Ethical Leadership and Its Impact on Sustainable Performance – An Exploratory study of the Opinions of Employees at Al-Mustaqbal University
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.57125/FEL.2023.12.25.09Keywords:
Ethical leadership, sustainable performance, Al-Mustaqbal University, employeesAbstract
The research aimed to reveal the nature of the role that ethical leadership can play in achieving sustainable performance. The importance of the research was that it was applied in one of the most important service sectors in Iraq in general, which is the higher education sector, as well as to address a realistic problem represented in the investigation of the research sample organisations About achieving the highest levels of sustainable performance, as the research came to fill a knowledge gap represented by the scarcity of Arab or foreign studies to the knowledge of the researcher, which dealt with the relationship between research variables in one hypothetical model. The gradient was distributed to the university’s employees, who numbered (110) individuals. (86) audited and measurable questionnaires were retrieved. The descriptive analytical method was used in analysing the data based on the statistical analysis program spss v.26 and SmartPLS. The researchers also used a set of statistical measures in order to analyse the data and the reach results. The research has reached a set of results, most notably the existence of an Impact and connection relationship between ethical leadership and sustainable performance. The results indicate that paying attention to the development of ethical leadership capabilities can achieve sustainable performance in government and private institutions. Additionally, the research sample college seeks to benefit from ethical leadership behaviours to achieve sustainable performance, and its top leaders are fully aware of the necessity of following the ethical leadership approach in managing the college to reach high levels of sustainable performance.
References
Abbade, E. B., de Vargas Mores, G., & Spanhol, C. P. (2014). The impact of entrepreneurial orientation on sustainable performance: Evidence of MSMES from Rio Grande do Sul. Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental, 8(2), 49–62. https://doi.org/10.24857/rgsa.v8i2.851
Adamu, M. N., Abubakar, N., & Majin, D. (2023). The value of ethical and sustainable leadership to business organization in the 21st century. International Journal of Advanced Academic Research, 9(1), 64-85. https://www.ijaar.org/articles/v9n1/ijaar911.pdf
Afum, E., Agyabeng-Mensah, Y., Sun, Z., Frimpong, B., Kusi, L. Y., & Acquah, I. S. K. (2020). Exploring the link between green manufacturing, operational competitiveness, firm reputation and sustainable performance dimensions: a mediated approach. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 31(7), 1417–1438. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMTM-02-2020-0036
Al Halbusi, H., Ruiz-Palomino, P., Morales-Sánchez, R., & Abdel Fattah, F. A. M. (2021). Managerial ethical leadership, ethical climate and employee ethical behavior: Does moral attentiveness matter?. Ethics and Behavior, 31(8), 604–627. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2021.1937628
Aloustani, S., Atashzadeh-Shoorideh, F., Zagheri-Tafreshi, M., Nasiri, M., Barkhordari-Sharifabad, M., & Skerrett, V. (2020). Association between ethical leadership, ethical climate and organizational citizenship behavior from nurses’ perspective: A descriptive correlational study. BMC Nursing, 19(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-020-0408-1
Asghar, B., Wasim, A., Qazi, U., & Rasool, A. (2020). Financial and non-financial practices driving sustainable firm performance: Evidence from banking sector of developing countries. Sustainability, 12(15), Article 6164. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12156164
Awan, F. H., Dunnan, L., Jamil, K., Mustafa, S., Atif, M., Gul, R. F., & Guangyu, Q. (2022). Mediating role of green supply chain management between lean manufacturing practices and sustainable performance. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.810504
Bowers, T. H. (2009). Connections between ethical leadership behavior and collective efficacy levels as perceived by teachers [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Ashland University.
Brown, M. E., Treviño, L. K., & Harrison, D. A. (2005). Ethical leadership: A social learning perspective for construct development and testing. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 97(2), 117–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2005.03.002
Castellani, V., & Sala, S. (2010). Sustainable performance index for tourism policy development. Tourism management, 31(6), 871–880. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2009.10.001
Chardine-Baumann, E., & Botta-Genoulaz, V. (2014). A framework for sustainable performance assessment of supply chain management practices. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 76, 138–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2014.07.029
Chavez, R., Yu, W., Jajja, M. S. S., Song, Y., & Nakara, W. (2022). The relationship between internal lean practices and sustainable performance: Exploring the mediating role of social performance. Production Planning and Control, 33(11), 1025–1042. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2020.1839139
Crutzen, N. (2011). Sustainability performance management in large firms: A qualitative research amongst seven Western European firms. In EBEN Annual Conference. https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/99001/1/
Dey, M., Bhattacharjee, S., Mahmood, M., Uddin, M. A., & Biswas, S. R. (2022). Ethical leadership for better sustainable performance: Role of employee values, behavior and ethical climate. Journal of Cleaner Production, 337, Article 130527. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.130527
Elijido-Ten, E. O. (2017). Does recognition of climate change related risks and opportunities determine sustainability performance?. Journal of cleaner production, 141, 956–966. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.09.136
Fatoki, O. (2020). Ethical leadership and sustainable performance of small and medium enterprises in South Africa. Journal of Global Business and Technology, 16(1), 62–79. https://www.proquest.com/openview/a3b90a434cf6cbf12431b25d07598787/1
Freire, C., & Bettencourt, C. (2020). Impact of ethical leadership on job satisfaction: The mediating effect of work–family conflict. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 41(2), 319–330. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-07-2019-0338
Hair Jr, J., Hair Jr, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2021). A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Sage publications.
