HR020 Transformational Leadership: The Transformation of Managers and Associates1 John Hall, Shannon Johnson, Allen Wysocki, Karl Kepner, Derek Farnsworth, and Jennifer L. Clark2 1. This document is HR020, one of a series of the Food and Resource Economics Department, UF/IFAS Extension. Original publication date June 2002. Revised October 2015. Visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu. 2. John Hall, former graduate student; Shannon Johnson, former graduate student; Allen Wysocki, associate dean and professor; Karl Kepner, emeritus professor; Derek Farnsworth, assistant professor; and Jennifer L. Clark, senior lecturer, Food and Resource Economics Department; UF/IFAS Extension, Gainesville, FL 32611. The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other UF/IFAS Extension publications, contact your county’s UF/IFAS Extension office. U.S. Department of Agriculture, UF/IFAS Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A & M University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place, dean for UF/IFAS Extension. Introduction The role every manager must fill in the workplace is leader- ship. Managers often make the mistake of assuming that because they are the managers, they are also the leaders and that their employees (associates) will automatically follow. In reality, position only denotes title, not leadership. Northouse (2001) defines leadership as a process whereby one individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. To be an effective leader, the manager must influence his associates in a positive way to reach the goals of the organization. Furthermore, the transformational leadership approach can help managers become exceptional leaders. This article will explain the transformational leadership approach by discussing its strengths, weaknesses, and steps for application. Transformational Leadership To use this approach in the workforce, one must first understand exactly what transformational leadership is. In the simplest terms, transformational leadership is a process that changes and transforms individuals (Northouse 2001). In other words, transformational leadership is the ability to get people to want to change, to improve, and to be led. It involves assessing associates’ motives, satisfying their needs, and valuing them (Northouse 2001). Therefore, a transformational leader could make the company more successful by valuing its associates. One successful transformational leader was Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, who often visited Wal-M ...

1. HR020
Transformational Leadership: The Transformation of
Managers and Associates1
John Hall, Shannon Johnson, Allen Wysocki, Karl Kepner,
Derek Farnsworth, and Jennifer L.
Clark2
1. This document is HR020, one of a series of the Food and
Resource Economics Department, UF/IFAS Extension. Original
publication date June 2002.
Revised October 2015. Visit the EDIS website at
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.
2. John Hall, former graduate student; Shannon Johnson, former
graduate student; Allen Wysocki, associate dean and professor;
Karl Kepner, emeritus
professor; Derek Farnsworth, assistant professor; and Jennifer
L. Clark, senior lecturer, Food and Resource Economics
Department; UF/IFAS Extension,
Gainesville, FL 32611.
The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an
Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research,
educational information and other services only to
individuals and institutions that function with non-
discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age,
disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national
origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information
on obtaining other UF/IFAS Extension publications, contact
your county’s UF/IFAS Extension office.

2. U.S. Department of Agriculture, UF/IFAS Extension Service,
University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A & M University
Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County
Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place, dean for UF/IFAS
Extension.
Introduction
The role every manager must fill in the workplace is leader-
ship. Managers often make the mistake of assuming that
because they are the managers, they are also the leaders
and that their employees (associates) will automatically
follow. In reality, position only denotes title, not leadership.
Northouse (2001) defines leadership as a process whereby
one individual influences a group of individuals to achieve
a common goal. To be an effective leader, the manager must
influence his associates in a positive way to reach the goals
of the organization. Furthermore, the transformational
leadership approach can help managers become exceptional
leaders. This article will explain the transformational
leadership approach by discussing its strengths, weaknesses,
and steps for application.
Transformational Leadership
To use this approach in the workforce, one must first
understand exactly what transformational leadership is. In
the simplest terms, transformational leadership is a process
that changes and transforms individuals (Northouse 2001).
In other words, transformational leadership is the ability
to get people to want to change, to improve, and to be led.
It involves assessing associates’ motives, satisfying their
needs, and valuing them (Northouse 2001). Therefore, a
transformational leader could make the company more
successful by valuing its associates.
One successful transformational leader was Sam Walton,

3. founder of Wal-Mart, who often visited Wal-Mart stores
across the country to meet with associates to show his
appreciation for what they did for the company. Walton
gave “rules for success” in his autobiography, one of which
was to show appreciation for associates with praise (Walton
1996).
There are four factors to transformational leadership, (also
known as the “four Is”): idealized influence, inspirational
Credits: linetic/iStock/Thinkstock.com
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu
2Transformational Leadership: The Transformation of Managers
and Associates
motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individual consid-
eration. Each factor will be discussed to help managers use
this approach in the workplace.
• Idealized influence describes managers who are exemplary
role models for associates. Managers with idealized
influence can be trusted and respected by associates to
make good decisions for the organization.
• Inspirational motivation describes managers who
motivate associates to commit to the vision of the
organization. Managers with inspirational motivation
encourage team spirit to reach goals of increased revenue
and market growth for the organization.
• Intellectual stimulation describes managers who encour-
age innovation and creativity through challenging the
normal beliefs or views of a group. Managers with intel-

4. lectual stimulation promote critical thinking and problem
solving in an effort to make the organization better.
• Individual consideration describes managers who act as
coaches and advisors to the associates to reach goals that
help both the associates and the organization.
Effective transformational leadership results in perfor-
mances that exceed organizational expectations. Figure 1
illustrates the additive effect of transformational leadership
because managers must pull together the components to
reach “performance beyond expectations” (Northouse
2001).
Each of the four components describes characteristics
that are valuable to the transformation process. When
managers are strong role models, encouragers, innovators,
and coaches, they are utilizing the four Is to help transform
their associates into better, more productive, and successful
individuals. Northouse (2001) states that in 39 studies
of transformational literature, managers at all levels who
exhibited transformational leadership were more effective
leaders with better work outcomes in the public and private
sectors (Northouse 2001). Therefore, it can be very advanta-
geous for managers to apply the transformational approach
in the workplace.
Strengths and Weaknesses of
Transformational Leadership
As with any theory or approach to leadership, strengths and
weaknesses become evident. Northouse (2001) identifies
the strengths and weaknesses of the transformational
leadership approach as follows:
• Strengths are widely researched (using well-known

5. leadership strategies), and effectively influence associates
on all levels (from one-on-one to the whole organization);
strong leaders identify and emphasize associates’ needs
and values.
• Weak leadership may have too many components that
focus superficially rather than identifying appropriate
depth of engagement and treat leadership more as a
personality trait than as a learned behavior; they have the
potential for abusing power.
Applying Transformational
Leadership
Because transformational leadership covers a wide range of
aspects within leadership, there are no specific steps for a
manager to follow. Becoming an effective transformational
leader is an iterative process. This means that conscious
effort must be made to adopt a transformational style.
Understanding the basics of transformational leadership
and the four Is can help a manager apply this approach.
According to Northouse (2001), a transformational leader
has the following qualities:
• empowers followers to do what is best for the
organization
• is a strong role model with high values
• listens to all viewpoints to develop a spirit of cooperation
• creates a vision, using people in the organization
• acts as a change agent within the organization by setting
an example of how to initiate and implement change
Figure 1. Additive effect of transformational leadership

6. 3Transformational Leadership: The Transformation of Managers
and Associates
• helps the organization by helping others contribute to the
organization
Conclusions
Transformational leadership is a vital role for effective
managers because leader effectiveness determines the
ultimate success of the organization. According to Hessel-
bein and Cohen (1999, p. 263), organizations that take the
time to teach leadership are far ahead of the competition.
By becoming familiar with the transformational leadership
approach and combining the four Is, managers can engage
as effective leaders in the business world.
Transformational leadership can be applied in one-on-one
or group situations. Using this approach, the manager
(leader) and the associates (followers) are “transformed” to
enhance individual job performance and, as a group, help
the organization be more productive and successful.
References
Hesselbein, F., and P.M. Cohen. (1999). Leader to Leader.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Northouse, P.G. 2001. Leadership Theory and Practice,
second edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Walton, S., and J.H. 1996. Sam Walton: Made in America:
My Story. Canada: Bantam Books.

