research papers on organizational leadership

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• > Journal of Management & Organization
• > Volume 27 Issue 2
• > The Challenges of Strategic Leadership in Organizations

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The challenges of strategic leadership in organizations.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2021

In this issue our Journal of Management & Organization articles are grouped under the broad umbrella of strategic leadership, with the research presented here undertaken in a range of contexts. Strategic leaders include chief executive officers, company directors, and top managers (Simsek, Jansen, Minichilli & Escriba-Esteve, Reference Simsek, Jansen, Minichilli and Escriba-Esteve 2015 ) leading middle line managers and the wider organization workforce to deliver shareholder and stakeholder value (O'Shannassy, Reference O'Shannassy 2016 ). Strategic leaders are charged with critical choices to facilitate transfer of information, influence and resources with implications for organization performance (Simsek, Heavey & Fox, Reference Simsek, Heavey and Fox 2018 ).

The effective work of strategic leaders plays a key role in enhancing the well-being of society and delivering sustainable triple bottom line economic, environmental and social outcomes (Collier & Evans, 2020). Economic sustainability considers the ongoing financial viability and solvency of the firm, environmental sustainability the firm's commitment to environmental quality, social sustainability the health and well-being of organization stakeholders and the community (Collier & Evans, 2020). These sustainable organization outcomes are wide-ranging and can include as examples job creation, indigenous employment outcomes, firm profit, quality of financial institution loan portfolios, better community healthcare, air quality, water quality and protecting the environment (O'Shannassy, Reference O'Shannassy 2015 ). This is why better understanding of strategic leadership in organizations is important to business, society and the planet.

Strategic leadership work itself includes goal and objective setting, resourcing and development of capabilities, market-orientation and commercialization choices, fostering innovation, setting the cultural and values climate for the organization, and workforce engagement (Fitzroy, Hulbert and O'Shannassy, Reference Fitzroy, Hulbert and O'Shannassy 2016 ). The collection of 10 articles in this issue here discuss these matters and overall add insight into how organizations can be managed better to be more sustainable. The empirical research in this issue takes place in a variety of settings including small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), including a family enterprise SME, and in big business with a wide range of qualitative and quantitative sources of data put to use. A common theme that emerges across the articles is the importance of the selection, nurturing and retention of firm resources and capabilities - especially ‘soft’, intangible human resources and capabilities (Fitzroy et al., Reference Fitzroy, Hulbert and O'Shannassy 2016 ).

We begin with a teaching case study of strategic leadership in an entrepreneurial setting ‘Walk tall: The story of Rex Bionics’ by Woods, Callagher & Jaffray ( Reference Woods, Callagher and Jaffray 2021 ), explaining the development of Rex Bionics and the roles played by founders Richard Little and Robert (Robbie) Irving. Rex Bionics has had to navigate a tough and at times difficult commercialization pathway for their technology-based product, the walking robotic exoskeleton. The evolution of the role of the founders in this entrepreneurial start-up, the challenge of public listing on the London AIM Stock Exchange, and difficult moments with the board of directors, the advisory board and the investment community on this journey are discussed.

Next Bensemann, Warren and Anderson ( Reference Bensemann, Warren and Anderson 2021 ) in ‘Entrepreneurial engagement in a depleted small town: Legitimacy and embeddedness’ study the impact of an entrepreneur's practice in the small North Island New Zealand town Stanton, with special focus on social perception and social impact. Method is a single case study with the data obtained from semi-structured interviews with 20 respondents, observation and historical research. Media reports business and government internet sites provide useful background data that helped to inform development of the semi-structured interview design. Legitimacy of the local ‘hero’ entrepreneur Sue varies on perspective in the results, with some in the community embracing the positive economic impact while others perceived Sue as a rival and change agent. The paper challenges the view that the legitimacy of the entrepreneur should be grounded in economic success.

In the third article titled ‘Supplementing Q-method with narratives: Contextualizing CEOs’ values for family firms’, Pötschke ( Reference Pötschke 2021 ) studies CEO value orientation in the entrepreneurial context of family business. Qualitative methods used include the Q-sorts technique and narrative interviews with data from 16 CEOs. There is an interaction that takes place in the analysis with the Q-sorts technique applying statistical analysis to qualitative data to gain understanding of value patterns; next the narrative interviews are analysed to understand the contextualization and interpretation of values. Family business settings are characterized by the distinct blend of need for business objectivity with the intimacy of family relationships and the family social system. This ‘soft’, family, people-oriented style of managing family business and the uniqueness of this to each family makes CEO values in this setting interesting and important.

Our next paper from Tian, Lo and Zhai ( Reference Tian, Lo and Zhai 2021 ) titled ‘Combining efficiency and innovation to enhance performance: Evidence from firms in emerging economies’ uses a World Bank dataset with a sample of 20,000 plus firms from 36 emerging economies to investigate the influence of resource efficiency and innovation on firm performance. The focus of the study is extending understanding of resource capabilities required for a firm to compete effectively in an emerging economy setting. Typically in this setting firms suffer with a lack of efficiency management practices due to emerging economy isolation, and at the bottom end of the market there can a number of very badly managed organizations. The results find that efficiency capabilities and innovation capabilities are positively related to productivity which is in turn related to financial performance. A combined approach to synthesis capabilities positively correlates to productivity which predicts financial performance. Productivity plays a strong mediation role in the study.

The next article is a theory paper from Bridge ( Reference Bridge 2021 ) titled ‘Facing uncertainty: An entrepreneurial view of the future?’ who suggests there are two main options for the strategic leader when confronted by uncertainty. First ‘left brain’ planning and forecasting using a rational analytic approach. Second is exploration and ‘trial and error’. The merits and challenges of each approach are discussed, touching on the space in which Henry Mintzberg made his contribution three decades previously in his classic work (Mintzberg, Reference Mintzberg 1994 ; Mintzberg, Ahlstrand and Lampel, Reference Mintzberg, Ahlstrand and Lampel 1998 ). So what is unique, new and different here about Bridge ( Reference Bridge 2021 )? Bridge ( Reference Bridge 2021 ) reflects on the philosophy that informs choice of the options that managers have for coping with uncertainty, including the ‘right-brain’ versus ‘left-brain’ trade-off in strategy-making discussed at length by Mintzberg ( Reference Mintzberg, Ahlstrand and Lampel 1998 ). Bridge ( Reference Bridge 2021 ) draws on a wide academic literature including anecdotes and stories from economic, business and political history to inform his arguments.

Ogbeiwi ( Reference Ogbeiwi 2021 ) then moves this issue forward in his article ‘General concepts of goals and goal-setting in healthcare: A narrative review’ undertaking a literature review on goal-setting and the principles of goal-setting with focus on work planning and assessment in the healthcare sector. Ogbeiwi ( Reference Ogbeiwi 2021 ) observes that there is a massive literature here from the past 40 years providing an opportunity to undertake review and synthesis to inform future research and practice. Key findings include the insight that goal-setting has a change orientation, is problem-based, and has the potential to be motivating if the statement of goals developed uses the SMART (i.e. specific and challenging) framework, however there is varied understanding of the definition for SMART in health program practice.

Next Bäcklander, Rosengren and Kaulio ( Reference Bäcklander, Rosengren and Kaulio 2021 ) discuss self-leadership practices among knowledge workers in Denmark in the paper titled ‘Managing intensity in knowledge work: Self-leadership practice among Danish management consultants.’ Management consulting is a knowledge-intensive business practiced by highly educated workers whose major skill is handling and producing information. Knowledge intensity is reliant on the creativity of the worker, the professional judgement of the worker, and close interaction with clients. Work intensity results from a blend of a results focus, poor control of quantitative load, vagueness of task, and no work boundaries. In this study two in-depth semi-structured focus group interviews were undertaken with management consultants from a firm with 16 employees. The study results indicate that management consultants communicated a confidence in internal self-discipline approaches that were more reactive, however external and proactive approaches were more effective.

The final three articles here take an applied psychology approach to the challenges of the strategic leader. This applied psychology focus brings attention to this social sustainability of organizational life perspective - the health and well-being of the worker, the work team and the workplace in the three articles that follow.

Ng, Zhang and Chen ( Reference Ng, Zhang and Chen 2021 ) add to the stress literature in their study of the antecedents of abusive supervision in the workplace titled ‘A stress perspective on antecedents of abusive supervision: Blaming the organisation when exhausted supervisors abuse’. A convenience sample of workplace supervisors studying in a part-time Master of Business Administration program in South China were asked to choose subordinates in their workplace to participate in the study. The survey yielded responses from 95 supervisors and 358 workplace subordinates. Path analysis is used to test a moderated mediation model. In the results perceived workplace competitiveness caused supervisor stress and psychological strain, which gave rise to abusive supervision. An atmosphere of error aversion strengthened this positive relationship between perceived workplace competitiveness and supervisor stress. Strong perceived organizational sanctions to aggression mitigated the positive correlation between supervisor psychological strain and abusive supervision. The results show the importance of workplace constraints on the atmosphere of the workplace to encourage a more harmonious work environment.

Next De Clercq, Sun & Belausteguigoitia ( Reference De Clercq, Sun and Imanol 2021 ) in ‘When is job control most useful for idea championing? Role conflict and psychological contract violation effects’ use conservation of resources theory to underpin theory development on job control, idea championing, role conflict and psychological contract violation. The sample is from a Mexican-based firm operating in the chemical sector yielding a total of 157 responses from a random sample of 200 employees at different levels of the organization, giving a response rate of 79%. Descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations and moderated multiple regression is used for the analysis. In the results job control is found to encourage idea championing when role conflict and idea championing are strong, however this relationship is weaker when idea championing and role conflict are low. Idea championing should be encouraged when employees confront difficult work conditions including unfulfilled employer obligations or incompatible job role expectations.

Finally Dawkins, Marin, Scott, Sanderson and Schüz ( Reference Dawkins, Martin, Scott, Sanderson and Schüz 2021 ) in ‘A cross-level model of team psychological capital (PsyCap) and individual- and team-level outcomes’ conduct a multi-level study of team-level psychological capital (PsyCap) and a range of team-level and individual-level outcomes including job satisfaction and turnover intent. Hierarchical two-level modelling is used to test cross-level and individual-level hypotheses. In the results there are significant relationships between team-level PsyCap and team-level outcomes including satisfaction and performance. There are also significant relationships between team-level PsyCap and individual-level outcomes including job satisfaction and turnover intent. The overall conclusion is that team-level positiveness can assist better team-level and individual-level outcomes in the workplace.

In sum, the articles further advance knowledge on how to resolve the challenges of strategic leadership (Simsek et al., Reference Simsek, Jansen, Minichilli and Escriba-Esteve 2015 ), and deliver sustainable organization outcomes (Collier & Evans, 2020). This is done from a range of theoretical perspectives including entrepreneurship theory, strategic leadership and applied psychology. There is an interesting blend of theory paper, literature review, qualitative interview-based research, qualitative single case study, and quantitative research that reflect the broad and diverse range of interests of Journal of Management & Organization and the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management community. Echoing Galvin ( Reference Galvin 2014 ) there remains room for more context-specific research in indigenous environments in all international contexts in this journal to contribute to global management and organization knowledge; as a community of scholars it is desirable that we inform the work of indigenous managers, accommodating a broad and diverse range of theory development and research methods.

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• Volume 27, Issue 2
• Timothy O'Shannassy (a1)
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2021.36

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Journal of Knowledge Management

ISSN : 1367-3270

Article publication date: 29 May 2020

Issue publication date: 17 June 2020

This paper aims to investigate how the relationships between different leadership approaches and organizational learning have been examined in the literature, from which future research areas can be recommended.

Design/methodology/approach

This systematic literature review applies matrix method to examine major literature in leadership and organizational learning. A total of 57 peer-reviewed English publications from 45 journals were selected and analyzed.

The synthesis of these empirical studies revealed as follows: the relationship between leadership and organizational learning has been mostly quantitatively investigated in many countries and sectors; multiple leadership styles have been identified to ameliorate processes, levels and capabilities of organizational learning and transformational leadership still remains the most commonly used style; there are mediating mechanism and boundary conditions in the relationship between leadership and organizational learning.

Research limitations/implications

The literature search in this study was mainly focused on English articles only; therefore, some papers in other languages may have not been included.

Practical implications

This review offers an overall picture of the existing knowledge of organizational learning and leadership that will be fruitful for practitioners to understand and replicate these concepts.

Originality/value

There are little systematic literature reviews on the relationship between leadership and organizational learning. This paper is among the first systematic reviews to analyze how leadership has been associated with organizational learning and provide potential research directions.

• Organizational learning
• Leadership styles

Do, T.T. and Mai, N.K. (2020), "Review of empirical research on leadership and organizational learning", Journal of Knowledge Management , Vol. 24 No. 5, pp. 1201-1220. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-01-2020-0046

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Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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Exploring purpose-driven leadership: theoretical foundations, mechanisms, and impacts in organizational context.

1. Introduction

2. theoretical perspectives on leadership: an evolutionary analysis, 3. purpose-driven leadership: a new perspective on leadership, 4. methodology.

• Conceptualization of Purpose-Driven Leadership.
• Importance of Purpose-Driven Leadership in contemporary research and practice.
• Theoretical foundations of Purpose-Driven Leadership.
• Mechanisms and impacts of Purpose-Driven Leadership.
• The role of purpose in navigating times of VUCA.
• Measurement approaches for purpose in leadership.

5. Findings

5.1. purpose-driven leadership research landscape, 5.2. purpose, organizational purpose, and purpose-driven leadership.

• Consistency: Purpose does not manifest as a fleeting intention but is grounded in its enduring nature ( Gavarkovs et al. 2023 ; Jasinenko and Steuber 2023 ; Knippenberg 2020 ). Demonstrating resilience against ephemeral shifts in external conditions or situational variances, purpose consistently maintains its vigor and steadfastness ( Rindova and Martins 2023 ; Trachik et al. 2020 ). It acts as a constant lodestar amid the dynamic terrains of both personal and professional spheres ( Bhattacharya et al. 2023 ; Qin et al. 2022 ; Rindova and Martins 2023 ).
• Generality: In contradistinction to a limited, task-centric objective, purpose is distinguished by its comprehensive scope ( By 2021 ; Gavarkovs et al. 2023 ; Jasinenko and Steuber 2023 ). Instead of being confined to proximate tasks or circumscribed aims, purpose spans a more expansive purview ( By 2021 ; Gavarkovs et al. 2023 ; Jasinenko and Steuber 2023 ). This ubiquity of purpose guarantees its applicability across multifarious contexts ( By 2021 ; Gavarkovs et al. 2023 ; Jasinenko and Steuber 2023 ).
• Two dimensions: - Internal Dimension: The internal dimension of purpose refers to the individuals’ intrinsic motivations and impulses, which are connected to their sense of purpose ( Crane 2022 ; Knippenberg 2020 ). It serves as a source of meaning, supporting the rationale of every decision, direction, or objective delineated ( Handa 2023 ; Jasinenko and Steuber 2023 ). This introspective aspect emphasizes the congruence and alignment between an individual and their purpose ( Gavarkovs et al. 2023 ; Jasinenko and Steuber 2023 ). - External Dimension: Beyond its internal impact, the influence of purpose extends to the external environment, through the efforts generated by the individual within their context ( By 2021 ; Gavarkovs et al. 2023 ; Handa 2023 ; Jasinenko and Steuber 2023 ). This is underpinned by the individual’s commitment to promoting positive change in a broader environment ( Ocasio et al. 2023 ; Qin et al. 2022 ).
• Daily embodiment and expression: Purpose manifests as a palpable instantiation in quotidian activities since it is part of every decision and action made ( By 2021 ; Jasinenko and Steuber 2023 ). Such perennial articulation provides consistency and influences daily activities ( Bronk et al. 2023 ; Hurth and Stewart 2022 ; Ocasio et al. 2023 ).

