The Mediating Role of Organizational Commitment in the Relationship between Transactional Leadership and Employee Performance

(1)

* Corresponding author. ORCID ID:0000-0001-6514-0600

Employee performance as mediated by organisational commitment between transactional leadership and role ambiguity

Mochamat Arif Andriansyah

^(a)*

Achmad Sudiro

^(b)

Himmiyatul Amanah Jiwa Juwita

^(c)

(a)Masters, Management Department, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Brawijaya, Tulungagung, Indonesia

(b)Professor, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Brawijaya, Anggrek Street, 65151, Malang, Indonesia

(c)Ph.D., Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Brawijaya, Jl. Bunga Tanjung No. 11 Malang, 65141, Malang, Indonesia

ARTICLEINFO Article history:

Received 17 May 2023

Received in rev. form 22 June 2023 Accepted 16 July 2023

Keywords:

Transactional Leadership, Role Ambiguity, Organizational Commitment, And Employee Performance.

JEL Classification:

M14, M54, O15

A B S T R A C T

This study examines and analyzes the effect of transactional leadership and role ambiguity on employee performance as mediated by organizational commitment. This study uses a quantitative approach. The population in this study was full employs at the Pabrik gula Ngadirejo factory. Technique sampling using proportionate random sampling. Questionnaires were distributed to Ngadiredjo Sugar Factory Kediri employees, with 125 respondents. The data analysis technique uses SEM analysis and analysis tools with the help of Partial Least Square (PLS). This study showed that transactional leadership and role ambiguity do not significantly affect employee performance. However, transactional leadership and role ambiguity significantly affect organizational commitment. Organizational commitment also has a significant effect on employee performance. Organizational commitment can mediate the effect of transactional leadership and role ambiguity on employee performance. The results of this study suggest that the sugar factory company continues to increase organizational commitment and make employees feel comfortable because the more robust sense of commitment to the organization will improve employee performance.

© 2023 by the authors. Licensee SSBFNET, Istanbul, Turkey. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Introduction

A company, in order to achieve its goals, requires the support of reliable resources, including human resources attached to employees.

Employees are any company's most essential and valuable asset (Flugum et al., 2021). Employee performance determines whether the company succeeds or fails (Atatsi et al., 2019; Patel et al., 2022; Rahaman et al., 2021). Therefore, companies need qualified human resources with various skills, extensive knowledge, professionalism, high morale, creativity, and productivity, which is expected to improve employee performance. To improve performance, organizations must develop and implement effective business strategies that capitalize on existing market opportunities while utilizing readily available resources and competencies (Obeidat, 2016). Leadership style can influence employee performance (Obuobisa-Darko & Domfeh, 2019; Tashtoush et al., 2022).

Leadership is one of the primary functions of organizational management that is used to achieve business goals by influencing the interaction between leaders and subordinates (Kim & Beehr, 2018). Leadership assists in aligning people, time, and resources to achieve organizational goals. The relationship formed between a leader and his or her followers is referred to as leadership (Keskes et al., 2018). Furthermore, leaders manage company resources and develop and implement valuable strategies to ensure a brighter future for their organizations, resulting in improved performance and outcomes (Para- González et al., 2018). Thus, it is critical to improving variables that can affect employee performance, such as leadership style, organizational loyalty, work relationships, and employee engagement; if this does not happen, employee performance will suffer (Pawirosumarto et al. 2017).

The relationship between leaders and employees, which can affect performance, can be determined by a leader's style (Ohemeng et al., 2018). A practical or even just acceptable leadership style can result in inspiration, admiration, and empowerment in its

Research in Business & Social Science

IJRBS VOL 12 NO 5 (2023) ISSN: 2147-4478

Available online at www.ssbfnet.com Journal homepage: https://www.ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs

(2)

subordinates, and this, in turn, will result in a very high level of effort, commitment, and willingness to take risks: and, hence, in better performance in the organization. In order to achieve success, a company must have a person or a group of people who work together actively and aim to create good employee performance. Baig et al. (2021) suggest that leadership style has a strong positive relationship with employee performance. This means that the leadership style applied by the manager to employees will make employee performance increase.

Information is one of the factors that determine the success of company operations. The employee or supervisor will experience role ambiguity if the information is unclear. Role ambiguity is the perception that someone lacks the information needed to perform a job or task, which causes the perceiver to feel helpless. This situation can lead to misunderstandings about job requirements, norms, rules, and procedures (Onyemah, 2008). Role ambiguity is negatively related to employee performance, so the higher the influence of role ambiguity can reduce employee performance (Raub et al., 2021). Role ambiguity occurs when a person has a vague feeling about the information needed to fulfill the obligations of his job or needs more clarity about the description of his job duties and obligations.

The results of observations at Ngadiredjo Sugar Factory found conditions similar to the explanation related to leadership style.

Ngadiredjo Sugar Factory is one of the Business Units of PT Perkebunan Nusantara X, which is engaged in the business of processing sugar cane into the primary production of granulated sugar with by-products of drops and residual bagasse as fuel also wants to compete and advance its business at a higher level. However, the data on the company's productivity results do not show the expected results because what is expected is to meet the targets set for each year. Even though the production target has yet to be met, it can be caused by many things, such as price

fluctuations, supply chain problems, market changes, employee performance, etc. The results of observations and interviews at the Ngadiredjo Sugar Factory show that the problems faced are the weak supervision carried out by leaders to subordinates and the misunderstanding of the tasks given, which impacts employee performance that could be more optimal.

In addition, the leadership style applied is transactional. This is because the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in Ngadiredjo Sugar Factory already exists and is already running even though it is not as expected, besides that the problems that occur at Ngadiredjo Sugar Factory are not only in the SOP or work system but also somewhat the ability of employees to be able to follow the existing Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). Abdel et al., (2022) state that transactional leadership positively and significantly influences employee performance. In addition, it was also found that matters relating to role ambiguity where according to the results of the internal audit evaluation, there are still employees who do not carry out work according to their duties and (SOP) due to a lack of clarity regarding the role and Job Description that employees should carry out. When handling work, there are still employees who need clarity about the tasks assigned and help understanding the role of their work to achieve overall company goals. From the observation of the phenomenon that occurs, role ambiguity among employees of Ngadiredjo Sugar Factory still has to be managed properly because it has an impact on reducing employee performance.

