Ethical Leadership and Political Behavior in a National Government Agency as Predictors of Performance Among Public Sector Employees: A Sequential Explanatory Approach

Public sector employees face growing demands to perform effectively in challenging and politically influenced work environments. This study examined how ethical leadership and political behavior predict employee performance in a national government agency. Using a sequential explanatory design, the research combined quantitative and qualitative approaches to capture both measurable relationships and lived experiences. The initial quantitative results revealed high levels of ethical leadership, political behavior, and employee performance. Regression analysis showed that both ethical leadership and political behavior significantly predict performance, with political behavior emerging as the stronger predictor. Following the qualitative phase, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted. Thematic analysis revealed five major themes: transparency and clear communication, fairness and equal treatment, flexibility and adaptability, integrity and role modeling, and commitment to public service on the Experiences of participants on ethical leadership, political behavior, and employee performance. Employees perceived that ethical leadership builds motivation and accountability through fairness, open communication, and transparency, while political behavior influences opportunities and exposure. Although politics sometimes fosters favoritism and unequal advancement, employees' flexibility, initiative, and resilience enable them to maintain productivity and commitment to public service. The study concludes that ethical leadership strengthens trust and organizational integrity, but political behavior exerts a greater impact on performance outcomes. In the joint display and integration of quantitative and qualitative results, it indicated that the nature of integration was connecting-confirmation, implying that the results of the quantitative phase were confirmed.

public administration, ethical leadership, political behavior, employee performance, Philippines

1. Bhandari, D. R., & Subedi, D. P. (2024). Organizational stress and employee productivity in Nepalese commercial banks: The mediating role of employee welfare. International Journal of Social Sciences and Management, 11(4), 119–125. https://doi.org/10.3126/ijssm.v11i4.70982 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Blau, P. M. (1964). Exchange and power in social life. Wiley. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Brierley, J. A. (2017). The role of a pragmatist paradigm when adopting mixed methods in behavioural accounting research. International Journal of Behavioural Accounting and Finance, 6(2), 140–154. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJBAF.2017.10007499 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Brown, M. E., & Treviño, L. K. (2006). Ethical leadership: A review and future directions. The Leadership Quarterly, 17(6), 595–616. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2006.10.004 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Brouwers, A., & Tomic, W. (1999). A longitudinal study of teacher burnout and perceived self-efficacy in classroom management. Teaching and Teacher Education, 16(2), 239–253. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-051X(99)00057-8 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. University of Nebraska–Lincoln. http://basu.nahad.ir/uploads/creswell.pdf [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Creswell, J. W. (2013). Steps in conducting a scholarly mixed methods study. University of Nebraska–Lincoln. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1047&context=dberspeakers [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Creswell, J. W. (2014). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). SAGE Publications. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). SAGE Publications. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2017). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. SAGE Publications. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2016). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. SAGE Publications. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Creswell, J. W., Fetters, M. D., Plano Clark, V. L., & Morales, A. (2009). Mixed methods intervention trials. In A. Tashakkori & C. Teddlie (Eds.), Mixed methods research for nursing and the health sciences (pp. 159–180). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444316490.ch9 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Creswell, J. W., Plano Clark, V. L., Gutmann, M. L., & Hanson, W. E. (2003). Advanced mixed methods research designs. In A. Tashakkori & C. Teddlie (Eds.), Handbook of mixed methods in social and behavioral research (pp. 209–240). SAGE Publications. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Dahkoul, Z. M. (2018). The determinants of employee performance in Jordanian organizations. Pressacademia, 5(1), 11–17. https://doi.org/10.17261/pressacademia.2018.780 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Ferris, G. R., & Kacmar, K. M. (1997). Perceptions of organizational politics. Journal of Management, 23(1), 23–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639702300104 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Ferris, G. R., Russell, J. E. A., & Fandt, P. M. (1989). Political behavior in organizations. HarperCollins. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. George, T. (2023, June 22). Mixed methods research: Definition, guide, and examples. Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/mixed-methods-research/ [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Habtoor, N., Ali, E. S., & Ali, A. A. A. (2022). Human side of total quality management: A critical review. International Journal of Intellectual Human Resource Management, 3(2), 27–32. https://doi.org/10.46988/ijihrm.03.02.2022.004 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Hassan, A. (2015). The importance of ethical leadership in public organizations: A case study. Public Administration Quarterly, 39(1), 123–145. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Jalali, M., Hamedani, E., & Bagheri, F. (2023). The impact of leadership styles on employee performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 45(2), 214–231. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Kalshoven, K., Den Hartog, D. N., & De Hoogh, A. H. B. (2011). Ethical leadership at work questionnaire (ELW): Development and validation of a multidimensional measure. The Leadership Quarterly, 22(1), 51–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2010.12.007 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