5.2.1. Attributes of Purpose-Driven Leadership

5.2.2. purpose-driven leadership construct conceptualization, 5.3. theoretical foundations of purpose-driven leadership, 5.4. mechanisms and impacts of purpose-driven leadership, 5.4.1. potential antecedents, 5.4.2. potential outcomes, 5.4.3. potential mediators, 5.4.4. potential moderatos, 5.5. purpose-driven leadership as a guiding light, 5.6. measurement approaches for purpose-driven leadership, 6. discussion, 7. conclusions, supplementary materials, author contributions, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

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Ribeiro, M.F.; Costa, C.G.d.; Ramos, F.R. Exploring Purpose-Driven Leadership: Theoretical Foundations, Mechanisms, and Impacts in Organizational Context. Adm. Sci. 2024 , 14 , 148. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci14070148

Ribeiro MF, Costa CGd, Ramos FR. Exploring Purpose-Driven Leadership: Theoretical Foundations, Mechanisms, and Impacts in Organizational Context. Administrative Sciences . 2024; 14(7):148. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci14070148

Ribeiro, Marco Ferreira, Carla Gomes da Costa, and Filipe R. Ramos. 2024. "Exploring Purpose-Driven Leadership: Theoretical Foundations, Mechanisms, and Impacts in Organizational Context" Administrative Sciences 14, no. 7: 148. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci14070148

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Leadership Models and Work Behavior: An Empirical Analysis of Consequences of Authentic and Transformational Leadership

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With increasing importance of organizational effectivity and efficiency measures like Balanced Scorecard and optimization of employee work behavior to achieve higher organizational efficiency, Human Resource activities concerning leadership development and academic leadership research are growing. Throughout the course of the twentieth century, a multitude of empirical studies show primarily positive relationships between different constructs of leadership models and desirable variables of organizational behavior. It becomes apparent, though, that in academic research the selection of analyzed leadership models and their consequences is very heterogeneous. This Master Thesis has the objective to contribute to Leadership Research by applying a comparative empirical study in the–until today–often neglected study population of in-house and sales personnel within the pharmaceutical industry. For this purpose, an online employee survey with N = 137 participants from a leading pharmaceutical company in Germany was conducted. Based on contemporary leadership theory, a range of Hypotheses regarding consequences of modern leadership models is empirically tested. The results of the study reconfirm Identification with Manager, Trust & Loyalty and Employee Satisfaction as consequences of Authentic as well as Transformational leadership. Work context as in-house vs. sales setting shows moderating effects on some of the leadership-consequences relationships. As the research involves multiple structurally different variables as well as constructs and compares feedback of different study populations, tangible management implications to boost desirable work attitudes and behaviors can be derived and appropriately adapted to match the respective work context. Ramifications for future scientific research are also presented.

“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” (Comment by Ronald Reagan, former U.S. President)

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Introduction

Leadership and Employees’ Satisfaction in Contemporary Organizations

Leadership Styles, Related Outcomes and Practical Suggestions

1 the importance of leadership for corporate success.

Today’s organizational and business environments become heavily disrupted by challenges stemming from political, economic, social or technological currents and trends. The pharmaceutical industry, for example, faces strains like global, regional or local pressures on product pricing, new Market Access hurdles, compliance guidelines and regulations, competition from innovative, generic or biosimilar companies as well as the advent of digital business models that put corporations under pressure to be effective and efficient. Human Resource (HR) departments evaluate how to best deal with one of the companies’ most important resource: their employees. Therefore, leadership is key in organizations’ strive for long-term success and financial performance. In order to contribute to leadership research and its positive outcomes for organizations’ success, this work’s main objective is to provide an overview of relevant leadership theories, to summarize current scientific literature on consequences of leadership and to empirically test relationships between leadership and defined work attitudes and behaviors. A secondary objective is to close research gaps regarding leadership in different work contexts, esp. with regards to pharmaceutical sales and in-house personnel.

2 The Concept of Leadership

Burns ( 1978 ) stated that “Leadership is one of the most observed, yet least understood, phenomena on earth” (p. 3). This indicates that both the scientific and managerial community operates with various definitions of leadership. Vecchiotti’s ( 2018 ) chronological perspective of leadership definition development starts with a patriarchic view based on characteristics of men situated in positions of authority. Over time, the role of subordinates was recognized and leadership encourages implementers to contribute to achieve mutually agreed goals. A paradigm shift due to new aspects like collaboration, teamwork, work-life balance, continuous feedback and learning becomes apparent (Vecchiotti 2018 ). Consequently, the following definition best reflects the latest view: “Leadership is a long-term, value-based process that encourages leaders and implementers to initiate actions that contribute to achieving a common purpose, and to willingly make significant contributions in meeting mutually agreed to goals.” (Vecchiotti 2011 , p. 6). Leadership, by its processual character, is a construct that has to be considered ambiguous, polymorphic and multifaceted. Von Rostenstiel’s Leadership Model (Fig. 1 ) comprehensively describes the various components and entry points for leadership theory and research (von Rosenstiel 2001 ).

Von Rostenstiel’s Leadership Model. Source: von Rosenstiel ( 2001 )

Von Rosenstiel’s Model is an excellent stimulus to look into four different approaches widely discussed: trait approach, behavioral approach, contingency approach, as well as two contemporary approaches of positive leadership.

Historically, leaders were described by traits (Galton and Eysenck 1869 ). In the 1930s and 1940s, leadership research focused on personal characteristics of an individual and sought to identify personality, social, physical, or intellectual attributes that differentiate leaders from non-leaders. Trait theory was aiming at discovering a built-in set of traits that leaders possess, e.g. “aggressiveness”, “self-control”, “independence”, friendliness”, or “optimism” (Owens 1973 ). A famous example is the “Big 5” Personality Model with the five fundamental dimensions “extraversion”, “agreeableness”, “conscientiousness”, “emotional stability” and “openness to experience” (Costa and McCrae 1992 ; Norman 1963 ; Tupes and Christal 1961 ). Academic research describes “Extraversion” as the most predictive trait of leadership (Bass and Bass 2008 ).

Behavioral theory tries to identify the right things effective leaders do, e.g. how they communicate, motivate, delegate, plan, or handle meetings (Owens 1973 ). The most comprehensive example is the Ohio State Studies with the objective to identify independent dimensions of leadership behavior (Schriesheim and Bird 1979 ). Two key dimensions are “Initiating Structure” and “Consideration”. The former describes task-oriented behavior, e.g. putting high emphasis on work organization, work relationships, deadlines and goal attainment. The latter refers to people-oriented behavior with a focus on mutual trust, respect for subordinates’ ideas, and regard for their feelings (Fleishman and Peters 1962 ). One of the biggest contribution of behavioral theory is the introduction of five leadership styles: (1) the autocratic leader (who permits little or no freedom, relying on his or her position, knowledge or power to reward and punish), (2) the bureaucratic leader (who gives clear orders, relying on the organization’s policies, procedures and rules), (3) the diplomatic leader (who provides limited freedom, relying on personal persuasion), (4) the participative leader (who gives a high degree of freedom and accepts group decisions and majority votes) and (5) the free-reign leader (who lets subordinates operate freely unless asked for invention) (Owens 1973 ).

Contingency approaches of leadership comprise three elements: (1) a dimension of leader behavior (“x”), (2) a criterion by which the effectiveness of the leader may be determined (“y”), (3) an environmental or situational variable (“z”) (Korman 1972 ). The focus is on the environmental or situational impact “z”, which influences the correlation between “x” and “y”. In the 1960s, Fiedler’s Contingency Model is looking for the proper match between a leader’s style (i.e. task- vs. relationship-oriented) and the degree to which the situation gives the leader control. If the right match is achieved, effective group performance follows (Fiedler 1977 ). According to Fiedler’s Model, a situation is assessed in terms of three situational dimensions: (1) leader-member relations, (2) task structure, (3) power situation. The combination of these dimensions leads to eight possible categories of leadership situations (Fiedler 1972 ). Fiedler’s fundamental conclusion is to define two ways to improve leader effectiveness: (1) Change of the leader in order to fit the situation, or (2) Change the situation to fit the leader.

Today, two so-called “positive leadership styles” attract high scholarly and managerial attention: Transformational Leadership (TL) and Authentic Leadership (AL). Transformational leaders motivate and encourage others to outperform expectations (Podsakoff et al. 1990 ). The four components of TL are referred to as the “4 I’s”: Idealized influence/charismatic leadership, Inspirational motivation, Intellectual stimulation, and Individualized consideration. As TL is associated with performance beyond expectations, this model remains at the forefront of scholarly attention (Bass and Reggio 2006 ; Gardner et al. 2010 ; Yaslioglu and Erden 2018 ). At the beginning of the twenty-first century, authentic leadership gained high scholarly attention and is now among the most prominent leadership styles studied (Banks et al. 2016 ; Berkovich 2014 ; Celik et al. 2016 ; Walumbwa et al. 2008 ). Walumbwa et al. ( 2008 ) define AL as a composite of four dimensions: (1) self-awareness (including an understanding of one’s strengths and weaknesses and being cognizant of one’s impact on other people), (2) relational transparency (which means presenting one’s authentic self to others, sharing information and expressing one’s true thoughts and feelings), (3) balanced processing (which means to objectively analyze all relevant data before decision making including challenge deeply held positions), (4) internalized moral perspective (which refers to an integrated form of self-regulation guided by internal moral standards and values versus outside pressures) (Walumbwa et al. 2008 ). In sum, AL is a construct that incorporates traits, behaviors, styles and skills to promote ethical and honest behavior (Covelli and Mason 2017 ).

3 Constructs and Generation of Hypotheses

A recent meta-analytic review by Banks et al. ( 2016 ) indicates construct redundancy of TL and AL, claiming that none of the constructs adds palpable incremental validity beyond the other. Joo and Nimon ( 2014 ) though concluded that both leadership models are complementary, not substitutable (Joo and Nimon 2014 ). Consequently, it is hypothesized that TL and AL both contribute to the relationship of leadership with various dependent variables by explaining incremental variance.

In line with Zaccaro and Klimoski’s ( 2002 ) view that different dimensions of organizations can moderate the nature of organizational leadership and its antecedents and consequences (Zaccaro and Klimoski 2002 ), scientific leadership research has been covering many of these aspects (Golden and Shriner 2017 ; Charbonnier-Voirin et al. 2010 ; Jensen 2013 ; Kulophas et al. 2015 ; Zubair and Kamal 2016 ). According to Antonakis and Atwater ( 2002 ), structural distance can be defined as physical structure (i.e., physical distance between leader and subordinate), organizational structure (e.g., hierarchical level, span of control), and supervision structure (i.e., frequency of leader-subordinate interaction). In this work, research participants’ affiliation to a specific organizational setup (in-house vs. sales staff) of the collaborating pharmaceutical company is treated as context variable. Its moderating effect on various leadership-consequences relationships is analyzed. Especially the physical distance between leader and subordinate is structurally different in both work settings. When coming to TL’s and AL’s relationship with employee attitudinal and behavioral constructs, moderation analysis will be carried out on the basis of participants’ affiliation with one of the two work contexts. Moderation hypotheses in this work have the structure presented in Fig. 2 below.

Structure of hypothesized moderator effects. Source: Own representation

Social Identity Theory (SIT) postulates that individuals identify with social entities, e.g. individuals or organizations, to foster and maintain a positive self-concept (Tajfel and Turner 1986 ). Organizations offer employees a multitude of identification targets, so-called foci. These foci can be an organization as a whole, a team, or a manager (van Dick 2001 ). Positive leadership theories should be able to enhance subordinates’ identification with manager (IM). With respect to the IM construct, it is expected that both leadership models will contribute to employees’ Identification with Manager:

Authentic Leadership will be a positive predictor of subordinates’ Identification with Manager

Transformational Leadership will be a positive predictor of subordinates’ Identification with Manager

Moreover, it is hypothesized that the employees’ work context (i.e. organizational unit: in-house staff vs. sales) will have a moderating effect on the AL/TL-IM relationship:

The relationship between AL and IM will be moderated by employees’ work context (in-house staff vs. sales)

The relationship between TL and IM will be moderated by employees’ work context (in-house staff vs. sales)

According to West and Farr, Innovative Work Behavior (IWB) describes the intentional creation, introduction and application of new ideas within a work role, group or organization in order to benefit role performance, the group or the organization (West and Farr 1989 ). In line with previous research, it is expected that both leadership models contribute positively to employees’ IWB:

Authentic Leadership will be a positive predictor of subordinates’ Innovative Work Behavior

Transformational Leadership will be a positive predictor of subordinates’ Innovative Work Behavior

Moreover, it is postulated that employees’ work context, i.e. their affiliation to in-house vs. sales teams, will moderate the AL/TL-IWB relationship:

The relationship between AL and IWB will be moderated by employees’ work context (in-house staff vs. sales)

The relationship between TL and IWB will be moderated by employees’ work context (in-house staff vs. sales)

Rousseau et al. ( 1998 ) comprehensively describe the nature of the trust construct: “Trust is a psychological state comprising the intention to accept vulnerability based upon positive expectations of the intentions or behavior of another” (p. 394f). It comprises both exchange processes and an understanding of trust subjects and objects not limited to an individual. For the purpose of this research, focus is on the interpersonal aspect of trust between manager (trust subject) and subordinate (trust object). According to Bass’ expansion of Burns’ TL theory, loyalty is an outcome of TL, mediated by trust, honesty and further qualities of the leader. This connection is substantiated in recent studies (e.g. Monzani et al. 2016 ). Overall, both leadership models are hypothesized to positively contribute to employees’ Trust and Loyalty (T&L):

Authentic Leadership will be a positive predictor of subordinates’ Trust and Loyalty

Transformational Leadership will be a positive predictor of subordinates’ Trust and Loyalty

Again, employees’ work context (in-house staff vs. sales team) is expected to moderate the AL/TL-T&L relationship:

The relationship between AL and T&L will be moderated by employees’ work context (in-house staff vs. sales)

The relationship between TL and T&L will be moderated by employees’ work context (in-house staff vs. sales)

Employee satisfaction (ES) is a construct frequently correlated with leadership in empirical research. Wong and Laschinger ( 2013 ), for example, established a direct positive relationship between AL and ES. Yang et al. ( 2011 ) confirmed a positive relationship for TL and ES. In this work, a positive relationship between both leadership models and subordinates’ ES is postulated:

Authentic Leadership will be a positive predictor of subordinates’ Employee Satisfaction

Transformational Leadership will be a positive predictor of subordinates’ Employee Satisfaction

Employees’ work context (in-house staff vs. sales team) will have a moderating effect on the AL/TL-ES relationship:

The relationship between AL and ES will be moderated by employees’ work context (in-house staff vs. sales)

The relationship between TL and ES will be moderated by employees’ work context (in-house staff vs. sales)

4 Empirical Assessment of the Models

The statistical software IBM SPSS Statistics 21 including the macro PROCESS (Version 3.1) was used to test the hypotheses (Hayes 2013 ). In total, 5 hierarchical regression analyses were conducted, consisting out of subsequent, identical steps for each of the five dependent variables. PROCESS Matrix procedure was also chosen to define and analyze the models evaluating moderating effects. Tests of unconditional interactions between independent variables and conditional effects of focal predictors in accordance to values of the moderators are possible.

Data collection for this research project occurred through an online questionnaire activated from June 17th until/including July 15, 2018. Participating functions were employees and their first line managers from selected sales, marketing, market research, market access, medical management, patient care, human resources, communication and further business support teams. N = 247 employees, thereof N = 34 first line managers, were invited. To avoid respondents’ overload, a maximum duration of 15 min per survey is recommended (Batinic and Bosnjak 2000 ). With an average residence time of a bit longer than 11 min this threshold level was met. N = 143 employees clicked through the entire questionnaire. After initial exploratory descriptive data analysis using SPSS, N = 6 respondents were excluded due to missing data for four or more constructs. All final data analysis is therefore based on N = 137 respondents. Consequently, the ratio of evaluable cases vs. invited employees (N = 247) is 55%. Of N = 137 participants, 79 (58%) are female, 58 (42%) are male. The online cohort should quite closely reflect the workforce structure of companies of the healthcare sector. Regarding age distribution, the online cohort matches the national distribution of the German working population very well. An important variable is the affiliation of employees to in-house vs. sales personnel. In our sample, respondents are almost equally split between in-house based (N = 76; 55%) and sales employees (N = 61; 45%).

For the operationalization of AL, the ALQ (Authentic Leadership Questionnaire) as a well-established, theory-driven and validated measurement scale was chosen (Walumbwa et al. 2008 ). For the purpose of this research, a German translation of the ALQ, validated by Peus et al. ( 2012 ), was used. The version for external assessment from employees’ perspective was applied. Internal consistency alphas (Cronbach’s α) for each of the four subscales and the overall scale were originally reported to be higher than 0.7 in a cross-cultural validation study (Walumbwa et al. 2008 ). In the present project, SPSS data analysis shows a high Cronbach’s α of 0.94 for the overall ALQ construct. Responses were collected on a 5-point Likert scale with pre-determined answer options ranging from (1) “Does not apply at all” to (5) “Fully applies”; German translations were used, respectively.

TL is operationalized by the GTL (Global Transformational Leadership scale). This short measure was tested, validated and confirmed by many studies in various geographical and business contexts (Carless et al. 2000 ; van Beveren et al. 2017 ). In the present analysis, Cronbach’s α of 0.90 confirms its internal consistency. As in the original study, the response format was a 5-point Likert scale ranging from (1) “Does not apply at all” to (5) “Fully applies”.

Based on an instrument for Organizational Identification (OI) from Mael and Ashforth ( 1992 ), Ullrich et al. ( 2009 ) developed a short measure for IM consisting of three items. The original Cronbach’s α was .69 (Ullrich et al. 2009 ). Similar to organizations, teams or workgroups, managers can represent a social category with which employees identify themselves (Gautam et al. 2004 ). Therefore, the original OI instrument was amended to an IM scale. In the present research, a Cronbach’s α of 0.84 was reached. Consistent with the previous measurement constructs, a 5-point Likert scale with identical response options was used.

IWB is assessed by nine items derived from Scott and Bruce’s ( 1994 ) scale. It has also proven validity and reliability in the work of Janssen ( 2000 ). In accordance to the theoretical concept described earlier, three items each refer to the aspects of idea generation, idea promotion and idea realization. Again, a 5-point Likert scale was applied. Response options now ranged from (1) “Never” to (5) “Always”. Janssen ( 2000 ) reported a Cronbach’s α of 0.95 for this instrument. The present data set delivers a very acceptable Cronbach’s α of 0.90.

Trust in and loyalty to the leader is operationalized by use of a six item scale of Podsakoff et al. ( 1990 ). The first three items represent the trust component of the instrument. In turn, the remaining three items stand for employees’ sense of loyalty to their managers. Again, responses were collected on a 5-point Likert scale with answer options of (1) “Does not apply at all” to (5) “Fully applies”. In our data set a Cronbach’s α of 0.93 was reached, pointing to a very good internal consistency.

Additional constructs like Organizational Identification (OI) and Employee Satisfaction (ES) considered in the comprehensive work were operationalized by a validated 3-item scale from Mael and Ashforth ( 1992 ) and a five-item short instrument based on an original scale developed by Brayfield and Rothe ( 1951 ).

Hypotheses H 1a to H 8a are tested by application of regression analysis. Hierarchical Regression analysis is applied to evaluate the differential explanatory effect of both Leadership Models, AL vs. TL. Four three-step hierarchical regression analyses were run with the following dependent variables: IM, IWB, T&L and ES. At step one of each of the separate calculations, the demographic variables age and sex were entered to control for covariates. AL was entered at step two as first predictor of conceptual interest. The second predictor TL was entered at step three. The variables were introduced stepwise to see if they have an effect over and above covariates.

Table 1 shows the Means, Standard Deviations, Cronbach’s α for all constructs covered, as well as Intercorrelations.

Due to limited space, not all statistical analyses are presented in detail. Of course, all analyses and their results are available when contacting the authors. As age and gender might have effects on the dependent variables of interest, they were entered in the analyses as control variables.

TL explained additional variance above and beyond AL in Identification with the Manager, Trust and Loyalty in the leader, and Employee Satisfaction (confirmation of Hypotheses H 1a , H 2a , H 5a , H 6a, H 7a , H 8a ). However, neither AL nor TL explained significant variance in Innovative Work Behavior (rejection of Hypotheses H 3a , H 4a ,).

Nevertheless, when context was included inside the model (moderator: in-house vs. sales), there was a positive relation between AL and innovative work behavior for sales, but not for in-house staff (see Fig. 3 ). Additionally, the moderator analyses revealed that the relation for both AL and TL and trust and loyalty towards the leader was stronger in sales than in in-house staff (see Figs. 4 and 5 ). Consequently, hypotheses H 3b , H 5b , H 6b are confirmed. Hypotheses H 4b , as well as H 7b and H 8b on moderating influences of context on the relationship between AL/TL and ES are rejected, though.

The moderating influence of work context on the AL-IWB relationship. Source: Own representation based on SPSS analysis

The moderating influence of work context on the AL-T&L relationship. Source: Own representation based on SPSS analysis

The moderating influence of work context on the TL-T&L relationship. Source: Own representation based on SPSS analysis

5 Summary, Implications and Outlook

Key objective of this work was to empirically test the relationship between leadership and its key consequences. By means of an online survey with 137 employees of a pharmaceutical company in Germany, the importance of positive leadership models–Authentic and Transformational leadership–for the occurrence of desirable work attitudes and behaviors like Identification with Manager, Trust and Loyalty, and Employee Satisfaction, was documented. This implies that in corporate practice a positive leadership culture is suitable to stimulate relevant employee actions that contribute significantly to corporate success.

Based on a comprehensive literature review, AL and TL were identified as the main contemporary leadership models of interest. Consequently, these approaches constituted the key independent variables entered both into multiple hierarchical regression as well as moderation analysis models. As a secondary objective, the empirical analysis shed light on the pharmaceutical industry sector and expanded scientific knowledge regarding consequences and potential moderating effects of work contexts.

Essences of the present empirical research are:

Positive Leadership Behaviors (AL and TL) are positive predictors of critical employee attitudes and business targets like Identification with Manager, subordinates’ Trust and Loyalty, and Employee Satisfaction.

The empirical research results confirm construct validity and conceptual independence of both positive leadership theories, AL and TL.

Work context, operationalized as in-house vs. sales personnel, significantly impact some leadership-consequences relationships, i.e. leadership’s relationship with Trust and Loyalty is significantly moderated by work context (with a stronger effect in the study population of sales force); for the AL-IWB relationship, a significant moderating effect for sales personnel was also confirmed.

Although an often stated need for quantification of positive leadership behavior in corporate financial success and target figures was not subject of this investigation, the confirmed relationships between positive leadership and most of the desirable work attitudes and behaviors indicate that AL and TL contribute positively to operating profit.

In addition to the above mentioned financial aspects, hints on positive aspects of employee behavior, namely Innovative Work Behavior, could be derived. As this was especially accentuated in the context of customer facing sales personnel, one could infer that high AL in sales contexts can have a halo effect on sales reps customer interactions.

In order to achieve corporate goals, a recommendation to pharmaceutical companies is to establish a corporate culture that fosters positive leadership behavior. Leader recruitment, leadership training and development should take the “4 I’s” of TL and the four aspects of AL as a reference. Specific examples for HR departments can be to provide platforms and trainings for people managers to develop capabilities as mentors, coaches and active listeners. In order to be able to act as a positive role model for employees, leaders should be clear about ethical and moral standards, also with regards to the specifics of the pharmaceutical industry. Moreover, tools to foster leaders’ and employees’ self-awareness, a culture that supports transparency and one of error tolerance would be very beneficial to establish the desirable leadership styles, hence positive employee attitudes and behaviors.

Although this research shows promising results, a few limitations need to be mentioned. First, this study has a cross-sectional design. Therefore, longitudinal investigations could be of interest in order to evaluate intrapersonal developments over time and if and how they impact job attitudes and behavior. Second, due to requirements of the collaborating company’s works council in order to ensure anonymity and maximum data protection, a dyadic approach to collect and analyze data based on team structures was not allowed. It would be advisable for future research to collect and use this information in order to enhance data quality and model reliability by reducing a potentially high amount of additional variance. Similarly, the actual duration of individual leader-subordinate relationships could actively be controlled for, as interpersonal relationships including the development of trust tend to evolve over time. Third, all outcome variables are solely based on employee self-assessment. This potential for common source bias could be reduced in future studies if additional sources of feedback and information can be taken into account, e.g. supervisors’ evaluations of employees’ behavior or secondary data from more objective performance evaluations. Fourth, the present moderation analysis is purely based on self-reported organizational allocation to in-house vs. sales departments. This was used as a surrogate for work context, primarily reflecting physical distance to the supervisor, which in turn was supposed to impact frequency and quality of communication. However, quality of leader-subordinate interaction might be perceived quite differently on a personal level. In future studies, analysis could therefore be controlled for effective communication frequency and/or perceived quality of communication channel and content of leader-subordinate exchange.

Despite these limitations and implications for future research, the study provided various important insights. It seems to be first research project to systematically analyze the two contemporary positive leadership models Authentic Leadership and Transformational Leadership in a comparative context of in-house staff and sales representatives of a single pharmaceutical company in Germany.

In order to build on the current outcomes, the following direction for future research can be proposed. First, a longitudinal study design could be chosen to be able to track the development of interpersonal leader-subordinate relationships over time. Second, recourse to potentially more objective multi-source data to substantiate the expressed employee attitudes and behaviors might be beneficial. Third, the study could be run in or across different companies and industries to detect significant differences or communalities. Similarly, the study could be replicated by inclusion of different hierarchy levels within companies to assess if team size or span of control impacts the relationship of leadership and its consequences. Fourth, the evaluation of antecedents of AL and TL could be added to the research design to potentially derive implications for people management and personnel development.

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Lange, M.A., Hernandez-Bark, A. (2020). Leadership Models and Work Behavior: An Empirical Analysis of Consequences of Authentic and Transformational Leadership. In: Schweizer, L., Dingermann, T., Russe, O., Jansen, C. (eds) Advances in Pharma Business Management and Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35918-8_6

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Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior

Volume 9, 2022, review article, the science of leadership: a theoretical model and research agenda.

• Andrew M. Carton 1
• View Affiliations Hide Affiliations Affiliations: Management Department, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; email: [email protected]
• Vol. 9:61-93 (Volume publication date January 2022) https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-012420-091227
• First published as a Review in Advance on November 10, 2021
• Copyright © 2022 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved

I review the empirical literature on leadership, focusing on papers published since 2010. To do so, I introduce a framework composed of two features: whether theories ( a ) involve the study of leaders or leading (i.e., the person versus the process) and ( b ) conceptualize leadership as a cause or a consequence (i.e., an independent versus dependent variable). This framework can enable future research to accumulate in a more programmatic fashion and help scholars determine where their own studies are located within the landscape of leadership research. I end the review by critically evaluating existing work, arguing that the most popular subcategory of leadership research—lumped conceptualizations of leading, in which scholars examine multiple leader behaviors within a single construct—has significant limitations and may need to be replaced by a greater focus on split conceptualizations of leading, wherein scholars isolate single leader behaviors.

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• Published: 11 July 2024

Ethical leadership, internal job satisfaction and OCB: the moderating role of leader empathy in emerging industries

• Qin Li   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9856-9454 1  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  11 , Article number:  901 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Leadership with ethical values can generally elicit high levels of employee input behavior. This is particularly important in strategic emerging industries, where job satisfaction among research and development (R&D) personnel plays a crucial role as a primary driver of innovation. While scholars have emphasized the significance of internal work value orientation in recent years, the previous literature has mainly focused on leadership and employee behavior, and few studies have explored spontaneous organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Therefore, this study seeks to investigate the correlation between ethical leadership (EL) and OCB and to consider the moderating role of leader empathy (LE) as well as the mediating role of internal job satisfaction (IJS). The data for this research were collected from 248 R&D personnel employed in companies within China’s emerging industry sector. The analysis was conducted using partial least squares path modeling, and the moderating effect was examined using Hayes’ PROCESS macro. The results validate the idea that IJS serves as a positive mediator of the relationship between EL and OCB. Furthermore, LE plays a significant moderating role in the relationship between IJS and OCB.

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Emerging industries have the potential to drive social development, which is a primary concern in China’s current context (Li, 2024 ). Additionally, the significant contributions of biopharmaceutical companies in addressing the threats to human life posed by the COVID-19 pandemic over the past three years underscore their importance. However, the sustainable development of emerging industries requires ongoing innovation upgrades, especially because technological personnel face pressures, such as industry upgrades, technological changes, industry competition, and company culture (e.g., aggressive culture) from various sources, thus leading to high turnover rates among technical personnel. Tuin et al. ( 2021 ) criticized emerging enterprises for prioritizing the goal of shaping a positive public image and pursuing organizational prosperity while neglecting the enhancement of effective leadership behaviors, which has led to high turnover rates in the industry. As representatives of organizations, leaders must focus on value preferences and individual internal needs to meet the organizational expectations of nurturing employees’ psychological well-being and work engagement (Kohnen et al., 2024 ). Therefore, ethical leadership (EL) plays an essential role in workplace management.

EL focuses on improving organizational performance by integrating moral beliefs and values into organizational practices. Furthermore, it entails thoughtful and appropriate leadership both inside and outside the workplace (Si et al., 2023 ; Greenbaum et al., 2020 ). Managers should maintain moral values consistent with the organization while effectively communicating the organization’s strategies, policies, and talent cultivation methods with honesty, fairness, and trustworthiness (Guo, 2022 ). In previous studies, scholars have argued that ethical leaders can enhance the economic benefits of employee performance. It has also been reported that EL involves shaping follower behavior by intentionally promoting moral models and rewarding or punishing opposing behaviors. Previous studies have followed the principle of reciprocity in social exchange theory to enhance job satisfaction and other positive behaviors among employees after they observe leaders engage in ethical practices. Common positive behaviors include work engagement (Radic et al., 2020 ), work productivity (Freire and Bettencourt, 2020 ), organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) (Walden and Kingsley Westerman, 2018 ), and work motivation (Losada-Otálora and Alkire (née Nasr), 2019 ).

“Job satisfaction” refers to the fulfillment and enjoyment derived from one’s job, and it encompasses an individual’s personal and social needs. Job satisfaction influences life satisfaction, economic independence, and non-electoral participation (Visser et al., 2019 ; Cemalcilar et al., 2018 ); furthermore, it is closely related to employees’ achievements (Qing et al., 2019 ). Previous studies have found that challenging work nature, flexible work systems, competitive income, and the promise of career advancement are factors that contribute to personal job satisfaction (Liu and Lin, 2017 ; Hegney et al., 2006 ). Unfortunately, enterprises tend to focus more on stimulating employee performance by fulfilling material commitments, and they often neglect employees’ spiritual needs (Gesthuizen et al., 2019 ). The internal value aspirations of employees can be realized through interpersonal support, the desire to create a better world, and personal career development, thereby promoting psychological well-being, work engagement, and work motivation (Tuin et al., 2021 ).

Existing studies have confirmed the relationship between EL, job satisfaction, and positive work outcomes, such as work engagement and motivation, but few studies have examined remedies (Ahmad et al., 2019 ; Qing et al., 2019 ; Bouckenooghe et al., 2014 ). Furthermore, previous studies have often examined job satisfaction as a whole rather than distinguishing between external job satisfaction and internal job satisfaction (IJS). IJS is the process of meeting employees’ specific psychological needs (Visser et al., 2019 ). However, no studies have explored the relationship between EL, IJS, and OCB, even though some studies have proposed categorizing personal value perception into extrinsic and intrinsic factors (Tuin et al., 2021 ; Hegney et al., 2006 ). Therefore, this study aims to investigate whether IJS—as a mediator in the psychological mechanism—can stimulate employees’ commitment and organizational support.

Furthermore, the current study seeks to further examine the psychological impact of IJS on individuals. Engagement in OCB indicates that individuals have found a sense of belonging and identity within the organization (Aboramadan and Karatepe, 2021 ). When individuals’ organizational behavior aligns with organizational goals, it suggests a high level of satisfaction. As transmitters of organizational values, supervisors should actively participate in the design of pathways to broaden the research on the psychological intervention of organizations on employees. Leader empathy (LE) focuses on providing impressive encouragement and understanding when subordinates face difficult and overwhelming tasks (Mahsud et al., 2010 ). Building upon self-examination theory (Tuin et al., 2021 ) and emotional contagion theory (Kim et al., 2023 ), the present study examines the moderating role of LE in the relationships between EL, IJS, and OCB in the context of employees in the emerging industry.

Literature review

Theoretical framework.

This study employed self-determination theory (SDT; Tuin et al., 2021 ) and emotional contagion theory (ECT) (Kim et al., 2023 ). EL is characterized by honest, considerate, and fair behaviors and decisions among leaders. The practice of EL also involves motivating moral behaviors among employees based on a leader’s moral concepts—a process that requires leaders to fulfill their commitment to reward employees’ behaviors (Ahmad and Gao, 2018 ). Several recent studies have highlighted the concept of “reciprocation” (e.g., social exchange theory and demand-resource theory) to establish the framework of organizational investment and employee returns (Tripathi et al., 2020 ; Walden and Kingsley Westerman, 2018 ; Mahsud et al., 2010 ). The present study focuses on the psychological perception process of personal self-examination and psychological perception, which means that when moral management practices align with predetermined standards or criteria for achieving workers’ goals (Brown and Treviño, 2006 ), employees will exhibit moral behaviors (i.e., OCB) that benefit the organization.

This study also integrates ECT with LE as resources in promoting OCB. Unlike other approaches focused on the authority and mechanisms of senior leadership to motivate and shape employee performance or approaches focused on leadership styles that emphasize employee pursuits, ECT describes the process whereby an individual’s emotions are transferred to other people, who unconsciously and unintentionally experience such emotions (Petitta et al., 2023 ). This implicit process primarily occurs within social groups, in which one person’s emotion influences another person’s subsequent affective, attitudinal, or behavioral outcomes automatically within the group (Fujimura et al., 2010 ). Furthermore, it is a process where individuals tend to synchronize and converge on emotions with others within the same social group (Hatfield et al., 1993 ).

Hypotheses development

EL, IJS, and OCB have been widely examined by scholars in recent years (Guo, 2022 ; Jha and Singh, 2021 ; Metwally et al., 2019 ; Qing et al., 2019 ). Similar to other types of leadership, EL relies on managers’ effectiveness in transmitting their values (Jha and Singh, 2021 ). Leaders’ emotions are considered infectious and can be passed on to employees (Jha and Singh, 2021 ). When leaders convey positive emotions to their employees, it enhances the employees’

expression of values, which in turn affects their self-esteem and the significance they attribute to their work (Moon and Jung, 2018 ; Shamir et al., 1993 ). Additionally, employees’ attitudes are also influenced by ethical leaders who uphold high standards of morality and fairness. Studies have found that leaders can increase followers’ job satisfaction by exhibiting integrity, fairness, and empowerment (Guo, 2022 ; Freire and Bettencourt, 2020 ).

However, emerging industries heavily rely on R&D personnel, experimentation, and acceptance departments, which constitute the core force behind providing innovative advancements at the forefront of science and technology (Chen and Wang, 2020 ; Thakur-Wernz and Wernz, 2020 ). Compared with individuals in other industries, practitioners in emerging industries are more persistent in their initial value orientation for innovation (Tran Pham and Nguyen Le, 2023 ). Job values encompass extrinsic and intrinsic elements, with the intrinsic elements revolving around personal development and self-fulfillment in work therefore, organizations must be able to support and commit to employees’ needs to promote further development, encourage horizontal and upward employability, and stimulate retention and commitment (Gesthuizen et al., 2019 ).

OCB is considered spontaneous behavior that seeks to achieve an organization’s sustainable development goals or contributes to the organization’s image, beyond the responsibilities outlined in one’s job description (Zhao and Zhou, 2021 ). OCB goes beyond the explicit requirements of individual roles and is not explicitly mentioned in organizational rewards (Walden and Kingsley Westerman, 2018 ). Aboramadan and Karatepe ( 2021 ) suggested that job satisfaction is more of an emotional response to work—an evaluative measure and an indicator of maintaining follow-up behavior. Consistent with SDT, employees naturally act in ways that benefit the organization when their intrinsic values are satisfied (Gyekye and Haybatollahi, 2015 ). Mendiratta and Srivastava ( 2023 ) verified that employees with higher job satisfaction engage more actively in civic behavior than their colleagues with lower satisfaction. Extensive research has also demonstrated a favorable association between job satisfaction and OCB (Mendiratta and Srivastava, 2023 ; Kunda et al., 2019 ; Gyekye and Haybatollahi, 2015 ). Building upon previous research, the current study proposes the following hypotheses:

H1. EL is positively associated with IJS .

H2. IJS is positively associated with OCB .

Surveys conducted among R&D personnel in emerging industries in China reveal employees’ urgent need for social interaction, respect, and self-realization. Therefore, drawing upon SDT (Tuin et al., 2021 ), EL aims to enhance employees’ IJS through a deep psychological pathway (Ahmad and Gao, 2018 ). IJS is regarded as an inspiring mindset when it results from ethical leaders who demonstrate fairness, trustworthiness, and concern for their employees’ well-being. In turn, employees who are satisfied with their jobs are more likely to exhibit OCB, such as helping colleagues, volunteering for extra tasks, and contributing positively to the organization beyond their formal job requirements. Studies by Puni et al. ( 2018 ) and Jordan et al. ( 2017 ) have confirmed the significant impact of job satisfaction on the relationship between organizational management and work behavior. Thus, to validate the significance of IJS in the psychological transmission between organizations and individuals, this study proposes the following hypothesis:

H3. IJS mediates the relationship between EL and OCB .

LE is characterized by concern, warmth, and compassion toward subordinates through words and actions (Colman, 2009 ; Salovey and Mayer, 1990 ). In recent years, scholars have focused on the role of empathy in leadership and the development of the leader-follower relationship. Stietz et al. ( 2019 ) examined the application of empathy in management and suggested that purely adopting others’ perspectives and experiencing others’ emotions should be controversial. There is another aspect of empathy—i.e., cognitive empathy, which is a more rational presence and can prevent excessive emotional involvement. Notably, both emotional empathy and cognitive empathy coexist to prevent individuals from being engulfed by emotional involvement (Kade et al., 2024 ). LE is also characterized by the ability to empathize with subordinates to some extent, thus enhancing a leader’s understanding of employees but not deviating from professional decisions beneficial to the organization. SDT posits that different values influence the process of shaping employee motivation in specific organizational contexts. Moreover, ECT also suggests the critical role of leadership and the impact of leadership behaviors on follower outcomes, including their emotional well-being, attitudes, motivation, and job performance (Kim et al., 2023 ). Notably, the leadership literature often concentrates on leaders’ intentional, work-related strategies (e.g., leadership style or behaviors), which are guided by the aim of enhancing organizational productivity. Consequently, the implementation of LE does not focus on power and status but serves as a management tool to eliminate employees’ anxiety, enhance their confidence, and mitigate the harmful effects of workplace stressors. LE is a process of mutual perception between leaders and members (Richard et al., 2016 ). When leaders demonstrate empathy, it inspires team members to empathize with one another and participate in empathy-enhancing activities implemented by the organization (Kock et al., 2019 ).

However, although early research has clarified the concept of LE, and a small number of studies have mentioned its pioneering role in employee behavior, the potential mechanisms underlying its relationship with OCB remain unclear. Therefore, the current study proposes that LE moderates the relationship between IJS and OCB (see Fig. 1 ). This study also posits that leadership empathy can act as an emotional environment marker, thus facilitating the emotional transmission of empathy to foster personal OCB. Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed:

A description of the relationship between variables in the current study.

H4. LE moderates the effect of IJS on OCB .

Methodology

Sample and procedure.

This study employed a purposive sampling method followed by a snowball sampling technique to recruit participants. The data were collected via the personnel communication established by the primary researcher with familiar employees who worked in the R&D, experiment, and acceptance departments of companies in the biopharmaceutical, new energy vehicles, and high-end equipment manufacturing industries, all subsumed under the label “emerging industries.” Then, the contact information of more potential respondents was provided by the personnel who agreed to participate in the current survey. The researchers sent the questionnaire to the participants through the officially recognized social software, email, after obtaining the approval of the current personnel who were willing to participate in this survey. This work protected the participants’ privacy and personal information by ensuring anonymity.

The data collection was accomplished in two stages. The first phase was carried out in August and September 2022 and included responses from 421 participants who were asked to provide biographical information, including gender, age group, highest educational level, organizational tenure, and current post. Furthermore, EL and IJS were also included. In the second phase, to determine their perspectives on LE and OCB, online questionnaires were filled out by the participants via email. The process was conducted from November 1st to December 2nd. A total of 332 participants sent feedback, of whom 71% had also participated in the first phase. Ultimately, following the elimination of unsuitable data, which included repeated and partially completed questionnaires, this study obtained a total of 248 valid responses. As indicated in Table 1 , the survey population consisted of 64.5% female participants. The majority of respondents fell into the post-80s age group (54.8%), followed by the post-90s age group (43.5%). Furthermore, a significant proportion of participants held bachelor’s degrees (50%), while 48.4% possessed advanced degrees. In terms of employment, most of the participants had been employed in their current organization for more than 3 years but <10 years (46.8%). This study also included individuals holding non-supervisory posts (64.5%) as well as supervisory posts (35.5%). Supplementary Table S1 shows the profiles of the respondents.

Measurement

The measurement scales used in this study were derived from previous research and mainly employed seven-point Likert scales (1 = “strongly disagree,” 7 = “strongly agree”). Specifically, the EL scale was adapted from Steinmann et al. ( 2016 ) and included items such as “My leader demonstrates genuine concern for my well-being and performance” and “My leader refrains from assigning blame for issues beyond my control.” Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for this scale was 0.969, indicating excellent internal consistency and meeting the established criteria. This study also used the five-item Intrinsic Job Value Scale developed by Furnham et al. ( 2021 ) to measure IJS, with some minor modifications to suit the context of the study (Sample item: “I am willing to participate in functions that are not required but are helpful to the organization image”). Furthermore, a four-item scale adapted from Mahsud et al. ( 2010 ) was used to measure LE (Sample item: “My manager is very aware of how the subordinates are feeling”). OCB was assessed using six items from Lee and Allen ( 2002 ) with the following sample items: “I have the opportunity to do something with my ability” and “I got the opportunity to try to use my working method to solve the task” (see Supplementary Table S2 ).

Common method bias. There is a risk of common method bias (CMB) when a single data source is used in a study (Podsakoff et al., 2012 ). In particular, the CMB index is higher than the specified upper limit, and the existing correlation between the measured variables of the study becomes over-reported. In this study, anonymity was used to ensure that the respondents could answer the questionnaire without restriction. The two-stage data collection method reduces the respondents’ preference for relevant variables (Podsakoff et al., 2012 ). Furthermore, this current study applied Harman’s single-factor test for CMB. The highest percentage of variance was 39.554%, which was <50% threshold, indicating that CMB was not detected in the data. The current study also used the ULMC approach to detect and control for the influence of CMB in the analysis based on partial least-squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results in supplementary Table S3 demonstrate that the average substantive variance of indicators was 0.691, while the average method-based variance was 0.022. In addition, the ratio of substance to method variance was approximately 31:1. These results prove that the data were not affected by CMB.

Descriptive statistics

Table 1 presents the mean, standard deviation, square root of the average variance extracted (AVE) for all variables, and Pearson correlation coefficients ( r ). As shown in the table, EL was positively correlated with IJS ( r  = 0.706, p  < 0.001) and OCB ( r  = 0.644, p  < 0.001). In addition, IJS was positively correlated with OCB ( r  = 0.625, p  < 0.001). These results align with and offer preliminary support for our hypotheses. The study also utilized Smart PLS to estimate variance inflation factors (VIFs) to examine potential multicollinearity (see Supplementary Table S4 ). The VIF values for each variable, ranging from 1 to 4.433, are below the threshold of 5.0 (James et al., 2013 ), thus indicating an acceptably low level of multicollinearity.

Measurement model

The model demonstrated sufficient convergent validity, as all variables surpassed the required thresholds for internal consistency (Cronbach’s α  > 0.7), composite reliability (CR > 0.6), and AVE (>0.5), as presented in Table 2 . These values exceeded the recommended cutoffs established by Hair et al. ( 2014 ). Furthermore, discriminant validity was established by ensuring that all constructs within the model were empirically distinct from one another. This was accomplished through standard methods, such as the Fornell–Larcker criterion and the heterotrait–monotrait (HTMT) ratio. Regarding the Fornell–Larcker criterion, the square root of the AVE for each variable exceeded the correlation between variables, as shown in Table 3 . Additionally, the test results meet the threshold for the HTMT (no higher than 0.85); this ratio detects potential indiscriminateness among latent variables (see Supplementary Table S5 ).

