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Relationships between Transformational and Active Transactional Leadership
and Followers’ Organizational Identification:
The Role of Psychological Empowerment
Weichun Zhu
Department of Labor Studies and Employment Relations
College of Liberal Arts
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802
Phone: (814) 865-9116
Email: wzhu@psu.edu
John J. Sosik
School of Graduate Professional Studies at Great Valley
The Pennsylvania State University
30 East Swedesford Road
Malvern, PA 19355
Phone: (610) 648-3254
Email: jjs20@psu.edu
Ronald E. Riggio
Kravis Leadership Institute
Claremont McKenna College
Claremont, CA 91711
Phone: (909) 607-2997
Email: ron.riggio@cmc.edu
Baiyin Yang
Department of Human Resources and Organizational Behavior
School of Economics and Management
Tsinghua University
Beijing, China 100084
Phone: 86-10-6279-6314
Email: yangby@sem.tsinghua.edu.cn
ABSTRACT
We examined the underlying processes through which transformational and active
transactional leadership affects followers’ organizational identification in a survey study.
Using a sample of managers across different industries, we found that followers’
psychological empowerment, including competence, impact, meaning, and self-
determination, partially mediated the effect of transformational leadership and active
transactional leadership on followers’ organizational identification. Furthermore,
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Copyright (c) 2012 Institute of Behavioral and Applied Management. All Rights Reserved. 187
transformational leadership explained variance in followers’ organizational identification
and psychological empowerment above and beyond active transactional leadership.
These findings provide additional support for transformational leadership theory by
demonstrating a motivational mechanism through which followers identify with their
organizations. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.
Keywords: transformational leadership, active transactional leadership,
organizational identification, psychological empowerment
Introduction
Transformational leadership has been a topic of much research in the past three
decades. There has been accumulating evidence to suggest that transformational
leadership has a positive effect on follower work attitudes and performance at both the
individual and organizational levels (e.g., Lowe, Kroeck, & Sivasubramaniam, 1996).
However, it appears that more attention needs to be given to the investigation of the
underlying mechanisms and processes by which transformational leaders exert their
influence on followers, and ultimately their performance (Kark & Shamir, 2002). Some
leadership researchers (e.g., Shamir, House, & Arthur, 1993; Yukl, 2010) consistently
emphasize that different transformational leader behaviors might involve different
influence processes.
Shamir et al. (1993) proposed a self-concept-based theoretical model to explain the
motivational effects of charismatic/transformational leadership on followers. According
to this theory, charismatic/transformational leaders influence followers in the following
three ways: by increasing followers’ self-efficacy, by influencing followers’ value
internalization, and by facilitating followers’ social identification with the group. Kark,
Shamir, and Chen (2003) further proposed that follower social identification mediates
the effect of charismatic/ transformational leadership on important follower
psychological states, such as organizational-based self-esteem and collective efficacy.
However, they did not clearly explain the underlying processes through which
charismatic/transformational leadership affects follower social identification, and this is a
gap in the literature that we aspire to fill in this study. Nor did they contrast these effects
against those of transactional leadership, an exchanged-based leadership style also
associated with positive outcomes (Bass, 1985: Sosik & Jung, 2010). Therefore, we
proposed and tested in this study the theoretical model shown in Figure 1 as an
extension and alternative to the theoretical model proposed by Kark et al. (2003).
Accordingly, the main purpose of this study is to draw upon perspectives from
transformational leadership theory (Bass, 1985), the self-concept-based motivational
explanations of charismatic/transformational leadership (Kark et al., 2003; Shamir et al.,
1993), organizational identification theory (Ashforth, Harrison, & Corley, 2008; Tajfel,
1972), and psychological empowerment theory (Spreitzer, 1995) to develop and test a
theoretical model which casts light on the underlying processes by which
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Figure 1. Theoretical Model of the Relationship between Transactional/Transformational Leadership, Follower
Psychological Empowerment, and Organizational Identification
Transformational
leadership
Active
transactional
leadership
Follower
organizational
identification
Psychological empowerment
Competence
Meaning
Self-determination
Impact
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transformational leaders influence followers’ organizational identification via enhancing
followers’ psychological empowerment.
Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses Development
Ashforth et al.’s (2008) model of narrow and broad formulations of organizational
identification serves as the theoretical framework for our study. Briefly, this model
proposes that organizational identification is a function of one’s self-definition,
importance, and affect, which provide the core of identification. Also, the content of
identification is proposed to stem from one’s values, goals, beliefs, traits, knowledge,
skills, and abilities. The core and content of identification are proposed to influence
behaviors reflecting one’s identity.
According to transformational leadership theory (e.g., Bass, 1985) and self-concept-
based explanations of such leadership (Shamir et al., 1993; Sosik & Cameron, 2010),
transformational leaders influence followers’ self-definitions, affect, values, beliefs, and
behaviors. They also empower followers to recognize the importance of their work and
develop their knowledge, skills and abilities to reach their full potential (Bass, 1985).
Thus, transformational leaders are likely to be associated with empowered followers
who possess strong identification with their organizations.
In this section, we will first define the primary constructs in our theoretical model,
including transformational and active transactional leadership, organizational
identification, and psychological empowerment. Secondly, based on transformational
leadership theory (Bass, 1985) and organization identification theory (Ashforth et al.,
2008), we explain how transformational and active transactional leadership affect
follower organizational identification. Furthermore, utilizing psychological empowerment
theory (Spreitzer, 1995) and organizational identification theory (Ashforth et al., 2008),
we explain how psychological empowerment works as an important mediation
mechanism through which transformational and active transactional leadership affects
follower organizational identification. We then explain why transformational leadership is
expected to explain variance in followers’ psychological empowerment and
organizational identification above and beyond active transactional leadership.
Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership was proposed by Burns (1978) and further expanded upon
by Bass and others (e.g., Bass, 1985; Bass & Avolio, 1997; Bass & Riggio, 2006; Sosik
& Jung, 2010). Transformational leadership contains four components: Charisma or
Idealized Influence (attributed or behavioral), Inspirational Motivation, Intellectual
Stimulation, and Individualized Consideration. Transformational leaders who display
idealized influence set high standards for moral and ethical conduct, are confident about
the future, and set high standards for emulation. Inspirational motivation involves
transformational leaders providing followers with challenges and meaning for engaging
in shared goals and undertakings. With intellectual stimulation, transformational leaders
challenge their followers to be creative and innovative, to question long-term
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assumptions, to reframe questions, and to use new methods and mindsets to solve
traditional problems and questions. Transformational leaders also display individualized
consideration by paying special attention to specific followers’ needs for personal
growth and achievement, and trying to meet their needs and satisfy their expectations
for future development (Bass, 1985). Transformational leadership has been shown to
add to the effectiveness of transactional leadership on followers’ attitudes and
performance outcomes, thus demonstrating what is called the “augmentation effect” (cf.
Bass, 2008; Yukl, 2010).
Psychological Empowerment
Spreitzer (1995, p. 1443) defined psychological empowerment as “increased intrinsic
task motivation manifested in a set of four cognitions reflecting an individual’s
orientation to his or her work role: meaning, competence, self-determination and
impact.” An individual experiences meaning when he/she believes that work is
meaningful and is given greater responsibilities. Competence refers to an individual’s
feelings of self-efficacy or personal mastery that he/she can successfully accomplish a
task. Self-determination refers to an individual having the freedom to perform his/her
tasks in the way that one chooses (Fulford & Enz, 1995). Self-determination shows
one’s feelings of autonomy in making decisions in areas such as work methods, time,
pace, and effort (Spreitzer, 1995). Finally, impact refers to the degree to which an
individual believes that his/her work makes a significant difference in achieving the
purpose of the task, and the extent to which the individual believes that he or she can
influence organizational outcomes (Spreitzer, 1995).
Organizational Identification
Tajfel (1972, p. 272) defined social identity as “the individual’s knowledge that he
belongs to certain social groups together with some emotional and value significance to
him of his group membership.” Tajfel argued that social identity is knowledge of being a
group member and thus of what attributes define membership in the group, but social
identity also involves an emotional attachment to the group. Social identity is a theory of
the self. Tajfel and Turner (1979) proposed that social identity rests on a fundamental
distinction between social identity, which is related to group membership, and personal
identity, which is related to personal relationships and idiosyncratic attributes.
Organizational identification is concerned with an organizational member’s perception
of “oneness” with an organization (Ashforth & Mael, 1989). Based on social identity
theory, organizational identification has a positive effect on followers’ supportive
behaviors for realizing organizational objectives and goals (Hekman, Steensma, Bigley,
& Hereford, 2009); therefore it is important for leaders to develop followers’
organizational identification.
Organizational identification includes cognitive and emotional components. The
cognitive component demonstrates the common interests an individual perceives that
he/she shares with the organization (Ashforth & Male, 1989) and the calculative benefits
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that he/she can gain through associating with the organization. It also indicates the
degree to which a person identifies him/herself as a member of the organization, while
the emotional component reflects an individual’s feelings of pride in being a member of
an organization. The emotional component of organizational identification plays an
important role in creating an individual’s positive image of one’s organization, and helps
to develop identification with the organization (Tajfel, 1972). Pratt (1998) proposed that
an individual has two main and basic motives for identification with an organization. The
first motive lies in the need for self-categorization, which helps an individual to seek a
unique place and feel different from other members of the organization or society. The
second motive develops from a need for self-enhancement and self-esteem, which
means that an individual aspires to be rewarded and feel pride through association with
or membership in an organization.
Organizational identification appears to be distinct from organizational commitment.
Specifically, organizational identification concerns an individual’s self-perception on how
he/she perceives being one with the organization which implies the self being the focal
referent, whereas organizational commitment concerns one’s general attitude toward
the organization and its members and focuses on one’s relationship with these referents
(van Knippenberg & Sleebos, 2006). Organizational commitment contains affective,
continuance, and normative components (Meyer & Allen, 1991), and meta-analytic work
conducted by Riketta (2005) indicates an empirical overlap between organizational
identification and affective organizational commitment. However, Riketta (2005)
concluded that these constructs can be distinguished because they are conceptually
different and lead to different organizational outcomes, such as organizational
identification having a larger negative correlation with intent to leave than affective
organizational commitment.
Transformational Leadership, Active Transactional Leadership, and Followers’
Organizational Identification
An important construct for understanding the impact of transformational leadership is
social identity. Kark and Shamir (2002) proposed that transformational leaders influence
two distinct levels of their followers’ self-concept: the relational and the collective self.
Followers come to identify with their particular leader through the relational aspects of
the followers’ self-concept, while organizational or social identification is influenced by
priming of their collective self. Transformational leaders emphasize organizational
justice, so followers are more likely to identify with their leader and organization.
Shamir, Zakay, Breinin, and Popper (1998) proposed that transformational leaders
could emphasize followers’ contribution to membership or group, and then shift
followers’ identification from the individual level to the collective level.
Furthermore, leaders can create group level influences, including collective
identification, by establishing symbolic activities, which will increase follower self esteem
and consequently lead to organizational identification (Shamir et al., 1993).
Transformational leaders create a supportive work environment that emphasizes
employees’ needs and feelings, develops new skills, and helps solve various job
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problems and other challenges. In addition, transformational leaders offer constructive
and positive suggestions to employees, which can help improve followers’ positive
feelings of being a member in an organization, and increase their identification with the
organization.
Transformational leaders try to develop followers’ full potential (e.g., Bass, 1985;
Johnson & Dipboye, 2008); therefore, followers may tend to feel that their organization
is effective and that it can provide future opportunity and development. As such, it is
expected that followers will be more likely to stay in the organization because they are
satisfying their needs for self-categorization/self-identity, and they have a sense of
being unique from other members in society. Organizational identification is therefore
likely to be strengthened. Thus,
Hypothesis 1: Transformational leadership has a positive relationship with
followers’ organizational identification.
