The Relationship Between Transactional and Transformational Leadership Attributes and Organizational Performance in the Caribbean

The purpose of this quantitative, correlational research paper was to examine to what extent a relationship existed between transformational and transactional leadership attributes and corporate rank on the most profitable organizations List published by the Businessuite Magazine. The study included a sample of 20 chief executive officers (CEOs) whose organizations were ranked among the 2015 most profitable organizations in the Caribbean. Study participants completed a mailed self-report survey in the form of an adapted Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, and companies of participants were categorized by profitability and ranked based on the most profitable List. The Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was used to determine the magnitude and direction of the relationship between the variables of interest: Transformational and transactional leadership attributes and corporate rank on the most profitable organizations List published by the Businessuite Magazine. The findings of this study indicated no significant relationships between transactional and transformational leadership attributes and corporate ranking for the most profitable companies. However, overall there appears to be a positive correlation between the interaction of transformational and transactional behaviors and rank on the most profitable Caribbean organizations published by the Businessuite magazine. The small sample size was the major confounding factor, and therefore additional research is warranted with a larger sample.