Mechanisms Linking Transformational Leadership and Team Performance

Abstract

Extending previous research on transformational leadership (TFL), the present study explores the mechanisms that explain the relationship between TFL and team performance. Drawing on the three-stage model of TFL (Conger & Kanungo, 1998), we theorize that TFL predicts high levels of team performance through shaping team goal orientation and group affective tone. To test the hypotheses, we use data collected from managers and members of 61 research and development teams and use the partial least squares analysis to test hypotheses. The results show that TFL positively predicts positive group affective tone through team learning goal orientation but negatively predicts negative group affective tone via team avoiding goal orientation. Finally, we find that positive group affective tone is positively associated with team performance, whereas negative group affective tone is negatively associated with team performance.

Keywords

transformational leadership team goal orientation group affective tone team performance

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Anderson

J. C.

Gerbing

D. W.

(1988). Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 411-423.

Antonakis

House

R. J.

(2002). The full-range leadership theory: The way forward. In Avolio

B. J.

Yammarino

F. J.

(Eds.), Transformational and charismatic leadership: The road ahead (Vol. 2, pp. 3-34). Amsterdam, Netherlands: JAI-Elsevier Science.

Bagozzi

R. P.

Philips

L. W.

(1991). Assessing construct validity in organizational research. Administrative Science Quarterly, 36, 421-458.

Barling

Weber

Kelloway

E. K.

(1996). Effects of transformational leadership training on attitudinal and financial outcomes: A field experiment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 8, 827-832.

Bass

B. M.

(1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York, NY: Free Press.

Bass

B. M.

Avolio

B. J.

(2000). Manual for the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Form 5X). Redwood City, CA: Mindgarden.

Bass

B. M.

Avolio

B. J.

Jung

D. I.

Berson

(2003). Predicting unit performance by assessing transformational and transactional leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 207-218.

Berson

Shamir

Avolio

Popper

(2001). The relationship between vision strength, leadership style and context. Leadership Quarterly, 12, 53-73.

Bliese

P. D.

(2000). Within-group agreement, non-independence, and reliability: Implications for data aggregation and analysis. In Klein

K. J.

Kozlowski

S. W. J.

(Eds.), Multilevel theory, research, and methods in organizations (pp. 349-381). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

10.

Brislin

R. W.

(1980). Translation and content analysis of oral and written materials. In Triadis

H. C.

Berry

J. W.

(Eds.), Handbook of cross-culture psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 394-444). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

11.

Bunderson

J. S.

Sutcliffe

K. M.

(2003). Management team learning orientation and business unit performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 552-560.

12.

Burke

C. S.

Stagl

K. C.

Klein

Goodwin

G. F.

Salas

Halpin

S. M.

(2006). What type of leadership behaviors are functional in teams? A meta-analysis. Leadership Quarterly, 17, 288-307.

13.

Burns

J. M.

(1978). Leadership. New York, NY: Harper & Row.

14.

Chen

Bliese

P. D.

(2002). The role of different levels of leadership in predicting self and collective efficacy: Evidence for discontinuity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 549-556.

15.

Chi

N. W.

Chung

Y. Y.

Tsai

W. C.

(2011). How do happy leaders enhance team success? The mediating roles of transformational leadership, group affective tone and team processes. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 41, 1421-1454.

16.

Chi

N. W.

Huang

Y. M.

Lin

S. C.

(2009). A double-edged sword? Exploring the curvilinear relationship between organizational tenure diversity and team innovation: The moderating role of team-oriented HR practices. Group & Organization Management, 34, 698-726.

17.

Chi

N. W.

Pan

S. Y.

(2012). A multilevel investigation of missing links between transformational leadership and task performance: The mediating roles of perceived person-job fit and person-organization fit. Journal of Business and Psychology, 27, 43-56.

18.

Colbert

A. E.

Kristof-Brown

A. L.

Bradley

B. H.

Barrick

M. R.

(2008). CEO transformational leadership: The role of goal importance congruence in top management teams. Academy of Management Journal, 51, 81-96.

19.

Cole

M. S.

Walter

Bruch

(2008). Affective mechanisms linking dysfunctional behavior to performance in work teams: A moderated mediation study. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 945-958.

20.

Conger

J. A.

(1999). Charismatic and transformational leadership in organizations: An insider’s perspective on these developing streams of research. Leadership Quarterly, 10, 145-179.

21.

