Paternalistic leadership and organizational commitment: Evidence from the information technology sector

Abstract

This research aims to test the relationship between dimensions of paternalistic leadership and dimensions of organizational commitment in the information technology (IT) sector of Istanbul. Two separate questionnaires were adapted for measuring dimensions of paternalistic leadership (Erben & Güneşer, 2008) and organizational commitment (Allen & Meyer, 1990). Data were collected at two different points in time from such employees of the IT sector of Istanbul who have been working with the same manager for at least six months. In all, 350 pairs of questionnaires were distributed and only 248 pairs of questionnaires were received. Three separate multiple regression analyses were used as the statistical technique. Results indicated that two of the dimensions of paternalistic leadership, namely benevolent leadership and moral leadership, have a significant relationship with the three dimensions of organizational commitment, namely affective, normative, and continuance commitment. However, authoritarian leadership is found to be negatively associated with affective commitment, whereas, it does not have any significant association with normative and continuance commitment. Therefore, it is concluded that benevolent leadership and moral leadership can be instrumental in enhancing the level of organizational commitment among the employees, whereas, authoritarianism can be counterproductive in nature. Hence, the study provides the framework to the managers in the IT sector of Istanbul for enhancing the organizational commitment among the employees.