The Impact of Organizational Climate on Teacher Enthusiasm: A Two-Staged Structural Equation Modelling–Artificial Neural Network Approach

1.1 Organizational Climate

Organizational climate comprises two words: organization and climate. Organization refers to a group of two or more people working together towards a common goal. This system of cooperation includes human, physical, work, and cooperative elements. Collectively, these elements form an organization. Different researchers have defined the organizational climate in different ways (Geleta, 2017). Although the organizational climate of different organizations shows similar characteristics, there can be differences in the individual areas (Prastiawan et al., 2020). Hence, the meaning of the term “organizational climate” may differ, and it is context-specific. In the present context, organizational climate refers to school climate. School is more than a place of transmitting knowledge; the number of interactions between human resources and the school’s climate influences these interactions. Administrative, economic, and political problems can sometimes arise due to poor working conditions. Thomas (1976) described the school as an umbilical organization because they are conceived and born of a central administrative body, but their ties to that body are never completely severed. These links are reflected in the school’s organizational climate, which sets it apart from other schools. Organizational climate is an elusive concept, but it may provide educators with a better understanding of how schools operate (Thomas, 1976). It is the key to the smooth functioning of schools and has significant implications for understanding the success of any organization.

Philosophically, the school’s organizational climate is the heart and soul of a school, and psychologically, it is the school’s personality (Maxwell, Reynolds, Lee, Subasic, & Bromhead, 2017). The school climate refers to the feeling and attitudes evoked by the school environment (Loukas, 2007). School climate is the combination of human connections, physical setting, and psychological atmosphere (Perkins, 2006). According to Hoy and Miskel (2005), school climate refers to the “heart and soul of a school, psychological and institutional attributes that give a school its personality, a relatively enduring quality of the entire school experienced by members, which describes their collective perceptions of routine behavior and affects their attitudes and behavior in the school” (p. 185). According to Freiberg (1998), the school climate is the product of systemic, physical, organizational, linguistic, sociocultural, and psychological aspects. It is the result of various types of interactions happening among stakeholders (Ahghar, 2008). Hence, the school climate can be hostile or helpful, encouraging, or oppressive.

In the present context, organizational climate is operationalized as the notion of perceived environmental quality (Deer, 1980), and four dimensions of organizational climate: perception of teachers about leadership, organization structure and design, interpersonal relations, and member quality (Singh, 2015) have been considered. These four structural properties make up the operationalized dimensions of the organizational climate that were used during the data collection phase of the study. Leadership has been operationalized as the process of social influence a leader can lay on accomplishing a common task (Singh, 2015). It includes an individual’s perception of the administrator’s warmth, support, guidance, and supervision. Organizational structure and design are based on the hierarchy of people in the department. It is the method by which organizational activities are divided, organized, and coordinated (Ahmady, Mehrpour, & Nikooravesh, 2016). The structure of an organization controls the distribution of information, inclusive working environment, expectations from the teachers, and performance evaluation. Forehand (1968) described the size and structure of the organization as an external component of organizational climate. Interpersonal relations refer to co-workers’ relations including team spirit, and recognition from administrators and colleagues. It also includes communication flow at different levels in the organization. Koys and DeCotiis (1991) also suggested that leadership, communication, and feedback can be important predictors of psychological climate. Member quality dimension is related to teachers who demand broad knowledge of the subject matter, curriculum, classroom management techniques, and standards expected from them (Singh, 2015).

Many assessment methods for the organizational climate have been presented in the literature. Deer (1980) stated that organizational climate could be measured through field observation, experimental manipulation of the environment, objective indices, and perception of individuals. In the present study, the organizational climate assessment has been done through self-report covering four dimensions of the organizational climate. Teachers’ perception of the school environment is critical in understanding school reforms, job satisfaction, productivity, motivation, and general well-being (Pretorius & De Villiers, 2009). Schneider (1972) also revealed that using the perception of individual members working in the same organization to measure organizational climate is more convenient than field studies. This way, the long working experience of the employee in that organization can be considered.

