Organizational culture at Slovak universities: a mediation analysis of the associated factors

The purpose of the paper is to examine the interrelationship between the leadership style of direct superiors and organizational culture and to find out whether this connection is mediated by organizational trust in the environment of Slovak universities. The tool for data collection was a questionnaire survey among heads of departments from selected public universities in Slovakia. The research model was tested using the PLS-SEM method. The hypothesis about the mediating role of organizational trust in the relationship between the superior’s leadership style and organizational culture was confirmed. The total effect in the studied model was much higher than the direct effect, which points to the importance of organizational trust in the context of building a healthy organizational culture. The implications of the research are aimed at the practice of university management.