Structural model

This model exhibited strong fitness characteristics. Specifically, IJS and OCB each achieved coefficients of determination (R2) of 0.668 and 0.818, respectively, both of which exceeded the threshold of 0.5. Similarly, the positive and nonzero cross-validated redundancy (Q2) values for IJS and OCB were 0.491 and 0.636, respectively, thus indicating the reliability of the model. Additionally, the structural mean square residual (SRMR) value of 0.072 is below the 0.08 threshold, further confirming the model’s adherence to the criteria for a good fit (Chin, 2010 ; Chin et al., 2008 ; Hu and Bentler, 1999 ).

The path coefficient ensures the significance of the relationships hypothesized by using 5000 bootstrapping samples (Sarstedt et al., 2014 ; Hair et al., 2017 ). The results in Table 4 display the hypothesis testing results. EL was significantly associated with IJS ( β  = 0.818, t  = 23.98, p  < 0.01); IJS was positively associated with OCB ( β  = 0.320, t  = 3.226, p  < 0.01); and IJS significantly mediated the effect of EL on OCB ( β  = 0.431, SE = 0.192), as indicated by a confidence interval [CI] that excluded 0. Therefore, the above results support H1–H3 (Table 4 ).

As shown in Table 5 , the moderation analysis to examine H4 was performed using Model 1 in the PROCESS macro (Hayes and Rockwood, 2017 ). The interaction effect (IJS × LE) was a significant predictor of OCB ( β  = −0.128, t  = −2.503, p  < 0.05). Furthermore, in the relationship between IJS and OCB, LE plays a negative role in increasing the positive impact of IJS on OCB. Figure 2 illustrates these effects. The results also indicate that higher LE amplifies the effect of EL on OCB.

The moderating effect of leader empathy based on the Johnson-Neyman slope.

Discussion and conclusion

Summary of findings.

This study primarily explored the causal relationship between EL and OCB among R&D employees in emerging industries. Drawing upon SDT and ECT, we constructed a model in which IJS and LE served as the mediator and moderator, respectively, and empirically tested the proposed hypotheses. The results from PLS-SEM indicated that EL and IJS significantly influence the performance of R&D personnel. However, LE exhibited a negative moderating effect.

In addition, several intriguing findings emerged. First, the results confirmed that EL is a prerequisite for IJS and employee OCB. These findings validated previous research, which indicates a positive correlation between leadership that promotes fairness, justice, and ethical principles, and individuals’ perceptions and expectations of the organization. These results also corroborated the expectations of scholars and practitioners regarding the current challenges, such as industry upgrades, technological changes, internal competition, and ethical organizational management, faced by R&D personnel. Second, our findings demonstrated that LE is a negative moderator. This finding aligned with previous literature, which suggested that empathy exhibited by leaders in the workplace is more rooted in cognitive attributes rather than purely emotional traits and that its existence serves to safeguard organizational interests. This negative moderating effect also confirmed the uniqueness of R&D personnel, indicating that organizational practices characterized by fairness and justice garner employee endorsement and motivation. Conversely, R&D personnel do not seem to require their leaders to only understand the pressures and challenges they face, as such understanding does not lead to additional work achievements.

Finally, our study further corroborated findings consistent with the literature. In particular, LE in the workplace is predominantly manifested as cognitive attributes rather than purely emotional traits and is centered around organizational interests. This finding suggested that while leaders’ empathy contributes to fostering a positive work environment, its impact on employee behavior may be complex and varied. Therefore, greater emphasis should be placed on other leadership behaviors, such as fairness, equity, and work incentives when aiming to enhance organizational performance and employee satisfaction.

Theoretical implications

This study focused on the relationships between EL, IJS, and OCB as well as the moderating role of LE in these relationships. The results confirmed the positive effect of EL on IJS, as indicated by previous studies that highlighted psychological fulfillment as an outcome (Guo, 2022 ; Freire and Bettencourt, 2020 ; Ahmad and Zafar, 2018 ). However, while previous studies listed work engagement and OCB as positive outcomes of EL (Mendiratta and Srivastava, 2023 ; Ahmad and Gao, 2018 ; Kock et al., 2019 ), the current study’s results revealed that EL does not have a direct positive relationship with OCB. Instead, IJS mediated the relationship between EL and OCB. The findings of the study contribute to the existing literature in several ways.

First, this study identified IJS as a mediating variable, thus clarifying its psychological role in the relationship between EL and OCB (Graves and Sarkis, 2018 ). Unlike other behaviors influenced by personal interests, work safety, and monetary rewards, OCB is defined as spontaneous behavior that goes beyond job responsibilities and benefits organizational development (Elche et al., 2020 ). It stems from individuals’ internal value orientation being recognized and satisfied. Thus, OCB represents the purity of personal behavioral motivation. By using SDT, this study distinguished between autonomous and controlled motivation, thereby providing a framework for individuals’ self-examination and self-evaluation (Kim et al., 2020 ; Ryan and Deci, 2000 ). This approach differs from social exchange theory, leader-member exchange theory, and demand-resource theory found in previous literature, as it focuses on the psychological pathway. Although these theories allow reciprocal behavior between organizations and individuals both at work and outside of work (George, Graen, and Uhl-bien, 1995 ), they do not fully capture individuals’ original intentions in their work. In contrast, SDT restores individuals’ rights to self-examination and choice, thus aligning with this study’s premise that OCB is an independent behavior that exceeds one’s job responsibilities and is driven by the satisfaction of obtaining intrinsic values through EL (Kim et al., 2020 ; Graves et al., 2013 ).

Second, the present study demonstrates that LE plays a negative moderating role in the relationship between IJS and OCB. This finding adds to the understanding of leadership empathy in previous literature. While few studies have examined leadership empathy, it is evident that empathetic communication, such as superiors supporting and encouraging employees facing work-related challenges, fosters affective trust (Yue et al., 2022 ). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the moderating effect of LE on the relationship between employees’ IJS and subsequent work behaviors. Surprisingly, we found that LE amplifies the positive effect of IJS on OCB.

Finally, the application of ECT in this study’s investigation of the moderating role of LE fills a gap in previous literature that overly emphasized the “organization–individual” and “superior–subordinate” relationships in achieving employee productivity through psychological exchanges. Given that leadership empathy in the workplace is more often derived from cognitive attributes rather than emotional attributes, ECT further clarifies this leadership practice aligned with work objectives. This involves achieving group synchronization through a leader’s work emotions, attitudes, and even behaviors. Again, to the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to establish and explore the moderating role of LE in the relationship between employee IJS and OCB. However, the results indicate that LE attenuates the indirect effect of IJS on OCB. This finding suggests that LE, which aims to stimulate work outcomes, is ineffective and may even have a negative impact on additional and spontaneous organizational performance by technical employees in emerging industries.

Practical implications

OCB involves voluntary actions beyond an employee’s job duties, and these behaviors are rooted in their recognition of organizational values. Therefore, managers must understand that EL plays a crucial role in both job satisfaction and employee job performance. In particular, IJS implies employees’ inner pursuit of the value and emotional aspects of work provided by the organization. For R&D personnel in emerging industries facing rapid technological turnover and industry changes, providing accurate industry information, executing organizational policies with integrity, and demonstrating sincere, fair, and trustworthy management will greatly enhance their intrinsic satisfaction. This, in turn, will lay the groundwork for employees to exhibit more pro-organizational behaviors, such as creativity and innovation.

Additionally, leaders in emerging industries should adopt proactive measures to cultivate a supportive and conducive work environment that encourages creativity and innovation among R&D personnel. This could involve fostering a culture of open communication, encouraging experimentation and risk-taking, and providing resources and support for research and development initiatives. By championing a culture of innovation and providing the necessary support and resources, leaders can inspire R&D personnel to actively contribute their ideas and expertise to drive organizational growth and success in the rapidly evolving landscape of emerging industries. Moreover, leaders should prioritize ethical leadership practices, such as fairness, transparency, and integrity, to build trust and credibility among employees, which are essential for fostering a positive organizational climate conducive to creativity and innovation. By aligning leadership practices with the unique challenges and opportunities present in emerging industries, leaders can effectively harness the creative potential of R&D personnel and drive innovation, thereby promoting organizational success.

Limitations and future directions

One limitation of this study is that the participants were recruited from seven representative emerging industries in China, specifically the R&D, testing, and acceptance departments of biopharma, new energy vehicles, and high-end equipment manufacturing industries. Therefore, the results may not be generalizable to all emerging industries in China. Future research should include a broader range of enterprises within the industry. Furthermore, this study only investigated the moderating role of LE on OCB; thus, further research should explore other variables that may moderate the relationship between IJS and OCB. Furthermore, future research should consider other outcomes that may arise from EL and examine different cultural contexts.

In conclusion, this study offered valuable insights into the relationships between EL, IJS, and OCB in the context of China’s emerging industries. In particular, this study emphasized the significance of intrinsic values and LE in driving positive work behaviors. Overall, the findings contribute to the theoretical understanding of leadership studies and provide practical recommendations for organizations that aim to cultivate supportive and ethical work environments for their employees.

Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article, and its supplementary information files: Tables S1 – S5 .

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Li, Q. Ethical leadership, internal job satisfaction and OCB: the moderating role of leader empathy in emerging industries. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11 , 901 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03367-w

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Systematic Review

A systematic review of literature about leadership and organization.

Received: April 19, 2018;   Accepted: June 26, 2018;   Published: February 26, 2019

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Introduction.

From trait theory, through human relations school of thought, to contingency and/or situational model, leadership research has come a long way 1 . However, as observed by Wren 2 , still very little is known about leadership and much remain unexplained. Around a century back, Stogdill 1 remarked, “There are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept”. More recently, while commenting on the huge number of articles written about leadership, Winston and Patterson 3 state that there seem to be a lot of blind men describing a moving elephant. Winston and Patterson 3 further remark that even 90+ dimensions of leadership are not sufficient enough to understand leadership. Such has been the history of leadership research that no clarity or consensus about its definition, styles, effective methods, etc., could emerge in the literature even after centuries of research.

During the last two decades or so, focused research about leadership issues has started gaining ground 4 . The field is now starting to take a rather holistic view of leadership as a result of which more positive forms of leadership are getting incorporated into the literature. This can mainly be attributed to the introduction and popularity of focused yet holistic journals in the field of leadership.

The journal covered under this article has emerged as one of the most regarded journal in the field of leadership research. While most of the prominent journals focus on either of organizational or leadership issues, this journal takes a coherent view and attempts to understand the effective application of leadership and other issues in an organizational context. Its vision of advancing the theory, research and practice of all aspects of leadership and organizations, makes the journal attract a wide range of contributors and readers from academia and corporate world. In order to inform the researchers and readers about the directions in the integrated field of leadership and organizational research, this paper systematically reviews the research papers published in the journal between 2010 and 2017 and makes an attempt to set-up the research agenda for future.

This paper uses the methodology of systematic review. Presenting a critique of reviews conducted in the field of Management research, Hart 5 maintains that those are usually narrative and biased as per the implicit biases of the researcher. This view is also supported by Davies 6 , Sharma and Bodla 7 , Sharma and Sanchita 8 . Davies 6 further argues that systematic reviews help overcome these limitations by bringing out the consistencies and variability’s of studies reviewed. In their landmark work on the methodology of systematic reviews, Tranfield et al . 9 stress upon producing a reliable knowledge stock by developing context-sensitive research. This paper follows the methodological rigor suggested by Tranfield et al . 9 .

THEORETICAL FRAME OF REFERENCE

Intended to recognize the key themes in reviewed literature, the authors conducted a systematic analysis of 208 papers published during 2010 to 2017 10 - 14 . For current study, the broad areas were leadership motivation, leadership excellence and leadership communication. These subjects were further divided into following topics:

Effect on job performance and work satisfaction: Taking into consideration the themes of the reviewed literature, this paper briefly presented these topics in the following sub-sections. It was important to emphasize that the objective of this section was not to discuss the main topics in leadership and organization but rather to present the themes explored by papers published during the selected time-frame.

Leadership style in general: Successful leader was one who can influence the followers to achieve the organizational objective. Different leadership styles affect the organizational and employee performance differently 15 . Leadership style did;//mz affect the culture of the concern, thus its efficiency. Leadership is a process of influencing the followers socially so that they can participate intentionally to achieve the organizational objective 16 . Leadership style can affect organizational commitment and work satisfaction explicitly and work satisfaction can further positively affect organizational commitment and work performance. The perception of employees about the transactional and transformational leadership style has a high degree of correlation with the motivation factors of the leader in the organization. The style of leadership has an impact on satisfaction level and trust in the leader. Organizational citizenship behavior directly influences the relation between style of leadership and commitment towards the organization 17 .

Leadership style can be divided into two broad types, namely transformational and transactional. A transformational leader is one who is influential, innovative and encourages others. This type of style creates an open and trustworthy culture, which motivates them to achieve the goal 18 . Transactional leader focuses on supervision, organization and performance. Both reward and punishment have used as a tool to encourage the followers to fulfill the required task. In the current scenario an organization needs a leader who can understand the demand of a complex environment. The relation between the leader and an employee and the leadership style enhances the satisfaction level of the follower.

Moderating factors in leadership: Moderating variables in leadership had drawn attention in the recent research. A number of theories had explored the moderating effects of variety of factors like subordinate, work and psychology on the relation between leadership and effectiveness. Knickerbocker 19 projected a theory of leadership that emphasized on the needs of the employees’.Knickerbocker 19 maintained that a coordinated relationship between the team members was required to achieve the target of a team, which could be achieved by presence of a leader. His opined that leadership effectiveness was dependent on the need of the employees. In contrary to this theory, De Vries et al . 20 explored the moderating role of need for the leader and found that higher urge for leader showed weaker relation between work stress of employees and task oriented leader. De Vries et al . 20 further maintain that high task oriented leader makes the employee feel more pressurized and thus leads to stress. The need for leadership was related to the characteristics of a leader. The study raised two important questions-(a) when the employees need support of a leader, do they show and (b) would the leader change the style of motivation and inspiration depending on the need of the employees.

Quitting intentions and leadership: To remain competitive in the dynamic business environment, holding on to the productive human resources and reducing the employee turnover, is the key. High turnover rate among employees can adversely impact the company in terms of high training cost, high selection cost, decreased productivity and low staff morale. Loyalty towards organization and leader, leads to positive intentions in employees to stay with the organization for long time 21 . Transformational leadership were found to be negatively related to employees’ voluntary organizational turnover intention, on the other side availability of job opportunity did not affect the transformational leadership and turnover intention 22 . Long et al . 23 remark that transformational and transactional leadership styles had negative impact on quitting intention. Puni et al . 24 found a positive association between autocratic leadership style, quitting intentions and counterproductive work behavior and a negative relationship between democratic leadership style, quitting intentions and counterproductive work behavior. Puni et al . 24 further noted that the leaders using laissez faire style yield negative relation with quitting intentions but positive with counterproductive work behavior. Further, the study observed that in autocratic style of leadership, a leader emphasized more on productivity than on people due to which employees’ quitting intentions increased dramatically.

Leadership perception: The climate and organizational environment highly depends on the perception of leaders, managers and employees. Perception was a difficult part of human behavior, the perception of different individual need not to be same. In the context of organization it became difficult to accomplish objectives when leaders and followers had very different perception 25 .

