Transformational leadership, goal difficulty, and job design:

Independent and interactive effects on employee outcomes

Article PresentationCourse 614

Jason T. Munro

1. Describe what the study is about?

A total of 209 leader-follower dyads participated in this field study.

Twelve different organizations were represented in the study. The organizations ranged from manufacturing to health care.

The study was designed to examine moderating effects of followers results related to performance, affective organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior when transformational leadership is being substituted.

2. Identify hypotheses and/or research Question

H1: H1: An enriched job will substitute for transformational

leader behavior in its positive relationship to the follower outcomes of performance, affective organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behaviors such that transformational leader behavior’s positive effect will be increasingly reduced (negatively moderated) and eventually replaced by increasing levels of job enrichment. At low levels of job enrichment, transformational leader behavior will exhibit significant positive relationships with follower outcomes, while at high levels of job enrichment, transformational leader behavior will not exhibit a significant relationship.

2. Identify hypotheses and/or research Question H2:

H2: Goal difficulty will enhance (positively moderate) the relationship between the transformational leader behavior and the follower outcomes of performance and affective organizational commitment such that transformational leader behavior’s positive relationships to the outcomes will become increasingly greater at higher levels of goal difficulty. The positive effect size of leader behavior on outcomes will be greater at higher levels of goal difficulty.

2. Identify hypotheses and/or research Question H3:

H3: Goal difficulty will neutralize (negatively moderate) the relationships between the transformational leadership behavior and organizational citizenship behavior such that at increasing levels of goal difficulty, transformational leader behavior’s positive effect on citizenship behavior will decrease. The positive effect size will be less at greater levels of goal difficulty.

Conceptual Framework

TransLeader

Trans XJob Eng

GoalDiff

Trans XGoal Dif

Job Design

EmployeeOutcome

3. Identify the research strategy used and its relative strengths and weaknesses

Cross-sectional Design

Field Study

Paper survey questionnaire with written instructions

Strength:

Research can be conducted in a shorter period of time

Weaknesses:

Passive approach to causal inferences, examine current differences (Marsh, 1982:6)

4. Discuss the sample type: Subjects

The sample consisted of 12 different organizations ranging from manufacturing, government agencies, health care, production, accounting and personnel.

Front-line supervisors to presidents.

Participants were selected based on formal job title.

4. Discuss the sample type: Subjects (cont.)Participation’s Breakdown

100 of 140 managers completed the survey (71% response rate)

Manager provided 10 subordinates and 3 were randomly selected (I would only provide people that are part of the in group)

420 subordinates were identified, 209 participated (50% response rate)

4. Discuss the sample type: Subjects (cont.)Participation’s Breakdown

Break down of Managers:

87.7% of managers were white

70.9% male

10.5 years of service

25% of the managers were first line supervisors

50% were second line

24.7% were third line

4. Discuss the sample type: Subjects (cont.)Participation’s Breakdown

Break down of Subordinates:

81% were white

65.7% were male

7.8 years of service

2.5 years with present manager

49% did not hold a supervisors position

31% were first –line supervisors

17.3% second level management or higher

5. Sampling procedure:

Both Manager and Subordinates received detail instructions to complete and assess the tasks listed below with a pre-paid stamped envelop to return the completed survey.

Each survey was coded so the researcher code match subordinate to manager.

Managers:

Received a packet with a questionnaire to evaluate subordinates’ performance and OCB and demographics.

Subordinates:

Received a packet with a questionnaire to evaluate their manager’s leadership style, difficulty of their work goals, the enrichment level of their jobs, their affective organizational commitment; and demographics.

6. Discuss the data collection type:

Field Study - Survey questionnaire:

One hundred and forty managers completed a questionnaire with a 71% response rate.

The managers were required to provide a list of 10 subordinates and the researcher randomly selected 3,

420 subordinates were selected. A total of 209 dyads participated in the study.

7. Data / Collection procedure

Packets were sent to managers with survey questionnaires to evaluate participants.

The evaluation form(s) included questions about subordinates performance, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and demographics.

Detail written instructions were provided along with a return envelop with postage.

The surveys were coded to match managers to subordinates responses.

