Purpose -Does leadership style affect absenteeism in a company? The purpose of this paper is to contrast the effects of two leadership styles -transformational and passive avoidant -on absenteeism, both legitimate and illegitimate, as mediated by job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach -A self-report questionnaire was completed by a sample of 120 employees of a national mail delivery company. Hierarchical regressions were used to analyze the data. Findings -It was found that transformational leadership decreases illegitimate absenteeism, while passive avoidant leadership increases it. In regard to legitimate absenteeism, transformational leadership is shown to have no effect, while passive avoidant leadership is shown to be negatively related to it. Together, the findings regarding passive avoidant leaders suggest their subordinates tend to come to work when ill (presenteeism), but stay away from work when well (illegitimate absenteeism). Practical implications -For managers trying to reduce the costs of absenteeism, this suggests that leadership style can make a difference. Managers who give subordinates very little attention, or attention only when they have done something wrong -the passive avoidant style -are likely to experience the higher costs of both absenteeism and presenteeism. Adopting the transformational style may help to reduce these costs. Originality/value -The paper helps to extend the current work on leadership; it examines the passive avoidant style, which remains understudied to date; and it enriches our understanding of the relationship between leadership style and absenteeism as an outcome variable by moving beyond a uni-dimensional conceptualization of absenteeism. Finally, it serves as a basis for future research by providing evidence for a somewhat counter-intuitive finding that, under passive avoidant leaders, workers appear to come to work when sick, but stay away from work when well.

The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study, based on the theoretical framework of transformational leadership, was to examine the relationships between leadership style, organizational culture, and job satisfaction in the U.S. healthcare industry. The study addressed a problem faced by U.S. healthcare leaders, who are currently unaware as to how transformational leadership and organizational culture can impact job satisfaction in an industry with high burnout and low satisfaction levels. The following research questions for exploration are: (1) Is there a statistically significant relationship between transformational leadership and job satisfaction in the U.S. healthcare industry? (2) Is there a statistically significant relationship between organizational culture and job satisfaction in the U.S. healthcare industry? (3) Is the relationship between transformational leadership and job satisfaction in the U.S. healthcare industry mediated by organizational culture? Data to answer the research questions is from a collection through random sampling processes that resulted in a sample of 111 American healthcare employees and analyzed with Stata software. The main finding of the study was that an apparent effect of transformational leadership on job satisfaction disappeared when organizational culture variables are considered. The results suggest that healthcare organizations should attempt to move away from externally focused cultures in order to increase job satisfaction. Such a move could improve social outcomes by improving the quality of work for millions of stressed American healthcare employees.

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