Supervisor's Transformational Leadership Research Articles

How transformational leadership shapes employee task performance? A sequential mediation model

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to analyze, through a sequential model, the underlying mechanisms connecting transformational leadership with employee task performance. Specifically, it examined the causal chain of transformational leadership-job characteristics (task variety and task significance)-job engagement-task performance.Design/methodology/approachThe hypotheses were tested on a sample of 320 employees and their supervisors from Spanish young technology and knowledge-intensive small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) using structural equations.FindingsThe results show that the effect of transformational leadership on task performance (assessed by supervisors) occurs sequentially via task significance and job engagement. Additionally, job engagement mediates the relationship between task variety and task performance.Practical implicationsFindings highlight the relevance for supervisors to employ a transformational leadership style that leads employees directly and indirectly, through task significance, to be more engaged and achieve higher task performance. They also emphasize the importance of proper job design that allows employees to be fully invested in their job performance.Originality/valueDespite the importance of leadership and employee performance for the survival and growth of these firms, the study of these relationships is largely unexplored. This study proposes and tests a serial model in which supervisor transformational leadership is linked to employee task performance through two sequential mediators: job characteristics (task variety and task significance) and job engagement.

Impact of employment on newcomer's values: Role of supervisor's transformational leadership

We explore changes in newcomers’ values from the day they join their first job, over time. In an engineering company (N = 244), after one month of classroom training, newcomers showed an increase in self-enhancement values and a reduction in self-transcendence values. In a bank (N = 59), after 18 months on-the-job experience, newcomers’ values showed a reduction in self-transcendence. In an automobile company (N = 64), the supervisor's transformational leadership enhanced self-transcendence values and reduced self-enhancement values of newcomers. We also found that transformational leadership of the newcomer's supervisor was positively related to enhancement of the newcomer–supervisor value congruence.

The Impact of Developmental HR Practices on Career Self-Management and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Model

PurposeDrawing on the social exchange and signal theory, this study aims to investigate the impact of developmental HR practices on employees’ career self-management and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) through the mediating role of direct supervisor’s transformational leadership and the moderating role of perceived organizational support.MethodsData were congregated from 571 employees belonging to a diverse range of organizations in southwest China. Statistical procedures, such as hierarchical regression and bootstrapping analysis based on Hayes’ PROCESS on SPSS 23, were conducted to test the hypotheses. For model fitness, we used AMOS V 22.ResultsA positive effect of developmental HR practices on employees’ career self-management and OCB was found, which was partially mediated by direct supervisor’s transformational leadership. Moreover, perceived organizational support is anticipated to moderate the indirect relationship among developmental HR practices, career self-management and OCB through supervisor’s transformational leadership.DiscussionThis study finds that employees’ perceived organizational support should be given more attention by organizations, especially in the context of transformational direct supervisors implementing developmental HR practices. Meanwhile, this study extends the utility of the concept of developmental HR practices to the leadership and career management literature.

Following an Uneven Lead: Trickle-Down Effects of Differentiated Transformational Leadership

Drawing from conservation-of-resources theory, we examine a trickle-down model of differentiated transformational leadership (leaders treating followers differently) across three hierarchical levels (i.e., managers, supervisors, and supervisors’ followers). Specifically, we develop a model in which manager differentiated transformational leadership increases department unit stress (i.e., the managers’ group of followers), which then translates into increased differentiated supervisor transformational leadership. The latter then again positively predicts team unit stress (i.e., the supervisors’ group of followers) and, eventually, results in decreased team helping behavior of supervisors’ followers. We tested this model using data from a large, multisource field study. The results provide support for our trickle-down model in that department managers’ differentiated transformational leadership decreased team helping behavior two hierarchical levels below the manager via increasing department unit stress (Stage 1 mediator), supervisor differentiated transformational leadership (Stage 2 mediator), and team unit stress (Stage 3 mediator).

