Facilitating team learning through transformational leadership

Purpose The purpose of this paper was to evaluate if the concept of team psychological safety, a key driver of team learning and originally studied in the West, can be applied in teams from different national cultures. The model originally validated for teams in the West is applied to teams in Thailand to evaluate its validity, and the views team members have on the antecedents of team psychological safety are analyzed. Design/methodology/approach The core of the sequential explanatory mixed method research was an experiment with nine teams from a single engineering organization (three teams from each the USA, France and Thailand). Team learning behaviors were analyzed from the conversations between team members. Team psychological safety was analyzed through a quantitative instrument and one-on-one structured interviews with each team member. Findings The results showed that the original model is confirmed for the teams from the USA and France but not confirmed for teams from Thailand. The thematic analysis of the one-on-one interviews highlights important differences between teams from the USA and France on the one hand and teams from Thailand on the other hand when it comes to the role of the team manager and the views that team members have on the diversity between them. Originality/value This research confirms that the concept of team psychological safety, and its impact on the way teams learn, needs to be adjusted if it is to be applied to teams in countries with national cultures different from those prevalent in the West. The implications are that researchers who develop theories in the social sciences field should evaluate how cultural differences impact their models, and that managers who implement learning and solutions should take national cultural differences into consideration.

This study assessed the association between leadership styles and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) of teachers in government-aided primary schools in Sheema Municipality, Uganda. The study examined whether transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles had a significant impact on OCB. By employing a quantitative approach and correlational design, the study interrogated the predictive strength of leadership styles on OCB. The sample comprised 212 primary teachers who provided data through a self-administered questionnaire. Data were analysed quantitatively using descriptive statistics, correlation, and hierarchical regression analyses. Descriptive results revealed that while OCB of the teachers was high, the use of transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles by head teachers was moderate. At the preliminary level, correlation analysis revealed that while transformational and transactional leadership styles had a positive and significant relationship with OCB, laissez-faire leadership had a negative and insignificant relationship. At the confirmatory level, hierarchical regression revealed that while transformational and transactional leadership styles were positively significant predictors of OCB, laissez-faire leadership was a positive but insignificant predictor. Therefore, it was concluded that transformational leadership style is essential in fostering OCB, transactional leadership is imperative in enhancing OCB of employees, and laissez-faire leadership does not meaningfully predict OC. The study recommends that head teachers should practice transformational leadership to foster OCB, implement transactional leadership to promote OCB of teachers, and offer some laissez-faire leadership depending on contextual factors. The practical significance of this study is that it provides guidance to head teachers on how to implement different leadership styles to promote OCB of teachers.

The aim of this study is to analyse diversity in team learning behaviour between and among national respondents’ perceptions during a military staff exercise (CJSE). Edmondson’s team learning behaviour model is used as the theoretical basis of the study. The results showed statistically significant differences both between and among national respondents’ perceptions. The research results indicate that team leader coaching, team psychological safety, the importance of obtaining expert knowledge as well as pre-exercise training are perceived to be crucial for team learning behaviour. The study has theoretical and practical implications for a more nuanced understanding of the diversity of team learning behaviour in the context of a multinational military teamwork exercise and for working as a part of multinational temporal teams in particular.

This study examined the relationships between transformational and transactional leadership and organizational citizenship behavior in the Public Service Sector of Sierra Leone.
 While most prior studies have examined transformational leadership-organizational citizenship behavior and transactional leadership-organizational citizenship behavior relationships in developed countries from the western world, testing the mediating influence of transactional and transformational leaderships on employees’ citizenship behaviors in public sector organizations in Africa remains scarce.
 It also tries to fill a critical research gap in human resource management by focusing on a non-western context. The constructs: transformational and transactional leadership, organizational citizenship behavior are not very familiar in the human resource research domain in Sierra Leone as opposed to other styles of leadership like Autocratic, Laissez faire etc that are commonly used. Consequently, the broader objective of this research was to examine the links between transformational leadership, transactional leadership, and organizational citizenship behavior at the Public Service Sector in Sierra Leone.
 To enrich the debate further, this study explored the relationship between transformational and transactional leadership styles and employees’ organizational citizenship behavior.
 The research questions focused on the correlation between leadership styles and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB).
 To achieve the objective of the research, a case study research design was used; Quantitative research technique also used; the main variables in the study were used to design a questionnaire in collecting the data: using a sample population of 250 through simple random sampling to conduct this study. This research followed a structural equation model (SEM) approach with validity and reliability tests done to validate the data before testing the hypothesis.
 The survey planet - a virtual data analysis software was used to analyze the completed online survey items. It has an automated analysis system. The likert scale of 1 to 5 was used to gauge responses from respondents. Statistical analysis method is used for the analysis. Based on the results obtained, the study deduces implications for both theory and practice. Hence, all public service institutions must raise managers' awareness and train them properly so that they can efficiently improve and manage the affairs of the institution.
 Limitations and suggestions for upcoming studies have been discussed.

