The influence of transformational leadership on trust, psychological empowerment, and team effectiveness

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigated the growing phenomenon of teams in the workplace, and how team effectiveness can be established. It was therefore important to establish what contributes to team effectiveness.The aim of this study was to investigate existing relationships between constructs that play a significant role in enhancing team effectiveness. These constructs include transformational leadership, organisational trust, and psychological empowerment. This study was therefore undertaken to obtain more clarity about these aspects. Based on existing literature, a theoretical model depicting how the different constructs are related to one another was developed and various hypotheses were formulated.Data for the purpose of the quantitative study were collected by means of an electronic web-based questionnaire. A total of 224 completed questionnaires were returned. The final questionnaire comprised of four scales, namely the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), the Workplace Trust Survey (WTS), the Psychological Empowerment Scale (PES), and the Team Effectiveness Scale (TES).The postulated relationships and the conceptual model were empirically tested using various statistical methods. Reliability analysis was done on all the measurement scales and satisfactory reliability was found. The content and structure of the measured constructs were investigated by means of confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses. The results indicated that reasonable good fit was achieved for all the refined measurement models. Subsequently, Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to determine the extent to which the conceptual model fitted the data obtained from the sample and to test the hypothesised relationships between the constructs. The results indicated positive relationships between transformational leadership and organisational trust; organisational trust and team effectiveness; transformational leadership and psychological empowerment; psychological empowerment and organisational trust; and psychological empowerment and team effectiveness. However, no support was found for a direct relationship between transformational leadership and team effectiveness.The present study contributes to existing literature on team effectiveness by providing insights into the relationship between transformational leadership, organisational trust, psychological empowerment and team effectiveness. Furthermore, this study identified practical implications to be considered in management practices in order to enhance team effectiveness. The limitations and recommendations present additional insights and possibilities that could be explored through future research studies.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University