Demystifying the Leadership Mechanism: The Mediating Role of Organisational Commitment Between Leadership style and Turnover Intention

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to explore the mediating role of organizational commitment between administrative leadership styles and faculty intentions to quit from higher education institutions (HEIs) and to examine the direct relationships between these two variables.

Design methodology/approach: Grounded in Social Exchange Theory, the approach used was quantitative, explanatory, cross-sectional and research based. The sample comprised of N=250 full-time faculty (FTF) teachers working in public, private, and deemed universities of the educational hub of Delhi and Delhi National Capital Region (NCR). The conceptual framework was empirically validated using variance-based Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM).

Findings: The results indicated that the structural analysis shows that the variables of leadership style positively and significantly affect organizational commitment (β=0.402) and have a negative and significant effect on the variable of voluntary turnover intentions (β=-0.281). Organizational commitment also directly inhibits turnover intentions (β=-0.322) and serves as an important partial mediator (β=-0.129). The operational model accounted for 24% of the variance in faculty turnover intentions (R2adj=0.240) and had a good global model fit (SRMR=0.073).

Originality/value: This is one of the first studies to model these variables collectively in a highly dense environment of Delhi NCR with the help of a rigorous PLS-SEM approach. It uniquely illustrates how organizational commitment can be an important psychological pipeline, yet there is a strong, direct capacity of administrative leadership to minimize faculty "flight risks" beyond emotional attachment pipelines.