Project managers can be change agents providing direction and motivation for subordinates to meet and exceed goals; however, there is a lack of information about the soft skills needed to achieve project success. Understanding the relationship between cognitive style and transformational leadership to software project outcomes is important. This study describes the lived experiences of software project managers by focusing on their attitudes towards, perceptions of, and behaviors related to using transformational leadership and cognitive styles in agile software development environments. Husserlian phenomenological design was used to identify the structure of participants' experiences. The naturalistic decision-making model and the theory of constraints were a framework for the study. Software project managers identified as transformational leaders were selected from government agencies and commercial companies. Prior to being interviewed, individuals completed the Cognitive Style Indicator. In-depth, semistructured interviews and member checking were used for data collection. Qualitative, phenomenological analysis was used to code the interview data and identify thematic response categories. Results indicated that transformational leaders possessing a planning or creating cognitive style stimulate an environment with an uplifting work atmosphere in which team members are fulfilled and product development outcomes are successful. The implications for positive social change include broadening project managers' leadership and decision making regarding overall project success and leading executives to reexamine the leadership and decision-making styles of their managers resulting in their organizations' prosperity, employee effectiveness, and cost containment.

Researchers have conducted correlational studies on transformational leadership and perceived meaning in work; however, researchers have not used an experimental design to examine the relationship between transformational leadership and perceived meaning in work. The purpose of this study was to determine whether reading information on transformational leadership, which focused on charisma and individualized consideration, influenced participants' hypothetical judgment of perceived meaning in work. The quantitative study included a 2 x 2 between-subjects design in which information on the independent variables of charisma and individualized consideration was manipulated in a description of a hypothetical leader. The dependent variable was the hypothetical judgment of meaning in work based on the hypothetical description of the leader. The study was a randomized experiment including survey data from 106 participants. Data were analyzed using a 2-way ANOVA. Findings showed reading information on charisma significantly increased participants' perceived meaning in work whereas reading information on individualized consideration decreased participants' perceived meaning in work. Findings may help organizations hire transformational leaders who possess charisma and have the ability to develop followers to become future leaders.

Abstract The rapid advances in technology and the globalization of the economy have led corporate leaders to invest heavily in virtual teams to increase their global coverage. The problem in this phenomenological study was that many organizational leaders do not understand the extent to which they need to manage virtual teams differently from traditional, face-to-face teams. This is significant, because due to geographical differences and possibly cultural differences, virtual teams require various modes of communication. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the lived experiences of effective virtual-team leaders and the operational strategies employed to lead them. The answer to the research questions included strategies that virtual-team leaders applied to make their teams successful. The conceptual framework was comprised of the theories of transformational leadership and leader-member exchange. Data collection took place through open-ended interviews with 20 virtual-team leaders. Moustakas' modified version of the van Kaam analysis method was used to code and organize the data. The interview data were classified into common themes to provide a better understanding of the participants' perceptions and experiences. The results indicated that the primary virtual team challenges were communication and face-to-face connections. The strategies for managing these challenges included more open and scheduled communication, making sure the team members know their roles and responsibilities, and clear and concise goals and objectives from the virtual-team leaders. The implication for positive social change is that the effectiveness of virtual-team leaders may improve thus benefiting management, employees, and customers.

Despite the multitude of existing studies of leadership and organizational outcome, there are few empirical studies of these phenomena in Africa. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine the relationship between Nigerian local government administrative leadership and organizational outcome and between perceived leadership effectiveness and transformational leadership factors, based on Bass's full range leadership theory (FRLT). Data were collected through the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaires administered to a randomly selected sample of 240 department heads in 30 local governments in Osun State, Nigeria. Regression result shows a statistically significant correlation between the local public administrators' leadership practices and organizational outcome (p < 0.05), but the model only accounted for 10.5% of variance in organizational outcome, suggesting other influential factors on the local government outcome other than leadership. Regression results also showed a significant relationship between local public administrators' leadership effectiveness and transformational leadership factors (p < 0.05). The model accounted for 28% of the variance in leadership effectiveness, suggesting other factors affecting the public administrators' leadership effectiveness. The implications for positive social change include the opportunity to move the Nigerian local administrators' leadership practices towards more effective and ethical leadership as explained by the spectrum of FRLT, through training and transformational leadership development programs. In turn, transformational leadership and organizational practices may discourage corruption and help build a sustainable local government institution that is responsive and accountable to the Nigerian public.

The ability to sustain small businesses operating in war-torn areas is important not only to the business owners, but also to foreign communities receiving United States contract services for recovery from widespread decimation. While all small businesses address a wide range of issues, businesses operating in war-torn areas also face cultural diversity, local regulations, and potential threats to employee safety. The conceptual framework for this exploratory multiple case study was transformational-transactional leadership theory, guiding the research to discover traits and strategies of successful leaders in the population of small businesses that were profitable beyond 5 years while operating in the war-torn area of Afghanistan. In addition to participant questionnaires and review of the businesses' balance sheets, income statements, and tax returns, data were collected from 3 CEO participants in face-to-face, semistructured interviews. Participants' verbatim comments were analyzed via thematic analysis. The coding system evolved from applying preliminary codes to a small sample of data and reiteratively refining the codes as prominent themes emerged. Participants identified unique challenges of working with a multinational workforce. There were 3 primary findings: successful leaders used elements of both transformational and transactional leadership; the most important strategy was gaining knowledge of regional infrastructure and customs; and successful leaders used management assistance. These findings may contribute to social change by prompting small business leaders to re-examine their perspectives on workforce diversity; they will also enable leaders who provide services overseas to realize profitable business goals while contributing to foreign local economies.

