Deakin University
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Leadership climate in the public sector: feelings matter too!

journal contribution
posted on 2005-01-01, 00:00 authored by Simon Albrecht
Although there is substantial empirical evidence supporting the important role of leadership in organizational contexts, there is limited empirical evidence that focuses on the distinction between how employees feel about senior leaders and what they think about senior leaders. This is particularly true in the public-sector environment. In this paper, a model is tested that identifies key consequences of affectively and cognitively based perceptions of public-sector senior leadership. Data collected from a large public-sector organization were examined to identify the correlates of affectively and cognitively weighted perceptions of leadership. A series of regression analyses was conducted to identify more clearly the extent to which affectively and cognitively based perceptions of leadership influenced affective commitment, attitudes to change, intention to turnover, and extra-role performance. The results suggest that both affectively and cognitively based perceptions of leadership influenced organizational commitment and cynicism toward change. Extra-role behavior was influenced by the affective dimension alone, and intention to turnover was influenced by the cognitive dimension alone. The results also showed a significant interaction between the affective and cognitive dimensions in predicting intention to turnover. In general terms, the findings will prove helpful to human resource practitioners interested in diagnosing and managing the transformational leadership climate in public-sector organizations.

History

Journal

International journal of public administration

Volume

28

Pagination

397-416

Location

Abingdon, Eng.

ISSN

0190-0692

eISSN

1532-4265

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2005, Taylor & Francis Inc.

Issue

5-6

Publisher

Taylor & Francis