1.2 Teacher Enthusiasm

Teacher enthusiasm has evolved as a concept over time. Some researchers claim that teachers’ enthusiasm is first experienced and then expressed in their actions. As a result, it now includes both experienced enthusiasm (a sense of being happy, enthusiastic, pleased, and enjoying teaching) and demonstrated enthusiasm (nonverbal expressiveness) as complementary elements (Keller, Hoy, Goetz, & Frenzel, 2015). Keller’s model depicts that the “core” of enthusiasm is found in the teacher’s personality, which “depicts enjoyment and excitement toward the subject and teaching the subject” (Keller, 2011, p. 139). Kunter et al. (2008) defined teacher enthusiasm as an affective component of teacher motivation that “reflects the degree of enjoyment, excitement, and pleasure that teachers typically experience in their professional activities” (p. 470). Teachers’ positive affect is a predictor of teachers’ self-efficacy and satisfaction with work, which, in turn, shapes experienced teacher enthusiasm (Burić & Moe, 2020). According to studies on teacher emotions, teaching is an emotional endeavour (Hargreaves, 2000), and their emotions are related to their well-being and the quality of their teaching (Brackett, Floman, Ashton-James, Cherkasskiy, & Salovey, 2013; Frenzel, 2014). Hence, teacher enthusiasm refers to a teacher’s teaching approach that reflects their inner emotions. It is the teacher’s own emotions that motivate the student. According to a qualitative study of, helpfulness, a positive attitude toward students, passion for teaching, and a desire to spend time with students are the essential characteristics of a passionate teacher. Scientists integrated the personality trait approach with behavioural concepts (Kunter, Frenzel, Nagy, Baumert, & Pekrun, 2011). Teacher enthusiasm encompasses two distinct dimensions: teaching enthusiasm (activity-related) and subject enthusiasm (topic-related) (Kunter et al., 2011). These two dimensions can be separated based on context specificity. Teacher enthusiasm is defined as an enduring passion for the subject and dedication towards the profession in the current study context. In the present study, teacher enthusiasm is evaluated directly through self-reports, and five dimensions of teacher enthusiasm have been considered. One of the dimensions of teaching enthusiasm is interest and engagement, which corresponds to enjoyable teaching (Kunter et al., 2013). Teacher enthusiasm entails enjoyable teaching (Frenzel, Goetz, Lüdtke, Pekrun, & Sutton, 2009; Keller, Goetz, Becker, Morger, & Hensley, 2014), active learning, and group planning connected to the real world. Passion for teaching (second dimension) is a characteristic of enthusiastic teachers that drives them to be more committed to the teaching–learning process (Keller et al., 2013; Kunter et al., 2011). They devote more time, energy, and resources to improve their teaching (Gabryś-Barker, 2014; Kunter et al., 2008; Oprea, 2013). Creativity is a set of attitudes and skills that enable someone to be a novel, problem solver, tolerant of ambiguity, and willing to take risks (Davis & Davis, 2019). Teachers can use creativity and innovation (third dimension) to make teaching more enjoyable and personalized (Oprea, 2013). Creative teachers use enriched content, innovative forms of presentation and integrate new ideas and experiments into their lessons (Gabryś-Barker, 2014). They also encourage students’ innovative and creative ideas and work with them to develop problem-solving skills. Professional development has been identified as the fourth dimension of enthusiastic teachers because they are always looking to grow professionally (Gabryś-Barker, 2014) and learn new skills to understand pedagogy better. They value the use of new technology to improve pedagogical understanding. According to research findings, subject knowledge (fifth dimension) should be extensive to become an enthusiastic teacher. It has been identified as an essential factor in the two-factor model of enthusiasm (Kunter et al., 2008). It can be assessed using the following parameters: staying up to date on subject-specific innovations (Gabryś-Barker, 2014; Keller et al., 2014), regular participation in training courses and conferences, expanding knowledge, reading articles from various publications, exchanging resources, and discussions with subject matter experts.

