and its districts during the 2013–2014 school year. The Ethical Leadership
Scale (ELS) and the Organizational Culture Scale (OCS) were used as data
collection tools. Ethical leadership (and its sub-dimensions)was
considered the independent variable, while organizational culture (and its

¹ This study was presented at the 2nd Eurasian Educational Research Congress in Ankara, 8–10
June, 2015
*Corresponding author: Asst.Prof.Dr., Siirt University, Department of Educational Sciences,Siirt,

Turkey 56100, hakantoytok@hotmail.com

** Asoc.Prof.Dr., Hacettepe University, Department of Educational Sciences, Ankara,
sadumankapusuzoglu@gmail.com
374 Esef Hakan Toytok, Saduman Kapusuzoglu

sub-dimensions)was the predicted dependent variable. Regression

analysis was performed to discover to what extent these variables were
predicted.
Findings: We found a fairly high level of positive significant correlation
between ethical leadership and organizational culture. Regression analysis
showed that ethical leadership is a strong predictor of organizational
culture.
Conclusion and Recommendations: We found a moderate-to-high positive
significant correlation between ethical leadership and organizational
culture. Regression analysis showed that ethical leadership strongly
predicts organizational culture. Our findings revealed a positively
significant correlation between ethical leadership behaviors and
organizational culture; ethical leadership is a strong predictor of
organizational culture. The more ethical leadership behaviors managers
display, the more teachers’ perceptions of organizational culture
positively increase. Recommendations are to implement social and
distributional justice among teachers and the fair distribution of awards
and punishments, along with transparent inspection.
Keywords: Management, Leadership, Ethical Leadership, Organization,
Organizational Culture.

Introduction
Organizations arise as a result of the actions takenby people and construct their
own structures. These structures create their environments through activities. That
means organizations play an active role in building the environment that deals with
itself (Tsoukas&Chia, 2013). The effectiveness of an organization mostly depends on
the effectiveness of its management. Organizational effectiveness appears to be one
of the most fundamental management problems of our time because many studies
have been conducted to determine factors that increase it. By drawing upon
employees’ limited but diverse skills, each organization ensures that its employees
complement one another (Aydin, 2010). But the fact that leadership, organizational
culture and climate, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction—in addition to
employees—influence organizational effectiveness is reported by both foreign
(Mintzberg, 2014; Lunenburg & Ornstein, 2013; Robbins & Judge, 2013;Hoy&Miskel,
2010) and Turkish (Elci, Sener&Alpkan, 2012) researchers. A person working alone
does not need any coordination mechanism because he or she can simply consider
what is needed and adjust appropriately. When two or more persons are involved,
however, the situation changes, and coordination among thoughts and
considerations must be accomplished. This is where leaders and leadership are
needed (Mintzberg, 2014). Furthermore, organizational management is not only the
management of visible resources but also of organizational members’ “meaning
worlds”(Sisman, 2011). In other words, the science of management relates directly to
human behaviors. According to current management understanding, however,
 Eurasian Journal of Educational Research 375