Researchers have identified team learning as an important predictor of team performance. In healthcare organizations, it is especially critical for care quality and hospital performance that teams engage in learning behaviors to reduce errors and improve service effectiveness. The main objective of this study is to examine the role of change-oriented leadership in the learning process and outcomes of healthcare teams. The sample comprises a total of 698 healthcare professionals working in 107 teams at different public hospitals throughout Spain. Members of teams were invited to participate voluntarily by completing an anonymous individual questionnaire. The results show a mediating effect of team learning on the relationship between change-oriented leadership and team performance and psychological safety and team performance. Our study contributes to the literature by investigating the role of change-oriented leadership in facilitating team learning behaviors. Moreover, this study advances our understanding of the mediators of the relationship between team leadership and outcomes by testing to assess whether specific change-oriented leader behaviors nurture psychological safety, team learning and, therefore, performance.

The purpose of this scoping review is to employ Arksey and O’Malley’s scoping review methodology to determine leadership and management styles and their influence on health worker’s job satisfaction and productivity in Low-and middle-income countries. A scoping review of literature published in English since May, 2012 was carried out using PubMed, CINAHL, ScienceDirect, ProQuest and Sage. Key search terms strategy was employed using the words “leadership styles”, “management styles”, “health workers”, “productivity” and “job satisfaction” to identify relevant studies. A total of 1487 articles resulted from the application of the search strategy. Nineteen articles met the inclusion criteria of which 18 was quantitative and 1 was qualitative study. The main leadership styles identified were transformational leadership style, transactional leadership style, laissez-faire leadership style and autocratic leadership style. Transformational leadership style was found to have a higher influence on job satisfaction as compared to the other forms leadership styles. Also, transformational leadership styles encouraged about 67% of health workers to provide better healthcare services to their patients. Health facilities in LMICs have employed mainly transformational, transactional, participatory and laissez-faire leadership styles that have varying degree of influence on health workers job satisfaction. Transformational leadership style has proven to positively influence job satisfaction and productivity while laissez-faire leadership demotivate healthcare workers. In order to improve health care services and productivity for client as well as job satisfaction for healthcare workers, transformational leadership trainings will have to be intensified.

In contemporary higher education settings, fostering collaboration among students is paramount. However, integrating teamwork into learning processes can pose challenges, such as the ‘free-rider syndrome’, in the development of student team projects. Additionally, divergent opinions on task goals and methods, escalating interpersonal tensions, and power struggles can hinder effective teamwork. Unlike much of the existing conflict research that predominantly focuses on conflict resolution, this study underscores the necessity of comprehending conflict's impact and mechanisms, premised on its inherent inevitability. Specifically, our aim is to investigate the relationships between contribution conflict (a process conflict type) and team performance with psychological safety and exploring different perspectives (a team learning behavior) as explanatory mechanisms. A time-lagged design was employed, collecting data from a sample of 1002 Romanian students, organized into 199 teams. Results reveal a significant and negative indirect effect of the contribution conflict on team performance. Psychological safety significantly mediates the effects of contribution conflict on team performance, facilitating the engagement in exploring different perspectives. Interestingly, the exploration of diverse perspectives did not significantly enhance team performance, underscoring the complexity of the link between team learning behaviors and performance outcomes. This research offers empirical evidence supporting theories that posit a secure and respectful team environment is crucial for cultivating productive team interactions and outcomes, even in the face of inevitable conflict. Recognizing the importance of constructively approaching differences is essential in fostering positive team dynamics among students.

