Transformational leadership effectiveness through the lens of self-determination theory: the role of employee needs satisfaction

Die transformationale Führungstheorie ist die am häufigsten untersuchte Führungstheorie der letzten 20 Jahre. Ausgehend von dieser akkumulierten Forschungserkenntnis gibt es kaum Zweifel daran, dass der transformationale Führungsstil einer der effektivsten Führungsstile überhaupt ist. Während die vergangenen Studien zweifellos unser Wissen über die transformationale Führung erweitert haben, scheinen sie einen der zentralen Aspekte der Theorie der transformationalen Führung vernachlässigt zu haben, nämlich die Integration der Mitarbeiterbedürfnisse. Auf die Selbstbestimmungstheorie stützend, besteht die vorliegende Arbeit aus 4 Studien zusammengefasst in 3 Kapiteln, welche das Ziel haben, die Bedeutung der Befriedigung der Mitarbeiterbedürfnisse im transformationalen Führungsprozess näher zu beleuchten. Chapter 1 beginnt mit der Untersuchung, ob die Befriedigung der Mitarbeiterbedürfnisse die Beziehung zwischen transformationaler Führung und der Arbeitszufriedenheit, berufsbezogener Selbstwirksamkeit und affektivem Commitment zur Führungskraft der Mitarbeitenden mediiert. Die Hypothesen wurden mit einem Querschnittdesign (Studie 1; N = 410) in Deutschland und mit einem Lagged-Design (Studie 2; N = 442) in der Schweiz getestet. Gesamthaft gesehen haben die Ergebnisse die Hypothesen überwiegend unterstützt. Die Beziehung zwischen transformationaler Führung und der Arbeitszufriedenheit der Mitarbeitenden wurde durch die Befriedigung des Autonomie- (Studie 1 und Studie 2) und des Kompetenzbedürfnisses und des Bedürfnisses nach sozialer Eingebundenheit (Studie 2) mediiert; die Beziehung zwischen transformationaler Führung und berufsbezogener Selbstwirksamkeit wurde nur durch die Befriedigung des Kompetenzbedürfnisses mediiert; die Beziehung zwischen transformationaler Führung und affektivem Commitment zur Führungskraft wurde nur durch die Befriedigung des Bedürfnisses nach sozialer Eingebundenheit mediiert. Chapter 2 erweitert die vorangegangenen Untersuchungen. Mit experimentellem Design (N = 190) wurde hier getestet, ob die Bedürfnisbefriedigung der Mitarbeitenden und ihr Arbeitsengagement die Beziehung zwischen transformationaler Führung und Arbeitsleistung der Mitarbeitenden sequenziell mediieren. Gesamthaft gesehen haben die Resultate die Hypothesen weitgehend unterstützt. Es wurde gezeigt, dass transformationale Führung zur Befriedigung der Bedürfnisse nach Kompetenz, sozialer Eingebundenheit und Autonomie führt und dass die Befriedigung von Kompetenz und sozialer Eingebundenheit das Arbeitsengagement der Mitarbeitenden vorhersagt. Das Arbeitsengagement seinerseits hat zu höherer Arbeitsqualität und stärkerer Aufgabenpersistenz geführt. In Chapter 3 wurde untersucht, ob das Geschlecht der Führungsperson und der Mitarbeitenden sowie die Geschlechterzusammensetzung der Führungsperson-MitarbeiterIn Dyade mit dem transformationalen Führungsstil hinsichtlich der Bedürfnisbefriedigung der Mitarbeitenden interagiert (N = 1226). Im Einzelnen wurde postuliert, dass a) männliche transformationale Führungspersonen einen stärkeren Einfluss auf die Bedürfnisbefriedigung der Mitarbeitenden haben werden als weibliche, b) weibliche Mitarbeitende, die mit einer transformationalen Führungsperson zusammenarbeiten, sich kompetenter, autonomer und sozial eingebundener fühlen werden als ihre männlichen Kollegen und c) transformationales Führungsverhalten in gleichgeschlechtlichen Dyaden den grössten Einfluss auf Bedürfnisbefriedigung der Mitarbeitenden haben wird. Die Resultate haben keine der postulierten Interaktionen unterstützt. Allerdings haben sie gezeigt, dass weibliche Mitarbeitende stärkere Befriedigung der Bedürfnisse nach Autonomie und sozialer Eingebunden berichten, wenn sie mit einer weiblichen Führungsperson zusammenarbeiten und dass die Relevanz des Geschlechts marginalisiert wird, wenn transformationale Führung berücksichtigt wird. Weiter haben die Resultate gezeigt, dass Führungspersonen, die als transformational wahrgenommen werden, unabhängig von ihrem Geschlecht oder dem Geschlecht ihrer Mitarbeitenden effektiv die Mitarbeitenden hinsichtlich ihrer Bedürfnisbefriedigung beeinflussen. Transformational leadership has been the most frequently investigated leadership theory over the last twenty years. Based on this accumulated research evidence, there is now little controversy that transformational leadership is one of the most effective leadership styles. While these studies have doubtlessly advanced our understanding of transformational leadership, they seem to have largely neglected a central tenet of the transformational leadership theory, namely, its integration of followers’ psychological needs. Drawing on self- determination theory, the present thesis comprises four studies organized into three chapters aiming to examine the role of followers’ need satisfaction in the transformation leadership process. Chapter 1 initiates with an investigation into whether employees’ needs satisfaction mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and employees’ job satisfaction, occupational self-efficacy beliefs, and affective commitment to the leader. The hypotheses were tested in Germany using a cross-sectional design (Study 1; N = 410) and in Switzerland using a lagged design (Study 2; N = 442). Overall, the results largely supported the hypotheses. The link between transformational leadership and employee job satisfaction was mediated by employee satisfaction of the need for autonomy (Study 1 and Study 2), competence, and relatedness (Study 2); the link between transformational leadership and occupational self-efficacy was mediated solely by competence satisfaction; the link between transformational leadership and commitment to the leader was mediated solely by relatedness satisfaction. Chapter 2 extends the previous research. Using an experimental design (N = 190), it was tested whether satisfaction of followers’ needs and their work engagement mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and employee performance in sequence. Overall, the results largely supported the hypotheses. Results revealed that transformational leadership induced satisfaction of the needs for competence, relatedness, and autonomy, with the former two subsequently predicting followers’ work engagement. Work engagement, in turn, led to greater performance quality and greater task persistence. Chapter 3 investigated whether leader and employee gender and the gender composition of the leader–follower dyad interact with transformational leadership behaviors regarding employees’ needs satisfaction (N = 1226). In particular, it was hypothesized that a) male transformational leaders would have a stronger impact on employee needs satisfaction than female transformational leaders, b) female employees who work with a transformational leader would feel more competent, autonomous, and related to compared to their male counterparts, and c) transformational leadership behaviors would have the greatest impact on employee needs satisfaction in same-gender dyads. Results did not support any of the proposed interactions. However, they showed that female employees working with a female leader reported the greatest levels of autonomy and relatedness satisfaction, and that the relevance of employee gender disappeared when transformational leadership was considered. Further, the results indicated that leaders, who are seen as transformational, regardless of their and their employees’ gender, effectively influence followers in their needs fulfillment

