The Effectiveness of Transformational Leadership:
A Qualitative-Based study on Millennial perceptions in South Africa
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14738/abr.95.10191Keywords:
Transformational leadership, millennials, motivation, individualistic, nature and 21st century workplaceAbstract
The purpose of this study/article is to exmaine whether the individualistic nature of millennials undermines the the effrots of transformational leadsrhip in achieving organizational objectives.
References
Anderson, H.J., Baur, J.E., Griffith, J.A. and Buckley, M.R. (2018) 'What works for you may not work for (Gen) Me: Limitations of present leadership theories for the new generation', The Leadership Quarterly, 28(1), pp. 245-260.
Avolio, B.J., Zhu, W., Koh, W. and Bhatia, P. (2004) 'Transformational leadership and organizational commitment: Mediating role of psychological empowerment and moderating role of structural distance', Journal of Organizational Behavior: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior, 25(8), pp. 951-968.
Balyer, A. (2012) 'Transformational Leadership Behaviors of School Principals: A Qualitative Research Based on Teachers' Perceptions.', International Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 4(3), pp. 581-591.
Bass, B.M. (1995) 'Theory of transformational leadership redux', The leadership quarterly, 6(4), pp. 463-478.
Bass, B.M. (1990) 'From transactional to transformational leadership: Learning to share the vision', Organizational dynamics, 18(3), pp. 19-31.
Bass, B.M. (1985) Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York: Free Press.
Bass, B.M. and Steidlmeier, P. (1999) 'Ethics, character, and authentic transformational leadership behavior', The leadership quarterly, 10(2), pp. 181-217.
Bennett, J., Pitt, M. and Price, S. (2012) 'Understanding the impact of generational issues in the workplace', Facilities, 30(7/8), pp. 278-288.
Bronkhorst, B., Steijn, B. and Vermeeren, B. (2015) 'Transformational Leadership, Goal Setting, and Work Motivation: The Case of a Dutch Municipality', Review of Public Personnel Administration, 35(2), pp. 124-145. doi: 10.1177/0734371X13515486.
Bolden, R.(2011).’Distributed leadership Organization: A Review of Theory and Research’, International Journal of Management Review, 113, 251-269.
Bryman, A. (2016) Social research methods. 5th edn. Oxford: Oxford university press.
Buckley, M.R., Baur, J.E., Hardy, I.,Jay H., Johnson, J.F., Johnson, G., MacDougall, A.E., Banford, C.G., Bagdasarov, Z., Peterson, D.R. and Peacock, J. (2015) 'Management lore continues alive and well in the organizational sciences', Journal of Management History, 21(1), pp. 68-97. doi: 10.1108/JMH-05-2013-0027.
Campione, W.A. (2015) 'Corporate Offerings: Why Aren't Millennials Staying?', Journal of Applied Business & Economics, 17(4), pp. 60-75.
Chou, S.Y. (2012) 'Millennials in the workplace: A conceptual analysis of millennials' leadership and followership styles', International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 2(2), pp. 71-83.
Colbert, A.E., Judge, T.A., Choi, D. and Wang, G. (2012) 'Assessing the trait theory of leadership using self and observer ratings of personality: The mediating role of contributions to group success', The Leadership Quarterly, 23(4), pp. 670-685. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2012.03.004.
Dinh, J.E., Lord, R.G., Gardner, W.L., Meuser, J.D., Liden, R.C. and Hu, J. (2014) 'Leadership theory and research in the new millennium: Current theoretical trends and changing perspectives', The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), pp. 36-62.
Dulin, L. (2008) 'Leadership preferences of a generation Y cohort: A mixed‐methods investigation', Journal of Leadership Studies, 2(1), pp. 43-59. doi: 10.1002/jls.20045.
Dvir, T., Eden, D., Avolio, B.J. and Shamir, B. (2002) 'Impact of transformational leadership on follower development and performance: A field experiment', Academy of management journal, 45(4), pp. 735-744.
Fossey, E., Harvey, C., McDermott, F. and Davidson, L. (2002) 'Understanding and evaluating qualitative research', Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry, 36(6), pp. 717-732.
Gallup (2016) Gallup Millennials Full Report. Gallup, Inc. Available at: https://www.gallup.com/workplace/238073/millennials-work-live.aspx(Accessed: 5 June 2019).
Goleman, D. (2000) 'Leadership that gets results', Harvard business review, 78(2), pp. 4-17.
Grant, A.M. (2012) 'Leading with meaning: Beneficiary contact, prosocial impact, and the performance effects of transformational leadership', Academy of Management Journal, 55(2), pp. 458-476.
