Facets of the transactional leadership style of black top-managers and employee commitment in state-owned enterprises

Abstract

BACKGROUND : The implementation of transformation policies in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in South Africa has catalysed the emergence of Black top-managers. From an organizational perspective, though, it is unclear how specific behaviours linked to the transactional leadership style (TLS), of this cohort of topmanagers, affect employee commitment PURPOSE OF THE STUDY : The study seeks to explore the nature of the relationship, between transactional leadership behaviours of Black top-managers and employee commitment in SOEs in South Africa APPROACH : A quantitative approach was utilized and the data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire that was distributed to a purposive sample of employees in identified SOEs. The study's constructs were measured with previously validated instruments, specifically the multifactor leadership scale and the three-component employee commitment model. Subsequently, descriptive and inferential statistical tools were employed to analyse the data FINDINGS : Statistically significant relationships exist between the Contingent-Reward (CR) facet of the TLS of Black top-managers and the affective, continuance and normative commitment of their employees. Conversely, the Management-by-Exception (Passive) facet of the TLS demonstrated a negative correlation with the affective and normative commitment of employees. Interestingly, no statistically significant relationship was found between the Management-by-Exception (Active) facet of the TLS and any of the three types of employee commitment RECOMMENDATIONS/VALUE : Black top-managers should consider deploying the CR facet of the TLS to enhance employee commitment in their work groups in order to reap possible collateral benefits MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS : The study's results illuminate the importance of reward systems in promoting the commitment levels of employees in South African SOEs. Mindful of the current challenges that encumber the performance of SOEs in South Africa, it is imperative for Black top-managers to continuously explore novel ways to reward the positive contributions of their employees in the quest to increase all forms of employee commitment.