Transactional Leadership

Methodology

This study adopted a positivistic philosophical approach, which is based on the observable social reality acquired independently. The research framework utilized in this study is compatible with comparable studies in the leadership behavioural domain.

In line with research practices based upon the positivism paradigm, this is a quantitative study, and primary data was collected using a survey. A cross-sectional time-horizon was applied to the study because the data was collected at a single point in time through self-administered questionnaires that were distributed electronically.

Purposive sampling was employed to create a respondent pool because the sampling technique allowed the researchers to identify direct reports of Black top-managers who fit Jupp's description of the group of people who can provide relevant data. The details of 130 listed SOEs in South Africa across its nine provinces (Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North-West and Western Cape) were obtained from the Government Communication and Information System published records. All the SOEs were approached through their human resource departments. A total of 26 SOEs consented to their employees' participation in the study. Reliant on a mix of purposive sampling and the snowball technique, a total of 596 questionnaires were distributed. The study achieved a response rate of 39 percent which equates to 232 returned and usable questionnaires.

The survey instrument comprised an adapted version of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), developed by Avolio and Bass for the measurement of the facets of TLS, as well as Meyer and Allen's Three Component Model (TCM) questionnaire for measuring types of employee commitment. Items in the MLQ and TCM questionnaires were accompanied by five-point Likert answer options. The results of the reliability test for the MLQ and TCM scales for the current study are comparable to those obtained in previous studies. The Cronbach alpha values resulting from the reliability tests conducted in this study and previous studies are shown in Table 1.

As shown in Table 1, the Cronbach alpha values obtained for the current study are above the 0.7 threshold prescribed by Louangrath as well as Taber. Further, confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the model fit in the study. The values of RMSEA (0.06), GFI (0.94), AGFI (0.90), GFI (0.94) and CMIN/DF (1.95) meet the minimum threshold as recommended by Hair et al. (2010). Consequent upon the results obtained for the reliability analysis and the confirmatory factor analysis, the scales for measuring the facets of the TLS and types of employee commitment were, therefore, considered to be fit for use in this study.

Table 1 Results of reliability analysis of measurement scales