Employee performance is influenced not only by leadership style but also by organizational commitment. Organizational commitment has an impact on employee performance. Managers think employee commitment to organizational goals is essential (Robbins & Judge, 2014). Organizational commitment positively and significantly affects employee performance Hendri, (2019).

Organizations that develop competitive advantages and achieve organizational goals require positive behavioral changes from their employees. Organizations must develop a solid commitment to human resource development so that employees are actively involved and loyal. This employee attitude will help management manage its employees and can affect the organization's success in dealing with changes in the work environment (Nurani et al., 2021). Employees with high organizational commitment are expected to have a high sense of belonging.

The first inconsistency or research gap from the results of research between transactional leadership variables on employee performance was conducted by Anggini et al. (2018), Abdel et al., (2022) dan Ho & Fu (2018) show that transactional leadership style a significant positive effect on employee performance. This contradicts the findings of Aqmarina et al. (2016) and Baig et al.

(2021), who found that transactional leadership does not affect employee performance. The second inconsistency is the findings of June & Rosli's, (2011) research on role ambiguity variables and employee performance, which show that role ambiguity variables affect employee performance. This is different from the research of Unguren & Arslan (2021), Tjahjadi & Cahyadi (2021), dan Raub et al., (2021). Continuous efforts to find previous research on role ambiguity have been made. However, only a few studies have been found that discuss similar topics, so the third research gap in this study is the emergence of the role ambiguity variable as an independent variable that will be tested to influence employee performance variables and organizational commitment.

Based on the phenomena described above, this study aims to investigate the effect of transactional leadership and role ambiguity on employee performance through the mediation of organisational commitment at ngadiredjo sugar factory.

(3)

Literature Review

Conceptual Background and Hypothesis Development

Teory of Leadership

Leadership is a diverse and complex science. Leadership is an essential factor in an organization or company. Leadership factors can positively influence employees to maximize their work and achieve the company's desired goals (Erlina, 2020). Leadership is the most critical force for the success of any organization. In other words, leaders give organizational members a meaningful purpose, encouraging them to work hard towards achieving the goal. A leader has leadership skills that can influence people's stances or opinions, and subordinates need help managing such performance (Ho & Fu, 2018). Leadership theory generally states that when leaders can lead successfully with appropriate leadership styles in the situations they face, they have high performance. Their employees or subordinates are satisfied with their work (Skopak & Hadzaihmetovic, 2022).

Leadership Style

Leadership style is the norm of behavior that a person employs when attempting to influence the behavior of others. Each leader employs a unique strategy to foster, stimulate, and direct the potential of their employees. The variation is because each leader has a unique leadership style. The correspondence between leadership style, norms, and organizational culture is the key to organizational success (Pawirosumarto et al. 2017). Leadership style persuades organizational members to understand goals and follow procedures and rules by monitoring and controlling follower behavior (Yadeta et al., 2022). Various expert studies on leadership styles are based on the assumption that specific behavior patterns of leaders in influencing subordinates determine the effectiveness of leaders.

Employee Performance

Employee performance is defined as the extra effort made by employees to promote the value-creation process in the company in terms of organizational success and effectiveness (Sulich et al., 2021). On the other hand, employee performance is a worker's effective and efficient action in carrying out their responsibilities at work (Saleem et al., 2019). According to Christian (2021), employee performance is the actual achievement of employees in comparison to the expected performance of employees. This definition concludes that performance is a work achievement or output, both in quality and quantity, achieved by the HR unit during a specific time in carrying out its duties as assigned by the responsibilities. The factors influencing an employee's high and low performance, whether directly or indirectly, are undeniably important. Mangkunegara (2017) states that ability and motivation factors influence performance achievement. Employees are encouraged to give their best when their performance is linked to their mental attitude. The mental attitudes of employees must be psychophysically prepared (mental, physical, goal, and situation attitudes). This means that an employee must be mentally and physically prepared, understand the main objectives and work targets to be met, and be able to use and create work situations.

Transactional Leadership

Transactional leadership refers to most leadership models, which focus on the exchange that takes place between the leader and his followers to realize organizational goals; employees are encouraged to work and meet their needs in this way; appropriate rewards are offered to increase employees' work incentives, and hence to achieve their needs; and inappropriate employee behavior is corrected and punished (Megheirkouni et al., 2018). Transactional leadership is an essential aspect of organizational leadership that plays a vital role in relationships with employees, in which the leader encourages compliance by various followers through rewards and punishments. Employees are rewarded when they complete the work assigned to them by the leader. Transactional leaders can keep their followers using a reward and punishment system (Erlina, 2020). Thus, the leader provides appropriate recognition and rewards for subordinates' efforts and achievements, as well as meets their needs, so that employees work by organizational goals, and in doing so, the leader earns the support and respect of subordinates. Transactional leadership is based on exchanging rewards between leaders and subordinates, where leaders expect rewards for high subordinate performance. In contrast, subordinates expect economic rewards and rewards from leaders (Anggini et al., 2018). The results of research conducted by Ho & Fu (2018); Baig et al.

(2021) prove that transactional leadership style has a strong positive relationship with employee performance. This implies that transformational leadership is an effective leadership style to improve employee performance in the textile sector of Pakistan.

H1: Transactional leadership has a positive and significant effect on employee performance.

Role Ambiguity

Role ambiguity is when employees need more information about the precise direction and purpose of the role experienced by employees, which can affect emotions, thought processes, and one's condition. Role ambiguity is created when role expectations must be clearly understood and employees are unsure what to do (Robbins & Coulter, 2015). Role ambiguity occurs when employees need explicit knowledge of what behaviors are expected in their jobs. Individuals need guidance about what actions to do their jobs effectively (Landy & Conte, 2015). In other words, role ambiguity can be understood as something that occurs when employees need to learn what is expected due to a lack of explanation or understanding given about the work that employees should do. Role ambiguity is usually experienced by new employees who have yet to be around long enough to receive instructions from supervisors or observe and follow the role behavior of more senior colleagues. Role ambiguity can be summarized as a lack of clarity in the roles an employee

(4)

is expected to fulfill. This situation can lead to misunderstandings about job requirements, norms, rules, and procedures (Judeh, 2011). Role ambiguity negatively influences employee performance (Tjahjadi dan Cahyadi, 2021; Unguren & Arslan, 2021).

