Transformational and transactional leadership predictors of job autonomy in self-managing teams: the consequences for performance

Abstract

Performance is a key concern for organisations in the rapidly changing global economy. Although both leadership and the ability of employees to work in an autonomous manner are often cited as being essential for effectiveness of self-managed teams, little is known on the effect of leadership style of team leaders on the job autonomy of team members, and the consequences for team performance. A survey of 239 members of self-managing teams was carried out in a manufacturing organisation to investigate the relationship between Bass's leadership dimensions, a number of job autonomy dimensions and team performance. The analyses indicated that most, but not all, of Bass's leadership dimensions are positively related to the variables of job autonomy. Moreover, the results showed that the effects of 'transformational and transactional' leadership on team performance to a large extent are mediated by the intervening variables of the job autonomy.