Teachers’ and stakeholders’ participation are the essential characteristics of a school’s organizational atmosphere. Teachers passionate about their subject and profession demonstrate a solid commitment to their work through their interest, joy, and excitement (Kunter et al., 2008). According to many experts, one of the essential teaching characteristics for teaching effectiveness is enthusiasm (Minor, Onwuegbuzie, Witcher, & James, 2002) and positively affects students’ learning and achievement (Bettencourt, Gillett, Gall, & Hull, 1983). At all times, enthusiastic teachers are filled with positive thoughts and a desire to teach. Enthusiasm motivates them to involve students in their learning actively. Enthusiastic teachers rapidly capture students’ attention and can ignite their interest in study (Allen, Witt, & Wheeless, 2006; Bettencourt et al., 1983; Keller, Goetz, Becker, Morger, & Hensley, 2015; Kim & Schallert, 2014; Meyer & Turner, 2006). These teachers are perpetually passionate about teaching and their careers and assist teachers’ and students’ learning (Sutton, 2004, as cited in Keller, Becker, Frenzel, & Taxer, 2018). An enthusiastic delivery style is beneficial since it enhances learning and enjoyment (Moe, Frenzel, Au, & Taxer, 2021), and teacher enthusiasm is important for students’ motivation (Keller, Hoy, Goetz, & Frenzel, 2016). This widely acknowledged significance of teacher enthusiasm may stem from its ability to positively influence students’ progress and learning (Keller et al., 2014). Teachers can inspire and motivate students through their genuine enthusiasm and passion for teaching, regardless of external factors like financial incentives (Frenzel, Taxer, Schwab, & Kuhbandner, 2019). Supportive classrooms with enthusiastic teachers promote positive motivational development in students (Lazarides, Gaspard, & Dicke, 2019). The review indicates that teacher enthusiasm benefits both instructors and students. Even a teacher’s occupational well-being is related to their passion, and enthusiastic teachers report higher level of satisfaction in their life and at work and do not experience burnout. As a result, teacher enthusiasm is positively correlated with teacher happiness, health (Kunter et al., 2008, 2011, 2013), and mentorship quality (Richter et al., 2013), their understanding of the teaching profession and subject knowledge (Mahler, Großschedl, & Harms, 2017). Instructor enthusiasm is linked with course quality, instructional autonomy, cooperation, and peer support (Cobb & Foeller, 1992; Keller et al., 2015). Meeting teachers’ needs positively impact their enthusiasm, while neglecting their needs can diminish it. Thus, prioritizing teachers’ needs is crucial for nurturing their motivation and passion (Moè & Katz, 2022). It has a significant effect on several aspects of teaching, including classroom management, student learning assistance (Baumert & Kunter, 2013), and classroom learning environment. Frenzel et al. (2009) state that enthusiastic teachers use humour to make learning enjoyable. Their body language is contagious, and they always speak with a smile on their face. Learners respond in the same way, which contributes to a more friendly and participatory atmosphere. Students’ motivation (Patrick, Hisley, & Kempler, 2000), performance on tests (Marlin, 1991), memory (Stewart, 1989), attention and on-task behaviour (Bettencourt et al., 1983), and attitude towards learning are all positively related to teachers’ enthusiasm (McMillan, 1976). Students perceive increased autonomy and task value in a class with an engaged instructor, and they report less boredom (Cui, Lan, Zhang, Hu, & Wang, 2020; Cui, Yao, & Zhang, 2017), less cheating by students (Orosz et al., 2015), and anger (Goetz, Pekrun, Hall, & Haag, 2006). Teacher enthusiasm has a positive influence on the social-behavioural learning engagement of students (Dewaele & Li, 2021). At all times, enthusiastic teachers are filled with positive thoughts and a desire to teach. Enthusiasm motivates them to involve students in their learning actively. They rapidly capture students’ attention and can ignite their interest in study (Allen et al., 2006; Bettencourt et al., 1983; Keller et al., 2015; Kim & Schallert, 2014; Meyer & Turner, 2006). These teachers are perpetually passionate about teaching and their careers and assist teachers’ and students’ learning (Sutton, 2004, as cited in Keller et al., 2018). Teacher enthusiasm positively affects students’ learning and achievement (Bettencourt et al., 1983). Additionally, they are innovative in their work, facilitators of learning, interested in inspiring students, focused on professional development, possess a sense of humour, and are friendly to students. Teacher enthusiasm is a consistent and enduring characteristic of best-performing educators. When they teach, they exhibit happy emotions, which can be evident in their actions. It is generally viewed as the teacher’s capacity to instil an appreciation for learning intrinsic value and an effective means of imparting knowledge to students (Kunter et al., 2008). Creating an environment in which information exchange is encouraged and valued leads to increased teacher enthusiasm (Öngel & Tabancalı, 2022). A positive organizational climate, regardless of the type of institution, is linked to high satisfaction and positive emotions. Conversely, a negative climate is associated with low satisfaction and negative emotions, unaffected by the institutional type (Otrębski, 2022).