Gregory Stone, A., Russell, R.F. and Patterson, K. (2004) 'Transformational versus servant leadership: A difference in leader focus', Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 25(4), pp. 349-361.
Harvey, M. and Buckley, M.R. (2002) 'Assessing the "conventional wisdoms" of management for the 21st century organization', Organizational dynamics, 30(4), pp. 368.
Judge, T.A. and Piccolo, R.F. (2004) 'Transformational and transactional leadership: a meta-analytic test of their relative validity.', Journal of applied psychology, 89(5), pp. 755.
Jung, D.I., Chow, C. and Wu, A. (2003) 'The role of transformational leadership in enhancing organizational innovation: Hypotheses and some preliminary findings', The leadership quarterly, 14(4-5), pp. 525-544.
Katou, A.A. (2015) 'Transformational leadership and organisational performance: Three serially mediating mechanisms', Employee Relations, 37(3), pp. 329-353. doi: 10.1108/ER-05-2014-0056.
Kark, R., Shamir, B. and Chen, G. (2003) 'The Two Faces of Transformational Leadership: Empowerment and Dependency', Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(2), pp. 246-255. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.88.2.246.
Lyons, S. and Kuron, L. (2014) 'Generational differences in the workplace: A review of the evidence and directions for future research', Journal of Organizational Behavior, 35(S1), pp. S13-S157. doi: 10.1002/job.1913.
Masi, R.J. and Cooke, R.A. (2000) 'Effects of transformational leadership on subordinate motivation, empowering norms, and organizational productivity', The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 8(1), pp. 16-47.
Mittal, R. (2015) 'Charismatic and transformational leadership styles: A cross-cultural perspective', International Journal of Business and Management, 10(3), pp. 26.
Myers, K.K. and Sadaghiani, K. (2010) 'Millennials in the workplace: A communication perspective on millennials’ organizational relationships and performance', Journal of Business and Psychology, 25(2), pp. 225-238.
Naim, M.F. and Lenka, U. (2018) 'Development and retention of Generation Y employees: a conceptual framework', Employee Relations, 40(2), pp. 433-455. doi: 10.1108/ER-09-2016-0172.
Ng, E.S., Schweitzer, L. and Lyons, S.T. (2010) 'New generation, great expectations: A field study of the millennial generation', Journal of Business and Psychology, 25(2), pp. 281-292.
Ofori, F.N.K. (2021) ‘Reflecting on the Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Businesses, Minority Groups and their Implications for Socio-economic wellbeing in Britain’, Archives of Business Research, 9(3) 185-187 http://Doi.org/10.14738/abr/93.9869
Ofori, F.N.K. and Sarpong, D. (2020) ‘Business Geo-politics, Geo-economics and the Fourth Industrial Revolution: An Interview Maxim Shashenkov (Arterial Capital Management), South African Journal of Business Management 51 (1)Doi:10.4102/sajbm.r51i1.1667.
Ofori, F.N.K. (2020) ‘Financialisation, Regionalism and Leadership: Comparing Covid-19 Impacts and Responses in African and European Unions, Regions, ezine. Doi:https://10.1080/13673882.2020
Seligman, L.G. (1980) 'Leadership. By Burns James MacGregor. (New York: Harper and Row, 1978. Pp. ix + 530. $15.00.)', American Political Science Review, 74(1), pp. 153-156. doi: 10.2307/1955659.
Sessa, V.I., Kabacoff, R.I., Deal, J. and Brown, H. (2007) 'Generational Differences in Leader Values and Leadership Behaviors', The Psychologist-Manager Journal, 10(1), pp. 47-74. doi: 10.1080/10887150709336612.
Sharma, P.N. and Kirkman, B.L. (2015) 'Leveraging Leaders: A Literature Review and Future Lines of Inquiry for Empowering Leadership Research', Group & Organization Management, 40(2), pp. 193-237. doi: 10.1177/1059601115574906.
Stewart, J.S., Oliver, E.G., Cravens, K.S. and Oishi, S. (2017) 'Managing millennials: Embracing generational differences', Business horizons, 60(1), pp. 45-54.
Torsello, D. (2019) 'Generation Y workers', Employee Relations: The International Journal, 41(6), pp. 1330-1347. doi: 10.1108/ER-03-2018-0083.
Twenge, J.M. (2010) 'A review of the empirical evidence on generational differences in work attitudes', Journal of Business and Psychology, 25(2), pp. 201-210.
