Transformational Leadership and Organizational Processes: Influencing Public Performance

• Author: Alexander C. Henderson,Rusi Sun
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12654
• Published date: 01 July 2017
• Date: 01 July 2017

554 Public Administration Review • July | August 2017

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 77, Iss. 4, pp. 554–565. © 2016 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.12654.

Alexander C. Henderson is assistant

professor in the Department of Health

Care and Public Administration at Long

Island University. His current research

examines administrative discretion,

personnel management, and performance

measurement and management in public

and nonprofit organizations. He is a fellow

of the Center for Organizational Research

and Design (CORD) and previously served

as chief administrative officer, operational

officer, director, and volunteer with several

nonprofit organizations in suburban

Philadelphia.

E-mail: alexander.henderson@liu.edu

Rusi Sun is assistant professor in the

Department of Social Sciences at the

University of Michigan–Dearborn. Her

research interests include leadership and

organizational behavior, organizational

goals and design, personnel management

and performance measurement in public

and nonprofit organizations.

E-mail: rusisun@umich.edu

Abstract : Leaders are essential actors in public performance improvement and organizational change. However, a key

question has not been adequately addressed in prior literature on the topic: how do leadership processes make a difference?

Using data on New York City public schools, this article explores the organizational mechanisms by which a specific form

of principal ’ s leadership—transformational leadership—influences objective organizational outcomes as measured by

standardized test scores. The empirical results indicate that a principal ’ s transformational leadership style affects student

test scores through the mediating effects of purposeful performance information use and stakeholder engagement.

Practitioner Points

• Organizations should encourage managerial behavior that fits within the realm of transformational

leadership; this can include initial or annual training courses for new managers that specifically encourage

such behavior.

• School leaders can support improved student performance by being attentive to the manner in which

organizational processes match and support leadership style.

• Engagement with stakeholders may shape improved student outcomes by signaling to those inside and

outside the organization, including parents and employees, that the mission and function of the organization

are important and worthy of their attention and effort.

• Attention to the collection and meaningful use of performance information may support improved student

outcomes by shaping goal-setting activities, providing feedback on performance, and making targeted

changes to organizational processes.

Rusi Sun

University of Michigan–Dearborn

Alexander C. Henderson

Long Island University

Transformational Leadership and Organizational Processes:

Influencing Public Performance

E ffective leadership has long been a focus of

administrative reforms and public service

improvement initiatives (Moynihan, Pandey,

and Wright 2012 ; Oberfield 2014 ). Although

some scholars argue that leaders in public sector

organizations are more subject to external influences

than their private sector counterparts, and thus have

little impact on organizational outcomes (Rainey

2009 ), the cumulative evidence suggests other wise

(Fernandez, Cho, and Perry 2010 ). Public sector

leaders are believed to play an active and essential

role in decision making and deploying resources in

shaping organizational success (Ingraham, Joyce, and

Donahue 2003 ; Van Wart 2003).

The positive impacts of transformational leadership

on individual-, group-, and organizational-level

outcomes have been well documented, including

higher subordinate job satisfaction, cooperation,

organizational citizenship behaviors, commitment,

performance information use, perceived work

quality, and mission valence (Kroll and Vogel 2014 ;

Moynihan, Pandey, and Wright 2012 ; Oberfield

2014 ; Park and Rainey 2008 ; Trottier, Van Wart,

and Wang 2008 ; Vigoda-Gadot and Beeri 2012 ).

However, the literature remains deficient in studies

that examine how transformational leaders may

make meaningful contributions to an organization ’ s

performance (Yukl 1999 ). Two primary perspectives

emerge from the research on underlying influential

processes of transformational leadership. Some

pay attention to the dyadic processes of influence

(e.g., Wang et al. 2005 ), while others focus on the

organizational processes and identify managerial

arrangements through which transformational

leadership has more profound effects (Moynihan,

Pandey, and Wright 2012 ; Wright, Moynihan, and

Pandey 2012 ). The underlying argument is that the

formalized practices are necessary to translate leaders’

visions into substantive action and institutionalize

their effects; otherwise, the vision remains an empty

dream. The purpose of this study is to develop

and empirically test a conceptual model that

specifies the organizational processes through which

transformational leadership affects the performance of

public organizations.