Disagreement amongst Arab writers, researchers, politicians, and others exists regarding the Arab woman's struggle to take on a leadership role traditionally dominated by Arab…
Abstract
Purpose
Disagreement amongst Arab writers, researchers, politicians, and others exists regarding the Arab woman's struggle to take on a leadership role traditionally dominated by Arab men. For many, discussions on whether Arab women should work and lead, be a housewife or work with restrictions are continually under controversy. The purpose of this paper is to examine Arab women leadership style based on transformational, transactional, and laissez‐faire styles of men and women.
Design/methodology/approach
The main research instrument is the multifactor leadership questionnaire.
Findings
The findings reveal that women in the Arab world exceed men on four transformational scales: the attributes version of idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. Arab men exceed Arab women on two transactional scales: management by exception passive and management by exception active, whereas women exceed men on contingent rewards. Laissez‐faire leadership style goes to Arab men.
Research limitations/implications
Although the paper provides a useful overview of the traditional thinking and abilities of Arab women leadership and their effectiveness in the Arab world, the sample is limited in size. Further research can be done with larger sample to test the findings.
Originality/value
The paper offers inputs for researchers and writers.
Details
Keywords
A. Srinivasa Rao and Waheed Kareem Abdul
The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate impact of transformational leadership on team performance and the effects of support for innovation and psychological…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate impact of transformational leadership on team performance and the effects of support for innovation and psychological empowerment in this association. Over the past many decades, teams have become an increasingly popular way of organizing and coordinating work. This trend creates new challenges for leaders, as they are expected to motivate individual employees and to improve team performance simultaneously.
Design/methodology/approach
This study proposes a conceptual framework for understanding motivation and support extended to individual employees which would influence team performance. The conceptual framework includes psychological empowerment and support for innovation as mediating variables in the effect of transformational leadership on team performance. The study also validates the proposed conceptual framework using a second-order confirmatory factor analysis technique, namely, partial least squares-structural equations modeling, with the data collected from 182 followers from 10 service organizations in the UAE.
Findings
The findings suggest that transformational leadership has significant positive impact on team performance and, on the contrary, transactional leadership has significant negative effect on team performance. Two dimensions of psychological empowerment such as meaning and self-determination have partial mediation effect in the relationship between transformational leadership and team performance.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the research that identifies team mechanisms influenced by transformational leadership that can affect team success and performance, particularly in the context of UAE-based organizations. Managerial implications and future research areas are further discussed.