Twenge, J.M. and Campbell, S.M. (2008) 'Generational differences in psychological traits and their impact on the workplace', Journal of Managerial Psychology, 23(8), pp. 862-877. Doi: 10.1108/02683940810904367.
Twenge, J.M., Campbell, S.M., Hoffman, B.J. and Lance, C.E. (2010) 'Generational differences in work values: Leisure and extrinsic values increasing, social and intrinsic values decreasing', Journal of management, 36(5), pp. 1117-1142.
Uhl-Bien, M., Riggio, R.E., Lowe, K.B. and Carsten, M.K. (2014) 'Followership theory: A review and research agenda', The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), pp. 83-104. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.11.007.
Van Rossem, A. (2018) 'Generations as social categories: An exploratory cognitive study of generational identity and generational stereotypes in a multigenerational workforce', Journal of Organizational Behavior, 4(4), pp. 1-22. doi: 10.1002/job.2341.
Van Seters, D.A. and Field, R.H. (1990) 'The evolution of leadership theory', Journal of Organizational Change Management, 3(3), pp. 29-45.
Yi, X., Ribbens, B., Fu, L. and Cheng, W. (2015) 'Variation in career and workplace attitudes by generation, gender, and culture differences in career perceptions in the United States and China', Employee Relations, 37(1), pp. 66-82. doi: 10.1108/ER-01-2014-0005.
Yizhong, X., Baranchenko, Y., Lin, Z., Lau, C.K. and Ma, J. (2019) 'The influences of transformational leadership on employee employability: Evidence from China', Employee Relations, 41(1), pp. 101-118. doi: 10.1108/ER-02-2018-0052.
Yukl, G. (2012) 'Effective leadership behavior: What we know and what questions need more attention', Academy of Management Perspectives, 26(4), pp. 66-85.
Yukl, G. (1999) 'An evaluation of conceptual weaknesses in transformational and charismatic leadership theories', The leadership quarterly, 10(2), pp. 285-305.
Yukl, G. (1989) 'Managerial leadership: A review of theory and research', Journal of management, 15(2), pp. 251-289.
Zhu, W., Avolio, B.J. and Walumbwa, F.O. (2009) 'Moderating Role of Follower Characteristics With Transformational Leadership and Follower Work Engagement', Group & Organization Management, 34(5), pp. 590-619. doi: 10.1177/1059601108331242.
Avolio, B.J., Zhu, W., Koh, W. and Bhatia, P. (2004) 'Transformational leadership and organizational commitment: Mediating role of psychological empowerment and moderating role of structural distance', Journal of Organizational Behavior: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior, 25(8), pp. 951-968.
Balyer, A. (2012) 'Transformational Leadership Behaviors of School Principals: A Qualitative Research Based on Teachers' Perceptions.', International Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 4(3), pp. 581-591.
Bass, B.M. (1995) 'Theory of transformational leadership redux', The leadership quarterly, 6(4), pp. 463-478.
Bass, B.M. (1990) 'From transactional to transformational leadership: Learning to share the vision', Organizational dynamics, 18(3), pp. 19-31.
Bass, B.M. (1985) Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York: Free Press.
Bass, B.M. and Steidlmeier, P. (1999) 'Ethics, character, and authentic transformational leadership behavior', The leadership quarterly, 10(2), pp. 181-217.
Bennett, J., Pitt, M. and Price, S. (2012) 'Understanding the impact of generational issues in the workplace', Facilities, 30(7/8), pp. 278-288.
Bronkhorst, B., Steijn, B. and Vermeeren, B. (2015) 'Transformational Leadership, Goal Setting, and Work Motivation: The Case of a Dutch Municipality', Review of Public Personnel Administration, 35(2), pp. 124-145. doi: 10.1177/0734371X13515486.
Bolden, R.(2011).’Distributed leadership Organization: A Review of Theory and Research’, International Journal of Management Review, 113, 251-269.
Bryman, A. (2016) Social research methods. 5th edn. Oxford: Oxford university press.
Buckley, M.R., Baur, J.E., Hardy, I.,Jay H., Johnson, J.F., Johnson, G., MacDougall, A.E., Banford, C.G., Bagdasarov, Z., Peterson, D.R. and Peacock, J. (2015) 'Management lore continues alive and well in the organizational sciences', Journal of Management History, 21(1), pp. 68-97. doi: 10.1108/JMH-05-2013-0027.
Campione, W.A. (2015) 'Corporate Offerings: Why Aren't Millennials Staying?', Journal of Applied Business & Economics, 17(4), pp. 60-75.
