Abstract

This study examines e-leadership as a higher-order construct and its impact on perceived academic research performance (PARP) in higher education in Indonesia, particularly in private universities in Papua, Indonesia. The influence of e-leadership on PARP is mediated by three variables: employee creativity (ECR), employee well-being (EWB), and employee commitment (ECM), and power distance serves as a moderating variable. This survey study uses a quantitative analysis with purposive sampling. Respondents in this study were lecturers who were already registered with the Minister of Education in Indonesia. The 161 respondents were obtained through the online questionnaire. Data analysis was done using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) with a two-stage method to analyze Higher-Order Construct (HOC). The results of this study indicate that e-leadership has the highest direct impact on PARP, followed by ECR and well-being. Meanwhile, the direct effect of commitment was not established. The three-dimensional e-leadership showed that e-communication is the most crucial aspect that requires improvement, followed by e-trust and e-change. Moreover, this study found that power distance diminishes the impact of e-leadership. However, it is only significant in the path from e-leadership to EWB.