Instruments

Transformational leader behavior

Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5X; Bass & Avolio, 1994)

Job enrichment

Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS; Hackman & Oldham, 1976)

Affective organizational commitment

Eight-item affective commitment dimension in the organizational commitment scale; (Allen & Meyer, 1990)

Instruments (cont.)

Manager evaluations of subordinates OCB

24-item social reports scale adapted from Podsakoff et. al (1990) five facets of OCB (Organ, 1988)

Subordinate performance

Fixed-sum-weighted, Likert-type interval scale on three dimensions (quality of work, quantity of work and promotability

8. Determine data analysis techniques

Moderated regression analyses

Moderator models are often used to examine when an independent variable influences a dependent variable. That is, moderated models are used to identify factors that change the relationship between independent and dependent variables

http://www.psych-it.com.au/Psychlopedia/article.asp?id=372

Created by Dr Simon Moss on 25/02/2010

9. Summarize the results of the study (H1)

Moderating effects of job enrichment – H1

Proposed that job enrichment would substitute for transformational leader behavior relationships with followers performance, affective organizational commitment, and OCB.

Predicted a positive effect for transformational leadership behavior and job enrichment scores and a negative sign on interaction (Podsakoff et al., 1996)  

9. Summarize the results of the study (H1) cont. 1

Relationship for affective commitment (B leader =.31, p<.001; B job enrich =.34, p<.001; B interaction = -.12, p<.05).

Significant positive relationship for transformational leadership and job enrichment

Significant negative sign for interaction coefficient.

Standard deviation (low =-1 mean) (high = +1 mean)

9. Summarize the results of the study (H1) cont. 2

Simple slope analysis: Results

Affective commitment on job enrichment and transformational leadership yield a less steep, but still significant simple slope at high levels (one STD)

Job enrichment (B = .19, p<.05) a steeper positive slope at low levels (-one STD)

Jog enrichment (B = .42, p<.001)

Job enrichment did not fully substitute for transformational leader behavior in its effects on affective commitment until a level greater than 1 standard deviation.

9. Summarize the results of the study(H2)

Moderating effects of goal difficulty – H2

Proposed that goal difficulty would enhance the relationship between transformational leadership behavior and both performance and affective organizational commitment.

Bata values for performance (B leader =.25, p<.001; B interaction = .13, p<.05 )

Bata values for affective commitment (B leader=.43, p<.001; B interaction = .13, p<.05)

9. Summarize the results of the study(H2) Cont.

Simple slope analysis

to examine the interaction between transformational leader behavior and goal difficulty for regression of affective commitment.

Transformational leadership:

significant at low and high levels of goal difficulty

Significantly more positive at high levels of goal difficulty (B low =.31, p<.001; B high =.54, p<.001)

Regression on performance scores, B high has the same relationship however, simple slope on B low was nonsignificant at low levels of goal difficulty (b low = .13, ns; B high = .36, p<.001).

9. Summarize the results of the study(H3)

Proposed that goal difficulty would neutralize the relationship between transformational leadership behavior and OCB.

Significant results were not found

Discussion

Bass (1985)

Characteristics of the external environment, the organizational environment and the leader may moderate the relationship between transformational leadership and follower performance.

Posakoff et al. (1996)

Due to the omission of potential moderators causes issues between transformational leadership and followers criterion variables.

Villa et al. (2003)

Previous research was not supported by strong theoretical rationale.

Discussion:4.1. Interaction effects on employee outcomes

An enriched job substitute for transformational leadership behavior on affective organizational commitment when using criteria from Howell et al. (1986) and Podsakoff et al. (1996).

Substitution for transformational leadership occurs only at high levels of job enrichment (may provide an alternative to the other)

Both is needed (transformational leader and enriched job) to encourage in-role and extra job role behaviors (however, needs further examination)

Discussion:4.2. Implications for research

4.2.1. Limitation

Other researchers presented concerns about common source variance in substitutes for leadership research.

Post hoc analyses was conducted to examine any potential impact of contingent rewards. When contingent reward was added it decreased the R2 and no increase in adjusted R2.

There are several factors that contribute to transformational leaders, such as “interactive relationship among mutually interdependent people operating in complex organizational environments.” Whittington, Goodwin & Murray (2004).