Theoretically speaking, as widely known, Bass and his colleagues (e.g., Avolio, 1999;
Bass & Riggio, 2006; Sosik & Jung, 2010) categorized full range leadership into
transactional and transformational leadership behaviors. Transactional leadership
behaviors include: passive management by exception (MBEP), active management by
exception (MBEA), and contingent reward (CR). Transformational leadership behaviors
include inspirational motivation, idealized influence, intellectual stimulation, and
individualized consideration. Among three types of transactional leadership behaviors,
passive management by exception (MBEP) is considered to be a passive transactional
leadership behavior, while active management by exception (MBEA) and contingent
reward leadership behaviors are considered “active” transactional leadership, as
demonstrated empirically in a number of studies (e.g., Avolio, Bass, Walumbwa, & Zhu,
2004; Bycio, Hackett, & Allen, 1995; Zhu, Riggio, Avolio, & Sosik, 2011).
In addition to displaying transformational leadership behaviors, effective leaders also
display active transactional leadership comprised of contingent reward and active
management-by-exception behaviors (Bass, 1985). With contingent reward,
transactional leaders define and communicate what needs to be done, how it will be
done, and the rewards and recognition followers will receive if the assignments are
done satisfactorily. Another component of active transactional leadership is active
management-by-exception behavior, in which the leader specifies the standards for
compliance, as well as what constitutes ineffective performance, and may punish
followers for being out of compliance with those standards. The leader arranges to
actively monitor deviances, mistakes, and errors in the followers’ assignments and to
take corrective action as necessary. Through the active form of management-by-
exception, transactional leaders monitor follower performance and take necessary
corrective actions to force followers to change their work attitudes and behaviors (Sosik
& Jung, 2010). The main focus of both forms of management-by-exception is on setting
standards and monitoring deviations from the specified standards. Therefore, the
leaders and followers find the exchange mutually rewarding, and contribute to
developing this positive relationship, which is expected to contribute to followers’
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identification with the organization. As a result, one’s organizational identification is
likely to be enhanced.
This line of reasoning is supported by prior empirical and theoretical work. Specifically,
Epitropaki and Martin (2005) proposed that transactional leadership promotes followers’
organizational identification by triggering followers’ self-categorization processes
(Turner, 1972). When leaders provide contingent rewards and monitor followers’
performance for errors and deviations, they clarify followers’ expectations regarding
norms and values. Such clarification allows followers to better understand their
organizational roles and the consistency between their personal values and the
organization’s values regarding goals and performance expectations, thereby promoting
their identification with the organization. In a study of Greek bank employees, Epitropaki
and Martin (2005) reported a significant positive relationship between these employees’
perceptions of their leaders’ display of transactional leadership and their organizational
identification. Thus,
Hypothesis 2: Active transactional leadership has a positive relationship with
followers’ organizational identification.
The Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment
As previously mentioned, the process by which leadership influences followers’
organizational identification has been under-researched. We propose that psychological
empowerment is an important mechanism through which leaders can influence
followers’ organizational identification. Leadership and supervision serve as one of the
most important mechanisms to develop followers’ personal efficacy and feelings of
power (Koberg, Boss, Senjem, & Goodman, 1999).
Yukl (2010) proposed that leadership can enable the process of building commitment to
the organization’s objectives and can empower followers to accomplish these
objectives. Followers who feel more empowered tend to reciprocate by being more
committed to their organization (e.g., Koberg et al., 1999; Wang & Lee, 2009), which
suggests that followers may be more likely to identify with their organization, given the
conceptual and empirical similarities between organizational identification and affective
organizational commitment (Riketta, 2005).
Several empirical studies (e.g., Avolio, Zhu, Koh, & Bhatia, 2004; Fuller, Morrison,
Jones, Bridger, & Brown, 1999; Kark et al., 2003) have demonstrated a positive
relationship between transformational leadership and followers’ psychological
empowerment. The authors of these studies highlighted transformational leadership’s
role of creating more social identification with the group or organization in making
followers feel more empowered. Some researchers (e.g., Bass, 1985; Sosik & Jung,
2010) proposed that transformational leaders have a clear and meaningful vision for
their organization and direct their organization toward that goal. This vision is often
powerful and portrays a much-improved company and/or a better way of operating the
business. Transformational leaders create a strategic and innovative vision that is
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compelling, and they then communicate that vision to all employees so that they too will
believe in it and will become excited by it. Thus, employees are more likely to believe
that their work is important and their organization has a better and more meaningful
future. Given that employees are “meaning-seekers” and the process of social
identification with collectives helps reduce uncertainty (Ashford et al., 2008), a
meaningful vision may satisfy their needs for competence, self-determination, and
impact by being a member of an effective organization. Thus, followers’ psychological
empowerment and identification with the organization would be more likely to increase.
Transformational leaders possess great referent and inspirational power (Bass, 1985)
which enables them to gain the respect, admiration, and trust of their followers. They
are also seen as role models who exert significant and positive influence on followers
that creates a sense of meaningfulness (Bass, 1985). Employees who experience a
greater sense of meaning from their work are likely to feel more empowered (Spreitzer,
1995) and proud of being a member of the organization, and thereby enhance their
identification with the organization (Koberg et al., 1999). Numerous researchers (e.g.,
McCann, Langford, & Rawlings, 2006; Shamir et al., 1993; Sosik & Cameron, 2010;
Sosik & Jung, 2010) have argued that transformational leaders get followers involved in
envisioning an attractive future and can also inspire the followers to identify with the
vision through social identification processes. Transformational leaders align followers’
self-identities with their organization’s values and mission (Shamir et al., 1993).
According to social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1972), individuals seek consistency
between their self-identity and the values associated with their organization. When
individuals perceive consistency between their self-identity and the actions required to
support their organization’s values and mission, they are more likely to engage in
activities that are consistent with their self-identity and identify with the organization
because it embodies their self-construals (Tajfel, 1972).
Transformational leaders’ enthusiasm and optimism can build team spirit and can also
provide meaning and challenge to followers’ work or tasks, enhancing followers’ feelings
of impact, competence, meaning, and autonomy associated with psychological
empowerment. All these factors can contribute to organization members’ feeling pride
from being a part of their organization, which consequently increases their identification
with the organization (Ashford et al., 2008).