22. Kaushik, V., & Walsh, C. A. (2019). Pragmatism as a research paradigm and its implications for social work research. Social Sciences, 8(9), 255. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci8090255 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

23. Kelly, L. M., & Cordeiro, M. (2020). Three principles of pragmatism for research on organizational processes. Qualitative Research, 22(3), 357–372. https://doi.org/10.1177/2059799120937242 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

24. Kulachai, W., & Tedjakusuma, A. P. (2020). A study of political behaviors influence on organizational effectiveness. Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

25. Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (1990). A theory of goal setting and task performance. Prentice Hall. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

26. Maarouf, H. (2019). Pragmatism as a supportive paradigm for the mixed research approach: Conceptualizing the ontological, epistemological, and axiological stances of pragmatism. International Business Research, 12(9). https://doi.org/10.5539/ibr.v12n9p1 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

27. Magcuro, R. (2006). Challenges faced by public sector employees in developing countries. International Journal of Public Administration, 29(4), 274–289. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

28. Mahendra, A. (2024). Employee performance: Key factors and organizational success. Asian Journal of Business and Management, 11(1), 56–67. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

29. Mansor, F. A., Mat Jusoh, Y. H., Mohd Said, N. S., & Mat, K. A. (2023). Examining work stress and employee performance among public servants: Evidence from Terengganu, Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences. https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v13-i11/19300 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

30. Nguyen, T. D., Shih, M. H., Srivastava, D., Tirthapura, S., & Xu, B. (2021). Stratified random sampling from streaming and stored data. Distributed and Parallel Databases, 39, 665–710. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10619-020-07315-w [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

31. Osbert, N., & Christine, A. (2024). Ethical leadership and employee performance: A case study of Bushenyi local government, Uganda. Research Gate, 11(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.59298/iaajam/2024/111.18.00 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

32. Patton, M. Q. (2002). Two decades of developments in qualitative inquiry: A personal, experiential perspective. Qualitative Social Work, 1(3), 261–283. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325002001003636 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

33. Santillan, R. (2022). Factors affecting public sector employee performance: A case study. Philippine Journal of Public Administration, 58(3), 456–475. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

34. Schoonenboom, J., & Johnson, R. B. (2017). How to construct a mixed methods research design. Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, 69(2), 107–131. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11577-017-0454-1 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

35. Seeram, E. (2019). An overview of correlational research. Radiologic Technology, 91(2), 176–179. http://www.radiologictechnology.org/content/91/2/176.extract [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

36. Vigoda-Gadot, E. (2007). Handbook of organizational politics. Human Resource Management International Digest, 15(7). https://doi.org/10.1108/hrmid.2007.04415gae.002 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

37. Willis, J. W. (2007). Foundations of qualitative research: Interpretive and critical approaches. SAGE Publications. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• Understanding Academic Leadership: Theory, Practice and Future Horizons
• A Literature Review on Leadership and Cultural Evolution of Adventism in East Africa Region
• Unlocking Employee Creativity Through Empowering Leadership: The Dynamic Interplay of Trust and Engagement
• The Integration of Preachers’ Leadership Competencies in Empowering Preachers for the Orang Asli Community in Malaysia
• Traditional Authority vs. Legacy Leadership: A Comparative Literature Review from the Arab World