Transformational vs Transactional Leadership: A Study of New Zealand Company Managers

Abstract

38 randomly selected New Zealand company managers completed the revised version of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire of Bass. Two ratings were obtained, a rating of an ideal leader and a rating of the real immediate superior. For ratings of the real leader, the mean ratings on the transformational factors were more highly correlated than those on the transactional factors with perceived leader's effectiveness and job satisfaction. The discrepancy scores between the ratings of real and ideal leaders were negatively correlated with the measures of effectiveness and satisfaction. In addition, the ratings of ideal leader showed that managers in this study preferred working with leaders who are more transformational than transactional.