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Transformational Leadership, Organizational Clan Culture, Organizational Affective Commitment, and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: A Case of South Korea's Public Sector

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Abstract

The present study examines whether transformational leadership is associated with clan culture, affective commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior and whether affective commitment is positively related to organizational citizenship behavior. The study also examines whether affective commitment mediates the effects of clan culture on organizational citizenship behavior and whether clan culture mediates the effects of transformational leadership on affective commitment. The results of this study indicate a positive relationship between transformational leadership and clan culture as well as between transformational leadership and affective commitment; no significant relationship between clan culture and organizational citizenship behavior as well as between transformational leadership and organizational citizenship behavior; and a significant positive relationship between affective commitment and organizational citizenship behavior as well as between clan culture and affective commitment . Thus, the results clearly show that affective commitment fully mediates the relationship between clan culture and organizational citizenship behavior and that clan culture partially mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and affective commitment. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings as well as interesting avenues for future research are discussed.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (NRF-2012S1A5A2A01018318).

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  1. Department of Public Administration, Chonnam National University at Gwangju, Gwangju, Republic of Korea

    Hougyun Kim

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Appendix Scale Items

Appendix Scale Items

Transformational Leadership (Bass and Avolio 1997; MacKenzie et al. 2001; Organ et al. 2006; Podsakoff et al. 1990):

Items preceded by “My supervisor…”

  1. 1.

    articulates a vision (t1).

  2. 2.

    provides an appropriate model (t2).

  3. 3.

    facilitates the acceptance of group goals (t3).

  4. 4.

    challenges me to think about old problems in new ways (t4).

  5. 5.

    shows respect for my personal feelings (t5).

Clan Culture (Cameron and Quinn 1998)

  1. 1.

    The organization is like an extended family in that it is a very personal place (cc1).

  2. 2.

    People seem to share a lot of themselves (cc2).

  3. 3.

    Commitment to this organization runs high (cc3).

  4. 4.

    The organization emphasizes human development (including employee morale), participation, and consensus (cc4).

Affective Commitment (Allen and Meyer 1990, 1996; Meyer and Allen 1991; Mowday et al. 1982):

  1. 1.

    This organization has a great deal of personal meaning for me (ac1).

  2. 2.

    I enjoy discussing my organization with outsiders (ac2).

  3. 3.

    I would be happy to spend the rest of my career with this organization (ac3).

  4. 4.

    Most days, I am enthusiastic about my work (ac4).

  5. 5.

    I am willing and ready to do anything for my organization (ac5).

  6. 6.

    I am greatly interested in the future of my organization (ac6).

Organizational Citizenship Behavior (Podsakoff et al. 1990; 2000; Smith et al. 1983):

Items preceded by “I”

Altruism

  1. 1.

    help orient new people, even though it is not required (a1).

  2. 2.

    help others who have heavy workloads (a2).

  3. 3.

    am always ready to lend a helping hand to those around me (a3).

  4. 4.

    help others who have been absent (a4).

  5. 5.

    willingly help others who have work-related problems (a5).

Civic virtue

  1. 6.

    make constructive suggestions that can improve the operation of the organization (cv1).

  2. 7.

    keep abreast of changes in the organization (cv2).

  3. 8.

    attend functions that are not required but help the company image (cv3).

  4. 9.

    attend meetings that are not mandatory but are considered important (cv4).

Conscientiousness

  1. 10.

    do not take extra breaks (c1).

  2. 11.

    obey company rules and regulations, even when no one is watching (c2).

  3. 12.

    believe in giving an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay (c3).

  4. 13.

    have a work attendance record that is above the norm (c4).

Sportsmanship (reverse-scored)

  1. 14.

    consume a lot of time complaining about trivial matters (s1).

  2. 15.

    always focus on what is wrong, rather than the positive side (s2).

  3. 16.

    always find faults with what the organization is doing (s3).

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Kim, H. Transformational Leadership, Organizational Clan Culture, Organizational Affective Commitment, and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: A Case of South Korea's Public Sector. Public Organiz Rev 14, 397–417 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-013-0225-z

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