Linking ethical leadership to organisational citizenship behaviour and organisational commitment in public entities: the mediating role of perceived organisational support

Africa is fast becoming a viable business partner in the global market as several governments adjust policies to restore macroeconomic stability (IMF, 2024). Following fiscal consolidation strategies and other policy measures, the Sub-Saharan economic growth rate was estimated to be 3.6% in 2024 and is expected to grow further to 4.2% in 2025 (IMF, 2024). This has cemented the attractiveness of the African market to global investors. Hence, it is not surprising that Western and Eastern European countries are promoting cooperation with Africa through global events such as the Forum on China - Africa Cooperation, Russia- Africa Summit, Turkey - Africa Partnership, US – Africa Leaders' Summit, and the UK- Africa Summit. Amidst all this zeal to invest in Africa, unethical practices such as corruption have become prevalent in Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa scored 33 points out of a possible 100 points on the Corruption Perception Index (Corruption Perception Index Report, 2023). This does not augur well for a continent competing for global capital. Ethical leadership has become increasingly necessary in the African public and private sectors to attract and retain international capital. From Cape to Cairo and Dakar to Mogadishu, several corporate scandals have stirred debate on the need for ethical leadership in business management, leading to an upsurge of scholarly work on this concept.

Much of the research work has focused on the role of institutions in advancing business ethics (Adeleye et al., 2019). It has also focused on the effect of business ethics on variables such as business sustainability (Suriyankietkaew and Kantamara, 2019), intellectual capital voluntary disclosure (Rossi et al., 2021), employee performance (Al-jabari, 2018) and brand attitude (Ferrell et al., 2018). It appears that business ethics literature is largely confined to the global north; however, Adeleye et al. (2019) argues that it is a rising discipline in Africa. This could be attributed to the growing call from African governments and pressure groups for corporate managers to behave ethically. Integrity, honesty, and professionalism have become paramount in the workplace. Accordingly, as alluded to before, the concept of ethical leadership and its impact on business management effectiveness has become a hot topic (Kia et al., 2019).

Owing to the power of an ethical climate in influencing positive firm performance (see Sarwar et al., 2020) and improving employee attitudes such as organisational commitment (Kia et al., 2019), perceived organisational support (Asgari et al., 2020), and organisational citizenship behaviour (Nemr and Liu, 2021), the call for ethical leadership has grown louder. This is because employee attitudes are crucial in reducing negative employee work behaviours such as corruption. A study of this nature is therefore important in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the average public sector Corruption Perception Index (CPI) was the worst in the year 2023 (Corruption Perceptions Index, 2024). Zimbabwe, the focus of this study, had an average public sector corruption perception index of 24 points out of a possible 100 points for the year 2023 (CPI, 2023). This implies that ethical leadership has become increasingly necessary in the African public sector. This study, therefore, examined the mediating effect of perceived organisational support on the relationship between ethical leadership, organisational citizenship behaviour, and organisational commitment in selected public entities in the Zimbabwean context.

This study yields significant contributions, both for academicians and practitioners. First, it addresses the frequent calls for business ethics research in Africa (van Wyk and Venter, 2022) Because of the array of ethical challenges confronting African organisations, this study offers important insights regarding the factors that can create an ethical climate and hence reduce negative behaviours at the workplace. Second, this study extends the existing body of evidence by examining the underlying mechanisms regarding the relationship between ethical leadership and employee attitudes. Third, as little is empirically known about the linkage between ethical leadership and employee attitudes, such as perceived organisational support (Tan et al., 2019). This study attempts to close this gap by examining the relationship between the two variables. The rest of the paper is organised as follows: The next section deals with a literature review, hypotheses development, and a discussion of the results.

According to Kia et al. (2019), ethical leadership can be defined as the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through personal actions and interpersonal relationships and the promotion of such conduct through two-way communication, reinforcement, and decision-making. There are two pillars of ethical leadership namely the moral person and the moral manager. As a moral person, the leader demonstrates characteristics and traits in his/her behaviour as a role model; on the other hand, as a moral manager, the leader exhibits role modeling through visible action and ethical use of rewards and disciplinary practices (Kia et al., 2019). Leaders are key influencers and supporters of organisational ethics because they set ethical standards (Suriyankietkaew and Kantamara, 2019), When leaders set ethical standards and abide by them, most employees will strive to emulate the leader's behaviour. This leads to the development of an ethical organisation.

Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) is a term that was coined in 1983 (Liu et al., 2024). It includes employee voluntary behaviours that are not part of their formal duties and are not directly considered by the formal organisational system (Asgari et al., 2020). Because it is voluntary behaviour, OCB cannot be enforced by job roles/descriptions. Past research identifies five dimensions of OCB as sportsmanship (the ability of employees to tolerate complications and inevitable problems of work without objection: (Asgari et al., 2020)., civic virtue: (employees actively and responsibly participate in the organisations public activities. (Liu et al., 2024), courtesy: (employees' polite behaviours that prevent workplace problems including helping and assisting others to prevent problems (Asgari et al., 2020), conscientiousness: (behaviours that guide a person in performing their duties beyond the expected level (Asgari et al., 2020) and altruism: (employees selflessly caring for and helping others (Liu et al., 2024). All these dimensions indicate that OCB contributes to the efficient use of resources that are limited in supply (Arshad et al., 2021), hence can lead to organisational effectiveness.

Organisational commitment refers to an assessment of the congruence between an individual's values and beliefs and those of the organisation (Singh and Onahring, 2019). In agreeing with Singh and Onahring (2019), Kotzé and Nel (2020) stated that organisational commitment refers to an attitude or psychological state characterising employees' relationships with their employer and subsequently influencing their decision to stay or leave the organisation. This implies that if the values and beliefs of an individual and the organisation match, an attachment to the organisation will develop. In this essence, an employee can contribute towards the productivity of the organisation. In analysing the concept of organisational commitment, Meyer and Allen (1990) identified three components of organisational commitment: normative, continuance, and affective commitment. Affective commitment describes the employee's emotional attachment to the organisation (Haque et al., 2020) through observable attributes such as loyalty, affection, warmth, belongingness, happiness, and pleasure. Continuance commitment describes an employee's perceptions of the potential risk and costs associated with leaving the current organisation (Oyewobi et al., 2019). Normative commitment describes the employee's emotions and feelings of compulsion to remain with the organisation (Haque et al., 2020). An employee chooses to remain with the organisation because of a feeling of obligation and responsibility to the employing organisation (Oyewobi et al., 2019). Ethical leaders are responsible for creating an environment that stimulates the commitment of employees.

The concept of perceived organisational support has generated interest among practitioners of organisational studies (Tan et al., 2019). Perceived organisational support influences various important employee attitudinal outcomes such as organisational commitment and organisational citizenship behaviours. Perceived Organisational Support (POS) is defined as the general feeling and belief of individuals that the organisation values cooperation and the support of its members and is concerned about their prosperity and future (Asgari et al., 2020). This implies that when an organisation supports and focuses on employees, it conveys a message that they are valued. This results in employees becoming more profitable and showing high levels of attachment to the organisation, productivity, organisation citizenship behaviours, and job satisfaction (Asgari et al., 2020). A variety of factors drive POS, including justice, supervisor support, human resource practices, and transformational leadership (Tan et al., 2019). It can, therefore be reasoned that ethical leadership practices such as honesty, fairness, caring, rewarding, and reinforcing organisational standards can create an environment that is perceived to be supportive (Van der Wal and Demircioglu, 2020).

This study is premised on the Social Learning Theory proposed by Bandura (1977). The theory postulates that people learn from each other through observation and modeling (Akpan and Kennedy, 2020). In support of this, Huang et al. (2021), stated that social learning theory emphasises that new behaviours can be acquired by observing and imitating others. Accordingly, in organisations employees learn from role models through observation, imitation, and modeling. When people observe likable behaviours, they similarly model their behaviours. In general, to understand such behaviours, individuals pay attention to emulating credible and attractive role models (Bedi et al., 2016). This implies that ethical leaders become attractive role models if they demonstrate integrity, transparency, and care and develop high moral standards for themselves and others. Employees can, therefore, emulate and internalise the likable characteristics of their role-modeling ethical leaders. This theory is, therefore, applicable to this study as it clearly explains how ethical leaders shape the behaviours of their followers.

