Servant leadership, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment: evidence from Guangxi private universities

Abstract

Employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment are vital to workforce stability and service quality in Guangxi’s private universities. In this context, limited resources and heightened performance demands increase the importance of effective leadership. Drawing on self-determination theory and social exchange theory, this study examines how servant leadership influences these work attitudes through employee motivation (Deci & Ryan, 2000; Blau, 1964). Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey of academic and administrative staff (n = 327). The proposed mediation model was analyzed using PLS-SEM in SmartPLS with bootstrapping procedures (Hair et al., 2024). Harman’s single-factor test suggested that common method bias was not a major concern, as the first factor explained 22.66% of the variance (Kock, 2021). The results supported all hypothesized direct effects: servant leadership positively predicted employee motivation, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment, and employee motivation positively predicted job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Bootstrapped mediation analyses further demonstrated significant indirect effects of servant leadership on job satisfaction and organizational commitment via employee motivation. The model accounted for substantial variance in job satisfaction (R² = 0.638) and organizational commitment (R² = 0.586) and showed positive predictive relevance for endogenous constructs (Q² > 0). Overall, the findings provide mechanism-based evidence that employee motivation is a key pathway through which servant leadership enhances important work outcomes in Guangxi private universities, with practical implications for leadership development and human resource management.