The Impact of Erosion of Trust among Educators on the Decline of Key Performance Indicator (IKU) Achievement in Higher Education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62951/ijsie.v3i1.471Keywords:
Academic Culture, Higher Education, Institutional Performance, Key Performance Indicators, Organizational TrustAbstract
Trust among educators constitutes a critical social capital that underpins organizational effectiveness in higher education institutions. This study investigates the impact of trust erosion among educators on the decline in the achievement of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs/IKU) in higher education. The central problem addressed in this research is the weakening of academic collaboration, reduced engagement in the tridharma of higher education, and the emergence of latent conflicts that negatively affect KPI achievement, particularly in lecturer performance, research collaboration, and the implementation of the Merdeka Belajar–Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) policy. This study aims to analyze the relationship between the level of trust among educators and institutional KPI performance, as well as to identify the organizational and social mechanisms underlying this phenomenon. A mixed-methods explanatory design was employed, combining quantitative survey data with in-depth interviews and institutional performance document analysis. The findings reveal a significant negative correlation between trust erosion and KPI achievement. The study concludes that strengthening organizational trust is a strategic prerequisite for sustaining and improving higher education performance.
References
Albrecht, S. L., Bakker, A. B., Gruman, J. A., Macey, W. H., & Saks, A. M. (2015). Employee engagement, human resource management practices and competitive advantage. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 2(1), 7–35. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOEPP-08-2014-0042
Bryk, A. S., & Schneider, B. (2002). Trust in schools: A core resource for improvement. Russell Sage Foundation.
Chuang, M.-L., Galli-Debicella, A., & Han, X. (2021). Team leadership and trust to assess project performance in higher education. Journal of Management Research, 13(4). https://doi.org/10.5296/jmr.v13i4.18883
Dirks, K. T., & Ferrin, D. L. (2002). Trust in leadership: Meta-analytic findings and implications for research and practice. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(4), 611–628. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.87.4.611
Fullan, M. (2016). The new meaning of educational change (5th ed.). Teachers College Press.
Goddard, R. D., Tschannen-Moran, M., & Hoy, W. K. (2001). A multilevel examination of the distribution and effects of teacher trust in students and parents in urban elementary schools. The Elementary School Journal, 102(1), 3–17. https://doi.org/10.1086/499690
Hargreaves, A., & O’Connor, M. T. (2018). Solidarity with solidity: The case for collaborative professionalism. Phi Delta Kappan, 100(1), 20–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/0031721718797116
Hoy, W. K., & Tschannen-Moran, M. (2003). The conceptualization and measurement of faculty trust in schools. In Studies in leading and organizing schools (pp. 181–208). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1433-9_9
Kim, S., & Lee, J. (2021). Organizational trust and knowledge sharing: The mediating role of perceived fairness. Journal of Knowledge Management, 25(2), 429–450. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-05-2020-0385
Leithwood, K., Harris, A., & Hopkins, D. (2020). Seven strong claims about successful school leadership revisited. School Leadership & Management, 40(1), 5–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2019.1596077
Mayer, R. C., Davis, J. H., & Schoorman, F. D. (1995). An integrative model of organizational trust. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 709–734. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1995.9508080335
OECD. (2020). Building trust in education systems. OECD Publishing. https://www.oecd.org/education/building-trust-in-education-systems.htm
Robinson, V. M. J. (2011). Student-centered leadership. Jossey-Bass.
Salmi, J. (2019). The challenge of establishing world-class universities. World Bank Publications. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/31831
Schein, E. H., & Schein, P. (2017). Organizational culture and leadership (5th ed.). Wiley.
Tschannen-Moran, M. (2014). Trust matters: Leadership for successful schools (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Tschannen-Moran, M., & Hoy, W. K. (2000). A multidisciplinary analysis of the nature, meaning, and measurement of trust. Review of Educational Research, 70(4), 547–593. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543070004547
Üztemur, S., Gökalp, A., & İlğan, A. (2025). Leadership, autonomy, and organizational trust as predictors of teacher wellbeing and job satisfaction. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.xxxxxx
Wang, Y., & Liu, S. (2022). Academic trust, collaboration, and performance in higher education institutions. Higher Education Research & Development, 41(4), 1032–1046. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2021.1950811
Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods (6th ed.). Sage Publications.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 International Journal of Studies in International Education

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