In today’s organizational perspective employees expects leader to be people oriented as they consider team work, relationship building as a basic pillar for organizational management. Madden 26 in his study found that there was a stereotype that women were insecure, over controlling and enable to engage in team play. Helgesen 27 argued that women were relationship oriented, non-hierarchical and take interest in sharing power and information.

Perception which was negative can lead to wrong decision and it could be dangerous for the leaders well as organization. Understanding the perception was a process in which the leader needs to analyze the situation and information in a rational manner. Listening and communication skills of leader lead to deal with the situation more empathetically and efficiently.

Role in learning: The competency of a leader in terms of technical proficiency is positively related with the employees’ creativity and learning behavior. In addition to these learning acts as a mediator between innovativeness of employees and competencies of the leader 28 . The transformational leaders enhance creativity in employees. Therefore, companies prefer such candidates as leaders who possess these skills or at least have the potential to become one.

Brown and Posner 29 found that leadership development programs and approaches should accomplish at personal and emotional level which furthers enhance insights about self and helps in creating learning and leadership mind sets. Transformational learning theories could be used to help and develop transformational leader.

Effect of leadership on job performance and work satisfaction: Saleem 30 observed that transformational leadership style increased job satisfaction among employees while transactional leadership leaves a negative impact on job satisfaction of employees. Goleman 31 suggests, “a leader should hold each leadership style in his bag like a golfer and he should be well averse to know that what style he should use in which situation because at every round of golf, you cannot use the same ball”. It is important to know that contingency theories play an important role in enhancing the job satisfaction.

Rad and Yarmohammadian 32 concluded that employees showed less satisfaction with salaries, benefits, promotion and communication and they will more satisfied with type of job and good supervisor. They proved significant correlation between the leadership behaviors and employees and job satisfaction. Good relationship with staff increases the satisfaction level of employees; however, situational leadership can negatively impact job satisfaction of employees.

METHODS AND RESEARCH TECHNIQUES

This paper systematically reviews 208 papers published on leadership and related areas from 2010 through 2017. As shown in Fig. 1 , out of 208 papers selected for study, 33 were out of context so they have been rejected, 56 papers have been rejected on the ground of not being related to the topic. Finally 119 papers used for further systematic review which were related to leadership studies.

By summarizing the issues addressed by the journal during the reference period, the paper provided valuable insights to the current researchers about the research gap and future research areas of leadership 9 . This research was divided into five major tasks:

Research mechanism and implementation: To get the miniature view of the articles studied for this systematic review, the authors had tabulated the leading points by coding each distinct feature.

Some of the articles have also covered more than one subject or domain so, multiple codes have also been assigned to the article on different key areas. Table 1 depicted that first classification of codes had been based on the context. The culture of every country was different, so was their management view of getting the things done and their leadership style. A motivation or leadership technique that had been proved successful in one country may not be replicated in another country. In this classification of context, the countries were categorized into four series, i.e., developed country, developing and emerging country, under developed country and if the research was not specifically done in/or for a particular country then it was categorized as not applicable. The codes A to D had been used to classify the context to the research.

The next classification in Table 1 had been done on the basis of the geographical region. For the purpose of coding, seven geographical regions have been used, namely-USA, UK, France, Germany, China, India and Islamic countries represented by code A to G respectively. Code H had been assigned to the papers not belonging to any of these countries. In case, research was not country specific then I code was used.

The third classification was done on the basis of the objective of the study. Code A was assigned to the empirical studies, in which direct or indirect observation had been used to gain the knowledge. For case study method, code B was assigned. If the article makes theoretical and methodological contributions to the topic, it came under Code C. Code D was used for conceptual study, while code E has been assigned to the studies not falling in the above categories.

Main subject of the research articles reviewed forms the basis for the fourth classification. The papers were coded as A, B, C and D. It depicts the focus point of the study on which the research article is based. The key subjects taken for the systematic review were leadership motivation, leadership excellence and leadership communication and others.

Fifth classification had been done on the basis of the main topic of the research. This classification further narrows down the research area that had been chosen in fourth category. Codes ranging from A to I have been assigned. It includes topics resembling leadership style in general, moderating factors, quitting intentions, leadership perception and role in learning, effect on job performance, work satisfaction, virtual leadership and others.

The sixth classification makes an attempt to categorize the leadership style evaluated in the papers coded as letter A to H. This categorization holds significance since style provides direction, helps implement the plans and motivates people. Besides giving codes to seven styles of leadership, one code is assigned to a category where no particular style is studied.

Industry studied, forms the base for the seventh classification. Leadership style, the way of working, culture and organizational structure is not common across industry. So, this part has been divided into four categories, namely-manufacturing, service, trading and others. Codes have been assigned from A to D, respectively.

Eighth classification depicts the time period of the research. Time period of research was taken as very crucial distinction in research design categorization. This category had been divided into five codes ranging from A to E. A was assigned to the articles with time-frame of less than one year, B depicts 1-5 years, C is assigned to papers with time frame of 6-10, years followed by D for more than 10 years. E was assigned to the articles where the time period was not applicable.

Ninth classification involves identifying the research methods used for research. Codes A to G have been assigned to this category. It was important to classify whether research is qualitative or quantitative. Other categories in this classification include conceptual method, case study and others if a research paper does not fall in the given category.

The tenth classification reveals the sample size of the research article. By sample size, the authors recognize a group of subjects that is selected from the population. For this category, the codes range from A to D. A category covers articles with sample size of less than 50, B category includes sample size of 51-100, C category is for more than 100 and D category covers the papers not falling in any of the above categories.

The eleventh classification relates to the size of the industry and is coded from A to C. Large scale industry is coded by A, small and medium industry by B, while others are coded as C. Size of the industry is important to categorize as different sizes of industry show different types of results since the number of employees, decentralization level, span of control is not same in each size.

Lastly, the twelfth category highlights different aspects of the results from the articles under review. This category had been divided into five codes ranging from A to E. In this coding, attempt has been made to seek the results of articles based on the information gathered. It included whether the results were consistent with previous literature or does it offer a new perspective.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This section revealed the data classification and categorization of 119 papers on the basis of codes assigned to those in the previous section. The results were produced in Table 2 followed by their analysis and interpretation. On the basis of results, research gaps had been highlighted for further research.

Context: The first classification identified the context of the papers under review. For the purpose of coding, the context was divided into four parts A, B, C and D. Code A was assigned to developed countries, code B for developing and emerging countries, for under developed countries code C was given and code D if it was not applicable to any of these. The results were shown in the form of pie chart in Fig. 2 .

As depicted by Fig. 2 , majority of the studies 14 , 17 , 22 , 26 were not country specific. None of the reviewed studies focused on underdeveloped countries, 13.45% of the studies 18 , 21 deal with developed countries, 5.88% studies had been done in the context of developing and emerging countries, while 5.04% of the research articles belong to the context of both developed and developing and emerging countries. This revealed that studies on leadership and organizational issues pertaining to the underdeveloped country were lacking. This indicated a major research gap that needs to be investigated in future research.

Geographical area: For this category, seven geographical regions have been used namely USA, UK, France, Germany, China, India and Islamic countries represented by codes A to G respectively. Code H is assigned to the papers that do not belong to any of these countries. In case research was not country specific, code I is used. Figure 3 shows the analyses of codes based on the geographical area. Figure 3 showed that majority 19 , 22 , 25 of research articles (75%) were not specific to any geographical area, 6% of the studies belong to USA and 8% deal with other countries, 5% research articles focus on China, while 1% do not belong to any of these countries.

Objective: The third classification refers to identifying the objectives of the analyzed papers. Code A is assigned to the empirical studies, code B is assigned for case study method, code C is assigned to the articles based on theoretical and methodological contribution, code D is used for conceptual studies focusing on concept or theory explaining the phenomenon, code E has been assigned to studies belonging to any other category. The results as shown in Fig. 4 revealed that 69% of the reviewed papers 14 , 16 , 17 , 22 , 24 , 26 employ the empirical method, while 18% were conceptual studies, 6% use case study method and literature review.

Main subjects: The next classification was based on the main subject of the research articles reviewed for systematic review as A, B, C and D. It depicts the focus point of the study. The key subjects taken for the coding are leadership motivation, leadership excellence, leadership communication and others. As shown by Fig. 5 , the main focus of maximum research in the articles studied 18 , 22 , 26 was on leadership excellence (29%). 4% of the articles are relate to leadership motivation and 4% to leadership communication.

The remaining articles focus on other than the given subjects. The combinations studied are leadership motivation and excellence (5%), Leadership excellence and others (8%). The analysis of main subject shows that there are certain avenues open for the researchers in study of leadership motivation and leadership communication, though the previous researchers have focused on leadership excellence.

Topics: This classification was based on identification of the main topic of research. The codes assigned for this category range from A to, I. This classification further narrows down the research area t chosen in the previous category. It includes topics resembling leadership style in general, moderating factors, quitting intentions, leadership perception and role in learning, effect on job performance, work satisfaction, virtual leadership and others.

As shown in Fig. 6 , many code combinations had got developed while analyzing the papers for this category. The topics emerged during the research were the combination of two or more subjects. About 6% of the papers focused on moderating factors and effect on job performance, 8% study other factors along with moderating factors, 5% cover effect on job performance, work satisfaction with grouping of other topics. All the other combinations of codes contribute to only 1%. Only few articles focus on a single topic.

Leadership style evaluated: This classification is an attempt to categorize the leadership style evaluated in the papers studied, coded from A to H ( Fig. 7 ).

Besides giving codes to seven styles of leadership, one code is assigned to a category where no particular style is being evaluated. Majority of the studies (71%) do not concentrate on any particular leadership style, 15% of the articles evaluate transformational leadership style, 3% of the papers study mixed style and remaining researchers study combination of two or more styles.

Type of organization: This classification shows the categorization on the basis of industry. This part has been divided into three categories Manufacturing, Service, Trading and others. Codes have been assigned from A to D respectively. 21% articles focus on service industry, while 76% articles have not chosen any specific type of organization for their research. Figure 8 exhibits the results with regard to this classification.

Time period: The eighth classification depicts the time period of the research as exhibited in Fig. 9 . This category has been divided into five parts assigning codes from A to E; A- less than 1 years, B-1-5 years, C-6-10 years, D-10 years and more, E for the articles where time period is not applicable.92% percent of the articles do not cater to any specific time period, 5% articles base their analysis on less than one year, 2% of the research articles are based on 1-5 years of category.

Method: This category of classification involved identifying the research methods used for research as plotted in Fig. 10 . Codes from A to G had been assigned in which quantitative, qualitative, conceptual, quantitative and qualitative both, case study and none of these categories had been coded. About 42% of the papers use quantitative methods, 28% papers employed both quantitative and qualitative methods, 18% articles used conceptual method.

Sample size: This classification revealed the sample size of the articles analyzed as shown in Fig. 11 . For this category, codes ranged from A to D. A category contains the articles with sample size of under 50, B category comprises of papers with sample size of 51-100, C included papers with sample size of more than 100, D included papers other than these. Majority of the articles (52%) use the sample size more than 100, 40% articles fall in others category where sample size was not applicable, 6% articles had used sample size below 50.

Size of the industry: This classification related to size of the industry and the codes assigned ranged from A to C as shown in Fig. 12 . Large scale industry is coded by A, small and medium sized industry coded by B and others fall in category C. Most of the studies did not focus on analysis of a particular size of industry, 11% analyze the large industries, 2% focus on small and medium enterprises.

The last category ( Fig. 13 ) highlighted different aspects of the results of the research articles studied. This category had been divided into five codes ranging from A to E. It included whether the results were consistent with previous literature or leading to a new perspective, was it a previous model with different data set and time period, comparative study and others.

Majority of the articles (52%) present comparative analysis, 9% articles deal with each of category B and C that was consistent with previous literature and previous model with different data set and time period.

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS

The main contribution of the current paper was to summarize the issues addressed by these articles and to bring out the research gaps. The current study explored 119 articles which were purely devoted to the study of leadership and organization. On the basis of the gaps explored, it can be stated that the research arena is wide open for the future research in the area of leadership and related areas that can be explored by novel research. The current research found that the future researchers can focus on underdeveloped countries and explore how leadership in organizations of underdeveloped countries can meet current and future organizational challenges. The future researchers can focus on conducting research in specific regions and explore the influence that leadership has on organizations of different regions. Future research can also focus on meta-analysis and explore the significance of case study/literature review or comparative analysis in addressing leadership problems in organizations. With respect to main subject of the study, it is found that most of the studies focus on leadership excellence whereas research on leadership motivation and communication is lagging behind. Therefore, future research can examine how leadership motivation and communication can help an organization achieve its results. It is vital to explore how an organization from a specific sector manages and motivates its employees through effective leadership. Future research can focus on other techniques that can justify the objective of leadership study.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT

This study holds immense significance for two core reasons. One, the paper consolidates the existing literature about leadership and organization. Two, the paper brings out the research gaps and sets a research agenda for future researchers in the field. The organic contribution of the authors is in listing out (a) the objectives that can be pursued by the future researchers, (b) the methodology that can be adopted by the future researchers, (c) the tools that can be put to use while researching in this area and (d) the industry that the future researchers may emphasize upon.

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Leadership Research Paper Topics

The exploration of leadership research paper topics is a vital task for students studying management. These topics delve into the theory and practice of leadership, offering valuable insights into the dynamics of organizational success. The following guide provides a comprehensive list of leadership research paper topics categorized into ten areas, from leadership theories and styles to the role of women in leadership. This guide will also discuss the breadth and depth of leadership as a research area, advise on how to choose the right topic, and share tips on writing an excellent leadership research paper. We will then introduce the custom paper writing services offered by iResearchNet, which can provide expert, tailored assistance for any leadership research topic. The text concludes with a compelling call-to-action, encouraging students to leverage iResearchNet’s services for their research paper needs. The central aim is to facilitate students’ journey in leadership studies, fostering academic growth and development.

100 Leadership Research Paper Topics

Studying leadership calls for a comprehensive variety of topics, reflecting the broad and deep nature of this area of study. This section presents a vast array of potential topics, categorized into ten key areas, each featuring ten unique subjects for investigation. This presents a multitude of directions for students to dive deep into their leadership research papers.

Academic Writing, Editing, Proofreading, And Problem Solving Services

Get 10% off with 24start discount code, 1. leadership theories:.

• Analysis of the evolution of leadership theories from trait to situational theories.
• A comparative study of transformational and transactional leadership models.
• A deep dive into the contingency theories of leadership.
• A practical exploration of the path-goal theory in modern organizations.
• An examination of servant leadership theory’s applicability in non-profit organizations.
• Exploring the role of emotional intelligence in the framework of authentic leadership.
• Evaluating the impact of charismatic leadership on employee motivation and productivity.
• Adaptive leadership theory in crisis management: an exploration.
• A detailed study of the correlation between leadership theories and personality traits.
• Leadership theories’ applications and implications in team management and dynamics.

2. Leadership Styles:

• The implications of autocratic leadership on employee satisfaction and morale.
• How democratic leadership fosters innovation and creativity in the workplace.
• The role and effects of laissez-faire leadership in creative industries.
• An investigation of transformational leadership’s influence on organizational culture.
• Evaluating the impact of transactional leadership on performance metrics.
• Applicability and effectiveness of servant leadership in corporate settings.
• Pros and cons of paternalistic leadership in different organizational structures.
• An examination of strategic leadership in the rapidly evolving tech industry.
• Analyzing the effects of adaptive leadership in the complex field of healthcare.
• A correlation study of leadership styles and employee retention rates.

