Unpacking transformational leadership: dimensional analysis with psychological empowerment

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (7) ◽  
pp. 1419-1434
Author(s):  
Mohammad Haris Minai ◽  
Hemang Jauhari ◽  
Manish Kumar ◽  
Shailendra Singh

Purpose Scholarly studies have criticized transformational leadership (TFL) for its lack of conceptual clarity and inadequate operationalization. This study endeavors to do a detailed examination of the dimensions of the construct to address the lack of conceptual clarity. Further, with respect to concerns regarding operationalization, the study does an exploratory evaluation of reconceptualized TFL's relationship with psychological empowerment, a construct through which TFL mostly has its beneficial outcomes.Design/methodology/approachRespondents (n = 335) from an Indian information technology (IT) services organization report on their psychological empowerment and the transformational behaviors of their supervisors using temporally separated (15 days) online questionnaires.FindingsAs expected, the dimensions of transformational leadership are not equally salient in influencing psychological empowerment; however, they explain variance in all dimensions of psychological empowerment. Visioning relates to meaning and impact; inspirational communication relates to all dimensions of empowerment; personal recognition relates to impact and competence; finally, intellectual stimulation relates to self-determination. Contrary to expectations, however, data did not support the relationship of intellectual stimulation and supportive leadership on competence.Research limitations/implicationsData collected from a single organization limit the claims of generalizability, and the use of a cross-sectional design prevents claims of causality. Given the significant variation in relational properties of individual dimensions, scholars can use dimensions of TFL, and therefore theorizing with these is possible.Originality/valueThis paper provides additional support for the unpacking of TFL, by hypothesizing and demonstrating the dimensional relationships between TFL and psychological empowerment.

Kybernetes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Florin Stanescu ◽  
Alexandra Zbuchea ◽  
Florina Pinzaru

Purpose This study aims to explore the relationship between transformational leadership and employees’ innovative work behaviour (IWB), additionally examining the mediating effect of psychological empowerment. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a cross-sectional design, data being collected from 139 employees through the following structured questionnaires: Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, IWB and psychological empowerment instrument. Findings The findings revealed a positive and significant relationship between transformational leadership and both IWB and psychological empowerment, as well as the fact that transformational leadership, through psychological empowerment, fosters IWB. Research limitations/implications One of the main weaknesses of this study is the use of a cross-sectional design, which does not allow for an assessment of the cause–effect relation. Also, using a self-reported questionnaire might have brought common method bias. Practical implications The paper shows that, by creating a greater sense of empowerment, leaders could have a higher positive effect on employee’s levels of IWB. Moreover, empowerment acts as one of the most important and effective processes within the transformational leadership framework in fostering innovation among followers. Originality/value This study extends the empirical research on transformational leadership and its influence on employees’ work attitudes. Given the scant research on the role of the psychological empowerment, the results of this study confirm not only its mediating role but also the need for further studies in this direction.


2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 608-619 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Gilbert ◽  
E. Kevin Kelloway

Purpose A critical assumption of the organizational leadership literature is that leaders want to engage in effective leadership behaviors (Gilbert and Kelloway, 2014). However, leaders may vary in their motivation to be effective in a leadership role, leading to different levels of performance. Drawing on self-determination theory, the authors address the question of what motivates leaders to engage in transformational leadership behaviors (Gilbert et al., 2016). The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The current study examined the effects of self-determined leader motivation for transformational leadership on aggregated follower leadership ratings using a sample of 37 leaders matched with 179 followers in two organizations. Findings Results show how leaders’ own motivation relates to followers’ perceptions of leader behavior, and specifically that, across contexts, some autonomous levels of leader motivation are positively related to follower perceptions of leaders’ active-constructive leadership and negatively related to follower perceptions of passive avoidant leadership. Research limitations/implications The research is limited by a small level-two sample size and cross-sectional design. The results suggest that some forms of leader motivation relate to follower ratings of leadership behavior. Originality/value This study is the first to examine how self-determined motivation for transformational leadership predicts follower perceptions of leadership behavior using a multilevel design.


