Soft leadership and its role in promoting organizational integrity: An analytical study of the opinions of a sample of employees at Rafidain Bank in Najaf Governorate
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study aims to examine the role of soft leadership in promoting organizational integrity by analyzing the views of a sample of employees at Al-Rafidain Bank in its three branches (Muslim Bin Aqeel, Hayy Al-Amir, and Hayy Aden) in Najaf Governorate. The significance of the research lies in highlighting soft leadership as an effective approach to building an organizational environment governed by adherence to ethical values and standards, thereby contributing to the improvement of banking performance and enhancing the effectiveness of teamwork.
The study employed the descriptive-analytical method to address the research problem, and a questionnaire was used as the primary tool for data collection. The instrument was designed to measure the three dimensions of soft leadership (vision, communication, and emotional intelligence) and the five dimensions of organizational integrity (trust, forgiveness, integrity, social optimism, and compassion). The research population consisted of 173 employees across the three branches, while a random sample of 120 employees was selected to ensure accurate representation of the targeted population.
The statistical analysis revealed a significant relationship between the dimensions of soft leadership and organizational integrity, indicating that leaders who employ soft leadership practices exert a positive influence on employees’ behaviors and foster an ethical climate that supports vision and communication within the bank.
The originality of the study lies in its focus on soft leadership as a relatively novel approach within the Iraqi banking sector, and its integration with the concept of organizational integrity to provide a conceptual and practical framework that may contribute to the development of local administrative practices. Furthermore, the study offers practical value by linking its findings to the real-world context of the governmental banking sector in Najaf, making it a valuable reference for future research.
Downloads
Article Details
References
Ahmed, J. U., Islam, Q. T., Ahmed, A., Faroque, A. R., & Uddin, M. J. (2021). Corporate social responsibility in the wake of COVID-19: multiple cases of social responsibility as an organizational value. Society and Business Review.
Al-A’wasa, Saleh Ibrahim Sulaiman. (2018). The Impact of Soft Leadership Practices on the Organizational Climate for Creativity at Jordan Customs Department (JCD). European Journal of Business and Management, 10(30), 4-13.
Ariratana, W., Sirisookslip, S., & Tang, K. N. (2015). Development of Leadership Soft Skills Among Educational Administrators. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 186, 331-336.
Balakrishnan, Kavitha, et al. (2024). Enhancing Work Performance: The Role of Communication Styles and Leadership. Journal Communicaci: The Malaysian Journal of Communication, 40(1).
Banker, D. V., & Bhal, K. T. (2020). Understanding compassion from practicing managers’ perspective: Vicious and virtuous forces in business organizations. Global Business Review, 21(1), 262-278.
Cameron, K. S., Bright, D., & Caza, A. (2004). Exploring the relationships between organizational virtuousness and performance. American Behavioral Scientist, 47(6), 766-790.
Chaiprasit, W., & Rinthaisong, I. (2021). It’s time to awaken compassion at the workplace: An empirical study from government agencies.
Constantinescu, M., & Kaptein, M. (2020). Virtue ethics and CSR: The two sides of sustainable organizational performance. In Intrinsic CSR and Competition (pp. 119-132). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Delam, H., Ghasemi, F., Kavi, E., Masmouei, B., Jokar, M., & Bazrafshan, M. R. (2019). The Relationship between Spiritual Well-being and Organizational Virtuousness with Performance of Secondary School Teachers in Bandar Lengeh City, 2017. International Journal of School Health, 6(4).
Dubey, S., Ruparel, N., & Choubisa, R. (2019). Does organizational virtuousness and psychological capital impact employee performance: evidence from the banking sector. Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal.
Dwivedi, Deeksha. (2025). Emotional Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence Integration Strategies for Leadership Excellence. Advances in Research, 26(1), 84-94.
Dutton, J., & Rhee, S. Y. (2021). Making sense of organizational actions in response to tragedy: Virtue frames, organizational identification and.
Erbay, Muhammad et al. (2024). The Relationship between Leadership and Communication, and the Importance of Effective Communication in Online Learning. Educational Administration: Theory and Practice, 30(6), 2065-2076.
Franke, V. C., & Elliott, C. N. (2021). Optimism and Social Resilience: Social Isolation, Meaninglessness, Trust, and Empathy in Times of COVID-19. Societies, 11(2), 35.
Hasche, N., Höglund, L., & Mårtensson, M. (2021). Intra-organizational trust in public organizations – the study of interpersonal trust in both vertical and horizontal relationships from a bidirectional perspective. Public Management Review, 23(12), 1768-1788.