Hayat Bhatti, M., Akram, U., Hasnat Bhatti, M., Rasool, H., & Su, X. (2020). Unraveling the effects of ethical leadership on knowledge sharing: The mediating roles of subjective well-being and social media in the hotel industry. Sustainability, 12(20), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12208333
Hunter, S. (2012). (Un)Ethical leadership and identity: What did we learn and where do we go from here?. Journal of Business Ethics, 107(1), 79–87. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1301-y
Indriastuti, M., & Chariri, A. (2021). The role of green investment and corporate social responsibility investment on sustainable performance. Cogent Business and Management, 8(1), Article 1960120. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2021.1960120
Iqbal, Q., Ahmad, N. H., & Halim, H. A. (2020a). How does sustainable leadership influence sustainable performance?. Empirical Evidence From Selected ASEAN Countries. SAGE Open, 10(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020969394
Iqbal, Q., Ahmad, N. H., Nasim, A., & Khan, S. A. R. (2020b). A moderated-mediation analysis of psychological empowerment: Sustainable leadership and sustainable performance. Journal of Cleaner Production, 262, Article 121429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121429
Jami, M. S., Massoudi, A. H., & Al-Salami, Q. H. (2023). Ethical leadership role in job embeddedness and job involvement. Cihan University-Erbil Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 7(1), 11–15. https://doi.org/10.24086/cuejhss.v7n1y2023.pp11-15
Jilani, M. M. A. K., Fan, L., Islam, M. T., & Uddin, M. A. (2020). The influence of knowledge sharing on sustainable performance: A moderated mediation study. Sustainability, 12(3), Article 908. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12030908
Kalshoven, K., Den Hartog, D. N., & De Hoogh, A. H. (2016). Ethical leadership at work questionnaire (ELW): Development and validation of a multidimensional measure. The Leadership Quarterly, 22(1), 51–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2010.12.007
Kazemian, S., Abdul Rahman, R., Mohd Sanusi, Z., & Adewale, A. A. (2016). Role of market orientation in sustainable performance: The case of a leading microfinance provider. Humanomics, 32(3), 352–375. https://doi.org/10.1108/H-03-2016-0028
Khan, M. A. S., Jianguo, D., Ali, M., Saleem, S., & Usman, M. (2019). Interrelations between ethical leadership, green psychological climate, and organizational environmental citizenship behavior: A moderated mediation model. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 1977. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01977
Khan, N. U., Wu, W., Saufi, R. B. A., Sabri, N. A. A., & Shah, A. A. (2021). Antecedents of sustainable performance in manufacturing organizations: A structural equation modeling approach. Sustainability, 13(2), Article 897. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020897
Kim, D., & Vandenberghe, C. (2020). Ethical leadership and team ethical voice and citizenship behavior in the military: The roles of team moral efficacy and ethical climate. Group & Organization Management, 45(4), 514–555. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601120920050
Kravchenko, M., Pigosso, D. C., & McAloone, T. C. (2019). Towards the ex-ante sustainability screening of circular economy initiatives in manufacturing companies: Consolidation of leading sustainability-related performance indicators. Journal of Cleaner Production, 241, Article 118318. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118318
Labuschagne, C., Brent, A. C., & Van Erck, R. P. (2005). Assessing the sustainability performances of industries. Journal of Cleaner Production, 13(4), 373–385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2003.10.007
Malik, S. Y., Mughal, Y. H., Azam, T., Cao, Y., Wan, Z., Zhu, H., & Thurasamy, R. (2021). Corporate social responsibility, green human resources management, and sustainable performance: Is organizational citizenship behavior towards environment the missing link?. Sustainability, 13(3), Article 1044. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031044
Maritz, R., Pretorius, M., & Plant, K. (2011). Exploring the interface between strategy-making and responsible leadership. In N. M. Pless & T. Maak (Eds.), Responsible leadership (pp. 101–113). Dordrecht: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3995-6_9
Metcalfe, H. G. (2011). Ethical leadership of the successor subsequent to the ethical failure of the predecessor: Creating an organizational phoenix [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. The George Washington University.
