Transformational Leadership Style and Team Effectiveness for New Leaders - Research Paper Example

?Amirah S. McGrone Research Prospectus: OM8022 – Survey of Research Methods Term Capella Amirah S. McGrone © Component Description Topic Introduction Transformational leadership style and team effectiveness for new leaders Teams have increasingly become prevalent in the current working environment, with most researchers agreeing that teams are central to an organization’s success (Hills, 2007; Martin & Bal, 2006; Mathieu et al, 2008). Effective team leadership is deemed as the most important factor in the success or failure of teams (Grant, 2012). For a transitioning leader, the first few days and months are often critical on how successful they are with their teams (Appelbaum & Valero, 2007). Transformational leadership is increasingly seen as critical, not only in the competitive landscape of an organization, but also to the leader’s impact on team effectiveness (Grant, 2012; Ozaralli, 2003). Increasingly, leaders are not only faced with the challenge of how to introduce change, but also how to manage change (Watkins, 2004), which seems especially important when the introduction of the new leader is the change. Watkins (2003) notes that on average twelve employees are impacted by a new manager. This finding implies that what the new leader in transition does would affect a wide network of employees and, hence, performance within the organization. Since transformational leadership is deemed as critical for team performance, this research study seeks to examine the relationship between transformational leadership style and team effectiveness for new leaders in transition, with a special focus on professional knowledge-based work teams Problem / Opportunity Statement Most organizations in the current business climate are highly dependent on leaders to lead organizations to success. This dependence is especially so in the current high competitive business environment characterized by high leader turnover, frequent change, and high accountability to stakeholders (Grant, 2012; Hoffman, Bynum, Piccolo, & Sutton, 2011; Stewart, 1992). The problem is that organizations and leaders have failed to execute effective leadership transition action plans, which may lead to negative effects, such as leader stress, decreased productivity, higher turnover, and ineffective team performance (Gilmore, 2003). Understanding the role of transformational leadership in leadership transition and the impact that it has on team effectiveness would be an essential resource in understanding develop effective leadership transition plan. Both Wageman, Hackman, and Lehmen (2005), who proposed a model of team effectiveness in an organizational context, and Manderscheid and Ardichvili (2008), who proposed a paired model integrating leadership transition theory that proposes effective team relationships are the result of successful leadership transitions, posit that transformational leadership style may be a critical success factor for team effectiveness and the success of new leaders (Appelbaum & Valero, 2007). Watkins (2004) maintained that, to accelerate the transition and build momentum, the new leader must have the ability to engage and influence many individuals throughout the organization “using vision, expertise and drive” (p. 16). Unlike well seasoned leaders who may have some understanding on what works in teams or how to handle various challenges that arise in newer teams that they are faced with, new leaders lack the experience of having to deal with such challenges. Most only have theoretical knowledge. Past literature have depicted transformational leadership as the most effective in enabling team performance and effectiveness (Wageman, Hackman, and Lehmen, 2005). Although there is substantive research on leadership style and team effectiveness, there is less on new leader transition (Manderscheid & Ardichvili, 2008). Most of the research have focused on strategies to be employed in transitioning a leader (Manderscheid, 2008), formal interventions that organisations need to undertake in helping a leader transition (Manderscheid & Ardichvili, 2008; ), the significance of building momentum during the first few days (Denis, Langley and Pineault, 2000; Downey, 2002), and development of a leadership assimilation model for helping new leaders build relationship faster with their new teams (Manderscheid & Ardichvili, 2008). Few research works have focused on leadership styles for new leaders where they such work have noted that a charismatic and inspirational leader was essential during organisational changes in leadership (Thompson & Flynn, 2011). None though relates the role of transformational leadership on team effectiveness for new leaders who are transiting. In addition, how leadership style is related to the leaders’ perceptions of team effectiveness has mainly been studied from the leader’s viewpoint (Avolio, 2010; Appelbaum, & Valero, 2007; Grant, 2012). The leaders’ perceptions though are likely to be biased. What is unknown is the relationship between leadership style and subordinate ratings of team effectiveness. Therefore the study focuses on how both leaders and subordinate perceptions on team effectiveness based on transformational leadership. Purpose Statement The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between transformational leadership style and team effectiveness for new leaders in transition, specifically for professional knowledge-based work teams. Factors central to transformational leadership have been identified as motivation and inspiration (Bass & Stedlmeier, 1990) where the key role for a leader is to be able to motivate inspire and influence followers to achieve greatness. Transformational leadership enables matching of strategy to situations, manages productive relationships, builds cohesive