1.3 Significance of the Study

Review studies indicate that organizational climate and teacher enthusiasm have remained a source of interest for sociologists and psychologists. The term “organizational climate” is becoming even more popular in educational contexts. Many studies have consistently documented the importance of organizational climate as a determining factor of organizational outcomes. Various studies included within the review also suggest that organizational climate and teacher enthusiasm are potential factors for deciding the school’s academic success. Despite being such important variables, there have been few studies conducted to understand the interplay of these two variables. Recognizing the scarcity of educational research into the nature of this relationship, the current study was carried out as a preliminary empirical investigation. The study specifically investigates the relationship between organizational climate and teacher enthusiasm in schools. It aims to demonstrate how perceptions of organizational climate influence teacher enthusiasm in the classroom. Understanding the relationship between these concepts will aid in identifying the most important aspects of organizational climate that can be used to significantly raise teacher enthusiasm. Further, it can help in improving the effectiveness and efficiency of schools. With a better understanding of these variables, administrators may be able to find ways to improve the quality of work-life, resulting in increased productivity and a higher level of student achievement in the case of schools (Deer, 1980). Because when teachers think they can organize and execute their teaching according to their beliefs, they prepare more effectively, take personal responsibility for student achievement, are fearless of temporary setbacks, and act purposefully to increase student learning. Understanding how certain school climate features influence teacher motivation that promotes classroom teaching and learning is vital. It is critical to understand how climate is related to teachers’ accomplishments. What are the underlying generalizations and mechanisms that account for increased enthusiasm level among teachers?

1.4 Aims and Hypotheses Development

A school’s ability to function appropriately is contingent upon the presence of a healthy and pleasant environment (Deal & Peterson, 1999; Freiberg & Stein, 1999). The organizational climate describes how well an organization is performing in terms of realizing its potential (Gunbayi, 2007) and has a significant influence on the outcome of the organization (Patterson, Warr, & West, 2004), personal, and team level (Patterson et al., 2005). Climate influences employee behaviour (Forehand & Von Haller, 1964; Pretorius & De Villiers, 2009), efforts to achieve objectives (Litwin & Stringer, 1968 as cited in Kanten & Ulker, 2013), and the quality of the employees’ work-life (Walton, 1973). Litwin and Stringer (1968) found that people motivated by a goal function effectively in a conducive organizational environment. The school’s organizational climate affects the principal’s (leader’s) behaviour (Rousseau, 1988). It can influence job satisfaction and individual job performance (Mathieu, Hofmann, & Farr, 1993). A healthy organizational environment is essential for achieving organizational efficiency (Burton, Lauridsen, & Obel, 2004). Organizational climate is a significant predictor of performance (Litwin, Humphrey, & Wilson, 1978), and a positive school climate fosters productive and constructive collaboration among students, teachers, administrators, and parents (Van Houtte, 2005). It reduces harassment and acts as a buffer for learning and development (Astor, Guerra, & Van Acker, 2010). Additionally, a positive organization’s climate affects teacher retention (Shann, 1998), teacher absenteeism and disengagement (Sargent & Hannum, 2005), job-related stress, and teacher burnout (Betoret, 2009; Caprara, Barbaranelli, Borgogni, Petitta, & Rubinacci, 2003; Caprara, Barbaranelli, Steca, & Malone, 2006; Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2010), teachers’ goals and aspirations (Muijs & Reynolds, 2002), and attitudes towards change (Allinder, 1994; Guskey, 1988; Woolfolk & Hoy, 1990). Successful organizations have contented and happy workers (Oshagbemi, 2000). Hence, the importance of the organizational climate has been emphasized many times in the literature, and it has been examined from different perspectives.

Huang, Chin-Hsi, Mingyao, and Peng (2021) observed a strong correlation between school-level facilitators and teachers’ creativity. Organizational processes have a significant impact on teachers’ morale (Orsi, Viotti, Guidetti, & Converso, 2016), work engagement behaviour (Köse, 2016), job satisfaction (Xiaofu, & Qiwen, 2007), and job involvement (Hung, Tsai, & Wu, 2016). Thapa, Cohen, Guffey, and Higgins-D’Alessandro (2013) recommended that school climate is essential for teachers and the community. Converso et al. (2019) revealed that the school environment influences teachers’ well-being and quality of life. In short, a socially supportive climate in the teaching profession appears to be a buffer against teacher burnout (Lim & Eo, 2014). Teacher perceives climate as desirable when there is a high degree of congruence between the requirements for the structural characteristics of the organization and the personal disposition of the participant’s needs (George & Bishop, 1971). Lim and Eo (2014) envisioned that socially supportive teaching environments may be important sources of both individual and collective teacher efficacy across cultures. The organizational structure of a healthy organization focuses on role clarity, autonomy, workload, participation of employees, and providing a flexible working environment (Burns & Machin, 2013). Organizational factors (Leithwood, Harris, & Hopkins, 2008) such as leadership (Thoonen, Sleegers, Oort, Peetsma, & Geijsel, 2011, Wenström, Uusiautti, & Määttä, 2018) and interpersonal relationships (Xiaofu, & Qiwen, 2007) influence the enthusiasm level of teachers. Hence, many studies have shown a strong and consistent association between organizational factors and teacher well-being and performance.

Based on the review following objectives were set for the study:

1. To investigate the relationship between organizational climate and teacher enthusiasm.

2. To identify the most significant dimensions of organizational climate that contribute to teacher enthusiasm and understand the underlying mechanisms through which they operate.

3. To validate the proposed model by employing the collected data and applying the two-stage SEM artificial neural network (ANN) approach.

Hypotheses:

1. There is a significant relationship between organizational climate and teacher enthusiasm.

2. The proposed two-stage SEM ANN approach adequately explains the impact of organizational climate on teacher enthusiasm.

3. Organizational structure and design and member quality have more significant effect on teacher enthusiasm than interpersonal relationships and leadership.

2.1 Design of the Study

The study sample includes 600 teachers who are teaching in different schools in Haryana state, India. The sample size satisfies the ten times rule as the data were collected on 42 items in the study. Hence at least 420 respondents should be included in the study (Barclay, Thompson, & dan Higgins, 1995). The sample size of 600 is almost six times more than the minimum sample size of 95 suggested by G* power with an effect size of 0.3, an alpha level of 0.05, and a power test of 0.95 (Faul, Erdfelder, Buchner, & Lang, 2009). Additionally, this sample size exceeded the consensus view of 50 times the number of modifiable predictors in the neural network (Alwosheel, van Cranenburgh, & Chorus, 2018). Data collection was completed by investigators themselves personally after obtaining consent from the respondents.

