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Introduction
To examine the problem of transformational leadership and its impact on employees, the researcher developed a comprehensive methodology. In the following paper, the researcher: presents the details of the investigation process such as the characteristics of the participants, the role of the researcher, data gathering and analysis; describes how the selected methodology corresponds with the aims of the research; explains the reason for which this methodology is beneficial.
Participants of the study
The researcher selected several Saudi Arabian companies as a target population. Overall, three companies were involved. Within these companies, the investigator collected data from employees and managers. The approximate number of participants was 62. The process of selecting participants for the study involved an array of procedures: coming up with the inclusion criteria, eliminating issues associated with contacting managers and employees, interviews and questionnaires’ management, refining formulation of questions, assessment of response rate levels.
The inclusion criteria for the participants of the study included factors such as willingness to participate in the study, experience in working in an organization for over three years, availability of free time for participation. The mentioned criteria are supported with the idea that workers had to have experience in working in a corporate environment to understand the factors that go into successful leadership; it was also unethical to force workers to participate, so only those managers and employees who had some free time and the desire to take part in the study participated.
The inclusion criteria did not include factors such as gender, nationality, overall work experience, and age since the diversity of the sample group could help with getting a perspective on transformational leadership from different points of view.
The researcher assumed responsibility for handling ethical dilemmas that might have occurred during the research process. Among the most complicated ethical problems that would affect the outcome of the research was the issue of consent. To be more precise, defining the leadership styles of the managerial participants was challenging. It was known that managers were likely to withhold the information related to their leadership styles due to their unwillingness to disclose corporate secrets to strangers.
To handle this problem, the researcher examined the body of existing psychological literature regarding the behavior of research participants and consulted specialists and research experts (Grbich, 2004). The approval for data collection was received from the heads of the targeted companies, which facilitated the task of the researcher and solved one of the ethical dilemmas. Additionally, the researcher followed the prescriptions of the code of research ethics and considered the ethical rules of the studied companies. In the course of the research, the rights of the participants were respected. The respondents participated in the research voluntarily.
During the publishing of results, the participants’ anonymity and confidentiality were observed. All the participants were sufficiently informed about the purpose of the research, the social value of the research and their roles in the research process before data collection started. Besides, the participants were notified of the expected period of the research work, the mode of possible assistance, and the involved research-related risks.
Therefore, the researcher selected a sample that was consistent with the task of the research, and he was informed aware of the ethical ways of treating the participants.
The role of the researcher
The role of the researcher was a remarkably interesting aspect of this research. Ideally, in quantitative research, the role of a researcher is non-existent as one is only needed to collect data, and the participants act independently. The independence of the participants ensures the absence of bias and the sufficiency of empirical data. The data collected by different researchers should coincide. Conversely, in qualitative research, the role of a researcher is central. In this case, the qualities of the studied subject go through the mind of a researcher to receive appropriate descriptions. If two researchers conducted a qualitative examination of a subject, the results might be different.
Since this research used a mix of qualitative and quantitative methodology, the role of the researcher was ambiguous. On the one hand, the participants of the study acted independently, i.e. their answers on interviews and the results of the questionnaires were not be influenced by the researcher. However, after data collection, the investigator analyzed the information to conclude the influence of transformational leadership on organizational performance. To perform this task, the researcher assumed an active role, using his knowledge, logic, and experience for making an appropriate conclusion. Such a change of roles was fully consistent with the research tasks and goals.
The researcher expected the following biases:
- Interview bias – misunderstanding the results of an interview, analyzing the interview answers in such a way as to benefit the research
- Miscalculation of outcomes – this bias is less likely to occur considering the professional competence of the researcher
- Selection bias – selecting participants among those employees, who visibly demonstrate a positive attitude towards transformational leadership
Data gathering
In the present research, transformational leadership was taken as an independent variable. The dependent variable included organizational commitment and the employees’ productivity.
The primary challenge regarding contacting potential participants was associated with them having enough free time to participate in interviews. While participants could answer questionnaires at any time convenient for them, aligning schedules for the meetings was compiled. Therefore, the stage of collecting all relevant data from the interviews took a few weeks; for this reason, the researcher chose to interview seven employees and seven managers to make the process of data collection faster and easier.
Regarding managing questionnaires, participants were handed out printed copies of surveys as well as sent digital versions for their convenience; every participant was asked to fill in the questionnaires within one week (a timeframe that had been discussed in advance). Employees and managers’ surveys included 23 questions each. With regards to interviews, the researcher discussed with seven managers and seven employees the times when they were available for a conversation. After aligning schedules, dates and times were set for an interview with each participant (in two weeks).