analyzing only procedural organizational structure or human behaviors does not

suffice for understanding an organization (Basaran, 2008). Just as each human
fingerprint differs, in cultural terms, each organization is unique in its formation and
operation. This ensures or requires each organization to develop its own unique
leadership role (Yukl, 2002).
This understanding of uniqueness has also shaped leadership approaches.
Initially, based on the theory of characteristics, leaders were considered to possess
innate characteristics. Subsequently, however, the theory of human behavior has
revealed that leadership is more about displayed behaviors and actions taken in the
course of such behaviors (Baron& Greenberg, 2000). Finally, the theory of
contingency has shown that no series of best leadership characteristics or behaviors
actually exists and that effective leadership depends on the conditions of a given
organization (Lunenburg & Ornstein, 2013). Thus, the understanding that leadership
skills are not innate but learnable and improvable has been adopted (Haq, 2011). In
addition, leadership necessitates high ethical and moral standards (Eisenbeiss, 2012)
because ethical principles ensure that managers not only abstain from disputable
actions but also avoid approaches that are not right but only appear attractive. Such
principles also serve as an important compass showing others what is right and what
is not. Therefore, Ozbag (2016) concluded in his research that ethical leadership is
mentioned in two important dimensions as a personal moral dimension and moral
administration. While its first dimension reflects personal properties such as honesty
and reliability, its second dimension aims to reduce the probability of involvement in
the unethical behaviors of workers by being a role model in moral relationships
between administrators and workers. Brown, Trevino and Harrison (2005) defined
ethical leadership as interpersonal relationships, the demonstration of normatively
appropriate conduct through personal actions, and the promotion of such conduct to
followers through two-way communication, reinforcement, and decision-making. On
the other side, Riggio, Zhu, Reina, and Maroosis (2015) determined the motivations
behind leaders’ ethical behaviors and focused on “cardinal virtues”. Yet, rather than
focusing on the intent or motivation of ethical leaders, most research on ethical
leadership draws on Brown et al.’s (2005) work that defined ethical leadership in
terms of behavior. Thus, the importance of ethical values has been steadily increasing
for both leaders and organizations. Furthermore, ethical leadership or its absence can
influence the formation and development of organizational culture.
The researchers could not locate any studies on the relationship (or
predictiveness) between the two important concepts of ethical leadership and
organizational culture. Therefore, this study aims to fill a scientific gap in the field
and make a contribution by sharing results and suggestions based on teachers’
perceptions of the influence of school managers’ ethical leadership behaviors on
organizational culture. It is hoped that the current study will help educational
organizations create an effective culture and shed light on school managers’ active
roles in this process.
376 Esef Hakan Toytok, Saduman Kapusuzoglu

Method
Research Design
This is a descriptive study based on the relational screening model. Descriptive-
relational screening studies describe a situation or event as it is and show the
relations between variables that caused the situation, their effects and rates (Kaya,
Balay & Gocen, 2012).
Research Sample
Study participants were 3302 teachers who served in 323 schools in the city of
Duzce and its districts during the 2013–2014 school year. Table 1 displays schools in
the city center and districts and the number of teachers involved.

Table 1.
Distribution of Schools and Teachers in Duzce City Center and Its Districts
No. of No. of No. of Schools No. of Teachers Number of
Districts Schools Teachers that Received that Received Returned
Central 231 2118 Scale
38 Scale
905 Scales
446
Akcakoca 19 395 13 335 250
Cumayeri 13 136 13 112 68
Cilimli 8 106 8 106 89
Gumusova 8 108 8 108 76
Golyaka 21 149 16 95 64
Kaynaslı 14 146 14 146 105
Yigilca 11 144 11 144 81
Total 325 3302 121 1843 1179

Because all of the provinces of Duzce differ in socioeconomic status and

geographic features, etc., but people living in the same province have similar
characteristics, a non-random purposive sampling procedure is employed to achieve
maximum heterogeneity among respondents while representing all residents of
Duzce to the fullest extent possible. Considering that the study participants were
heterogeneous or that they had different ideas and thoughts, values of p=0.5 and
q=0.5 were adopted, and the sample was calculated to be 807, according to the
formula by Yazicioglu and Erdogan (2004). Data obtained relating to participating
teachers are shown in table 2.A total of 1179 scales are returned. After excluding
122forms that failed to follow the instructions, 1057 teachers’ opinions are included
in the research.
 Eurasian Journal of Educational Research 377

Table 2.
Data Relating to the Participating Teachers
Frequency (N) Percentage (%)
Branch
Class Teacher 359 33.87
Branch Teacher 698 66.13
Marital Status
Single 307 29.04
Married 750 70.96
Sex
Female 568 53.74
Male 489 46.26
Age
30 or below 378 35.76
31 to 40 432 40.87
41 to 50 190 17.98
51 or above 57 5.21
School Type
Primary School 359 33.96
Secondary School 344 32.54
High School 354 33.49
Seniority in years
9 or below 518 49.01
10 to 19 375 35.48
20 or above 164 15.51
Total 1057 100

