The Mediating Role of Internal Quality Assurance Systems in Linking Work Culture, Job Satisfaction, and Lecturer Performance Behavior

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the influence of work culture and job satisfaction in shaping the work performance of lecturers through the mediating role of the Internal Quality Assurance System in private universities in Banten Province, amid demands for social transformation, innovation, and improvements in the increasingly competitive quality of higher education. The background of this research is the government's strong policies for implementing the Internal Quality Assurance System and lecturers' limited awareness of performance and work achievements, which impact institutional performance. This study uses a quantitative approach and a survey of private universities in Banten Province that have a minimum accreditation of Good or Very Good in 2025, involving 355 respondents. The research variables include work culture and job satisfaction as independent variables, the Internal Quality Assurance System as a mediating variable, and

lecturers' performance-oriented work behavior as a dependent variable. Data analysis was performed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with SmartPLS version 4. The results of the PLS bootstrapping analysis showed that work culture and job satisfaction did not have a significant direct effect on lecturers' performance-oriented work behavior. Still, work culture had a positive and significant impact on the Internal Quality Assurance System, whereas job satisfaction had a substantial adverse effect on it. Furthermore, the Internal Quality Assurance System was found to have a positive and significant impact on lecturers' performance-oriented work behavior and to positively mediate the relationship between work culture and performance-oriented work behavior, but to negatively mediate the relationship between job satisfaction and performance-oriented work behavior. These findings confirm that the Internal Quality Assurance System acts as a strong mediating variable, with work culture as the dominant factor in strengthening the quality system and improving lecturers' work performance at private universities in Banten Province.