The influence of ubuntu and transformational leadership on employee engagement in virtual teams

Abstract

The prevalence of virtual teams in the workplace have increased in recent years, with no clear indication in the literature how to best lead virtual teams, even though virtual teams is not a new phenomenon. Therefore, there is a need in business and in academic literature to gain a better understanding of how to better manage and lead virtual teams. The objective of the study was to compare transformational and ubuntu leadership head-to-head within a virtual work environment and its influence on employee engagement. A quantitative study was performed, in the form of a questionnaire, to evaluate the three constructs, and the sample consisted out of 109 respondents from various industries, ethnicity, and work experience. The study found that ubuntu leadership has a significant positive relationship with employee engagement, which was greater than that of transformational leadership. Furthermore, the study found that the sample demographics had no significant influence over the results irrespective of industry and ethnicity.