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Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 42300 Bandar Puncak Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
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their best effort for the success of the organization. It transformational leadership is a fervent approach to
is more than just feeling satisfied with the work- visionary leaders and empowered followers among
related factors in the organization. Macey and academicians and practitioners alike, the prominent
Schneider (2008) defined employee engagement as a theory has its own limitations. The crux of the
desirable condition among employees that problem lies within the insufficiency of the
encompasses the following attributes (1) has an transformational leadership theory in addressing
organizational purpose, (2) connotes involvement, political, social and economic issues from the
commitment, passion, enthusiasm, focused effort organizational context (Malloch, 2014).
and energy, and (3) involves both attitude and Task and relationship centred leadership
behavioural components. While work engagement theories were among the earliest that contribute to
involves employees’ optimistic vibes towards their the enrichment of the ideologies underlying today’s
work, employee engagement deals with employees’ various interpretation of leadership styles (Blake
positive feelings towards the organization. and Mouton, 1964; Fiedler, 1972). Considering that
Apparently, employee engagement and work the model of task and relations orientation in
engagement are often used interchangeably in the leadership is too commonly used in research, Ekvall
literature partly due to the indistinct psychological and Arvonen (1991) conceptualization of change-
needs and satisfaction that are associated with both centred leadership is an added value in research.
constructs (Schaufeli, 2013). Nevertheless, This is based on their argument that the two-
engagement is theoretically distinguishable from dimensional model of leadership (task versus
other often overlapping constructs; namely, relationship) may not be sufficient for firms to be
organizational commitment, citizenship behaviour competitive in a rapidly dynamic environment.
and job involvement (Saks, 2006). Among the factors Leadership styles are categorized into three
that are expected to lead to employee engagement is dimensions comprising employee orientation,
leadership style. production orientation and change orientation
(Ekvall and Arvonen, 1991) and it is simplified as the
1.2. Leadership style CPE model. Despite employee and production
orientations reflect the essence of relationship and
Apparently, a clear and precise consensus of task centred leadership styles respectively, change-
leadership does not exist. There is no single accepted centered orientation is empirically proven as a valid
universal definition or theory of leadership (Gill, construct that is independent from the two factors
2011). Nevertheless, transformational leadership is (Skogstad and Einarsen, 1999; Yukl et al., 2002).
among the most discussed leadership style in the Limited studies have been carried out in areas
modern literature. Burns (1978) described outside the healthcare industry (which the CPE
transformational leaders as individuals who inspire scales were widely used) and Scandinavian (as it is
and challenge subordinates to go beyond their originated from Sweden) and western regions.
personal interests in order to achieve goals or Hence, its validity within this region is indeed a
benefits to the wider group or organization. In matter of interest among behavioural scholars. The
contrast, transactional leadership explains the CPE model is briefly described as Table 1.
relationship between leader and follower as an
exchange of well-defined transactions. Although
1.3. The relationship between leadership styles leadership (Breevaart et al., 2014; Zhu et al., 2009),
and employee engagement authentic leadership (Giallonardo et al., 2010),
leadership position and ‘team-supportive’ leadership
Previous studies were conducted to investigate (Xu and Cooper, 2011) and charismatic leadership
the influence of various factors that might contribute (Babcock-Roberson and Strickland, 2010).
to employee engagement. Among these factors, Furthermore, ‘employee-engagement’ competency of
leadership styles have been found to be significant leaders in terms of respect for others and concern
predictors of employee engagement. Among the for their development and well-being are found to be
leadership-related predictors are transformational a good predictor of employees’ job performance, job
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Othman et al/ International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 4(3) 2017, Pages: 107-116
satisfaction and organizational commitment (Alimo- may provide a different insight from that of the
Metcalfe et al., 2008). western literature. Given the various incongruent
However, the findings of these studies are not interpretation of leadership styles, more research on
consistent as some studies have discovered mixed how leadership have leverage in influencing levels of
results. There is a notable missing link between employee engagement is needed to understand the
‘good management and mentoring’ leadership style extent and ways in which such relationship occurs
and employee engagement among entrepreneurial (Crawford et al., 2013). Based on the discussion, the
CEOs’ subordinates (Papalexandris and Galanaki, following hypotheses are developed:
2009). ‘Good management and mentoring’ H1: Production orientation leadership style is
leadership style encapsulate management practices significantly related to employee engagement.
such as “administratively effective”, “performance H2: Employee orientation leadership style is
oriented”, “role clarifying”, “integrity”, “self- significantly related to employee engagement.
confident” and “intellectually stimulating”, whereas H3: Change orientation leadership style is
elements of employee development practices are significantly related to employee engagement.