Transformational leaders also show individualized consideration, such as listening
attentively and paying close attention to their followers’ needs for achievement and
growth. Such behaviors encourage followers to take on increasingly more
responsibilities in order to develop to their full potential (Bass, 1985), thereby increasing
their perceived competence associated with psychological empowerment (Spreitzer,
1995). Furthermore, transformational leaders provide followers with greater
opportunities for decision latitude, challenge, and responsibility, which will cause
followers to feel more confident and meaningful, and therefore psychologically
empowered. This helps to satisfy followers’ need for affiliation within the organization by
improving their self-esteem, which eventually may enhance their identification with the
organization (Ashford et al., 2008).
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Hypothesis 3: Psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between
transformational leadership and followers’ organizational identification.
Likewise, the effect of active transactional leadership on followers’ organizational
identification is likely to be mediated by followers’ psychological empowerment.
Gkorezis and Petridou (2008) proposed that three elements of active transactional
leadership, namely information feedback, recognition, and financial rewards, are
positively related to followers’ psychological empowerment. As such, both contingent
reward and active management-by-exception leadership provides information such as
goals and positive and negative feedback to followers (Bass, 1985), and thereby may
allow followers to better assess their competence and the impact they are making in
influencing organizational outcomes. Competence and impact are essential elements of
psychological empowerment (Spreitzer, 1995).
Contingent reward behavior, in the forms of defining what needs to be done, how to get
things done, and what performances need to be achieved, may enable followers to be
psychologically empowered by better understanding the significance, meaning, and
value of their job (Epitropaki & Martin, 2005; Spreitzer, 2005). Through active
management-by-exception, followers are able to realize what behaviors and
performances are considered deviances, mistakes, and errors in the assignments and
to take corrective action to respond accordingly (Sosik & Jung, 2010), thereby clarifying
role expectations required for organizational identification (Epitropaki & Martin, 2005).
Along the way, followers are likely to consider these active transactional leadership
behaviors as positive feedback, which may make them feel more empowered.
As a result of the transformational leader’s focus on developing followers into leaders
and of active transactional leaders’ positive exchange relationships, followers are likely
to feel that their roles are worthwhile and meaningful, thus raising their level of self-
esteem, which, in turn, increases follower identification with the organization (Ashford et
al., 2008). Furthermore, since empowered followers have a sense of psychological self-
worth and meaningfulness, they are likely to be proud members of the organization and
have stronger identification with their organization (Wang & Lee, 2009).
Ashford et al. (2008) point out that there is empirical support for relationships between
the meaning individuals find in their work and their organizational identification. For
example, in an empirical study of blue-collar workers in the shipping industry, Erturk
(2010) reported a positive relationship between psychological empowerment and
organizational identification. Similarly, prior research has demonstrated a positive
association between psychological empowerment and affective organizational
commitment for nurses in hospitals (Avolio et al., 2004) and for employees and their
supervisors (Liden, Wayne, & Sparrow, 2000). These authors used social identity theory
(Tajfel, 1972) to explain how empowered workers’ self-construals of competence,
autonomy, purposeful work, and impact make them identify with their organization as a
place where they can achieve influence meaningful organizational outcomes and
prosper in their personal and professional lives as well. These results provide support
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for a proposed linkage between psychological empowerment and organizational
identification. Taken together, the above arguments suggest:
Hypothesis 4: Psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between
active transactional leadership and followers’ organizational identification.
Comparing the Influences of Transformational versus Active Transactional Leadership
The main orientation of transformational leadership is to develop followers’ full potential
into leaders, but transactional leaders focus more on resource exchanges and on
monitoring and controlling employees through rational or economic means (Bass,
2008). Therefore, we expect that transformational leadership would have a more
positive effect on followers’ organizational identification and psychological
empowerment than transactional leadership.
Theoretically, transactional leadership is purported to be a less effective form of
leadership than transformational leadership (Bass, 1985). Transactional leaders are
considered to concentrate on compromise, intrigue, and control; therefore they are more
likely to be seen as more inflexible, detached, and manipulative than transformational
leaders (Bass & Riggio, 2006). Empirically, prior research has indicated that
transformational leadership has a more positive effect on many leadership outcomes,
such as work attitudes and performance (e.g., Judge & Piccolo, 2004; Lowe et al., 1996;
Wang, Oh, Courtright, & Colbert, 2011). For example, one meta-analysis (Lowe et al.,
1996) showed that the correlations between transformational leadership and follower
work attitudes and outcomes ranged from .60 to .71, but those correlations for
transactional leadership, including contingent reward, are below .41. Moreover, several
prior reviews of the literature (c.f., Bass, 2008; Yukl, 2010) indicate that transformational
leadership augments the positive influence of transactional leadership by explaining
additional variance in followers’ attitudes and performance. These results suggest that
transformational leadership will explain variance in followers’ psychological
empowerment and organizational identification above and beyond variance explained
by active transactional leadership. Our last two hypotheses are formally stated as:
Hypothesis 5: Transformational leadership explains additional variance in
followers’ psychological empowerment above and beyond active transactional
leadership.
Hypothesis 6: Transformational leadership explains more variance in followers’
organizational identification above and beyond active transactional leadership.
Methodology
Sample and Data Collection
We issued an internet-based survey through a research company, Zoomerang, which
claims to possess the largest on-line research subject sample in the United States. This
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company has access not only to a nationally representative sample of the American
population, but also to a huge sample pool of over 2.5 million research participants who
have been pre-profiled on a variety of statistical variables, including demographic,
industry, and occupational attributes. This online sample has been built and utilized
widely to accomplish a broad range of research purposes, including market share
estimation, business competiveness analysis, channel analysis, and political opinion
polls (http://www.zoomerang.com). Therefore, due to its diverse nature and broad
usage, we believe that this sample panel would be a suitable sampling pool for the
purpose of conducting organizational studies. For the specific purpose of this study, we
requested the research company to target full-time employees who were in managerial
positions across a variety of industries. On our behalf, the research company sent the
on-line survey to 2, 200 participants randomly sampled from participants who were full-
time workers in organizations. All the participants had the chance to win shopping
coupons from the research company.
Our final sample includes 375 men and 297 women (a 30.55% response rate among
those solicited specifically for our survey) who were asked to make ratings of their
supervisor’s leadership and their own psychological empowerment and organizational
identification. The response rate of 30.55% for this study was not significantly different
(Z score = 0.55) from the mean response rate of 38.9% (SD = 15.1%) reported by
Baruch and Holtom (2008), for online survey research. The average participant was
47.74 years old (SD = 10.82) and most (70%) had a four-year college degree or higher.
