A study of leadership styles and organizational performance in high performance organizations (HPOs) in Thailand

Abstract

Nowaday, organizations have to face a dynamic environment, where change seems the only constant. In order to meet this challenge, organizations are forced to enhance effectiveness in activities, be flexible in response to change, and fully use their intellectual capital. Organizations need to adopt modern management strategies to cope with global business challenge, build and sustain competitive advantage, adapt to environmental change continuously, and use core competences to add value in order to build high performance organizations (HPOs). To rebuild the organization, the leader is considered to be one of the most critical factors that plays a significant role in HPOs. The objectives of this research study are: (1) investigate and explore the relationship between leadership styles and HPOs for the publicly-listed firms in Thailand, and (2) to discover and explain the relationship between the independent variables, leadership styles, and the dependent variable, HPOs. In order to achieve these objectives, the concepts of HPOs’ measurements based on non-financial and financial performance measures, together with the concept of transformational leadership styles, are intergrated into the proposed research model. The proposed variables constituting the research model were systematically defined and operationalized. The proposed transformational leadership styles considered as associating with HPOs include: idealized behaviors, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, idealized attributes, response quickly to change, create distinct performance, and effective monitoring. A survey questionnaire was conducted to identify the primary relationship between transformational leadership styles and high performance organizations (HPOs) for the large, medium, and small publicly listed firms in the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). The quantitative analysis method was conducted through two main statistical techniques: Factor analysis and Pearson correlation analysis in order to enhance understanding of the research findings. The statistical results of the research study indicate that based on the respondents’ perspective, six transformational leadership styles were found as having association with HPOs in relation to the non-financial performance measurement. It would appear that in order to enhance organizational non-financial performance to become HPOs, leaders in organizations should do the following: (1) communicate values and beliefs; (2) motivate subordinates to achieve goals; (3) seek different perspectives to solve problems; (4) support and spend time with subordinates; (5) respond to change; and (6) sustain competitive advantage. Correspondingly, based on respondents’ perception of their immediate supervisors, all eight transformational leadership styles have an association with HPOs in non-financial performance measurement. Accordingly, in order to enhance organizational non-financial performance to become HPOs, leaders in organizations should (1) communicate values and beliefs; (2) motivate subordinates to achieve goals; (3) seek different perspectives to solve problems; (4) support and spend time with subordinates; (5) instill pride in subordinates; (6) respond to change; (7) sustain competitive advantage; and (8) coach and provide feedback to subordinates. To conclude, the dissertation aims to provide additional insight into the definitions, characteristics, and determinants of HPOs and the leadership field by contributing to the future development of the study areas. The leadership styles in organizations are the most crucial factors for creating HPOs and enhancing leadership competence; for instance, cultivating positive supervisor-subordinate relationship and developing effective work expertise. The research results supported the notion that transformational leadership styles have associated with high performance organizations (HPOs) in non-financial and financial performance measurements for large, medium, and small publicly-listed firms in Thailand.