EFFECTIVENESS CORRELATES OF TRANSFORMATIONAL AND TRANSACTIONAL LEADERSHIP - A METAANALYTIC REVIEW OF THE MLQ LITERATURE

A meta-analysis of the transformational leadership literature using th e Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) was conducted to (a) inte grate the diverse findings, (b) compute an average effect for differen t leadership scales, and (c) probe for certain moderators of the leade rship style-effectiveness relationship. Transformational leadership sc ales of the MLQ were found to be reliable and significantly predicted work unit effectiveness across the set of studies examined. Moderator variables suggested by the literature, including level of the leader ( high or low), organizational setting (public or private), and operatio nalization of the criterion measure (subordinate perceptions or organi zational measures of effectiveness), were empirically tested and found to have differential impacts on correlations between leader style and effectiveness. The operationalization of the criterion variable emerg ed as a powerful moderator. Unanticipated findings for type of organiz ation and level of the leader are explored regarding the frequency of transformational leader behavior and relationships with effectiveness.