Participants in the final sample indicated that they had knowledge regarding their
manager in terms of his/her span of control and job history through either personal
knowledge or working relationships. Leaders rated by the participants supervised an
average of 20.51 (SD = 51.21) followers and had been in their current position for an
average of 9.80 years (SD = 8.68). Over 70% of leaders rated were upper-middle and
top executives. More than 13 different industries were represented in the sample, from
sectors including retail/wholesale (23%), banking (13%), information technology (13%),
and manufacturing (12%).
Measures
Transformational/transactional leadership. According to generally-accepted
contemporary approaches to organizational behavior research (e.g., Klein, Dansereau,
& Hall, 1994; Yammarino & Mumford, 2011), the nomological network of constructs
examined in a study should be driven by theory, not a particular measurement
instrument. As such, we built upon Ashford et al.’s (2008) model of identification and
self-concept-based theories of transformational leadership (e.g., Shamir et al., 1993;
Sosik & Cameron, 2010) which suggest that active forms of leadership would arouse
followers’ self-concepts and promote organizational identification processes. To achieve
data-theory alignment (Dansereau, Alutto, & Yammarino, 1984), we used measures of
transformational leadership and active forms of transactional leadership to tap into their
respective constructs. Prior research has distinguished between the active and passive
forms of transactional leadership, thus providing a precedent to separate contingent
reward and active management-by-exception leadership from passive management-by-
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exception and laissez faire leadership (Avolio, Bass, & Jung, 1999; Bycio et al., 1995;
Sosik, 2006; Sosik & Jung, 2010).
Transformational and transactional leadership actions/behaviors were evaluated by 28
items from the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Bass & Avolio, 1997).
Respondents indicated whether they agreed with the statements on a 5-point scale
ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Subscales included the
following: idealized influence (8 items), intellectual stimulation (4 items), inspirational
motivation (4 items), individualized consideration (4 items); contingent reward (4 items),
and active management-by-exception (4 items). A sample item of intellectual stimulation
was: “My leader re-examines critical assumptions to question whether they are
appropriate.” A sample item of contingent reward was: “My leader discusses in specific
terms who is responsible for achieving performance targets.”
Following a number of prior studies (e.g., Bono & Judge, 2003), we averaged the first
four dimensions to form an overall transformational leadership composite score
(Cronbach alpha = .96). A second order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed
that the model fits well with the data (χ2 = 1051.76, p < .01, CFI = .93, TFI = .91,
RMSEA = .09, SRMR = .04). Similarly, we aggregated the contingent reward and active
management-by-exception into a combined factor of active transactional leadership
(Cronbach alpha = .70). A second order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed
that this model also fits well with the data (χ2 = 2365.53, p < .01, CFI = .90, TFI = .90,
RMSEA = .09, SRMR = .06).
Psychological empowerment. We used a 12-item scale to measure self-reported
psychological empowerment (Spreitzer, 1995). Items were anchored by a 5-point scale
ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Sample items for each of the
four subscales include the following: “I am confident about my ability to do my job”
(competence), “The work I do is very important to me” (meaning), “I can decide on my
own how to go about doing my work” (self-determination), and “My impact on what
happens in my department is large” (impact). Due to the fact that these four dimensions
have relatively high inter-correlations (ranging from .54 to .74), we averaged the four
dimensions to form an overall index of psychological empowerment (Cronbach alpha =
.93), which is consistent with the strategy adopted by Spreitzer (1995). CFA results
showed that the model fits well with the data (χ2 = 289.30, p < .01, CFI = .96, TFI = .95,
RMSEA = .08, SRMR = .04).
Organizational identification. We used a 5-item scale to measure self-report
organizational identification (Smidts, Pruyn, & van Riel, 2001). Items were anchored by
a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). A sample item
is: “I feel strong ties with my organization.” All five items were aggregated to represent
an overall score for this construct (Cronbach alpha = .95). Confirmatory factor analysis
(CFA) results indicated that the data fits the model well (χ2 = 227.77, p < .01, CFI = .94,
TFI = .89, RMSEA = .25, SRMR = .03). Though RMSEA is higher than the cut-off score
(Hu & Bentler, 1999), the loading values of the five items on a one-dimensional factor
are all over .70. Therefore, we concluded this scale is appropriate to be utilized in the
study.
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Copyright (c) 2012 Institute of Behavioral and Applied Management. All Rights Reserved. 199
Control variables. In this study, we included age, gender, education, income, leader
organizational level, years of leadership experience, and years in current position as
control variables in order to reduce the possible confounding effects of these variables.
Regarding age, tenure, and years in current position, Carmeli, Atwater, and Levi (2011)
argued that older employees who have been with an organization longer are more likely
to have developed a higher quality of relationships with leaders, and therefore rate them
more favorably. Regarding organizational level of the manager, a meta-analysis
conducted by Lowe et al. (1996) reported that leaders at higher organizational levels are
rated as more transformational, while lower level leaders are more likely to be rated as
more transactional. Regarding gender, a meta-analysis conducted by Eagly,
Johannesen-Schmidt, and Van Engen (2003) found that female leaders were rated
more transformational than male leaders, and also engaged in more of the contingent
reward behaviors, a component of transactional leadership. Male leaders are generally
more likely to manifest other aspects of transactional leadership (i.e., active and passive
management by exception). We also controlled for education level and income because
these variables reflect socio-economic status which may affect leadership ratings (Bass,
2008; Yukl, 2010).
Results
The descriptive statistics and correlations for all study variables are shown in Table 1.
Notably, transformational leadership had significant positive relationships with follower
psychological empowerment (r = .50, p < .01) and organizational identification
(r = .62, p < .01). Active transactional leadership had significant positive relationships
with follower psychological empowerment (r = .33, p < .01) and organizational
identification
(r = .69, p < .01). In addition, follower psychological empowerment was positively
related to organizational identification (r = .43, p < .01).