H2: Role ambiguity has a significant negative effect on employee performance Organizational Commitment

Kumasey et al. (2017) define organizational commitment as employee loyalty to their employer. Various factors within the individual and the organization can form commitment. Organizational commitment is an employee's attitude toward a company that results in a loyal association (Lee & Reade, 2018). Employees' emotional connection to work and willingness to continue participating are examples of organizational commitment. Transactional leadership has an impact on organizational commitment. Qadir & Yeşiltaş, (2020) demonstrated that transformational and transactional leadership positively impact organizational commitment. This suggests that using rewards and punishments (as part of transactional leadership), tapping into employees' emotions, and inspiring them to go above and beyond (as part of transformational leadership) can increase organizational commitment. Commitment is regarded as a value orientation toward the organization that demonstrates that individuals care deeply about and prioritize work and the organization. Individuals will try all their efforts to help the organization achieve its goals. In addition, Istiono (2020) explains that role ambiguity impacts organizational commitment. Ambiguity in roles has a negative and significant impact on organizational commitment. An employee's high and low role ambiguity will undoubtedly affect his organizational commitment. The higher the role ambiguity, the lower the organizational commitment, and vice versa. Organizational commitment significantly impacts performance because employees with high commitment actively contribute to the organization's success (Azzukhruf, 2019).

(Anggapradja et al., 2017; Nurzaman, 2020) demonstrate that organizational commitment significantly impacts employee performance

H3: Transactional leadership has a positive and significant effect on organizational commitment H4: Role ambiguity has a significant negative effect on organizational commitment.

H5: Organizational commitment has a positive and significant effect on employee performance.

Zamin & Fauzi (2021) stated that organizational commitment positively mediates between leadership styles (transformational and transactional) and employee performance. In line with research conducted by Putra (2021), organizational commitment is significant in moderating transactional leadership style on employee performance. Based on the findings of this study, organizational commitment may have a positive impact on mediating the relationship between transactional leadership style and employee performance. In addition, research by Zahraini & Hafnalisa (2017) also proves that the organizational commitment variable mediates between the role ambiguity variable and the whole employee performance variable. This is also supported by research by Almanshur et al. (2017), showing role ambiguity in organizational commitment. Apart from being influenced by factors within the individual, stressors (role ambiguity, role conflict, and role overload) in this study are influenced by the mediating variable, namely organizational commitment. Based on this research, organizational commitment positively influences mediating role ambiguity and employee performance. Based on the research above, the hypothesis can be formulated as follows.

H6: Organizational commitment has a significant positive mediating role in the relationship between transactional leadership and employee performance.

H7: Organizational commitment has a significant positive mediating role in the relationship between role ambiguity and employee performance.

Research and Methodology

This study employs an explanatory research strategy to objectively test the theory by analyzing the quantitative relationship between each variable. The research population consists of all permanent Ngadiredjo Kediri Sugar Factory employees. Proportional Random Sampling is the sampling technique utilized in this study. The proportional Random Sampling technique is utilized because the state of the population is relatively homogeneous, so any element chosen as a sample from each group can adequately represent the population. The sampling procedure begins with calculating and confirming the required sample size. Additionally, researchers visited each division and distributed questionnaires to employees at random. Researchers gave time to employees to distribute, and then respondents filled out the questionnaire. The researcher also returned the questionnaire results to each division of the Ngadiredjo Sugar Factory. 125 participants were used as samples in this study.

(5)

Figure 1: Conceptual Model of the Study; Source: Authors 2023

The study relies on survey results and documentation for its data collection. In the submitted questionnaire, a Likert scale measures the extent to which respondents provide their opinions on a predetermined scale. The data were analyzed using SEM-PLS (structural equation modeling partial least squares). PLS data analysis tests the modified results of multiple research models to provide an overview of the studied variables (Garson, 2016). In this study, indicators from Longshore & Bass, (1985) are utilized for the Transactional Leadership variable. Role Ambiguity utilizes (Ahmad & Taylor, 2009) indicators. In addition, Organisational Commitment employs indicators adopted by Jason et al. (2015), and Employee Performance employs indicators developed by Robbins & Judge (2015)

Finding and Discussion

Ngadiredjo Sugar Factory is one of the Business Units of PT Perkebunan Nusantara X engaged in primarily producing granulated sugar from sugar cane, using the byproducts of drops and remaining bagasse as fuel. The State-Owned Enterprise (BUMN) owns the Perkebunan Nusantara X Ngadiredjo Kediri Sugar Factory. The Ngadiredjo Sugar Factory is in Jambean village from Kras sub- district, and Tales villages from Ngadiluwih sub-district, Kediri Regency. The organizational structure of Ngadiredjo Sugar Factory is a line organization in which authority and responsibility flow directly from top to bottom, and General Manager is the highest- ranking member of PG. Ngadiredjo Kediri. Permanent and temporary employees are available at the Ngadiredjo Kediri Sugar Factory.

Non-permanent employees are classified as PTKWT, Certain Time Work Agreements, and Outsourcing workers. The following observation results can be seen in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Demographic respondent

Category Frequency %

Age 20 - 30 years 6 4.8

31- 40 years 32 25.6

40 - 60 years 87 69.6

Marriage Status Married 118 94.4

Not Married 7 5.6

Education Junior High School 2 1.6

Senior High School 85 68.0

Diploma 7 5.6

Bachelor Degree (S1) 31 24.8

Duration of Employment < 3 years 2 1.6

5 - 10 years 14 11.2

> 10 years 109 87.2

Source: Processed data 2023

Based on the table above shows that the majority of respondents are aged 40-60 years (69.6%); this shows that the majority of permanent employees are aged 40 years - 60 years because the job requires experience in running the company's productivity. Then seen from the Marital Status shows that employees are dominated by married employees (94.4%); this shows that most permanent employees are more married. Then the level of education is dominated by the majority of SMA / SMK (68%), followed by S1 as much as (24.8%). In addition, in terms of length of work, it is dominated by the most length of work > 10 years (87.2%), this shows that the job requires professionals to run the company's productivity.

