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Abstract

We conducted the current multi-cultural, multi-level study with three objectives in mind. First, we examined the association of transformational leadership and leader effectiveness in UK, with three followers' attitudes toward their leader (trust in the leader, loyalty, and value congruence) as moderators of this association. Second, we conceptualized followers' collectivistic orientation as a personal value, regardless of their nationality, and tested its moderating effect on the leadership-effectiveness association. Finally, we employed a multi-level approach throughout to examine whether transformational leadership processes, and in contrast individualized leadership, operated at different levels of analysis across different countries. Results from WABA and regression analyses indicated that transformational leadership operated at the individual level of analysis in our sample and was effective across UK culture. Specifically, followers' attitudes served as moderators of the transformational leadership-effectiveness association only in the U.K. sample, while collectivistic orientation had a significant moderating effect in both samples. Results from WABA also indicated that individualized leadership operated at the dyadic level for the U.K. sample and at the individual level for the same. Several theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.

Transformational Leadership

Introduction

Since Bass' seminal book on transformational leadership was published in 1985, a number of researchers have begun studying this particular leadership model, and it has emerged as perhaps the most frequently researched topic in leadership during the last two decades (see [Avolio et al., 2003], [Avolio and Yammarino, 2002], [Piccolo and Colquitt, 2006] and [Yammarino et al., 2005]). Recently, the popularity of studying transformational leadership has been increased even more by many corporate scandals in the U.K., which have made people become aware of the importance of ethics and authenticity in leadership processes (Brown, Trevino, & Harrison, 2005). Many researchers and practitioners consider transformational leaders well suited for an era in which chief executives should take into account moral and ethical implications of their business-related decisions.

One distinctive characteristic that differentiates transformational leadership from other leadership approaches is its active involvement with and engagement of personal values among followers. According to Bass (1985), transactional leaders motivate followers based on an existing set of personal values and provide rewards that are attractive to their current value framework, while transformational leaders actively seek to change personal values among followers so that they can go beyond their self-interest for the good of larger entities such as the group and organization. The value realignment process often times allows followers to equate their own success with that of their organization, and thus the effect of transformational leadership on follower motivation is stronger and more sustainable ([Piccolo and Colquitt, 2006] and [Shamir and Howell, 1999]). Employing a similar theoretical framework, Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Moorman, and Fetter (1990) also pointed out a transformational leader's active involvement in changing followers' values so that followers are encouraged to accept group goals and work together toward a common goal and shared vision.

Given these theoretical premises of the transformational leadership approach, several researchers have identified important attitudinal constructs through which transformational leaders motivate followers and increase their ...