Chou, S.Y. (2012) 'Millennials in the workplace: A conceptual analysis of millennials' leadership and followership styles', International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 2(2), pp. 71-83.
Colbert, A.E., Judge, T.A., Choi, D. and Wang, G. (2012) 'Assessing the trait theory of leadership using self and observer ratings of personality: The mediating role of contributions to group success', The Leadership Quarterly, 23(4), pp. 670-685. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2012.03.004.
Dinh, J.E., Lord, R.G., Gardner, W.L., Meuser, J.D., Liden, R.C. and Hu, J. (2014) 'Leadership theory and research in the new millennium: Current theoretical trends and changing perspectives', The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), pp. 36-62.
Dulin, L. (2008) 'Leadership preferences of a generation Y cohort: A mixed‐methods investigation', Journal of Leadership Studies, 2(1), pp. 43-59. doi: 10.1002/jls.20045.
Dvir, T., Eden, D., Avolio, B.J. and Shamir, B. (2002) 'Impact of transformational leadership on follower development and performance: A field experiment', Academy of management journal, 45(4), pp. 735-744.
Fossey, E., Harvey, C., McDermott, F. and Davidson, L. (2002) 'Understanding and evaluating qualitative research', Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry, 36(6), pp. 717-732.
Gallup (2016) Gallup Millennials Full Report. Gallup, Inc. Available at: https://www.gallup.com/workplace/238073/millennials-work-live.aspx(Accessed: 5 June 2019).
Goleman, D. (2000) 'Leadership that gets results', Harvard business review, 78(2), pp. 4-17.
Grant, A.M. (2012) 'Leading with meaning: Beneficiary contact, prosocial impact, and the performance effects of transformational leadership', Academy of Management Journal, 55(2), pp. 458-476.
Gregory Stone, A., Russell, R.F. and Patterson, K. (2004) 'Transformational versus servant leadership: A difference in leader focus', Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 25(4), pp. 349-361.
Harvey, M. and Buckley, M.R. (2002) 'Assessing the "conventional wisdoms" of management for the 21st century organization', Organizational dynamics, 30(4), pp. 368.
Judge, T.A. and Piccolo, R.F. (2004) 'Transformational and transactional leadership: a meta-analytic test of their relative validity.', Journal of applied psychology, 89(5), pp. 755.
Jung, D.I., Chow, C. and Wu, A. (2003) 'The role of transformational leadership in enhancing organizational innovation: Hypotheses and some preliminary findings', The leadership quarterly, 14(4-5), pp. 525-544.
Katou, A.A. (2015) 'Transformational leadership and organisational performance: Three serially mediating mechanisms', Employee Relations, 37(3), pp. 329-353. doi: 10.1108/ER-05-2014-0056.
Kark, R., Shamir, B. and Chen, G. (2003) 'The Two Faces of Transformational Leadership: Empowerment and Dependency', Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(2), pp. 246-255. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.88.2.246.
Lyons, S. and Kuron, L. (2014) 'Generational differences in the workplace: A review of the evidence and directions for future research', Journal of Organizational Behavior, 35(S1), pp. S13-S157. doi: 10.1002/job.1913.
Masi, R.J. and Cooke, R.A. (2000) 'Effects of transformational leadership on subordinate motivation, empowering norms, and organizational productivity', The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 8(1), pp. 16-47.
Mittal, R. (2015) 'Charismatic and transformational leadership styles: A cross-cultural perspective', International Journal of Business and Management, 10(3), pp. 26.
Myers, K.K. and Sadaghiani, K. (2010) 'Millennials in the workplace: A communication perspective on millennials’ organizational relationships and performance', Journal of Business and Psychology, 25(2), pp. 225-238.
Naim, M.F. and Lenka, U. (2018) 'Development and retention of Generation Y employees: a conceptual framework', Employee Relations, 40(2), pp. 433-455. doi: 10.1108/ER-09-2016-0172.
Ng, E.S., Schweitzer, L. and Lyons, S.T. (2010) 'New generation, great expectations: A field study of the millennial generation', Journal of Business and Psychology, 25(2), pp. 281-292.
Ofori, F.N.K. (2021) ‘Reflecting on the Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Businesses, Minority Groups and their Implications for Socio-economic wellbeing in Britain’, Archives of Business Research, 9(3) 185-187 http://Doi.org/10.14738/abr/93.9869
Ofori, F.N.K. and Sarpong, D. (2020) ‘Business Geo-politics, Geo-economics and the Fourth Industrial Revolution: An Interview Maxim Shashenkov (Arterial Capital Management), South African Journal of Business Management 51 (1)Doi:10.4102/sajbm.r51i1.1667.
