Determinants of Managerial Performance: The Mediating Role of Work Ethic in Indonesian Batik MSMEs

Abstract

In this study, how managerial performance is shaped by organizational culture, managerial competence, and the work environment through work ethic in batik micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in East Priangan, West Java, is examined. Affective mediators are largely relied on by prior performance studies, and limited explanation of how organizational conditions are translated into value-based managerial behavior is provided by them. Survey data from 258 owner-managers and managers were analyzedusing partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The strongest positive relationship with work ethic was shown by the work environment (β = 0,389), and it was followed by managerial competence (β = 0,338) and organizational culture (β = 0,287). Work ethic was positively related to managerial performance (β = 0,392), while 96,4% of the variance in work ethic and 63,0% of the variance in managerial performance were explained by the model. Partial mediation across the three pathways is indicated by variance-accounted-for values of 41,3–58,8%. Work ethic is positioned by these findings as a value-based behavioral mechanism rather than merely as an individual antecedent of performance. For batik MSMEs, competence building and workplace improvement should therefore be combined by managerial development with routines by which discipline, responsibility, productive use of time, and community-oriented values are reinforced