7. Oscilloscopes
Purpose:
This lab will introduce the Oscilloscope, a very useful tool for
visualizing the workings of various electronic circuits. In class
we will familiarize ourselves with the controls and settings of
an oscilloscope. We will learn how to measure the voltages of
D.C. and A.C. power sources, as well as observe the wave
patterns of various signals.
Introduction:
In its most common usage, an oscilloscope provides an
electronic “graph” of the circuit operations with time on the
horizontal axis, and voltage on the vertical axis. The scale of
both axes can be adjusted as required for best display.
Oscilloscopes (hereafter referred to as “o’scopes”) are like
many scientific instruments. They are simple conceptually but
complicated in their engineering.
The heart of a scope is the CRT – Cathode Ray Tube – which is
essentially the same as the picture tube in an older television or
computer monitor.

8. The tube is a large evacuated glass tube with electronics in the
small end to form a beam of high speed electrons which travel
forward and hit the inside surface of the large end (screen)
which is coated with a phosphorescent material. This causes a
bright spot where the beam dumps energy.
Electrical
Connections
Metal Plates
With Holes
Acceleration
Region
Bright spot
Beam
Screen

9. Parallel
Plates with
Electric Fields Between
Beam
Manipulation Region
Beam
Forming
Region
“Boiled”
Off
Electrons
Hot
Coil
Let’s now explain more about how a CRT works.
A large current is passed through the filament (causing it to
glow – to heat up).This gives the electrons in the filament
enough kinetic energy for them to leave the filament (to boil
off). The electrons are then attracted to a positively charged
plate with a hole in it. The electrons pass through the hole to
form the beam. The beam is given a timed horizontal deflection
which causes it to sweep across the screen of the oscilloscope at
a measured rate.
Finally, an input is fed to vertical deflection plates to display a
graphic representation of the vertical input vs. time on the
horizontal. The horizontal deflection (sweep rate) can be

10. adjusted slow enough that you can watch the beam move across
the screen, or fast enough to display a rapidly changing input.
Additional information on this topic may be found in your text.
Procedure:
1. Measure DC voltages: Use the o’scope to measure DC
voltages and compare them to the multi-meter readings. Ensure
that the calibration knob (Var) is fully CW. First, adjust the DC
Power source to 5V. Set the coupling switch of the scope to
“Gnd”. The coupling switch has positions for AC, DC, and
GND, and is just to the left of the V/div knob. Adjust the
vertical display so the horizontal line is on one of the divisions.
Switch the coupling to “DC”. Connect the scope and adjust the
volts/div to read the voltage (Vertical position shift). Switch
the coupling to “AC”. What happens? (when switch the coupling
to AC, it be come zero) Set the power source to several other
voltages and practice measuring voltages with the o’scope.
Check your measurements with the multi-meter. How close are
your o’scope measurements to what the Multi-meter reads? ( it
is exist number in multi-meter reads)
7
7
5
5
4
4
8
8
2. Measure AC voltages: Use the multi-meter to measure the
“12VAC” output from the power source. Record the voltage.
Connect your scope to the “12VAC” output. You may want to

11. use a “X10” probe to display the sine wave. Alternatively, you
could set the coupling to “Gnd”, adjust the trace to place it at
the lowest line, then switch the coupling to “AC” and measure
the positive peak voltage. Switch the coupling back to “Gnd”
and move the trace to the top to measure the negative peak
voltage in a similar fashion. Adjust your horizontal and vertical
scale as needed to view the sine wave. How does it differ from
your expectations? Theoretically, there is a .707 ratio of RMS
(Root Mean Square) voltage to peak voltage for a sine wave.
Does this match the ratio you saw? If not, why not? Its match
25.5
18.5
3. Observe the wave forms of a signal generator: Connect
the signal generator to the o’scope. Adjust the controls for a
clear display of the signal generator output. Change the signal
generator to the different waveform output options. Does the
display match the picture on the signal generator? Switch the
signal generator to a sine wave pattern. Measure the period
(time) of the sine wave using the scale on the screen of the
o’scope. Make sure the o’scope is calibrated (Sweep Var knob
fully CW). Using the relationship between time (period) and
frequency, calculate the frequency of the sine wave you are
displaying. Check this against the multi-meter’s reading of the
frequency. Do this for several representative frequencies over
the range of the signal generator.
30.Hz
30.3ms
33Hz
59Hz
17.5ms

12. 58.8Hz
120Hz
8.5ms
117.6Hz
30.3ms= .0303s
(.0303s)^-1=33Hz
4. Observe waveforms of rectifier circuits: “Rectifying” AC
voltage is the first step in converting it to DC, which is what
virtually all electronic devices require for operation. In
electronic circuits, “rectifying” eliminates the negative (or
positive) half cycle of AC voltage, resulting in “pulsating DC”.
There are two types of rectifier circuits set up on circuit boards.
Connect the 12VAC output of your power source to the input of
the circuit boards (one circuit at a time). Use DC coupling on
your o’scope input. Set your o’scope to display the sine wave
at the output of the power source (input of the circuit board).
Without changing your o’scope settings, move the o’scope leads
to connect the o’scope to the output of the circuit. How does
the wave pattern differ from the AC input? How do the output
waveforms differ between the two rectifier circuits? (It is
important to note the time and voltage scale setting and the
corresponding measurements to accurately note the differences.)
Sketch the input and output waveforms to scale.
5. Observing lissajous patterns: Lissajous patterns have a
variety of uses in electronics and science fiction movies. This
requires a different set up of the o’scope from what we have
been using up until now. Instead of a time-calibrated horizontal
display, and a voltage calibrated vertical display, both the
horizontal and vertical sweeps are driven by the outputs of
signal generators. Select the “X-Y” option near the upper right
of you o’scope panel and on the “vertical mode” switch between
the two volts/div knobs. Connect one signal generator to
channel one, and another to channel two of your o’scope.
Adjust the signal generators to produce various (stable) patterns

13. of loops on your o’scope. Draw the patterns you obtain. What
is the relationship (ratio) between the frequencies of your
horizontal and vertical inputs for each pattern you create?
(reduce ratios to lowest common denominators, single digits,
rounding as needed: 1:3, 4:1, etc)
Infente single
circular single
3infente single
4infente single
44Hz
20Hz
62Hz
83Hz
86
92
90
90
Analysis:
Discuss the results of your work with an o’scope. Be sure to
address the questions raised in each task outlined in the
“procedure” section of the handout.
Lab Evaluation:
Please provide feedback on the following areas, comparing this
lab to your previous labs: How much fun you had completing
this lab; How well the lab prep period explained this lab; The
amount of work required compared to the time allotted; Your
understanding of this lab; The difficulty of this lab; How well
this lab tied in with the lecture. Please assign each of the listed
categories with a value from 1-5, with 5 being the best, 1 the
worst. Comments supporting or elaborating on your assessment
can also be very helpful in improving the future labs.

