Effects of Leadership Types on Job Satisfaction Among Malaysian Higher Education Institutions

Employee job satisfaction is an important component of any job and could be influenced by different types of leadership. Keeping employees happy and satisfied while at the same time being a great leader is an extremely difficult balance, especially in educational leadership, where there are two different types of employees, mainly administrators, and educators. It requires a leader who can balance between the lines and choose the proper leadership style to motivate different types of employees. This study looks at three different leadership types: laissez-faire, transformational and transactional leadership. A purposeful sampling of 393 participants was utilized to sample educators from Malaysia's private and governmental education institutions. Data were collected using questionnaires. The findings indicated that transformational leadership and laissez-faire have a significant relationship to job satisfaction where laissez-faire (β = 0.608, t = 16.576, p = 0.000) and transformational leadership (β = 0.865, t = 8.498; p = 0.000), while transactional leadership has an insignificant relationship with job satisfaction (β = -0.019, t = 0.747, p = 0.227).

Effects of Leadership Types on Job Satisfaction Among Malaysian Higher Education Institutions

Employee job satisfaction is an important component of any job and could be influenced by different types of leadership. Keeping employees happy and satisfied while at the same time being a great leader is an extremely difficult balance, especially in educational leadership, where there are two different types of employees, mainly administrators, and educators. It requires a leader who can balance between the lines and choose the proper leadership style to motivate different types of employees. This study looks at three different leadership types: laissez-faire, transformational and transactional leadership. A purposeful sampling of 393 participants was utilized to sample educators from Malaysia's private and governmental education institutions. Data were collected using questionnaires. The findings indicated that transformational leadership and laissez-faire have a significant relationship to job satisfaction where laissez-faire (β = 0.608, t = 16.576, p = 0.000) and transformational leadership (β = 0.865, t = 8.498; p = 0.000), while transactional leadership has an insignificant relationship with job satisfaction (β = -0.019, t = 0.747, p = 0.227).

___

  • Abrahman, Z., Awang, J., Mahmood, R., Long, A. S., Salleh, K., & Badaruddin, F. (2018). Leadership Style of the Residential College Principal in National University of Malaysia and the Staff Working Satisfaction: Towards the Professional Development of Residential College Principal. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 9(3), 164–168. https://doi.org/10.30845/ijbss.v9n3p19
  • Albagawi, B. (2019). Leadership Styles of Nurse Managers and Job Satisfaction of Staff Nurses: Correlational Design Study. European Scientific Journal ESJ, 15(3). https://doi.org/10.19044/esj.2019.v15n3p254
  • Arokiasamy, L., Maimunah, I., Aminah, A., & Jamilah, O. (2009). Background of Malaysian Private Institutions of Higher Learning and Challenges Faced by Academics. The Journal of International Social Research, 2/8(January), 61–66.
  • Asbari, M., Santoso, P. B., & Prasetya, A. B. (2020). Elitical and Antidemocratic Transformational Leadership Critics: Is It Still Relevant? (A Literature Study). International Journal of Sociology, Policy and Law (Ijospl), 01(01), 11–16. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.8888/ijospl.v1i1.10
  • Asghar, S., & Oino, I. (2018). Leadership Styles and Job Satisfaction. Market Force, 13(1).
  • Avolio, B. J., & Gardner, W. L. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 315–338. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.LEAQUA.2005.03.001
  • Aziri, B. (2011). Job Satisfaction: A literature Review. Management Research and Practice, 31(4), 77–86. https://doi.org/10.1254/jjp.31.1037
  • Barling, J., Kelloway, E. K., & Iverson, R. D. (2003). High-quality work, job satisfaction, and occupational injuries. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(2), 276–283. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.2.276
  • Barnett, D. (2017). Leadership and Job Satisfaction: Adjunct Faculty at a For-Profit University. International Journal of Psychology and Educational Studies, 4(3), 53–63. https://doi.org/10.17220/IJPES.2017.03.006
  • Barnett, D. (2018). Online adjunct faculty: A quantitative examination of the predictive relationship between leadership and job satisfaction. International Journal of Research in Education and Science, 4(1), 226–236. https://doi.org/10.21890/ijres.383159
  • Baş, T. (2002). A comparison of job satisfaction between public and private university academicians in Turkey. METU Studies in Development, 29(2), 27–46.
