Exploring the Moderating Role of Perceived Justice in the Relationship Between Transformational Leadership and Turnover Intention among University Lecturers in Germany

This study has a comprehensive investigate on the moderating role of Perceived Justice in the relationship between Transformational Leadership and Turnover Intention among University Lecturers in Germany. This study discusses the possible effects of transformational leadership stye, perceived organizational justice, and also demographic characteristics on intention to leave among faculty member. Purpose: The aim of this research is to find the characteristics that influence the faculty members’ desire to leave the position in university, to reduce the rate of turnover intention and enhance the level of academic quality. Currently, according to previous studies there is no comprehensive research investigated on turnover intention in German universities, and this study fills the gap in the literature for this subject in this region. Methodology: A quantitative research methodology is employed, using correlational regression to analyze the relationship between transformational leadership, perceived justice, and turnover intention. Data collected via online questionnaires distributed to a cross-sectional and purposive sample of applied science university (Fachhochschulen) lecturers in Germany. The sample of this study included 123 lecturers at applied science universities of Germany. To analyze the data, structural equation modeling (SEM) using Smart PLS4 and SPSS software were used as well as correlation analysis. Finding: The result of the study showed that various components, including transformational leadership (TL) as an independent, perceived justice (PJ) as a moderating factor, and demographic information (DG) as control variables offers insights into the turnover intention (TI) as a dependent variable among professors. Then finding of this study confirmed that transformational leadership has a negative and significant relationship with turnover intention among university faculties. Moreover, this study found the robust negative and significant relationship between perceived justice and turnover intention among faculty members in universities. By evaluating the moderating role of perceived justice on the relationship between transformational leadership and turnover intention, this study found the significant impact of fairness to reduce the intention to leave among faculty members in universities. To ensure the potential impact of demographic and work-related characteristic on the study, demographic factors such as gender, age and position variables illustrated no significant influence, while workplace environment, students’ preparation and motivation, and also level of student taught were found as a significant predictor in the relationship with turnover intention among faculty members in universities.Originality: This study is one of the few that empirically investigates the interplay between transformational leadership, perceived justice, and turnover intention in the academic context of Germany. It offers new insights into how leadership and justice perceptions can be leveraged to retain academic staff. This study recommends to university administrators that in addition to developing effective transformational leadership style, they should emphasize creating an affair and supportive environment in their organization to prevent professors from leaving the job. Implications: The results of this study are anticipated to have significant implications for university administration and policy-making. It is recommended to universities to provide feedback mechanism to enhance organizational justice, transformational leadership training, career development policies, and communication facilities to enhance the workplace environment.