Strengthening job performance through social cognitive factors: The roles of self-efficacy, work engagement, and knowledge-oriented leadership

This study applies Social Cognitive Theory to examine how procedural justice, perceived diversity, and learning goal orientation influence job performance through the mediating roles of job self-efficacy and work engagement. It further investigates the moderating effect of knowledge-oriented leadership within these relationships. Data were collected from 197 employees at a multinational manufacturing company in Indonesia using structured questionnaires. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) revealed that both procedural justice and learning goal orientation significantly enhance job self-efficacy and work engagement, which subsequently improve job performance. Knowledge-oriented leadership demonstrates differential moderation effects: it strengthens the link between learning goal orientation and job self-efficacy, but unexpectedly attenuates the influence of procedural justice on both mediators. Contrary to findings in Western contexts, perceived diversity did not significantly affect job self-efficacy or engagement, suggesting cultural boundaries in the diversity-performance relationship. These results enrich the application of Social Cognitive Theory by modeling dual mediation and multi-path moderation mechanisms in a collectivist, emerging-market setting. The study provides practical insights for enhancing employee performance in manufacturing firms by aligning leadership practices with psychological drivers of performance.