Hypotheses Testing
As shown in Table 2, all control variables (i.e., age, gender, education, the managerial
level of participants, the managerial level of leaders rated, income level, leader’s years
in supervision position, leader’s years in current supervision position, number of
subordinates) were included in the regression analyses used to test the hypotheses.
Hypotheses 1 and 2 predicted that transformational and active transactional leadership
would be positively associated with followers’ organizational identification, respectively.
As indicated in Step 2 of Table 2, transformational leadership was significantly and
positively related to follower organizational identification (β = .58, p < .01), thus
providing support for Hypothesis 1. As shown in Step 2 of Table 3, active transactional
leadership was significantly and positively related to followers’ organizational
identification (β = .41, p < .01), thus providing support for Hypothesis 2.
LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTIFICATION
Copyright (c) 2012 Institute of Behavioral and Applied Management. All Rights Reserved. 200
Table 1
Descriptive Statistics and Correlations of Study Variables
Note. n = 672. *p < .05 ** p < .01. Dummy variables: Gender (1=Female, 0=Male); Education (1= Degree and Above, 0=
others); Income (1=100,000 or above; 0= below 100,000); Managerial level (1= upper middle and top, 0= middle and
lower level).
Mean
SD
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
1. Age
47.74
10.83
2. Gender
.44
.50
-.23**
3. Education
.63
.48
-.02
-.13**
4. Managerial level
(self)
.38
.49
.20**
-.20**
.07
5. Income
.28
.45
.13**
-.17**
.22**
.26**
6. Managerial level
(leader)
.73
.45
.08*
-.07
.02
.38**
.13**
7. Leader’s years in
supervision position
16.43
10.01
.28**
-.10**
-.02
.32**
.12**
.32**
8. Leader’s years in
current supervision
position
9.84
8.68
.20**
-.05
-.12**
.24**
-.01
.20**
.70**
9. Number of
subordinates
20.51
51.21
.01
-.05
-.01
.06
.06
.06
.06
.01
10. Transformational
leadership
3.64
.92
.04
-.04
.02
.17**
.09*
.11**
.17**
.14**
-.03
11. Active trans. lead.
3.34
.70
.09*
-.11**
.03
.13**
.11**
.06
.14**
.17**
.06
.73**
12. Psychological
empowerment
4.24
.67
.20**
.01
-.09*
.22**
.09*
.18**
.16**
.16**
-.04
.50**
.33**
13. Org. identification
3.91
1.04
.15**
-.03
-.10**
.24**
.11**
.17**
.21**
.19**
-.05
.62**
.69**
.43**
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Copyright (c) 2012 Institute of Behavioral and Applied Management. All Rights Reserved. 201
Table 2
Mediation Tests (Transformational Leadership)
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Psychological
Empowerment
Organizational
Identification
Organizational
Identification
Organizational
Identification
Age
.18**
.10**
-.03
.01
Gender
.06
.03
-.02
-.01
Education
-.10**
-.12**
-.06
-.08*
Managerial level (self)
.09*
.11**
.08*
.07*
Income level
.03
.04
.03
.02
Managerial level (leader)
.08*
.05
.01
.01
Leader’s years in supervision position
-.04
.04
.09*
.05
Leader’s years in current supervision position
.04
.01
.01
-.01
Number of subordinates
-.03
-.05
-.05
-.04
Transformational leadership
.47**
.58**
.36**
Psychological empowerment
.66**
.48**
R2
.32
.44
.50
.60
Adjusted R2
.31
.43
.49
.59
F (6, 636)
29.52**
50.43**
63.80**
85.25**
Note. n = 672, * p < .05 ** p < .01
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Copyright (c) 2012 Institute of Behavioral and Applied Management. All Rights Reserved. 202
Table 3
Mediation Tests (Active Transactional Leadership)
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Psychological
Empowerment
Organizational
Identification
Organizational
Identification
Organizational
Identification
Age
.18**
.10**
-.03
-.01
Gender
.09
.06
-.02
.01
Education
-.10**
-.12**
-.06
-.07*
Managerial level (self)
.13*
.15**
.08*
.08*
Income level
.03
.03
.03
.01
Managerial level (leader)
.10*
.07
.01
.01
Leader’s years in supervision position
.01
.09
.09*
.01
Leader’s years in current supervision position
.01
-.02
.01
-.03
Number of subordinates
-.06
-.09*
-.05
-.06*
Active transactional leadership
.31**
.41**
.22**
Psychological empowerment
.66**
.58**
R2
.20**
.27**
.50
.55
Adjusted R2
.31**
.26**
.49
.54
F (10, 636)
15.91**
23.91**
63.80**
68.77**
Note. n = 672, * p < .05 ** p < .01
LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTIFICATION
Copyright (c) 2012 Institute of Behavioral and Applied Management. All Rights Reserved. 203
We tested our mediation hypotheses following the four-step procedure recommended
by Baron and Kenny (1986). Hypothesis 3 suggested that psychological empowerment
would mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and follower
organizational identification. Step 1 in Table 2 shows that transformational leadership is
positively related to psychological empowerment (β = .47, p < .01), thus satisfying the
first condition. As indicated above, transformational leadership was related to follower
organizational identification, thus condition 2 was met. As shown in Step 3 in Table 2,
psychological empowerment was significantly related to follower organizational
identification (β = .66, p < .01), so the third condition was met.
As shown in Step 4 of Table 2, after psychological empowerment was added into the
regression model, the initially significant relationship between transformational
leadership and follower organizational identification (β = .36, p < .01) was still
significant. However, the Fisher Z score value (Z = 5.22, p < .01) indicated that there
was a significant difference between these two coefficients (.58 vs. .36). This showed
that the relationship between transformational leadership and follower organizational
identification was significantly reduced after psychological empowerment was added
into the regression equation. Thus, follower psychological empowerment partially
mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and followers’
organizational identification, thus supporting our prediction in Hypothesis 3.