Moore, C., Mayer, D. M., Chiang, F. F., Crossley, C., Karlesky, M. J., & Birtch, T. A. (2019). Leaders matter morally: The role of ethical leadership in shaping employee moral cognition and misconduct. Journal of Applied Psychology, 104(1), 123–145. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000341
Negi̇ş Işik, A. (2020). Ethical leadership and school effectiveness: The mediating roles of affective commitment and job satisfaction. International Journal of Educational Leadership and Management, 8(1), 60–87. https://doi.org/10.17583/ijelm.2020.4114
O’Leary, K. (2016). The effects of safety culture and ethical leadership on safety performance [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Ogaga, I. A., Ezenwakwelu, C. A., Isichei, E. E., & Olabosinde, T. S. (2023). Ethical leadership and sustainability of agro-allied firms: Moderating role of environmental dynamism. International Journal of Ethics and Systems, 39(1), 36–53. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOES-12-2021-0226
Ofei-Manu, P., & Didham, R. J. (2018). Identifying the factors for sustainability learning performance. Journal of Cleaner Production, 198, 1173–1184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.06.126
Pless, N. M. (2007). Understanding responsible leadership: Role identity and motivational drivers. Journal of Business Ethics, 74(4), 437–456. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25075481
Rani, U. (2018). Do slack resources affect sustainability performance. Jurnal Akuntansi Dan Bisnis, 18(2), 98–109. http://dx.doi.org/10.20961/jab.v18i2.234
Ren, S., Tang, G., & Jackson, S. E. (2020). Effects of Green HRM and CEO ethical leadership on organizations’ environmental performance. International Journal of Manpower, 42(6), 961–983. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-09-2019-0414
Rezaee, Z. (2018). Supply chain management and business sustainability synergy: A theoretical and integrated perspective. Sustainability, 10(1), Article 275. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10010275
Saleem, M., Qadeer, F., Mahmood, F., Ariza-Montes, A., & Han, H. (2020). Ethical leadership and employee green behavior: A multilevel moderated mediation analysis. Sustainability, 12(8), Article 3314. https://doi.org/10.3390/SU12083314
Shahzad, M., Qu, Y., Zafar, A. U., Rehman, S. U., & Islam, T. (2020). Exploring the influence of knowledge management process on corporate sustainable performance through green innovation. Journal of Knowledge Management, 24(9), 2079–2106. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-11-2019-0624
Shuya, X., & Zainal, S. R. B. M. (2022). How to achieve better sustainable performance: The role of ethical leadership and green employee empowerment?. AgBioForum, 24(2), 206–214. https://agbioforum.org/menuscript/index.php/agb/article/view/153
Siddh, M. M., Soni, G., Jain, R., & Sharma, M. K. (2018). Structural model of perishable food supply chain quality (PFSCQ) to improve sustainable organizational performance. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 25(7), 2272–2317. https://doi.org/10.1108/BIJ-01-2017-0003
Suifan, T. S., Diab, H., Alhyari, S., & Sweis, R. J. (2020). Does ethical leadership reduce turnover intention? The mediating effects of psychological empowerment and organizational identification. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 30(4), 410–428. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2019.1690611
Tasleem, M., Khan, N., & Nisar, A. (2019). Impact of technology management on corporate sustainability performance. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 36(9), 1574–1599. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQRM-01-2018-0017
Tushar, H.(2017). The role of ethical leadership in developing sustainable organization. Australasian Journal of Law, Ethics, and Governance (AJLEG), 2(2), 83–95.
Usman, M., & Hameed, A. A. (2017). The effect of ethical leadership on organizational learning: Evidence from a petroleum company. Business & Economic Review, 9(4), 1–22. https://bereview.pk/index.php/BER/article/view/201
Wen, Q., Wu, Y., & Long, J. (2021). Influence of ethical leadership on employees’ innovative behavior: The role of organization-based self-esteem and flexible human resource management. Sustainability, 13(3), Article 1359. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031359
Wicher, P., Zapletal, F., & Lenort, R. (2019). Sustainability performance assessment of industrial corporation using Fuzzy Analytic Network Process. Journal of Cleaner Production, 241, Article 118132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118132
Yang, L., & Liu, H. (2022). The impact of ethical leadership on employees’ green innovation behavior: A mediating-moderating model. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 951861. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.951861
Zackrisson, M., Kurdve, M., Shahbazi, S., Wiktorsson, M., Winroth, M., Landström, A., ... & Myrelid, A. (2017). Sustainability performance indicators at shop floor level in large manufacturing companies. Procedia CIRP, 61, 457–462. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2016.11.199
Zaim, H., Demir, A., & Budur, T. (2021). Ethical leadership, effectiveness and team performance: An Islamic perspective. Middle East Journal of Management, 8(1), 42–66. https://doi.org/10.1504/mejm.2021.111991
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 authors

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
