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A within-country study of leadership perceptions and outcomes across native and immigrant employees: Questioning the universality of transformational leadership

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2017

Ann-Louise Holten ,
Anne Bøllingtoft ,
Isabella Gomes Carneiro  and
Vilhelm Borg
Ann-Louise Holten*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Anne Bøllingtoft
Affiliation:
Department of Management, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Isabella Gomes Carneiro
Affiliation:
National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service and Cancer Research, London, England
Vilhelm Borg
Affiliation:
The National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark
*
Corresponding author: ann-louise.holten@psy.ku.dk
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Abstract

This study investigates the universality of transformational leadership with respect to employee perceptions and three outcomes: job satisfaction, self-rated health, and well-being. We do so among employees of different national and cultural backgrounds, yet within a shared national and sectorial setting. Our study has a repeated measures design based on survey data from 2,947 employees (2,836 natives Danes and 111 immigrants) in the Danish elder care sector. While we find no difference between native Danes and immigrants in their perception of transformational leadership, we find that transformational leadership is not a universal predictor of outcomes. Although transformational leadership predicts change in none of the outcomes for immigrants, it does predict change in job satisfaction and well-being for native Danes. Based on our findings, we suggest applying a combination of universalistic and contingency paradigms when leading composite employee groups.

Keywords

transformational leadershipimmigrantsglobal leadershipuniversality
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , January 2018 , pp. 145 - 162
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2017 

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