14. Date Last Modified March 13, 2015 Page Number 5
Leading to Make a Difference: A Field
Experiment on the Performance Effects of
Transformational Leadership, Perceived
Social Impact, and Public Service Motivation
Nicola Bellé
Bocconi University
ABSTRACT
Scholars have recently begun to investigate job design as one of
the contingencies that mod-
erates1 the performance effects of transformational leadership
in public sector organizations.
Drawing on this stream of research, we used a completely
randomized true experimental
research design to explore the potential of two extra-task job
characteristics—beneficiary
contact and self-persuasion interventions—to enhance the
effects of transformational lead-
ership on public employee performance. The participants in our
field experiment were
138 nurses at a public hospital in Italy. Whereas participants
who were exposed to trans-
formational leadership manipulation alone marginally
outperformed a control group, the
performance effects of transformational leadership were much
greater among nurses who
were also exposed to either beneficiary contact or self-
persuasion interventions. Follower
perceptions of pro-social impact partially mediated2 the
positive interaction of transforma-
tional leadership and each of the two job design features on job

15. performance. Moreover,
the performance effects of transformational leadership and the
interaction effects of trans-
formational leadership and each of the two job design features
were greater among partici-
pants who self-reported higher levels of public service
motivation. The implications of the
experimental findings for public administration research and
theory are discussed.
InTRoDuCTIon
Transformational leadership has often been referenced as one of
the most power-
ful factors motivating purposeful action and high public
employee performance (e.g.,
Paarlberg and Lavigna 2010; Park and Rainey 2008; Trottier,
Van Wart, and Wang
This study is part of a joint research project with the Italian
National School of Public Administration
(Scuola Superiore della Pubblica Amministrazione – SSPA).
Address correspondence to the author at
[email protected]
1 A moderator is a variable that affects the strength or
direction of the relationship between a predictor and
an outcome. In other words, the effect of the predictor on the
outcome depends on the level of the moderator.
2 A mediator is a variable that accounts for all or some of the
observed relationship between a predictor and
an outcome.
JPART 24:109–136
doi:10.1093/jopart/mut033
Advance Access publication June 13, 2013

16. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on
behalf of the Journal of Public Administration Research
and Theory, Inc. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-
mail: [email protected]
mailto:[email protected]
Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 110
2008; Wright, Moynihan and Pandey 2012; Wright and Pandey
2010). However,
despite nonexperimental evidence that suggests that
transformational leadership is
positively correlated with follower performance, experimental
and quasi-experimental
studies have shown that transformational leaders are not
unconditionally successful
(Barling, Weber, and Kelloway 1996; Dvir, Eden, Avolio, and
Shamir 2002; Grant
2012; Kirkpatrick and Locke 1996).
Scholars have recently begun to investigate job design as one of
the contingen-
cies that may moderate the performance effects of
transformational leadership (Grant
2012). This study aims to link this highly promising stream of
literature with public
administration research and theory. Using a completely
randomized true experimen-
tal research design, we explored whether, how and under what
contingencies two
job design features—that is, beneficiary contact and self-
persuasion interventions—
enhanced the performance effects of transformational
leadership on a group of nurses

17. at a public hospital in Italy. In the following sections, we begin
by situating our research
within the relevant literature and illustrating our hypotheses.
We then go on to describe
the experiment that we conducted to test these hypotheses, and
we conclude with a
discussion of our findings and their implications for research
and theory.
THEoRETICAL BACKGRounD AnD RESEARCH QuESTIonS
Transformational Leadership in the Context of Public
Administration
The conventional conceptualization of transformational
leadership encompasses
four behavioral dimensions: inspirational motivation, idealized
influence, intellectual
stimulation and individualized consideration (Bass 1985; Burns
1978). Inspirational
motivation involves articulating a vision of the future that is
appealing and inspiring
to followers. Idealized influence is associated with charismatic
actions and modeling
behavior that causes followers to identify with their leader.
Intellectual stimulation
involves soliciting followers’ ideas and challenging them to
question old assump-
tions and analyze problems from new perspectives. Finally,
individual consideration
entails attending to each follower’s needs through mentoring,
coaching and other
similar activities.
At its core, transformational leadership involves motivating
followers to tran-

18. scend their immediate self-interest “for the sake of the team,
the organization or
the larger polity” (Shamir, House, and Arthur 1993, 579). As
noted by Wright and
Pandey (2010), this emphasis on the mission may make
transformational leadership
naturally suited to the public sector, whose employees are
inherently required to see
beyond self-interest to the well-being of the larger community.
Wright and Pandey
(2010) note that the mainstream leadership literature is
pessimistic regarding the
potential for transformational leadership behavior in public
organizations compared
to private ones. These negative predictions are based on the fact
that public organi-
zations rely heavily on bureaucratic control systems (Bass and
Riggio 2006; Howell
1997; Pawar and Eastman 1997; Shamir and Howell 1999),
which are expected to
inhibit transformational leadership behaviors (Lowe, Kroeck,
and Sivasubramaniam
1996). However, empirical research has contradicted the
expectations of mainstream
leadership theory in this regard (Dumdum, Lowe, and Avolio
2002). Wright and
Belle Transformational Leadership, Perceived Social Impact,
and Public Service Motivation 111
Pandey (2010) provide two alternative explanations for the
discrepancy between the
theoretical predictions and the empirical evidence: either public
organizations are

19. not as bureaucratic as is commonly thought (Boyne 2002;
Pandey and Wright 2006;
Wright 2004), or bureaucratic control mechanisms do not inhibit
transformational
leadership behavior.
Performance Effects of Transformational Leadership in Public
Sector organizations
Abundant observational research has shown that
transformational leadership
predicts higher levels of job performance among followers
(e.g., Bass and Riggio
2006; Judge and Piccolo 2004; Jung and Avolio 2000). Public
administration stud-
ies on this topic have generally reached the same conclusion.
For instance, a cross-
sectional empirical study that was conducted using more than
6,900 responses to
the Merit Principles Survey 2000 has shown that federal
employees who perceive
their supervisors as displaying more transformation-oriented
leadership tend to
self-report higher levels of performance and work quality along
with higher job
satisfaction and lower turnover intentions (Park and Rainey
2008). Another cross-
sectional survey of senior managers working in local US
governments has shown
that transformational leadership is positively correlated with
mission valence—
identified as a predictor of higher job satisfaction and work
motivation (Wright
2007)—through the mediators of public goal clarity and public
service motiva-
tion (PSM) (Wright, Pandey, and Moynihan 2012). A different

20. study based on the
same cross-sectional data (Moynihan, Pandey, and Wright
2012b) concluded that
transformational leaders enhance the use of performance
information by their fol-
lowers—which is “a form of behaviour that is a logical
contributor to both higher
individual and organizational performance” (Moynihan and
Pandey 2010, 859)—
through the mediators of goal clarity and organizational
culture. Employing the
same survey data, Moynihan, Wright, and Pandey (2012) found
that perceptions
of red tape were lower among agency heads who rated their
supervisor, the city
manager, as more transformational and that transformational
leadership altered
perceptions of red tape through the mediators of goal clarity,
political support, and
internal communication.
Despite this nonexperimental evidence suggesting that
transformational lead-
ership is positively correlated with job performance,
experimental studies on this
topic have provided mixed results. Both field experimental work
(Barling, Weber, and
Kelloway 1996; Dvir, Eden, Avolio, and Shamir 2002; Grant
2012) and laboratory
experiments (Kirkpatrick and Locke 1996) have shown
inconsistent evidence of the
effectiveness of transformational leaders in motivating higher
performance among
their followers. To our knowledge, apart from a field
experiment in the Israeli military
(Dvir, Eden, Avolio, and Shamir 2002), no true experimental

21. work on the perfor-
mance effects of transformational leadership in public sector
organizations has ever
been published. Our study takes a step toward filling this gap by
testing the following
hypothesis using a randomized control group study:
H1 Transformational leadership has a positive effect on public
employee performance.
Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 112
Influence of Transformational Leadership and Job Design
on the Performance of Public Employees
One possible explanation for the inconclusive results of
previous experimental stud-
ies of the performance effects of transformational leadership is
that transformational
leaders are not unconditionally successful in motivating their
followers. The contrary
has been proposed: that transformational leaders can be
effective only insofar as they
succeed in moving beyond rhetoric and turning their visions
into a tangible reality
(Kirkpatrick and Locke 1996). How can leaders reify their
vision? Research has shown
that an effective method is to heighten their followers’
awareness of making a positive
difference in other people’s lives (Thompson and Bunderson
2003).
At its core, transformational leadership entails motivating
followers to go beyond

