Introduction: The challenge of restricting unethical behavior requires public companies to reinforce ethical practices among leaders through various instruments. Previous research suggests that the (un)ethical behavior of leaders can be influenced by many situational factors. This study aimed to investigate the influence of ethics training and education on unethical leadership behavior in the Algerian public companies.Methods: Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 leaders from public companies in Algeria. Data analysis was facilitated using ATLAS. ti 8 qualitative analysis software.Results: The findings show that public companies in Algeria suffer from several issues related to leaders’ ethics training and education. The findings also indicate that some of these unethical leadership behaviors are the result of ineffective training programs and poor ethics education within public companies.Discussion: The absence or ineffectiveness of ethics training and education within and outside organizational settings has a detrimental impact on leaders’ ethical character. This study is the first to explore how public companies in Algeria engage in ethical training and leadership education. The different sectors of the Algerian business can use the findings as a point of reference to embed the appropriate ethical climate in their respective organizations.

Purpose: Unethical leadership represents one of the most serious obstacles to the development of organizations and societies. Although a range of empirical studies have investigated unethical leadership behaviour in different contexts, studies on this issue are almost non-existent within the Algerian context. This study aims to explore the role of social and organizational factors in shaping unethical leadership behaviour within Algerian public organizations. Design/methodology/approach: A series of in-depth interviews were conducted with 15 leaders from public organizations. The collected data were analysed using a thematic approach with ATLAS.ti 8 software. Findings: The reported social and organizational factors fall into five themes: social values, organizational culture, corruption, peer influence and political environment. Originality/value: Given the grave consequences of unethical leadership behaviour, this study contributes to our understanding of the role of social and organizational factors in shaping unethical leadership behaviour in an understudied context. This can help in mitigating the factors that lay the ground for these destructive and unethical behaviours in public organizations.

Purpose: Integration of religiosity and positive emotions at workplace sheds light on the intersection of faith and professional well-being where these two factors lead to increased job satisfaction, higher productivity and improved overall mental health. The study examines the relationship between religiosity, positive emotions and work engagement among academics in Algeria. Design/methodology/approach: This research is based on the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory and the job demands-resources (JD-R) model of work engagement. The study uses a cross-sectional self-administered questionnaire with stratified random sampling to collect data from 356 academics at public universities in Algeria. The data were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) with Smart PLS 3. Findings: The results indicate that religiosity is positively associated with work engagement, and positive emotions mediate the relationship between religiosity and work engagement. The study also illustrates that job demands (workload) moderate the relationship between positive emotions and work engagement. Originality/value: The study highlighted that role of religiosity and positive emotions as essential factors in increasing academics' work engagement and contributes to the COR theory and JD-R model of work engagement.

Global political and financial entities have witnessed many scandals linked to leaders’ unethical behavior. Previous research suggests that the susceptibility of leaders to act in an unethical way is rooted in various individual, organizational, and social factors. However, unethical leadership is scarcely examined in the context of African countries. This study explores the role of poor leadership skills and qualities in eliciting unethical leadership behavior in Algerian public organizations. Using an exploratory qualitative approach, 15 leaders and managers were included in series of in-depth interviews. The results of the data analysis revealed that poor leadership skills and competencies are critical antecedents of unethical leadership behavior within Algerian public organizations. This study contributes to the ongoing research efforts that seek to identify and minimize the causes of unethical behaviors of leaders across sectors and disciplines. This study provides insights into the construct of unethical leadership and how individual, organizational, and social factors predict leaders’ unethical behavior. While there are many studies on the issue of unethical leadership, research on the potential role of poor leadership skills in eliciting unethical behavior is scarce, especially in Algeria. This study found that there is a strong link between skills and competencies of leaders and their ethical behavior within organizational settings.