3. Leadership and Ethics:

• Ethical leadership’s role in shaping and promoting corporate social responsibility.
• Analysis of the ethical dilemmas encountered by leaders in healthcare organizations.
• How ethical leadership moulds and influences organizational culture.
• A study on the corporate scandals resulted from unethical leadership.
• The ethical considerations in leadership decision-making processes.
• The relationship between ethical leadership and employees’ moral judgments.
• A sector-focused analysis of leadership ethics in the banking industry.
• Measuring the impact of ethical leadership on brand reputation.
• Exploring the influence of ethical leadership on corporate sustainability strategies.
• Leadership ethics in political organizations: an in-depth study.

4. Leadership and Diversity:

• The impact of diverse leadership on an organization’s inclusivity.
• Cultural diversity’s influence on leadership styles in multinational organizations.
• A study on the challenges faced by women in leadership roles.
• Evaluating the role of leadership in promoting gender equity in corporate organizations.
• The effect of diverse leadership on fostering innovation in multinational corporations.
• An examination of racial diversity in leadership and its effect on corporate image.
• Understanding the benefits and challenges of age diversity in leadership roles.
• Unraveling the opportunities and difficulties faced by LGBT+ individuals in leadership positions.
• Leadership strategies to effectively manage and promote diversity in the workplace.
• Leadership diversity’s impact on corporate social responsibility initiatives.

5. Leadership in Different Industries:

• The pivotal role of leadership in tech startups’ growth trajectory.
• Leadership in the healthcare industry: navigating through challenges and seizing opportunities.
• An exploration of military leadership principles and their potential application in a corporate setting.
• Characteristics of effective leadership in the hospitality industry: a detailed study.
• The significance of impactful leadership in the functioning of non-profit organizations.
• Leadership strategies that drive success in the retail industry.
• The role of leadership in driving innovation in the automotive industry.
• The best practices of effective leadership in the education sector.
• The influence of leadership on team performance in professional sports.
• Defining the traits of successful leadership in the fast-paced entertainment industry.

6. Leadership and Change Management:

• Exploring the impact of transformational leadership on change management processes.
• The role of leadership in shaping and implementing successful change initiatives.
• Understanding the leadership styles most effective for managing organizational change.
• A detailed study on leadership’s role in overcoming resistance to change.
• Leadership in driving and managing technological change in digital companies.
• An examination of adaptive leadership during organizational restructuring.
• The correlation between strategic leadership and successful change management.
• Influence of leadership on change acceptance and adaptation among employees.
• The role of leadership communication in managing change effectively.
• Examining the impact of leadership in change management across different industries.

7. Leadership and Employee Motivation:

• Impact of transformational leadership on employee motivation and job satisfaction.
• How leadership can influence employee motivation through effective communication.
• An exploration of the relationship between leadership styles and employee motivation levels.
• How servant leadership enhances employee motivation and engagement.
• Evaluating the role of leadership in developing effective reward systems for employee motivation.
• Examining the effects of charismatic leadership on employee motivation.
• The influence of leadership behavior on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
• Leadership strategies for fostering a motivating work environment.
• How leadership can use job design to enhance employee motivation.
• The impact of leadership recognition on employee motivation and performance.

8. Leadership Development:

• Understanding the role of mentoring in leadership development.
• Examining the importance of continuous learning in leadership development.
• The impact of coaching on leadership skill development.
• Analyzing the effectiveness of various leadership development programs.
• The role of experiential learning in the development of leadership skills.
• Influence of leadership development on succession planning in organizations.
• Investigating the role of self-awareness in leadership development.
• Evaluating the role of feedback in the leadership development process.
• The impact of leadership development initiatives on organizational performance.
• Understanding the importance of emotional intelligence in leadership development.

9. Leadership and Organizational Culture:

• The role of leadership in shaping and sustaining organizational culture.
• Analyzing the influence of leadership style on organizational culture.
• A study on how effective leadership can instill a culture of innovation.
• Investigating the relationship between leadership and organizational culture in multinational corporations.
• Exploring the effects of leadership communication on organizational culture.
• How transformational leadership influences a culture of teamwork.
• The role of leadership in promoting an ethical organizational culture.
• The influence of servant leadership on organizational culture.
• Leadership’s role in the creation and management of a customer-oriented culture.
• The impact of leadership transition on organizational culture.

10. Leadership and Decision Making:

• The role of leadership in strategic decision making.
• The influence of different leadership styles on decision-making processes.
• Evaluating the impact of leadership on ethical decision making in organizations.
• An exploration of how leadership affects group decision-making processes.
• The role of leadership intuition in decision making.
• Leadership strategies for effective crisis decision making.
• The influence of leadership in data-driven decision making.
• The impact of transformational leadership on innovative decision making.
• Leadership and decision-making under uncertainty: a comprehensive study.
• How leadership influences employee involvement in decision making.

These varied topics allow students to explore different aspects of leadership, spanning theory, styles, ethics, diversity, industry specifics, change management, employee motivation, development, organizational culture, and decision making. The broad range enables students to select a topic that aligns with their personal interests and professional aspirations. This extensive list also gives students the freedom to narrow their focus and delve deep into a specialized area of leadership. Thus, creating a foundation for an insightful and meaningful research paper.

The Range of Leadership Research Paper Topics

Leadership is an inherently complex and multifaceted concept, embodying various dimensions of organizational functioning. It is a dynamic process involving influence, direction, and facilitation towards achieving a common objective. Therefore, leadership has a profound influence on the behaviors, attitudes, and overall performance of an organization, making it a fertile ground for extensive and diverse research.

The range of leadership research paper topics is vast, reflecting the wide-ranging implications of leadership in different contexts. This breadth allows students to delve into various aspects of leadership, from exploring various leadership styles such as transformational, transactional, autocratic, democratic, and servant leadership, to understanding their effects on team dynamics, employee performance, motivation, and job satisfaction.

For instance, research into the various leadership styles provides critical insights into how different approaches to leadership can influence an organization’s effectiveness. Transformational leadership, for example, emphasizes the leader’s role in inspiring and motivating followers, fostering innovation, and driving change. In contrast, transactional leadership focuses on clear role and task definitions, rewards, and punishments as motivational tools.

Moreover, the intersection of leadership and ethics is another prolific area of research. Ethical leadership explores how leaders can integrate ethical principles into their decision-making processes, cultivate ethical behaviors within their teams, and ultimately foster an ethical organizational culture. Research in this field can range from examining the influence of ethical leadership on employee behavior to investigating the strategies leaders can employ to navigate ethical dilemmas.

Diversity in leadership, a critical aspect in the current globalized business environment, offers another area of intriguing research potential. Diverse leadership promotes a plethora of viewpoints, encourages creativity and innovation, and enhances organizational adaptability. Research topics in this category can involve investigating the effect of diverse leadership on team performance, the challenges and strategies in managing a diverse leadership team, or understanding how leadership can promote diversity and inclusion within an organization.

Research on leadership in different industrial and organizational contexts also offers a wealth of research paper topics. This can include leadership in healthcare, exploring how leaders can effectively manage healthcare professionals, improve patient outcomes, and drive change in the healthcare system. Leadership in educational settings, examining how school leaders can impact educational outcomes, foster a conducive learning environment, and navigate the unique challenges in the education sector.

Leadership’s role in change management is another critical area of research. Change is a constant factor in any organization, and effective leadership is critical in navigating this change successfully. Research topics here can focus on the various leadership strategies in implementing change, the challenges leaders face in this process, and the critical role leadership plays in overcoming resistance to change.

The impact of leadership on employee motivation also provides a rich area for investigation. The influence a leader has on an employee’s motivation levels can significantly affect job satisfaction, productivity, and retention. Topics here can explore the different leadership strategies that can enhance employee motivation, the role of leadership in developing effective reward systems, or how leadership behavior affects intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

Leadership development is another theme rich in research opportunities. The creation of effective leaders is crucial to an organization’s success. Therefore, investigating leadership development programs, the role of coaching and mentoring in leadership development, or the impact of leadership development initiatives on organizational performance are all meaningful research directions.

In conclusion, the diversity in leadership research paper topics allows students to explore and investigate various areas of leadership theory and practice. From understanding different leadership styles and their effects, to delving into leadership ethics, diversity, industry-specific leadership, change management, motivation, and leadership development, the possibilities are extensive. This breadth and depth enable students to gain a comprehensive understanding of leadership and its vital role in shaping organizational success. The explorative journey into these leadership research paper topics lays a robust foundation for future leaders, providing them with essential insights into effective leadership practices.

How to Choose Leadership Research Paper Topics

Choosing the right topic for a leadership research paper is a critical first step in the process of writing a top-notch research paper. The right topic is not just a subject you find interesting, but one that is unique, manageable, and relevant to your course of study. In this section, we provide ten comprehensive tips to guide you in choosing the best leadership research paper topic.

• Identify Your Interest : Start by identifying what aspects of leadership interest you the most. Are you more drawn to the psychological aspects of leadership, such as how leaders motivate their teams, or are you more interested in the organizational aspects, such as how leadership styles impact company culture? Personal interest in a topic can make the research process more engaging and the writing process more enjoyable.
• Brainstorm : Spend time brainstorming potential topics. Write down everything that comes to mind, no matter how broad or specific. This process can help you to identify potential areas of interest and narrow down your options.
• Research Existing Literature : Before settling on a topic, take some time to read up on existing literature in the field of leadership. This can help you to identify gaps in knowledge that your research could fill, or controversial issues that could be the focus of your paper.
• Consider the Scope : Consider the scope of your research paper. If it’s a shorter paper, you’ll need a narrower topic. Conversely, for a longer paper, you can choose a broader topic that you can explore in detail.
• Consult Your Supervisor or Peers : Discuss potential topics with your supervisor or classmates. They may offer a fresh perspective or suggest areas of interest that you hadn’t considered.
• Check for Resources : Ensure that there are enough resources available for your chosen topic. This can include books, peer-reviewed articles, and credible online sources. Having enough sources will make your research process smoother and more productive.
• Relevance to Your Course : The topic you choose should be relevant to your course and future career. For example, if you plan to work in the non-profit sector, you might choose a topic related to leadership in non-profit organizations.
• Flexibility : Be flexible with your topic. As you start your research, you may find that your initial topic is too broad, too narrow, or not as interesting as you thought. Don’t be afraid to refine and modify your topic as needed.
• Uniqueness : While it’s good to align with current research trends, strive for uniqueness in your topic. Don’t just rehash old studies; instead, seek to contribute something new and meaningful to the field of leadership research.
• Practical Implications : Lastly, consider the practical implications of your research. Good research not only contributes to academic knowledge but also has practical applications. Choose a topic that could potentially inform leadership practices in real-world settings.

In conclusion, choosing a topic for a leadership research paper involves careful consideration of your interests, the scope of the paper, available resources, and the potential impact of your research. While the process can be challenging, the result is a topic that you’re passionate about and invested in, which ultimately makes for a higher quality research paper. Remember, the topic you choose sets the foundation for your entire paper, so take the time to choose wisely!

How to Write a Leadership Research Paper

Writing a leadership research paper is an intricate process that requires careful planning, thorough research, and detailed writing. A well-written research paper not only demonstrates your understanding of leadership principles but also your ability to critically analyze information, formulate arguments, and present your ideas in a clear and coherent manner. Below are ten comprehensive steps to guide you in writing an outstanding leadership research paper.

• Understanding the Assignment : Before you begin the actual writing process, make sure you understand the assignment requirements. What is the length of the paper? What is the deadline? Are there specific sources or citation styles you need to use? Understanding these requirements will help guide your research and writing process.
• Choose a Topic : If you haven’t been assigned a specific topic, use the tips provided in the previous section to choose a suitable topic for your leadership research paper. Make sure it’s a topic you’re interested in and one that is relevant to the course.
• Conduct Preliminary Research : Conduct initial research to get an overview of your chosen topic. Use this research to refine your topic and formulate a preliminary thesis statement. This statement will guide your further research and help focus your paper.
• Develop a Thesis Statement : Your thesis statement should clearly express the main point or argument of your research paper. It should be concise, specific, and arguable. A good thesis statement will guide your research and provide a roadmap for your paper.
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A Study on Leadership Styles and Its Impact on Organizational Success

2023, EPRA international journal of economics, business and management

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• DOI: 10.61801/ouaess.2023.2.32
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The Connection between Business Ethics and the Organizational Culture

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Call for papers: Thriving during turbulent times

Submission deadline: December 30, 2024

Guest editors

• Guangrong Dai
• Veronica Schmidt Harvey
• Kenneth P. De Meuse

Consulting psychologists have been at the forefront in supporting organizations with change initiatives since the early 20th century. While change management has long been an integral part of the consultant’s toolkit, traditional models are increasingly inadequate to address the turbulent times in which we live and work.

Historically, organizational change management was a planned, step-by-step process that presumed a predictable environment where change could be mapped out in advance. However, the current volatile business environment demands organizations to proactively anticipate trends and prepare for unexpected events before they impose a threat or miss critical opportunities.

Today, organizational change is not only ongoing but simultaneous and spontaneous. Rather than treating change as discrete organizational events, contemporary scholars advocate for nurturing change capability that allows organizations to thrive in dynamic conditions. Building change capability requires an integrated understanding of employee reactions, leadership capabilities, team functioning and organizational systems that influence responses to change. This concept and constructs related to it have been explored and emphasized in works published in the Consulting Psychology Journal and various other scholarly journals, highlighting the importance of deliberate and proactive investment in organizational resources to adeptly navigate present and future changes.

This special issue aims to bridge the gap between academic research and practical application by exploring innovative, science-based practices for building change capability. We invite scholars and practitioners alike to contribute their insights to deepen our understanding of strategies for enhancing change capability across different organizational levels. The goal is to equip leaders, consultants, and organizations with the evidence-based tools and knowledge needed to cultivate robust change capabilities that drive sustained success and resilience in the face of change. We believe that through the intentional development of change capability, consultants can assist clients in becoming perpetually adaptable and capable of thriving in an unpredictable environment.

Submitted papers should specify the scope of focus—the individual, team, leadership, or organizational level. Within each article authors will be encouraged to delve into critical questions such as the following:

• The underlying mechanisms that contribute to the development of change capability at each level.
• Practical consulting approaches and practices to develop change capability.
• DEIB considerations that support or hinder change capability at each level.
• How change capability supports high relevance/priority areas such as DEIB, technology adaptation, sustainability, ways of working.
• Ways to define and measure the impact of high or low change capability.
• Linkages (or lack thereof) with traditional change management theories and models.
• Obstacles and challenges to overcome (e.g., employee fatigue, cultural inertia, hindering mindset, and the complexity of virtual teams).

Where feasible, case studies illustrating successful applications are encouraged.

For more information about the journal, visit the Consulting Psychology Journal homepage . You also may proceed directly to the manuscript submission portal .

The deadline for submission is December 30, 2024.

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What is Project 2025? What to know about the conservative blueprint for a second Trump administration

By Melissa Quinn , Jacob Rosen

Updated on: July 11, 2024 / 9:40 AM EDT / CBS News

Washington — Voters in recent weeks have begun to hear the name "Project 2025" invoked more and more by President Biden and Democrats, as they seek to sound the alarm about what could be in store if former President Donald Trump wins a second term in the White House.

