Journal of Organization and Human Behaviour

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

Can Transformational Leadership Increase the Happiness Index in Organisations Through Empowerment?


Affiliations
1 Cognizant Technology Solutions, India
2 Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


The purpose of this paper is to understand how transformational leadership is related to psychological empowerment and how it affects happiness index in a follower's life. A total of 103 employees from various Indian information technology organisations rated their superior's transformational leadership behaviour and their own empowerment and happiness. For this study, two dimensions of empowerment were taken into consideration-meaning and competence. Five dimensions of transformational leadership were captured-idealised influence attributed, idealised influence behaviour, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualised consideration. Findings suggest that idealised influence attributed and competence are the best predictors of happiness. Regression analyses also show that both competence and meaning partially mediate the relationship between each of the five dimensions of transformational leadership and follower's happiness. The paper makes recommendations to managers and organisations for improving their leadership styles, which in turn may strengthen positive attitudinal and behavioural changes among employees, thereby making them more productive.

Keywords

Transformational Leadership, Empowerment, Meaning, Competence, Happiness Index.
Subscription Login to verify subscription
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Baron, M. R., & Kenny, A. D. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(6), 1173-1182.

  • Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York: Free Press

  • Bass, B. M. (1998). Transformational leadership: Industrial, military, and educational impact. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

  • Burns, J. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper & Row.

  • Chaudhry, K., & Krishnan, V. R. (2007). Impact of corporate social responsibility and transformational leadership on brand community: An experimental study. Global Business Review, 8(2), 205-220.

  • Conger, J. A. (1989). Leadership: The art of empowering others. Academy of Management Executive, 3(1), 17-25.

  • Dvir, T., Eden, D., Avolio, B. J., & Shamir, B. (2002). Impact of transformational leadership on follower development and performance: A field experiment. Academy of Management Journal, 45(4), 735-744.

  • Foote, D. A., & Tang, T. L. (2008). Job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior: Does team commitment make a difference in self-directed teams? Management Decision, 46(6), 933-947.

  • Gilbreath, B., & Benson, P. G. (2004). The contribution of supervisor behavior to employee psychological well-being. Work & Stress, 18(3), 255-266.

  • Harley, B. W. (1995). Eight critical principles of empowerment. Empowerment in organizations, 3(1), 5-12.

  • Krishnan, V. R. (2007). Effect of transformational leadership and leader’s power on follower’s duty-orientation and spirituality. Great Lakes Herald, 1(2), 48-70.

  • Krishnan, V. R. (2012). Transformational leadership and personal outcomes: Empowerment as mediator. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 33(6), 550-563.

  • Loganathan, N. & Krishnan, V. R. (2010). Leader’s femininity and transformational leadership: Mediating role of leader’s emotional intelligence. Great Lakes Herald, 4 (2), 53-72.

  • Mulla, Z. R., & Krishnan, V. R. (2012). Transformational leadership and Karma-Yoga: Enhancing followers’ dutyorientation and indifference to rewards. Psychology & Developing Societies, 24(1), 85–117.

  • Myer, D. G., Diener, E. (1995). Who is happy? Psychological Science, 6(1).

  • Nielsen, K., Yarker, J., Randall, R., & Munir, F. (2009). The mediating effects of team and self-efficacy on the relationship between transformational leadership, job satisfaction and psychological well-being in healthcare professionals: A cross sectional questionnaire survey. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 46, 1236-1244.

  • Ozaralli, N. (2003). Effects of transformational leadership on empowerment and team effectiveness. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 24(6), 335- 344.

  • Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (1993). Review of the satisfaction with life scale. Psychological Assessment, 5(2), 164-172.

  • Pieterse, A. N., Knippenberg, D. V., Schippers, M. & Stam, D. (2010). Transformational and transactional leadership and innovative behavior: The moderating role of psychological empowerment. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 31, 609-623.

  • Podsakoff, M. P., MacKenzie, B. S., Lee, J., & Podsakoff, P. N. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology. 88(5), 879-903.

  • Rego, A., & Cunha, M. P. E. (2008). Perceptions of authentizotic climates and employee happiness: Pathways to individual performance? Journal of Business Research, 61(7), 739-752.

  • Rego, A., Ribeiro, N., & Cunha, M. P. (2010). Perceptions of organizational virtuousness and happiness as predictors of organizational citizenship behaviors. Journal of Business Ethics, 93, 215-235.

  • Sally, C. (2004). Does psychological empowerment mediate the relationship between psychological climate and job satisfaction? Journal of Business and Psychology, 18(4), 405-425.

  • Sharp, T. J., & Pritchard, M. T. (2006). The role of self-efficacy in happiness: Validation of the happiness self-efficacy scale. Asia Pacific Biotech News, 10(2), 94-101.

  • Singh, N., & Krishnan, V. R. (2007). Transformational leadership in India: Developing and validating a new scale using grounded theory approach. International Journal of Cross-Cultural Management, 7(2), 219–236.

  • Spreitzer, G. M., de Janasz, S. C., & Quinn, R. E. (1999). Empowered to lead: The role of psychological empowerment in leadership. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 20(4), 511-526.

  • Spreitzer, G. M. (1995). Psychological empowerment in the workplace: dimensions, measurement and validation. Academy of Management Journal, 38(5), 1442-1465.

  • Thomas, K. W., & Velthouse, B. A. (1990). Cognitive elements of empowerment. Academy of Management Review, 15(4), 661-681.

  • van Dierendonck, D., Haynes, C., Borril, C., & Stride, C. (2004). Leadership behavior and subordinate well-being. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 9, 165-175.

  • Vella-Brodrick, D. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2009). Three ways to be happy: Pleasure, engagement, and meaning: Findings from Australian and US samples. Social Indicators Research, 90, 165–179.

  • Wright, T. A., Larwood, L., & Denney, P. J. (2002). The different ‘faces’ of happiness-unhappiness in organizational research: Emotional exhaustion, positive affectivity, negative affectivity and psychological well-being as correlates of job performance. Journal of Business and Management, 8(2), 109-126.

  • Zhu, W., Sosik, J. J., Riggio, R. E., & Yang, B. (2012). Relation between transformational and transactional leadership and follower’s organizational identification: The role of psychological empowerment. Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management,13(3), 186-212.


Abstract Views: 363

PDF Views: 0




  • Can Transformational Leadership Increase the Happiness Index in Organisations Through Empowerment?

Abstract Views: 363  |  PDF Views: 0

Authors

Akshata Pai
Cognizant Technology Solutions, India
Venkat R. Krishnan
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract


The purpose of this paper is to understand how transformational leadership is related to psychological empowerment and how it affects happiness index in a follower's life. A total of 103 employees from various Indian information technology organisations rated their superior's transformational leadership behaviour and their own empowerment and happiness. For this study, two dimensions of empowerment were taken into consideration-meaning and competence. Five dimensions of transformational leadership were captured-idealised influence attributed, idealised influence behaviour, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualised consideration. Findings suggest that idealised influence attributed and competence are the best predictors of happiness. Regression analyses also show that both competence and meaning partially mediate the relationship between each of the five dimensions of transformational leadership and follower's happiness. The paper makes recommendations to managers and organisations for improving their leadership styles, which in turn may strengthen positive attitudinal and behavioural changes among employees, thereby making them more productive.

Keywords


Transformational Leadership, Empowerment, Meaning, Competence, Happiness Index.

References