The Effect of Transformational Leadership and Adhocracy Organizational Culture on Organizational Commitment with Work Engagement as A Mediating Variable in Digital Start-Up Employees
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Aug 27, 2025
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Abstract
Leadership and culture plays an important role in attracting and retaining employees, especially the dominant organizational culture found in startups is adhocracy culture. The purpose of the study is to explain the effect of transformational leadership and adhocracy culture in digital startup companies on organizational commitment and examine the mediating effect of job attachment in this relationship. This study uses a quantitative approach to examine the influence of transformational leadership and adhocracy culture on organizational commitment with work engagement as a mediating variable. Data were collected from 256 digital startup employees in Indonesia through a closed questionnaire using a 1–6 Likert scale. The research instruments included GTL, OCAI and scales. Validity was tested using KMO, and reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s Alpha. Data analysis was conducted using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with LISREL 8.8 software. The results showed that job attachment affects organizational commitment as well as being a mediating variable that can affect the relationship between transformational leadership and adhocracy culture on organizational commitment of digital startup employees. These findings can be used to improve organizational commitment by exploring more deeply the use of transformational leadership and adhocracy culture that lead to work engagement and improve employee engagement.
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References
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Rahmadani, V. G., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2022). Engaging leadership and work engagement as moderated by “diuwongke”: An Indonesian study. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 33(7), 1267–1295.
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Turan, C., Demirtaş, Z., & Alanoğlu, M. (2024). The Adaptation and Psychometric Analysis of the Global Transformational Leadership (GTL) Scale for Turkish Educational Institutions. Research in Educational Administration and Leadership, 9(4), 620–657.
Ugwu, L. I., Enwereuzor, I. K., & Orji, E. U. (2016). Is trust in leadership a mediator between transformational leadership and in-role performance among small-scale factory workers? Review of Managerial Science, 10, 629–648.
Wołowska, A. (2014). Determinants of organizational commitment. Human Resources Management & Ergonomics, 8(1).
Yang, M., Luu, T. T., & Qian, D. (2022). Can group diversity translate adhocracy culture into service innovative behavior among hospitality employees? A multilevel study. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 107, 103332.
Yeshitila, B., & Beyene, A. (2019). The mediating effect of employee engagement between transformational leadership and job performance in the commercial bank of Ethiopia. European Journal of Business and Management, 11(25), 33–42.
Aboramadan, M. , & K. Y. M. (2023). Emotional culture of joy and happiness at work as a facet of wellbeing: a mediation of psychological safety and relational attachment. . Personnel Review, 52(9), 2133-2152.
Afrifa Jr, S., Fianko, S. K., Amoah, N., & Dzogbewu, T. C. (2022). The effect of organizational culture on employee work engagement in a higher education institution. Organizational Cultures: An International Journal, 22(2).
Allen, N. J. (2016). Commitment as a multidimensional construct. In Handbook of employee commitment (pp. 28-42).: Vol. (pp. 28-42).
Bass, B. M., & Riggio, R. E. (2006). Transformational leadership (2nd, Ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Bolarinwa, O. A. (2020). Sample size estimation for health and social science researchers: The principles and considerations for different study designs. Nigerian Postgraduate Medical Journal, 27(2), 67–75.
Boughaleb, S. E. A., Benkhider, N., Kherbachi, S., Keddari, N., Berbar, W. B., & Abedou, A. (2025). Startups’ scalability: a qualitative study of challenges, enablers, and strategic perspectives. South Florida Journal of Development, 6(6), e5420–e5420.
Darmawan, D., Mardikaningsih, R., Sinambela, E. A., Arifin, S., Putra, A. R., Hariani, M., Irfan, M., Al Hakim, Y. R., & Issalillah, F. (2020). The quality of human resources, job performance and employee loyalty. International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, 24(3), 2580–2592.
Flynn, S. I. (2019). Transformational and transactional leadership. Great Neck Publishing.