(6)

Descriptive Statistic and Correlation

This study uses Transactional Leadership, Role Ambiguity, Organizational Commitment and Employee Performance. For more detailed information, see Table 2, along with the results of the average value to each variable.

Table 2: Descriptive Statistic and Correlation

Variable Mean

Transactional Leadership 4.07

Role Ambiguity 4.08

Organizational Commitment 4.14

Employee Performance 4.29

Measurement Model Analysis

This study uses convergent and discriminant validity tests with the constructs to be measured for the initial research scale development value between 0.50 and 0.60 is considered sufficient (Ghozali & Latan, 2015). Table 3 shows the results of the validity and reliability tests in more detail

Table 3: Validity Analysis

Latent Variable Indicator Convergent Validity Discriminant

Validity

Loading Faktor Result AVE Result

Transactional Leadership X1.1 0.903 Valid 0.733 Valid

X1.2 0.853 Valid

X1.3 0.851 Valid

X1.4 0.867 Valid

X1.5 0.855 Valid

X1.6 0.807 Valid

Role Ambiguity X2.1 0.865 Valid 0.718 Valid

X2.2 0.829 Valid

X2.3 0.834 Valid

X2.4 0.849 Valid

X2.5 0.850 Valid

X2.6 0.859 Valid

X2.7 0.852 Valid

X2.8 0.900 Valid

X2.9 0.840 Valid

X2.10 0.832 Valid

X2.11 0.837 Valid

X2.12 0.822 Valid

Employee Performance Y1.1 0.912 Valid 0.575 Valid

Y1.2 0.882 Valid

Y1.3 0.886 Valid

Y1.4 0.880 Valid

Y1.5 0.860 Valid

Y1.6 0.889 Valid

Y1.7 0.867 Valid

Y1.8 0.871 Valid

Y1.9 0.826 Valid

Y1.10 0.834 Valid

Y1.11 0.723 Valid

Y1.12 0.832 Valid

Y1.13 0.744 Valid

Y1.14 0.840 Valid

Organizational Commitment Z.1 0.758 Valid 0.718 Valid

Z.2 0.759 Valid

Z.3 0.788 Valid

Z.4 0.803 Valid

Z.5 0.724 Valid

Z.6 0.714 Valid

Based on table 3 shows that the loading factor value (convergent validity) of each item is more significant than 0.7, so each item on Transactional Leadership, Role Ambiguity, Organizational Commitment, and Employee Performance is said to be valid. So, it is

(7)

concluded that all items in each variable have performed their measuring functions appropriately and correctly with the SmartPLS measuring instrument.

Table 4: Reliability Analysis

Cronbach’s Alpha Composite Reliability

Transactional Leadership 0.927 0.943

Role Ambiguity 0.964 0.968

Organizational Commitment 0.852 0.890

Employee Performance 0.970 0.973

Based on Table 4 above, the data used in this study are reliable. The threshold value for reliability is 0.70 (Ghozali & Latan, 2015).

Table 4 shows that each variable has a Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability value greater than 0.7, so the items used in this study are reliable.

Structural Model Test

The structural model is a model that describes the causal relationship between latent variables that are constructed based on the theory's substance (Ghozali, 2021). The PLS structural model is validated by calculating the R² and path coefficient by comparing the t-statistic in the Smart PLS output to the t-table. First, examine the direct relationship between transactional leadership and role ambiguity on employee performance. Then, the direct effect of transactional leadership and role ambiguity on organizational commitment. After that, direct effect of organizational commitment on employee performance. Figure 2 below, along with the t- statistic value for each hypothesis.

Testing the structural model (inner model) aims to determine the suitability of a model, which can be seen from the value of the coefficient of determination (𝑅²), predictive relevance (𝑄²), and goodness of fit model (GoF). The test results for the coefficient of determination 𝑅²of the employee performance variable of 0.409 influence the predictive power of the entire model of 0.409, while the remaining 59.1% is explained by other variables that are not part of this study. The 𝑅² value on the Organizational Commitment variable is 0.274, proving that it influences the predictive power of the entire model of 0.274, while the remaining 72.6%.

Figure 2: Direct Effect Test Results; Source: Processed Primary Data 2023

The 𝑄²results yield a value of 𝑄² of 57,09, meaning that this research model has predictive relevance. Transactional Leadership, Role Ambiguity, and Organizational Commitment amounted to 57.09%, while the remaining 42.91% was the contribution of other variables that were not part of this research model. Based on the results of GoF calculations, it produces a value of 0.484 so it can be

(8)

concluded that the structural model of this study, in general, has solid predictive properties. The Goodness of fit (GoF) above shows that the model in this study is robust so that hypothesis testing can be carried out.

Figure 2 above shows that Transactional Leadership has a significant effect on Employee Performance (β = 0.126, t = 1.638 p < 0.05) so that H1 is rejected. In addition, Role Ambiguity has a negative significant effect on Employee Performance (β = 0.053 t = 0.0623 p < 0.05) so that H2 is rejected. Surprisingly, Transactional Leadership has a significant effect on Organizational Commitment (β = 0.231, t = 3.156 p < 0.05) so that H3 is accepted. Then, Role Ambiguity has a significant effect on Organizational Commitment (β = 0.404, t = 5.358 p < 0.05) so that H4 is accepted and Organizational Commitment has a significant effect on Employee Performance (β = 0.556, t = 6.875 p < 0.05) so that H5 can be accepted. Furthermore, the indirect test can be seen on table 5.