Organizational commitment and job performance: Examining the moderating roles of occupational commitment and transformational leadership

AbstractTo address why the relationship between affective organizational commitment and job performance varies, we draw on the theorization of Meyer, Becker, and Vandenberghe to propose moderation of affective occupational commitment and transformational leadership, separately and interactively. Data collected from 398 employees and their supervisors supported our hypotheses. Specifically, affective organizational commitment was more strongly associated with job performance for employees with high occupational commitment, or when a supervisor's transformational leadership was high. Importantly, in a moderated mediation relationship, we found the effect of transformational leadership on the relationship between affective organizational commitment and job performance for employees with high occupational commitment was contrary to its effect on employees with low occupational commitment. Given the significant roles of both commitments as discussed in the present study, we offer suggestions on how to consider these factors during the assessment and selection of personnel and role assignment.

Uncertainty avoidance moderates the relationship between transformational leadership and innovation: A meta-analysis

Transformational leadership is commonly assumed to facilitate employee innovation in all cultures. Drawing upon field studies from 17 countries, this meta-analysis revealed that supervisor transformational leadership is positively related to individual- and team-level innovation regardless of national boundaries. However, the relationship trended somewhat more strongly in countries with higher levels of uncertainty avoidance. These findings suggest that employee innovation in most countries can be enhanced by investing in supervisor transformational leadership, but organizations operating in countries with higher levels of uncertainty avoidance may benefit more from this strategy.

Impact of Employment on Newcomer's Values: Role of Supervisor's Transformational Leadership

An individual's first job is likely to change his or her values, and one's first supervisor is likely to play a significant role in this value change. In a series of three longitudinal studies, we show the impact of an individual's first job on his on her values and the role of the immediate supervisor's leadership on the change in values. In the first two studies at a large engineering company (N = 244) and a bank (N = 59), we found that after one month of classroom training and eighteen months of on-the-job experience respectively, newcomer's values changed such that they showed an increase in self-enhancement values and a reduction in self-transcendence values. In the third study (N = 100) at an automobile company, we looked at the effect of on-the-job experience on newcomer's values and found a similar result. Moreover, we matched newcomer-supervisor pairs (N = 64) and found that the supervisor's transformational leadership enhanced self-transcendence values and reduced self-enhancement values of newcomers. Also, supervisor's transformational leadership enhanced newcomer-supervisor value congruence. Our studies have demonstrated that employment makes people self-centered and that transformational leadership can reverse the effect.

Trickle-down Effects of Differentiated Leadership on Lower Level Leadership and Team Helping

Drawing from uncertainty management theory and the stress literature, we examine a trickle-down model of differentiated transformational leadership (leaders treating their followers differently) across three hierarchical levels (i.e., managers, supervisors, and a supervisor’s followers). Specifically, we developed a model in which manager differentiated transformational leadership increases unit stress which then translates into increased differentiated supervisor transformational leadership and eventually yields in decreased team helping behavior. We tested this model using data from a large multisource field study. The results provide support for our trickle-down model in that department managers’ differentiated transformational leadership decreased team helping behavior two hierarchical levels below the manager via enhancing department unit stress (Stage 1 mediator) and supervisor differentiated transformational leadership (Stage 2 mediator).

Mechanisms of Corporate Social Responsibility: The Moderating Role of Transformational Leadership

Literature reviews have repeatedly emphasized the need to further investigate relationships between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and micro-organizational variables. The present research attempts to address this call by examining the direct and indirect relationship between individual perceptions of CSR and employees’ organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). Multiphasic data from 207 workplace supervisor–subordinate dyads recruited from an online panel were analyzed to show that organizational identification mediated the relationship between CSR and OCBs. Furthermore, supervisor transformational leadership style moderated the mediation, such that the indirect effect of the organizational identification on the relationship between CSR and OCBs became nonsignificant under low transformational leadership. Based on these results, we make suggestions for using embeddedness programs to improve perceptions of CSR.

Effects of Supervisor Transformational Leadership on Employee Knowledge Sharing and Perceived Group Performance : Moderating Role of Employee Idiocentrism

