Engineering Ethical Work Behavior and Its Role in Building Organizational Immunity Against Administrative Corruption: A Conceptual Theoretical Study of the Government Employee

Abstract

This study aimed to develop a conceptual framework explaining the role of ethical work behavior engineering among public employees in strengthening institutional immunity against administrative corruption. The study was motivated by the need to shift from traditional anti-corruption approaches, which primarily focus on combating corruption after its occurrence, toward a preventive approach based on fostering and institutionalizing ethical behavior within public organizations. The study adopted a descriptive-analytical methodology through a comprehensive review and analysis of the relevant literature, theoretical perspectives, and previous studies to explore the relationship between ethical work behavior, administrative corruption, and institutional immunity, and to construct a conceptual model illustrating how ethical behavior can influence institutional resilience. The findings indicate that ethical work behavior engineering represents a systematic process of designing, organizing, and reinforcing ethical values by transforming them into stable workplace practices that promote integrity, transparency, and self-regulation, thereby enhancing the ability of public institutions to prevent and limit administrative corruption. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that the dimensions of ethical work behavior—honesty, trustworthiness, confidentiality, justice, equality, and commitment to public service ethics—constitute an integrated ethical system that contributes to building sustainable institutional immunity. The study concludes by proposing a conceptual framework that integrates ethical work behavior engineering with institutional immunity mechanisms, thereby addressing a theoretical gap in the administrative literature. The proposed framework provides a scientific foundation for developing administrative policies and training programs and offers a basis for future empirical research to validate the proposed model across different public sector institutions.