Table 5: Test Results of Indirect Influence

Path Coef t-Statistics P-Value Result Transactional Leadership → Organizational Commitment →

Employee Performance 0.128 2.970 0.000 Accepted

Role Ambiguity → Organizational Commitment → Employee

Performance 0.225 4.249 0.023 Accepted

Table 5 above explains that the indirect test or mediation role of Organizational Commitment variables between the Transactional Leadership relationship on Employee Performance has a positive and significant effect (β = 0.128, t = 2.970 p < 0.05) so that hypothesis 6 is accepted. In addition, Organizational Commitment also successfully mediates Role Ambiguity on Employee Performance showing positive and significant results (β = 0.225, t = 4.249, p < 0.05) so that hypothesis 7 is accepted. It can be concluded that hypotheses 6 and 7 in the study are accepted. This can be interpreted that Organizational Commitment is a partial mediation between Transactional Leadership and Role Ambiguity on Employee Performance.

Employee performance at Ngadiredjo Kediri Sugar Factory is unaffected by transactional leadership. Transactional leadership variables are measured using three indicators based on descriptive analysis results: contingency gifts, management by active exception, and management by passive exception (Megheirkouni et al., 2018). Transactional leadership is in the high category, so it is concluded that transactional leadership in Sugar Factory Ngadiredjo Kediri is very good. Active Management by Exception with the statement "Superiors directly supervise the performance of subordinates to comply with established work standards and procedures" shows that superiors supervise and take corrective action against their subordinates to avoid mistakes or violations.

Furthermore, Passive Management by Exception shows that employees still believe that superiors still intervene in the work of their subordinates appropriately. These findings indicate that employees continue to believe that superiors appropriately intervene in the work of their subordinates. This study's findings are consistent with those of Aqmarina et al. (2016), who researched the relationship between transactional leadership and employee performance. According to the analysis findings, transactional leadership has no positive or significant effect on employee performanc

Role ambiguity cannot directly improve employee performance at Ngadiredjo Sugar Factory. Based on the results of descriptive analysis of role ambiguity variables, it has been measured from several indicators, including guidelines, duties, authority, responsibilities, standards, and time, which are expected to improve employee performance in the company (Ahmad & Taylor, 2009), it can be seen that the average value of role ambiguity shows a reasonably good value. However, some employees feel that the behavior carried out by employees still needs to be improved. However, Ngadiredjo Sugar Factory employees have carried out all indicators of role ambiguity from guidelines, duties, authority, responsibilities, standards, and time. Ngadiredjo shows that guidelines have the lowest value in efforts to improve employee performance. This is very important as a strategy to improve employee performance. Employees often get deadlines or impromptu tasks given by superiors, so many complain and need help understanding the work done. Other factors cause role ambiguity to not affect employee performance, namely the unclear tasks or roles given by superiors to their subordinates, making employees feel difficulty in developing these tasks. This is in line with the research findings of Unguren & Arslan (2021), Tjahjadi & Cahyadi (2021), dan Raub et al., (2021), which state that role ambiguity does not affect employee performance. This study's findings differ from the research findings of Purnomo et al. (2021), which state that role ambiguity affects employee performance.

Transactional leadership significantly impacts organisational commitment at the Ngadiredjo Kediri sugar factory. The more substantial the transactional leadership, the more significant the impact on increasing organisational commitment; conversely, the weaker the transactional leadership, the more significant the impact on decreasing organisational commitment. Transactional leadership directly impacts organisational commitment, indicating that changes in the value of the organisational commitment variable, as measured by three indicators, contingent rewards, management by active exception, and management by passive exception, have an effect on organisational commitment. "Continuance Commitment" denotes the organisational commitment variable with the highest rating. This demonstrates that employees will be willing to stay in an organisation when weighed against

(9)

the benefits and drawbacks of leaving the organisation. Although organisational commitment is not the only variable that influences employee performance, it can be seen as the difference between employees who follow the direction of their superiors and employees who do not. Employees who obey their superiors have a sense of ownership in the company. This study's results align with research by Qadir & Yeşiltaş (2020), dan Alamir (2010), which explains that organisational commitment can be improved with the right combination of transactional leadership.

Role ambiguity can directly increase organisational commitment at the Ngadiredjo sugar factory. The stronger the role ambiguity, the greater the organisational commitment; conversely, the weaker the role ambiguity, the lower the organisational commitment. The role ambiguity is handled well at the Ngadiredjo sugar factory. Overall, the time indicator indicates that employees strongly believe in using work time to achieve the company's vision and mission. Furthermore, the indicator indicates that employees adhere to clear work guidelines. Although role ambiguity is not the only factor influencing organisational commitment, it is prevalent and impacts organisational commitment at Ngadiredjo Sugar Factory Kediri. Employees have a strong belief in the rewards for all good deeds, which impacts members' perceptions of their work; where employees enjoy their work more so that it is based on material rewards and have the perception that their leader must be emulated and follow. The findings of this study are consistent with those of Tan (2019) dan Almanshur et al. (2017), who found that role ambiguity can increase organisational commitment

Organizational commitment has a significant effect on employee performance. The stronger the organizational commitment, the higher the employee performance; conversely, if it weakens, the lower the employee performance. Affective Commitment, Continuance Commitment, and Normative Commitment are the three indicators used to assess organizational commitment (Jason et al., 2015). The Continuance Commitment demonstrates that Ngadiredjo Sugar Factory employees continue to benefit from their employment and suffer a loss if they leave. Normative commitment demonstrates that Ngadiredjo Sugar Factory employees are happy because they are comfortable doing their jobs. According to the descriptive analysis of the organizational commitment variable, the

"Continuance Commitment" indicator significantly influences organizational commitment at PG. Ngadiredjo. While the "Normative Commitment" indicator has the lowest value, it still produces good results, so it is still considered relevant and should be developed.

The findings of this study are consistent with those of Soomro & Shah (2019) dan Hendri (2019), who explain that employee performance can be improved with the right combination of organizational commitment.

Organisational commitment can provide a mediating effect from the influence of transactional leadership on employee performance.

