How and when virtuous leadership promotes innovative work behavior?

Purpose Innovation is especially critical in the hospitality industry, where employees' innovative work behavior (IWB) plays a pivotal role in helping hotels survive and grow. This necessity has intensified due to ongoing economic shifts, globalization, and increasing competition. Consequently, organizations are increasingly encouraging employees to enhance their creativity and innovation, expecting them to propose new services that improve service quality and overall performance. This study aims to examine the relationship between virtuous leadership (VL) and IWB by investigating the mediating role of work engagement and the moderating effect of moral identity. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 278 frontline service employees across ten five-star hotels in Egypt. The proposed model was analyzed using Warp PLS (version 7), which facilitated a robust examination of the hypothesized structural relationships while simultaneously ensuring the reliability and validity of the measurement instruments. Findings The findings reveal that VL exerts a significant positive influence on employees' IWB. Additionally, the results demonstrate that moral identity significantly moderates this relationship, amplifying the positive effect of VL on innovation-related behaviors. Originality/value This study makes a novel contribution to the leadership and organizational behavior literature by empirically examining the relationship between VL and IWB, an area that has received limited attention. Drawing on principles of positive organizational scholarship, it emphasizes the critical moderating role of moral identity, offering new insights into the psychological mechanisms through which VL fosters employee innovation in service organizations. By responding to calls from scholars for more empirical research on VL, this study investigates how its ethical and moral dimensions influence employees' attitudes and behaviors, thereby advancing both theoretical understanding and practical implications for promoting innovation in the workplace.