22. their immediate self-interest by linking an inspiring vision to
core values (Shamir, Zakay,
Breinin, and Popper 1998). Research in several disciplines has
shown that doing good for
others is a fundamental human value across cultures,
employment sectors, and typologies
of workers. In particular, cultural psychological research has
demonstrated that benevo-
lence is at the top of the hierarchy of values in many cultures
worldwide (Schwartz and
Bardi 2001). Similarly, three related fields of study that have
blossomed during the last
20 years—that is, pro-social motivation (e.g., Brief and
Motowidlo 1986), PSM (e.g.,
Perry and Wise 1990), and altruism (e.g., Piliavin and Charng
1990)—all emphasize the
centrality of other-regarding motives (Perry, Hondeghem, and
Wise 2010).
If orientation toward the other is a relevant determinant of
organizational
behavior in general (De Dreu 2006; Grant 2007; Meglino and
Korsgaard 2004),
the perception of benefiting others plays an even more relevant
role for workers
who provide public services (Grant 2008a; Perry and Wise
1990). Consequently, for
public leaders who want to make their inspiring messages more
concrete in the eyes
of their followers, emphasizing the pro-social effects of their
vision is particularly
important.
Recent experimental research has shown that beneficiary
contact (Bellé 2013;
Grant 2007; Grant 2008a; Grant et al. 2007) and self-persuasion

23. interventions (Bellé
2013) may nurture the belief among employees that they make
a positive difference in
other people’s lives. In light of this evidence, we investigated
the moderating effect that
beneficiary contact and self-persuasion interventions may have
on the performance
effects of transformational leadership.
(a) Beneficiary Contact
Relational job design research has shown that giving employees
the opportunity to
meet the individuals who benefit from their efforts can greatly
enhance their motiva-
tion and performance (Bellé 2013; Grant 2008a; Grant et al.
2007) by heightening
their perception of themselves as making a difference in other
people’s lives (Grant
2007). Using quasi-experimental and observational research
designs, Grant (2012) has
recently demonstrated that giving employees the opportunity to
interact with the ben-
eficiaries of their efforts—and thus tangibly illustrating how
the leader’s vision bene-
fits other people—strengthens the performance effects of
transformational leadership.
To corroborate both the external and the internal validity of
these findings, we
tested the following hypothesis adapted from Grant (2012) in a
different country
Belle Transformational Leadership, Perceived Social Impact,
and Public Service Motivation 113

24. using a different typology of workers and a completely
randomized true experimental
research design.
H2a Beneficiary contact strengthens the effect of
transformational leadership on public
employee performance.
(b) Self-Persuasion
Self-persuasion is an indirect persuasion technique that entails
“placing people in situ-
ations where they are motivated to persuade themselves to
change their own attitudes
or behavior” (Aronson 1999, 875). Research on role-playing has
long demonstrated
the persuasive effect of self-generated arguments: while trying
to convince another
person, individuals may end up convincing themselves in the
process (Janis and King
1954; King and Janis 1956). In a now-classic experiment by
Elms (1966), cigarette
smokers who were assigned the role of nonsmokers trying to
convince a friend to
stop smoking found cigarettes more distasteful than did those
who received the same
information passively.
Wright and Grant (2010) have recently urged public
administration scholars to
examine techniques that have proven effective in inducing self-
persuasion, such as
idea reflection (e.g., Gregory, Cialdini, and Carpenter 1982) and
advocacy (e.g., Gordijn,
Postmes, and de Vries 2001; Miller and Wozniak 2001). In a
recent randomized control

25. group experiment with nurses working at a public hospital, a
self-persuasion manipula-
tion had a positive effect on the persistence, output,
productivity and vigilance of the
participants (Bellé 2013). In light of this research, we
investigated if putting followers in
situations in which they were compelled to persuade themselves
of the pro-social influ-
ence of the vision of their leaders could strengthen the
performance effects of trans-
formational leadership. We therefore formulated and tested the
following hypothesis:
H2b Self-persuasion interventions strengthen the effect of
transformational leadership on
public employee performance.
Mediating Role of Perceived Pro-Social Impact
Several studies have suggested that nurturing the perception of
task significance
among employees—that is, the employees’ belief that they are
making a positive dif-
ference in other people’s lives—can enhance their motivation
and effort. These studies
identify two possible mediators that may explain the effect of
task significance on job
performance. On the one hand, research that draws from social
information process-
ing theory (Salancik and Pfeffer 1978) and from traditional
models of job design that
are focused on the task structures of jobs (Hackman and
Oldham 1976; Hackman
1980) posits that nurturing employee perceptions of task
significance makes them
experience their jobs as more meaningful (Zalesny and Ford

26. 1990). This perceived
meaningfulness, in turn, can motivate employees to exert more
effort (Fried and Ferris
1987; Parker and Wall 1998).
On the other hand, contemporary research on job design (Grant
2007) focuses
on perceived pro-social impact as mediating the impact of task
significance on job
performance (Grant 2008b). Adopting the latter theoretical
perspective, we expected
Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 114
that both beneficiary contact and self-persuasion would
strengthen the relationship
between transformational leadership and follower-perceived
positive influence on oth-
ers, which, in turn, would positively affect job performance. To
examine beneficiary
contact, we experimentally tested the following hypothesis
adapted from Grant (2012):
H3a Public employee perceptions of pro-social impact mediate
the moderating effects
of beneficiary contact on the relationship between
transformational leadership and
public employee performance.
For the self-persuasion intervention, we formulated and tested
the following
hypothesis:
H3b Public employee perceptions of pro-social impact mediate

27. the moderating effect
of self-persuasion interventions on the relationship between
transformational
leadership and public employee performance.
Moderating Role of PSM
During the last two decades, PSM research has thoroughly
investigated the unique-
ness of “motives grounded primarily or uniquely in public
institutions and organiza-
tions” (Perry and Wise 1990, 368). Vandenabeele describes
PSM as “the belief, values
and attitudes that go beyond self-interest and organizational
interest, that concern
the interest of a larger political entity” (2007, 547). This
conceptualization is closely
linked to the construct of transformational leadership, which
entails motivating fol-
lowers “to transcend their own self-interests for the sake of the
team, the organization
or the larger polity” (Shamir, House, and Arthur 1993, 579).
Transformational leadership rests on an assumption regarding
employees that
contradicts agency theory (Moynihan, Pandey, and Wright
2012a; Van Wart 2005)—the
assumption that, in the terms proposed by Le Grand (2006),
individuals are altruistic
“knights.” Whereas transaction-based approaches conflict with
the other-regarding val-
ues of many public employees—and have the potential to turn
“knights” into “knaves”
by crowding out intrinsic or pro-social motivations (Le Grand
2006; Moynihan 2010;
Weibel, Rost, and Osterloh 2010)—transformational leadership

28. may represent a supe-
rior fit for a workforce with high levels of PSM. This is
particularly the case for public
organizations because their employees tend to be motivated by a
greater desire to
serve others than private sector workers exhibit (e.g., Pandey
and Stazyk 2008; Steijn
2008).
Based on previous theoretical work by Paarlberg and Lavigna
(2010) and the limited
empirical evidence that is available to date (Park and Rainey
2008; Wright, Moynihan,
and Pandey 2012), we expected that transformational leadership
would be more likely
to increase job performance for employees with stronger PSM
than for employees with
weaker PSM. The rationale governing this hypothesis is that
employees with greater
PSM care more about doing work that has a positive impact on
others (Perry and Wise
1990). The inspiring messages that transformational leaders
deliver to motivate their
followers to go beyond their own self-interest convey to
employees with strong PSM
that their jobs have the potential to express and fulfill their
values for the benefit of
others. Literature on needs-supplies fit posits that workers are
more willing to expend
Belle Transformational Leadership, Perceived Social Impact,
and Public Service Motivation 115
the effort that is necessary for them to perform effectively when

29. their jobs match their
values (Edwards et al. 2006). As a result, we expected that
employees with stronger PSM
would be more likely to improve their job performance in
response to transformational
leadership—alone or enhanced by job design interventions—to
express and fulfill their
aim of helping others. We therefore formulated and tested the
following hypotheses:
H4 Transformational leadership has a greater performance
effect on public employees
with stronger public service motivation.
H5a The positive interaction between transformational
leadership and beneficiary
contact has a greater performance effect on public employees
with stronger public
service motivation.
H5b The positive interaction between transformational
leadership and self-persuasion
interventions has a greater performance effect on public
employees with stronger
public service motivation.
METHoD
Participants and Design
The participants were 138 nurses from a group of public
hospitals belonging to the
same local health authority (LHA) in Italy. The 138 nurses had
been hired by the LHA
during the two previous years and were attending mandatory
training for recent hires.

