The Impact of Ethical Leadership on Knowledge Management Processes: An Empirical Study on Healthcare Professionals in Turkey during the Pandemic Period

Abstract

Given an increased call for examining ethics in the healthcare sector, this study examines how ethical leadership influences employees’ knowledge creation and development, knowledge codification and storage, knowledge sharing and knowledge usage and utilizing in the healthcare sector. 

Healthcare professionals in Turkey were added to the study to observe the effect of ethical leadership on knowledge management. The questionnaire was sent to 414 healthcare professionals randomly selected from healthcare facilities operating in Turkey via Google Forms. All the response rates were 100%. Results indicate that healthcare professionals’ views of their supervisor’s use of ethical leadership behaviors are related to knowledge creation and development, knowledge codification and storage and knowledge usage and utilizing. Contrary to other studies, it has been observed that ethical leadership does not affect knowledge sharing, which is a process of knowledge management. It is considered that this situation is the result of the increased workload and intense overtime of healthcare professionals during the pandemic period, and that different achievements will be obtained from the studies to be carried out after the pandemic period.

In this study, ethical leadership is positively associated with knowledge creation and development and knowledge usage and utilizing, which is negatively associated with knowledge codification and storage. Perceived ethical leadership behaviors positively influence knowledge management. Based on the findings, implications are provided for both theory and management, and directions for future research are offered.

Keywords: ethical leadership, knowledge management, healthcare sector, pandemic period in Turkey