Scholars have typically associated ethical leadership with attributes such as honesty, fairness, altruistic motivation, and trustworthiness. Ethical leaders demonstrate a commitment to ethical practices in the workplace and serve as ethical models for people around them by observing and punishing those who violate ethical principles (Huang et al., 2021). Hence, this leadership style can be linked to positive organisational attitudinal behaviours (Fu et al., 2020). According to the Social Exchange Theory, if employees perceive that the leaders are putting the interests of the organisation and employees at heart, they are likely to reciprocate the favour by exerting high levels of discretionary behaviours in the organisation (Huang et al., 2021). In support of this, Fu et al. (2020) argued that employees working under ethical leadership demonstrate positive behaviours, willingness towards organisational citizenship behaviours, and higher worker satisfaction. This is because support from ethical leaders can instil a sense of belonging to the organisation. Prior studies have established a positive link between ethical leadership and organisational citizenship behaviour (see Arshad et al., 2021; Asgari et al., 2020; Nemr and liu, 2021). It can, therefore, be proposed that:

Employee attitudes, such as organisational commitment, can be influenced by organisational commitment (Zagenczyk et al., 2021). This is possible because ethical leaders can form a better relationship with employees as they are caring, trustworthy, and make fair decisions (Cheung, 2013). All this can lead to the development of a felt obligation towards the organisation and its goals. In line with this Bedi et al. (2016), argued that ethical leaders become attractive to their followers through their behavioural traits such as integrity. By exhibiting likable characteristics, ethical leaders influence followers to develop an attachment to the organisation and its goals. Once employees become attached to an organisation, they will exhibit positive work efforts. Prior studies have confirmed a positive relationship between ethical leadership and organisational commitment (see Asif et al., 2019; Lotfi et al., 2018; Qing et al., 2020). It can, therefore, be proposed that:

Van der Wal and Demircioglu (2020) are of the view that ethical leaders are moral people and moral managers. Hence, they can use their behavioural traits to positively influence the perceptions of employees in an organisation (Tan et al., 2019) through the creation of an ethical climate. Such a climate is associated with the creation of policies that support the provision of resources to employees, justice, and transparency (Tan et al., 2019). If employees perceive that an ethical climate and culture exist in an organisation, they can view the organisation as being supportive (Bedi et al., 2016). The positive perception of the organisation is also influenced by the extent to which an organisation values and cares for its employees (Giao et al., 2020). This can be achieved if organisational managers recognise employees' efforts through fair rewards and include them in decision-making processes. Previous studies have established a positive relationship between ethical leadership and perceived organisational support (Bedi et al., 2016; Tan et al., 2019). It can, therefore, be proposed that:

Perceived organisational support is a significant predictor of organisational commitment and organisational citizenship behaviours. According to Zagenczyk et al. (2021) when employees perceive that their organisation provides a supportive and friendly work environment, they are likely to develop a positive inner feeling which nurtures organisational commitment. The existence of perceived organisational support implies that the organisation is caring and is also meeting the socioemotional needs of employees at the workplace (Cheung, 2013). This can lead to the creation of a strong emotional bond between the employees and the organisation, thus increasing organisational commitment (Giao et al., 2020). Perceived organisational support also decreases negative psychological and psychosomatic reactions from employees (Giao et al., 2020). All of this improves the employee's commitment to the organisation. Prior research has also confirmed the positive relationship between perceived organisational support and organisational commitment (see Albalawi et al., 2019; Arasanmi and Krishna, 2019).

On the other hand, the organisational support theory supports the relationship between perceived organisational support and organisational citizenship behaviour. This theory emphasises the reciprocal relationship that arises when employees perceive that the organisation values their contribution (Kurtessis et al., 2017). When employees believe that the organisation values cooperation, and is concerned with their prosperity and future, they increase their discretionary behaviours (Asgari et al., 2020). The Social Exchange Theory is also critical in explaining the relationship between perceived organisational support and organizational citizenship behaviour (Dominic et al., 2021). In line with the tenets of the theory, the level of support from the organisation can determine the reciprocity from employees. This also implies that high levels of support from the organisation will elicit organisation citizenship behaviours. It can therefore be proposed that:

Several studies have confirmed the mediation role of POS in employee attitude studies (see Cheung, 2013; Giao et al., 2020; Jehanzeb, 2020). This body of evidence confirms the role of POS in influencing important organisational outcomes such as organisational commitment and organisational citizenship behaviours. In an organisation, employees view fair treatment from the leadership in a positive light. This implies that if employees positively evaluate the benevolent motives of ethical leaders towards them, they may develop an attachment to the organisation (Cheung, 2013). The employees can develop a felt obligation to work towards positive outcomes in their organisation (Giao et al., 2020). This implies that work attitudes such as organisational commitment can be nurtured. On the other hand, when perceived organisational support is high, a social exchange can develop in which an employee may feel obligated to reciprocate the high level of perceived support from ethical leaders. Employees can exhibit organisational citizenship behaviours owing to the positive actions of ethical leaders. Therefore, be proposed that:

Following the discussion above, this study proposes the research model below (Figure 1):

This research adheres to the ontological position of objectivism and the epistemological position of positivism. In line with this, a cross-sectional design was adopted, and a quantitative approach was followed to test and confirm the hypotheses underpinning this study.

Zimbabwe has a diverse portfolio of public entities. These include hospitals, universities, and other tertiary institutions, as well as authorities and agencies, commissions, financial institutions, and companies. Participants from this diverse portfolio were selected for this study. Hence, this investigation targeted 5,000 employees (from supervisor grade upwards) who understood the purpose of this study. According to Israel (1992), a sample size of at least 370 participants is considered sufficient for a population of such a magnitude. Accordingly, to ensure that each member of the population had an equal chance of being selected (Saunders et al., 2009), the simple random sampling technique was followed to select the participants in this study. Of the approximately 512 potential participants, 473 responses were collected, yielding a response rate of 92%.

This study followed all ethical guidelines and procedures. Furthermore, participants were assured of confidentiality and could opt out of the research without coercion. A structured questionnaire with a section on informed consent was developed and uploaded onto the Google Forms platform. An online link generated from the platform was sent to the participants' email addresses, obtained from different companies' HR divisions. The participants' demographics are summarised in Table 1 below.

The research variables were examined using previously validated measurement items in the literature. The structured questionnaire items were piloted with individuals from the research population. A five-point Likert scale was used to measure the constructs ranging from 1 “strongly disagree” to 5 “strongly agree.”

Ethical leadership: It was measured using a scale developed by Zappalà and Toscano (2020). A sample item from this scale was “My leader listens to what employees have to say’”

Organisational Citizenship Behaviour: It was measured using a scale developed by Podsakoff et al. (2000). A sample item from this scale was “I willingly help fellow workers when they have work-related problems”

Organisational commitment: Organisational commitment was measured using items adapted from the work of Patiar and Wang (2016). A sample item from the scale was: ‘I talk up this organisation to my friends as a great place to work for.'

Perceived Organisational Support: The perceived organisational support was based on the work of Eisenberger et al. (2001). A sample item from the scale was: This organisation takes pride in my accomplishments.

The data was assessed for validity and reliability as discussed below:

Indicator reliability: If a reflective indicator loading is higher than 0.5, the item is a good measurement of a latent construct (Hulland, 1999). Accordingly, all the indicator loadings exceeded 0.5 (see Table 2 below).

Internal consistency reliability: This study used Composite Reliability (CR) and Cronbach's alpha to assess internal consistency reliability. Gefen et al. (2000) state that a CR value of at least 0.7 indicates adequate internal consistency reliability. Hair et al. (2017) suggested that Cronbach alpha (α) values greater than 0.60 are widely considered desirable in research to indicate internal consistency reliability. Cronbach's alpha and Composite Reliability threshold values were satisfied.

Convergent reliability: Convergent reliability is the extent to which a measure correlates positively with alternative measures of the same construct (Hair et al., 2012). The Average Variance Extracted is used to assess convergent reliability and should be greater than 0.5. Table 2 below confirms that AVE values are acceptable.

According to Hair et al. (2016), discriminant validity can be assessed using the Fornell-Larcker criterion. This technique compares the square root of the AVE values with the correlations of the latent variable with other constructs. The square root of the AVE of each construct should be higher than the correlation with any other construct (Hair et al., 2016) as is the case in Table 3 below.

SMART PLS 4 was conducted to test the hypotheses of this study. The results are shown in Figure 2 below.

Table 4 below shows that ethical leadership significantly impacted organisational citizenship behaviour, perceived organisational support, and organisational commitment (β = 0.456, p-value = 0.00; β = 0.584, p-value = 0.00; β = 0.193, p-value = 0.00). Hence, H1, H2 and H3 were accepted. Furthermore, perceived organisational support was found to be a significant predictor of both organisational citizenship behaviour and organisational commitment (β = 0.425, p-value = 0.00; β = 0.634, p-value = 0.00). Hence, H4 and H5 were accepted.