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 786-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abderrahman Hassi

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the influences of transactional and transformational leadership styles on employee job satisfaction, employee affective commitment and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) within Moroccan organisations. Design/methodology/approach Data were gathered from a sample of 219 employees working in seven different industries in Morocco and analysed using Structural Equations Modelling (SEM). Findings SEM analyses reveal that employee job satisfaction, affective commitment and OCB are only impacted by the personal recognition dimension of the transformational leadership style. The study indicates that charisma and intellectual stimulation (transformational leadership) as well as contingent reward and management-by-exception (transactional leadership) did not yield significant results. Research limitations/implications The use of a cross-sectional research design limits establishing cause-and-effect relationships. Practical implications The results of the current study may be of use and interest for organisations in designing effective leadership training programs, as it takes into account how managers and/or practitioners tap into their subordinates’ effective behaviour. Originality/value With insights derived from a non-Western perspective, the major theoretical contribution of the present study lies in exploring the effects of transactional and transformational leadership styles on employee job satisfaction, employee affective commitment and OCB in Morocco.


2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mari Svendsen ◽  
Thomas S. Joensson

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between transformational leadership and voice during the change-planning process. The authors propose a moderated mediation model to investigate the relationship between voice, other change-related variables, and the boundary conditions of transformational leadership. Design/methodology/approach – The authors collected survey data from 124 employees and their leaders in a medical technology company in Norway. The organization was planning a major restructuring of its working procedures. The authors analyzed the data using PROCESS and a fixed effect approach. Findings – The results suggest that transformational leadership has no effect on change-related voice (CRV) by itself. However, there is an indirect effect through affective commitment to change. This effect is conditional on the employees’ level of perceived change impact. Research limitations/implications – The paper is limited by the cross-sectional design of the study. Other potential limitations are discussed. Originality/value – The paper is the first to explore the relationship between transformational leadership and CRV, and is thus interesting for practitioners who wish to increase the level of CRV from their employees. Furthermore, researchers interested in organizational change and proactivity constructs such as voice will also find the paper valuable.


2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suk Bong Choi ◽  
Kihwan Kim ◽  
S. M. Ebrahim Ullah ◽  
Seung-Wan Kang

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between transformational leadership (TL) and the innovative behavior of Korean workers. To this end, this paper also examines whether knowledge sharing and perceived organizational support (POS) influence the above causal relationship. Design/methodology/approach – The paper used a cross-sectional design, with questionnaires administered to 356 employees working in Korea manufacturing firms to test the relationship between TL and innovative behavior through knowledge sharing and the moderating role of POS. Findings – TL was significantly related to both employee innovative behavior and knowledge sharing. The results also shown that knowledge sharing mediated and POS positively moderated the relationship between TL and innovative behavior of employees. Research limitations/implications – Future research should examine antecedents of knowledge sharing and measure the effect of TL in other level such as team level, to enhance generalizability. Data should be also collected longitudinally, to extend the current cross-sectional design. Practical implications – Understanding the link between TL and innovative behavior with mediating and moderating factors can provide useful information to increase positive leadership outcomes and innovation performance. Originality/value – The findings point toward a positive relationship between TL and innovative behavior with mediating and moderating factors. In doing so, the paper adds to a body of work where innovative behavior was connected with leaders’ behavior and organizational-level predictors.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nandan Prabhu ◽  
Badrinarayan Srirangam Ramaprasad ◽  
Krishna Prasad ◽  
Roopa Modem

PurposeThis study explores the mediating influences of team reflexivity and workplace spirituality in the shared transformational leadership-team performance relationship.Design/methodology/approachAdopting the cross-sectional research design, this study collected data from 130 ongoing teams working in India's information technology (IT) sector. The study collected data on shared transformational leadership by adopting the referent-shift consensus method while collecting data on team performance from managers. Thus, the study explored the relationships among the constructs of this research by using multi-source data.FindingsThis study has shown that shared transformational leadership induces workplace spirituality and team reflexivity among team members. This research's results show that workplace spirituality mediates the shared transformational leadership-team performance and shared transformational leadership-team reflexivity relationships. This research has also demonstrated that team reflexivity mediates the shared transformational leadership-team performance relationship.Practical implicationsNecessity to facilitate relational job design changes, knowledge sharing, intellectual stimulation is the primary managerial implication of this study. This study also articulates the need to pay attention to create organizational conditions for the emergence of workplace spirituality.Originality/valueThis is the first study that has positioned shared transformational leadership and workplace spirituality as the antecedents of team reflexivity. This research has shown the value and limitation of team reflexivity in ongoing teams.