본 연구는 중국 내에서 중국인 직원을 고용하고 있는 한국기업에서 직원들 간의 지식공유와 성과창출에 상사의 변혁적 리더십과 부하의 자기중심성이 어떤 영향을 미치는지 조사하였다. 154 명의 중국인 직원들을 대상으로 한 연구결과를 보면, 상사의 변혁적 리더십이 직원들로 하여금 지식공유를 활발히 하고 집단의 성과가 높다는 인식을 하게 만드는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 부하의 자기중심성이 증가할수록 이러한 변혁적 리더십의 영향력이 감소하는 것으로 밝혀졌다. 본 연구의 결과는 중국 내 한국기업의 성과를 향상시키는데 기여할 수 있을 것이다. 그리고 구성원 개인의 문화 성향을 고려한 변혁적 리더십, 지식공유 및 개인이 지각한 집단성과의 상호 영향 관계 형성 과정과 맥락을 바탕으로 중국 진출 한국 기업에 대한 심층적인 연구가 이루어졌 다는 점에서 실무적인 시사점을 제공하였다.This study investigated the effects of supervisors transformational leadership and employees idiocentrism on the employees knowledge sharing and perceived group performance in Korean multi-national firm subsidiaries operated within China. With a sample of 154 Chinese employees, we conducted a paper-based survey and found that supervisors transformational leadership enhanced employees perceived group performance partially through the employees knowledge sharing. In addition, the positive effects of transformational leadership on knowledge sharing was found to be moderated by employee idiocentrism such that, as employee idiocentrism increased, the relationship between transformational leadership and knowledge sharing became weakened. The results of this study can contribute to improve the performance of Korean companies in China. In addition, it provides practical implications for the in-depth study of Korean companies entering China based on the process and context of forming the mutual influence relationship between transformational leadership, knowledge sharing, and individual perceived group performance.

Lasting Impression: Transformational Leadership and Family Supportive Supervision as Resources for Well-being and Performance.

Although evidence is growing in the occupational health field that supervisors are a critical influence on subordinates' reports of family supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB), our understanding is limited regarding the antecedents of employee's FSSB perceptions and their lagged effects on future health and work outcomes. Drawing on a positive job resource perspective, we argue that supervisors who report that they use transformational leadership (TL) styles are more likely to have subordinates with higher FSSB perceptions. We theorize that these enhanced perceptions of work-family specific support increase access to personal and social resources (objectively and subjectively) that buffer work-nonwork demands and enhance health (mental, physical) and job outcomes (performance appraisal ratings, job satisfaction, turnover intentions, work-family conflict). Time-lagged multi-source survey data collected in a field study from retail employees and their supervisors and archival performance ratings data collected a year later support our proposed relationships (with the exception that for health, only mental health and not physical health was significant). Post hoc analyses showed that employees' FSSB perceptions play a mediating role between supervisor TL and job satisfaction and work-family conflict, but no other outcomes studied. Overall, this study answers calls in the occupational health literature to use stronger designs to determine linkages between leadership-related workplace phenomena as antecedents of health, work-family, and job outcomes. Our results demonstrate that employees with supervisors who report that they use transformational leadership styles are more likely to perceive higher levels of family supportive supervision, which are positive job resources that enhance occupational health.

How Followers Differing in Career Motivation Gain Career Profits from Transformational Leaders: A Longitudinal Moderated Mediation Model.

Although, transformational leadership is among the most thoroughly examined leadership theories, knowledge regarding its association with followers' career outcomes is still limited. Furthermore, the underlying mechanisms explaining how transformational leaders affect their employees' career success are yet not well-understood. Based on theoretical assumptions about the processes involved in setting the goal of “making a career,” we propose an indirect effect of transformational leadership on subjective and objective career success via development opportunities that depends on the level of career motivation of employees. We conducted a longitudinal study with two measurement occasions separated by 13 months with 320 employees of a large IT company. Respondents provided ratings online on their direct supervisor's transformational leadership, their own development opportunities, and career motivation at T1; subjective career success was rated at both time points, whereas objective indicators of career transitions were rated at T2 retrospectively. Using structural equation modeling, we tested the proposed moderated mediation model. The results indicated that transformational leadership increased subordinates' subjective career success via development opportunities. In addition, and contrary to theoretical reasoning, the indirect effect was not significant for employees with high career motivation. Thus, employees high in career motivation appeared not to benefit from the development opportunities offered by transformational leaders. The results are discussed in light of tailored leadership that takes the aspirations, and needs of followers into account.