This study explores how different team configurations based on members’ experiential learning styles impacted group level variables including team learning behavior, stages of team development, potency, psychological safety, and satisfaction in an undergraduate class. Groups with homogeneous learning styles experienced higher levels of friendship and lower levels of conflict, which were associated with greater satisfaction and more rapid progress through the stages of group development. Most significantly, satisfaction was more strongly correlated to team learning behavior than psychological safety, suggesting that student groups in higher education settings may rely on other factors to progress through the stages of group development.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of the enabling performance measurement systems (PMS) on non-managerial employees’ team learning behaviours (TLB) and team effectiveness (TE) when the PMS is used as an enabler. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey was conducted with non-managerial employees in Japan and a total sample of 474 responses were collected. Partial least squares structural equation modelling using Smart-PLS was used for the analysis. Findings The results demonstrated that the design feature of global transparency in enabling PMS contributes to the enhancement of TE, with partial mediation through TLB. Furthermore, it was also evident that fostering TLB involves increasing the flexibility in PMS, specifically offering multiple options for collecting and aggregating performance information in various formats. Originality/value By examining the effects of the four features of enabling controls on TE and TLB, this study shows which features in an enabling PMS are important in motivating non-managerial employees at the operational level. The study not only fills a gap on the impact of enabling controls on non-managerial employees that has been under-researched but also makes an academic contribution in that it has deepened our understanding of four features that have not yet been fully elucidated.

This study examined interdisciplinary vocational educator teams to identify differences in their team learning behaviours and examined whether their team affective reactions could explain these differences. We used a mixed-methods approach comprising a survey of 117 interdisciplinary work teams with 604 members and a qualitative analysis of our observations of the meetings of six of these teams. The team-level cluster analysis to identify differences in team learning behaviours revealed three clusters that differed significantly (p = .00) regarding nearly all team learning behaviours. We named these clusters according to their patterns in team learning behaviours: ‘very active all-round teams’, ‘active all-round teams’ and ‘active teams with high knowledge sharing’. These differences in team learning behaviours could be explained by significant differences in team affective reactions (p < .05). Each cluster was represented by two teams whose team meetings (five per team) were audio- and videotaped. The overall findings of this study indicate that team affective reactions are related to team learning behaviours. The results of the qualitative analysis of the observation data provide additional information that not only positive but also negative team affective reactions can stimulate the engagement in team learning behaviours.

PurposeFrontline teams are at the centre of lean transformations, but the teams also transform as they implement lean. This study examines these changes and seeks to understand how lean relates to team psychological safety and learning.Design/methodology/approachThis research setting is the Romanian division of a leading European energy company. The authors collected team-level audit and survey data, which the authors used to test the effect of lean implementation on team psychological safety and learning. The authors’ team-level data are complemented with qualitative interviews conducted with team members and headquarters leaders.FindingsThe results of the regression analyses show that leanness is positively associated with team psychological safety, which is in turn positively associated with learning. Thus, this research provides evidence that leanness – mediated by team psychological safety – increases team learning.Practical implicationsLean changes team dynamics and learning positively by ensuring and promoting an emotionally sound work environment with clear team structures, an appropriate level of autonomy, and strong leadership.Originality/valueThis paper contributes evidence of important psychological mechanisms that characterise team-level lean implementation. Particularly, the authors highlight how team psychological safety mediates the relationship between leanness and team learning.

In this chapter, we investigate whether and how leader interpersonal affect regulation influences team psychological safety through the emotional tone of the team. Drawing on data from 206 members of 51 teams in a natural resource extraction organization, we examine how leaders’ affect-improving and affect-worsening regulation strategies shape high-activated team affective tone and, in turn, psychological safety. Team members rated their leaders’ affect regulation behaviors, the team’s emotional tone, and psychological safety. Using structural equation modeling, we found that leader affect-improving strategies were positively associated with team psychological safety, and this relationship was mediated by high-activated positive affective tone (indirect effect = 0.21, p &amp;lt; 0.05). Although affect-worsening strategies were significantly related to high-activated negative affective tone (β = 0.36, p &amp;lt; 0.01), the latter was not associated with psychological safety (β = 0.07, p &amp;gt; 0.05). These findings offer new insights into the affective mechanisms through which leaders shape team dynamics. However, the cross-sectional, self-report design and use of a modified psychological safety scale (excluding negatively worded items) may have limited the detection of certain effects. Practically, the results highlight the value of training leaders in specific affect-improving behaviors rather than focusing solely on broad leadership styles. This work contributes to a deeper understanding of how affect regulation links leadership behavior to team psychological safety.

