Ethical culture, ethical leadership, whistleblowing and ethical behaviour in public institutions

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between ethical culture, ethical leadership, whistle-blowing and ethical behaviour in public institutions. A cross sectional research design was employed and primary data was collected from 21 public institutions. A sample size of 384 was drawn for various levels of staff from a population of 391,635 using the Krajcie a Morgan (1970) table. A total of 292 questionnaires were returned giving a response rate of 76%. Data was analyzed using SPSS software and the results showed that there was a significant positive relationship between ethical culture and ethical behaviour, a significant positive relationship between ethical culture and ethical leadership, a significant positive relationship between ethical culture and whistle-blowing. The results further showed an insignificant positive relationship between ethical leadership and whistle-blowing and also an insignificant relationship between whistle-blowing and ethical behaviour. A regression analysis showed that whistle-blowing has the highest ability to predict ethical behaviour compared to ethical culture and ethical leadership in public institutions. This implies that if ethical behaviour is to be enhanced in public institution then whistle-blowing should be encouraged. Thus managers and leaders in public institutions should put in place mechanisms that support whistle-blowing