en تخصصي Special پژوهشي Research <span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">In today&rsquo;s public organizations, ethical competence of employees and managers is increasingly recognized as a driver of attitudinal outcomes, yet its role in strengthening trust and commitment especially in municipal settings remains underexplored. This study examines the effect of <strong><span style="font-weight:normal">moral intelligence</span></strong> on <strong><span style="font-weight:normal">organizational trust</span></strong> and <strong><span style="font-weight:normal">employee commitment</span></strong> within a human resource management framework, and tests the mediating role of trust. Using an applied, descriptive&ndash;survey design, 380 valid questionnaires were collected from employees of Shiraz municipality and analyzed through structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Results revealed that moral intelligence significantly enhances organizational trust, which in turn fosters employee commitment; trust was found to <strong><span style="font-weight:normal">partially mediate</span></strong> the relationship between moral intelligence and commitment. The findings suggest that investing in the ethical competencies of managers and employees is an effective human resource strategy for building trust and commitment in public institutions, offering practical guidance for recruitment, training, and performance-management policies in municipal organizations.</span></span></span> Moral Intelligence, Organizational Trust, Employee Commitment, Human Resource Management, Shiraz Municipality. 49 60 http://ijorlu.lahijan.iau.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-620-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 H. Shahdoost hadi.shahdoost@iau.ac.ir 10031947532846002666 10031947532846002666 No Department of Public Administration, Ya.C, Islamic Azad University, Yazd, Iran M. R. Rahimi Zarchi dr.rahimizarchi@iau.ac.ir 10031947532846002667 10031947532846002667 Yes Department of Management, Ya.C, Islamic Azad University, Yazd, Iran M. R. Dehghsni Ashkezari mo.dehghani@iau.ac.ir 10031947532846002668 10031947532846002668 No Department of Management, Ya.C, Islamic Azad University, Yazd, Iran S. H. Hataminasab dr.hataminasab@iau.ac.ir 10031947532846002669 10031947532846002669 No Department of Management, Ya.C, Islamic Azad University, Yazd, Iran R. Eslami hossain.eslami@iau.ac.ir 10031947532846002670 10031947532846002670 No Department of Management, Ya.C, Islamic Azad University, Yazd, Iran