Ofori, F.N.K. (2020) ‘Financialisation, Regionalism and Leadership: Comparing Covid-19 Impacts and Responses in African and European Unions, Regions, ezine. Doi:https://10.1080/13673882.2020
Seligman, L.G. (1980) 'Leadership. By Burns James MacGregor. (New York: Harper and Row, 1978. Pp. ix + 530. $15.00.)', American Political Science Review, 74(1), pp. 153-156. doi: 10.2307/1955659.
Sessa, V.I., Kabacoff, R.I., Deal, J. and Brown, H. (2007) 'Generational Differences in Leader Values and Leadership Behaviors', The Psychologist-Manager Journal, 10(1), pp. 47-74. doi: 10.1080/10887150709336612.
Sharma, P.N. and Kirkman, B.L. (2015) 'Leveraging Leaders: A Literature Review and Future Lines of Inquiry for Empowering Leadership Research', Group & Organization Management, 40(2), pp. 193-237. doi: 10.1177/1059601115574906.
Stewart, J.S., Oliver, E.G., Cravens, K.S. and Oishi, S. (2017) 'Managing millennials: Embracing generational differences', Business horizons, 60(1), pp. 45-54.
Torsello, D. (2019) 'Generation Y workers', Employee Relations: The International Journal, 41(6), pp. 1330-1347. doi: 10.1108/ER-03-2018-0083.
Twenge, J.M. (2010) 'A review of the empirical evidence on generational differences in work attitudes', Journal of Business and Psychology, 25(2), pp. 201-210.
Twenge, J.M. and Campbell, S.M. (2008) 'Generational differences in psychological traits and their impact on the workplace', Journal of Managerial Psychology, 23(8), pp. 862-877. Doi: 10.1108/02683940810904367.
Twenge, J.M., Campbell, S.M., Hoffman, B.J. and Lance, C.E. (2010) 'Generational differences in work values: Leisure and extrinsic values increasing, social and intrinsic values decreasing', Journal of management, 36(5), pp. 1117-1142.
Uhl-Bien, M., Riggio, R.E., Lowe, K.B. and Carsten, M.K. (2014) 'Followership theory: A review and research agenda', The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), pp. 83-104. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.11.007.
Van Rossem, A. (2018) 'Generations as social categories: An exploratory cognitive study of generational identity and generational stereotypes in a multigenerational workforce', Journal of Organizational Behavior, 4(4), pp. 1-22. doi: 10.1002/job.2341.
Van Seters, D.A. and Field, R.H. (1990) 'The evolution of leadership theory', Journal of Organizational Change Management, 3(3), pp. 29-45.
Yi, X., Ribbens, B., Fu, L. and Cheng, W. (2015) 'Variation in career and workplace attitudes by generation, gender, and culture differences in career perceptions in the United States and China', Employee Relations, 37(1), pp. 66-82. doi: 10.1108/ER-01-2014-0005.
Yizhong, X., Baranchenko, Y., Lin, Z., Lau, C.K. and Ma, J. (2019) 'The influences of transformational leadership on employee employability: Evidence from China', Employee Relations, 41(1), pp. 101-118. doi: 10.1108/ER-02-2018-0052.
Yukl, G. (2012) 'Effective leadership behavior: What we know and what questions need more attention', Academy of Management Perspectives, 26(4), pp. 66-85.
Yukl, G. (1999) 'An evaluation of conceptual weaknesses in transformational and charismatic leadership theories', The leadership quarterly, 10(2), pp. 285-305.
Yukl, G. (1989) 'Managerial leadership: A review of theory and research', Journal of management, 15(2), pp. 251-289.
Zhu, W., Avolio, B.J. and Walumbwa, F.O. (2009) 'Moderating Role of Follower Characteristics With Transformational Leadership and Follower Work Engagement', Group & Organization Management, 34(5), pp. 590-619. doi: 10.1177/1059601108331242.
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2021-05-20
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Davids, I. ., Appiah, K., Davids, G. ., & Ofori, F. N. K. (2021). The Effectiveness of Transformational Leadership: : A Qualitative-Based study on Millennial perceptions in South Africa. Archives of Business Research, 9(5), 28–46. https://doi.org/10.14738/abr.95.10191
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Copyright (c) 2021 Inga Davids, Kenneth Appiah, Gregory Davids, Felix Nana Kofi Ofori
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
