Date
3-10-2026
Department
Graduate School of Business
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Organization and Management (PhD)
Chair
William Adams
Keywords
Leadership, Toxic Leadership, Abusive Leadership, Dysfunctional Leadership
Disciplines
Business
Recommended Citation
Flannery, Patton, "The Causes and Effects of Toxic Leadership in Organizations" (2026). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 7977.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/7977
Abstract
Toxic leadership in organizations can negatively affect employee well-being, productivity, performance, motivation, and potentially the organization’s brand reputation. This flexible qualitative study, utilizing multiple case studies, explored the causes and effects of toxic leadership within the DJ Construction Company to identify how abusive supervision, emotional strain, dysfunctional leadership behaviors, and employee coping mechanisms collectively affect employees and the organization. This study employed semi-structured interviews with 25 participants and surveys completed by 31 participants representing diverse roles within the company. Data were analyzed using thematic coding, frequency counts, and cross-theme comparison to gain a better understanding of both the frequency and depth of toxic leadership behaviors and how they affected participants and the organization as a whole. Four major themes emerged from the analysis, including abusive supervision and its direct effects on performance, emotional and psychological strain impacting job satisfaction, leadership style and organizational reputation, and coping and retention in a toxic environment. The results suggested that abusive leadership is detrimental to both employees and the organization while creating barriers to transparency, fairness, and accountability. The practical implications of this study include the need for effective leadership development programs, whistleblower protections, and policy reforms aimed at fostering fairness, accountability, and employee well-being. This study further reinforces the need for organizations to recognize, assess, and mitigate toxic leadership behaviors to improve workplace culture and help employees and the firm to succeed.
