Relationship between transformational leadership, affective commitment and turnover intention of workers in a multinational company

  1. Miguel-Ángel Mañas-Rodríguez
  2. Pedro-Antonio Díaz-Fúnez
  3. Juan Llopis-Marín
  4. Francisco Nieto-Escámez
  5. Carmen Salvador-Ferrer
Journal:
International Journal of Social Psychology, Revista de Psicología Social

ISSN: 0213-4748 1579-3680

Year of publication: 2020

Volume: 35

Issue: 1

Pages: 100-115

Type: Article

More publications in: International Journal of Social Psychology, Revista de Psicología Social

Abstract

Transformational leadership is the key to achieving excellent organizational outcomes. Some authors point out that the existence of a transformational leader reduces the likelihood that their employees leave the company. In addition, the intention of abandonment is also reduced when there is a high affective commitment. In this sense, the goal of our work is to know if there is a link between transformational leadership and turnover intention, and also to analyse if such a relationship is mediated by affective commitment. The study was performed in a sample of 706 employees in a multinational company. The scales used were the transformational leadership questionnaire, the affective engagement questionnaire (ISA) and the turnover intention scale. The results show that there is a statistically significant relationship between transformational leadership and turnover intention. We also found that this relationship is mediated by affective commitment.

Bibliographic References

  • Avolio, B. J., & Yammarino, F. J. (2002). Transformational and charismatic leadership: The road ahead. Oxford: Elsevier Science. [Google Scholar].
  • Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173 [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar].
  • Bass, B. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectation. New York, NY: The Free Press. [Google Scholar].
  • Bass, B. M. (1999). Two decades of research and development in transformational leadership. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 8, 9–13. doi:10.1080/135943299398410 [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar].
  • Bayona, C., Goñi, S., & Madorrán, C. (2000). Compromiso organizacional: Implicaciones para la gestión estratégica de los recursos humanos. Revista Europea de Dirección y Economía de la Empresa, 9, 139–149. [Google Scholar].
  • Breevaart, K., Bakker, A. B., Demerouti, E., & van den Heuvel, M. (2015). Leader-member exchange, work engagement, and job performance. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 30, 754–770. doi:10.1108/JMP-03-2013-0088 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar].
  • Breevaart, K., Bakker, A. B., Hetland, J., & Hetland, H. (2014). The influence of constructive and destructive leadership behaviors on follower burnout. In M. P. Leiter, A. B. Bakker, & C. Maslach (Eds.), Burnout at work: A psychological perspective (pp. 102–121). New York, NY: Psychology Press. [Google Scholar].
  • Burns, M. (1978). Leadership. New York, NY: Harper & Row. [Crossref], [Google Scholar] Bustamante, C., & Barreat, Y. (1998). Estrategias de influencia, usadas por los líderes motivacionales. Revista Interamericana de Psicología Ocupacional, 17, 5–12. [Google Scholar].
  • De la Calle, C., & Maeztu, I. (2000). El Compromiso y la Flexibilidad en la Gestión de los Recursos Humanos. Proceedings of the XIV National Congress, X Spanish-French Congress of AEDEM (pp. 485–492). Jaén. [Google Scholar].
  • De Quijano, S., Navarro, J., & Cornejo, J. (2000). Un modelo integrado de compromiso e identificación con la organización: Análisis del cuestionario ASH-ICI. Revista de Psicología Social Aplicada, 10(2), 27–60. [Google Scholar].
  • Dvir, T., Eden, D., Avolio, B. J., & Shamir, B. (2002). Impact of transformational leadership on follower development and performance: A field experiment. Academy of Management Journal, 45, 735–744. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar].
  • Fu, P. P., Tsui, A. S., Liu, J., & Li, L. (2010). Pursuit of whose happiness? Executive leaders’ transformational behaviors and personal values. Administrative Science Quarterly, 55, 222–254. doi:10.2189/asqu.2010.55.2.222 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar].
  • García, M. (2011). Liderazgo transformacional y la facilitación de la aceptación al cambio organizacional. Pensamiento Psicológico, 9, 41–54. [Google Scholar].
  • Ghadi, M. Y., Fernando, M., & Caputi, P. (2013). Transformational leadership and work engagement: The mediating effect of meaning in work. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 34, 532–550. doi:10.1108/LODJ-10-2011-0110 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar].
  • Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation and conditional process analysis. A regression-based approach. Nueva York, NY: The Guilford Press. [Google Scholar].
  • Hayes, A. F. (2015). An index and test of linear moderated mediation. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 50, 1–22. doi:10.1080/00273171.2014.962683 [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar].
  • Hughes, L. W., Avey, J. B., & Nixon, D. R. (2010). Relationships between leadership and followers’ quitting intentions and job search behaviors. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 17, 351–362. doi:10.1177/1548051809358698 [Crossref], [Google Scholar].
