Assessment of a study of the relationship between transformational leadership, empowerment and organizational commitment
Introduction and Purpose of Study
The implications of transformational leadership on a firm’s employees and the success of the firm overall are areas of ongoing research according to Ismail, Mohamed, Sulaiman, Mohamad, and Yusuf (2011). The authors make the case that in a changing global environment transformational leadership styles, rather than transactional styles, are a means organizations are using to meet their strategies (p. 90). They argue previous research suggests that some aspects of transformational leadership, such as empowerment, may motivate the followers to unite, change their own goals, and
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The paper will conclude with a closing section that will provide an overall assessment of the analysis.
Methods
According to Burns and Burns (2008, p. 194), a successful sample that balances both efficiency and reliability of generalization can be accomplished by the defining the population, identifying the sample frame, determining the sample size, selecting the appropriate sampling technique, and then collecting the sample. In this section it will be argued that the authors’ acceptance of the sample frame, techniques, and data collection methods in various parts of the study introduces potential bias and thus there are implications to the reported results.
The authors objectives were to examine: (1) the relationship between transformational leadership and empowerment; (2) the relationship between transformational leadership, and (3) the organizational commitment and the mediating effects of empowerment in the relationship between transformational leadership and commitment. The authors used a cross-sectional study that included the components, in-depth interviews, a pilot study, and a broad survey of employees from a US subsidiary operating in East Malaysia, Malaysia. The authors chose this company to investigate how the company had used transformational leadership to become the largest electronics exporter and airfreight exporter in the region and to investigate how transformational leadership is accepted
Transformational leadership consists of four components, being charisma or idealized influence, inspiration and vision, intellectual stimulation and individual consideration (Marshall, 2011). All of these components are of equal importance when employing transformational leadership, but the component that I find most personally applicable is charisma or idealized influence. As a student nurse, my surroundings are always changing, one moment I am on the labor and delivery unit with a group of peers and the next week I am with a totally different group of peers in a mental health facility. Being surrounded by an ever-changing group with ever changing goals and objectives I feel as though it is a challenge to emerge as a leader. It is my personal belief that in order to become a leader, some sort of personal connection must be forged, and this can be difficult with a revolving schedule. Conversely, it is also my opinion that despite how well one knows the people that they are surrounded by, if one knows themselves and their beliefs and values, their charisma will be evident. Being charismatic is about being a role model and inspiring others to follow based on the personal qualities that one exemplifies (Marshall, 2011). A charismatic leader knows who they are and where they are going and does everything with a
Over the past twenty years, an abundant body of researches have been done to review transformational leadership and transactional leadership. Burn (1978) was the first person to introduce and conceptualize the concept of transformational leadership and transactional leadership. Bass (1985) based on Burn’s concept and deepen his notion with modifications, which stated that one of the best frameworks of leadership is transformational or transactional, but not opposing to each other. Followed by Bass and Avolio (1994), they provide the idea of these two leaderships and generalize them into the development of global economic world. Bass and Avolio (1997) also suggested that there was no need to view transformational and
Transformational Leadership empowers or enables its followers. The leader engages with the follower in a way that both the leader and follower transcend to a higher level of motivation and morality (Nicholls, 1994).
According to Hyde (2008), “Culture is determined by how people behave, and the only way to change culture is to change behaviors” (p. 6). A key aspect of changing behavior is enabling (empowering) employees to make decisions and create change within their work scope. By giving employees the power to make changes not only improves their morale, but also benefits the company in which they work by increasing their productivity. According to Marshall, et. Al (2006), “Allowing employees to make decisions increases their job satisfaction and sense of responsibility and translates into improvements in the quality and timeliness with which duties are performed, freeing management for more significant matters” (p. 39). By giving decision making authority to followers, transformation leaders are using what Bass (1991) referred to as psychological empowerment. In other words, empowerment influences follower outcomes.
There are many models of leadership that exist across a range of fields (e.g. social work, education, psychology, business, etc.). The ability to transform an organization successfully requires a different set of attitudes and skills. Transformational leadership is an approach where a leader utilizes inspiration, charisma, individualized attention, and intellectual stimulation with their employees (Iachini, Cross, & Freedman, 2015, p. 651). Transformational leadership helps to clarify organizational vision, inspires employees to attain objectives, empowers employees, encourages employees to take risks, and advocates the seeking of alternative solutions to challenges in the workplace (Transformational Leadership, 2015). It allows the leader to engage and motivate each follower identify with the organization’s values and goals.
The three articles used for this comparison matrix looked at transformational leadership and how it affects those in relation to each study. The three articles were all written with a different purpose in mind, with all three correlating to the same hypothesis, “How does transformational leadership affect employees/individuals in different settings?” With similarities found in topic, it was also evident that there were several contrasting variables within each article. The three empirical articles that were utilized for this comparison were as follows: Transformational Leadership in
A Transformational Leader is a person who assesses a country, or organization/company, and recognizes the need for a change in the entity and is able to envision what this change should be. The transformational leader not only envisions the necessary change but has the required personality and strength of character that will enable them to influence others to buy into their vision and make it their own, and hence be willing to follow the leader in the quest to bring about the vision.
Transformational leadership’s influence on job performance, job satisfaction, employee attitudes, and employee engagement has been studied and compared to the influence of transactional leadership on the same. This paper compares three studies by three different researchers. Wright and Pandey (2010), Emery and Barker (2007), and Hechanova and Cementina-Olpoc (2013) conducted empirical research to determine the degree of influence transformational leadership played in each of their sample populations. This
In conclusion, the three empirical articles compared provided much research, data, and informative topics that furthers discussion of the research that is available. Each article obtained limitations. Article one limitations was based on the average age of the respondents being 50 years and mostly Caucasian. Many of the jurisdictions had only three respondents and may not be good representation of the opinions of the direct reports given. Transformational leadership might not be the result of less hierarchal organizations. (Grand Canyon University Doctoral Studies Comparison Matrix Chart). Limitations in the contrast of the important test of transformational and transactional leadership on organizational performance were performed in organizations tat had either exclusively male and female managers while limiting the study based on only banking and food organizations. The third article limits its research by the availability of instruments
The transformational leadership style is a more contemporary style of leadership (Dahlkemper, 2013). The work by Burns (1978) gave the leadership style currency and lead to further nursing leadership research, “due to their emphasis on relationships as the foundation for effecting positive change our outcomes”(Cummings, 2010). Leadership can be defined as “a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal”(Northouse, 2004) Transformation leadership works by creating a vision which usually correlates with the organisation and promotes motivation (Hutchinson, 2013; Murphy, 2005). This leadership style is one of the more popular styles used in the work place as it works by empowering and motivating employees
Does transformational leadership empower followers by providing equitable opportunities in the direct objectives of producing the organization's quality, outcome-based products?
Over the past twenty years, an abundant body of researches have been done to review transformational leadership and transactional leadership. Burn (1978) was the first person to introduce and conceptualize the concept of transformational leadership and transactional leadership. Bass (1985) based on Burn’s concept and deepened his notion with modifications, which stated that one of the best frameworks of leadership is transformational or transactional. Following Bass and Avolio (1994, p. 4) provided the idea of these two leaderships and generalized them into the development of global economic world. Bass and Avolio (1997) also suggested that there was no need to view transformational and transactional leadership as
Describe the role of leadership types within teams. What are some of the primary reasons teams fail? What can be done to ensure team success? Give a personal example of team success. Support your discussion with appropriate leadership theories that apply.
Being able to lead a group or someone is a very powerful action. Being a leader in general is very powerful. Leadership is an art that is painted, sculpted, and displayed in all sorts of ways. There are many different styles of leadership that correspond with different tasks. From transformational leadership to laissez-faire leadership, there are various styles throughout the continuum. A transformational leader is one of the best, more successful leadership style. When going down the continuum, the leadership styles only become less effective. Everyone also falls in distinctive categories when it comes to leading others. The leadership style that is displayed depends on the person leading and those who are being led along with the task.
The objective of this research is to evaluate the relationship between transformational leadership style and the acceptance or resistance of the employees during an organizational change. Every day organizations present processes and change situations that allow the optimization of the production processes, or restructuring of services. During this process the employees can manifest concerns and uncertainty. The leader has to build confidence in the team and clarify their questions as required. The following study will examine how a leader can create the best climate for change and form the vision among the employees that change must be achieved in order to serve their customers better. The strategies of the leader have to be focused on creating and managing a team-based empowered organization, and pushing the decisions to the lowest possible levels. The leader will have to persuade and convince the upper management that the “command and control” style is not working anymore on the organization and prepare them for the changes.