THE ROLE OF TEAM COHESION AND WORK ENVIRONMENT IN ENHANCING ACADEMICS’ JOB SATISFACTION AND PERCEIVED INSTITUTIONAL PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES IN BANGLADESH

Abstract

This work presents the associations of team cohesion and work environment with academics’ job satisfaction and perceived institutional performance in private universities of Bangladesh. Social Exchange Theory and the Job Demands–Resources model frame job satisfaction as an attitudinal pathway through which interpersonal and organizational resources relate to institutional outcomes. Survey data from 365 academics across 30 universities were evaluated on the basis partial least squares structural equation modelling. Perceived institutional performance was specified from student retention, the quality teaching enhancement, and growth and ranking of an institution; organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) was modelled separately. University-cluster-adjusted estimates supported H1–H3: team cohesion and work environment shows positive association along with  the job satisfaction, while job satisfaction have positively association with the perceived institutional performance. The direct associations of team cohesion and work environment with perceived institutional performance, which were retained to evaluate the mediation model, were also positive. The indirect effects of team cohesion and work environment through job satisfaction were 0.100 and 0.083, respectively, supporting H4 and H5. The model explained 35.1% of job-satisfaction variance and 42.3% of perceived-performance variance. In the separate OCB model, team cohesion, work environment, and job satisfaction had coefficients of 0.241, 0.149, and 0.463, respectively (R² = 0.522). The cross-sectional, self-reported design supports associational rather than causal interpretation.