Conger

J. A.

Kanungo

R. N.

(1998). Charismatic leadership in organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

22.

Connelly

Gaddis

Helton-Fauth

(2002). A closer look at the role of emotions in charismatic and transformational leadership. In Yammarino

Avolio

B. J.

(Eds.), Transformational and charismatic leadership: The road ahead (Vol. 2, pp. 255-283). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.

23.

Dionne

S. D.

Yammarino

F. J.

Atwater

L. E.

Spangler

W. D.

(2004). Transformational leadership and team performance. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 17, 177-193.

24.

Dragoni

(2005). Understanding the emergence of state goal orientation in organizational work groups: The role of leadership and multilevel climate perceptions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 1084-1095.

25.

Dyer

N. G.

Hanges

P. J.

Hall

(2005). Applying multilevel confirmatory factor analysis techniques to the study of leadership. Leadership Quarterly, 16, 149-167.

26.

Edmondson

(1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44, 350-383.

27.

George

J. M.

(1990). Personality, affect, and behavior in groups. Journal of Applied Psychology, 75, 107-116.

28.

George

J. M.

(1995). Leader positive mood and group performance: The case of customer service. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 25, 778-794.

29.

George

J. M.

(1996). Group affective tone. In West

M. A.

(Ed.), Handbook of work group psychology (pp. 77-93). Chicester, UK: Wiley.

30.

George

J. M.

Brief

A. P.

(1992). Feeling good-doing good: A conceptual analysis of the mood at work-organizational spontaneity relationship. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 310-329.

31.

George

J. M.

King

E. B.

(2007). Potential pitfalls of affect convergence in teams: Functions and dysfunctions of group affective tone. In Mannix

E. A.

Neale

M. A.

Anderson

C. P.

(Eds.), Research on managing groups and teams (Vol. 10, pp. 97-123). New York, NY: Elsevier.

32.

Gibson

C. B.

Earley

P. C.

(2007). Collective cognition in action: Accumulation, interaction, examination and accommodation in the development and operation of group efficacy beliefs in the workplace. Academy of Management Review, 32, 438-458.

33.

Gooty

Connelly

Griffith

Gupta

(2010). Leadership, affect, and emotions: A state of the science review. Leadership Quarterly, 21, 979-1004.

34.

Hofstede

(1997). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. London, England: McGraw-Hill.

35.

Huang

J. C.

(2010). Unbundling task conflict and relationship conflict: The moderating role of team goal orientation and conflict management. International Journal of Conflict Management, 21, 334-355.

36.

Humphrey

R. H.

(2002). The many faces of emotional leadership. Leadership Quarterly, 13, 493-504.

37.

James

L. R.

Demaree

R. G.

Wolf

(1984). Estimating within-group interrater reliability with and without response bias. Journal of Applied Psychology, 69, 85-98.

38.

James

L. R.

Mulaik

S. A.

Brett

(2006). A tale of two methods. Organizational Research Methods, 9, 233-244.

39.

Jordan

P. J.

Lawrence

S. A.

Troth

A. C.

(2006). The impact of negative mood on team performance. Journal of Management & Organization, 12, 131-145.

40.

Judge

T. A.

Bono

J. E.

(2000). Five-factor model of personality and transformational leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 751-765.

41.

Jung

D. I.

Sosik

J. J.

(2002). Transformational leadership in work groups: The role of empowerment, cohesiveness, and collective-efficacy on perceived group performance. Small Group Research, 33, 313-336.

42.

Kark

Shamir

Chen

(2003). The two faces of transformational leadership: Empowerment and dependency. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 246-255.

43.

Keller

R. T.

(2006). Transformational leadership, initiating structure, and substitutes for leadership: A longitudinal study of research and development project team performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 202-210.

44.

LeBreton

J. M.

Senter

J. L.

(2008). Answers to twenty questions about interrater reliability and interrater agreement. Organizational Research Methods, 11, 815-852.

45.

LePine

J. A.

(2005). Adaptation of teams in response to unforeseen change: Effects of goal difficulty and team composition in terms of cognitive ability and goal orientation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 1153-1167.

46.

Liao

Chuang

(2007). Transformational service employees and climate: A multiple, multisource examination of transformational leadership in building long-term service relationships. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 1006-1019.

47.

Mathieu

Maynard

M. T.

Rapp

Gilson

(2008). Team effectiveness 1997-2007: A review of recent advancements and a glimpse into the future. Journal of Management, 34, 410-476.

48.

McColl-Kennedy

J. R.

Anderson

R. D.

(2002). Impact of leadership style and emotions on subordinate performance. Leadership Quarterly, 13, 545-559.

49.

Mehta

Feild

Armenakis

Mehta

(2009). Team goal orientation and team performance: The mediating role of team planning. Journal of Management, 35, 1026-1046.

50.

Menges

J. I.

Walter

Vogel

Bruch

(2011). Transformational leadership climate: Performance linkages, mechanisms, and boundary conditions at the organizational level. Leadership Quarterly, 22, 893-909.

51.

Pieterse

A. N.

van Knippenberg

van Ginkel

W. P.

(2011). Diversity in goal orientation, team reflexivity, and team performance. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 114, 153-164.

52.

Pillai

Williams

E. A.

(2004). Transformational leadership, self-efficacy, group cohesiveness, commitment, and performance. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 17, 144-159.

53.

Pirola-Merlo

Härtel

Mann

Hirst

(2002). How leaders influence the impact of affective events on team climate and performance in R&D teams. Leadership Quarterly, 13, 561-581.

54.

Podsakoff

P. M.

MacKenzie

S. B.

Lee

Podsakoff

(2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 879-903.

55.

Podsakoff

P. M.

Organ

D. W.

(1986). Self-reports in organizational research: Problems and prospects. Journal of Management, 12, 69-82.

56.

Porter

C. O. L. H.

(2005). Goal orientation: Effects on backing up behavior, performance, efficacy, and commitment in teams. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 811-818.

57.

Rhee

S. Y.

(2007). Group emotions and group outcomes: The role of group member interactions. In Mannix

E. A.

Neal

M. A.

Anderson

C. P.

(Eds.), Affect and groups, Vol. 10: Research on managing groups and teams (pp. 65-95). Oxford, UK: Elsevier.

58.

Salancik

G. R.

Pfeffer

(1978). A social information processing approach to job attitude and task design. Administrative Science Quarterly, 23, 224-253.

59.

Schaubroeck

Lam

S. S. K.

Cha

S. E.

(2007). Embracing transformational leadership: Team values and the relationship between leader behavior and team performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 1020-1030.

60.

Sobel

M. E.

(1982). Asymptotic confidence intervals for indirect effects in structural equation models. In Leinhardt

(Ed.), Sociological methodology 1982 (pp. 290-312). Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.

61.

Sosik

J. J.

Godshalk

V. M.

Yammarino

F. J.

(2004). Transformational leadership, learning goal orientation and expectations for career success in mentor-protégé relationships: A multiple levels of analysis perspective. Leadership Quarterly, 15, 241-261.

62.

Sosik

J. J.

Kahai

S. S.

Piovoso

M. J.

(2009). Silver bullet or voodoo statistics? A primer for using the partial least squares data analytic technique in group and organization research. Group & Organization Management, 5, 5-36.

63.

Stewart

G. L.

(2003). Toward an understanding of the multilevel role of personality in teams. In Barrick

M. R.

Ryan

A. M.

(Eds.), Personality and work: Reconsidering the role of personality in organizations (pp. 183-204). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

64.

Stewart

G. L.

(2006). A meta-analytic review of relationships between team design features and team performance. Journal of Management, 32, 29-54.

65.

Cote

Saavedra

(2005). The contagious leader: Impact of the leader’s mood on the mood of group members, group affective tone, and group processes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 295-305.

66.

Tepper

B. J.

(2000). Consequences of abusive supervision. Academy of Management Journal, 43, 178-190.

67.

Tsai

W. C.

Chi

N. W.

Grandey

A. A.

Fung

S. C.

(2012). Positive group affective tone and team creativity: Negative group affective tone and team trust as boundary conditions. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 33, 638-656.

68.

VandeWalle

(1997). Development and validation of a work domain goal orientation instrument. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 8, 995-1015.

69.

Wang

I.-S.

Courtright

S. H.

Colbert

A. E.

(2011). Transformational leadership and performance across criteria and levels: A meta-analytic review of 25 years of research. Group & Organization Management, 36, 223-270.

70.

Wang

X. H.

Howell

J. M.

(2010). Exploring the dual-level effects of transformational leadership on followers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95, 1134-1144.

71.

Watson

Clark

L. A.

Tellegen

(1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063-1070.

72.

Whetten

D. A.

(1989). What constitutes a theoretical contribution? Academy of Management Review, 14, 490-495.