Given that the neural network has four predictors, the minimum sample size required is at least 200. As a result, the sample size for ANN analysis is fairly large. In India, schools are broadly divided into two broad categories: private and government schools. Education in private schools is more expensive than the government as they do not receive any funding from the government. Hence, to make the sample more representative, teachers from both schools have been included in the sample. The demographic variables included gender, experience, age, location, and type of school. The demographic profile of the sample is presented in Table 1.

2.2 Measures

The Teachers’ Enthusiasm Scale developed by Punia and Bala (2021) was used to measure teachers consisting of items based on the 5-point Likert Scale. The adapted scale has five dimensions of teacher enthusiasm: passion for teaching, subject knowledge enrichment, interest and engagement, professional development, and creativity and innovation as second-order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to check the model fit of the scale. Standardized factor loading estimate for all five factors and 27 indicators significantly contributed to the measurement of teacher enthusiasm. The overall goodness of fit of the model measured by CMIN/df is 3.5 (CMIN = 1130.55, df = 319, p < 0.05), which suggests a good model fit. Other fit indices (CFI = 0.88, TLI = 0.85, RMSEA = 0.065) further confirmed model fit (Doll, Xia, & Torkzadeh, 1994). The reliability statistics of the scale calculated by Cronbach’s alpha was 0.957.

Singh’s (2015) organizational climate scale for teachers was used to assess the organizational climate. The organizational climate scale for teachers has four dimensions: leadership, organizational structure and design, interpersonal relationships, and member quality. In the context of this study, the reliability statistics of the scale Cronbach’s Alpha was found to be 0.95. The second-order CFA was run for organizational climate scale for 4 factors and 15 indicators. The model showed adequate fit (χ ² = 296.036, df = 86, p = 0.000, χ ²/df = 3.44). The other fit indices (CFI = 0.956, TLI = 0.938, RMSEA = 0.064) also confirmed a good model fit.

2.3 Data Analysis

The data analysis in this study includes partial least square-structural equation modelling and ANN. There was no missing frequency in the data set. PLS-SEM has been used to assess the measurement and structural equation models based on organizational climate and teacher enthusiasm. The significant predictors of SEM analysis were taken into ANN model’s input neurons. The data were analysed using AMOS 23, SPSS 23 version, and SmartPLS 3.3.3. The predictive ability of the model was calculated by using blindfolding technique and PLS-predict.

3.1 Assessing Model Using PLS

Assessment of the model followed two-step assessments of both measurement and structural model, respectively (Chin, 2010; Hair, Ringle, & Sarstedt, 2011). The measurement model has been tested to measure the internal consistency and validity of the model. The final model in the study involved two reflective second-order constructs, viz. “Organizational climate” and “Teacher Enthusiasm.” Organizational climate includes interpersonal relation, leadership, member quality, and organizational structure and design are reflective constructs. Therefore, organizational climate is a higher-order reflective–reflective construct. Similarly, teacher enthusiasm is also a reflective–reflective higher-order construct composed of creativity and innovation, interest and engagement, passion for teaching, professional development, and subject knowledge enrichment as first-order constructs.

