Improving Private Junior High School Principals’ Performance: The Roles of Organizational Culture, Personality, Job Satisfaction, and Decision-Making in Garut Regency

Fiqra Muhamad Nazib; Bibin Rubini; Widodo Sunaryo

doi:10.35445/alishlah.v18i2.9366

Improving Private Junior High School Principals’ Performance: The Roles of Organizational Culture, Personality, Job Satisfaction, and Decision-Making in Garut Regency

Fiqra Muhamad Nazib, Bibin Rubini, Widodo Sunaryo

Abstract

Principals’ managerial performance plays a critical role in improving school effectiveness and educational quality. However, limited studies have examined the integrated effects of organizational culture, personality, job satisfaction, and decision-making on principals’ performance within a comprehensive educational leadership framework. This study aimed to analyze the direct and indirect relationships among these variables and identify priority areas for improving principals’ managerial performance in private junior high schools.This study employed the Human Resource Management Strengthening Modeling and Optimization (POP-SDM) approach using a sequential exploratory mixed-methods design. The qualitative phase involved interviews with 15 private junior high school principals to identify key variables affecting managerial performance. The quantitative phase surveyed 128 principals selected through proportional random sampling from a population of 188 principals in Garut Regency, Indonesia. Data were analyzed using path analysis, and the results were optimized through Scientific Identification Theory for Operational Research in Education Management (SITOREM) analysis.The findings revealed that organizational culture, personality, job satisfaction, and decision-making had positive and significant direct effects on principals’ managerial performance. Decision-making emerged as the strongest predictor of performance. Job satisfaction significantly mediated the effects of organizational culture and personality on managerial performance, while decision-making significantly mediated the relationship between personality and performance. SITOREM analysis identified decision-making competencies, reward systems, organizational norms, and managerial functions as priority areas requiring improvement.The study highlights the importance of integrating organizational and individual factors in enhancing principals’ managerial effectiveness. The findings suggest that strengthening decision-making capabilities, improving job satisfaction, and fostering a supportive organizational culture can substantially improve school leadership performance. These results provide practical guidance for policymakers and educational stakeholders in designing evidence-based leadership development and school improvement programs.

Keywords

principal performance; organizational culture; personality; job satisfaction; decision-making; educational leadership

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.35445/alishlah.v18i2.9366