Optimal energy management and control of an industrial microgrid with plug-in electric vehicles

An industrial microgrid (IMG) consists in a microgrid involving manufacturer plants which are usually equipped with distributed generation facilities, industrial electric vehicles, energy storage systems, etc. In this paper, the problem of IMG efficient operation in presence of plug-in electric vehicles is addressed. To this purpose, schedule of the different device operations of IMGs has to be optimally computed, minimizing the operation cost while guaranteeing electrical network stability and production constraints. Such a problem is formulated in a receding horizon framework involving dynamic optimal power flow equations. Uncertainty affecting plug-in electric vehicles is handled by means of a chance constraint approach. The obtained nonconvex problem is then approximately solved by exploiting suitable convex relaxation techniques. Numerical simulations have been performed showing computational feasibility and robustness of the proposed approach against increased penetration of electric vehicles

Breaking ground in cross-cultural research on the fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia): A multi-national study involving 73 countries

The current study examines whether the fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia) can be assessed reliably and validly by means of a self-report instrument in different countries of the world. All items of the GELOPH (Ruch and Titze, GELOPH46, University of Düsseldorf, 1998; Ruch and Proyer, Swiss Journal of Psychology 67:19-27, 2008b) were translated to the local language of the collaborator (42 languages in total). In total, 22,610 participants in 93 samples from 73 countries completed the GELOPH. Across all samples the reliability of the 15-item questionnaire was high (mean alpha of .85) and in all samples the scales appeared to be unidimensional. The endorsement rates for the items ranged from 1.31% through 80.00% to a single item. Variations in the mean scores of the items were more strongly related to the culture in a country and not to the language in which the data were collected. This was also supported by a multidimensional scaling analysis with standardized mean scores of the items from the GELOPH15. This analysis identified two dimensions that further helped explaining the data (i.e., insecure vs. intense avoidant-restrictive and low vs. high suspicious tendencies towards the laughter of others). Furthermore, multiple samples derived from one country tended to be (with a few exceptions) highly similar. The study shows that gelotophobia can be assessed reliably by means of a self-report instrument in cross-cultural research. This study enables further studies of the fear of being laughed at with regard to differences in the prevalence and putative causes of gelotophobia in comparisons to different culture

