Research Article 13
Journal of Management Sciences - Volume 12, Issue 2 2025
By Mahira Mirza, Muhammad Asim
10.20547/jms.2014.2512201
Keywords: Ambidextrous Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Internal Whistleblowing, Moral Courage

This study explores the influence of ambidextrous leadership and emotional intelligence in leaders on the development of employees' moral courage, which in turn fosters internal whistleblowing behavior within mid-to-large organizations. The study adopts a quantitative approach, analyzing survey data from 250 employees across mid-sized to large organizations to examine the impact of various leadership styles on moral courage and internal whistleblowing behavior. The results indicate that both ambidextrous leadership and emotional intelligence significantly enhance moral courage, which in turn plays a crucial role in motivating employees to report unethical behavior. The findings highlight moral courage as a key psychological mechanism that mediates the influence of leadership on ethical actions, accounting for 68% of the variance in whistleblowing intentions. This study highlights that leadership attributes alone are inadequate for consistently promoting whistleblowing behavior. To effectively encourage ethical conduct and reporting, organizations must invest in leadership development, cultivate psychologically safe environments, and proactively nurture moral courage. This study makes significant contributions to the organizational ethics literature by (1) empirically validating the dual-leadership approach to cultivating ethical climates and (2) identifying the critical conditions required to translate ethical awareness into courageous action. It emphasizes the importance of integrated leadership development programs that combine ambidextrous behavioral strategies with emotional competence training, alongside organizational systems that promote psychological safety. These findings provide actionable insights for creating sustainable ethics management frameworks where protected disclosure is institutionalized as a core practice.

Submission Date: 27 Jun, 2025 Reviews Completed: 29 Jul, 2025
Acceptance Date: 30 Jul, 2025 Publication Date: 5 Aug, 2025