ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT IN RESTAURANT BUSINESSES: THE ROLE OF SERVICE CLIMATE

The most important one of the challenges that restaurant businesses face is to encourage employees for a good service. Good service depends on the creation of an appropriate service climate. Employees learn norms and appropriate behaviors by observing reliable managers. The institutionalization of ethical behaviors by managers has been gaining importance for a good service climate and for the employees in order to see themselves as a part of the organization. The aim of this study is to evaluate ethical leadership, organizational commitment and service climate in the context of restaurant businesses and to investigate the mediating variable role of service climate on organizational commitment. In accordance with this purpose, data were collected through questionnaire forms from the employees of the first class restaurant businesses in the province Istanbul. The results of the study reveal a significant direct effect of managerial support as a dimension of service climate on organizational commitment. Furthermore, ethical leadership positively affects the service climate. Ethical leadership enhances the organizational commitment of restaurant employees and positive service climate strengthens this impact