TRANSACTIONAL LEADERSHIP

Transactional Leadership

Transactional Leadership

Introduction

Leadership is considered a factor that has a major influence on the performance of organizations, managers and employees (Wang, 2005). Early theories tried to define effective leadership styles (democratic or autocratic, socially oriented or target oriented etc.) and to relate them with various aspects of organizational outcomes (e.g. Blake and Mouton, 1964; Lewin, 1939). More recently, researchers have focused mainly on the subordinates' perspective and proposed two main facets of leadership: transactional and transformational (e.g. Bass, 1985; Burns, 1978). This theory suggests that transformational leadership, more than transactional leadership, has a stronger positive effect on employees' attitudes towards their job, their job environment, and ultimately affects their work performance.

From a different approach, a variety of studies have recently pointed to organizational politics as an important antecedent of employees' performance, both formal and informal (Adams, 2002) Most of these studies, and others, have relied on the definition of organizational politics as behavior strategically designed to maximize self-interests (Ferris, 1989) and therefore in conflict with the collective organizational goals or the interests of other individuals. This perspective reflects a generally negative image of workplace politics in the eyes of most organization members. Although treated as separate constructs, several studies have also related organizational politics to the theory of fairness, equity, and justice in the workplace (i.e. Ferris and Kacmar, 1992, p. 93; Kacmar and Ferris, 1991, pp. 193-4; Vigoda-Gadot, 2003, p. 30). Other studies describe organizational politics as a power game and influence tactics designed to achieve the best outcomes for the user (Kipnis, 1980; Pfeffer, 1992).

Discussion

Transactional leadership is a style of leadership in which subordinates seek motivation from their leaders via a combination of punishments and rewards in the workplace. For example, subordinates might receive a punishment if they do a task incorrectly. In contrast, a reward might be given to subordinates who accomplish their tasks correctly and in a timely manner. Max Weber, one of the founders of modern sociology, developed this leadership theory in 1947. Leadership expert Bernard M. Bass further expanded upon the original leadership model in 1981.

The main motivation behind transactional leadership is thought to be the self-interest of the subordinate. In this type of leadership, there is an exchange process that is meant to affect a subordinate's behavior in a positive way. Bosses in a business situation, for example, often implement salary increases for employees who meet all of their work requirements.

Whereas theory suggests that both leadership and organizational politics are important antecedents that may affect employees' performance, there are no integrated models for studying the veracity of this theory. This study proposes and tests two competing models for the relationship among leadership, politics, and performance. By so doing, the study expects to contribute to our knowledge in this area by examining the relationship between leadership and employees' performance and arguing that organizational politics mediates in this relationship. Another potential contribution of this study is its focus on two fundamental aspects of performance: formal and ...