Evaluating the Relationship between Transformational Leadership and Employee Organizational Commitment in the Taiwanese Banking Industry

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between leaders\u27 transformational leadership behaviors and employees\u27 organizational commitment. According to some of the literature reviewed, transformational leadership includes four factors: (a) charismatic leadership (or idealized influence), (b) inspirational motivation, (c) intellectual stimulation, and (d) individualized consideration (Bass 1985). Organizational commitment contains three factors: (a) a strong belief in acceptance of the organization\u27s goals and values; (b) a willingness to exert considerable effort on behalf of the organization; and (c) a definite desire to maintain organizational membership (Mowday, Steer, & Porter, 1979). This study used quantitative, non-experimental, correlation, and explanatory research design. The three parts of a questionnaire administered to study participants were (a) socio-demographic profile, (b) transformational leadership dimension of Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ; Bass, 1995), and (c) Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ; Mowday et al., 1979). The target population of this study included all employees who work for Taiwan\u27s domestic banks (47 domestic banks with 133,139 employees in Taiwan). After stratified random sampling, a total of 12 of Taiwan\u27s domestic banks were selected, and a total of 1,000 questionnaires were distributed to their employees. A total of 408 bank employees participated in this study. The t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson\u27s Product-Moment Correlation, MANOVA, and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the data collected in this study. The results of this study revealed that there were significant relationships between transformational leadership behaviors and organizational commitment, and between demographic variables (age, marital status, and years of employment) and organizational commitment. The findings suggest that leaders who demonstrate transformational leadership behaviors will enhance their followers\u27 organizational commitment. In addition, older, married, and long-term employees may have a higher level of organizational commitment. Recommendations for future research are also discussed