Ethical Strategic Leadership, Public Trust, and Social Licence to Operate in the Indonesian Air Force

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-709-5_93How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Ethical Strategic Leadership; Public Trust; Social Licence to Operate; Unit Performance; Indonesian Air Force

Abstract

This study investigates the influence of ethical strategic leadership on public trust and social license to operate (SLO) within the Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU). Employing a quantitative methodology, data were gathered via a survey of 103 respondents in Makassar and analyzed using SmartPLS. The results indicate that ethical leadership positively affects unit performance (H1: p-value = 0.006), public trust significantly enhances unit performance (H2: p-value = 0.002), and social license to operate contributes to performance improvement (H3: p-value = 0.000). This research underscores the significance of ethical leadership and public trust in bolstering organizational legitimacy in military settings. The study examines the interconnections between ethical strategic leadership, public trust, and social license to operate within the Indonesian Air Force. The quantitative analysis of 103 respondents provides empirical evidence supporting the positive impact of ethical leadership on unit performance. The findings illustrate how public trust augments organizational effectiveness and how securing a social license to operate enhances performance. The implications of this research extend beyond the Indonesian Air Force, offering valuable insights for military organizations worldwide. By elucidating the relationships between ethical leadership, public trust, and SLO, the study highlights the importance of transparent and responsible leadership in military institutions. These findings suggest that military organizations can enhance their effectiveness and societal standing through ethical conduct, public engagement, and social legitimacy via responsible practices.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Firman Arif
AU  - Abd. Rahman Kadir
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/20
TI  - Ethical Strategic Leadership, Public Trust, and Social Licence to Operate in the Indonesian Air Force
BT  - Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Accounting, Management, and Economics (10th ICAME 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 1345
EP  - 1357
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-709-5_93
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-709-5_93
ID  - Arif2026
ER  -