30. At the beginning of 2011, the LHA joined an international
cooperation project that
was intended to strengthen the healthcare system in a former
war zone. The LHA was
contributing to the project by collecting surgical tools and drugs
donated by several
organizations (e.g., pharmaceutical companies, other hospitals,
nongovernmental
organizations) and assembling surgical kits that were ready for
shipment to health prac-
titioners operating in the target area. The 138 recent hires were
required to spend four
hours on the project as part of their mandatory training.
Procedures
Participants were randomly assigned to one of six equal-sized
groups of 23 nurses
each: control (group 1), transformational leadership (group 2),
beneficiary contact
(group 3), combined transformational leadership and beneficiary
contact (group 4),
self-persuasion (group 5), and combined transformational
leadership and self-persua-
sion (group 6).3 The six groups attended six separate sessions
that were led by the
Director of Nursing at the LHA and by her assistant. The
Director knew that we were
conducting a research project on the performance effects of
leadership; however, she
was unaware of the specific research hypotheses and
experimental procedures.
3 Grant (2012) used a similar experimental design with
unequal-sized groups ranging from 12 to 26
participants. Power calculations indicated that the size of our

31. groups was adequate to detect effect sizes similar
to those found in previous studies in this research area (Bellé
2013; Grant 2012) with statistical power greater
than the conventional threshold of .80 at a significance level of
.05 (Murphy and Myors 2004).
Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 116
Group 1 (Control)
The Director of Nursing and her assistant welcomed the
participants and showed them a
short video that provided basic information about the project’s
aims along with informa-
tion on how to perform the assigned task. This task consisted of
retrieving a list of items
(including surgical tools and pharmaceuticals) from shelves and
boxes, checking shelf-life
labels and verifying product integrity, storing the items inside a
case in a specific order
and putting a label on each completed case with a signature and
the completion time.
Group 2 (Transformational Leadership)
In addition to showing the tutorial video, the Director of
Nursing, who initiated the
project and was its main sponsor, talked for approximately 15
min at our instruction,
explaining why the project was meaningful to her and
communicating her enthusiasm
for the project by telling vivid stories of successful operations
performed thanks to the
surgical kits that had been assembled during the previous
phases. Based on her direct
experience assembling the surgical kits, the Director also gave

32. the participants some
practical tips and encouraged them to identify ways to improve
the assembly process.
She also urged the participants to contact her directly with any
feedback or to suggest
ideas for improvements.
Group 3 (Beneficiary Contact)
In addition to receiving the same treatment as the control group,
the participants in
the beneficiary contact condition were given the chance to have
a 15-min meeting
with a former patient from the target area, one who had
benefited from the surgical
kits a few years prior after being injured by an antipersonnel
mine. At the time of the
experiment, this person was collaborating with the project staff
by serving as a liaison
with health practitioners operating in the target area thanks to
his fluency in Italian.
The beneficiary explained how surgical tools similar to those
included in the kits had
saved his life.4
Group 4 (Transformational Leadership × Beneficiary Contact)
In addition to receiving the same treatment as the control group,
the participants first
heard the Director’s speech and then received a visit from the
beneficiary. While deliv-
ering her speech, the Director was unaware that participants
would also receive a visit
from a former patient from the target area.
Group 5 (Self-Persuasion)
In addition to receiving the same treatment as the control group,
the nurses in the

33. self-persuasion condition participated in a 30-min individual
brainstorming session
(e.g., Furnham and Yazdanpanahi 1995) that was designed and
led by a psycholo-
gist who was unaware of the research hypotheses. These
participants were first asked
to write a short essay which they were told would be included in
a presentation that
would be used to campaign for the project. The assignment was
to describe how the
4 Before meeting the experiment participants, the beneficiary
signed an informed consent form that stated
that his participation in the study was voluntary. The consent
form specified that no information identifying
him would be disclosed at any time by the researchers. To
provide his consent, the beneficiary had to check
an opt-in box.
Belle Transformational Leadership, Perceived Social Impact,
and Public Service Motivation 117
participants thought their efforts would make a concrete
difference in the lives of
those who received the kits. The nurses were then invited to
silently generate and write
down a list of arguments and ideas that might convince other
hospitals and phar-
maceutical companies to participate in the project. We designed
this self-persuasion
manipulation following Wright and Grant (2010), who have
suggested asking public
employees to reflect on the importance of their work and then
to explain “why it is

34. critical for each person to engage in public service” (696).
Group 6 (Transformational Leadership × Self-Persuasion)
In addition to receiving the same treatment as the control group,
the nurses in the
combined transformational leadership and self-persuasion
condition first heard the
Director’s speech and were then asked to do the same things as
the nurses in group
5 to induce the process of idea reflection. While delivering her
speech, the Director
was unaware that participants would also participate in the
individual brainstorming
session.
Except for the Director’s speech, the beneficiary’s visit and the
interventions
intended to induce reflection, the six sessions were identical.
The nurses in the various
sessions had exactly the same net amount of time (i.e., three
hours) to actually perform
the assigned task. The nurses were not assigned any specific
target number of surgical
kits to assemble and were informed that their performance
would not be subject to
evaluation. The participants in all of the groups answered a
pre-experiment question-
naire at the beginning of their session and a postexperiment
questionnaire at the end
of their shift.
Measures
Performance
We measured performance as the number of surgical kits that
each participant cor-

35. rectly assembled during his or her three-hour shift (Bellé 2013).
This metric was
meant to capture both participant effort (e.g., Blumberg and
Pringle 1982; Gneezy
and Rustichini 2000; Grant 2007, 2008a, 2008b; Schmidt and
Hunter 1983) and the
participants’ ability to maintain attention and accuracy while
performing their jobs
(e.g., Brewer and Brewer 2011).
Whenever possible, we measured variables using multiple-item
scales that had
been tested and validated in previous studies. Appendix 1
reports the items included in
the scales that were employed in our analyses. Unless otherwise
indicated, all items used
7-point Likert-type scales with anchors of 0 (disagree strongly)
and 6 (agree strongly).
Perceived Pro-Social Impact
As a measure of perceived pro-social impact, the
postexperiment questionnaire fea-
tured three items that had been previously tested and validated
by Grant (2008a).
Public Service Motivation
We measured participant PSM using a popular five-item version
of Perry’s (1996)
original scale (Alonso and Lewis 2001; Brewer and Selden
2000; Kim 2005; Pandey,
Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 118
Wright, and Moynihan 2008; Wright and Pandey 2008; Wright,

36. Moynihan, and
Pandey 2012; Wright, Christensen, and Pandey forthcoming)
that has recently been
validated as a multi-item unidimensional measure of PSM
(Wright, Christensen, and
Pandey forthcoming). We measured PSM levels as reported by
the participants in the
pre-experiment questionnaire.
Manipulation Checks
The postexperiment questionnaire featured manipulation checks
for transformational
leadership, beneficiary contact and self-persuasion (see
appendix 1).
Controls
In addition to asking questions regarding age, gender and job
experience, we con-
trolled for conscientiousness (Donnellan, Oswald, Baird, and
Lucas 2006) and intrin-
sic motivation (Ryan and Connell 1989).
RESuLTS
We conducted a confirmatory factor analysis using Lisrel 8.80
to construct the latent
variables from their respective questionnaire items and assess
the validity and reli-
ability of the study measures (Jöreskog and Sörbom 2006).5
Appendix 1 reports the
standardized factor loading of each item on its expected latent
variable (λ). Appendix
1 also shows the Cronbach’s alpha (α), the construct reliability
estimate (ρ), and the
average variance extracted (AVE) by each construct.
Standardized loadings ranged

