UNETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND KNOWLEDGE SABOTAGE IN
THE DIGITAL ERA: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF MORAL
DISENGAGEMENT AND THE MODERATING ROLE OF MORAL
IDENTITY
Teguh Wijaya MiswantoA,Adolf BastianA.
JunaidiA Universitas Lancang Kuning Jln.
Yos Sudarso Km 08 Rumbai Telp.
52581 Fax.
E-mail : tvya97@gmail.
com (Korespondens.
Abstract: This study examines the effect of unethical leadership on knowledge sabotage in a digital work environment, with moral disengagement as a mediator and moral identity as a As digital transformation increases reliance on knowledge-sharing systems, unethical leadership may encourage counterproductive knowledge behaviors.
A quantitative approach using Partial Least SquaresAeStructural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied.
Data were collected through structured questionnaires from 272 employees of oil and gas service companies in Riau Province.
Indonesia, and analyzed using SmartPLS.
The measurement model was assessed through outer loading.
Average Variance Extracted (AVE).
CronbachAos Alpha, and Composite Reliability, while the structural model was evaluated using path coefficients.
RA, fA.
QA, and bootstrapping for mediation and moderation tests.
Results show that unethical leadership positively affects both moral disengagement and knowledge sabotage.
Moral disengagement significantly influences knowledge sabotage and partially mediates the Moral identity negatively affects knowledge sabotage but does not moderate the effect of moral disengagement.
These findings enrich ethical leadership and digital knowledge management research.
Keywords: Unethical Leadership.
Moral Disengagement.
Moral Identity.
Knowledge Sabotage.
PLS-SEM The digitalization of organizational processes employees collaborate, communicate, and share knowledge across functional and organizational boundaries.
Advances in information technology, digital platforms, and organizations to store, distribute, and utilize knowledge more efficiently than ever before.
As a result, knowledge has become a strategic organizational asset that supports innovation, enhances decision-making quality, and sustains long-term competitive advantage in increasingly dynamic business environments.
However, alongside these benefits, the digital work environment also introduces new behavioral risks.
The increased reliance on digital systems, virtual collaboration, and technology-mediated interactions can reduce direct supervision, blur accountability, and weaken social control mechanisms.
Under such conditions, employees may engage in behaviors that undermine organizational These particularly critical in knowledge-intensive industries, where performance and safety heavily depend on the accuracy, timeliness, and integrity of shared knowledge.
One of the most harmful forms of counterproductive knowledge behavior is knowledge sabotage, which refers to deliberate actions aimed at distorting, knowledge that should be shared with others in the organization.
Unlike passive knowledge hiding, knowledge sabotage involves intentional efforts to harm othersAo organizationAos knowledge processes.
Such behavior can disrupt collaboration, reduce operational efficiency, and erode trust among Unethical Leadership and Knowledge Sabotage in The Digital Era: The Mediating Role of Moral Disengagement and The Moderating Role Of Moral Identity (Teguh Wijaya Miswanto.
Adolf Bastian.
Junaid.
organizational sustainability in the digital era.
Previous studies have consistently highlighted the pivotal role of leadership in shaping employeesAo ethical standards, attitudes, and behaviors.
Leaders serve as role models who signal acceptable and unacceptable conduct within the organization.
When leaders demonstrate integrity and fairness, employees are more likely to adhere to ethical norms and engage in positive knowledge-sharing behaviors.
Conversely, when leaders engage in unethical practices, they may implicitly legitimize unethical behavior among subordinates.
leadershipcharacterized by behaviors such as dishonesty, unfair decision-making, abuse of power, and violation of moral normshas been associated with various forms of deviant workplace behavior.
Employees exposed to unethical leaders may perceive unethical actions as justified or even necessary for personal or organizational survival.
digitally mediated work environments, where interactions are less visible and monitoring is limited, the negative influence of unethical leadership on employee behavior may become even more pronounced.
Despite the growing scholarly interest in unethical leadership, empirical research explaining how unethical leadership translates into specific counterproductive knowledge behaviors remains limited.
Most prior studies have focused on general deviant behaviors, such as workplace misconduct or unethical decision-making, destructive behaviors related specifically to knowledge management.
Moreover, research examining these relationships in digitally intensive industries is still scarce, leaving important theoretical and practical questions Drawing on social cognitive theory, this study proposes moral disengagement as a key psychological mechanism linking unethical leadership to knowledge sabotage.
Moral disengagement refers to cognitive processes through which individuals deactivate their moral self-regulation.