also included such as “follower confident”, “power
sharing”, and “communicator” (Papalexandris and 1.4. The moderating effects of communication
Galanaki, 2009). Furthermore, a study conducted styles on the relationship between leadership
using Britt et al. (2006) four-item scale of the single styles and employee engagement
factor engagement construct indicates that
transformational leadership brings no significant Given the several inconsistencies of previous
impact towards employee engagement while findings, the present study was conducted to
another study using Schaufeli et al. (2002) scale with investigate the influence of leadership styles on
the same criterion indicates an otherwise significant employee engagement and to clarify to role of
relationship (Wefald et al., 2011). communication styles in influencing the relationship
Markos and Sridevi (2010) underlined the between leadership styles and employee
dearth of research that link both leadership and engagement. The theoretical framework of this study
employee engagement, especially in third world integrates Ekvall and Arvonen (1991) CPE model
countries. Their argument made sense since much of and Richmond and McCroskey (1979) concept of
the literature has been focusing on the western management communication styles in predicting
context, or within the nursing and teaching employee engagement. The management
environment. In contrast to the western cultural communication style is a continuation of
values of individualism and low power distance, Tannenbaum and Schmidt (2009) seminal work on
Malaysians are recognized as collectivists and have the leadership continuum that gradually delineate
higher levels of power distance (Hofstede, 1991). the polarizing and dichotomous nature of autocratic
Abdullah (2001) supported this view, highlighting versus democratic approach. Definitions of the four
the social norms of Malaysian employees such as communication style dimensions are described in
group-oriented, respect towards elderly and loyalty. Table 2.
Hence, the way leadership is perceived and its
impact on employee engagement in the local setting
Manager makes decisions only when problems and solutions have been Primarily upward, bi-directional and
Consulting
discussed with subordinates, to ensure that their well-being needs are met. interactive.
Both leadership and communication effectively behaviour (Alfes et al., 2013). This is consistent with
form a social fabric of an organization in which these Soane (2013) contention that generating and
two components are reciprocally embedded within sustaining social engagement is an important aspect
the organization. Supportive leaders and clear of engaging leadership.
communications positively enact social Besides the elaborated evidence of the cause-
connectedness between managers and subordinates. effect linkages between leadership styles and
For instance, Perceived Organizational Support and employee engagement, some studies have suggested
Leader-Member Exchange are found to positively that communication styles will exert a positive
moderate the relationship between employee influence on leadership styles. Communication skills
engagement and organizational citizenship are partly essential in driving organizational change
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Othman et al/ International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 4(3) 2017, Pages: 107-116
(Schaufeli, 2013), and thus are indispensable for questionnaire, with items adapted from previous
change-oriented leaders to exert their influence in studies.
the right and meaningful way. Xu and Cooper (2011) Items for leadership styles were adopted from
suggested that transparent and honest Ekvall and Arvonen (1991) that comprise 36 items
communication enables production-oriented leaders measuring change orientation (10 items), employee
increase their followers’ engagement, especially orientation (14 items) and production orientation
among the leaders who are less able to develop their leadership styles (12 items). The responses were
interpersonal skills. Leaders who are being captured using a 5-point Likert scales which ranging
transparent and consistent in communication are from 1 for strongly disagree to 5 for strongly agree.
likely to be trusted by their followers. In turn, trust It was reported that the measure is highly reliable
indirectly leads to employee work engagement with Cronbach’s alpha ranging from 0.78 to 0.88. The
through perceived authentic leadership (Hsieh and sample item for change orientation is, “My leader
Wang, 2015). While leaders are encouraged to encourages thinking along new lines”, for employee
exercise open and clear communications, a ‘Joining’ orientation, the sample item is, “My leader relies on
communication style empowers the employees with his/her subordinates”, and for production
ample opportunity for their voices to be heard. For orientation, the sample item is, “My leader creates
an instance, employees’ ability to speak up was order”.
found to be able to influence their engagement (Rees Employee engagement was measured using
et al., 2013). Furthermore, the use of both directive Schaufeli and Bakker (2003) 9-item of Utrecht Work
and discursive communication makes the employees Engagement Scale (UWES-9). This instrument
feel valued thus contributing to higher levels of measures three underlying dimensions of employee
employee engagement (Reissner and Pagan, 2013). engagement; vigour, dedication, and absorption.
These suggestions and findings connote that Respondents in this study rated each item on a 5-
communication is an established predictor of point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1)
employee engagement. Therefore its hypothetical to strongly agree (5). The reported Cronbach’s
interaction effect on the linkage between leadership alphas range from 0.70 to 0.95 for the three
styles and employee engagement is clearly dimensions across 15 studies. The sample item for
warranted. Effective communication strategies that vigour is, “At my work, I feel bursting with energy”,
effectively balance the act of authority and for dedication is, “I am enthusiastic about my job”,
discretionary behaviours among leaders are and for absorption is, “I feel happy when I am
expected to change the positive effects of their working intensely”.
