Transformational Leadership, PSM and performance: clarifying the relations and the role of sector, job characteristics and organizational mission values

One of the main concerns of public management research and practice is individual and organizational performance. One of the possible levers to increase individual or organizational performance is leadership and specifically... [ view full abstract ]

One of the main concerns of public management research and practice is individual and organizational performance. One of the possible levers to increase individual or organizational performance is leadership and specifically transformational leadership (TL) which has been found to be particularly effective to inspire employees and improve performance.

In this paper we would like to clarify the relations between TL and performance taking into account employees´ public service motivation (PSM). With respect to this question, the paper investigates the relation between TL and PSM: we understand that TL could increase performance for those employees with high levels of PSM. However, we also would like to consider the possibility that it may not be so for those employees with already high levels of PSM. Another question we would like to clarify is the role of person-job fit and person-organization fit in all these relations. In principle, we would expect that a positive relationship between TL, PSM and performance is mediated by a better fit with both the job and the organization.

The literature has studied the relation between TL, PSM and mission valence (Wright, Moynihan and Pandey 2011) and the relation between TL, PSM and performance (Park and Rainey 2008, Belle 2013). However, the outcomes of research in this area need further development in different contexts and sectors as there is still scarce evidence and some relations need clarification.

This research is based on a survey to a sample of professionals from health and social services that the Catalan government uses for various purposes. In order to avoid common source method bias, the analysis will use alternative sources for data on individual and organizational performance. Since the survey is directed to professionals from the public, the non-profit and the private sector, the paper will also analyse whether all the studied relations operate in the same way in different sectors.