2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 1040-1056 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robyn L. Brouer ◽  
Chia-Yen (Chad) Chiu ◽  
Lei Wang

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the sub-dimensions of political skill and transformational leadership, arguing that in a Chinese sample, social astuteness, networking ability, and interpersonal influence will have a stronger impact than apparent sincerity. Additionally, transformational leadership is argued to mediate the relationship between leader political skill and subordinate job performance. Design/methodology/approach – This study used a dyadic, cross-sectional design where all data were collected at a single point in time and supervisors were matched to their followers. Findings – The results support that transformational leadership mediates the relationship between leader political skill and follower performance. Additionally, social astuteness was positively related to leader charisma, individualized consideration, and intellectual stimulation; whereas, interpersonal influence was related to leader charisma and intellectual stimulation. Apparent sincerity was not related to perceptions of transformational leadership. Practical implications – The findings imply that the authors might be able to design more customized training to reduce the costs of leadership development programs. Specially, in China, focus should be paid to increasing social astuteness and interpersonal influence only. Originality/value – This study is one of the few to examine the relationship between the sub-dimensions of political skill and transformational leadership. This is especially noteworthy in the context of the Chinese sample employed, as most political skill research has been done in western contexts.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura E. Marler ◽  
Susie S. Cox ◽  
Marcia J. Simmering ◽  
Bryan L. Rogers ◽  
Curtis F. Matherne

Purpose Information sharing is vital to organizational operations, yet employees are often reluctant to share negative information. This paper aims to gain insight into which employees will be reluctant to share negative information and when by drawing from the proactive motivation literature examining effects of proactive personality and motivational states on individuals’ willingness to share negative information. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional design was used, with data collected from a final sample of 393 individuals via an online survey. Hypotheses were tested using correlation and hierarchical multiple regression analyses. Findings Interactive effects indicate proactive individuals with accompanying high levels of role breadth self-efficacy (“can do”) or high levels of felt responsibility for constructive change (“reason to”) were less likely to be reluctant to share negative information. However, findings also suggest proactive individuals with lower levels of proactive motivation avoid sharing negative information. Originality/value The findings extend what is known about personality factors and employee willingness to share information to highlight which employees may be likely to avoid sharing negative information. The authors also examine the moderating influence of proactive motivational states on the relationships between proactive personality and reluctance to share negative information.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Ju ◽  
Jingjing Yao ◽  
Li Ma

PurposeJob involvement is an important predictor of how well employees perform and feel at work. However, despite fruitful findings, little is known about how person–job (P–J) fit affects job involvement.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a cross-sectional design and collected data from 375 employees and 50 managers. Multivariate regression was applied to test the moderated curvilinear model.FindingsThis study found an inverted U-shaped relationship between P–J fit and job involvement. For employees with a strong performance goal orientation, maximum job involvement occurred at a higher level of P–J fit, whereas for employees with a strong learning goal orientation, maximum job involvement occurred at a moderate level of P–J fit.Practical implicationsManagers should be aware that solely maximizing fit may not constantly yield positive outcomes, and that ignoring differences in employee needs and goals may be counterproductive.Originality/valueThe study challenges the conventional wisdom that a high P–J fit is always productive by showing that a high fit may sometimes jeopardize job involvement, particularly for certain employees.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Temitope Owolabi ◽  
Tunde A. Alabi ◽  
Sofiat A. Busari-Akinbode

Purpose This study aims to investigate female commercial drivers in the Lagos metropolis. The study sought to know the circumstances that motivated women to venture into commercial driving; the experiences they encounter whilst engaging with other stakeholders in the public space; the dimension of the conflict between work and family, and the coping strategies used and finally, the health concerns of female commercial drivers. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a cross-sectional design and a qualitative method of data collection. An in-depth interview guide was used to elicit information from 18 female drivers drawn from three sectors of commercial transportation in Lagos State. Findings It was found that the major motivation for engaging in commercial driving is the need for survival and family support; although participants acknowledged that they cannot be in the profession for a long time. Married women had less time to engage in commercial driving due to other family responsibilities. Women drivers have experienced mixed reactions from other road users. Commercial driving is physically demanding and poses threat to the health of female commercial drivers. Originality/value The findings highlight the circumstances behind women participating in commercial driving. Despite the challenges encountered in this course of this activity, they are still bent on continuing because of the need to take care of their children, a majority of their spouses are not fully contributing to the maintenance of the home.


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