Transformational leadership and employee organisational commitment in a rural-based higher education institution in South Africa

Abstract

Orientation: Transformation is a topical issue in South African higher education institutions. The slow and sluggish progress in attempts to transform the sector can be attributed to leadership and commitment of staff in these institutions.Research purpose: The study investigated perceptions of employees and managers on the connection between transformational leadership style and employee organisational commitment in a selected rural-based higher education institution in South Africa.Motivation for the study: This study was conducted to determine whether a perceived lack or the presence of transformational leadership style influences the level of organisational commitment of academic and non-academic staff members of a rural-based university. It is believed that in this way, the study may assist in determining and identifying the strategies to be used to improve the commitment of the staff members to attain the much needed transformation in higher education institutions.Research design, approach and method: A self-administered questionnaire was used to gather data following a quantitative research design. The target population was divided into academic and non-academic strata. Pearson product moment correlation and multiple regression analysis were performed.Main findings: The study found that transformational leadership style has a positive and significant relationship with affective commitment and moderate relationship with continuance commitment. On the contrary, it had no relationship with normative commitment. The study further revealed that perceived transformational leadership style explained the variance on employee organisational commitment. Therefore, the study concludes that effects of perceived transformational leadership style on employee commitment cannot be the same in different institutions and settings.Practical and managerial implications: The study recommends that each institution should diagnose its situation for a better pictorial view of how transformational leadership affects employee organisational commitment in their organisation.Contribution: The results of the study may assist leaders and employees in higher education institutions to enhance commitment for both academic and non-academic staff members through transformative leadership style to attain transformational goals of the South African higher education institutions as projected by the national government. Furthermore, this study will ensure the promotion and creation of transformative leaders who are adaptive and proactive in dealing with challenges of transformation in the former ‘black’ higher education institutions in South Africa and who also have staff members committed to this higher education transformation agenda.

If Building Commitment for Knowledge-Based Decision to Create Quality Management : The Role of Transformational Leadership in Higher Education Governance Good in Developing Countries: A Literature Review

“…Organizational commitment is related to many variables such as intrapreneurial behavior, job satisfaction, relational identification, satisfaction with leadership, readiness for change, commitment to performance, contextual performance, task performance, trust, procedural justice, job engagement, and psychological empowerment. Eleven studies found the effect of transformational leadership on organizational commitment and the variables associated with it (Alamir, Ayoubi, Massoud, & Hallak, 2019;Farrukh, Lee, & Shahzad, 2019;Hijazi & Kasim, 2016;Jyoti & Bhau, 2016;Khattak et al, 2020;Lubega, 2019;Mansur & Guozhu, 2019;Ndlovu, Ngirande, Setati, & Zhuwao, 2018;Pham-Thai, Mcmurray, Muenjohn, & Muchiri, 2018;Xiao et al, 2017;Yeap, Abdullah, & Thien, 2020) . All of these variables can be related to each other because they work at an individual level.…”

Distinct leadership styles and differential effectiveness across culture: An analysis of South African business leaders

“…Those demonstrating TFL can identify the need for change and to gain the agreement and commitment of others in pursuing and driving that change (Louw, Muriithi, & Radloff, 2017). Transformational leaders give a very high priority to their relationships with their followers and demonstrate individualised consideration in meeting their needs for empowerment, achievement, enhanced selfefficacy and personal growth (Ndlovu, Ngirandi, Setati, & Zhuwao, 2018;Odumeru & Ifeanyi, 2013).…”

“…Overall, transformational leaders are charismatic in behaviour, demonstrate morality in their actions, are congruent and ethical and demonstrate the ability to delegate, to coach and to provide feedback to their teams (Barbuto, 2005;Bass & Avolio, 1994;Odumeru & Ifeanyi, 2013;Xenikou, 2017). Furthermore, they are experienced as being futuristic and inspirational, and they demonstrate the ability to stimulate creativity and innovation (Ndlovu et al, 2018;Yukl, 2002), they create excitement at work through their ability to motivate and inspire others to achieve greater goals and lastly, they demonstrate empathy and nurture one-on-one relationships with subordinates.…”

– The Asian Conference on Arts & Humanities 2020 Official Conference Proceedings

“…Transformative leaders have the potentials to suit diverse natural curiosity, interest, and motivation in studies in social-cultural context and school culture (Burgess, 2019;Flaherty & Overton, 2018). The transformative leaders seek the ways to develop teachers' activity and skills to foster student grit for their academic performance, and personal integrity in the cultural context (Ndlovu, Ngirande, Setati, & Zhuwao, 2018).…”