Influence of a leader’s Internalized Moral Perspective on the Innovative Work Behavior of Pharmacy Superintendents in Retail Pharmacies in Kenya

In Kenya’s pharmaceutical retail sector, calls for innovative practices are mounting amid growing concerns about increased workload, burnout, and employee disengagement. These challenges are exacerbated by a leadership skills gap that fails to inspire innovative work behavior among pharmacy personnel. While the influence of authentic leadership in healthcare settings has been widely studied, limited empirical research has focused on how leaders’ internalized moral perspective influence innovative behavior in retail pharmacy settings. This study addresses this gap by investigating the influence of internalized moral perspective on the innovative work behavior of pharmacy superintendents in retail pharmacies in Kenya. Grounded in authentic leadership theory, internalized moral perspective was operationalized through integrity, ethical decision-making, and consistency between values and actions. A post-positivist philosophy guided the study, which employed a descriptive correlational research design. From a population of 1,129 pharmacy superintendents drawn from the 2023 Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) list of registered pharmacies in Kenya, a sample of 326 was selected using stratified random sampling. Structured questionnaires yielded 309 valid responses. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Ordinal logistic regression indicated that internalized moral perspective significantly predicted innovative work behavior ((β = 1.75, p < .05), accounting for 37.2% of its variance (Nagelkerke R² = .372). A one-unit increase in a leader’s internalized moral perspective was associated with a 5.75-fold increase in the likelihood of pharmacy superintendents exhibiting higher innovative work behavior. These findings contribute to leadership literature by empirically validating internalized moral perspective as a driver of innovative work behavior in retail pharmacy settings. The study highlights the need for leadership training of pharmacy owners/managers, with a specific focus on moral and ethical leadership through formal and continuous professional development programs.