Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS) / Purpose - The landscape of the world of work as we know has changed dramatically in the last decade. We have complex organizations compounded by multiple generations co-existing in the workplace. This phenomenon brings about different dynamics in organizations, progressive leaders if understood and managed correctly, could potentially capitalize on. The purpose of this paper is to understand the different generations and whether these generations require different leadership styles. The paper furthermore attempts to investigate whether different generations prefer different job resources. Design/Methodology/Approach – This research study uses a quantitative approach to determine whether there are indeed significant differences between the different generations and the leadership style they prefer as well as the job resources they prefer. Findings - Although no statistically significant differences were found between the different generations and their preferences for the specific leadership styles, the descriptive statistics regarding preference for leadership style across the generations, indicated that individuals from all generations indicated a preference for transformational leadership. Regarding preference for job resource dimensions, the results yielded a statistically significant difference in the preference for Advancement in Generation Y. Originality and Value – This research paper sheds further light on the understanding of different generations namely Baby boomers, Generation X and Generation Y. The paper maps out the preferred leadership style and preferred job resources of generations and allows business leaders an enhanced understanding of their employees.

The current study examined the Transformational, Transactional, and Passive/Avoidant Leadership styles as defined by Burns (1978) and Bass (1985) and how they are perceived by subordinates in predicting subordinate Extra Effort, manager Effectiveness, and Satisfaction with management. One hundred fifty IT professionals from AITP, Association of Information Technology Professionals, were administered the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire 5X-Short form (MLQ 5X-Short). The survey measured all nine full range leadership variables and results were analyzed using multiple regression. Three hypotheses examined the relationship between the subordinate's perception of the leadership style of IT managers and one of three dependent measures: predicting subordinate Extra Effort, manager Effectiveness, and Satisfaction with management. Partial support was found for all three hypotheses. In the first, Transformational Leadership and Passive/Avoidant Leadership, but not Transactional Leadership was able to predict Extra Effort. In the second, Transformational Leadership, Transactional Leadership (via a slightly modified "reversed" form as well as the two subscales individually), and Passive/Avoidant Leadership were able to predict management Effectiveness. In the last, Transformational Leadership, Transactional Leadership (reversed and subscales), were able to predict subordinates' Satisfaction with their leaders. Most findings were consistent with existing literature. In addition, this study also identified several areas of further study.

Outpatient physical therapy clinics (OPTC), like many other healthcare organizations, face an array of challenges in meeting the needs of the growing elderly population. The leadership behavior of OPTC managers is a key component to secure employee loyalty, accommodate increased patient demand, and implement positive organizational change. The purpose of this nonexperimental quantitative survey designed study was to investigate the relationship between the leadership styles perceived by OPTC healthcare managers and nonmanagerial employees, as measured by the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire Short. The primary research question examined the difference between the OPTC managers' self-perceived leadership style and the nonmanagerial subordinates' perceptions of the manager's leadership style. The theoretical framework was the transformational and transactional leadership theory by Bass. Sampling was random and comprised of a minimal sample of 89 respondents. Data analysis included both descriptive and inferential statistics. Multiple regression analysis and correlations statistical models were used to predict the relationship of the dependent and independent variables. The results of the present study indicated a statistically significant relationship between the leadership style of OPTC managers and job effectiveness. All leadership styles of the OPTC managers were moderately correlated with job effectiveness, whereas passive/avoidant was negatively related to job effectiveness. This study is significant for OPTC leaders in their quest to create a leadership environment that fosters a positive influence on overall job performance and satisfaction among nonmanagerial staff, a formula for growth, and positive social change.

Les conséquences du leadership destructeur ont largement été documentées et étudiées; les impacts sur les subordonnés sont vastes et représentent un coût très important pour les organisations. Il en est de même pour le gestionnaire émetteur de ces comportements. Pourtant, on connaît actuellement un débalancement au sein de la littérature quant aux études recensant les conséquences versus les antécédents du leadership destructeur, alors qu’une meilleure compréhension des antécédents nous permettrait de pouvoir prévenir ces comportements. De plus, peu d’études se sont intéressées au vécu du gestionnaire lui-même et son contexte tel qu’il le perçoit ainsi qu’à la relation entre sa santé psychologique, plus précisément l’épuisement professionnel et ses comportements de leadership. Cette thèse cherche à fournir des éléments de réponses à ces lacunes à travers deux objectifs. Le premier objectif de cette thèse est de mieux comprendre comment un gestionnaire en vient à émettre ce type de comportements, entre autres à mieux comprendre la relation entre la perception qu’il a de son contexte de travail, son niveau d’épuisement professionnel et la fréquence à laquelle il émet des comportements de leadership destructeur en utilisant un modèle de médiation. Le second objectif est l’étude des ressources personnelles du gestionnaire et comment celles-ci peuvent faire une différence quant au niveau d’épuisement du gestionnaire. L’innovation de cette thèse réside dans son modèle intégrateur permettant de mieux comprendre la relation entre ces différentes variables et leur impact respectif sur le leadership. Pour ce faire, plus de 500 gestionnaires ont été interrogés sur leur contexte de travail, leur épuisement professionnel et leurs comportements de leadership. Des analyses de médiation modérée à l’aide du logiciel statistique « JASP » ont été réalisées. Les résultats indiquent un effet de médiation de l’épuisement professionnel entre les demandes psychologiques et le leadership destructeur, mais uniquement pour le leadership passif-évitant ainsi qu’un effet de modération des ressources personnelles. Plus particulièrement, les habiletés politiques modèreraient la relation entre les demandes psychologiques et l’épuisement professionnel, dans ce sens où plus un gestionnaire perçoit une charge de travail élevée, plus il aurait recours à ses habiletés politiques et pourrait vivre un épuisement professionnel supérieur à celui des personnes ayant peu d’habiletés politiques. Les principaux constats de cette étude doctorale sont discutés dans les prochaines pages et ce, à la lumière de l’état actuel des connaissances. Les contributions, les limites ainsi que les pistes de recherches futures qui en découlent sont également présentées. / The consequences of destructive leadership have been widely documented and studied. The impact on subordinates is vast and represents a very significant cost to organizations, as well as for the managers exhibiting such behaviors. However, the literature is currently missing key elements in terms of studies that observe the consequences of those behaviors versus their antecedents. If we are to prevent destructive behaviors, a better understanding of the antecedents is needed. Furthermore, few studies have focused on managers’ experiences and the contexts in which they perceive those experiences, or the links between managers’ psychological health—or more specifically, their exhaustion at work—and their leadership behaviors. This thesis aims to address these gaps in the literature through two objectives. The first objective is to gain a better understanding of how managers come to engage in destructive behaviors, including an analysis of the relationship between their perception of their work context, their level of burnout and the frequency with which they exhibit destructive leadership behaviors. The second objective is to study managers’ personal resources and their possible impacts on the level of burnout experienced. The innovation of this thesis lies in its integrative model which permits a better understanding of the relationship between these variables as well as their respective impacts on leadership. To this end, over 500 managers were interviewed about their work context, burnout and leadership behaviors. Moderated mediation analyses were performed using JASP statistical software. The results reveal that burnout has a mediating effect on the relationship between psychological demands and destructive leadership, but only in the case of passive-avoidant leadership, and that burnout has a moderating effect on personal resources. More specifically, political skills moderate the relationship between psychological demands and burnout, in that the higher a manager perceives their workload to be, the more they resort to their political skills, and they may experience greater burnout than those with lesser political skills. The main findings of this doctoral study are discussed in the following pages in the light of the current state of knowledge. Contributions, limitations and possible avenues for future research are also presented.