Employees’ interviews included 44 questions while managers’ interviews were made up of 40 questions. Each interview took an hour on average; some interviews took even longer because participants were very engaged in the conversation with the researcher. During the dialogues, open-ended queries were used. The answers ranged from “I strongly agree” to “I strongly disagree.” To protect the research results from the risk of a participant involving other topics (not related to the research) in the conversation, only a small number of questions were employed, and the rest of the queries were close-ended.
Feedback forms were used for data collection as well. The response rate for questionnaires and interviews was very high: all participants included in the research filled in questionnaires and answered the questions included in interviews, which shows that the formulation was understandable to them.
The investigator performed interviews personally to comprehend the personal views of the participants. During the interview sessions, the employee participants were asked to share their perspectives on transformational leadership style and how it affected or may affect their performance. The combination of interviews and questionnaires was suitable for the task. Interviews allow participants to express their thoughts even though this type of data gathering is open to bias. On the other hand, questionnaires do not require the presence of a researcher, which makes them less open to bias, but they offer but a limited opportunity to express an opinion.
Data analysis
The information collected from questionnaires was converted into statistical data with the use of the Likert scale. The use of the Likert scale corresponded with the research tasks since it allowed the management of collective and self-directed survey responses with a standard range of responses into measurable data. The researcher completed the following process. First, certain scores were assigned to the answers of the participants. Next, the researcher calculated means, standard deviation, and interval data according to the task. The use of the Likert scale is justifiable since it is known for its efficiency and the recognition as a perfect method of measuring (Brace, 2008).
Next, the SPSS program was employed to work out the means of statistical analysis of the collected data. The SPSS platform was of great help in developing regression analysis. The program allows the management of datasets (particularly survey data) and analysis with advanced statistical procedures. Additionally, it provides a convenient and understandable interface, which facilitates the work of the researcher.
Finally, the researcher proceeded to the qualitative part of the analysis. Having studied the concept of transformational leadership in theory and conducted a comprehensive examination of the existing literature on the issue, the investigator accumulated his theoretical knowledge and analyzed the collected quantitative data in the light of the existing theories to emphasize the qualities of the studied subject.
The example of the specific responses given by managers and employees is presented in the tables and graphs below.
The table above shows employees’ responses to questionnaire questions that contained options such as “Strongly Agree,” “Agree,” “Disagree”, and “Strongly disagree.” If to refer to the questions included in the questionnaire, Q1 was “Does the manager show qualities of being honest and consistent?” Out of 41 employees, 35 agreed that their manager was honest and consistent; such a result is reflected in the table. With regards to Yes/No answers in questionnaires, employees gave the following results:
If to refer to the questions employees were asked to answer, Q4 was “Do you feel motivated or inspired by the manager in your place of work?” 39 respondents stated that their manager motivated them, and only two respondents gave a negative answer to the question; this suggests that the motivational quality of a manager works correctly.
When it comes to the questionnaires given to managers, the questions that included the Yes/No options gave the following results:
To have a better understanding of how managers perceive the concept of transformational leadership and its impact on employees’ productivity, the researcher asked Q22 “Do you feel that the incorporation of transformational leadership can benefit your employees’ motivation and productivity?” Out of nine respondents, seven (77,78%) of them gave a positive answer while only two answered negatively (22,22%).
This shows that managers understood the benefits of transformational leadership and were ready to implement them in the workplace to enhance workers’ performance: Q23 “Do you want to improve your transformational leadership skills in the future?” – 100% of respondents stated that they would look into improving their transformational leadership skills to benefit their organization.
In contrast to the employees’ questionnaire, the managers’ survey did not contain too many questions with Likert scale answers. It was more interesting to look at how managers rated their leadership skills. The results are presented in the table below:
Overall, managers’ self-assessment of their leadership skills fell into the category of “Good,” “Excellent,” and “Average,” which says a lot about their intentions to be effective leaders and promote the ideas of a healthy organizational culture. For example, seven managers gave an affirmative answer to Q11 “Do you encourage change in the organization?” Then they were asked Q12 “If “Yes” in the question above, how would you rate yourself in the ability to facilitate change sensitively?” the results presented in the table show that the majority of managers who support change positively assess their capacity to promote it sensitively, which is one of the essential characteristics of a transformational leader.
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