Ethical leadership (EL) and innovative work behavior (IWB) in public universities: examining the moderating role of perceived organizational support (POS)

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the moderating role of perceived organizational support in the relationship between ethical leadership and innovative work behavior (IWB) among public university academic staff. Design/methodology/approach: Using a quantitative approach, the authors relied on structural equation modeling together with bootstrapping procedure using Process Macro of the SPSS to analyze data from a homogenous sample of 291 academic staff from the university education sector in Uganda. Findings: The finding from bootstrapping procedure using Process Macro of the SPSS as statistic tool support perceived organizational support as a moderator in the ethical leadership–IWB relationship. In general, the present findings suggest that ethical leadership is associated with IWB via perceived organization support. Practical implications: Enhanced IWB requires diverse and integrated techniques based on ethical leadership principles and perceived organizational support among employees. Originality/value: There is increasing acknowledgement of the importance of ethical leadership in successful employee IWBs. Within this context, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no prior study has empirically explored the moderating role of POS in the relationship between ethical leadership and IWB.