Ann-Louise Holten

Leadership style and the process of organizational change

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify processes which may contribute to followers’ positive reactions to change. By focusing on the relationship between change antecedents and explicit reactions, the authors investigate the direct and indirect relationships between leadership styles (transformational and transactional) and followers’ appraisal of change through manager engagement. Design/methodology/approach – Using data from a longitudinal survey among 351 followers in two Danish organizations, the study tracked the planned implementation of team organization at two different times. Data were analyzed using structural equation modelling. Findings – Transformational and transactional leadership styles were positively related to the engagement of managers. Managers’ engagement was associated with followers’ appraisal of change. The two leadership styles also had a direct, long-term effect on followers’ change appraisal; positive for transformational leadership and negative for transactional le...

Conceptualizing and Measuring Transformational and Transactional Leadership

Existing conceptualizations and measures of transformational and transactional leadership have unclear theoretical bases, confound leadership and its effects, and are not necessarily suitable for public organizations. Overcoming these problems is necessary to test how leadership affects performance. Many public administration scholars apply the concepts, emphasizing the need to ensure that the concepts are applicable in both public and private organizations. The article reconceptualizes transformational and transactional leadership and develops and tests revised measures that can be employed on employees and leaders, are robust in terms of repeated use by the same respondents, and are applicable to public and private organizations alike.

Leadership in a changing world: developing managers through a teaching and learning programme

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a model for the development of effective leadership teaching and learning. The model takes central factors into account, which have previously been identified as obstacles to the successful development of leadership qualifications. The paper presents the theoretical background for the model and makes suggestions for its implementation in a teaching and learning programme. The model integrates overall elements related to human biology and transfer of learning into a holistic learning process, which more specifically emphasizes the transformational leadership elements of envisioning, translating, communicating and sustaining credibility during change. Design/methodology/approach – The teaching and learning programme is based on a comprehensive leadership learning model, which integrates different levels of knowledge, learning processes and learning formats. Findings – In the area of leadership development, the paper presents its teaching and learning program...

Explaining a Dark Side: Public Service Motivation, Presenteeism, and Absenteeism:

Public service motivation (PSM) has many bright sides, but recent studies also find dark sides, connected to, for instance, higher stress and burnout. However, results on the PSM–absenteeism association are inconclusive. One reason could be that PSM increases presenteeism (going to work even when ill), which in turn increases absenteeism and counteracts—or even exceeds—PSM-based reductions of absenteeism. Based on a three-wave panel study of Danish public and private sector employees, we find a strong positive association between PSM and presenteeism and indications that the PSM–absenteeism link is mediated by presenteeism. The findings suggest that going to work even on days when employees feel ill is a potential dark side of PSM and that it may have long-term consequences for the extent to which employees are absent from their jobs due to sickness. This cautions managers not to expect that high PSM automatically guarantees high performance and low absence.