Porcelain Publishing / JCHRM / Volume 17 / Issue 3 / DOI: 10.47297/wspchrmWSP2040-800507.20261703
ARTICLE

Managing Knowledge and Innovation at the Intersection of Leadership and Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Higher Education: The Catalytic Role of Trust and Politics

Naveed Saif1 Muhammad Tahir Khan2 Gerald Guan Gan Goh3* Ifzal Ahmad4
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1 IMS (Institute of Management Sciences), University of Science and Technology Bannu, Bannu 28100, Pakistan
2 University of Education, Lahore (Vehari Campus), Vehari 61100, Pakistan
3 Centre of Excellence for Business Innovation and Communication, Multimedia University, Cyberjaya 63100, Malaysia
4 College of Business Administration, University of Kalba, Kalba 00000, United Arab Emirates
Published: 3 September 2026
© 2026 by the Authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Abstract

This study aims to validate the Vigoda model of leader–member relations by examining the mediating roles of organizational politics and trust in leaders in the relationship between leadership styles and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). A quantitative research design was employed using survey data collected from faculty members at universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Four mediational models were tested to analyze the relationships among transformational leadership, transactional leadership, organizational politics, trust in leaders, and OCB. The results indicate that both transformational and transactional leadership are positively associated with OCB. Organizational politics negatively affects OCB, while trust in leaders positively influences it. Mediation analysis shows that trust in leaders partially mediates the relationship between both leadership styles and OCB, whereas organizational politics acts as a negative intervening factor.The findings highlight the importance of fostering trust in leadership and reducing organizational politics to enhance employee engagement and discretionary behaviors in higher education institutions. This study extends the Vigoda model by providing empirical evidence on the mediating roles of trust and organizational politics, offering deeper insights into leadership OCB dynamics in a developing country context.

Keywords
Transformational
Transactional
Leadership
Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB)
Organization politics
Higher education commission (HEC)
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