The COVID-19 pandemic had a substantial impact on Dutch public organizations, and on society as a whole. This study aims to explore the leadership preferences among public servants during times of...Show moreThe COVID-19 pandemic had a substantial impact on Dutch public organizations, and on society as a whole. This study aims to explore the leadership preferences among public servants during times of crisis, and to make concrete recommendations for further research into the underdeveloped knowledge on public leadership preferences in times of crisis. To do so, semistructured interviews were conducted with employees from the municipalities of The Hague and Gouda, during which they were asked to report their needs in terms of three leadership styles: laissez-faire, transactional and transformational. The study found that transformational leadership was preferred during the pandemic and encourages fellow researchers to verify this using quantitative means. Further recommendations include the reexamination of the usefulness of laissez-faire leadership and the usage of different leadership frameworks to touch upon other behaviors.Show less
This thesis analyses the relationship between leadership and citizens’ motivation during processes of co-production. In particular, this research tries to test whether the transformational...Show moreThis thesis analyses the relationship between leadership and citizens’ motivation during processes of co-production. In particular, this research tries to test whether the transformational leadership of professionals have an influence on the motivation of citizens to stay engaged in processes of co-production. Each dimension of this particular style of leadership is analysed and is applied to the motivation of citizens in the context of co-production. This research aims to explain whether there exists a relationship between the transformative leadership style and a continued engaged motivation of citizens during processes of co-production.Show less
Aim: The lack of empirical evidence to support the interaction between theories on transformational leadership, goal clarity, job performance and employee motivation makes it necessary to obtain...Show moreAim: The lack of empirical evidence to support the interaction between theories on transformational leadership, goal clarity, job performance and employee motivation makes it necessary to obtain this. The dataset is used to get more insight into these interactions in the field of educational settings. Methods: Data was collected through two surveys, a self-perceived leadership survey, and an employee-perceived leadership survey. The first was distributed to school principals only, who in turn were asked to distribute the employee-perceived survey to at least five of their direct employees (N = 208). To test the hypotheses, multivariate linear regression analyses and a moderated mediation regression analysis were conducted. Results: H1, H2 and H3 are accepted, as the linear regression analyses prove there is a statistically significant correlation. Employee motivation does have a mediating effect and partly explains the indirect effect between goal clarity and job performance. Transformational leadership does not have a moderating effect on the relationship between goal clarity and employee motivation. Also, there is no significant moderated mediation effect for the proposed model. H4 and H5 are thus rejected. Conclusion: The analysis confirms the indirect effect of employee motivation in the relation between goal clarity and job performance. Goal clarity provides employees with a clear and specific goal. Knowing the expected tasks increases motivation and therefore their job performance. According to the moderated mediation regression analysis, there is no significant moderated mediation in our proposed conceptual model. Transformational leaders do not have the expected positive effect on employee motivation. The results are in contrast with the theory on transformational leadership, as it is argued that transformational leaders have a motivating and enriching effect on employees through their abilities to support, communicating the organization's mission, and stimulating (Bass & Riggio, 2006).Show less