perceived leadership styles on their employees’ Managerial communication styles were
engagement. Hence, the following hypotheses are measured using Management Communication Scale,
highlighted: which was developed by Abdul et al. (2013) based on
H4: Telling communication style moderates the the conceptualization of the construct by Richmond
relationship between leadership styles and and McCroskey (1979). The measure contains 27
employee engagement. items measuring telling (5 items), selling (8 items),
H5: Selling communication style moderates the consulting (6 items) and joining (8 items). The
relationship between leadership styles and responses were gauged using a 5-point Likert scale
employee engagement. that ranging from 1 for strongly disagree to 5 for
H6: Consulting communication style moderates the strongly agree. It was reported that the measure is
relationship between leadership styles and highly reliable with Cronbach’s alpha of 0.92. The
employee engagement. sample items are “My manager receives decision
H7: Joining communication style moderates the from the top management and announces it to
relationship between leadership styles and subordinates” (telling), “My manager persuades the
employee engagement. subordinates of the desirability of decisions made by
the top management or him/her” (selling), “My
2. Methodology manager only makes final decisions after he/she has
discussed it with the subordinates” (consulting), and
The research used correlational design with the “My manager always delegates decision-making to
objective of testing the relationship between the subordinates” (joining).
leadership styles and employee engagement, besides The data were analyzed using descriptive,
testing the moderating effects of communication correlation and multiple regression analyses.
styles on the main hypothesized relationship. The
present study was carried out among the employees 3. Results and discussion
of Johnson Controls Automotive Sdn. Bhd. located in
Shah Alam, Alor gajah, Pekan and Kulim, Malaysia. Respondents were asked questions on their
The total number of population is 693 and the demographic characteristics including gender, age,
sample size is 126. The sample size is determined marital status, ethnic group, education level, working
based on the Krejcie and Morgan (1970) table. The experience and job position in order to understand
number of returned questionnaire is 112 making the the data distribution and representativeness of the
response rate for the study to be 93.3%. The samples (Table 3).
instrument used in the study is a survey
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differently from the original conceptualization. The selling communication style). The KMO value of
four factors explained 80.144% of the variance in the 0.832 indicates the suitability of factor analysis to be
model (25.6% for joining communication style, performed. The MSA values ranging from 0.713 to
20.7% for telling communication style, 16.95% for 0.920 denote the adequacy of the correlation matrix
consulting communication style, and 16.8% for for the items.
The first component contains four items they cross loaded under different components. The
measuring joining communication style with loadings range from 0.582 to 0.896 and its original
loadings which range from 0.716 to 0.827. One item name was retained. The third contained only two
was removed due to high cross loadings. The original factors (out of five original items) with loadings
name was retained. For the second component, three which range from 0.767 to 0.911. These items are
items loaded highly on this factor known as telling meant to measure consulting communication style
communication style. Two items were removed as and the name was used. The last component reflects
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Othman et al/ International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 4(3) 2017, Pages: 107-116
selling communication style containing only two with loadings which range from 0.729 to 0.816. The
items (there are originally three items) measuring original name was kept (Table 7).
Examining the relationship between the data (low and high) of production orientation and
variables, all the independent variables (employee joining communication style which had been
orientation, change orientation and production transformed earlier using the median values. The
orientation) are highly correlated with each other, graph explains that when leaders use low levels of
signifying convergent validity. The r values range joining communication style, the increase in the
from 0.610 to 0.798. On the other hand, the degree of production orientation will result in lower
independent variables are lowly and moderately levels of employee engagement. However, when
correlated with the dependent variable (employee leaders use high levels of joining communication
engagement, denoting concurrent validity). The r style although there is an increase in production
values range from 0.383 to 0.483. Besides, the orientation, employee engagement will intensify.
independent variables and the moderator variables Among the three leadership styles offered in the
(joining, telling, consulting and selling CPE model, production orientation is where leaders
communication styles) are highly and moderately should put their emphasis on. In high production
moderated with each other. The r values are in the orientation, they set high targets for employees to
range of 0.083 and 0.633. The relationships between achieve. When leaders set the target alone without
the moderator variables and the dependent variable the involvement from their subordinates, they will
range from very low to moderate. The values are face difficulties in securing the employees’
between 0.158 and 0.528. These findings indicate engagement. However, when the target is set with
potential moderating effects of employee the involvement of the employees via joining
engagement on the relationship between leadership communication style, employees will feel that they
styles and employee engagement (Table 8 and Fig. are part of the deciding team. As a result, their level
1). of engagement will improve significantly.
The interaction between joining communication This finding indicates that leaders can
style and production orientation and how this successfully use production orientation in their
interaction affects employee engagement can be leadership style provided that they also implement
clearly depicted using the interaction graph above. joining communication style; getting the employees
The graph was constructed using the categorical involved in the decision making process. This
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Othman et al/ International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 4(3) 2017, Pages: 107-116
discovery is in consistent with previous reported (Reissner and Pagan, 2013). Furthermore,
findings (Rees et al., 2013; Reissner and Pagan, employees who perceive themselves as speaking up
2013). Employees whose voices are equally heard issues, opinions and ideas are more likely to be
allow them to feel valued, and thus contributing to engaged with their work (Rees et al., 2013).
their increased engagement towards their job
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