teams and create supportive alliances (Grant 2012; Mathieu et al, 2008). In view of this critical role of transformational leadership in team effectiveness, this paper seeks to understand the effects of transformational leadership among transitioning leaders on team performance. Although significant research exists in the areas of transformational leadership and team effectiveness, an emphasis on leaders during transition phase is lacking, specifically focusing on leaders and subordinate perceptions of effective leadership. This study seeks to address this gap in research. Conceptual / Theoretical Framework The conceptual framework as depicted in Appendix A, relates transformational leadership to team effectiveness of new leaders. In this framework, the focus is on relating transformational leadership with four of its components: intellectual stimulation, charisma, inspirational motivation and individualized consideration, to team effectiveness with its five components of team communication, team mission, team empowerment, goal achievement, and team cooperation. The theoretical basis of the conceptual framework is based on Bass and Stedlmeier’s (1999) work on authentic transformational leadership model and on Wageman, Hackman, and Lehmen (2005) model on team effectiveness. These two provided the theoretical basis for this study with the conceptual framework reconstructed from Hoffman, Bynum, Piccolo, and Sutton’s (2011) relation of transformational leadership and workgroup effectiveness. From the conceptual framework, it can be noted that four leadership dimensions associated with transformational leadership contributes to a new leader’s impact on of team communication, team mission, team empowerment, goal achievement, and team cooperation which contribute to leadership effectiveness. The four transformational leadership dimensions impact leader’s characters and their teams in different ways. In inspirational motivation, the leader effectively communicates a vision; in Charisma, that leader instils pride respect, faith and a sense of mission and visions in the team; in intellectual stimulation, the leaders provides challenging new ideas motivating deep thinking and reasoning in the team; and in individual consideration, the leader coaches, delegates duties to stimulate learning, and encourages feedback while treating everyone in the team as an individual (Hoffman, Bynum, Piccolo, & Sutton, 2011). Management / Research Questions The key questions that this paper seeks to answer are: What relationship, if any, exists between transformational leadership style in new leaders and team effectiveness? What is the relationship between transformational leadership style and subordinate ratings of team effectiveness? What is the relationship between transformational leadership style and new leader’s ratings of team effectiveness? The study hypothesizes that: Null hypothesis: H10: no positive relationship exists between transformational leadership style in new leaders and team effectiveness Alternate hypothesis: H1A: there is a positive relationship between transformational leadership style in new leaders and team effectiveness Null Hypothesis: H20: there is no positive relationship between transformational leadership style and subordinate ratings on team effectiveness Alternate Hypothesis: H2A: there is a positive relationship between transformational leadership style and subordinate ratings on team effectiveness Null Hypothesis: H30: there is no positive relationship between transformational leadership style and new leaders ratings on team effectiveness Alternate Hypothesis: H3A: there is a positive relationship between transformational leadership style and new leader ratings on team effectiveness Literature Review / Current Understanding of the Phenomena Team Leadership style and team effectiveness The concept of leadership has been a central focus for most researchers for decades, with the most recent focus on leadership moving from traditional theories of leadership to the more modern transactional and transformational theories of leadership (Ozaralli, 2003). A lot of emphasis though has been placed on transformational leadership, which is viewed to be charismatic and visionary (Bass & Stedlmeier, 1999), and has been theorized to influence the follower’s performance motivation, sense of purpose, and self awareness (Bass, 1985; Bass and Avolio, 1993). This view has been strongly supported by Bass, Daniel and Tucker (1992), who in their research analyzing university principals, found that transformational leadership not only had an impact in job satisfaction, but also performance. Ozaralli (2003) who in investigating transformational leadership in respect to team effectiveness and leadership also concluded that transformative leadership strongly contributed to employee empowerment and team efficiency. Studies relating leadership styles to team effectiveness have consistently arrived at the same solution; that transformational leadership is a more determinant of effectiveness than are other leadership styles. For instance Organ (1998) in his empirical analysis found that the relationship between role performance and transformational leadership was higher than that between role performance and transactional leadership. Sosik, Avolio and Khakai (1997) and Dione et al (2004) found similar results when relating the leadership styles to team effectiveness, where transformational leadership is deemed more influential and effective. The essence of transformational leadership rests on Bass and Stedlmeier (1999), Bass (1995) and Bass and Avolio (1993) theoretical constructs. Based on these researches, it can be noted that transformational leadership has four dimensions: these are: Inspirational motivation, where the leader effectively communicates a vision; Charisma, where that leader instills pride respect, faith