Research Instruments and Procedure

The Ethical Leadership Scale (ELS) and the Organizational Culture Scale (OCS)
were employed as data collection tools in this research. The ELS was developed by
Yilmaz (2006) and includes44 items in four domains. The OCS was developed by
Firat (2006) and includes 48 items in four dimensions. Both researchers reported
Cronbach’s alpha value (α) as the reliability evidence as .98 for the ELS and .95 for
the OCS.
Validity and Reliability
As evidence of structural validity, we found in our research that 61.139% of the
total variance in responses to the ELS is explained in four dimensions. The first
dimension explained 21.525% of the total variance; the second dimension explained
14.208% of the total variance; the third dimension explained 14.638% of the total
variance; and the last dimension explained 10.798% of the total variance. The
reliability evidence was obtained by calculating Cronbach’s alpha value (α) for the
overall responses and each dimension. The overall Cronbach’s alpha value (α) value
was .98. The Cronbach’s alpha (α) values for each of the four dimensions as
378 Esef Hakan Toytok, Saduman Kapusuzoglu

Communicational Ethics, Climatic Ethics, Decision-Making Ethics, and Behavioral

Ethics were .96, .91, .91, and .94, respectively.
Moving to the validity and reliability evidences for the OCS, we found in our
research that 40.08% of the total variance in responses to the OCS is explained in four
dimensions. The first dimension explained 27.556% of the total variance; the second
dimension explained 5.65% of the total variance; the third dimension explained
3.75% of the total variance; and the last dimension explained 3.13% of the total
variance. The reliability evidence was obtained by calculating Cronbach’s alpha
values (α) for the overall responses and each dimension. The overall Cronbach’s
alpha (α) value was .91. Cronbach’s alpha values (α) for each of the four dimensions,
as Democratic Management and Participation, Cooperation, Support and Trust,
School-Environment Relationship, and Integration and Belonging were .77, .67, .87,
and .71, respectively.
Data Analysis
Ethical leadership (and its sub-dimensions) was considered the independent
variable, while organizational culture (and its sub-dimensions) was the predicted
dependent variable. Regression analysis was performed to find these variables’ levels
of prediction. Regression analysis determined whether an independent variable or
variables significantly predicted a dependent variable or, in the case of multiple
independent variables, their relative significance to the variable (Buyukozturk, 2009).
Information about predictive and predicted variables is shown in figure 1.

Figure 1. The model of the relationship and predictiveness between ethical

leadership and organizational justice

Results

Teachers’ perceptions, gathered to determine the influence of school managers’

ethical leadership behaviors on organizational culture, from the Ethical Leadership
and Organizational Culture Scales’ sub-dimensions are presented in Table3.
 Eurasian Journal of Educational Research 379

Table 3.
The Arithmetic Mean Values of the General Ethical Leadership and Organizational Culture
Scales and Their Sub-Dimensions

Ethical Leadership X Organizational Culture X

Communicational Ethics 3,96 Democratic Management and Participation 3,79
Climatic Ethics 3,86 Cooperation, Support and Trust 4,00
Decision Making Ethics 4,07 School-Environment Relationship 3,55
Behavioral Ethics 4,03 Integration and Belonging 3,99
General Ethic Leadership 3,98 General Organizational Culture 3,83

Table 3 shows that the arithmetic mean relating to ethical leadership is X = 3.97
;this mean corresponds to the perception “I agree“ on the ELS range-value scale.
Accordingly, teachers serving in Duzce can be said to consider their managers ethical
leaders. As for data on mean and standard deviation values relating to sub-
dimensions, the following mean values were found: communicational ethics, X  3.96 ;
climatic ethics, X  3.86 ; decision making ethics, X  4.07 ; and behavioral ethics,
X  4.03 . According to these values, teachers perceived all dimensions relating to
school managers in the range of “I agree” but perceived them at a higher level in the
sub-dimension of “decision making ethics” and at a lower level in the sub-dimension
of “climatic ethics.”
Furthermore, table 3 shows that the arithmetic mean relating to organizational
culture is X  3.86 ;this mean corresponds to the perception of “I agree” in the range-
value scale. Accordingly, teachers serving in Duzce seem to consider their school
cultures to be high. As for data on the mean and standard deviation values relating
to sub-dimensions, the following mean values were found: democratic management
and participation, X  3.79 ; cooperation, support, and trust, X  4.00 ; school
environment relationship, X  3.55 ; and integration and belonging, X  3.99 .

