Journal Articles

Pursuit of Whose Happiness? Executive Leaders' Transformational Behaviors and Personal Values

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This paper theorizes and tests how chief executive officers' (CEOs') transformational leadership behaviors, which motivate followers to do more than expected and act for the good of the collective, influence followers' commitment. We theorize that CEOs' values may either enhance or attenuate the effect of transformational behaviors on followers, depending on followers' reactions to the congruence or incongruence between leaders' internal values and their outward transformational behaviors. Self-enhancement values-focusing on the leader's own happiness-would attenuate the effect, whereas self-transcendent values-focusing on others' happiness-would accentuate the effect of CEOs' transformational behaviors on followers' commitment. Using a sample of 45 managers in two companies in China, we validated a Q-sort method of measuring personal values. Results of a second study using cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys as well as interview data from a sample of Chinese CEOs, top managers, and middle managers supported both the attenuation and the accentuation effects and validated the idea that middle managers can detect their CEOs' values.

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Detail Information

Series Title

Administrative Science Quarterly

Call Number

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Publisher

New York : Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management., 2010

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

00018392

Classification

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Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

Volume 55 Number 2 June 2010. pp. 222-254

Subject(s)

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