and a sense of mission and visions in the team; Intellectual stimulation, where the leaders provides challenging new ideas motivating deep thinking and reasoning in the team; and individual consideration, where the leader coaches, delegates duties to stimulate learning, and encourages feedback while treating everyone in the team as an individual. These form the critical basis upon which transformation leadership is based. Keeping in line with these theoretical bases Keller (2006) and Piccolo and Colquitt (2006) found that transformational leadership are more innovative and encourage a more positive team environment leading to effective working team environment. Given these theoretical underpinnings, this research expects that transformational leadership will have a more positive impact on team effectiveness than other leadership styles for leaders in transition. Leadership transition Faced with increased global competition, structural realignments, strategic change, and continued innovation, many organizations are increasingly tapping into available leadership talent and pool (Flynn & Thompson, 2010). Increased leadership renewal has increased the awareness of issues surrounding leadership transition costs and successes, and more importantly, on factors that play a key role in leadership transition success or failure (Conger, 2010; Avolio, 2010). Indeed Appelbaum, Molson and Valero (2007) acknowledge that the first three months of a leader’s appointment are often crucial, as small actions of the leader often have significant impacts to an organization. In their research survey, they found that “being isolated” was the most critical mistake that a leader in transition could possibly make. On the other hand Manderscheid (2008) found that often as leaders’ transition into new leadership roles in an organization, there are usually few formal interventions undertaken by the organization. An example includes leadership assimilation, which seeks to help in the transition process and build a relationship faster with their new teams. Further, more research documenting leadership transition has been found to be sparse and lacking, with only a few research having focused on strategies to be employed in transitioning a leader (Denis, Langley and Pineault, 2000; Downey, 2002: Manderscheid, 2008; Manderscheid & Ardichvili, 2008). Notably, assimilation models for leaders have been developed to help the leaders not only adapt to their new working environment but also adapt quickly and build a relationship with their new teams (Manderscheid, 2008). Connecting newly appointed leaders to the leadership styles they adopt, it is noted that a leadership style that enables the capability of the followers to be motivated, inspired and have a positive view and vision of the change in the organization, is cited as one of the best approaches to be taken by new leaders (Thompson & Flynn, 2011). In Manderscheid and Ardichvili (2008), strategies in handling transitions note that the leadership style adopted by a new leader relative to previous leadership style have an important role in the success of the transition. Watkins (2004) builds on this by noting that building credible momentum during the first ninety days by developing virtuous cycle of credibility is critical in ensuring success of leadership transitions. They note that an engaging, leadership style, where the leader is able to clearly share the vision for what is to be achieved, is imperative in ensuring the success of any new transitioning leader. How leadership style is related to team effectiveness in transitions though has mainly been from the leaders perspectives (Avolio, 2010; Appelbaum, & Valero, 2007; Grant, 2012), but the leaders’ perceptions are likely to be biased. What is unknown is the relationship between leadership style and subordinate ratings of team effectiveness. Therefore the study focuses on how both leaders and subordinate perceptions on team effectiveness based on transformational leadership. It is in view of this, and the very fact that leaders transition literature is very minimal, that this research paper builds on this topic to study on the relationship between transformational leadership and team effectiveness for new leaders. Methodological Approach & Research Design This research will use a quantitative, non-experimental design to examine the relationship between leadership style and team effectiveness for new leaders in professional knowledge-based work teams. In this quantitative research design will be correlational where a cross sectional research survey data on leadership style and team effectiveness for new leaders will be analyzed. This quantitative research design is appropriate as the study is to test the hypothesis (Byman and Bell, 2003) that transformational leadership and team effectiveness are positively correlated among new leaders. The underlying rationale for the quantitative method is to understand more fully the relationship between cause and effect, in order to develop broader insight into ontologically separate objects and subjects which may generate different interests and perspectives in providing important knowledge claims (Hathaway, 1995; Creswell, 2003; Reichardt and Rallis, 1994). Having established a problem that needs to be researched, it is important that the right method for collecting data be established in a way that it will be able to effectively respond to the question under research and provide high quality research results (Newman et al, 2003). This research which seeks to examine the relationship between transformational leadership style and team effectiveness for new leaders in transition, clearly shows that there may be some stable lawful relationships among social phenomenon that can be explained in probabilistic terms, and whose results can be improved overtime as probable predictors. The implication