Ethical leadership and productive work attitudes among micro financial institutions in Ghana Moderating role of organizational climate Prince Addai Department of Industrial Psychology, University of Fort Hare, East London, South Africa John Avor Department of Teaching Staff, Vine Christian School, Accra, Ghana, and Isaac Nti Ofori and Daniel Ntiamoah Tweneboah Department of Human Resource Management, Zenith University College, Accra, Ghana Abstract Purpose – Ethical leadership wields a significant influence on productive work attitudes of employees. The relationship may partly be because of existing conditions in the organization. However, there is dearth of research on the impact that conditions in the organization affect work attitudes and other employee behaviours. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine organizational climate as an explanatory mechanism for the relationship between ethical leadership and employees’ productive work attitudes (employee commitment, organizational citizenship behaviour). Design/methodology/approach – The researchers obtained responses from 150 employees working in micro financial institutions in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The cross-sectional survey design was used. The hypotheses of the study were analysed using regression analyses. Findings – Findings indicated a positive and significant relationship between ethical leadership and productive work attitudes (employee commitment, organizational citizenship behaviour). Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that organizational climate moderated the relationships between both ethical leadership – employee commitment and ethical leadership – organizational citizenship behaviours. Explicitly, ethical leadership produced the highest productive work attitudes when organizational climate was favourable for productive work attitudes. Originality/value – Generally, this study highlights the prominence of organizational climate in understanding the influence of ethical leadership on employees’ work attitudes. Keywords Employee commitment, Organizational climate, Ethical leadership, Work attitudes, Organizational citizenship behaviour, Financial institutions, Strategic management and leadership Paper type Research paper 1. Introduction The interest in the study of employee attitudes within organizational settings has brought into focus certain decisive variables that are supportive of the effectiveness of the organization (Adda et al., 2017). These work-related attitudes determine the survival of organizations. Pohlman and Gardiner (2000) articulated that highlighting the decisive work- related attitudes helps in ensuring organizational success. Employee commitment and Micro financial institutions in Ghana 1049 Received 11 June 2018 Revised 27 August 2018 10 December 2018 14 February 2019 Accepted 15 February 2019 Management Research Review Vol. 42 No. 9, 2019 pp. 1049-1061 © Emerald Publishing Limited 2040-8269 DOI 10.1108/MRR-06-2018-0235 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/2040-8269.htm