The effect of leadership styles and organizational culture on organizational performance of the public sector in Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, public organizations have been associated with poor management and performance. Little is understood about the reasons behind such poor performance. Therefore, this study examined the effect of organizational culture and leadership styles on the performance of Saudi Arabia’s public organizations, through the mediating factors of organizational commitment and job satisfaction. In this quantitative research, cross-sectional data of 400 employees working in 16 ministries
of the Saudi Arabia government were obtained. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied to test the hypotheses. The validity and reliability of the measurement and the structural models were confirmed. Findings showed a full mediation effect of organizational commitment on the relationship between organizational culture and organizational performance, but organizational
commitment was found to partially mediate the relationship between leadership styles and organizational performance. No mediation of job satisfaction was found on the relationship between leadership styles and organizational performance and on the relationship between organizational culture and organizational performance. The findings add to the existing literature by integrating the factors that could enhance organizational performance. Based on the findings, the study recommends that public organizations in Saudi Arabia improve their organizational culture and appoint
managers who have transactional and transformational qualities. By doing so,
employee commitment is enhanced, which leads to a positive and significant impact on organizational performance. The implications for practice and for future research are also discussed.