Synergistic effects of hierarchical culture and corporate governance on sustainability performance of African civil aviation authorities

This study examines the mediating role of corporate governance in the relationship between hierarchy culture and sustainability performance within African Civil Aviation Authorities (ACAAs). Grounded in institutional theory, the study seeks to explain how internal cultural systems and governance frameworks jointly influence economic, environmental, and social sustainability outcomes in highly regulated sectors. A quantitative research design was employed, using structured surveys administered to 371 aviation managers across 54 African Civil Aviation Authorities. Data were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to test both direct and mediating relationships between hierarchy culture, corporate governance, and the three sustainability dimensions. The results reveal that hierarchy culture has strong positive effects on economic, environmental, and social sustainability performance. However, corporate governance negatively mediates the relationship between hierarchy culture and economic performance and shows no significant mediation for environmental and social outcomes. Aviation regulators should reconfigure governance frameworks to balance regulatory compliance with innovation. Integrating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles into aviation governance codes and promoting adaptive, transformational leadership can enhance sustainability performance. This study provides one of the first empirical examinations of the synergy between hierarchy culture and corporate governance within African aviation authorities. It contributes to institutional theory by demonstrating that governance mechanisms, often assumed to enable sustainability, may sometimes constrain it in highly regulated organisational settings.