Title: Expatriate faculty job satisfaction and performance in public universities of Saudi Arabia: exploring the effects of multicultural leadership style, organisational commitment, locus of control and organisational culture

Authors: Muhammad Awais Bhatti; Meqbel Mishari Aliedan; Ariff Syah Juhari; Suzanie Adina Mat Saat; Leonardus W.W. Mihardjo

Addresses: School of Business, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia ' School of Business, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia ' College of Business Administration, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ' Australian Technical and Management College, Melbourne, Victoria 3030, Australia ' Business School, Bina Nusantara University, Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia

Abstract: Past researches have well-documented the area of employee job satisfaction and performance in a conventional setting, but limited research has been done in exploring the factors that affect job satisfaction and performance of employees working in multicultural environments. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to fill this gap by identifying and examining different factors affecting job satisfaction and performance of the expatriate's faculty working in a multicultural environment. Data was collected from 258 expatriate faculty members working in three public universities of Saudi Arabia. Structural equation modelling was used with Amos 18 to analyse the data. Findings revealed that multicultural leadership style and organisational culture played a vital role in boosting expatriate faculty job satisfaction and performance. Furthermore, the findings explained that the organisational culture and a multicultural leadership style worked together and enhanced organisational commitment, which also further enhanced job satisfaction and performance of the expatriate faculty working in a multicultural environment. This study also suggested that the role of organisational culture is twofold, as it explained that organisational culture (supportive culture) influenced organisational commitment, as well as expatriate faculty job satisfaction. In addition, internal locus of control positively influenced expatriate faculty job satisfaction.

Keywords: cultural diversity; organisational culture; multicultural leadership style; job performance; public universities; expatriate faculty.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2026.150361

European Journal of International Management, 2026 Vol.28 No.1, pp.78 - 99

Received: 02 Jan 2020
Accepted: 24 Aug 2020
Published online: 12 Dec 2025 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article