Leadership Styles and Faculty Performance in Sustainable Higher Education: Examining the Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29145/jqm.101.01Keywords:
Leadership styles, Transformational Leadership, Transactional Leadership, Job Satisfaction, Faculty Performance, Higher Education InstitutionsAbstract
The aim of the current study is to examine the influence of leadership styles (i.e. transactional, laissez-faire, and transformational) of principals on faculty performance of higher education institutions. Higher education institutions are increasingly seeking for leadership practices that enhance faculty satisfaction, performance and long-term institutional effectiveness. Within the context of sustainable higher education, knowing the effects of leadership styles on faculty performance is of greater interest. Additionally, the study objective was also to test the job satisfaction as a mediator. Through convenient sampling, data were obtained from the teaching staff of private colleges. For the analysis, 369 responses were used. Data were subjected to SPSS for preliminary analysis and AMOS for hypotheses testing. Results revealed that transformational and transactional leadership positively influence both satisfaction and performance of faculty members. Whereas laissezfaire was not significant with job satisfaction found to reducing factor for fcaulty performance. Transformational leadership is highly influential on faculty performance via mediating role of job satisfaction. Results as well revealed that job satisfaction also mediates the transactional leadership style and faculty performance. However, faculty satisfaction did not mediate the link between laissez-faire and faculty performance. Finally, the study purposed to the principals about the performance-oriented style of leadership and suggestions to the researcher for further studies.
Downloads
References
Abdul Aziz, R., Mahmood, R., & Abdullah, H. M. (2013). The effects of leadership styles and entrepreneurial orientation on the business performance of SMEs in Malaysia. The International Conference on Business, Economics, and Accounting, Bangkok, Thailand.
Aga, D. A. (2016). Transactional leadership and project success: The moderating role of goal clarity. Procedia Computer Science, 100, 517–525. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2016.09.196
Al-Hyari, H. S. A. (2023). Job security as a mediating variable between innovative leadership and innovative work behavior among employees. Journal of System and Management Sciences, 13(1), 532–574. https://doi.org/10.33168/JSMS.2023.0135
Al Tounsi, G., Gadallah, A., & Dalati, S. (2022). The effect of managerial leadership behaviors and transparent internal communication on knowledge sharing behavior. Journal of Service, Innovation and Sustainable Development, 3(2), 65–83. https://doi.org/10.33168/SISD.2022.0205
Alsakarneh, A., Fraihat, B. A. M., Otoom, A., Bani Mustafa, S. M., Nawasra, M., & Eneizan, B. (2022). How to motivate employees to perform better? The impact of social support on employees’ performance in the hotel industry. Journal of System and Management Sciences, 12(6), 487–510.
Avolio, B. J., & Howell, J. M. (1992). The impact of leader behavior and leader-follower personality match on satisfaction and unit performance. In K. E. Clark, M. B. Clark, & D. R. Campbell (Eds.), Impact of leadership (pp. 315–326). The Center for Creative Leadership.
Babalola, S. S. (2016). The effect of leadership style, job satisfaction and employee supervisor relationship on faculty performance and organizational commitment. Journal of Applied Business Research, 32(3), 935–946. https://doi.org/10.19030/jabr.v32i3.9663
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(6), 1173–1182.
Bass, B. M. (1990). From transactional to transformational leadership: Learning to share the vision. Organizational Dynamics, 18(3), 19–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/0090-2616(90)90061-S
Bass, B. M. (1995). Theory of transformational leadership redux. The Leadership Quarterly, 6(4), 463–478. https://doi.org/10.1016/1048-9843(95)90021-7
Bass, B. M. (1997). Does the transactional–transformational paradigm transcend organizational and national boundaries? American Psychologist, 52(2), 130–139.
Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1994). Improving organizational effectiveness through transformational leadership. SAGE Publications.
Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1997). Full range leadership development: Manual for the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. Mind Garden.
Biswas, S. (2009). Organizational culture and transformational leadership as predictors of employee performance. Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, 44(4), 611–627.
Brahim, A. B., Ridic, O., & Jukic, T. (2015). The effect of transactional leadership on employees performance: Case study of 5 Algerian banking institutions. Economic Review: Journal of Economics & Business, 13(2), 7–20.
Campbell, J. P. (1990). Modeling the performance prediction problem in industrial and organizational psychology. In M. D. Dunnette & L. M. Hough (Eds.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 687–732). Consulting Psychologists Press.
Cavazotte, F., Moreno, V., & Bernardo, J. (2013). Transformational leaders and work performance: The mediating roles of identification and self-efficacy. Brazilian Administration Review, 10(4), 490–512. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1807-76922013000500006
Chi, H. K., Yeh, H. R., & Yu, C. H. (2008). The effects of transformational leadership, organizational culture, job satisfaction on the organizational performance in the non-profit organizations. The Journal of Global Business Management, 4(1), 129–137.