  • Jung, D. I., & Avolio, B. (2000). Opening the black box: an experimental investigation of the mediating effects of trust and value congruence on transformational and transactional leadership. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21, 949–964. doi:10.1002/1099-1379(200012)21:8<949::AID-JOB64>3.0.CO;2-F [Crossref], [Google Scholar].
  • Kim, S. (2002). Participative management and job satisfaction: Lessons for management leadership. Public Administration Review, 62, 231–241. doi:10.1111/puar.2002.62.issue-2 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar].
  • Kovjanic, S., Schuh, S. C., & Jonas, K. (2013). Transformational leadership and performance: An experimental investigation of the mediating effects of basic needs satisfaction and work engagement. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 86, 543–555. [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar].
  • Li, Y., Castaño, G., & Li, Y. (2018). Linking leadership styles to work engagement: The role of psychological capital among Chinese knowledge workers. Chinese Management Studies, 12, 433–452. doi:10.1108/CMS-04-2017-0108 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar].
  • Mañas, M. A., Alcaraz-Pardo, L., Pecino-Medina, V., & Limbert, C. (2016). Validation of the Spanish version of Soane’s ISA engagement scale. Revista de Psicología del Trabajo y de las Organizaciones, 32, 87–93. doi:10.1016/j.rpto.2016.04.002 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar].
  • Meyer, J., & Allen, N. (1997). Commitment in the workplace. Theory, research and application. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc. [Google Scholar].
  • Pillai, R., Schriesheim, C., & Williams, E. (1999). Fairness perceptions and trust as mediators for transformational and transactional leadership: A two-sample study. Journal of Management, 25, 897–933. doi:10.1177/014920639902500606 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar].
  • Podsakoff, P., MacKenzie, S., & Bommer, W. (1996). Transformational leader behaviors and substitutes for leadership as determinants of employee satisfaction, commitment, trust, and organizational citizenship behaviors. Journal of Management, 22, 259–298. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar].
  • Rafferty, A. E., & Griffin, M. A. (2004). Dimensions of transformational leadership: Conceptual and empirical extensions. Leadership Quarterly, 15, 329–354. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2004.02.009 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar].
  • Royalty, A. B. (1998). Job-to-job and job-to-nonemployment turnover by gender and educational level. Journal of Labor Economics, 16, 392–443. doi:10.1086/209894 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar].
  • Salanova, M., Lorente, L., Chambel, M., & Martínez, I. (2011). Linking transformational leadership to nurses’ extra-role performance: The mediating role of self-efficacy and work engagement. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 67, 2256–2266. doi:10.1111/jan.2011.67.issue-10 [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar].
  • Schaufeli, W. (2015). Engaging leadership in the job demands-resources model. Career Development International, 20, 446–463. doi:10.1108/CDI-02-2015-0025 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar].
  • Sjöberg, A., & Sverke, M. (2000). The interactive effect of job involvement and organizational commitment on job turnover revisited: A note on the mediating role of turnover intention. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 41, 247–252. doi:10.1111/sjop.2000.41.issue-3 [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar].
  • Soane, E., Truss, K., Alfes, K., Shantz, A., Rees, C., & Gatenby, M. (2012). Development and application of a new measure of employee engagement: The ISA engagement scale. Human Resource Development International, 15, 529–547. doi:10.1080/13678868.2012.726542 [Taylor & Francis Online], [Google Scholar].
  • Srithongrung, A. (2011). The causal relationship among transformational leadership, organizational commitment, and employee effectiveness. International Journal of Public Administration, 34, 376–388. doi:10.1080/01900692.2011.569917 [Taylor & Francis Online], [Google Scholar].
  • Strukan, E., Nikolić, M., & Sefić, S. (2017). Impact of transformational leadership on business performance. Technical Gazette, 24, 435–444. [Google Scholar].
  • Vallejo, M. C. (2007). El compromiso en la empresa familiar bajo una óptica de liderazgo transformacional y aprendizaje organizacional. Investigaciones Europeas de Dirección y Economía de la Empresa, 13(3), 217–234. [Google Scholar].
  • Yamaniro, F., & Bass, M. (1990). Transformational leadership and multiple level of analysis. Human Relations, 43, 975–995. doi:10.1177/001872679004301003 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar].
  • Zhu, W., Avolio, B. J., & Walumbwa, F. O. (2009). Moderating role of follower characteristics with transformational leadership and follower work engagement. Group and Organization Management, 34, 590–619. doi:10.1177/1059601108331242 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar].