Purpose The potential role of higher education institutes is indispensable for realizing the dream of a sustainable future. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of knowledge-oriented leadership on the sustainable service quality of higher education institutes. Furthermore, it also investigates the mediating role of organizational innovation and psychological empowerment. Design/methodology/approach Data of this study is collected from 306 faculty members of the public and private universities of Pakistan. Structural equation modeling technique was used for data analysis and testing of hypotheses. Findings The results demonstrate the positive impact of knowledge-oriented leadership on sustainable service quality. Organizational innovation and psychological empowerment partially mediate the relationship of knowledge-oriented leadership and sustainable service quality. Practical implications The policymakers including the higher education commission of Pakistan and university administration are highly recommended to promote a knowledge-oriented leadership style in the higher education institutes to improve innovation and psychological empowerment at the workplace which leads to foster sustainable service quality. Originality/value The concept of sustainable service quality in higher education institutes is in the infancy stages in developing countries. There is a dearth of studies that explore the relationship between knowledge management enabler and sustainable service quality. This study attempts to explore the unexplored relationship and extends the literature of higher education institutes and sustainable service quality.

PurposeThis paper investigates the relationships between responsible leadership and employees' knowledge sharing behavior and performance in the healthcare sector. The present study provides deeper insights into those relationships by uncovering the mechanisms through which relational and ethical dimensions of responsible leadership influence knowledge sharing outcomes. Drawing on the social exchange theory, this study examines the mediating role of trust in the leader and leadership support.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 445 healthcare professionals in Pakistan. Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the data.FindingsThe study findings revealed that responsible leaders enhance knowledge worker performance and knowledge sharing behavior through enhancing trusting relationships with followers and providing support. Furthermore, the authors investigated the moderating role of goal orientation, and the results showed that the effect of responsible leadership on knowledge worker performance was stronger for highly goal-oriented employees.Practical implicationsThis research suggests that human resource managers interested in fostering knowledge sharing behaviors, must focus on cultivating responsible leadership behavior within their organizations. Furthermore, this study findings propose that HRM practices should foster employee goal orientation in order to enhance knowledge workers' performance.Originality/valueThis study makes a novel contribution to the literature by shifting the research focus from the traditional view of leadership to a leadership style more responsive to the reciprocity nature of the relationships between employees and leaders. By shifting the focus to a relational-ethical based leadership style, the current study was able to fully uncover the underlying mechanisms linking responsible leadership to knowledge sharing outcomes.

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