  • Bass, B. M., & Riggio, R. E. (2005). Transformational leadership: Second edition. Transformational Leadership: Second Edition, 1–282. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410617095
  • Bateh, J., & Heyliger, W. (2014). Academic Administrator Leadership Styles and the Impact on Faculty Job Satisfaction. Journal of Leadership Education, 13(3), 34–49. https://doi.org/10.12806/v13/i3/r3
  • Bhattarai, M. (2020, July). Working from Home and Job Satisfaction During the Pandemic Times. Independent Publication.
  • Boyatzis, R. E., Rochford, K., & Taylor, S. N. (2015). The role of the positive emotional attractor in vision and shared vision: toward effective leadership, relationships, and engagement. Frontiers in Psychology, 0, 670. https://doi.org/10.3389/FPSYG.2015.00670
  • Budiasih, Y., Hartanto, C. F. B., Ha, T. M., Nguyen, P. T., & Usanti, T. P. (2020). The mediating impact of perceived organisational politics on the relationship between leadership styles and job satisfaction. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change, 10(11), 478–495.
  • Cabrera-Nguyen, P. (2010). Author Guidelines for Reporting Scale Development and Validation Results in the Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 1(2), 99–103. https://doi.org/10.5243/JSSWR.2010.8
  • Chen, Y., Ning, R., Yang, T., Feng, S., & Yang, C. (2018). Is transformational leadership always good for employee task performance? Examining curvilinear and moderated relationships. Frontiers of Business Research in China 2018 12:1, 12(1), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1186/S11782-018-0044-8
  • Da, W. C. (2007). Public And Private Higher Education Institutions In Malaysia: Competing, Complementary Or Crossbreeds As Education Providers. Kajian Malaysia, XXV(1), 15–39.
  • Dartey-Baah, K., & Ampofo, E. (2016). “Carrot and stick” leadership style. African Journal of Economic and Management Studies, 7(3), 328–345. doi:10.1108/ajems-04-2014-0029
  • Davidescu, A. A. M., Apostu, S. A., Paul, A., & Casuneanu, I. (2020). Work flexibility, job satisfaction, and job performance among romanian employees-Implications for sustainable human resource management. Sustainability (Switzerland), 12(15). https://doi.org/10.3390/su12156086
  • Day, D. V. (2000). Leadership development: A review in context. The Leadership Quarterly, 11(4), 581–613. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1048-9843(00)00061-8
  • Derue, D. S., Nahgrang, J. D., Wellman, N., & Humphrey, S. E. (2011). Trait And Behavioral Theories Of Leadership: An Integration And Meta-Analytic Test Of Their Relative Validity. Personnel Psychology, 64(1), 7–52. https://doi.org/10.1111/J.1744-6570.2010.01201.X
  • Diamantopoulos, A., & Siguaw, J. A. (2006). Formative Versus Reflective Indicators in Organizational Measure Development: A Comparison and Empirical Illustration. British Journal of Management, 17(4), 263–282. https://doi.org/10.1111/J.1467-8551.2006.00500.X
  • Erdfelder, E., Faul, F., Buchner, A., & Lang, A. G. (2009). Statistical power analyses using G*Power 3.1: Tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behavior Research Methods, 41(4), 1149–1160. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.41.4.1149
  • Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating Structural Equation Models with Unobservable Variables and Measurement Error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39. https://doi.org/10.2307/3151312
  • Hair, Black, B., Babib, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate Data Analysis: Global Edition (7th ed.). Pearson.