of this, is that understanding as to whether transformational leadership enhances team effectiveness for new leaders, would highly shape predictions that indeed it is essential for new leaders to adopt transformation leadership styles in order to have a smooth transition. This implies that the paradigm in the research would have to take into account how such results would highly predict future behaviour thereby verifying the theory or explanation of transformational leadership’s role in new leader’s performance (Hathaway, 1995; Creswell, 2003). In essence, this research study works under the assumption that the result obtained can be used as future predictors on how new leaders should approach leadership. Thus this researcher’s value system, beliefs and worldview are philosophically underpinned by positivism as the philosophical basis that guide this research preferring to address the research question using the positivist ideology that a relation of variables and measuring of information to determine cause and effect relationships gives meaningful explanation on an existent theory, hence reinforcing it to be stronger predictors, or weakening it as an invalid and unreliable predictor of social phenomenon. Thus the contention of this research is based on the view that the research will benefit from methodological eclecticism using the positivist method of research based on survey research rather than experimental. Sources of Information & Measurement Plan The participants for study will be around 100 managers enrolled in executive MBA programs at four reputable business schools with at least three subordinate direct reports under them. Students enrolled in executive MBA program often works concurrently as managers in various organizations. They need to be working in teams and also need to have been in leadership position for less than two years. These leaders will be sourced from four different business schools. Based on Watkins’s seven principles for success of new leaders (leader in transition) as adopted from Appelbaun, Molson and Valero (2007) and from Watkins, (2001), Watkins, (2003), Watkins (2004), and Watkins, (2004b), the managers will be asked to rate each of these principals on a five point Likert scale by importance, and will also be asked to rate them by what degree they dealt with or followed such principles. This measurement tool though not widely used, has been successfully validated by Appelbaum, Molson and Valero’s (2007) research study which used it in analysing critical factors impacting new leaders’ success. In addition, three subordinates of each manager will be contacted through email provided by the manager to further provide insight on team effectiveness. In this research, the key instrument used to measure transformation leadership will be based Bass and Avolio’s (1990) twelve-point item multifactor leadership questionnaire (MLQ) as adopted from Hoffman, Bynum, Piccolo, and Sutton (2011). This measurement tool has been used widely in leadership research and is deemed as the best validated measure in leadership research (Ozaralli, 2003). This instrument captures all four dimensions of transformational leadership, that is inspirational, charismatic, intellectual stimulation and individualized personalization where the participant will asked to rank how frequently each of the above behaviours were displayed by their manager, while managers were also asked to rank how frequently they displayed the behaviour on a five point Likert scale. Team effectiveness will be measured based on Team Effectiveness Inventory (TEI) (West et al, 2004; Gibney, 2006) twenty point scale measuring the perceptions of team member concerning how effective their work groups are based on team communication, team mission, team empowerment, goal achievement, and team cooperation based on a five point Likert scale from 1=strongly disagree to 5=Strongly Agree. This measurement has been widely used to measure to evaluate team effectiveness (Benson and Rice, 2009). In addition, demographic data to be gathered will include gender, age, and work experience. Data Collection Plan The key method through which data will be collected will be through survey research in order to reach out to a wider participant population (Bryman and Bell, 2003). In completing this research study, primary data will be gathered through questionnaires from managers enrolled in executive MBA at four universities, and from their subordinates. The MBA students would be emailed invitations for the survey where they will have to click on a link to access the survey questions. They would also be requested to provide at least three emails of their subordinates. The subordinates will also be invited to take part in the survey through email where they would be able to click on a link that give them access to the survey. Data Analysis Plan The data collected will be analyzed quantitatively. Measures of central tendency such as mean and median will be used to analyze the attributes of the sample under study such as mean age of participants and their stand deviations. In analysing the data, a multiple regression analysis will be carried out in analysing transformational leadership, leader’s ratings for team effectiveness, subordinate ratings, and leadership transitions, to understand how all these variables relate with team effectiveness as measured the average of both subordinates and leaders ratings for team effectiveness. An F test will be carried out at 95% level of significance to test the null hypothesis that transformational leadership and success in leadership transition has no significant relationship to team effectiveness as depicted by from both the leader’s and subordinates viewpoint. The null hypothesis will be rejected if F statistic is greater than the critical F obtained. In order to ensure that each variable has a relationship