Abstract:
Sustainable performance has become high on organisations’ agenda. The diverse
impacts that business has had in society have sparked interest in finding new ways
to lead and do business. Issues of environmental damage brought on by the
manufacture, distribution, and consumption of goods, as well as the associated
problems of waste management and disposal, are amongst the many challenges that
business has brought about in society. Research indicates that certain leadership
styles have an influence on sustainable performance, although most often
conditional; mediated by other variables. Ubuntu leadership style, based on African
values, bears hope for Africans, in addressing challenges of sustainability; addressing
poverty, social ills and the unequal distribution of resources. This explanatory
quantitative study sought to, using responses from 209 employees from
manufacturing companies in South Africa, investigate the influence of ubuntu
leadership on sustainable performance, as well as investigate the mediating role that
ethical climate and voluntary employee behaviour play in the relationship. Statistical
analysis, using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), was
performed to test and validate the strength and significance of the relationships
between the latent constructs. Findings indicated that ubuntu leadership has a direct
positive influence on sustainable performance. It was also found that mediation by
ethical climate, on the relationship between ubuntu leadership and sustainable
performance was fully affective, and also that mediation by voluntary environmental
behaviour on the relationship was insignificant.