Based on the direct testing conducted in this study, it is known that the effect of transactional leadership does not have a positive and significant effect on the performance of Ngadiredjo Sugar Factory employees, but the indirect effect of transactional leadership on employee performance mediated by organisational commitment does. This demonstrates that organisational commitment can fully mediate the effect of transactional leadership on the performance of Ngadiredjo Kediri Sugar Factory employees. This is consistent with Nurzaman's (2020) explanation that organisational commitment significantly impacts employee performance. In essence, explanations for organisational commitment have nearly the same emphasis: someone with a high commitment will have his identification with the organisation, will be actively involved in membership, and will have loyalty and positive affection for the organisation. As a result, organisational commitment significantly impacts the organisation's sustainability. These findings are supported by previous research, specifically by Zamin & Fauzi (2021) dan Putra (2021), which explain that as transactional leadership and organisational commitment increase, so will employee performance. Company leaders who strongly believe in the rewards for all the work they do and feel comfortable with the job will have members who are willing to help them achieve the organisation's vision So that employees have the perception that their leaders are role models who must be obeyed and always supported in achieving the organisation's vision.

Organizational commitment can mediate the relationship role ambiguity on employee performance. The role ambiguity variable has no positive and significant impact on the performance of Ngadiredjo Kediri Sugar Factory employees, according to the study's direct affect test results. However, it has a positive and significant impact on the indirect effect of role ambiguity on employee performance via organisational commitment. This demonstrates that organisational commitment can fully mitigate the effect of role ambiguity on employee performance at Ngadiredjo Kediri Sugar Factory. Organizational efforts to increase member commitment can be the first step toward developing long-term relationships. Organizational commitment has demonstrated that it can benefit individuals and organizations by increasing work efficiency, performance, productivity, and commitment (Jehanzeb & Mohanty, 2020). As a result, increasing employees' organisational commitment to a company should be prioritized. Employee performance will improve as role ambiguity and organisational commitment increase. However, if the practice of role ambiguity grows while organisational commitment declines, employee performance will rise. These findings are consistent with Tan dan Trang's (2019) study, which explains how role ambiguity affects organisational commitment. Commitment is a value orientation toward the organization, demonstrating that individuals care deeply about work and organizations. Individuals who understand the essence of work and enjoy their work with material rewards will be able to feel a part of the organization.

Conclusions

Based on the research and discussion findings, it is possible to conclude that transactional leadership and role ambiguity do not affect employee performance. This is because the leader only intervenes when standards are not met or when work guidelines are not followed as needed, causing problems, and in the end, the leader fails to overcome the various problems that arise, lowering the quality of work at work. Aside from that, transactional leadership and role ambiguity can boost organisational commitment to the

(10)

Ngadiredjo Kediri Sugar Factory. Companies that use transactional leadership and employees with high role ambiguity impact higher organizational commitment because they demonstrate a sense of responsibility, prioritizing time spent working for the company as a way of feeling connected to the Ngadiredjo Kediri Sugar Factory. Employee performance at Ngadiredjo Kediri Sugar Factory can be improved with organisational commitment. Employees with a solid attachment to the company can motivate themselves to increase their work enthusiasm and dedication to the organization, giving birth to a responsible employee work attitude in achieving organizational goals. Organizational commitment can improve employee performance by mediating transactional leadership and role ambiguity. Commitment serves as perfect mediation in this case. Transactional leadership and role ambiguity owned by employees can encourage a high sense of attachment to the organization, which is manifested by high morale; a sense of attachment or employee loyalty can improve employee performance at Ngadiredjo Kediri Sugar Factory.

This study provides a theoretical contribution, namely supporting theory and previous research. The practical contribution shows that companies can increase commitment at work so that employees have a sense of remaining a member of the organization and are willing to continue to participate in it can encourage maximum performance to make the organization more developed and advanced and improve the quality of employees. In addition, the company must make employees feel comfortable and consider coworkers as family. With a stronger sense of commitment to the organization, it is expected to improve employee performance for the better.

The limitations of this study include, first and foremost, the possibility of respondents answering positively for their work, which does not rule out the possibility of bias in filling out the questionnaire because the answers do not correspond to the actual conditions.

Second, this research is limited to employee performance at Ngadiredjo Sugar Factory, so the results obtained may not be generalized to other companies. Third, this study did not use open-ended questions, so digging for more in-depth information was constrained by the company's rules regarding the working hours of respondents because they only had a little time to fill out the statement list during rest hours.

future research is likely to overcome the limitations of this study by delving deeper into the topic of leadership styles such as transformational leadership, charismatic leadership, or other styles that can improve employee performance and commitment.

Furthermore, future research is expected to include open-ended questions to examine existing phenomena and conditions more deeply and to broaden the scope of the research so that the results obtained can develop and provide additional explanations related to factors that can improve employee performance and commitment in a company.

Acknowledgment

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, M.A., AS, and H.A.; Methodology, M.A., AS Data Collection, M.A., DJ; Formal Analysis, M.A., AS, and HA.; Investigation, M.A., H,A; Writing Original Draft Preparation, M.A.; Writing—Review and Editing M.A., AS, and HA.

Institutional Review Board Statement: Ethical review and approval were waived for this study, due to the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues.

Data Availability Statement: The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy.

Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest

References

Abdel Wahed, N. A. A. Megeed, Soomro, B. A., & Shah, N. (2022). Predicting employee performance through transactional leadership and entrepreneur’s passion among the employees of Pakistan. Asia Pacific Management Review.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmrv.2022.03.001

Ahmad, Z., & Taylor, D. (2009). Commitment to independence by internal auditors: The effects of role ambiguity and role conflict.

Managerial Auditing Journal, 24(9), 899– 925. https://doi.org/10.1108/02686900910994827

Alamir, I. (2010). Testing the Impact of Transformational and Transactional Leadership on Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment in Private Syrian Organizations. International Journal of Arts and Sciences, 3(12), 405–415.

Almanshur, F., Troena, E. A., Sudiro, A., & Rahayu, M. (2017). the Effect of Role Ambiguity Towards the Performance of Nurses Through Organizational Commitment: a Study on Regional General Hospital of Dr. Saiful Anwar, Malang, Indonesia.