The question “According to teacher perceptions, is there a correlation between

ethical leadership and its sub-dimensions, on the one side, and organizational culture
and its sub-dimensions, on the other?” was analyzed within this study’s scope.
Pearson correlation analysis, symbolized by the letter “r”, was conducted to answer
the question and show the size of correlation between the two variables, its direction
and significance. This coefficient ranges from r−1 to r+1;as it draws near 1, the
correlation between two variables becomes stronger (Erdogan,1998). Thus, +1.00
indicates a perfectly positive correlation;−1.00 indicates a perfectly negative
correlation; and.00 indicates no correlation. In terms of range, .00 to .30 indicates a
low level; .30 to .70 indicates an average level;and.70 to 1.00 indicates a high level
(Buyukozturk, 2009). The data obtained in this study are shown in table 4.
380 Esef Hakan Toytok, Saduman Kapusuzoglu

Table 4.
Correlation Analysis Scores Relating to Ethical Leadership and Its Sub-Dimensions and
Organizational Culture and Its Sub-Dimensions
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1.gen.ELS 1
2.gen.OCS .654*** 1
3.dim1ELS .969*** .614*** 1
4.dim2ELS .947*** .646*** .885*** 1
5.dim3ELS .928*** .626*** .857*** .853*** 1
6.dim4ELS .951*** .601*** .902*** .865*** .871*** 1
7.dim1OCS .697*** .917*** .677*** .683*** .638*** .639*** 1
8.dim2OCS .595*** .947*** .551*** .585*** .587*** .548*** .814*** 1
9.dim3OCS .421*** .779*** .373*** .447*** .411*** .377*** .605*** .689*** 1
10.dim4OCS .553*** .908*** .513*** .536*** .546*** .516*** .767*** .857*** .632*** 1
*P< .050, ** P<.010, ***P<.001 (N=1057)
NOTE:genELS: Ethical leadership general value; genOCS: Organizational culture general value;
dimension1ELS: Communicational ethics dimension of ethical leadership; dimension2ELS:
Climatic ethics dimension of ethical leadership,dimension3ELS: Decision making ethics
dimension of ethical leadership; dimension4ELS: Behavioral ethics dimension of ethical
leadership; dimension1OCS: Democratic management and participation dimension of
organizational culture; dimension2OCS: Cooperation, support and trust dimension of
organizational culture; dimension3OCS: School-environment dimension of organizational
culture; dimension4OCS: Integration and belonging dimension of organizational culture.

Table 4 shows significant differences with positive (+) Pearson correlation

coefficient (r) scores at P<.001 in both the ELS and OCS and in their sub-dimensions.
In general terms, a positive and significant correlation at r=.654 was found between
ethical leadership and organizational culture, and this “r” score indicates a
moderate-to-high correlation. A positive and significant correlation at r=.697 was
found between ethical leadership in general and the democratic management and
participation dimension of organizational culture; this rate indicates an average
correlation but is even closer to a high level. Positive and significant correlations
were found between ethical leadership in general and the cooperation, support, and
trust dimension (r=.595); between ethical leadership in general and the school-
environment relationship dimension (r=.421); between ethical leadership in general
and the integration and belonging dimension (r=.553) of organizational culture—all
three rates indicating average correlation. These findings show positive, significant,
and average correlations between ethical leadership in general and all sub-
dimensions of organizational culture. However, the least correlation (r=.421) was
found between ethical leadership in general and the school-environment relationship
dimension of organizational culture, while the highest (r=.697) was found between
ethical leadership in general and the democratic management and participation
dimension of organizational culture.
Findings regarding the question, “According to teacher perceptions, to what
extent is organizational culture predicted by the communicational ethics, climatic
ethics, decision making ethics, and behavioral ethics dimensions of managers?” are
presented in table 5. Multiple regression analysis, a statistical method to determine
 Eurasian Journal of Educational Research 381

explanation of multiple independent variables (Balci, 2002), was performed to obtain

these data.

