Testing a Structural Model of Managers’ Professional Ethics in the Organization of Guidance, Hajj, and Endowments of Afghanistan

Aminuddin  Muzafary; Mohammad Reza Rabiee Mandejin; Vahid  Araei; Behnoush  Jovari

doi:10.61838/cp97wg76

Authors

Aminuddin Muzafary Department of Public Administration, CT.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0902-8256
Mohammad Reza Rabiee Mandejin Department of Public Administration, CT.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8571-1415
Vahid Araei Department of Public Administration and Public Policy, CT.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9987-2252
Behnoush Jovari Department of Public Administration and Public Policy, CT.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6426-0245

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.61838/cp97wg76

Keywords:

Professional ethics, managers, organizational climate, job insecurity, ethnic favoritism, political instability, Hajj and endowments, Afghanistan

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to test a structural model of managers’ professional ethics in the Organization of Guidance, Hajj, and Endowments of Afghanistan by examining the effects of occupational, cultural, political, and organizational factors and the consequences of professional ethics.

Methods and Materials: This applied-developmental study used a quantitative, descriptive-correlational, cross-sectional design based on partial least squares structural equation modeling. The statistical population included Afghan doctoral students in public administration and Islamic sciences, former and current political figures, and experts in Hajj and endowment affairs. Participants were recruited through purposive, convenience, and snowball sampling. Of 120 distributed questionnaires, 100 complete questionnaires were analyzed. Data were collected using a researcher-developed 34-item questionnaire derived from a preceding qualitative thematic analysis. Content validity was assessed by five experts and face validity through pilot testing with 20 participants. Data were analyzed using SPSS 26 and SmartPLS 3. Measurement-model quality was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability, average variance extracted, and factor loadings, while structural relationships were tested using path coefficients, t statistics, p values, R², and bootstrapping with 5,000 resamples.

Findings: Fear and job insecurity had a significant negative effect on managers’ professional ethics (β = -0.254, p = 0.036), as did ethnic favoritism and partiality (β = -0.297, p = 0.010). Organizational climate positively predicted professional ethics (β = 0.596, p < 0.001), while political fluctuations and environmental instability negatively predicted organizational climate (β = -0.817, p < 0.001). Professional ethics strongly increased positive consequences (β = 0.936, p < 0.001) and reduced negative consequences (β = -0.952, p < 0.001). Religious-cultural values, monitoring-accountability weaknesses, structural-managerial weaknesses, and the direct effect of political instability on professional ethics were nonsignificant. The model explained 84.6% of organizational climate, 94.0% of professional ethics, 87.7% of positive consequences, and 90.6% of negative consequences.

Conclusion: The findings indicate that professional ethics among managers is strongly shaped by organizational climate and is adversely influenced by job insecurity and ethnic favoritism, while political instability appears to operate mainly through deterioration of the organizational climate.

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