Leadership, capability and performance: A study among private higher education institutions in Indonesia

Marvello Yang; Abdullah Al Mamun; Anas A Salameh

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e13026

Leadership, capability and performance: A study among private higher education institutions in Indonesia

Heliyon. 2023 Jan 18;9(1):e13026. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e13026. eCollection 2023 Jan.

Authors

Marvello Yang¹, Abdullah Al Mamun², Anas A Salameh³

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Technology and Business Sabda Setia Pontianak, Kota Pontianak, Kalimantan Barat, 78121, Indonesia.
² UKM-Graduate School of Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, UKM Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
³ College of Business Administration, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj, 11942, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Higher education institution is an important sector to obtain capabilities for global challenges. This study explored the mediating effect of ambidextrous capability between the link organizational leadership capability, learning orientation, and strategic flexibility on the performance of private higher education institutions in Indonesia. In this cross-sectional study, an online survey, which involved 524 rectors or deans in private higher education institutions (HEIs), was conducted using Google Forms. The accumulated data were analyzed using SEM-PLS 4.0. The findings revealed that organizational leadership capability displayed a statistically insignificant effect on organizational performance. However, learning orientation and strategic flexibility were found statistically significant effects on organizational performance. Moreover, this study also confirmed that organizational leadership capability, learning orientation, and strategic flexibility had a significant correlation with ambidextrous capability. The relationship between organizational performance and ambidextrous capability was identified as having no significant relationship. Apparently, organizational leadership capability, learning orientation, and strategic flexibility had no significant effect on organizational performance through ambidextrous capability. This study confirmed that ambidextrous capability had no mediating effect between organizational leadership capability, learning orientation, and strategic flexibility on the performance of private higher education institutions. This study found that dynamic capability theory (DCT) by identifying the mediating effect of the ambidextrous capability to gain organizational performance was not supported by the findings of this study. The ambidextrous capability may be applied to devise effective strategies and policies that can enhance organizational performance of different sectors.

Keywords: Ambidextrous capability; Learning orientation; Organizational leadership capability; Organizational performance; Strategic flexibility.