  • Hair, Hult, G. T., Ringle, C., Sarstedt, M., & Thiele, K. O. (2017). Mirror, mirror on the wall: a comparative evaluation of composite-based structural equation modeling methods. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 45(5), 616–632. https://doi.org/10.1007/S11747-017-0517-X
  • Hair, J., Hollingsworth, C. L., Randolph, A. B., & Chong, A. Y. L. (2017). An updated and expanded assessment of PLS-SEM in information systems research. Industrial Management and Data Systems, 117(3), 442–458. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-04-2016-0130
  • Hamid, M. R. A., Sami, W., & Sidek, M. H. M. (2017). Discriminant Validity Assessment: Use of Fornell & Larcker criterion versus HTMT Criterion. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 890(1), 012163. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/890/1/012163
  • Hassan, N., Ab. Wahab, I., Mat Halif, M., Ali, S., Abdul Aziz, R., & Abd. Hamid, N. Z. (2018). Leadership Styles and Employee Satisfaction Among Police Officers at Bukit Aman: A Case Study. Proceedings of the 2nd Advances in Business Research International Conference, 369–389. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6053-3_35
  • Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2014). A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 2014 43:1, 43(1), 115–135. https://doi.org/10.1007/S11747-014-0403-8
  • Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sinkovics, R. R. (2009). The use of partial least squares path modeling in international marketing. Advances in International Marketing, 20, 277–319. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1474-7979(2009)0000020014
  • Jansen, J. J. P., Vera, D., & Crossan, M. (2009). Strategic leadership for exploration and exploitation: The moderating role of environmental dynamism. The Leadership Quarterly, 20(1), 5–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.LEAQUA.2008.11.008
  • Jensen, R., & Vennebo, K. F. (2016). How school leadership development evolves: crossing timescales and settings. Journal of Workplace Learning, 28(6), 338–354. https://doi.org/10.1108/JWL-06-2015-0048
  • Joo, B. K. B., & Lim, T. (2013). Transformational leadership and career satisfaction: The mediating role of psychological empowerment. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 20(3), 316–326. https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051813484359
  • Kabeyi, M. J. B. (2018). Transformational Vs Transactional Leadership with Examples. The International Journal Of Business & Management, 6(5), 19–22.
  • Kafa, A., & Pashiardis, P. (2020). Seeking authenticity in school leadership: the interplay between personal values and leadership styles. International Journal of Educational Management, 35(2), 440–450. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-08-2020-0373
  • Kebede, A. M., & Demeke, G. W. (2017). The Influence of Leadership Styles on Employees’ Job Satisfaction in Ethiopian Public Universities. Contemporary Management Research, 13(3), 165–176. https://doi.org/10.7903/cmr.17668
  • Kim, B. J., Kim, T. H., & Jung, S. Y. (2018). How to enhance sustainability through transformational leadership: The important role of employees’ forgiveness. Sustainability (Switzerland), 10(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/SU10082682
  • Kock, N. (2015). Common method bias in PLS-SEM: A full collinearity assessment approach. International Journal of E-Collaboration, 11(4), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJEC.2015100101
  • Koohang, A., & Hatch, M. (2017). Leadership effectiveness in it-centered organizations: Gender and levels of management. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 57(4), 385–391. https://doi.org/10.1080/08874417.2017.1330128
  • Lee, M. (2014). Transformational leadership: is it time for a recall? International Journal Of Management and Applied Research, 1(1), 17–29. https://doi.org/10.18646/2056.11.14-002
  • Li, C. K., & Hung, C. H. (2009). The influence of transformational leadership on workplace relationships and job performance. Social Behavior and Personality, 37(8), 1129–1142. https://doi.org/10.2224/SBP.2009.37.8.1129
  • Lo, M.-C., Ramayah, T., & Min, H. W. (2009). Leadership styles and organizational commitment: a test on Malaysia manufacturing industry. African Journal of Marketing Management, 1(6), 133–139. http://www.academicjournals.org/ajmm
  • Lok, P., & Crawford, J. (2004). The effect of organisational culture and leadership style on job satisfaction and organisational commitment: A cross‐national comparison. Journal of Management Development, 23(4), 321–338. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621710410529785
  • Lor, W., & Hassan, Z. (2017). The influence of leadership on employee performance among jewellery artisans in Malaysia. International Journal of Accounting & Business Management, 5, 14-33.
