Measuring the Competitive-High Quality Graders of Vocational School with Leadership Style: A Case Study in Samarinda

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine whether vocational graduate competitive advantage is associated with servant leadership, participative leadership, democratic leadership, and graduate competence. It also aims to examine the extent to which graduate competency acts as a moderator. A structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to analyze the study data. The study adopted the quantitative survey design to examine responses from school principals, staff, teachers, and students at a vocational school in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, Indonesia.  The study results show that servant leadership and participative leadership positively and significantly affect vocational graduates' competitive advantage. Graduate competence strengthens the relationship between leadership styles (serving, participatory, and democratic leadership) and vocational graduate competitive advantage. These findings revealed that the competitiveness of vocational school graduates in East Kalimantan can achieve optimal results if vocational school leaders are able to anticipate and track organizational changes through their authority to build structures, people, technology, and mechanisms that can create a new and more productive culture. Such findings could help Indonesian policymakers increase vocational school graduates with a competitive advantage to compete in the industrial world.