The effect of transformational and transactional leadership on motivation in one of China’s manufacturing company

Abstract

This study attempts to identify the effect of transformational and transactional leadership on motivation in one of China’s manufacturing company. A total of 193 respondents from one of China’s manufacturing company are selected as respondents and thus data is analyzed based on the completed questionnaires. Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) is employed to measure transformational and transactional leadership. Work Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation Scales (WEIMS) is employed as measurement tool to measure employees’ motivation. Descriptive analysis, correlations analysis and multiple regressions analysis are utilized to analyze the collected data. The findings reveal that both types of leadership styles have a significant relationship to motivation (transformational leadership: r value is 0.576; transactional leadership: r value is 0.404). In addition, it is also found that transformational leadership and transactional leadership have a significant effect on employees’ motivation. Several recommendations are suggested for the company and for future research.