원자력 R&D 조직에서 상사의 변혁적 리더십이 연구자의 지식공유, 경력계획 및 경력만족에 미치는 영향

원자력 R&D 조직에서 상사의 변혁적 리더십이 연구자의 지식공유, 경력계획 및 경력만족에 미치는 영향

Mitigating the negative effect of perceived organizational politics on organizational citizenship behavior: Moderating roles of contextual and personal resources

AbstractBased on the job demands–resources model, this study considers how employees’ perceptions of organizational politics might reduce their engagement in organizational citizenship behavior. It also considers the moderating role of two contextual resources and one personal resource (i.e., supervisor transformational leadership, knowledge sharing with peers, and resilience) and argues that they buffer the negative relationship between perceptions of organizational politics and organizational citizenship behavior. Data from a Mexican-based manufacturing organization reveal that perceptions of organizational politics reduce organizational citizenship behavior, but the effect is weaker with higher levels of transformational leadership, knowledge sharing, and resilience. The buffering role of resilience is particularly strong when transformational leadership is low, thus suggesting a three-way interaction among perceptions of organizational politics, resilience, and transformational leadership. These findings indicate that organizations marked by strongly politicized internal environments can counter the resulting stress by developing adequate contextual and personal resources within their ranks.

차상위 리더의 윤리적 리더십이 구성원의 선제적 행동(주도적 행동·도움행동)에 미치는 영향: 팀장의 변혁적 리더십의 매개효과를 중심으로

차상위 리더의 윤리적 리더십이 구성원의 선제적 행동(주도적 행동·도움행동)에 미치는 영향: 팀장의 변혁적 리더십의 매개효과를 중심으로

Individual- and Organization-Level Work-to-Family Spillover Are Uniquely Associated with Hotel Managers' Work Exhaustion and Satisfaction.

Purpose: Building on the Conservation of Resources theory, this paper examined the unique and interactive associations of negative and positive work-to-family spillover (NWFS and PWFS, respectively) at the individual and organizational level with hotel managers' work exhaustion and satisfaction, beyond job demands and supervisors' leadership style.Design/Methodology/Approach: Guided by the levels of analysis framework, we first tested the unique associations of NWFS and PWFS with emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction at the individual level (571 hotel managers), beyond job demands supervisors' leadership style. Second, using multilevel modeling, we tested the climate effects of NWFS and PWFS on emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction aggregated at the organizational level (41 hotels). Third, we examined the role of the organizational climate of PWFS in the associations of individual-level NWFS with emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction.Findings: Beyond the effects of psychological job demands and supervisor's transformational leadership, at the individual level, hotel managers who experienced higher NWFS than other managers reported more exhaustion and lower job satisfaction, whereas those with higher PWFS reported less exhaustion and higher satisfaction. At the organizational level, working in hotels where the average level of NWFS was higher than other hotels was associated with feeling more exhaustion of the individual members; working in hotels with higher PWFS was associated with feeling less exhaustion. The negative link between individual-level NWFS and job satisfaction was buffered when organization-level PWFS was higher, compared to when it was lower.Originality/Value: This study moves beyond a focus on traditional job characteristics, toward considering individual and organizational experiences in the work-family interface as unique predictors of work exhaustion and satisfaction. Strengths of the study include illuminating organizational work-family climate effects such that coworkers' shared experiences of NWFS and PWFS explain individual members' work exhaustion, beyond their own experiences of spillover. The results also highlight that a high level of organizational PWFS can buffer the negative effects of individual NWFS.

Transformational leadership and proactive work behaviour: A moderated mediation model including work engagement and job strain

This study explores the role of work engagement as an affective–motivational mechanism through which transformational leadership may relate to proactive behaviour. In line with a resource‐based approach (Hobfoll, ), we hypothesize that employees only invest resources provided through work engagement into proactivity when job strain is low. Under conditions of high job strain, work engagement is less likely to translate into proactive behaviours. In contrast, for core task‐related job performance, we expect work engagement to be positively related to core job performance regardless of job strain. The hypotheses were tested in a multisource field study among 148 employee–colleague dyads. Focal employees self‐rated their work engagement, job strain, and their supervisor's transformational leadership. Employee proactivity (personal initiative and voice behaviour) and core job performance were rated by colleagues. The findings support the moderated mediation model. Transformational leadership related positively to work engagement and in turn to proactivity in terms of both personal initiative and voice. Low job strain formed a necessary precondition for work engagement to translate into higher proactivity, whereas the relationship between work engagement and core job performance was independent from job strain.Practitioner points Organizations need to avoid high stress that might evoke strain in employees and thereby prevent work engagement from translating into proactivity. This can be achieved, for instance, through training interventions based on a cognitive‐behavioural approach and through organizational interventions aimed at increasing employees’ job autonomy and decision‐making, as well as the implementation of rest periods. Organizations can improve transformational leadership skills in supervisors to increase employee proactivity. Transformational leadership skills can be developed through education, training, and coaching interventions that are based on action‐oriented methods and are aimed at fostering self‐reflection in supervisors.