The results showed that perceived organisational support partially mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and organisational citizenship behaviour (β = 0.248; p-value = 0.00) as well as organisational commitment (β = 0.370; p-value = 0.00), hence, H6a and b were accepted.

The concept of ethical leadership has become central in corporate boardrooms. This is because of several corporate scandals that have dominated the business landscape in recent years. As a result, there has been ubiquitous literature on this concept (see Asif et al., 2019; Jehanzeb, 2020; Qing et al., 2020; Zagenczyk et al., 2021; Zappalà and Toscano, 2020; Kia et al., 2019). Despite this growth in literature, further research on ethical leadership is still required. Organisational managers must appreciate the importance of this concept in a bid to promote responsibility, accountability, and transparency in business management. Hence, the main aim of this research was to investigate the mediating effect of perceived organisational support on the relationship between ethical leadership and organisational citizenship behaviour as well as organisational commitment. The empirical findings of this study confirmed all the hypotheses. First, ethical leadership was found to have a positive relationship with organisational citizenship behaviour (β = 0.456, p < 0.001). This aligns with the findings of Huang et al. (2021), who noted that ethical leaders exhibit behaviours that are crucial in modelling the behaviour of followers. The behaviours of ethical leaders, such as empathy, care, honesty, and transparency, are crucial in eliciting organisational citizenship behaviours from employees.

Second, this research established that ethical leadership had a positive impact on organisational commitment (β = 0.584, p < 0.001). The results resonate with earlier findings. (see Lotfi et al., 2018 Asif et al., 2019; Qing et al., 2020). The actions of ethical leaders can influence employee attitudes, such as organisational commitment. Through role-modelling actions such as enforcing ethical conduct, promoting two-way communication, and utilising reward systems (Kia et al., 2019), organisational leaders can influence employees' commitment to the organisation.

Third, ethical leadership was also found to have a positive impact on perceived organisational support (β = 0.193, p < 0.001). These findings corroborate the work of Bedi et al. (2016). Ethical leaders can create an atmosphere that fosters positive emotions among employees. This can be done through the creation of a supportive atmosphere. A supportive atmosphere is characterised by the adequacy of work resources, motivating reward mechanisms, and the provision of information critical to objective attainment. Such an environment can enhance the perceived organisational support. Fourth, in line with prior studies (e.g. Asgari et al., 2020) perceived organisational support had a positive impact on organisational citizenship behaviour (β = 0.425, p = 0.00). If employees believe that an organisation values them as human beings, they exhibit discretionary behaviours. They exert extra effort to achieve their goals. Fifth, perceived organisational support was positively correlated with organisational commitment (β = 0.634, p = 0.00). This finding is consistent with the work of Albalawi et al. (2019) and Arasanmi and Krishna (2019). Employees who perceive that their leaders provide a supportive environment will likely develop positive employee attitudes toward the organisation. This is because employees interpret the behaviours of the leaders as being representative of organisational actions (Giao et al., 2020). Lastly, consistent with earlier findings by Cheung (2013), perceived organisational support partially mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and organisational commitment (β = 0.370, p < 0.001). Further, in support of earlier findings (see Asgari et al., 2020), perceived organisational support also partially mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and organisational citizenship behaviour (β = 0.248, p = 0.00). This implies that perceived organisational support plays a supportive role in the relationship between ethical leadership and employee attitude. Ethical leaders must create a supportive ethical climate that influences positive employee attitudes.

This study is theoretically significant in several ways. The research findings support the Social Learning Theory, which asserts that behaviour can be modelled through learning. In the context of this research, this research confirmed that ethical leadership behaviours can predict positive employee attitudes. In other words, after learning the acceptable behaviours of ethical leaders, employees will adopt them and become attached to the organisation. Previous research also stressed the need to investigate business ethics in Africa (van Wyk and Venter, 2022). This study, therefore, responds to this call by exploring the interplay among ethical leadership, organisational citizenship behaviour, and organisational commitment. Further, although many authors have investigated ethical leadership (see Asif et al., 2019; Bedi et al., 2016; Kia et al., 2019; Qing et al., 2020; Toor and Ofori, 2009; Zagenczyk et al., 2021), these studies primarily relate to other countries. Ethical leadership studies are required across different cultures (Toor and Ofori, 2009). In line with this, this study was done in a country in Sub-Saharan Africa, where national cultures largely reflect collectivism and high power distance (Hofstede, 2006). The results of this study, therefore, contribute to the larger body of evidence of ethical leadership.

