The Effect of Ethical Leadership on Employee Commitment among Managers in the Transport Sector Parastatals in Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of ethical leadership on employee commitment among managers in the transport sector parastatals in Kenya. The research questions pertaining to the study were as follows: How does the character dimension of ethical leadership affect employee commitment? How does the technical dimension of ethical leadership affect employee commitment? How does the empowerment behavior dimension of ethical leadership affect employee commitment? How does the moral dimension of ethical leadership affect employee commitment? How does the psycho-emotive dimension of ethical leadership affect employee commitment? Does ethical climate moderate the relationship between ethical leadership and employee commitment? The study applied the ethical leadership theory and adopted the positivism research philosophy. A descriptive correlational research design was used to conduct the study. The study population consisted of 253 managers in the transport sector parastatals. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 153 managers from the total population. A questionnaire was used to collect primary data which were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics included mean and standard deviation while the inferential statistics included correlation, ANOVA and multiple linear regression. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used as a tool for data analysis. Results were presented in figures and tables. In regard to the first research question, correlation analysis results revealed a positive and significant relationship between employee commitment and the character dimension, r(111) = .72, p < .05. The results of multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the character dimension significantly predicted employee commitment, R2 = .64, F(1,111) = 197.56, p < .05; β = .78, p < .05. Consequently, the null hypothesis that the character dimension of ethical leadership has no significant effect on employee commitment was rejected. Concerning the second research question correlation analysis results revealed a positive and significant relationship between employee commitment and the technical dimension, r(111) = .56, p < .05. The results of multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the technical dimension significantly predicted employee commitment, R2 = .33, F(1,111) = 55.23, p < .05; β = .65, p < .05. Therefore, the null hypothesis that the technical dimension of ethical leadership has no significant effect on employee commitment was rejected. In respect to the third research question, the results of correlation analysis results revealed a positive and significant relationship between employee commitment and the empowerment behavior dimension, r(111) = 0.53, p < .05. Correspondingly, the results of multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the empowerment behavior dimension significantly predicted employee commitment, R2 = .48, F(1,111) = 100.65, p < .05; β = .70, p < .05. Thus, the null hypothesis that the empowerment behavior dimension of ethical leadership has no significant effect on employee commitment was rejected. Regarding the fourth research question, the results of correlation analysis revealed a positive and significant relationship between employee commitment and the moral dimension, r(111) = .68, p < .05. The moral dimension was found to significantly predict employee commitment, R2 = .55, F(1,111) = 137.93, p < .05; β = .72, p < .05 as revealed by the results of multiple linear regression. Hence, the null hypothesis that the moral dimension of ethical leadership has no significant effect on employee commitment was rejected. In relation to the fifth research question, the results of correlation analysis revealed a positive and significant relationship between employee commitment and the psycho-emotive dimension, r(111) = 0.72, p < .05. It was found that the psycho-emotive dimension significantly predicted employee commitment, R2 = .62, F(1,111) = 179.95, p < .05; β = .77, p < .05. Consequently, this led to rejection of the null hypothesis that the psycho-emotive behavior dimension of ethical leadership has no significant effect on employee commitment. As regards the sixth research question, the results of multiple regression analysis showed that 67% of the changes in employee commitment can be explained by the effect of the ethical climate. The study findings revealed that ethical climate significantly moderated the relationship between ethical leadership and employee commitment, R2 = .67, F(7,105) = 30.56, p < .05; β = .22, p < .05. Therefore, the study rejected the null hypothesis that the ethical climate does not significantly moderate the relationship between ethical leadership and employee commitment. The study concluded that ethical leadership positively and significantly affected employee commitment of managers in the transport sector parastatals of Kenya. The study recommends that public sector organizations should adopt ethical leadership practices to enhance employee commitment. Additionally, the study recommends that the research be replicated in the private transport sector organizations to provide a better understanding of the effects of ethical leadership and provide a generalization of findings across the transport sector.