Measuring ethical leadership as a governance capability in South African government institutions: An exploratory study

Abstract

Background: Persistent governance failures in South African public institutions have intensified scholarly and policy interest in ethical leadership as a governance capability associated with accountability, institutional integrity and organisational performance. However, dominant ethical leadership measures were primarily developed in private-sector environments and may not adequately reflect the realities of bureaucratic governance within South African government institutions.
Aim: This study aimed to develop a contextually grounded ethical leadership measurement scale for South African government institutions and to explore its underlying dimensional structure.
Setting: The study was conducted within two national government institutions in South Africa.
Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional research design was adopted. An Ethical Leadership Questionnaire was developed from established ethical leadership and governance theories and administered to permanently employed public-sector staff members. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was employed to examine the latent structure of ethical leadership in a public-sector governance context.
Results: The findings supported a multidimensional ethical leadership structure comprising Character, Influence and Morality. The dimensions reflected dispositional ethical attributes, behavioural enactment of ethical standards and normative ethical orientation, respectively.
Conclusion: The study provides preliminary evidence that ethical leadership in government institutions may comprise distinguishable but interrelated governance capabilities.
Contribution: This study contributes to governance and leadership scholarship by developing a contextually grounded, exploratory measure of ethical leadership for South African government institutions.