Uticaj biljnih ulja na fizičko-hemijska i senzorna svojstva suvih fermentisanih kobasica

In order to improve the functional properties of dry fermented sausages, one part of backfat can be substituted with oils that have a more favourable fatty acid profile. In this experiment, one part of backfat in the mixture for dry fermented sausages was replaced with flaxseed and grapeseed oils prepared as alginate gel, with the content of oil in the mixture equalling 3% and 5%. The type and amount of oil did not affect the change in pH values. Sausages with flaxseed oil received lower grades for colour, odour, flavour and overall acceptability compared with the control and grapeseed oil variant. Increase in the flaxseed oil content in the mixture resulted in lower sensory analysis grades.U smislu poboljšanja funkcionalnih svojstava suvih fermentisanih kobasica moguće je deo masnog tkiva zameniti uljima s povoljnijim masnokiselinskim profilom. U ovom ogledu deo čvrstog masnog tkiva u nadevu suvih fermentisanih kobasica zamenjen je lanenim i uljem od koštica grožđa pripremljenim kao alginatni gel tako da je u nadevu sadržaj ulja bio oko 3% i 5%. Vrsta i količina ulja nisu uticali na tok promene pH vrednosti. Kobasice s lanenim uljem ocenjene su manjim ocenama u pogledu boje, mirisa, ukusa i ukupne prihvatljivosti u odnosu na kontrolnu kobasicu i kobasice sa uljem od koštica grožđa. Povećanje sadržaja lanenog ulja u nadevu uticalo je na smanjenje ocena senzorne analize

The Impact of Transformational Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behaviours:The Contingent Role of Public Service Motivation

This paper examines whether the relationship between transformational leadership and organisational citizenship behaviours is contingent on public service motivation (PSM). We propose that PSM may reduce followers’ reliance on the motivational behaviours of transformational leaders in public sector organisations. Using a sample of Mexican employees we tested this proposition with structural equation modelling. Our results show that public sector followers higher in PSM placed less reliance, than those lower in PSM, on transformational behaviours. A follow-up study in private sector organisations did not reveal a similar interaction effect. These findings appear consistent with previous research demonstrating that PSM is more aligned to the goals and values of public rather than private sector organisations

Conceptualizing leadership perceptions as attitudes:using attitude theory to further the understanding of the relation between leadership and outcomes

Leadership is one of the most examined factors in relation to understanding employee wellbeing and performance. While there are disparate approaches to studying leadership, they share a common assumption that perceptions of a leader's behavior determine reactions to the leader. The concept of leadership perception is poorly understood in most theoretical approaches. To address this, we propose that there are many benefits from examining leadership perceptions as an attitude towards the leader. In this review, we show how research examining a number of aspects of attitudes (content, structure and function) can advance understanding of leadership perceptions and how these affect work-related outcomes. Such a perspective provides a more multi-faceted understanding of leadership perceptions than previously envisaged and this can provide a more detailed understanding of how such perceptions affect outcomes. In addition, we examine some of the main theoretical and methodological implications of viewing leadership perceptions as attitudes to the wider leadership area. The cross-fertilization of research from the attitudes literature to understanding leadership perceptions provides new insights into leadership processes and potential avenues for further research. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserve

Islamic Tourism as a Factor of the Middle East Regional Development

For long time tourism, except pilgrimage travels, has been considered as culturally inappropriate and economically unnecessary phenomenon by Arab governments. At the beginning of 21st century, many Arab states developed their tourism industries in order to diversify their economies (in the case of GCC states = Gulf Cooperation Council) or to earn foreign currency (in the case of Arab Mediterranean states). Middle East importance for global stability derives from its immense oil reserves and its status as the epicentre of Muslim culture. The majority of their demand for tourism originates from neighbouring countries. The time of unrest in this part of the world has brought a need for local travellers to stay within the same cultural environment when making holiday destination choices