Kunja leadership: concept and nomological validity

Purpose - The objective of three combined empirical studies is to provide a leadership model that could be effective in Confucian culture and to suggest framework that effectively integrates the traits and behaviors employed by leaders in influencing others. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach - This paper presents results from three empirical studies. Study 1 explored the concept of kunja leadership (KL) and its theoretical structure and developed a scale to measure it. Study 2 examined the convergent and discriminant validity of KL compared with transformational leadership (TL) and authentic leadership (AL) at the team level. Study 3 tested the effectiveness of KL at the team level examining the effects of trust in the leader on perceived team performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Findings - The results of Study 1 supported the concept of KL consisting of humanity, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, and trustworthiness. These five sub-concepts all have high, positive correlations and can be securely identified as a leader's moral traits and managerial behaviors. The results of Study 2 supported the hypothesis that KL was a mutually independent leadership model reflecting Asian values. The results of Study 3 reported that trust in the leader completely mediated the relationships between KL, group performance, and OCB. Research limitations/implications - Two additional trials would be helpful in future research. The nomological validity of the KL model in this paper was only examined empirically, with data collected from Korea. Thus, additional research is needed to examine its explanatory power in other countries with a Confucian culture. Additionally, this study assesses the originality of KL by comparing it, theoretically and empirically, with TL and AL. However, some may question the representativeness of these two leadership models and some may consider that KL may be more similar to other leadership models. Thus, to address these potential questions, the author briefly refer to the similarities and differences between the KL model and paternal leadership and democratic leadership models in the literature review. However, this paper did not empirically provide differentiation between KL and these two other leadership models. Thus, efforts that empirically compare KL with conceptually similar leadership models will help in explaining the originality and validity of KL in future research. Originality/value - First, this paper has presented a modern leadership model centered on kunja, a virtuous leader considered desirable in Eastern Asian society. As House (1997) pointed out, 98 percent of leadership models reflect only Western values and do not consider different cultural values. This effort to include Asian values in leadership will contribute to the theoretical understanding of an ideal leader in Confucian societies. Second, this paper has suggested an integrative leadership model for leader traits and behaviors, based on the criteria of the five constant values. This contributes to the understanding of cause and effect relations of leadership traits and behaviors.