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This study examines the influence of quality culture (QC) on university performance (UP) within the higher education (HE) context of Saudi Arabia, exploring the mediating roles of transformational (TFL) and transactional leadership (TNL) styles.

The study utilizes a cross-sectional survey approach, collecting data through online surveys from administrators representing public and private universities in Saudi Arabia. Data analysis is conducted using PLS-SEM.

The findings indicate that QC exerts a notable direct influence on UP, along with an indirect effect mediated by TFL and TNL. Additionally, the influences of TFL and TNL on UP are statistically significant. However, the effect of TNL on UP and its role as a mediator in the QC-UP relationship demonstrate partial significance.

This study enriches the theoretical comprehension of quality assurance in HE by incorporating QC as a dynamic capability within Dynamic Capability Theory and TL and TFL as valuable resources within Resource-Based View theory. However, limitations such as a cross-sectional design and reliance on input solely from university administrators must be acknowledged.

The study offers practical insights for policymakers, administrators, and quality managers, emphasizing the economic benefits of robust QC in universities. It highlights QC's impact on policy, curriculum development, and public trust, advocating tailored strategies to improve efficiency and collaboration, crucial for overcoming bureaucratic barriers, especially in public universities.

The originality of this study lies in introducing TFL and TNL as mediators between QC and UP within a university setting.

This study aims to investigate the mediating role of quality culture (QC) between transformational leadership (TFL), transactional leadership (TNL) and organizational performance (OP) in higher education institutions.

The study collects data through a nationwide survey of administrators representing public and private universities in Pakistan using stratified random sampling techniques, while partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is used for data analysis.

The results show that both TFL and TNL directly influence QC and that QC directly influences OP. Additionally, the study reveals significant indirect effects of TFL and TNL on OP through QC. However, the direct effects of TFL and TNL on OP are not empirically supported.

This study contributes theoretically to the understanding of OP in universities by examining valuable resources (TFL, TNL) and dynamic capability (QC) as predictors while also introducing QC as a mediator to explain the underlying mechanism between TFL, TNL and OP. However, limitations include a cross-sectional design, a small sample size and reliance on administrators' perceptions as the sole respondents.

This study provides interesting insights for leaders, policymakers and quality managers to integrate valuable, dynamic resources and foster QC by increasing quality awareness at all departmental levels, thereby improving university performance.

The novelty of this study is the introduction of QC as a mediator of TFL, TNL and OP in a university setting.

This study investigates the impact of staff training on university performance (UP), focusing particularly on the mediating role of ISO 9001 implementation in the higher education (HE) sector.

Employing a quantitative research design, data were collected via online surveys using purposive sampling techniques from academic and administrative staff affiliated with ISO 9001-certified universities. Subsequent analysis utilized SmartPLS-4 software.

The findings indicate that staff training significantly influences both ISO 9001 standard implementation and UP. Additionally, the mediating effect of ISO 9001 in the relationship between staff training and UP was found to be positive and significant.

Limitations of the study include its cross-sectional design, reliance on purposive sampling and exclusive focus on academic and administrative staff from seven ISO-certified universities in Pakistan, potentially limiting generalizability. Nonetheless, the study enriches the discourse on quality management in HE by emphasizing the role of staff training in fostering knowledge creation and enhancing staff competencies within organizational learning theory (OLT), and by integrating ISO 9001 into the dynamic capability theory (DCT) framework.

The study provides practical insights for policymakers, administrators and quality managers, emphasizing the importance of staff training, resource allocation for compliance and continuous improvement efforts to effectively implement ISO 9001 requirements and enhance overall UP.

This study contributes by introducing ISO 9001 adoption as a mediator between staff training and UP while integrating OLT and DCT theories within the university context.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between management support, quality infrastructure, staff training and the effectiveness of quality enhancement cells (QECs) established in higher education institutions.

Data were acquired via a structured questionnaire dispatched to faculty members across 12 public and private universities, primarily situated in Punjab, Pakistan. Among the 200 questionnaires distributed, 180 were retrieved and 140 were deemed valid. The proposed relationships were examined using SPSS–25 and PLS–SEM.

The results show a positive and significant relationship between management support, quality infrastructure and staff training with QECs' effectiveness. The study also highlights that the effectiveness of QECs is “Good” in only two of the 12 universities, while in most universities it is “Barely Acceptable”. Furthermore, QECs' effectiveness is slightly better in public universities compared to private institutions.

The study employs convenience sampling and a cross-sectional approach, focusing on faculty members from 12 universities, primarily in Punjab, Pakistan. To enhance future research, larger samples and probability-based sampling should be considered, while involving quality managers and students for a broader perspective.

The research suggests policymakers and university leaders should strengthen their support by providing resources, quality infrastructure and training for academic and administrative staff. This would enhance the effectiveness of QECs and improve the overall quality of education in both public and private universities.

This study contributes to the literature on quality assurance in higher education by emphasizing the significance of QECs concerning management support, quality infrastructure and staff training – areas that are often overlooked in Pakistani universities.

This study aims to investigate how the service quality provided by distribution companies (DISCOs) impacts consumer satisfaction, focusing on the mediating role of regulatory effectiveness as governed by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) in Pakistan’s power sector.

A quantitative research design was used, with data collected via online surveys from domestic electricity consumers of five DISCOs in Punjab, Pakistan. Data analysis was performed using SPSS-25 and SmartPLS-4 software.

The results indicate that service quality significantly affects both consumer satisfaction and regulatory effectiveness, with regulatory effectiveness positively mediating the relationship between service quality and consumer satisfaction.

The limitations of this study include a cross-sectional design and multistage sampling, which may introduce bias and inadequately represent diverse demographics. Future research should involve commercial users, use longitudinal designs and adopt mixed methods for deeper insights. Nevertheless, the findings emphasize the mediating role of regulatory effectiveness in linking service quality to consumer satisfaction, highlighting the importance of governance in the electricity sector.

The findings offer valuable insights for policymakers, DISCO managers and regulatory bodies, underscoring the need to enhance service quality and regulatory practices to improve consumer satisfaction. Collaboration between DISCOs and NEPRA is recommended to address inefficiencies and governance issues, focusing on infrastructure development, transparency and accountability to enhance the consumer experience in Pakistan’s electricity sector.

This study contributes to the literature by introducing regulatory effectiveness as a mediator between service quality and consumer satisfaction within the power sector, guided by institutional theory.

This study aims to examine the effect of accreditation on higher education performance, directly and indirectly, through the quality culture as a mediator in the context of higher education, based on the perceptions of administrative and quality managers.

This is a quantitative study using stratified random sampling techniques to collect data through a nationwide survey of universities in Pakistan. Of the 150 questionnaires distributed, 105 are found to be valid, while the data are analyzed by partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

The results provide interesting insights, including significant effects of accreditation on quality culture and higher education performance, significant effects of quality culture on higher education performance and the mediating role of quality culture in relation to accreditation and higher education performance.

Limitations of the study include a relatively smaller sample size and the selection of administrative managers as the sole respondents. This study extends the theoretical understanding by introducing several linkages, including the link between accreditation and higher education performance, accreditation and quality culture, and by introducing quality culture as a mediator. Furthermore, the study also provides empirical evidence for all proposed links in the university setting. This study has implications for administrative and quality managers, in terms of effectively implementing accreditation standards by cultivating a quality culture at their respective universities, resulting in improved university performance.

This study is the first to introduce quality culture as a mediator between accreditation and higher education performance and examines the effect of accreditation and quality culture on higher education performance in the university context. Also, the interdisciplinary nature of the study makes it relevant and interesting to administrative and quality managers in the fields of higher education and quality management.