Russian Journal of Agricultural and Socio-Economic Sciences, 66(6), 234–238. https://doi.org/10.18551/rjoas.2017.27 Anggapradja, I. T., & Wijaya, R. (2017). Effect of Commitment Organization, Organizational Culture, and Motivation To

Performance of Employees. Jurnal Aplikasi Manajemen, 15(1), 74–80. https://doi.org/10.18202/jam23026332.15.1.10 Anggini, F. A. T., Musadieq, M. Al, & Sulistyo, C. W. (2018). Pengaruh gaya kepemimpinan transaksional dan motivasi kerja

terhadap kinerja karyawan. Jurnal Administrasi Bisnis, 58(1), 173–180.

Aqmarina, D. (2015). Pengaruh Kepemimpinan Transformasional Dan Transaksional Terhadap Kepuasan Kerja Dan Kinerja Karyawan (Studi Pada Karyawan Hotel Gajahmada Graha Malang). Paper Knowledge. Toward a Media History of Documents, 3(April), 49–58.

Atatsi, E. A., Stoffers, J., & Kil, A. (2019). Factors affecting employee performance: a systematic literature review. Journal of Advances in Management Research, 16(3), 329–351. https://doi.org/10.1108/JAMR-06-2018-0052

Baig, S. A., Iqbal, S., Abrar, M., Baig, I. A., Amjad, F., Zia-ur-Rehman, M., & Awan, M.U. (2021). Impact of leadership styles on employees’ performance with moderating role of positive psychological capital. Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, 32(9–10), 1085–1105. https://doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2019.1665011

(11)

Christian, F. (2021). The Influence of Leadership, Motivation and Work Environment on Employee Performance in Nduga Regency, Papua Province. Jurnal Manajemen Dan Organisasi Review (MANOR), 3(0411).

Erlina. (2020). The effects of leadership and employee performance on innovation performance among indonesian smes. Polish Journal of Management Studies, 21(2), 370–383. https://doi.org/10.17512/pjms.2020.21.2.26

Flugum, R., Harper, J., & Sun, L. (2021). Employee performance and corporate cash holdings. International Journal of Managerial Finance, 17(1), 97 117. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMF-08-2019-0280

Hendri, M. I. (2019). The mediation effect of job satisfaction and organizational commitment on the organizational learning effect of the employee performance. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 68(7), 1208– 1234.

https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-05-2018-0174

Ho, S. Y., & Fu, H. J. (2018). The impacts of leadership styles on work performances and organizational innovations in the financial distress industry. Revista de Cercetare Si Interventie Sociala, 60(March), 25–38.

Istiono, D. (2020). Jurnal Bisnis Manajemen Dan Kewirausahaan. 1, 1–13.

Jason, A. C., Lepine, J. A., & & Wesson, M. J. (2015). Organizational Behaviour : Improving Performance and Commitment in the Workplace. New York: McGraw Hill Education. In PPI Pulp and Paper International (Vol. 53, Issue 2).

Jehanzeb, K., & Mohanty, J. (2020). The mediating role of organizational commitment between organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior: Power distance as moderator. Personnel Review, 49(2), 445 468.

https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-09-2018-0327

Judeh, M. (2011). Role Ambiguity and Role Conflict as Mediators of the Relationship between Orientation and Organizational Commitment. International Business Research, 4(3), 171–181. https://doi.org/10.5539/ibr.v4n3p171

June, S., & Rosli, M. (2011). The relationship between role ambiguity, competency and person-job fit with the job performance of employees in the service sector SMEs inMalaysia. Business Management Dynamics, 1(2), 79–98.

Keskes, I., Sallan, J. M., Simo, P., & Fernandez, V. (2018). Transformational leadership and organizational commitment:

Mediating role of leader-member exchange. Journal of Management Development, 37(3), 271–284.

https://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-04-2017-0132

Kim, M., & Beehr, T. A. (2018). Can Empowering Leaders Affect Subordinates’ Well- Being and Careers Because They Encourage Subordinates’ Job Crafting Behaviors? Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 25(2), 184–196.

https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051817727702

Kumasey, A. S., Bawole, J. N., & Hossain, F. (2017). Organizational commitment of public service employees in Ghana: do codes of ethics matter? International Review of Administrative Sciences, 83(1_suppl), 5977.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852316634447

Landy, F. J., & & Conte, J. M. (2015). Man, Work, and Organizations: An Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 27(3), 476. https://doi.org/10.2307/2521637

Lee, H. J., & Reade, C. (2018). The role of Yin-Yang leadership and cosmopolitan followership in fostering employee commitment in China: A paradox perspective. Cross Cultural and Strategic Management, 25(2), 276298. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCSM- 12-2016-0216

Longshore, J. M., & Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and Performance beyond Expectations. The Academy of Management Review, 12(4), 756. https://doi.org/10.2307/258081

Megheirkouni, M., Amaugo, A., & Jallo, S. (2018). Transformational and transactional Leadership and skills approach. International Journal of Public Leadership, 14(4), 245–259. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijpl-06-2018029

Nurani, A. A., Samdin, Nasrul, & Sukotjo, E. (2021). the Effect of Organizational Culture, Organizational Commitment and Leadership Style on Employee Performance. Akademika: Jurnal Teknologi …, 8(12), 141–151.

https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2021.vol8.no12.0141

Nurzaman, E. (2020). The Influence of Organizational Culture and Organizational Commitment on Employee Performance at the Ministry of Manpower of the Republic of Indonesia. Budapest International Research and Critics Institute (BIRCI-Journal):

Humanities and Social Sciences, 3(4), 3872–3883. https://doi.org/10.33258/birci.v3i4.1453

Obeidat, B. Y. (2016). The Effect of Strategic Orientation on Organizational Performance: The Mediating Role of Innovation.