with team effectiveness, a t-test will be done on each of the independent data sets to see if these have a relation to team effectiveness. With this information, conclusions can be deducted on the relationship between transformational leadership and successful leadership transition, and team effectiveness. Significance / Potential Contributions This research study is important as it not only provides insight to leaders in transition, but also adds insight and knowledge to the sparse literature on leadership transition. In specific, the study will provide insight into whether transformational leadership enhances smooth transitioning thereby impacting team effectiveness for new leaders, especially taking into account both the leaders and subordinates perceptions of team effectiveness. The conclusions from the research would serve as a base for further research in the area and would also provide a point of reference for scholars. Ethical Considerations In carrying out this research study, a number of ethical considerations will be put in mind. First and foremost, the confidentiality of both the University from which data is obtained and the participants of the study will be upheld. No information that may identify the company will be provided. The participants will voluntarily participate in the study with no mention to anyone of their choice to participate. In addition, the emails for the subordinates obtained from the managers will be held in strict confidentiality, and carefully disposed of after the research. The managers will also not be told whether or not their subordinates chose to participate in the study. Expected Outcome Limitations and implications of the Study In this research it is predicted that there is a positive relationship between transformational leadership style among leaders in transition and team effectiveness and that transformational leadership has a more positive effect on team effectiveness relative to other leadership styles. From this prediction, it is expected that transformational leadership contributes highly to smooth leadership transition and team effectiveness. It is not possible to explore and reach out to all new leaders since they may be dispersed widely, yet they may also be scarce. The executive MBA students are strategically used as the probability of coming across new leaders in this population with less than two years experience in leadership position is higher since most would seeks to enhance their leadership skills in school. In this sense, this limitation is minimised. In addition, the research study will cover only specific geographic regions within the UK and may therefore not be representative of all geographic regions and especially the global environment. In addition, getting access to some executives or their subordinates may need a lot of dedicated efforts in order to get an appointment set. Though the study is limited by these constraints, the results could have important practical implications to the new leaders on whether it is advisable to adopt transformational leadership with a new team for optimal team effectiveness. Personal Reflections & Insights Conducting research in this topic would not only prove to be insightful, but also help in deeply understanding the intricacies that connect transformational leadership to successful leadership transitions and team effectiveness. A lot of leadership research have mainly focused on transformational leadership as the ultimate all performing style for team effectiveness, but how does this apply to new leaders who are faced with new teams and need to probably bring a newer way of doing things. Does transformation leadership transcend all the challenges that new leaders face to enable effective team performance. Is it an essential style and necessity for new leaders? And t what degree exactly to they help leader in attaining team effectiveness, while at the same time attaining a smooth transition? Such reflections are what drives this research study, and understanding whether transformation leadership to a greater degree impacts smooth transitioning and team effectiveness is essential in further developing best practices on how new leaders need to approach leadership. All in all, I do hope to gain insight on how to effectively approach a new leadership environment after completing this research. References Appelbaum, S. H., & Valero, M. (2007). The crucial first three months: An analysis of leadership transition traps and successes. Journal of American Academy of Business, 11(1): 1-8. Avolio, B.J. (2010). Pursuing authentic leadership development. In N. Nohria and R. Khurana (Eds.). Handbook of leadership theory and practice. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press Bass, B. M. (1990). From transactional to transformational leadership: Learning to share the vision. Organizational Dynamics, 18(3): 19-31 Bass, B. M., Daniel, L. G. Jr., Tucker, M. L. (1992). 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(IRSPM XV), 11-14 April 2011, Trinity College, Dublin. Retrieved May 14, 2012, from http://eprints.qut.edu.au/42586/2/42583.pdf Wageman, R., Hackman, J. R., & Lehman, E. (2005). Team diagnostic survey: Development of an instrument. The Journal of Applied Behavioural Science, 41(4), 373-398. Watkins, M. (2001) Seven rules for new leaders. Harvard Business School Publishing, pp. 1-12. Watkins, M. (2003). The First 90 Days, Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, Massachusetts. Watkins, M. (2004). Strategy for the critical first 90 days of leadership. Strategy & Leadership, 32(1): 15-20. Watkins, M (2004b). Taking Charge. Government Executive, 36(6): 76-77.West M.A., Markiewicz, L. And Dawson F.C. (2004). Aston Team Performance Inventory user manual. London: ASE. Appendices Appendix A: Conceptual framework Reconstructed from Hoffman, Bynum, Piccolo, & Sutton, 2011 Read More