The bad apples' influence on the organizational members : a qualitative case study exploring individuals’ experiences

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to explore individuals’ experiences of unethical leadership by examining it from an employee perspective. The concept of ethical leadership, organizational ethical culture, and unethical behavior guide this study together with the components of vicarious learning, and role ethically. The research question is based on three main areas, unethical leadership, unethical behavior, and ethical culture, and it follows: What are employees’experiences of unethical leadership and what does those experiences reveal about the leaders’behaviors and the organizational ethical culture? The method was through a qualitative questionnaire conducted online and through a multiple case study six informants’ experiences were explored. The findings show that all the informants perceived their leaders as not being ethical and fair, being bad roles models, and not being an example of good ethical behavior. Conclusions are that the influence of unethical leadership creates negative experiences in the informants and those experiences were presented in a range of different emotions and behaviors.