37. from .64 to .87, and AVE estimates ranged from .62 to .74.
These values indicated
that the individual scale items converged on their respective
latent variables.6 All of
the construct reliability estimates were well above .7, which is
usually accepted as
the threshold for having good construct reliability. The
discriminant validity of the
measures appeared to be high because all construct AVE
estimates were larger than
the corresponding squared interconstruct correlation estimates
(SIC). Inferential χ2
statistics and descriptive goodness-of-fit indices suggested that
all of the scales used
were a reasonable fit for our data (χ2(303) = 284.37, p > .10;
root mean square error of
approximation = .06; comparative fit index = .93; Tucker-Lewis
index = .92).
The six groups did not differ at the .05 level with respect to
participant age, gen-
der, years of experience in nursing, PSM, conscientiousness or
intrinsic motivation
(table 1). To evaluate the effectiveness of the experimental
interventions, we con-
ducted analyses of the manipulation checks reported in table 1.
Participants who had
heard the Director’s speech (groups 2, 4, and 6) rated her as
significantly more trans-
formational (M = 4.98, Standard deviation [SD] = 1.37) than did
those who had not
(M = 3.84, SD = 1.02), p < .05. Nurses who had had the
opportunity to meet the
beneficiary (groups 3 and 4) perceived themselves as having
greater beneficiary con-
tact (M = 5.90, SD = .40) than did those who had not (M = 1.62,

38. SD = .65), p < .05.
Finally, participants who had participated in the individual
brainstorming session
(groups 5 and 6) reported higher levels of reflection on the
importance and positive
5 Due to the ordinal nature of the data at the item level, we
used weighted least squares estimation.
6 To suggest adequate convergent validity, standardized
loadings estimates should be .5 or higher, and ideally
.7 or higher, and the average variance extracted should be .5 or
higher (Jöreskog and Sörbom 2006).
Belle Transformational Leadership, Perceived Social Impact,
and Public Service Motivation 119
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Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 120
pro-social impact of the project (M = 5.68, SD = .87) than
did those who did not
(M = 2.88, SD = 1.16), p < .05. These results indicate the
validity of our experimental
manipulations.
Table 2 displays the means and SD for the number of surgical
kits assembled
correctly by condition. A series of two sample t-tests
correcting for unequal variance

59. indicated that all treatment groups but one outperformed the
control group at the .05
level of significance. The only exception was the group that
was exposed to the trans-
formational leadership manipulation alone (group 2), for which
the difference in per-
formance with respect to the control group was only marginally
significant (p = .069).
This result only partially supports hypothesis 1.
A 2 (transformational leadership: yes, no) × 2 (beneficiary
contact: yes, no) fac-
torial analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that the
performance effect of trans-
formational leadership was significantly stronger for nurses who
also met a prior
beneficiary of such efforts than it was for nurses who did not
meet the beneficiary
(F(1,88) = 4.63, p = .034). This result provides evidence that
supports hypothesis 2a.
The positive interaction between transformational leadership
and beneficiary contact
and their joint influence on participant performance are
apparent in the divergence
between the two lines in figure 1.
Unlike in a previous quasi-experimental study by Grant (2012),
both transforma-
tional leadership (F(1,88) = 13.59, p < .001) and beneficiary
contact (F(1,88) = 25.49,
p < .001) had a positive main effect7 on participant performance
in this study.
Another 2 (transformational leadership: yes, no) × 2 (self-
persuasion interven-
tion: yes, no) ANOVA showed that the performance effect of

60. transformational leader-
ship was greater for nurses who also received the self-
persuasion intervention than it
was for their colleagues who did not (F(1,88) = 4.43, p = .038).
This result supports
hypothesis 2b. The positive two-way interaction between the
transformational leader-
ship and self-persuasion conditions is indicated by the
difference in slope between the
two lines in figure 2.
Table 2
Average Number of Surgical Kits Assembled Correctly by
Condition
Group Condition n Mean SD ∆ w.r.t Control
1 Control 23 38.26 8.11 —
2 Transformational leadership (TL) 23 42.91 9.01 4.65*
3 Beneficiary contact (BC) 23 47.04 10.60 8.78***
4 TL × BC 23 64.74 14.20 26.48****
5 Self-persuasion (SP) 23 45.78 10.47 7.52***
6 TL × SP 23 63.43 13.91 25.17****
*p < .10; **p < .05; ***p < .01; ****p < .001.
7 A main effect is the effect of an experimental manipulation
on a dependent variable on average across the
levels of the other conditions being experimentally
manipulated. A simple effect is the effect of an experimental
manipulation on a dependent variable at a single level of the
other conditions being experimentally
manipulated.
Belle Transformational Leadership, Perceived Social Impact,

61. and Public Service Motivation 121
Both transformational leadership (F(1,88) = 13.04, p = .001)
and self-persuasion
manipulation (F(1,88) = 20.62, p < .001) had positive main
effects on participant
performance.
We tested hypotheses 3a and 3b using a three-step moderated
mediation proce-
dure suggested by Edwards and Lambert (2007). Both
hypotheses posited first-stage
moderation; that is, we expected that both the beneficiary
contact condition and the
self-persuasion intervention would strengthen the relationship
between transforma-
tional leadership and perceived pro-social impact, and in turn,
perceived pro-social
impact would positively affect job performance. For both
interaction effects—that
is, for transformational leadership × beneficiary contact and
transformational lead-
ership × self-persuasion—perceived impact may be considered a
mediator if (1) the
interaction generates an increase in perceived impact, (2) the
interaction significantly
affects job performance when perceived impact is not controlled
for, (3) perceived
impact has a significant, unique effect on job performance, and
(4) the effect of the
interaction on job performance becomes insignificant when
perceived impact is added
to the model (MacKinnon and Dwyer 1993; MacKinnon, Warsi,
and Dwyer 1995;
Preacher and Hayes 2004).

62. Figure 1
Interaction of Transformational Leadership and Beneficiary
Contact on Job Performance
Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 122
We began the three-step moderated mediation analysis for the
beneficiary con-
tact condition (hypothesis 3a) by fitting a regression model that
predicts perceived
pro-social impact. The first column of table 3 indicates the
statistically significant
interaction between transformational leadership and beneficiary
contact as predictors
of perceived pro-social impact (p = .025). In step 2, we fitted a
regression model that
would predict the number of surgical kits that the participants
assembled correctly.
Although the interaction between transformational leadership
and beneficiary con-
tact was positive and significant at the .05 level (table 3, middle
column), the interac-
tion was no longer significant once we had added perceived
social impact in step 3
(table 3, right column). Instead, perceived social impact
significantly predicted (p <
.001) the number of surgical kits assembled by the participants
when transformational
leadership, beneficiary contact and their interaction were all
controlled for. We con-
ducted further analyses to investigate whether the decrease in
the coefficient of the
interaction between transformational leadership and beneficiary
contact was signifi-

63. cant. Sobel-Goodman tests allowed us to confirm the indirect
effect of the interaction
between transformational leadership and beneficiary contact on
performance through
Figure 2
Interaction of Transformational Leadership and Self-Persuasion
on Job Performance
Belle Transformational Leadership, Perceived Social Impact,
and Public Service Motivation 123
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68. V
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76. n
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82. 1.
Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 124
the mediator of perceived pro-social impact (p < .001). To
reduce concerns about the
standard error of the indirect effect, we constructed 95% bias-
corrected confidence
intervals around the indirect effect by drawing (with
replacement) 1,000 random sam-
ples from 92 observations from the full sample. The indirect
effect of the interaction
between transformational leadership and beneficiary contact
through the mediator of
perceived social impact was significant at the .05 level because
the 95% bias-corrected
confidence interval (8.66, 18.76) did not include zero (Edwards
and Lambert 2007;
MacKinnon, Fairchild, and Fritz 2007). These results support
hypothesis 3a.
A three-step moderated mediation analysis that we conducted to
test hypothesis
3b (self-persuasion) yielded results that were similar to those
that we obtained for
the beneficiary contact condition. The interaction between
transformational leader-
ship and self-persuasion, which significantly predicts job
performance in the step 2
model (table 4, middle column), becomes insignificant after
perceived social impact
is controlled for in the step 3 model (table 4, right column).
Sobel-Goodman tests

