Cover
Volume 7, Issue Speical 7 (2026)

Published: November 5, 2026

Pages: 306-322

Research Article

Ethical leadership, corporate social responsibility and organizational citizenship behavior: Fostering sustainable employability in Iraqi Private Banks

Alaa S. Jameel 1 Sinan A. Harjan 2 Faisal G. Faisal 3 Ahmed S. Alheety 1
1Department of Business Administration, Al-Idrisi University College, Ramadi, Iraq
2Department of Business Administration, University of Samarra, Samarra, Iraq
3Department of Finance and Banking, Al-Idrisi University College, Ramadi, Iraq
History
  • Received: August 15, 2026
  • Available Online: November 5, 2026
DOI

https://doi.org/10.56967/ejfb20261035

Abstract

During times of economic volatility and in the process of administrative reform in post-conflict situations, strong leadership is essential to building a resilient workforce. To tackle this, the current study seeks to examine the effects of ethical leadership on “organizational citizenship behavior” (OCB) with corporate “social responsibility” (CSR) as a mediator in the private banking sector in Iraq. The research adopts a quantitative approach with the use of survey data from 229 banking professionals and is based on “Social Exchange and Social Identity theories”. The conceptual pathways were tested using variance-based structural equation modeling, which was performed using SmartPLS 4. The results of the analyses strongly favor the proposed model, showing that ethical leadership has a significant positive impact on employees' perceptions of CSR initiatives and their engagement in discretionary citizenship behaviors. Moreover, CSR was observed to have a great impact on OCB. Importantly, the findings proved that CSR is a powerful mediator, which means that ethical leaders provoke citizenship behaviors by developing a socially responsible organizational climate. The study fills a significant gap in the literature because it tests a mediation model in a less-studied context of the Iraqi banking sector. It offers administrative lessons to policymakers and bank executives, indicating that the strategic need to invest in ethical leadership and true CSR activities is not only a moral requirement but a strategic need to increase sustainable employability and fight against economic adversities.

Keywords

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