Examining the nature and significance of leadership in government organizations

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Trottier, Tracey; Van Wart, Montgomery; Wang, XiaoHu
• 署名单位: Indiana University System; Indiana University South Bend; California State University System; California State University San Bernardino; State University System of Florida; University of Central Florida
• 刊物名称: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-3352
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6210.2007.00865.x
• 发表日期: 2008
• 页码: 319-333
• 关键词: PATH-GOAL THEORY; public-sector; CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP; satisfaction; management; LESSONS

摘要

Though the mainstream organizational literature has advanced in the last 20 years with the integration Of transformational and distributed leadership theories, as well as genuine attempts at comprehensive models, the public sector literature has lagged, especially in utilizing large-scale empirical studies. This study takes advantage of a very large government data set to test the utility of one of the best known theories, the full range leadership theory of Bernard Bass. It addresses three important research questions: How inclusive is Bass operational definition of leadership? How much of an impact do Bass leadership competencies have on follower satisfaction? Finally, how important is transformational leadership compared to transactional leadership in government settings? The results indicate that Bass broad definition of leadership comes quite close to capturing what federal employees perceive to be effective leadership. The relationship between good leadership in an organization and follower satisfaction is also presented as an important outcome in the federal government. Finally, both transactional and transformational leadership are perceived as important in the federal government, although transformational leadership is considered slightly more important even after shifting one important factor, individualized consideration, back to the transactional model.