Examining the effects of transformational leadership in Indonesia and Australia

This paper reports some findings based on two separate leadership studies conducted in Indonesia and Australia. Both studies used the multifactor leadership questionnaire to gather data from organisations in the public sectors of the two countries. Specifically, both studies focused on the effects of transformational-transactional leadership on organisational commitment and organisational citizenship behaviours. In the Indonesian study, a survey research methodology was used to gather data from 30 supervisors and 85 of their direct subordinates in Indonesia. In the Australian study, a survey research methodology was used to gather quantitative data from 177 employees of nine local councils in Australia. Findings from the Indonesian sample indicated that: (1) sub-dimensions of transformational leadership (charisma, inspirational motivation, individualised consideration) positively and significantly predicted organisational citizenship behaviours; (2) sub-dimensions of transactional leadership (contingent reward and management-by-exception) negatively and significantly predicted organisational commitment; (3) both transformational and transactional dimensions of leadership positively and significantly predicted organisational commitment. For the Australian sample: (1) active individualised transformational leadership (a dimension comprising of some aspects of transformational and contingent reward/transactional leadership) positively and significantly predicted both organisational citizenship behaviours and organisational commitment. This paper then gives an in depth description and comparison of the effects of transformational leadership within the public sectors of these two culturally distinct samples. Finally, the paper discusses several theoretical and managerial implications and offers future research directions