SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW: SERVANT LEADERSHIP IN PUBLIC SECTORS

Servant leadership delivers important reforms to the increasingly complex public utility system. This systematic review seeks to incorporate the latest six years of articles on geographic divisions, conceptual definitions, measuring techniques, theoretical frameworks, and nomological networks (antecedents, mediators, outcomes, and moderators) in the public sector. The risk of bias was evaluated using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool and ROBINS-I, and employing automated techniques such as Rayyan for screening. Using PRISMA’s review approach, this comprehensive synthesis of 51 relevant public sector-specific conceptual and empirical studies across six academic electronic databases (Taylor & Francis, Sage, Scopus, Springer Link, Web of Science, and Wiley) shows that servant leadership is critical for establishing a prosocial workforce. This review discovered that the global construct of servant leadership (SL-7) scale has been the most often utilised measure of servant leadership in public sector-specific studies recently. Social exchange theory remains the predominant explanation for the impact of servant leadership on specific variables. The findings also illustrate a generally positive influence of servant leadership. Moreover, this review provides limitations and suggestions for future studies by summarising elements that have received less attention.