We conducted similar analyses to test the hypothesis that psychological empowerment
mediated the relationship between active transactional leadership and follower
organizational identification. As indicated in Step 2 of Table 3, active transactional
leadership was significantly related to follower organizational identification (β = .41, p <
.01). As shown in Step 4 of Table 3, after psychological empowerment was added into
the regression model, the initially significant relationship between active transactional
leadership and follower organizational identification (β = .22, p < .01) was still
significant. However, the Fisher Z score value (Z = 3.88, p < .01) indicated that there
was a significant difference between these two coefficients (.41 vs. .22). Thus, follower
psychological empowerment partially mediated the relationship between active
transactional leadership and followers’ organizational identification, thus supporting our
prediction in Hypothesis 4.
We conducted a series of 3-step regression analyses to test the relative influence of
transformational versus active transactional leadership on psychological empowerment
(Hypothesis 5) and organizational identification (Hypothesis 6). Results of these
analyses are summarized in Tables 4 and 5.
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Copyright (c) 2012 Institute of Behavioral and Applied Management. All Rights Reserved. 204
Table 4
Test of the Augmentation Effect of Transformational Leadership over
Active Transactional Leadership on Psychological Empowerment
Steps/IVs
Regression
coefficients
R2
(Variance
explained)
Model 1:
Step 1: Controls
.09**
Step 2: Adding
transformational leadership
tfl: .46**
.29**
Step 3: Adding active
transactional leadership
tfl: .51**
tsl: -.07
.29**
Model 2:
Step 1: Controls
.10**
Step 2: Adding active
transactional leadership
tsl: .30**
.17**
Step 3: Adding
transformational leadership
tfl: .51**
tsl: -.07
.29**
Note. IV = independent variables; tfl = transformational leadership;
tsl = active transactional leadership. ** p < .01
Table 5
Test of the Augmentation Effect of Transformational Leadership over
Active Transactional Leadership on Organizational Identification
Steps/IVs
Regression
coefficients
R2
(Variance
explained)
Model 1:
Step 1: Controls
.10**
Step 2: Adding transformational
leadership
tfl: .58**
.42**
Step 3: Adding active
transactional leadership
tfl: .62**
tsl: -.06
.42**
Model 2:
Step 1: Controls
.10**
Step 2: Adding active
transactional leadership
tsl: .40**
.24**
Step 3: Adding transformational
leadership
tfl: .62**
tsl: -.06
.42**
Note. IV = independent variables; tfl = transformational leadership;
tsl = active transactional leadership. ** p <.01
LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTIFICATION
Copyright (c) 2012 Institute of Behavioral and Applied Management. All Rights Reserved. 205
Regarding psychological empowerment, a review of Table 4 indicates that after adding
active transactional leadership into the regression equation after transformational
leadership, the explained variance in psychological empowerment is not increased.
However, adding transformational leadership into the regression equation after active
transactional leadership, the explained variance in psychological empowerment
increases from .17 to .29, indicating an augmentation effect of transformational
leadership over active transactional leadership. Thus, Hypothesis 5 was supported.
Regarding organizational identification, a review of Table 5 indicates that after adding
active transactional leadership into the regression equation after transformational
leadership, the explained variance in organizational identification is not increased.
However, adding transformational leadership into the regression equation after active
transactional leadership, the explained variance in organizational identification
increases from .24 to .42, indicating an augmentation effect of transformational
leadership over active transactional leadership. Thus, Hypothesis 6 was also supported.
Common Method Variance
Though we were able to collect data with a diverse sample of participants from a broad
spectrum of industries and organizations, we acknowledge that common method
variance might be an issue that could affect our research findings, which is considered a
methodological limitation of this study. Accordingly, we adopted a series of strategies
recommended by some researchers (e.g., Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee, & Podsakoff,
2003) to address this common method variance issue. First, we used Harman’s 1-
Factor Test (Podsakoff et al., 2003) to examine the extent to which a common or single-
method factor existed that would account for the variance in our findings. To accomplish
this, we first performed an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) by entering all four scales
used (i.e., transformational leadership, active transactional leadership, psychological
empowerment, and organizational identification) in the survey study and results showed
more than one factor emerged. The general one factor structure explained only 44.73%
of the total variance, but 4-factor structure explained 65.76% of the total variance, which
indicated the latter model is superior to the earlier one.
Furthermore, we performed a CFA by including these four scales. Results showed that
the goodness-of-fit indices of the hypothesized model (i.e., four separate factors)
exhibited a much better fit to the data (χ2 = 4032.42, df = 929, p < .01, CFI = .90, TLI =
.90, RMSEA = .07; SRMR = .05) than the one factor model (χ2 = 11654.38, df = 945, p
< .01, CFI = .62, TLI = .60, RMSEA = .13, SRMR = .12), with all fitness indices far below
the recommended level (Hu & Bentler, 1999). This result showed that one common
factor could not explain the research findings from this study. In sum, results of the
above analyses provided evidence against the common method/source variance as an
alternative explanation for the study results. However, we realize that it would be
beneficial if future research could collect data from different sources to completely
eliminate the confounding influence from same-source bias.
LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTIFICATION
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Discussion
The central contribution of this research is that we have proposed and tested a
theoretical model that adopts three established theoretical frameworks, including
transformational leadership theory (Bass, 1985), organization identification theory
(Ashforth et al., 2008; Smidts et al., 2001), and psychological empowerment theory
(Spreitzer, 1995). While there has been an underlying assumption about the role of
transformational leadership in identification processes, in this study we demonstrated
how transformational leadership behaviors are associated with followers’ organizational
identification. Accordingly, we conclude that in order to manage followers’ organizational
identification, leaders need to promote followers’ psychological empowerment.
While it is known that transformational leaders inspire followers (Inspirational
Motivation), serve as positive role models (Idealized Influence), demonstrate
individualized concern for followers (Individualized Consideration), and challenge them
(Intellectual Stimulation), the results of this research suggest that transformational
leaders may also empower followers. As such, results of this study provide further
rationale and support for explaining how and why transformational leaders are effective.
Yet, implicit in the conceptualizations of transformational leaders is the ability to
“transform” followers into leaders (Bass, 1985; Burns, 1978). It seems relatively
straightforward that follower psychological empowerment (Spreitzer, 1995) should and
does play an important part in this transformation.
Theoretical Implications
This study has several theoretical implications for transformational leadership research.