International Journal of Communications, Network and System Sciences, 09(11), 478–505.

https://doi.org/10.4236/ijcns.2016.911039 Obuobisa-Darko, T., & Domfeh, K. A. (2019). Leader behaviour to achieve employee engagement in Ghana: a qualitative study. International Journal of Public Leadership, 15(1), 19–37.

https://doi.org/10.1108/ijpl-04-2018-0018

Ohemeng, F. L. K., Amoako-Asiedu, E., & Obuobisa Darko, T. (2018). The relationship between leadership style and employee performance. International Journal of Public Leadership, 14(4), 274–296. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijpl-06-2017-0025 Onyemah, V. (2008). Role ambiguity, role conflict, and performance: Empirical evidence of an inverted-U relationship. Journal of

Personal Selling and Sales Management, 28(3), 299–313. https://doi.org/10.2753/PSS0885-3134280306

Para-González, L., Jiménez-Jiménez, D., & Martínez-Lorente, A. R. (2018). Exploring the mediating effects between transformational leadership and organizational performance. Employee Relations, 40(2), 412–432.

https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-10-2016-0190

(12)

Patel, K., Sheth, K., Mehta, D., Tanwar, S., Florea, B. C., Taralunga, D. D., Altameem, A., Altameem, T., & Sharma, R. (2022).

RanKer: An AI-Based Employee- Performance Classification Scheme to Rank and Identify Low Performers. Mathematics, 10(19), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.3390/math10193714

Pawirosumarto, S., Sarjana, P. K., & Gunawan, R. (2017). The effect of work environment, leadership style, and organizational culture towards job satisfaction and its implication towards employee performance in Parador hotels and resorts, Indonesia.

International Journal of Law and Management, 59(6), 1337–1358. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLMA-10-2016-0085

Purnomo, K. S. H., Lustono, L., & Tatik, Y. (2021). The Effect of Role Conflict, Role Ambiguity and Job Stress on Employee Performance. Economic Education Analysis Journal, 10(3), 532–542. https://doi.org/10.15294/eeaj.v10i3.50793

Putra, R. (2021). Pengaruh Gaya Kepemimpinan Transaksional Dan Gaya Kepemimpinan Transformasional Terhadap Kinerja Karyawan Dengan Komitmen Organisasi Sebagai Variabel Moderating Pada PT. Bangun Mitra Abadi Medan. Jurnal Aplikasi Manajemen, Ekonomi Dan Bisnis, 5(2), 40–47. https://doi.org/10.51263/jameb.v5i2.124

Qadir, K. H., & Yeşiltaş, M. (2020). Effect of leadership styles on organizational commitment and performance in small- And medium-sized enterprises in Iraqi Kurdistan. Social Behavior and Personality, 48(9). https://doi.org/10.2224/SBP.9197 R. A. Asa Azzukhruf, Noermijati, & Rohman, F. (2020). Management Practices on Strategic Human Resource Towards Employee

Performance Through Organizational Commitment. Gastronomía Ecuatoriana y Turismo Local., 1(69), 524.

Rahaman, M. A., Gupta, A., Ali, A., Ali, M. J., & ... (2021). Identification of Determining Factors of Employee Performance of Sme Business. Academy of …, October, 0–5.

Raub, S., Borzillo, S., Perretten, G., & Schmitt, A. (2021). New employee orientation, role-related stressors and conflict at work:

Consequences for work attitudes and performance of hospitality employees. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 94, 102857. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102857

Robbins, S. P., & Coulter, M. (2015). YES Management (13th) Edition.

Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2014). Organizational Behavior.

Saleem, M. A., Bhutta, Z. M., Nauman, M., & Zahra, S. (2019). Enhancing performance and commitment through leadership and empowerment: An emerging economy perspective. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 37(1), 303–322.

https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-02-2018-0037

Skopak, A., & Hadzaihmetovic, N. (2022). The Effects of Transformational and Transactional Leadership Style on Job Satisfaction.

International Journal of Business and Administrative Studies, 39(4), 747–767. https://doi.org/10.21608/jhiph.2009.20864 Soomro, B. A., & Shah, N. (2019). Determining the impact of entrepreneurial orientation and organizational culture on job

satisfaction, organizational commitment, and employee’s performance. South Asian Journal of Business Studies, 8(3), 266–

282. https://doi.org/10.1108/SAJBS-12-2018-0142

Sulich, A., Sołoducho-Pelc, L., & Ferasso, M. (2021). Management styles and decision- making: Pro-ecological strategy approach.

Sustainability (Switzerland), 13(4), 118. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041604

Tan, T. L. D. T. D. T. (2019). The mediating role of job satisfaction between leader- member exchange and t EBSCOhost. 1, 1–12.

Tashtoush, H., Rozar, N. M., Shubailat, O., Alown, B. E., & Madi, A. (2022). A Study On The Determining Factors Of Employee Performance For Success In Transportation Services In Jordan’s Tourism Industry. Multicultural Education, 8(1), 218–230.

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5918944

Tjahjadi, K., & Cahyadi, F. P. (2021). the Influence of Time Pressure, Role Ambiguity, Workload and Lack of Motivation on Employee Performance. Media Bisnis, 12(2), 153–160. https://doi.org/10.34208/mb.v12i2.920

Unguren, E., & Arslan, S. (2021). The effect of role ambiguity and role conflict on job performance in the hotel industry: The mediating effect of job satisfaction. Tourism and Management Studies, 17(1), 45–58.

https://doi.org/10.18089/TMS.2021.170104

Urgessa Yadeta, D., Jaleta, M. E., & Melese, M. W. (2022). Leadership Styles and Total Quality Management (TQM) Implementation: Competitor Orientation and Inter-Functional Coordination as Mediators International Journal of Organizational Leadership. International Journal of Organizational Leadership, 11, 287–306.

Zahraini, & Hafnalisa. (2017). Pengaruh Ambiguitas Peran terhadap Kinerja Pegawai pada Sekretariat Kabupaten Aceh Utara dengan Komitmen Organisasi dan Kepuasan Kerja sebagai Variabel Interventing. Jurnal Ilmiah Sains, Teknologi, Ekonomi, Sosial Dan Budaya, 1(2), 77–84.

Zamin, S. A., & FauziHussin, D. (2021). Effect of leadership styles on job performance: Mediating role of work engagement among secondary school teaching faculty in Pakistan. Elementary Education Online, 20(2), 1397–1404.

https://doi.org/10.17051/ilkonline.2021.02.54

Publisher’s Note: SSBFNET stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.