The purpose of this study was to empirically analyze the effects of the authentic leadership over the organizational commitment, being mediated by the empowerment. For this purpose, the study points were set up as follows. First, what effects would th...
The purpose of this study was to empirically analyze the effects of the authentic leadership over the organizational commitment, being mediated by the empowerment. For this purpose, the study points were set up as follows. First, what effects would the authentic leadership have on the empowerment in terms of significance, competence and self-determination and influence? Secondly, what effects would such factors of the authentic leadership as relational transparency, balanced information processing and self awareness have on the organizational commitment? Besides, would such effects be mediated by empowerment?
For this study, the members of 3 companies - K, KE and M - were sampled to be subject to a questionnaire survey that would be conducted for a total of 22 days: from August, 28 to September 11, 2015 and from October 26 to November 3, 2015. As a result, a total of 355 questionnaire copies were returned. Excluding 12 responses for unclear or imprudent answers, 343 ones were used for the study. In order to analyze the data collected through the questionnaire survey, the items required for the study were determined to be subject to factor analysis, while the variables were chosen.
The procedures for the analysis were as follows; first of all, the demographic variables were subject to the frequency analysis, and thereby, the characteristics of the subjects were ascertained. Next, in order to determine the attributes of the sample and their distributions, the descriptive statistical analysis was performed, and in order to analyze the correlations among the measured variables, Pearson's correlation coefficients were used. Lastly, in order to analyze the mediating effects of empowerment on the relationship between the authentic leadership and the organizational commitment, the regression analysis was used according to Baron and Kenny's 4-stage procedures. The results of this study can be summarized as follows;
First, it was found that the authentic leadership would serve to enhance organization members' empowerment, particularly in terms of its sub-factor 'self-determination.' Such a finding suggests that if an authentic leader should treat the organization members with a positive self awareness and sense of trust, they would feel enabled and empowered. In addition, when the sub-factor of empowerment 'self-determination' was enhanced, the organization member felt that his or her competence and value were respected, and thus, the authentic leadership was very effective.
Second, it was found that the authentic leadership would help to enhance organization members' organizational commitment. In particular, it was verified empirically that the relational transparency and self awareness of the authentic leadership acted importantly to enhance organization members' organizational commitment. Such a finding may well suggest that if an authentic leader should want to encourage his or her members to be committed to the organization, he or she would be obliged to have a positive self awareness, while gaining trust from the organization members by establishing a relationship with them based on ethics and integrity.
Third, it was confirmed that the authentic leadership would serve to enhance the organizational commitment when it was mediated by empowerment. Such a finding may suggest that the authentic leadership helps to construct a sense of trust within an organization through an true self awareness, and that when the organization members are convinced of their values and competence within their organization, they organizational commitment would be enhanced.
Based on the above findings, this study explored the practical ways to train the authentic leaders on the business spots from the perspective of HRD, and then, put forward some suggestions for the follow-up studies.