Table 5.
Multiple Regression Analysis Results Relating to Organizational Culture in Terms of the
Communicational Ethics, Climatic Ethics, Decision-Taking Ethics, Behavioral Ethics
Behavioral Dimensions of Managers As Perceived by Teachers
Predicted Variable (Organizational Culture)
Dimensions β (Beta) t P
General Ethical
.654 28,071 .000***
Predictor Variable Leadership
(Ethical Leadership Communicational Ethics .085 1,375 .169
Behaviors) Climatic Ethics .368 6,703 .000***
Decision Making Ethics .249 4,773 .000***
Behavioral Ethics -.011 -0,175 .861
R² (R Squared) =.440 R= .663 P=.000***
R² (Adjust R²) =.437 F=206,328

*P< .050, ** P<.010, ***P<.001

Table 5 shows data on the prediction rates of perceptional levels of organizational

culture by teachers’ perceptions of their school managers in terms of ethical
leadership and its sub-dimensions, including communicational ethics, climatic ethics,
decision making ethics, and behavioral ethics. Ethical leadership in general and its
four sub-dimensions predicted organizational culture at 44% (R²=.440). As for
specific sub-dimensions of ethical leadership, climatic ethics and decision making
ethics significantly predicted organizational culture (P< .001), but communicational
ethics and decision making ethics did not. β (Beta) and t points were assessed to
determine sub-dimensions that best predicted organizational culture. Accordingly,
these were climatic ethics with β (Beta)=.368 and t=.703 and decision-taking ethics
with β (Beta)= .249 and t = 4.773. The behavioral ethics sub-dimension of ethical
leadership did not appear to provide any significant influence in accounting for
organizational culture (for P< .050, P<.010 and P<.001).

Discussion and Conclusions

According to the study’s findings, teachers perceived their managers’ ethical
leadership behaviors at high levels. According to Dhar (2016), ethical leadership
behaviors encourage employees’ performances and innovative behaviors in an
organization. Specifically, however, perceptions about behaviors in the ethical
leadership sub-dimension “creating a positive climate in school” were at a lower
level, while those in the “decision-making ethics” sub-dimension were highest. Thus,
according to these findings, school managers in the city of Duzce display ethical
behaviors in “decision making” but need to expend effort regarding behaviors for
382 Esef Hakan Toytok, Saduman Kapusuzoglu

“creating a positive climate in their schools.” When the general arithmetic mean of
the ethical leadership behaviors scale of teachers’ perceptions was compared with
other studies, it was found to be higher than those by Turhan (2007), Karagoz (2007),
and Aktoy (2010), but lower than that by Ugurlu (2009). In addition to those studies,
various correlational studies are also performed regarding the relationship between
ethical leadership and numerous variables. Akdogan, Arslan, and Demirtas (2016)
concluded in their research that there is no significant relationship betweenethical
leadership and social responsibility. Chen and Hou (2016) concluded in their
research that ethical leadership and creating an innovative and creative work climate
have a small positive relationship. Finally, Kelidbari, Fadaei, and Ebrahimi (2016)
mentioned that ethical leadership has an indirect effect on workers’ performance.
When the results of teachers’ perceptions on the OCS were examined, all sub-
dimensional means corresponded to the “I agree” range, but no data were obtained
for “I completely agree”. Therefore, none of the OCS’s four sub-dimensions elicited
completely positive perceptions. The lowest among them was “school–environment
relationship.” Subsequently, based on these findings, schools experience difficulty in
school–environment relationships in organizational culture. The highest sub-
dimension was “cooperation, support, and trust,” suggesting that teachers perceive
that they can establish communication and cooperation; in other words, they have a
high level of confidence in the decisions that are made. When the general arithmetic
mean of OCS sub-dimensions was compared with other studies, it was at a much
higher level than the mean found by Firat (2007).
Based on the results obtained to the question, “According to teacher perceptions,
is there a correlation between ethical leadership and its sub-dimensions, and
organizational culture and its sub-dimensions?” Pearson correlation coefficient (r)
scores showed an average level of correlation. Therefore, ethical leadership
significantly and positively influenced organizational culture. In this context, we can
conclude that any positive increase in teachers’ perceptions of ethical leadership also
positively increased their perceptions of organizational culture; conversely, any
negative perceptions of ethical leadership also caused perceptions of organizational
culture to change negatively. As for comparison of these findings with those of other
studies, Firat (2007) found significantly positive correlations between teachers’
perceptions of organizational culture and other value systems, while Yuksel (2009)
found significantly positive correlations between teachers’ perceptions of
organizational culture and their perceptions of organizational trust. Turhan (2007)
found positive, significant correlations between ethical leadership and social justice,
Onen (2008) between ethical leadership and emotional intelligence, Ugurlu (2009)
among ethical leadership, organizational justice, and organizational commitment,
Yildirim (2010) between ethical leadership and organizational justice, and Kursun
(2011) between ethical leadership and organizational image. In addition to these
studies, ethical leadership positively affect organizational identification, justice and
self-sufficiency (Walumbwa, Mayer, Wang, Wang, Workman,& Christensen, 2011)
and organizational social responsibility, organizational ethical values and
organizational behaviors (Aslan & Sendogdu, 2012). As a result of these findings, we
 Eurasian Journal of Educational Research 383