Discrepancies in Leader and Follower Ratings of Transformational Leadership: Relationship with Organizational Culture in Mental Health.

The role of leadership in the management and delivery of health and allied health services is often discussed but lacks empirical research. Discrepancies are often found between leaders' self-ratings and followers' ratings of the leader. To our knowledge no research has examined leader-follower discrepancies and their association with organizational culture in mental health clinics. The current study examines congruence, discrepancy, and directionality of discrepancy in relation to organizational culture in 38 mental health teams (N=276). Supervisors and providers completed surveys including ratings of the supervisor transformational leadership and organizational culture. Polynomial regression and response surface analysis models were computed examining the associations of leadership discrepancy and defensive organizational culture and its subscales. Discrepancies between supervisor and provider reports of transformational leadership were associated with a more negative organizational culture. Culture suffered more where supervisors rated themselves more positively than providers, in contrast to supervisors rating themselves lower than the provider ratings of the supervisor. Leadership and leader discrepancy should be a consideration in improving organizational culture and for strategic initiatives such as quality of care and the implementation and sustainment of evidence-based practice.

The mediating role of organizational justice in the relationship between transformational leadership and nurses’ quality of work life: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey

BackgroundThe importance of transformational leadership for nurses’ well-being is increasingly acknowledged. However, there is a paucity of research examining the mechanisms that may explain the relationships between transformational leadership and nurses’ quality of work life. ObjectivesFirst, to examine two possible psychological mechanisms that link transformational leadership behaviors to nurses’ quality of work life. Second, to study the relationship between nurses’ quality of work life and their work engagement. DesignCross-sectional study design. SettingsThe study took place in 47 different hematology, oncology, and hematology/oncology units in France. Participants were nurses and auxiliary nurses. Participants343 nurses completed the questionnaire. Surveys were sent to all nurses working in the units. 95% were female, the average age was 36.30 years. MethodsNurses were asked to rate their supervisor's transformational leadership style and their perceptions of distributive and interactional justice in the unit. They were also asked to evaluate their own level of quality of work life and their work engagement. ResultsDistributive justice and interactional justice were found to fully mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and nurses’ quality of work life. In addition, nurses’ quality of work life positively related to their work engagement. ConclusionsTransformational leaders may help ensure nurses’ quality of work life which in turn increases their work engagement. These leadership practices are thus beneficial for both employees and organization.

Leadership, Innovation Climate, and Attitudes Toward Evidence-Based Practice During a Statewide Implementation

Leadership is important in practice change, yet there are few studies addressing this issue in mental health and social services. This study examined the differential roles of transformational (i.e., charismatic) leadership and leader-member exchange (i.e., the relationship between a supervisor and their direct service providers) on team innovation climate (i.e., openness to new innovations) and provider attitudes toward adopting evidence-based practice (EBP) during a statewide evidence-based practice implementation (EBPI) of an intervention to reduce child neglect. Participants were 140 case-managers in 30 teams providing home-based services to families in a statewide child-welfare system. Teams were assigned by region to EBPI or services as usual (SAU) conditions. Multiple group path analysis was used to examine associations of transformational leadership and leader-member exchange with innovation climate and attitudes toward adoption and use of EBP. Transformational leadership predicted higher innovation climate during implementation, whereas leader-member exchange predicted higher innovation climate during SAU. Innovation climate was, in turn, associated with more positive attitudes toward EBP for the EBPI group. Strategies designed to enhance supervisor transformational leadership have the potential to facilitate implementation efforts by promoting a strong climate for EBPI and positive provider attitudes toward adoption and use of EBP.