Overseen by the conservative Heritage Foundation, the multi-pronged initiative includes a detailed blueprint for the next Republican president to usher in a sweeping overhaul of the executive branch.

Trump and his campaign have worked to distance themselves from Project 2025, with the former president going so far as to call some of the proposals "abysmal." But Democrats have continued to tie the transition project to Trump, especially as they find themselves mired in their own controversy over whether Mr. Biden should withdraw from the 2024 presidential contest following his startling debate performance last month.

Here is what to know about Project 2025:

What is Project 2025?

Project 2025 is a proposed presidential transition project that is composed of four pillars: a policy guide for the next presidential administration; a LinkedIn-style database of personnel who could serve in the next administration; training for that pool of candidates dubbed the "Presidential Administration Academy;" and a playbook of actions to be taken within the first 180 days in office.

It is led by two former Trump administration officials: Paul Dans, who was chief of staff at the Office of Personnel Management and serves as director of the project, and Spencer Chretien, former special assistant to Trump and now the project's associate director.

Project 2025 is spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation, but includes an advisory board consisting of more than 100 conservative groups.

Much of the focus on — and criticism of — Project 2025 involves its first pillar, the nearly 900-page policy book that lays out an overhaul of the federal government. Called "Mandate for Leadership 2025: The Conservative Promise," the book builds on a "Mandate for Leadership" first published in January 1981, which sought to serve as a roadmap for Ronald Reagan's incoming administration.

The recommendations outlined in the sprawling plan reach every corner of the executive branch, from the Executive Office of the President to the Department of Homeland Security to the little-known Export-Import Bank. 

The Heritage Foundation also created a "Mandate for Leadership" in 2015 ahead of Trump's first term. Two years into his presidency, it touted that Trump had instituted 64% of its policy recommendations, ranging from leaving the Paris Climate Accords, increasing military spending, and increasing off-shore drilling and developing federal lands. In July 2020, the Heritage Foundation gave its updated version of the book to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. 

The authors of many chapters are familiar names from the Trump administration, such as Russ Vought, who led the Office of Management and Budget; former acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller; and Roger Severino, who was director of the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services.

Vought is the policy director for the 2024 Republican National Committee's platform committee, which released its proposed platform on Monday. 

John McEntee, former director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office under Trump, is a senior advisor to the Heritage Foundation, and said that the group will "integrate a lot of our work" with the Trump campaign when the official transition efforts are announced in the next few months.

Candidates interested in applying for the Heritage Foundation's "Presidential Personnel Database" are vetted on a number of political stances, such as whether they agree or disagree with statements like "life has a right to legal protection from conception to natural death," and "the President should be able to advance his/her agenda through the bureaucracy without hindrance from unelected federal officials."

The contributions from ex-Trump administration officials have led its critics to tie Project 2025 to his reelection campaign, though the former president has attempted to distance himself from the initiative.

What are the Project 2025 plans?

Some of the policies in the Project 2025 agenda have been discussed by Republicans for years or pushed by Trump himself: less federal intervention in education and more support for school choice; work requirements for able-bodied, childless adults on food stamps; and a secure border with increased enforcement of immigration laws, mass deportations and construction of a border wall. 

But others have come under scrutiny in part because of the current political landscape. 

Abortion and social issues

In recommendations for the Department of Health and Human Services, the agenda calls for the Food and Drug Administration to reverse its 24-year-old approval of the widely used abortion pill mifepristone. Other proposed actions targeting medication abortion include reinstating more stringent rules for mifepristone's use, which would permit it to be taken up to seven weeks into a pregnancy, instead of the current 10 weeks, and requiring it to be dispensed in-person instead of through the mail.

The Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal group that is on the Project 2025 advisory board, was involved in a legal challenge to mifepristone's 2000 approval and more recent actions from the FDA that made it easier to obtain. But the Supreme Court rejected the case brought by a group of anti-abortion rights doctors and medical associations on procedural grounds.

The policy book also recommends the Justice Department enforce the Comstock Act against providers and distributors of abortion pills. That 1873 law prohibits drugs, medicines or instruments used in abortions from being sent through the mail.

Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade , the volume states that the Justice Department "in the next conservative administration should therefore announce its intent to enforce federal law against providers and distributors of such pills."

The guide recommends the next secretary of Health and Human Services get rid of the Reproductive Healthcare Access Task Force established by the Biden administration before Roe's reversal and create a "pro-life task force to ensure that all of the department's divisions seek to use their authority to promote the life and health of women and their unborn children."

In a section titled "The Family Agenda," the proposal recommends the Health and Human Services chief "proudly state that men and women are biological realities," and that "married men and women are the ideal, natural family structure because all children have a right to be raised by the men and women who conceived them."

Further, a program within the Health and Human Services Department should "maintain a biblically based, social science-reinforced definition of marriage and family."

During his first four years in office, Trump banned transgender people from serving in the military. Mr. Biden reversed that policy , but the Project 2025 policy book calls for the ban to be reinstated.

Targeting federal agencies, employees and policies

The agenda takes aim at longstanding federal agencies, like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. The agency is a component of the Commerce Department and the policy guide calls for it to be downsized. 

NOAA's six offices, including the National Weather Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, "form a colossal operation that has become one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry and, as such, is harmful to future U.S. prosperity," the guide states. 

The Department of Homeland Security, established in 2002, should be dismantled and its agencies either combined with others, or moved under the purview of other departments altogether, the policy book states. For example, immigration-related entities from the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice and Health and Human Services should form a standalone, Cabinet-level border and immigration agency staffed by more than 100,000 employees, according to the agenda.

If the policy recommendations are implemented, another federal agency that could come under the knife by the next administration, with action from Congress, is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The agenda seeks to bring a push by conservatives to target diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives in higher education to the executive branch by wiping away a slew of DEI-related positions, policies and programs and calling for the elimination of funding for partners that promote DEI practices.

It states that U.S. Agency for International Development staff and grantees that "engage in ideological agitation on behalf of the DEI agenda" should be terminated. At the Treasury Department, the guide says the next administration should "treat the participation in any critical race theory or DEI initiative without objecting on constitutional or moral grounds, as per se grounds for termination of employment."

The Project 2025 policy book also takes aim at more innocuous functions of government. It calls for the next presidential administration to eliminate or reform the dietary guidelines that have been published by the Department of Agriculture for more than 40 years, which the authors claim have been "infiltrated" by issues like climate change and sustainability.

Immigration

Trump made immigration a cornerstone of his last two presidential runs and has continued to hammer the issue during his 2024 campaign. Project 2025's agenda not only recommends finishing the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, but urges the next administration to "take a creative and aggressive approach" to responding to drug cartels at the border. This approach includes using active-duty military personnel and the National Guard to help with arrest operations along the southern border.

A memo from Immigration and Customs Enforcement that prohibits enforcement actions from taking place at "sensitive" places like schools, playgrounds and churches should be rolled back, the policy guide states. 

When the Homeland Security secretary determines there is an "actual or anticipated mass migration of aliens" that presents "urgent circumstances" warranting a federal response, the agenda says the secretary can make rules and regulations, including through their expulsion, for as long as necessary. These rules, the guide states, aren't subject to the Administration Procedure Act, which governs the agency rule-making process.

What do Trump and his advisers say about Project 2025?

In a post to his social media platform on July 5, Trump wrote , "I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they're saying and some of the things they're saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them."

Trump's pushback to the initiative came after Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts said in a podcast interview that the nation is "in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be."

The former president continued to disavow the initiative this week, writing in another social media post  that he knows nothing about Project 2025.

"I have not seen it, have no idea who is in charge of it, and, unlike our very well received Republican Platform, had nothing to do with it," Trump wrote. "The Radical Left Democrats are having a field day, however, trying to hook me into whatever policies are stated or said. It is pure disinformation on their part. By now, after all of these years, everyone knows where I stand on EVERYTHING!"

While the former president said he doesn't know who is in charge of the initiative, the project's director, Dans, and associate director, Chretien, were high-ranking officials in his administration. Additionally, Ben Carson, former secretary of Housing and Urban Development under Trump; John Ratcliffe, former director of National Intelligence in the Trump administration; and Peter Navarro, who served as a top trade adviser to Trump in the White House, are listed as either authors or contributors to the policy agenda.

Still, even before Roberts' comments during "The War Room" podcast — typically hosted by conservative commentator Steve Bannon, who reported to federal prison to begin serving a four-month sentence last week — Trump's top campaign advisers have stressed that Project 2025 has no official ties to his reelection bid.

Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, senior advisers to the Trump campaign, said in a November statement that 2024 policy announcements will be made by Trump or his campaign team.

"Any personnel lists, policy agendas, or government plans published anywhere are merely suggestions," they said.

While the efforts by outside organizations are "appreciated," Wiles and LaCivita said, "none of these groups or individuals speak for President Trump or his campaign."

In response to Trump's post last week, Project 2025 reiterated that it was separate from the Trump campaign.

"As we've been saying for more than two years now, Project 2025 does not speak for any candidate or campaign. We are a coalition of more than 110 conservative groups advocating policy & personnel recommendations for the next conservative president. But it is ultimately up to that president, who we believe will be President Trump, to decide which recommendations to implement," a statement on the project's X account said.

The initiative has also pushed back on Democrats' claims about its policy proposals and accused them of lying about what the agenda contains.

What do Democrats say?

Despite their attempts to keep some distance from Project 2025, Democrats continue to connect Trump with the transition effort. The Biden-Harris campaign frequently posts about the project on X, tying it to a second Trump term.

Mr. Biden himself accused his Republican opponent of lying about his connections to the Project 2025 agenda, saying in a statement that the agenda was written for Trump and "should scare every single American." He claimed on his campaign social media account  Wednesday that Project 2025 "will destroy America."

Congressional Democrats have also begun pivoting to Project 2025 when asked in interviews about Mr. Biden's fitness for a second term following his lackluster showing at the June 27 debate, the first in which he went head-to-head with Trump.

"Trump is all about Project 2025," Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman told CNN on Monday. "I mean, that's what we really should be voting on right now. It's like, do we want the kind of president that is all about Project '25?"

Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, one of Mr. Biden's closest allies on Capitol Hill, told reporters Monday that the agenda for the next Republican president was the sole topic he would talk about.

"Project 2025, that's my only concern," he said. "I don't want you or my granddaughter to live under that government."

In a statement reiterating her support for Mr. Biden, Rep. Frederica Wilson of Florida called Project 2025 "MAGA Republicans' draconian 920-page plan to end U.S. democracy, give handouts to the wealthy and strip Americans of their freedoms."

What are Republicans saying about Project 2025?

Two GOP senators under consideration to serve as Trump's running mate sought to put space between the White House hopeful and Project 2025, casting it as merely the product of a think tank that puts forth ideas.

"It's the work of a think tank, of a center-right think tank, and that's what think tanks do," Florida Sen. Marco Rubio told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday.

He said Trump's message to voters focuses on "restoring common sense, working-class values, and making our decisions on the basis of that."

Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance raised a similar sentiment in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press," saying organizations will have good ideas and bad ideas.

"It's a 900-page document," he said Sunday. "I guarantee there are things that Trump likes and dislikes about that 900-page document. But he is the person who will determine the agenda of the next administration."

Jaala Brown contributed to this report.

Melissa Quinn is a politics reporter for CBSNews.com. She has written for outlets including the Washington Examiner, Daily Signal and Alexandria Times. Melissa covers U.S. politics, with a focus on the Supreme Court and federal courts.

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• MyU : For Students, Faculty, and Staff

Professor Emeritus Bruce Wollenberg receives 2025 IEEE Herman Halperin Award

Professor Emeritus Bruce Wollenberg is the recipient of the 2025 IEEE Herman Halperin Electric Transmission and Distribution Award. The award recognizes Wollenberg for his “contributions to operations, computing, and control of power systems.”

The IEEE Technical Field Awards are a recognition for contributions or leadership in specific fields of interest of IEEE. Recipients are selected by the Technical Field Awards Council of the organization’s Awards Board. Roughly 30 Technical Field Awards are awarded each year across the more than 400,000 strong membership of the IEEE. 

Wollenberg’s foundational contributions to the operation, analysis, monitoring, and control of power systems are characterized by how closely connected they are to engineering practice. His industry experience has influenced the types of problems he has addressed, and has informed the proposed solutions. The impact of his work is apparent in the number and nature of articles he has authored and co-authored in the Proceedings of the IEEE and the recognition they have received through citations and/or the establishment of new lines of inquiry. Some of the key highlights of his work include: a paper on managing transmission in a deregulated environment that includes an overview of methods from a technical point of view and specific instances of these methods as pursued around the world; another contribution focuses on on-line power system security analysis which tackles topics such as contingency analysis, optimization of preventive and corrective actions, and dynamic security analysis; a third key contribution to the Proceedings discusses at length alarm processing in the context of power system operators and includes several topics related to computing and human-computer interaction that are particularly relevant today.

As far back as 1987 Wollenberg authored an article on artificial intelligence in power-systems operations for the Proceedings in which he commented on the difference between so-called knowledge-based expert systems (a technology related to artificial intelligence) and conventional numerical algorithms within the context of practical considerations pertinent to human operators and control centers. He has made several other contributions to the general area of knowledge-based expert systems including tackling applications and algorithms such as unit commitment, the role of expert systems in contending with emergencies, the creation and evaluation of switching sequences, and fault diagnosis.

Wollenberg’s contributions address topics that are of particular interest and lasting relevance to power engineers and others in the community of practice. His work has been at the forefront of technical developments, and in many instances their relevance has persisted decades after he first addressed the topics. Some of these contributions include: mechanism design for power markets in the context of deregulation of power systems; a co-authored seminal publication on the concept of the smart grid in the early days of the idea; and his deliberations on the notion of reliability in the context of blackouts. The practical nature of Wollenberg’s contributions stem from his industry experience, but the fact that he has also successfully integrated them with the latest solutions in control theory, optimization, and computing indicate his effortless bridging of the gap between academia and industry. 

Wollenberg’s academic contributions are equally significant. He authored the book, “Power Generation, Operation and Control,” (published by John Wiley & Sons, New York 1984, initially co-authored with A. J. Wood, with later editions seeing the addition of G. B. Sheble as another co-author). It has remained the authoritative reference on power-systems operations and control used by those in academia and industry. Wollenberg has advised a long list of graduate students who have gone on to achieve remarkable professional success in the power engineering field. Two among them might be the most recognizable names: Mark Lauby and Noel Schulz. Lauby is senior vice president and chief engineer at the National Electric Reliability Corporation and a member of the NAE. Schulz is a professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Washington State University.

Wollenberg is the recipient of several awards and honors that recognize his research and teaching contributions. In 2008 he was made IEEE Life Fellow, in 2002 he received the IEEE Power and Energy Society Outstanding Power Engineering Educator Award, in 2000 he was recognized with the IEEE Third Millennium Award, and was elevated to IEEE Fellow in 1988. He was also the recipient of the University’s Outstanding Contributions to Postbaccalaureate, Graduate, and Professional Education Award in 2007. In 1987 he received the Control Data Corporation Technical Excellence Award (he was an employee of the company from 1984 to 1989). In 2005, Wollenberg was made a member of the National Academy of Engineering. 

Professor Emeritus Bruce Wollenberg earned his doctoral degree in systems engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1974 and after spending time as an engineer in industry and faculty in academia, he joined the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in 1989 as a professor. 

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