Transformational Leadership by Wang and Rode - Essay Example

The organizational climate has been found to be a neutralizer in terms of negating the effect of transformation leadership. For example, in the context of an innovative organizational climate, there is no significant correlation between transformational leadership and employee creativity. Follower identification has been found to substitute for transformational leadership. By applying the research findings, the management in an organization can formulate those strategies aimed at maximizing employee creativity.
Steve Jobs’s leadership effect upon Apple’s strategy is well-known (Kane, 2009). Recent concerns about Jobs’s health have made a serious dent in Apple’s share prices. It is Jobs’s vision that has enabled Apple to develop a wide range of products that have weathered the recent financial crisis much better than competing products have.

Analysts think that Apple will no longer have a viable future without Mr. Jobs’s leadership. Inasmuch as transformational leadership is defined as the set of leader behaviours aimed at motivating employee creativity, Steve Jobs’s impact upon the future direction of Apple can be certainly defined as one of transformational leadership, Apple’s employees have a strong identification with the management of the company and the management vision is provided by Steve Jobs. Therefore, in the real world, correlations between transformational leadership and employee creativity contextualized by the organizational climate can be found. Apple maintains an innovative organizational climate which is the effect of Steve Jobs’s transformational leadership.

The study has been conducted upon a sample size of 55 organizations. Correlations have been derived from multi-level linear modeling analyses. The correlations are significant for three-way interaction of transformational leadership, identification with leader and innovative climate in affecting employee creativity. The implications of these correlations have been linked to theoretical and practical issues. In theoretical areas, the importance of including substitute variables in examining transformational leadership has been emphasized upon. The practical considerations of the present research are related to creating an organizational climate that can reap the maximum benefit from transformational leadership. In the present competitive environment, employee creativity is needed to create a sustainable competitive advantage.

The present research indicates that the leadership of a company should seek to develop leader behaviours that take into account neutralizers and substitutes. There is a three-way interaction that determines how employee creativity is impacted upon by transformational leadership as moderated by organizational climate and employee identification with leader. These findings have been confirmed by a sample representative of a wide variety of industries. Therefore the application of the research findings can be applied in these industries. The paper’s content adds to the understanding of both theoretical and practical issues in how transformational leadership impacts employee creativity.