A within-country study of leadership perceptions and outcomes across native and immigrant employees: Questioning the universality of transformational leadership

TY - JOUR

T1 - A within-country study of leadership perceptions and outcomes across native and immigrant employees

T2 - Questioning the universality of transformational leadership

AU - Holten, Ann-Louise

AU - Bøllingtoft, Anne

AU - Carneiro, Isabella Gomes

AU - Borg, Vilhelm

PY - 2018/1/1

Y1 - 2018/1/1

N2 - This study investigates the universality of transformational leadership with respect to employee perceptions and three outcomes: job satisfaction, self-rated health, and well-being. We do so among employees of different national and cultural backgrounds, yet within a shared national and sectorial setting. Our study has a repeated measures design based on survey data from 2,947 employees (2,836 natives Danes and 111 immigrants) in the Danish elder care sector. While we find no difference between native Danes and immigrants in their perception of transformational leadership, we find that transformational leadership is not a universal predictor of outcomes. Although transformational leadership predicts change in none of the outcomes for immigrants, it does predict change in job satisfaction and well-being for native Danes. Based on our findings, we suggest applying a combination of universalistic and contingency paradigms when leading composite employee groups.

AB - This study investigates the universality of transformational leadership with respect to employee perceptions and three outcomes: job satisfaction, self-rated health, and well-being. We do so among employees of different national and cultural backgrounds, yet within a shared national and sectorial setting. Our study has a repeated measures design based on survey data from 2,947 employees (2,836 natives Danes and 111 immigrants) in the Danish elder care sector. While we find no difference between native Danes and immigrants in their perception of transformational leadership, we find that transformational leadership is not a universal predictor of outcomes. Although transformational leadership predicts change in none of the outcomes for immigrants, it does predict change in job satisfaction and well-being for native Danes. Based on our findings, we suggest applying a combination of universalistic and contingency paradigms when leading composite employee groups.

KW - global leadership

KW - immigrants

KW - transformational leadership

KW - universality

U2 - 10.1017/jmo.2017.2

DO - 10.1017/jmo.2017.2

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1833-3672

VL - 24

SP - 145

EP - 162

JO - Journal of Management & Organization

JF - Journal of Management & Organization

IS - 1

ER -