Chung-Hsiung Fang, Sue-Ting Chang, & Guan-Li Chen. (2009). Applying structural equation model to study of the relationship model among leadership style, satisfaction, organization commitment and performance in hospital industry. Proceedings of International Conference on E-Business and Information System Security, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1109/EBISS.2009.5138072
Demirtas, Z. (2010). Teachers’ job satisfaction levels. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 9, 1069–1073. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.12.288
Dinham, S., & Scott, C. (2000). Moving into the third, outer domain of teacher satisfaction. Journal of Educational Administration, 38(4), 379–396.
Emery, C. R., & Barker, J. K. (2007). The effect of transformational leadership style on the organizational commitment and job satisfaction of customer contact personnel. Journal of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict, 11(1), 77–90.
Frischer, J. (2006). Laissez-faire leadership versus empowering leadership in new product developing (Danish Centre for Philosophy and Science Studies Research Report). Aalborg University.
Ghimire, B., Dahal, R. K., Rai, B., & Upadhyay, D. (2023). Employee performance factors in the Nepalese commercial banks: Insights from emerging markets. Journal of Logistics, Informatics and Service Science, 10(2), 29–42. https://doi.org/10.33168/JLISS.2023.0203
Grunwald, G., Kara, A., & Shrivastava, P. (2026). Fundamentals and principles of relationship quality management in the sustainability transformation of higher education institutions. In Sustainability transformation of higher education institutions: A relationship quality management perspective (pp. 21–50). Springer Nature Switzerland.
Gumusluoglu, L., & Ilsev, A. (2009). Transformational leadership, creativity, and organizational innovation. Journal of Business Research, 62(4), 461–473.
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., Anderson, R. E., & Tatham, R. L. (2006). Multivariate data analysis (6th ed.). Pearson Prentice Hall.
Hamidifar, F. (2009). A study of the relationship between leadership styles and employee job satisfaction at Islamic Azad University branches in Tehran, Iran. AU-GSB e-Journal, 2(1), 1–13.
Hayes, A. F. (2009). Beyond Baron and Kenny: Statistical mediation analysis in the new millennium. Communication Monographs, 76(4), 408–420.
Human Resource Policy & Planning Division. (2009). The work environment survey report 2009. Government of Canada.
Howell, J. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1992). The ethics of charismatic leadership: Submission or liberation? Academy of Management Perspectives, 6(2), 43–54.
Howell, J. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1993). Transformational leadership, transactional leadership, locus of control, and support for innovation: Key predictors of consolidated business-unit performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78(6), 891–902. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.78.6.891
Humphreys, J. H., & Einstein, W. O. (2003). Nothing new under the sun: Transformational leadership from a historical perspective. Management Decision, 41(1/2), 85–95.
Islam, T., Khan, S. R., Shafiq, A., & Ahmad, U. N. U. (2012). Leadership, citizenship behaviour, performance and organizational commitment: The mediating role of organizational politics. World Applied Sciences Journal, 19(11), 1540–1552. https://doi.org/10.5829/idosi.wasj.2012.19.11.2908
Judge, T. A., Thoresen, C. J., Bono, J. E., & Patton, G. K. (2001). The job satisfaction–faculty performance relationship: A qualitative and quantitative review. Psychological Bulletin, 127(3), 376–407. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.127.3.376
Lee, H., Lee, Y., & Yoo, D. (2000). The determinant of perceived service quality and its relationship with satisfaction. Journal of Services Marketing, 14(3), 217–231.
Lee, Y., & Chang, H. (2006). Leadership style and innovation ability: An empirical study of Taiwanese wire and cable companies. Journal of American Academy of Business, 9(2), 218–222.
Liang, T.-L., Chan, L.-C., Lin, C.-W., & Huang, Y.-L. (2011). Relationship between leadership behaviors and task performance: The mediation role of job satisfaction and the moderation role of social distance. African Journal of Business Management, 5(14), 5920–5928.
Margan, N., Boustani Eid, S., Al Zilaa, G., & Dalati, S. (2023). Sustainable academic career success of researchers in higher education: Motivators and mentor support. Journal of Service, Innovation and Sustainable Development, 4(1), 42–57. https://doi.org/10.33168/SISD.2023.0105
Mgaiwa, S. J. (2023). Job satisfaction among university academics: Do academic rank and age make a difference? Cogent Education, 10(1), Article 2182512.
Mwesigwa, R., Tusiime, I., & Ssekiziyivu, B. (2020). Leadership styles, job satisfaction and organizational commitment among academic staff in public universities. Journal of Management Development, 39(2), 253–268. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-08-2018-0233
Nemanich, L. A., & Keller, R. T. (2007). Transformational leadership in an acquisition: A field study of employees. The Leadership Quarterly, 18(1), 49–68.