  • Malaysia Ministry of Education. (2015). Malaysia Education Blueprint 2015-2025. Ministry of Education Malaysia, 2025, 1–40.
  • Mickson, M. K., & Anlesinya, A. (2019). Enhancing job satisfaction among local government servants in Ghana. International Journal of Public Leadership, 16(1), 1–16. doi:10.1108/ijpl-03-2019-0007
  • Mufeed, U. (2018). An Empirical Assessment of Transformational Leadership in Institutions of Higher Learning. Asian Journal of Managerial Science, 7(1), 20–24.
  • Munir, H., & Iqbal, M. Z. (2018). A Study of Relationship between Leadership Styles of Principals and Job Satisfaction of Teachers in Colleges for Women. Bulletin of Education and Research, 40(2), 65–78.
  • Musinguzi, C., Namale, L., Rutebemberwa, E., Dahal, A., Nahirya-Ntege, P., & Kekitiinwa, A. (2018). The relationship between leadership style and health worker motivation, job satisfaction and teamwork in Uganda. Journal of Healthcare Leadership, 10, 21–32. https://doi.org/10.2147/JHL.S147885
  • Mwesigwa, R., Tusiime, I., & Ssekiziyivu, B. (2020). Leadership styles, job satisfaction and organizational commitment among academic staff in public universities. Journal of Management Development, 39(2), 253–268. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-02-2018-0055
  • Natasha, F., & Francisco, A. C. J. (2016). Is “Happy Worker” More Productive. Management Studies, 4(4). https://doi.org/10.17265/2328-2185/2016.04.002
  • Nguyen, T. T., Nguyen, H. T., Mai, H. T., & Tran, T. T. M. (2020). Determinants of digital banking services in Vietnam: Applying utaut2 model. Asian Economic and Financial Review, 10(6), 680–697. https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.aefr.2020.106.680.697
  • Northouse, P. G. (2019). Leadership Theory and Practice (8th ed.). Sage Publcations. Nunnally, J. (1994). Psychometric Methods. McGraw-Hill.
  • Paul, E. S. (1997). Job Satisfaction: Application, Assessment, Causes, and Consequences. In Job Satisfaction: Application, Assessment, Causes, and Consequences (p. 2). SAGE Publications Inc.
  • Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2011). Sources of Method Bias in Social Science Research and Recommendations on How to Control It. Http://Dx.Doi.Org/10.1146/Annurev-Psych-120710-100452, 63, 539–569. https://doi.org/10.1146/ANNUREV-PSYCH-120710-100452
  • Ramachandran, S. D., Chong, S. C., & Ismail, H. (2009). The practice of knowledge management processes: A comparative study of public and private higher education institutions in Malaysia. Vine, 39(3), 203–222. https://doi.org/10.1108/03055720911003978
  • Ribeiro, N., Yücel, İ., & Gomes, D. (2018). How transformational leadership predicts employees’ affective commitment and performance. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 67(9), 1901–1917. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-09-2017-0229
  • Rowold, J. (2005). Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. In Mind Garden.