The results of this study have significant implications at the global, national, and institutional levels. In line with the research findings, this study advocates for the global promotion of ethical management, given the major corporate scandals that have rocked the world, such as those involving Enron, WorldCom, Nortel, AIG, and Lehman Brothers (Bedi et al., 2016). This study argues that the same prominence being accorded to summits related to climate change and investment promotion should also be accorded to ethical management. After all, ethics are crucial in both investment and environmental management. Although there are indications of gravitation towards Ethical Forums, these have remained low-key. The Global Ethics Summit(s) must be promoted annually at the highest level of government. At the continental level, African governments must do more to create ethical leaders. Just like what Africa does to fight conflicts and disease on the continent, the same approach can be used to fight unethical practices, especially corruption within public entities. Continental bodies such as SADC, ECOWAS, and COMESA must lead the fight against this cancer. As confirmed in this research, ethical management will shape positive employee attitudes that are crucial in reducing negative work behaviours.

At the national level, ethical policies that align with relevant national legislation must be promulgated to solidify the ethical management movement. Not only that, but also government ethical bodies must be set up and resourced to fight unethical practices. In countries such as Zimbabwe, there exist pieces of legislation and ethical bodies to support ethical management at the national level. However, resource shortage hampers the efficacy of the ethical bodies. Furthermore, a lack of ethics training hampers the full adoption of ethical guidelines in various pieces of legislation.

At the institutional level, the study findings suggest that public sector managers should focus on the drivers of organisational commitment and organisational citizenship behaviour, which were validated in this research. Ethical leadership and perceived organisational support were found to be positively associated with organisational citizenship behaviour and organisational commitment. This implies that public sector leaders (e.g. Chief Executive Officers, Managing Directors) must be moral individuals and effective moral managers. As moral persons, they must demonstrate moral characteristics as role models. The behaviours associated with a moral person include respect, trustworthiness, courage, and honesty. As moral managers, public sector leaders must enforce policies that promote ethics in organisational decisions (Kia et al., 2019). This involves developing and implementing anti-corruption policies at every level. When employees in the public sector observe the good behaviours of their leaders, they will likely imitate them.

The confirmed role of perceived organisational support as a significant mediator in the ethical leadership-employee attitude relationship offers profound insights to Zimbabwean public sector leaders. They must devise policies that reflect organisational support. These include effort–reward mechanisms, adequate resource provision, and inclusivity in decision-making. Zimbabwean public sector leaders must push for both monetary and non-monetary benefits as a measure to support employees. Zimbabwe has been ravaged by runaway inflation for many years until the government adopted the multi-currency regime. As a way of preserving value for the public sector workers' earnings, their compensation should continue to be in hard currency until the economy has been stabilised. The earnings must be above the poverty datum line to have a meaningful impact on the living standards of workers. In terms of resource provision, Zimbabwean public sector leaders must have adequate budgets to support the requirements of the workers. Institutions such as hospitals, universities, and other government agencies are often confronted with resource inadequacy. This affects objective accomplishment efforts, leading to negative attitudes towards work; hence, more effort has to be directed towards resource mobilisation.

Although the concept of ethical leadership is receiving attention from scholars and practitioners, it has not been sufficiently examined in the Global South, especially in African countries, where corporate scandals remain a significant challenge. This research suggests that ethical leadership and perceived organisational support are significant predictors of employee attitudes. The development of positive employee attitudes can facilitate the minimisation of corporate vices such as corruption, which remain a huge challenge in the African business domain. The development of ethical leaders through ethics training programs and policies must be a high priority for organisational executives.

This study addresses an important concept in business management, enhancing our understanding of ethical leadership. The study was conducted in the Zimbabwean setting, which may affect the generalizability of the findings. The study sample size of 400 managers might represent a small fraction; however, scholars need to test our conceptual model in an extensive sample quantitative study to assess its validity. Despite these limitations, this study has provided practical empirical evidence that demonstrates the relationship among the variables investigated in this study.