Nielsen, K., Randall, R., Yarker, J., & Brenner, S.-O. (2008). The effects of transformational leadership on followers’ perceived work characteristics and psychological well-being: A longitudinal study. Work & Stress, 22(1), 16–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678370801979433
Northouse, P. G. (2010). Leadership: Theory and practice (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Omori, A. E., Unimna, F. A., Chuktu, O., Inyang, I. O., Effiom, V. N., et al. (2025). Higher education administrators' leadership styles and academic workforce work performance in public universities. The International Journal of Educational Organization and Leadership, 32(1), 153–176. https://doi.org/10.18848/2329-1656/CGP/v32i01/153-176
Paracha, M. U., Qamar, A., Mirza, A., Inam-ul-Hassan, & Waqas, H. (2012). Impact of leadership style on employee performance and mediating role of job satisfaction study of private schools in Pakistan. Global Journal of Management and Business Research, 12(4), 54–65.
Pradeep, D. D., & Prabhu, N. R. V. (2011). The relationship between effective leadership and employee performance. International Conference on Advancements in Information Technology, 20, 198–207.
Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40(3), 879–891. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.40.3.879
Robbins, S. P., & Coulter, M. (2005). Management (8th ed.). Pearson Prentice Hall.
Rodwell, J. J., Kienzle, R., & Shadur, M. A. (1998). The relationship among work-related perceptions, employee attitudes, and employee performance: The integral role of communications. Human Resource Management, 37(3–4), 277–293.
Savvidou, S., Konteos, G., Giannakopoulos, V., & Giannakopoulos, I. (2023). Educational organizations and the role of management in improving primary education quality performance. Journal of System and Management Sciences, 13(2), 437–450.
Sedkaoui, S., Benaichouba, R., & Mohammed-Belkebir, K. (2026). Leadership, curriculum and pedagogy for sustainability: A systematic review. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 27(7), 1532–1554. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-08-2025-0838
Singh, B. (2023). Role of educational leadership for sustainable development. Education and Self Development, 18(4). https://doi.org/10.26907/esd.18.4.04
Susanj, Z., & Jakopec, A. (2012). Fairness perception and job satisfaction as mediators of relationship between leadership style and organisational commitment. Review of Psychology, 19(2), 509–526.
Syaifuddin, Ananda, F. R., Lubis, Y., & N. (2022). Can life satisfaction become an important role in increasing employee performance? A case study. Journal of System and Management Sciences, 12(6), 379–397. https://doi.org/10.33168/JSMS.2022.0623
Tapsir, S. H., Yusof, R., & Hashmi, A. (2026). Transformational leadership, Green HRM and top management commitment: Pathways to sustainability in Malaysian higher education. Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 18(2), 478–494.
Tejeda, M. J. (2001). The MLQ revisited: Psychometric properties and recommendation. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 22(1), 31–32.
Tsao, G. Y., Huang, Y. C., Huang, T. C., Chang, H. C., & Wang, B. C. (1997). Human resource management. HwaTai.
Turner, J. R., & Müller, R. (2005). The project manager’s leadership style as a success factor on projects: A literature review. Project Management Journal, 36(2), 49–61.
Wall, T. D., Michie, J., Patterson, M., Wood, S. J., Sheehan, M., Clegg, C. W., & West, M. (2004). On the validity of subjective measures of company performance. Personnel Psychology, 57(1), 95–118. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2004.tb02485.x
Walumbwa, F. O., Wang, P., Lawler, J. J., & Shi, K. (2004). The role of collective efficacy in the relations between transformational leadership and work outcomes. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 77(4), 515–530. https://doi.org/10.1348/0963179042325564
Yeh, H., & Chien, S. (2012). The mediating effect of organizational commitment on leadership type and faculty performance. The Journal of Human Resource and Adult Learning, 8(2), 50–59.
Yusup, M., Dirga, M., & Sholeh, R. H. (2024). Leadership effectiveness: Education for sustainable development. Development: Studies in Educational Management and Leadership, 3(2), 147–158.
Zhang, J., & Zheng, W. (2009). How does satisfaction translate into performance? An examination of commitment and cultural values. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 20(3), 331–351. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.20018
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Muhammad Waseem, Shehla Ghulam Rasool, Javeria Tariq Malik, Muhammad Hamza Akhtar

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
JQM follows an open-access publishing policy and full text of all published articles is available free, immediately upon publication of an issue. The journal’s contents are published and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY 4.0) license. Thus, the work submitted to the journal implies that it is original, unpublished work of the authors (neither published previously nor accepted/under consideration for publication elsewhere). On acceptance of a manuscript for publication, a corresponding author on the behalf of all co-authors of the manuscript will sign and submit a completed Copyright and Author Consent Form.