can conclude that behaviors of leaders and employees directly influence

organizational culture.
With regard to findings regarding the question, “According to teacher
perceptions, to what extent is organizational culture predicted by managers’ ethical
leadership behaviors?” the independent variable of “ethical leadership behaviors of
managers” predicted the dependent variable of organizational culture at 43%.
Accordingly, managers’ ethical leadership behaviors influence organizational culture
almost by half, and these findings were found significant at both P<.050 and P<.001.
When these findings are compared with other studies, we see that Yılmaz (2006)
found, in an analysis of the power of ethical leadership in explaining organizational
trust, that ethical leadership significantly explained organizational trust in all sub-
dimensions; Ugurlu (2009) found that ethical leadership explained organizational
justice at a significant and high level; and Yildirim (2010) showed that, in some sub-
dimensions, ethical leadership accounted for organizational justice at a significantly
high level.
Consequently, although ethical leaders are described as intractable, stable, and
intransigent persons and ethical leadership behaviors are required as a result of
employees’ perverted behaviors (Stouten, van Dijke, Mayer, De Cremer & Euwema,
2013), the more leaders develop their ethical characteristics and display those
characteristics as behaviors, the more they can positively influence organizational
culture. The fundamental reason that, recently, almost all organizations have wanted
to strengthen and improve their ethical codes and principles through certain
regulations and incentives is that doing so helps create the desired organizational
culture and level of effectiveness. The validity and accuracy of this is supported by
the current study’s findings. Teachers have raised their expectations for educational
leaders to meet their standards of trust, impartiality, and justice. The most effective
way of doing so is to ensure that leaders understand the importance of ethical
leadership and create sufficient awareness of its principles.
Those with the power to affect school management should implement policies
and leadership that will enable social and distributional justice among teachers, fair
distribution of awards and punishments, and participative and cooperative decision
making. In addition, such implementations should undergo transparent inspection.
Finally, it is recommended that researchers analyze organizational culture and
leadership approaches to compare their influences, correlations, and predictions with
those of ethical leadership.