Specifically, this study borrows a perspective from work on psychological empowerment
(Spreitzer, 1995), which encourages and strengthens our understanding of the influence
dynamics of transformational leadership on followers (e.g., Shamir et al., 1993; Yukl,
2010), and suggests a broad conceptualization of transformational leadership theory.
The primary contribution and implication of this study for both researchers and
managers is to reinforce the value of transformational leadership (Bass, 1985; Burns,
1978).
Furthermore, we have begun to explore what has been referred to as the ‘black box’
(Jung & Avolio, 2000) of how transformational leadership influences followers’
organizational identification processes by demonstrating that feelings of psychological
empowerment mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and
followers’ organizational identification. Though it has been previously argued that
transformational leadership affects followers’ organizational identification, this study has
examined the underlying processes through which transformational leadership may
affect follower organizational identification (Smidts et al., 2001), thereby extending
existing research on transformational leadership.
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Furthermore, this study has made a contribution to the theoretical model proposed by
Kark et al. (2003) in explaining the underlying influence mechanism through which
transformational leadership affects followers’ organizational identification, which has
been discussed in their original model. Results indicate that our model is a plausible
alternative model describing the influence mechanisms through which transformational
leadership affects followers’ organizational identification. We believe that future studies
are necessary and needed to examine the dynamics and complexity of our proposed
theoretical model and that proposed by Kark et al. (2003).
In addition, the research findings suggest that transformational leadership, compared to
active transactional leadership, has a stronger positive relationship with followers’
psychological empowerment and organizational identification. Not surprisingly, these
findings, again, show that transformational leadership seems to be a superior and a
more effective leadership style than transactional leadership (Bass, 1985), and add new
evidence of the augmentation effect of transformational leadership over transactional
leadership (Bass, 2008; Yukl, 2010). Moreover, these results were obtained from a
survey research design that featured a sample consisting of a wide range of followers
working in different leadership contexts, which suggests strong external validity or
generalization of study results (Yammarino & Mumford, 2011).
Practical Implications
There are several practical implications of the current research. First, by creating a
greater sense of psychological empowerment, transformational leaders may have a
more positive effect on levels of organizational identification among followers. To
promote greater feelings of psychological empowerment, leaders should clearly
articulate a vision that inspires followers to take greater responsibility for their work at all
organizational levels. Goal clarification and a clear specification of tasks, roles and
rewards perhaps, may also facilitate feelings of empowerment among employees, and
then enhanced organizational identification consequently. Understanding employee
needs, creating a supportive atmosphere, and engaging in confidence-building practices
may also likely contribute to greater feelings of psychological empowerment (Spreitzer,
1995), which, in turn, may lead to higher levels of organizational identification among
followers.
Another practical implication of this study is that we are able to propose some specific
means to foster and develop follower organizational identification. One specific means
is to develop transformational leadership across various organizational levels in order to
develop follower identification with an organization. In practice, an organization could
offer transformational leadership training (e.g., Bass & Riggio, 2006; Sosik & Jung,
2010) to their managers. These training programs and interventions can include key
characteristics or behavioral dimensions of transformational leadership, namely,
intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, inspirational motivation, and
idealized influence. For example, training programs can teach leaders to encourage and
inspire their followers to develop more meaningful perceptions of their work. Such
LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTIFICATION
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programs may also facilitate the open sharing of information, to enable followers to feel
more empowered, and enhance their identification with the organization over time.
Limitations, Future Research, and Conclusion
We want to note a few important limitations to this research. The first limitation is the
data is cross-sectional. Because our study is cross-sectional and not a longitudinal
design, we acknowledge that a causal relationship between leadership, psychological
empowerment, and follower organizational identification cannot be confirmed entirely by
this study. We believe it would be beneficial for researchers to consider adopting a
longitudinal field study or experimental research design to test psychological
empowerment and organizational identification at different time periods to examine how
these psychological dynamics develop over time. These approaches may help to cast
more light on the dynamic complexity of leadership influence on these variables, and
help draw the conclusion that the relationships are causal.
There appears to be some conceptual overlap between transformational leadership and
psychological empowerment based on both constructs’ focus on human development
and continuous personal improvement (Bass, 1985; Spreitzer, 1995). Namely,
transformational leadership focuses on the leader’s efforts to increase followers’
development, while psychological empowerment focuses on the followers’ development
and confidence. As such, an interesting question for future research is to examine why
some people react positively to transformational leadership (i.e., link their self-identity to
personal development) while others do not. This conceptual overlap may also influence
the generally high degree of correlations among the study variables as shown in Table
1, which may explain the potential for common source bias as a limitation for this study,
although results of both Harmon’s 1-Factor Test and a series of CFAs indicated
otherwise. As such, we suggest that future studies collect data on independent and
dependent variables from different sources.
An additional limitation is that we did not include other important variables, such as
value congruence between leader and followers (Jung & Avolio, 2000), that could also
be an important mediator of the relationship between transformational leadership and
organizational identification. It is also possible that followers’ value congruence with the
organization (Fenton, & Inglis, 2007) could be an important moderating variable that
may strengthen the relationship between transformational leadership and followers’
organizational identification. All of these research questions are worthy of further
exploration in future studies.
One further limitation is that we did not measure objective indicators of followers’
performance, which can be utilized to determine whether followers’ psychological
empowerment and organizational identification influences objective measures of
followers’ performance. Therefore, we suggest that future research testing our model
adopts some objective and hard measures of performance. Such an approach would
allow researchers to investigate the relationships proposed in this study in a more in-
LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTIFICATION
Copyright (c) 2012 Institute of Behavioral and Applied Management. All Rights Reserved. 209
depth manner, and introduce more insightful understanding into the complex dynamics
inherent in the theoretical model.
In conclusion, this study provides researchers investigating transformational leadership,
psychological empowerment, and organizational identification with a preliminary map of
how these constructs are related, and highlights the important challenges and
responsibilities that are associated with transformational leadership research and
practice. As indicated by several researchers (e.g., Bass & Riggio, 2006; Sosik & Jung,
2010), empowerment is a crucial process that defines transformational leadership and
illustrates why it is effective in building follower organizational identification and
performance. Followers’ identification with the organization may be extremely important
for their work attitudes, such as organizational commitment, and for other work
performance measures, associated with excellence in the contemporary global
marketplace.
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