Goncalves, D., Bergquist, M., Bunk, R., & Alänge, S. (2019). The influence of cultural values on organizational agility. AMCIS 2019: Twenty-Fifth Americas Conference on Information Systems, Cancún, Mexico, August 15-17, 2019, 1–10.
Griva, A., Kotsopoulos, D., Karagiannaki, A., & Zamani, E. D. (2023). What do growing early-stage digital start-ups look like? A mixed-methods approach. International Journal of Information Management, 69, 102427.
Herrera, J., & De Las Heras-Rosas, C. (2021). The organizational commitment in the company and its relationship with the psychological contract. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 609211.
Imperatori, B. (2017). Engagement and disengagement at work: Drivers and organizational practices to sustain employee passion and performance. . Springer.
Karneli, O. (2023). The role of adhocratic leadership in facing the changing business environment. Journal of Contemporary Administration and Management (ADMAN), 1(2), 77–83.
Khan, I. U., Amin, R. U., & Saif, N. (2022). Individualized consideration and idealized influence of transformational leadership: Mediating role of inspirational motivation and intellectual stimulation. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 1–11.
Knight, C., Patterson, M., & Dawson, J. (2017). Building work engagement: A systematic review and meta‐analysis investigating the effectiveness of work engagement interventions. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(6), 792–812.
Korejan, M. M., & Shahbazi, H. (2016). An analysis of the transformational leadership theory. Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences, 8(3), 452–461.
Kulikowski, K. (2017). Do we all agree on how to measure work engagement? Factorial validity of Utrecht Work Engagement Scale as a standard measurement tool–A literature review. . International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health, 30(2), 161-175.
Lewrick, M. (2022). Design thinking for business growth: how to design and scale business models and business ecosystems. John Wiley & Sons.
Misigo, G. K., Were, S., & Odhiambo, R. (2019). Influence of adhocracy culture on performance of public water companies in Kenya. International Academic Journal of Human Resource and Business Administration, 3(5), 84–103.
Ng, K. Y. N. (2023). Effects of organizational culture, affective commitment and trust on knowledge-sharing tendency. Journal of Knowledge Management, 27(4), 1140–1164.
Palumbo, R. (2021). Engaging by releasing: an investigation of the consequences of team autonomy on work engagement. Team Performance Management: An International Journal, 27(5/6), 425–445.
Proksch, D. , R. A. F. , S. S. , & P. A. (2024). The influence of a digital strategy on the digitalization of new ventures: The mediating effect of digital capabilities and a digital culture. Journal of Small Business Management, 62(1), 1-29.
Rahmadani, V. G., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2022). Engaging leadership and work engagement as moderated by “diuwongke”: An Indonesian study. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 33(7), 1267–1295.
Tang, P., Zhang, X., Feng, F., Li, J., Zeng, L., Xie, W., Jin, M., & Wang, J. (2022). The relationship between organizational commitment and work engagement among clinical nurses in China: A cross‐sectional study. Journal of Nursing Management, 30(8), 4354–4363.
Turan, C., Demirtaş, Z., & Alanoğlu, M. (2024). The Adaptation and Psychometric Analysis of the Global Transformational Leadership (GTL) Scale for Turkish Educational Institutions. Research in Educational Administration and Leadership, 9(4), 620–657.
Ugwu, L. I., Enwereuzor, I. K., & Orji, E. U. (2016). Is trust in leadership a mediator between transformational leadership and in-role performance among small-scale factory workers? Review of Managerial Science, 10, 629–648.
Wołowska, A. (2014). Determinants of organizational commitment. Human Resources Management & Ergonomics, 8(1).
Yang, M., Luu, T. T., & Qian, D. (2022). Can group diversity translate adhocracy culture into service innovative behavior among hospitality employees? A multilevel study. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 107, 103332.
Yeshitila, B., & Beyene, A. (2019). The mediating effect of employee engagement between transformational leadership and job performance in the commercial bank of Ethiopia. European Journal of Business and Management, 11(25), 33–42.