83. confirmed the indirect effect of the interaction between
transformational leadership
and self-persuasion on performance through the mediator of
perceived social impact
(p < .001), and the 95% bias-corrected confidence interval
(7.85, 17.85) for this indi-
rect effect did not include zero. These results support
hypothesis 3b.
To test hypothesis 4, we investigated whether the performance
effect of transfor-
mational leadership varied across the levels of PSM that
participants self-reported
in the pre-experiment questionnaire. In figure 3, we plotted the
simple slopes at one
SD above (dotted line) and below (solid line) the mean for PSM
(Aiken and West
1991). As indicated by the divergence between the two lines,
the transformational
leadership manipulation positively interacted with the levels of
PSM of the followers
in predicting the number of surgical kits that the participants
correctly assembled
(F(1,42) = 5.61, p = .023). In other words, the performance
effect of transforma-
tional leadership was stronger for participants who had self-
reported higher PSM
levels in the pre-experiment questionnaire. This result provides
evidence in support
of hypothesis 4.
To test hypothesis 5a, we investigated whether the two-way
interaction between
transformational leadership and beneficiary contact varied
across levels of PSM. We
conducted an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with two

84. between-subject factors
(i.e., transformational leadership and beneficiary contact)
predicting the number of
surgical kits assembled correctly by the participants and a
single covariate (mean-
centered PSM score). The ANCOVA showed that the positive
joint influence of ben-
eficiary contact and transformational leadership on job
performance was greater for
participants who had higher self-reported levels of PSM than it
was for nurses who
had reported lower levels of PSM (F(1,84) = 5.71, p = .019).
This result supports
hypothesis 5a. Figure 4 depicts the three-way interaction effect
of transformational
leadership, beneficiary contact and PSM on job performance.
The two lines with hol-
low markers represent participants who reported high PSM (one
SD above the mean),
whereas the two lines with solid symbols represent participants
with low PSM (one
SD below the mean). It can be noted that the divergence
between the two lines—which
indicates a two-way interaction between transformational
leadership and beneficiary
contact—is greater for participants with high PSM than it is for
participants with
low PSM.
Belle Transformational Leadership, Perceived Social Impact,
and Public Service Motivation 125
Ta
b

85. le
4
.
M
ed
ia
ti
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f
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e
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te
ra
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87. io
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P
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P
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R
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88. S
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p
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n
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101. l
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102. ce
iv
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p
ro
-s
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al
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ac
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*p
<
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103. ;
**
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p
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1.
Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 126
To test hypothesis 5b, we conducted an analysis of covariance
(ANCOVA) with
two between-subject factors (i.e., transformational leadership
and self-persuasion
interventions) predicting performance and a single covariate
(mean-centered PSM
score). The ANCOVA showed that the positive interaction
effect of the transforma-
tional leadership and self-persuasion conditions on job
performance was greater for

104. participants who had higher self-reported levels of PSM than it
was for nurses who
had reported lower levels of PSM (F(1,84) = 4.66, p = .034).
Figure 5 depicts the three-
way interaction effect of transformational leadership, self-
persuasion interventions
and PSM on performance. As in the previous case, the two lines
with hollow markers
represent participants who reported higher levels of PSM (one
SD above the mean),
whereas the two lines with solid symbols represent participants
with lower levels of
PSM (one SD below the mean). Again, the divergence between
the two lines—which
indicates the two-way interaction between transformational
leadership and self-per-
suasion—is greater for participants with high PSM than for
participants with low
PSM. This result supports hypothesis 5b.
Figure 3
Interaction of Transformational Leadership and Public Service
Motivation (PSM) on Job
Performance
Belle Transformational Leadership, Perceived Social Impact,
and Public Service Motivation 127
ConCLuSIon
This study advances our understanding of whether
transformational leadership can
boost job performance in public sector organizations and of the
contingencies that

105. may affect this relationship. In a randomized control group
experiment with nurses
working at a large public hospital in Italy, we found that the
performance effects
of transformational leadership were greatly enhanced by two
job design manipula-
tions—that is, beneficiary contact and self-persuasion
interventions—both of which
were intended to heighten the awareness of the participants that
they were making
a positive difference in other people’s lives. Whereas the group
of nurses who were
exposed to the transformational leadership manipulation alone
marginally outper-
formed the control group, the performance effects of
transformational leadership
were much greater among participants who were also exposed to
one of the two job
design manipulations. The followers’ sense that they were
making a positive difference
in other people’s lives mediated the positive interaction of
transformational leadership
Figure 4
Three-Way Interaction of Transformational Leadership,
Beneficiary Contact, and Public Service
Motivation (PSM) on Job Performance
Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 128
and of each of the two job design conditions on performance.
Moreover, the perfor-
mance effects and the interaction effects of transformational
leadership and each of

106. the two job design manipulations were greater among
participants who self-reported
higher levels of PSM.
Theoretical Contributions
The first contribution of this study is the additional empirical
evidence that it has
added to the ongoing debate about the performance effects of
transformational
leadership. Taken together, in the context of public
administration, the results
of our field experiment corroborate previous mainstream
management research
that suggests that leaders can be effective only insofar as they
succeed in making
their messages credible. We identify two specific job design
interventions—that is,
beneficiary contact and self-persuasion interventions—that
public sector leaders
can effectively use to turn their visions into a tangible reality.
Moreover, we
Figure 5
Three-Way Interaction of Transformational Leadership, Self-
Persuasion, and Public Service Motivation
(PSM) on Job Performance
Belle Transformational Leadership, Perceived Social Impact,
and Public Service Motivation 129
illuminate the mechanisms through which these interventions
may enhance the
performance effects of transformational leadership. Our data

107. provide evidence
that supports our hypotheses of first-stage moderation: both
beneficiary contact
and self-persuasion strengthened the relationship between
transformational lead-
ership and perceived pro-social impact, and in turn, perceived
pro-social impact
positively affected job performance. These results contribute to
a nascent and
highly promising field of study that focuses on job design as
one of the contin-
gencies that may moderate the performance effects of
transformational leader-
ship. Our contribution to this stream of research is two-fold.
First, our findings
corroborate the results of recent empirical work by Grant
(2012) that has dem-
onstrated the interaction between transformational leadership
and beneficiary
contact. Our study achieves this by replicating Grant’s results
using a completely
randomized, true experimental research design in a different
country and a dif-
ferent industry. Second, to our knowledge, our study is the first
to demonstrate
that self-persuasion interventions may play a leadership-
enhancing role similar to
that of beneficiary contact.A second contribution of our
research is the evidence
that it provides about the moderating role of PSM (Perry and
Wise 1990) in the
performance effects of transformational leadership. PSM has
this effect indepen-
dently and when compounded by structural job features that
heighten employees’
perception that they are making a difference in other people’s

108. lives. To our knowl-
edge, this study has been the first to date that has
experimentally investigated the
relationship between PSM and transformational leadership.
An additional contribution of our research is of a
methodological nature and
lies in the fact that our study is based on a randomized
experiment with real public
employees performing a task that was part of their ordinary
job. Empirical research
in the field of public administration has traditionally relied on
correlational designs,
which are well suited to testing theoretical predictions in a
broad range of popu-
lations but fall short with regard to internal validity (McGrath
1981). Although
not completely immune to limitations (e.g., external threats to
validity, maturation
effects and researcher bias), randomized true experimental
research is best suited
to achieving high levels of internal validity (Shadish, Cook,
and Campbell 2002).
A recent review found only a handful of true experimental
studies published in jour-
nals that are directly associated with the field of public
administration (Brewer and
Brewer 2011). Most of these studies were laboratory
experiments on decision-mak-
ing and used students as surrogates for public sector workers
despite of the mixed
evidence regarding the external validity of this method (e.g.,
Fuchs and Sarstedt
2010; Peterson 2001; Remus 1986, 1989). Our study departs
from previous experi-
mental research in public administration because it was