The leadership of the agro-processing project entails applying leadership abilities, understanding of agriculture, and project management concepts to meet the project's goals while catering to the interests of stakeholders. Nevertheless, numerous agro-processing initiatives encounter financial and resource limitations, human resource management difficulties, technological and knowledge deficiencies, and leadership and decision-making hurdles. The research aimed to evaluate the influence of leadership styles of Laissez-Faire, Transformational and Transactional Leadership approach on performance of Agro-processing Projects in Musanze District, Rwanda. The research was based on Resource-Based View (RBV) theory. The research employed descriptive survey and correlational research methodologies. Structured questionnaires and interview guides were utilized to gather both quantitative and qualitative data from 208 participants, chosen using a mix of stratified, random, and purposive sampling, from a target population of 433 stakeholders involved in the SPF agricultural development initiative. The pilot study sought to improve the validity and reliability of the research instruments by pre-testing the questionnaire and interview guide on 21 participants, representing 10% of the sample size. Validity was verified via expert assessment, resulting in a content validity index of 0.76, while reliability was determined through the split-half method, attaining a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.90, indicating the instruments' reliability and suitability for data collection. Descriptive statistics including percentage, frequency, mean, and standard deviation, along with inferential statistics such as correlation and regression, were performed at a significance level of 0.05 using Stata/MP 13.0, while thematic content analysis of qualitative data was conducted for triangulation purposes. The results for three hypotheses were examined at an ? = 0.05 significance level, yielding the following outcomes: laissez-faire leadership (P = 0.000&lt;0.05), transformational leadership (P = 0.000&lt;0.05) and, transactional leadership (P = 0.000&lt;0.05) does not significantly affect performance were all rejected. The research findings indicate that agricultural initiatives have greatly benefited from the adoption of improved leadership approaches specifically laissez-faire, transformational, and transactional to guarantee successful project execution and sustainability. It is suggested that the SPF project focus on inclusive leadership styles such as laissez-faire, transformational, and transactional to maintain success, while also investing in the training of their employees, particularly their project managers, inspiring workers, continuing to blend these leadership styles, and collaborating with research institutions for a promising future and advancement. Future studies ought to emphasize qualitative insights and long-term effects, exploring the impact of community participation, assessing the financial sustainability of agro-processing initiatives, and analyzing the consequences of climate change.

This research explored how different leadership styles impact employee performance in the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Cateel, Davao Oriental. The study focused on four leadership styles—transformational, transactional, authoritative, and laissez-faire—and their effects on three areas of employee performance: task performance, contextual performance, and counterproductive work behavior. Utilizing a descriptive-correlational design with a quantitative approach, data were gathered from 177 employees selected through stratified sampling. Standardized questionnaires adapted from Koopmans (2015) was used, and statistical methods such as mean, Pearson correlation, and multiple linear regression were applied for analysis. Among the leadership styles, transformational leadership had the highest average rating (M = 4.27), indicating it as the most favored by employees, followed by transactional (M = 4.15), laissez-faire (M = 3.97), and authoritative leadership (M = 3.80). Regarding performance, contextual performance received a "Very High" score (M = 4.24), task performance was rated "High" (M = 4.17), while counterproductive behavior was assessed as "Neutral" (M = 2.84). Correlation results showed a significant positive link between all leadership styles and employee performance. Notably, laissez-faire leadership had the strongest correlation (r = 0.486), followed by transactional and authoritative styles (r = 0.454), and transformational leadership (r = 0.377). These results indicate that although transformational leadership is the most preferred, leadership approaches that offer autonomy and clear structure tend to have a greater impact on performance. To improve organizational performance and employee productivity, the study recommends a strategic focus on leadership development. Training supervisors and department heads in transformational leadership can also enhance motivation, creativity, and employee confidence.

The Impact of Transformational and Transactional Leadership to Subordinates' Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment Affect to Team Effectiveness