Leadership impact on innovation: A sequential mediation of trust and safety

While the influence of leadership on organizational innovation is known, the contribution of ethical leadership to innovation via the mediating factors of trust and safety behavior is less examined within the healthcare sector. This study examines the impact of ethical leadership on organizational innovation, mediated by trust and safety behavior, within the healthcare sectors of Pakistan and China.

This study analyzes the comparative influence of ethical leadership on trust, safety behaviors, and organizational innovation in Pakistan and China. Specifically, it investigates the sequential mediating role of trust and safety behavior.

The current study employed a quantitative cross-sectional methodology and examined 302 nurses: 159 from Sindh, Pakistan, and 143 from Heilongjiang, China. The proposed relationships and cross-cultural differences were examined utilizing the structural equation model.

The findings demonstrate that ethical leadership substantially affects trust, safety behavior, and innovation in both cultures, though with cultural variances. In China, ethical leadership exerts a more pronounced direct influence on followers' safety behavior and innovation than in Pakistan, where the collectivist and hierarchical culture enhances trust and safety behavior by mediating roles. In both scenarios, trust and safety behavior link ethical leadership to innovation.

This comparative study emphasizes the global importance of ethical leadership for trust, safety behavior, and innovation while highlighting cultural differences between Pakistan and China. In China, the influence of ethical leadership is more pronounced due to its organized administration. Still, in Pakistan, the collectivist and hierarchical society enhances the mediating effects of trust and safety behaviors. These findings are significant for healthcare firms to tailor ethical leadership to many cultures, enhancing trust, compliance, and innovation globally.