Hasan, K. K. (2021). The relationship between intellectual capital and organizational trust and its impact on achieving the requirements of entrepreneurship strategy (The case of Korek Telecom Company, Iraq). International Journal of Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding, 8(2), 130-146.
Hendriks, M., Burger, M., Rijsenbilt, A., Pleeging, E., & Commandeur, H. (2020). Virtuous Leadership and Employee Flourishing: The Mediating Role of Work Engagement. Manuscrito não publicado.
Hoekstra, A., & Kaptein, M. (2021). The Integrity of Integrity Programs: Toward a Normative Framework. Public Integrity, 23(2).
Huberts, L., & Van Montfort, A. (2020). Integrity of Governance: Towards a System Approach. In C. Jurkiewicz, Global Corruption and Ethics Management, Londres, Rowan and Littlefield, 184-193.
Jabour, Ali Abdul Zaid. (2023). The Role of Soft Leadership in the Quality of Work Life: An Applied Study on a Sample of Employees Working at the Union Food Industries Company.
Kibasika, John Alsadig. (2024). Expressing Leadership Mission, Vision, Values, and Strategic Objectives in Academic Institutions’ Development Practices. Journal of Research Innovation and Its Implications in Education, 8(1), 393-402.
Kuokkanen, Emma Maria. (2024). Leading in the 21st century: The effect of emotional intelligence on leadership. Journal of Selection and Assessment, 6(1), 35-44.
Makransky, J. (2021). Compassion in Buddhist psychology.
Marques, Joan. (2013). Understanding the strength of gentleness: Soft-skilled leadership on the rise. Journal of Business Ethics, 116(1), 163-171.
Nawaz, A., Abdurachman, E., Gautama, I., & Furinto, A. (2020). An empirical study of the impact of leadership, virtuousness and decision-making process on effectiveness of Indonesian private universities. The Management Journal of Binaniaga, 5(01), 69-78.
Nye, Joseph. (2017). Soft Power: The Origins of the Concept and Its Political Progress. Palgrave Journal of Communication, 3(1).
Rao, M. S. (2016). Debunking Myths about Soft Leadership and Exploring Its Role in Achieving Excellence and Organizational Effectiveness. Industrial and Commercial Training, 48(7), 362-366.
Rao, M. S. (2017). Soft Leadership: An Innovative Leadership Perspective. The Journal of Values-Based Leadership, 10(1).
Reevy, G. M., Chamberlain, C. J., & Stein, J. (2013). Identifying Collaboration, Teamwork, and Leadership Practices on Campus. Currents in Teaching and Learning, 6.
Ruggiero, I. (2020). Communicating Forgiveness: How Organizational Members Seek Forgiveness to Benefit Their Workplace (Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi).
Salas-Vallina, A. (2020). Towards a Sustainable Leader-Follower Relationship: Constructive Dissensus, Organizational Virtuousness and Happiness at Work (HAW). Sustainability, 12(17), 7087.
Schug, C., Morawa, E., Geiser, F., Hiebel, N., Beschoner, P., Jerg-Bretzke, L., & Erim, Y. (2021). Social Support and Optimism as Protective Factors for Mental Health among 7765 Healthcare Workers in Germany during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results of the VOICE Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(7), 3827.
Seifollahi, N. (2020). Analysis of the effect of social capital on organizational virtue with the mediating role of social responsibility. Social Capital Management, 7(2), 171-194.
UYSAL, H. T. (2021). The Mediation Role of Organizational Justice in the Effect of Organizational Virtuousness on Work Productivity. Journal of Research in Business, 6(1), 26-53.
Warren, M. A. (2021). “This is the Way I Win my Own Soul Back”: Exploring the Role of Allies’ Virtuous Motivation for Equity and Inclusion.
Yang, De Long, & Ning Yang. (2024). Uncovering the Path to Employee Performance Excellence: Visionary Leadership Behavior, Vision Commitment, and Organizational Resource Support. Journal of Leadership and Organization Development, 45(7).
Yeşiltaş, M., Gürlek, M., Tuna, M., Kanten, P., & Çeken, H. (2020). Paternalistic leadership and organizational identification: The mediating role of forgiveness climate. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, 1-30.
Zhang, J., Raza, M., Khalid, R., Parveen, R., & Ramírez-Asís, E. H. (2021). Impact of team knowledge management, problem solving competence, interpersonal conflicts, organizational trust on project performance, a mediating role of psychological capital. Annals of Operations Research, 1-21.