article · SEISENSE Business Review
This study examines how socially responsible leadership influences innovative work behaviour among staff in Ugandan public universities, focusing on the mediating role of psychological safety. Drawing on survey responses from 214 university employees, the analysis evaluated the interactions between leadership practices, employee feelings of safety, and workplace innovation. The findings reveal that socially responsible leadership effectively improves the innovative work behaviour of employees. Moreover, this positive relationship is primarily mediated by psychological safety, meaning that responsible leadership encourages innovation by fostering an environment where staff feel safe to take risks. By assessing these factors within an African higher education context, the research expands organizational behaviour insights beyond the predominantly Western settings typically reflected in existing management literature.
Fostering workplace innovation is critical for institutional development. By demonstrating that socially responsible leadership encourages innovation primarily by establishing psychological safety, this research offers guidance for university administrators and organizational leaders seeking to cultivate productive, creative, and supportive work environments.
The insights could inform leadership development programmes, human resource policies, and management consulting tools aimed at improving staff innovation in higher education and public sector organisations. Because the work is empirical research based on survey data, it represents early-stage organisational insights that require translation into structured management training programmes before practical adoption.
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Purpose – The present study investigates the relationship between innovative work behavior (IWB) and socially responsible leadership (SRL). The role of psychological safety in this relationship is also further explored in this study.Design/methodology/approach – Data were gathered from Ugandan public universities for this study. For this study, 214 employees were invited to take part. The research hypotheses were evaluated using Processes Macro and Amos.Findings – SRL has been found to effectively improve followers' Innovative work behaviour using data from Ugandan public universities. Furthermore, the primary impact of SRL on IWB of staff in public universities is mediated by psychological safety.Originality/value – This is one of the first studies to look into the relationship between followers' IWB and SRL and the mediating role of psychological safety among employees. Secondly, by investigating the mediation of psychological safety, this study expands our knowledge that binds SRL to IWB. In conclusion, our study draws from data gathered in Uganda and may offer novel perspectives to the predominantly western literature currently in circulation.
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DOI: 10.33215/6gahb262
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