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allowing them to engage in unethical behavior without experiencing guilt or selfsanction.
When employees observe unethical behavior from their leaders, they may rationalize harmful actions by redefining them as acceptable, minimizing their consequences, or shifting responsibility to authority figures.
In addition to situational factors, individual moral characteristics may also influence employeesAo ethical behavior.
Moral identity, defined as the extent to which moral traits are central to an individualAos self-concept, represents an internal moral resource that can discourage unethical actions.
Employees with a strong moral identity are more likely to act consistently with moral values and resist engaging in harmful behaviors, including destructive knowledge practices.
However, the extent to which moral identity can disengagement in the presence of unethical leadership remains an open empirical Therefore, this study aims to empirically test an integrative research model that links unethical leadership and knowledge sabotage through the mediating role of moral disengagement while examining moral identity as a potential moderating variable.
By focusing on employees working in digitally intensive organizational contexts, this study seeks to contribute to the literature on ethical knowledge management.
Furthermore, the findings are expected to provide practical insights for organizations seeking to mitigate knowledge sabotage and promote ethical behavior in the digital workplace.
METHOD
This study employed a quantitative research design to examine the relationships disengagement, moral identity, and knowledge sabotage in the digital work
A quantitative approach was considered appropriate because the study ISSN: 2407-800X
ISSN: 2541-4356
Unethical Leadership and Knowledge Sabotage in The Digital Era: The Mediating Role of Moral Disengagement and The Moderating Role Of Moral Identity (Teguh Wijaya Miswanto.
Adolf Bastian.
Junaid.
aimed to test theoretically derived hypotheses and assess the strength and direction of causal relationships among latent variables.
achieve this objective.
Partial Least SquaresAe Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used as the primary analytical technique.
PLS-SEM was selected due to its suitability for predictive research, complex research models involving mediation and moderation, and data that do not strictly meet multivariate normality assumptions.
In addition.
PLS-SEM is well suited for analyzing latent constructs measured by multiple indicators and for studies focusing on theory development and extension within organizational behavior and human resource management contexts.
RESULT
Respondent Characteristics The respondents consisted of employees from various operational and support functions within oil and gas service Overall, respondents perceived unethical leadership and knowledge sabotage at moderate levels, while moral identity tended to be relatively high.
Measurement Model Evaluation (Outer Mode.
Outer Loading All indicators demonstrated outer loading values above the recommended threshold of 0.
Table 1.
Outer Loading of Indicators Construct
Unethical (UL) Moral
(MD)
Leadership
Disengagement Moral Identity (MI) Indicator Outer
Loading UL1
UL2
UL3
UL4
MD1
MD2
MD3
MD4
MI1
MI2
MI3
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Construct
Knowledge (KS) Sabotage Indicator Outer
Loading KS1
KS2
KS3
KS4
Reliability and Convergent Validity Table 2.
Reliability and Convergent Validity CronbachAos Composite AVE Alpha Reliability Construct Unethical Leadership Moral Disengagement Moral Identity Knowledge Sabotage Structural Model Evaluation (Inner Mode.
Path Coefficients and Hypothesis Testing Table 3.
Path Coefficients tpvalu valu Result 00 Supporte UL Ie KS 00 Supporte UL Ie MD 00 Supporte MD Ie KS 00 Supporte MI Ie KS 0.
Not MD y MI Supporte Ie KS Hypothesi Relationshi Coefficient of Determination (RA) Table 4.
R-Square (RA) Endogenous Variable RA
Moral Disengagement Knowledge Sabotage ISSN: 2407-800X
ISSN: 2541-4356
Unethical Leadership and Knowledge Sabotage in The Digital Era: The Mediating Role of Moral Disengagement and The Moderating Role Of Moral Identity (Teguh Wijaya Miswanto.
Adolf Bastian.
Junaid.
Effect Size .
A) Table 5.
Effect Size .
A) Relationship UL Ie KS UL Ie MD MD Ie KS MI Ie KS Effect Medium Large Medium Small Predictive Relevance (QA) Table 6.
Predictive Relevance (QA) Endogenous Variable Moral Disengagement Knowledge Sabotage QA Mediation Analysis Table 7.
Mediation Test Path Indirect Effect Ie Ie 0.
tpMediation value value 000 Partial
Moderation Analysis The interaction between moral
disengagement and moral identity was not statistically significant, indicating that moral
identity does not moderate the relationship
between moral disengagement and knowledge DISCUSSION