The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships which might exist between leadership style and effectiveness in learning among participants of organization wide education programs.
The main variables of this study are readership style, p...
The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships which might exist between leadership style and effectiveness in learning among participants of organization wide education programs.
The main variables of this study are readership style, perceived organizational support, positive psychological behavior, and motivation to learn. For leadership style this study utilized two transformational leadership behaviors: intellectual stimulation and individual consideration, which are designed as independent variables. Work for hope and optimism are two variables representing the positive psychological behaviors. It was assumed that the positive psychological behaviors affect one's motivation to learn and which in turn affect one's motivation to learn and subsequently the satisfaction with the education.
The hypotheses designed test the relationships among the research variables were set upon through review of related literature. As for the research sample, 468 employees of one representative IT enterprise of Korea was selected. To them, tested survey questionnaire which describe the variables were distributed, using web-based method, of which 415 responses were selected and used for analysis and testing. For statistical analysis and testing of the research model, SPSS and AMOS were utilized.
The results of the study through the empirical analysis are as follows.
First, as a result of the analysis that examined whether the intellectual stimulation and the individual consideration among the sub-components of the transformational leadership influence the work for hope and optimism that are the positive psychological variables, it appeared that the intellectual stimulation does not significantly influence the work for hope and optimism but the individual consideration of the leader positively influences the work for hope and optimism of members. In addition, it was statistically confirmed that the perceived organizational support has a positive impact on the intellectual stimulation and the individual consideration.
Second, as a result of the examination about the impact that the work for hope and optimism that are the positive psychological variables have on the motivation to learn, it was statistically confirmed that both variables have a positive impact on the motivation to learn.
Finally it was statistically confirmed that the motivation to learn has a positive impact on the educational satisfaction.
These results show that the transformational leadership behaviors and perceived organizational support can be effective for the formation of the positive attitude of the members in the organization, particularly among those members who are affected individually by the leader and have a one-to-one relationship through various means such as mentoring and coaching. Also, it was confirmed that an individual can develop a willingness to work for the organization when the individual perceives the support of the organization. Particularly, though there exist results from past studies indicating that the intellectual stimulation has a positive impact on the work for hope and optimism, this study failed to produce same results, necessitating future research on the matter.
However, this study did reconfirm the results of existing literature which suggest the work for hope and optimism have a positive impact not only on the organizational commitment and the achievement but also on the motivation to learn, and in the viewpoint of the general theory that the enhancement of the capacity of the members estimates the organizational achievement, the organization should be interested in for the enhancement of the motivation to learn. Also, it was confirmed that the motivation to learn has a positive impact on the educational satisfaction, alike many existing studies.
As a result to the supplementary study which examined whether the transformational leadership, the individual consideration and the perceived organizational support influence the motivation to learn, with the work for hope and optimism as the medium, it was confirmed that both variables play the role as the medium with a positive impact on the motivation to learn. This result is significant in that it clarifies psychological influence as a mediate between the leadership and the perceived organizational support and the motivation to learn.
The above results of the study shows that one's perception of the leader and the organization, as seen by the psychological state of the members, can be desirable or negative depending on the leader's behavior toward the individual members which in turn can affect the organizational performance.