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Öğretmen Algılarına Göre Okul Yöneticilerinin Etik Liderlik

Davranışlarının Örgüt Kültürü Üzerine Etkisi

Atıf:
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http://dx.doi.org/10.14689/ejer.2016.66.21

Özet
Problem Durumu: İnsanlar var oluşlarından bu yana yaradılışları gereğince birlikte
yaşama ve çalışma gereksinimi duymaktadırlar. Çünkü ne kadar birlikte olurlarsa o
kadar güçlü olacağını bilirler. Grup içerisinde her birey özelliği ve gücü nispetinde
katkı sağlar ve bu katkılar tümleşik bir yapıda bir amaç etrafında doğru koordine
edilirse hatrı sayılır bir değerde güç oluştururlar. Zaten birlikte yaşama ve işbirliği
yapılması altında yatan amaçta budur. Bu durum formal ya da informal örgüt ve
yönetim yapılanmalarının temelini oluşturmaktadır. Bu anlamda bakıldığında örgüt
ve yönetim birlikte var olan iki kavramdır. Formal örgüt bir yapı olarak kabul
edilirse, yönetim bu yapının harekete geçirilmesi sürecidir. Belli amaçları
gerçekleştirmek üzere oluşturulan formal bir örgütün amaçları, örgütteki insan ve
maddî kaynakların amaçlar doğrultusunda yönlendirilmesi, denetlenmesi ve
değerlendirilmesi gibi eylemlerle gerçekleştirilir. Bu eylemler bütünü, yönetim
kavramı ile açıklanabilmektedir. Yönetimin özünde temel unsur olarak insanı
etkilemek yatar. Yani herhangi bir yerde bulunan kişileri etkilemek için başvurulan
yaklaşımlar, o yerin yönetiminin özünü oluşturur. Bu nedenle yönetim bilimi insan
davranışları ile doğrudan ilişkili bir bilimdir.Yönetim alanında en çok araştırılan
konular arasında yer alan örgütlerin etkiliği konusu günümüzün en temel
problemlerinden biri olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Bu nedenle bir çok araştırmanın
örgütlerin etkililiğini arttırmak için etken olan yapıları belirlemek amacıyla
yapıldığını görmekteyiz. Örgütlerin etkililiği üzerinde liderlik, örgüt kültürü ve
iklimi, örgütsel bağlılık, iş doyumu gibi yapıların oldukça etkili olduğu
bilinmektedir. Bunlara ek olarak son zamanlarda bir diğer öne çıkan kavram olarak
etik değerleri görmekteyiz. Bu nedenle olumlu bir örgüt kültürü yaratmada etik
ilkelerin bir örgütte hayata geçmiş olmasının önemi her geçen gün daha da hissedilir
derecede artmakta olduğu görülmektedir. Hele birde son zamanlarda yönetici yerine
liderlik kavramının öne çıkması ile artık örgütlerde yönetici yerine lider anlayışına
geçilmiş olup ve Lider - örgüt arasında ilişki yapılan birçok araştırmada kendisini
göstermiştir. Araştırmacının dikkatini çeken örgüt kültürü-liderlik-etik kavramları
araştırılmış, bu konularla ilgili araştırmalar ve çalışmalar incelenmiştir. Liderlik
 Eurasian Journal of Educational Research 387

