The mediating role of ethical climate on the relationship between ubuntu leadership and sustainable performance

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.