A Causal Relationship Modeling of the Leadership Competencies, Organizational Culture, and Institutional Excellence

The study aimed to reveal the causal relationships between leadership competencies among academic leaders and institutional excellence through the mediating role of organizational culture at Al-Baha University. The study relied on the descriptive correlational approach, and the study sample consisted of (380) faculty members who were selected using a simple random method. A questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. The results showed high levels of leadership competencies among academic leaders, as well as a high level of organizational culture and institutional excellence at Al-Baha University. The structural model also confirmed the presence of direct and indirect effects of leadership competencies and organizational culture on institutional excellence; the direct path coefficient of leadership competencies on institutional excellence reached (0.19), and the direct effect of leadership competencies on organizational culture was (0.64), and organizational culture on institutional excellence was (0.55), while the value of the indirect path coefficient of competencies on institutional excellence through organizational culture was (0.352). The study recommended emphasizing the importance of continuing current practices and policies to support and develop leadership competencies, and adopting the discovered causal model as a tool for planning and implementing university policies. It also recommended using this model as a reference framework for guiding administrative and academic policies and decisions at the university, ensuring that leadership and organizational efforts align with excellence goals and facilitating continuous evaluation and improvement processes in a scientific and systematic manner.