yapıları içerisinde birçok liderlik yaklaşımları olduğu görülmüş olup, bu

yaklaşımlardan özellikle 2000'li yıllarda değer yapısının öne çıkması ile etik liderlik
kavramı popüler olmuştur. Günümüzde etik liderlik kavramı ve diğer kavramlarla
ilişkisi halen çalışılmaya araştırılmaya devam etmektedir.Etik liderlik ve örgüt
kültürü gibi bu iki önemli kavram arasındaki ilişki ve bunların yordayıcılığına dayalı
olarak alanda, araştırmacının ulaşabildiği kaynaklar çerçevesinde herhangi bir
araştırmaya rastlanmamıştır.
Araştırmanın Amacı: Bu araştırmanın genel amacı, öğretmen algılarına göre okul
yöneticilerinin etik liderlik davranışlarının örgüt kültürü üzerine etkisini
belirlemektir. Bu araştırmada sonucunda elde edilen bulgular; örgütün etkililiğini ve
verimininarttırması, örgüt sağlığının korunması ve gelişmesinin sağlaması, iş
görenlerin örgüte bağlılığının ve iş doyumunu arttırması, örgütsel adalet algılarının
kuvvetlenmesi, etik değerlerin önemi ve etkisinin algılanması için ışık tutabilecek
bulgulara ulaşmasını sağlama açısından önemlidir. Bu sayede alanda bir bilimsel
boşluğu doldurmayı, bulgulara dayalı sonuçlar ve öneriler getirerek alana katkı
yapmayı amaçlamaktadır.
Yöntem: Araştırma betimsel nitelikte ilişkisel tarama modelinde bir çalışmadır.
Araştırmanın evrenini, Düzce ilinde ve ilçelerinde 2013-2014 Eğitim-Öğretim yılında
323 okulda görev yapan 3302 öğretmen oluşturmaktadır. Araştırmada Etik liderlik
ve alt boyutları bağımsız değişkeni yordayıcı değişken olarak, örgüt kültürü ve alt
boyutları bağımlı değişkeni yordanan değişken olarak alınmış, bu değişkenleri ne
kadar yordandığına bakmak için regrasyon analizi yapılmıştır.Bu araştırmada okul
yöneticilerinin etik liderlik özelliklerini belirlemek için Etik Liderlik Ölçeği (ELÖ) ve
örgüt kültürü düzeylerini belirlemek içinde Örgüt Kültürü Ölçeği (ÖKÖ)
kullanılmıştır. ELÖ güvenirlik analizi için öncelikle Cronbach Alpha (α) katsayısını
kullanmıştır. Aynı zamanda Cronbach Alpha (α) iç tutarlılık katsayısını hem ölçeğin
tümü hem de alt boyutlar için ayrı ayrı hesaplamış ve güvenirliğin bir ölçütü olarak
belirlemiştir. Ölçeğin toplamında güvenirlik katsayı olarak Cronbach Alpha (α)
değerini .98 olarak bulmuştur. Ölçeğe ilişkin dört alt boyuta ilişkin güvenirlik
analizinde Cronbach Alpha (α) değerleri sırasıyla iletişimsel etik .96, iklimsel etik .91,
karar vermede etik .91 ve davranışsal etik .94 olarak bulunmuştur. ÖKÖ güvenirlik
analizi için Cronbach Alpha (α) iç tutarlılık katsayısını hem ölçeğin tümü hem de alt
boyutlar için ayrı ayrı hesaplamış ve güvenirliğin bir ölçütü olarak belirlemiştir.
Ölçeğin toplam güvenirlik katsayısını .94 bulmuştur. Dört alt boyutun kendi
içlerinde hesaplanan güvenirlik katsayıları; Demokratik yönetim ve katılım alt
boyutunda .89; İşbirliği,destek ve güven alt boyutunda .88; Okul-çevre ilişkisi alt
boyutunda .79 ve Bütünleşme ve aidiyet alt boyutunda ise .82 olarak bulmuştur. Bu
bulgular bize her iki Ölçeğinin güvenirliğinin olduğunun bir göstergesidir.
Bulgular: Araştırmada elde edilen bulgulara göre etik liderlik ve örgüt kültürü
arasında neredeyse yüksek düzeyde pozitif yönde ve anlamlı bir ilişki olduğu
görülmüştür. Regrasyon analizi sonucunda etik liderliğin örgüt kültürünün güçlü bir
açıklayıcısı olduğu görülmüştür.
388 Esef Hakan Toytok, Saduman Kapusuzoglu

Sonuç ve Önermeler: Araştırmada elde edilen sonuçlara göre yöneticilerin etik liderlik
davranışları ile örgüt kültürü arasında pozitif yönde anlamlı ilişkisi olduğu ve etik
liderliğin örgüt kültürünün güçlü bir yordayıcısı olduğu görülmüştür. Yöneticiler ne
kadar yüksek oranda etik liderlik davranışları sergilerlerse, öğretmenlerin örgüt
kültürü algılarının da o düzeyde artış gösterebileceği söylenebilinir. Uygulayıcılara
okullarda, öğretmenler arasında sosyal ve dağıtımsal adaletin sağlanması, ödül
ve cezaların adil şekilde dağıtılması gibi uygulamaların şeffaf bir şekilde yapılıp
denetlenebilmesi sağlanabilir.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Yönetim, Liderlik, Etik Liderlik, Örgüt, Örgütsel Kültür.