Organizational change is necessary for businesses to survive and prosper. One of the main reasons organizational change is unsuccessful is the inadequate leadership style used by business leaders. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore leadership strategies business leaders used to manage change. The target population comprised a purposeful sample of 15 business leaders from various businesses located in the metropolitan area of Southern California. The conceptual framework for this study was the transformational leadership theory, which holds that leaders can use inspiration and motivation to inspire employees, especially during times of organizational change. A pilot study confirmed that all research questions were relevant to the research topic. Data were collected through face-to-face semistructured interviews and company document reviews. Data analysis included identifying relevant themes using a thematic approach to pinpoint, record, and examine patterns. Data were compared during each phase of the data collection process, revealing themes of managing employee's needs, mentoring/training programs, motivation, influence, and communication. Member checking was used to validate themes and strengthen the trustworthiness of the interpretations. The results from this study may assist business leaders in facilitating organizational change. The implications for positive social change include the potential to contribute to job growth and employee prosperity in local communities.

The Nigerian banking industry has recently witnessed a major scandal resulting from financial impropriety of some corporate leaders in the industry. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) invested the sum of N620 billion ($4.1 billion) as part of a direct bailout package to 8 banks, and removed top executives of those banks for gross leadership ineptitude. The leadership ineptitude is an indication of the need to better understand effective leadership practices in the Nigerian banking industry. Grounded in transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore bank leaders' effective leadership practices used to sustain bank growth in Nigeria beyond 5 years. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with 5 Nigerian bank CEOs, direct observation, and document reviews. During thematic analysis, 4 themes emerged including establishing a direction, inspiring and motivating employees, raising other leaders, and developing and using leadership competence. The implications for positive social change include the potential for bank leaders to identify sustainable leadership practices, improve profitability, create more job opportunities, and ease unemployment problems in the community.

African business leaders may not be effective because of a lack of transformational leadership skills. Business leaders applying transformational leadership skills can strengthen relationships with followers and enhance organizational performance. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experiences and perspectives of Liberian business leaders regarding transformational leadership skills needed to lead profitable organizations. Building on a conceptual framework of transformational leadership theory, data were obtained from open-ended interviews of 20 Liberian business leaders operating in the capital city of Monrovia. Interviews were transcribed, coded, validated through transcript review, and analyzed to generate themes. The most prominent themes were the need for Liberian business leaders to act as role models, to attend to individual employee's needs, and to demonstrate ethical conduct. The findings indicated that Liberian business leaders may adopt transformational leadership to help a company gain a competitive advantage, make profits, and enhance employees' commitment and organizational performance. These findings may contribute to positive social change by creating awareness among Liberian business leaders about the benefits of transformational leadership to expand company operations, create employment opportunities, and contribute to poverty reduction in Liberia. Research findings may be useful information to Liberian policymakers, business leaders, and scholars seeking to understand business leadership challenges in a postconflict economy.

Employee turnover is a global problem with adverse effects on financial performance and sustainability of organizations. In the hospitality industry, employee turnover levels increased to 58.8%, and the associated cost of turnover may be more than 100% of an employee's yearly wage, with a total loss of over $25 billion a year. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies used by hospitality leaders in the southeastern United States to reduce employee turnover. The conceptual framework was the transformational leadership theory. Purposeful selection of participants included leaders with experience in developing and implementing strategies for reducing employee turnover. Data collection included face-to-face semistructured interviews with 8 organizational leaders and a review of declassified organizational documents. Data analysis included inductive coding and calculation of code frequency. Results indicated 3 themes: effective hiring process reduced employee turnover, supportive leadership decreased employee turnover, and continuous training and development reduced employee turnover. Reduced employee turnover may contribute to positive social change by saving organizations time, efforts, and resources, which organizational leaders may use to sustain growth and profitability and to improve the lives of their employees, their employees' families, and the communities in which they operate.

The aim of this study is to investigate employees in knowledge-intensive organizations' intentions to stay in their workplace and to see if organizational culture and internal marketing activities have an effect to reduce voluntary staff turnover.There are several factors which affect employees' intentions to leave or stay in their current work position. The result of this study shows initially that there needs to be some form of agreement between the employee's and the employer's values, needs or vision of the future. Factors that may make an employee in a knowledge-intensive organization want to leave might be that the individual does not feel safe, does not have trust or confidence in their leader or colleagues. It can also be due to the individual not feeling that he or she is growing in his or her job role, has career opportunities or that he or she feels locked in and controlled in their tasks. Internal marketing activities and organizational culture are two factors that knowledge-intensive organizations can work with to become a more attractive employer and reduce voluntary staff turnover. Internal marketing activities are an initiative that in this study proved to have a positive effect on employee well-being, motivation, commitment and loyalty to the organization. Knowledge-intensive organizations that work with initiatives to promote internal marketing activities and organizational culture create good conditions for their staff to thrive better, get an attractive employer brand and lower involuntary staff turnover. In conclusion, it was found in this study that transformative leaders have the leadership qualities that are described as most desirable and sought after in knowledge-intensive organizations.