  • Sageer, A. (2012). Identification of Variables Affecting Employee Satisfaction and Their Impact on the Organization. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 5(1), 32–39. https://doi.org/10.9790/487x-0513239
  • Saleem, H. (2015). The Impact of Leadership Styles on Job Satisfaction and Mediating Role of Perceived Organizational Politics. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 172, 563–569. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SBSPRO.2015.01.403
  • Sarstedt, M., Ringle, C. M., Cheah, J.-H., Ting, H., Moisescu, O. I., & Radomir, L. (2019). Structural model robustness checks in PLS-SEM: Https://Doi.Org/10.1177/1354816618823921, 26(4), 531–554. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354816618823921
  • Sarstedt, M., Ringle, C. M., Smith, D., Reams, R., & Hair, J. F. (2014). Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM): A Useful Tool for Family Business Researchers. https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2985345
  • Schulze, J. H., & Pinkow, F. (2020). Leadership for Organisational Adaptability: How Enabling Leaders Create Adaptive Space. Administrative Sciences, 10(3), 37. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci10030037
  • Siangchokyoo, N., Klinger, R. L., & Campion, E. D. (2020). Follower transformation as the linchpin of transformational leadership theory: A systematic review and future research agenda. Leadership Quarterly, 31(1), 101341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2019.101341
  • Siew, L. K. (2017). Analysis of the Relationship between Leadership Styles and Turnover Intention within Small Medium Enterprise in Malaysia. Journal of Arts & Social Sciences, 1, 1-11.
  • Specchia, M. L., Cozzolino, M. R., Carini, E., Di Pilla, A., Galletti, C., Ricciardi, W., & Damiani, G. (2021). Leadership styles and nurses’ job satisfaction. Results of a systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(4), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041552
  • Subramaniam, A., & Sambasivan, M. (2018). Leadership expectation gap and LMX quality: ethnic and nationality dissimilarities as moderator. Industrial and Commercial Training, 50(7–8), 409–419. https://doi.org/10.1108/ICT-05-2018-0042
  • Tepper, B. J., Dimotakis, N., Lambert, L. S., Koopman, J., Matta, F. K., Park, H. M., & Goo, W. (2018). Examining follower responses to transformational leadership from a dynamic, person-environment fit perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 61(4), 1343–1368. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMJ.2014.0163
  • Thompson, E. R., & Phua, F. T. T. (2012). A Brief Index of Affective Job Satisfaction. Group & Organization Management, 37(3), 275–307. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601111434201
  • Treffinger, D. J., & Isaksen, S. G. (2016). Creative Problem Solving: The History, Development, and Implications for Gifted Education and Talent Development: Http://Dx.Doi.Org/10.1177/001698620504900407, 49(4), 342–353. https://doi.org/10.1177/001698620504900407
  • Türkmen, F., & Gül, İ. (2017). The Effects of Secondary School Administrators’ Servant Leadership Behaviors on Teachers’ Organizational Commitment. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 5(12), 110. https://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v5i12.2713
  • Voon, M.-L., Lo, M.-C., Ngui, K.-S., & Peter, S. (2009). Leadership Styles in Context of Institution of Higher Education in Malaysia.
  • Wan, C. Da. (2019). The Universities and University Colleges Act in Malaysia: History, contexts and development. Studies in Higher Education, 42(2), 1–20.
  • Wan, C. Da, Sirat, M., & Razak, D. A. (2018). Education in Malaysia Towards a Developed Nation. Yusof Ishak Institute, 20.
  • Wilkinson, R., & Yussof, I. (2005). Public and private provision of higher education in Malaysia: A comparative analysis. Higher Education, 50(3), 361–386. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-004-6354-0
  • Yukl, G., & Mahsud, R. (2010). Why flexible and adaptive leadership is essential. Consulting Psychology Journal, 62(2), 81–93. https://doi.org/10.1037/A0019835
  • Zain, N. M., Aspah, V., Mohmud, N. A., Abdullah, N., & Ebrahimi, M. (2017). Challenges and Evolution of Higher Education in Malaysia. InterNorliza Mohd Zain, Velantina Aspah,
  • Nor Aina Mohmud, Normazni Abdullah, Mansoureh Ebrahimib Md Noh, N. H. (2017). Challenges and Evolution of Higher Education in Malaysia. International. Inter. International Journal of Islamic and Civilizational Studies, 4(1–1), 78–87.