109. conducted with real workers
performing a task that was part of their ordinary job. Field
experiments have the
virtue of establishing internal validity while maintaining more
generalizability and
contextual realism than laboratory experiments do, although the
latter have other
virtues stemming from their artificiality (Henshel 1980). To
date, the use of rand-
omized field experimental research is almost unprecedented in
public administration
(Bellé 2013). Our study takes a small step toward filling this
gap, and we hope that
our research design serves as a model for other public
management scholars consid-
ering field experiments.
Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 130
Limitations and Future Directions
Our findings should be interpreted in light of several
limitations that identify ave-
nues for future research. First and foremost, the use of
temporary and experimentally
induced manipulations of transformational leadership,
beneficiary contact and self-
persuasion does not allow our findings to be generalized to
more enduring, naturally
occurring variations in these conditions. The peculiar
professional nature of nurs-
ing constitutes an additional threat to the generalizability of
our findings from the
nurses who took part in the experiment to other public sector

110. employees. Regarding
the external validity of our results, we should also note that the
participants were
recent hires, and thus, our findings cannot be generalized to
employees who have been
employed by the organization for a longer period of time.
Future research might tri-
angulate our results using nonexperimental designs such as
longitudinal studies and
case studies. Although they are inferior to experiments in terms
of internal valid-
ity, observational designs may be superior in terms of external
validity because they
examine intact groups and do not disrupt the preexisting
research setting (Dimitrov
and Rumrill 2003).
Regarding construct validity and measurement issues, we should
note that for some
of the study variables, there is no single widely accepted
measure. This was especially
true for PSM, for which several measures have been used in
earlier studies. We opted
for a widely used, five-item version of Perry’s (1996) original
scale that was recently
validated as a multi-item unidimensional measure of PSM
(Wright, Christensen, and
Pandey forthcoming). Future research may test whether our
results are robust to the
use of multidimensional scales (e.g., Kim et al. 2013; Perry
1996) that may provide a
more nuanced understanding of the interplay among
transformational leadership, per-
ceived pro-social impact and individual subdimensions of the
PSM construct.

111. APPEnDIx 1
Variables and Measurements
Variable (source) Measurements
Performance Number of surgical kits assembled correctly
Age Years of age
Gender 0 = male, 1 = female
Job experience Years of experience in the field of nursing
Likert-type scales (0 = disagree strongly, 6 = agree strongly) λ
Perceived pro-social
impact (grant 2008a)
α = .83; ρ = .87; AVE = .68
− I am very conscious of the positive impact that my work
has on others
.79***
− I am very aware of the ways in which my work is
benefiting others
.81***
− I feel that I can have a positive impact on others through
my work
.88***
Continued
Belle Transformational Leadership, Perceived Social Impact,
and Public Service Motivation 131

112. Public service
motivation (e.g.
Alonso and Lewis
2001; Brewer and
Selden 2000)
α = .75; ρ = .89; AVE = .64
− Meaningful public service is very important to me .77***
− I am often reminded by daily events about how
dependent we are on one another
.81***
− Making a difference in society means more to me than
personal achievements
.86***
− I am prepared to make enormous sacrifices for the good
of society
.82***
− I am not afraid to go to bat for the rights of others even
if it means I will be ridiculed
.85***
Tranformational
ledership (Avolio,
Bass, and Jung 1999;
Northouse 2009)
α = .89; ρ = .93; AVE = .62
− . . . (inspirational motivation) .78***

113. − . . . (inspirational motivation) .84***
− . . . (idealized influence) .70***
− . . . (idealized influence) .78***
− . . . (intellectual stimulation) .81***
− . . . (intellectual stimulation) .74***
− . . . (individualized consideration) .85***
− . . . (individualized consideration) .81***
Beneficiary contact
(Grant 2008c)
α = .81; ρ = .85; AVE = .72
− The project gave me the opportunity to meet the people
who benefit from my work
.87***
− The project provided me with contact with the people
who benefit from my work
.85***
Self-persuasion
(Gregory, Cialdini,
and Carpenter 1982;
Gordijn, Postmes and
de Vries 2001)
α = .77; ρ = .82; AVE = .69
− Before performing the task, I carefully reflected on the
ways in which my effort would benefit others
.83***
− Before performing the task, I carefully reflected on why
it is critical for other hospitals and pharmaceutical

114. companies to join the project
.83***
Conscientiousness
(Donnellan, Oswald,
Baird, and Lucas
2006)
α = .85; ρ = .87; AVE = .62
− I get chores done right away .64***
− I often forget to put things back in their proper place (R)
.80***
− I like order .85***
− I make a mess of things (R) .84***
Intrinsic motivation
(Ryan and Connell
1989)
α = .88; ρ = .83; AVE = .63
− My job is fun .73***
− I find my job engaging .82***
− I enjoy my work .82***
α = cronbach’s alpha; ρ = composite reliability values;
AVE = average variance extracted.
*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.
APPEnDIx 1 (continued)
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Transformational leadership, relationship quality,
and employee performance during continuous
incremental organizational change

130. MIN Z. CARTER1*, ACHILLES A. ARMENAKIS2, HUBERT
S. FEILD2 AND
KEVIN W. MOSSHOLDER2
1Department of Management and Marketing, Troy University,
Troy, Alabama, U.S.A.
2Department of Management, Auburn University, Auburn,
Alabama, U.S.A.
Summary Although transformational leadership has been
investigated in connection with change at higher levels of
organi-
zations, less is known about its “in-the-trenches” impact. We
examined relations among transformational
leadership, explicit change reactions (i.e., relationship quality),
change frequency, and change consequences
(i.e., task performance and organizational citizenship behavior
(OCB)) during continuous incremental organizational
change at lower hierarchical levels. In a sample of 251
employees and their 78 managers, analyses revealed that
the quality of relationships between leaders and employees
mediated the influence of transformational leadership
on employee task performance and OCB. We also found that
change frequency moderated the positive association
of relationship quality with task performance and OCB, such
that associations were stronger when change
frequency was high. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Keywords: organizational change; transformational leadership;
relationship quality; change frequency; task
performance; organizational citizenship behavior
Organizational change is a necessity for organizations to
survive and prosper. In fact, most organizations compete by
changing continuously (Brown & Eisenhardt, 1997; Burke,
2002). A continuous incremental change context
comprises frequent, purposeful adjustments that are small but

131. ongoing and cumulative in effect (Brown & Eisenhardt,
1997; Weick & Quinn, 1999). Scholars have argued that
continuous change requires employees to modify not only
work routines but also social practices (e.g., relations with their
managers and peers). To cope with the daily challenge
of real-time adaptation, employees selectively retain effective
elements of their performance routines and integrate them
with new, more efficient ones (Feldman & Pentland, 2003). As a
result, these employees often experience difficulties
and tensions in maintaining prior levels of performance while
adapting to their new job requirements (Kanfer &
Ackerman, 1989).
To mitigate the tensions and facilitate effective performance,
managers must exhibit appropriate leadership
behaviors (Bass & Riggio, 2006; Burke, 2002). Among various
leadership perspectives, transformational leadership
is often linked with managerial effectiveness during
organizational change (Bass & Riggio, 2006; Pawar & Eastman,
1997). Transformational leaders recognize the need for change,
create and share compelling visions with employees,
guide them through adaptations, and inspire them to accomplish
the challenging goal of institutionalizing change
(Bass, 1999). Transformational leadership should be effective in
both Western and non-Western societies (Bass, 1997)
and correlates with individual- and team-level job performance
(Judge & Piccolo, 2004). Surprisingly, however, few
*Correspondence to: Min Z. Carter, Department of Management
and Marketing, Troy University, Troy, Alabama, U.S.A. E-mail:
[email protected]
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2010
annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Montreal,
Canada. We thank Jeremy
Bernerth, Alannah Rafferty, and David Waldman for comments
on earlier drafts of this paper.