Ethical Leadership and its Impact on Achieving Sustainability Goals: A Study of Organizations in Kollam

Abstract

This study looks into the effects of ethical leadership on achieving sustainability goals in organizations across Kollam district. It examines how ethical leadership shapes employees’ views on sustainability practices, directs organizational strategies, tackles implementation challenges, and influences measurable sustainability results. We used a quantitative approach, selecting 100 respondents through stratified purposive sampling from different roles, such as Senior Managers, CSR/ESG Officers, Mid-Level Managers, and General Employees, from urban, semi-urban, and industrial areas. We gathered primary data using a structured Likert-scale questionnaire and added secondary data from CSR and ESG reports. We used statistical analyses like correlation, regression, t-tests, ANOVA, and Chi-square tests to test our hypotheses. The findings show that ethical leadership positively affects employees’ views on sustainability practices, the adoption of sustainability strategies, and measurable sustainability results. While there are some implementation challenges, these are not strongly affected by ethical leadership. We observed differences in perception based on roles, with senior managers viewing ethical leadership more positively than general employees. The study emphasizes the important role of ethical leadership in promoting corporate sustainability and offers practical insights for organizations that want to combine ethical governance with sustainable development initiatives.