Nine first-order constructs (interpersonal relation, leadership, member quality, organizational structure and design, creativity and innovation, interest and engagement, passion for teaching, professional development, and subject knowledge enrichment) were evaluated as a part of the initial assessment of the measurement model. As all the first-order constructs are reflective, composite reliability, Cronbach’s alpha, rho, and average variance extracted (AVE) were used to evaluate the reliability and validity of the model (presented in Table 2). Indicator loading indicates that most values are higher than 0.7 (Hair et al., 2011). However, some loadings falling below the acceptable range are justified because if CR and AVE of the construct are in the acceptable region, then items loading in the range of 0.4–0.7 can also be retained (Hair et al., 2011). Results shown in Table 2 indicate that first-order constructs are internally consistent and reliable. Discriminant validity was calculated by using the Fornell Larcker criterion (Fornell & Larcker, 1981), and the square root of AVE of each construct was compared with the correlation of remaining constructs and is presented in Table 3, which indicates the acceptability of discriminant validity for all the first-order constructs of this model (Figure 1).

Figure 1

Structural model.

The second step analysed the measurement model by generating two second-order constructs (organizational climate and teacher enthusiasm). Interpersonal relation, leadership, member quality, and organizational structure and design are the dimensions of organizational climate and creativity and innovation, interest and engagement, passion for teaching, professional development, and subject knowledge enrichment formed the dimensions of teacher enthusiasm. The second-order construct was created by using a two-stage approach. The results presented in Table 4 show reliability, convergent reliability, and discriminant validity for higher-order constructs. All these values were calculated manually, and the value of discriminant validity was calculated by using the HTMT formula, and the value came out to be 0.46. Therefore, the results for higher-order constructs have shown that the formation of second-order constructs met all the measurement criteria and can be accepted.

3.2 Assessment of Structural Model

The structural model is assessed preliminary based on the R-square measure for the endogenous variable (teacher enthusiasm) and the path coefficients (Chin, 2010; Hair et al., 2011). The R ² value for teacher enthusiasm in the study is 0.16, suggesting that the model’s in-sample explanatory power is moderate with a 0.20 effect size. The value of the path coefficient is 0.40 with a p-value of 0.00 (bootstrapping with 5,000 samples). Therefore, the results show a moderate effect of organizational climate in determining teacher enthusiasm. However, to evaluate the out-sample predictive power of the path model, Q ² was calculated. Blindfolding with an omission distance of 7 was run to calculate the Q ² value, which came out to be 0.10, which predicts small predictive relevance (Hair et al., 2011).

In order to evaluate the predictive relevance of the model, PLS predict with ten folds, and ten repetitions were run. Results of PLS predict presented in Table 5 indicate that the Q ² predict value has been greater than zero for all the constructs; however, the model would be able to predict interest and engagement (0.14), passion for teaching (0.11), and professional development (0.14) with more power than creativity and innovation (0.08) and subject knowledge enrichment of teachers (0.02).

3.3 ANN Analysis

Nevertheless, as no theory supports the link between organizational climate and teacher enthusiasm, ANN has been used to test the predictive power of significant antecedents of teacher enthusiasm obtained from preliminary analysis in PLS-SEM. Further, ANN is robust against noise and outliers and can even work in the case of non-compensatory models. The presence of non-normal data distribution further justifies the use of an ANN model (Figure 2).

Figure: 2

ANN diagram.

The ANN analysis was performed in IBM’S SPSS neural network program. The sample was divided into two parts following the 9:1 ratio in the training and testing procedure as recommended earlier (Leong, Jaafar, & Ainin, 2018). To avoid the possibility of overfitting, the procedure was repeated ten times, and the value of RMSE was calculated from the given values of SSE, which is presented in Table 6. It is portrayed that the RMSE value from the training and testing sample are 0.62 and 0.58, respectively, indicating that the model has medium prediction power. However, the strength of each input neuron was measured by conducting a sensitive analysis. The normalized importance of each neuron was calculated by dividing the relative importance of each input neuron by maximum importance (Karaca, Moonis, Zhang, & Gezgez, 2019). The normalized importance expressed in terms of percentage reflects the relative importance of each predictor variable (Ooi & Tan, 2016). The results depicted that organizational structure design (100%) is the most important predictor of teacher enthusiasm, followed by member quality (69.19%), leadership (53.62%), and interpersonal relation (38.45%) (Table 7).