Liderazgo

Ingeniare - Revista Chilena de Ingenieria, vol. 14 N" 2, 2006, pp. 159-166

TRANSFORMATIONAL AND TRANSACTIONAL LEADERSHIP: A STUDY OF THEIR INFLUENCE IN SMALL COMPANIES LIDERAZGO TRANSFORMACIONAL Y TRANSACCIONAL: UN ESTUDIO DE SU INFLUENCIA EN LAS PEQUENAS EMPRESAS
Liliana Pedraja-Rejas' Emilio Rodriguez-Ponce' Milagros Delgado-Almonte' Juan Rodriguez-Ponce'

Recibido el 9 de septiembre de2005, aceptado el 17 de enero de 2006 Received: September 9, 2005 Accepted: January 17, 2006

RESUMEN Este trabajo tiene como objetivo principal descubrir si existe o no infiuencia de los estilos de liderazgo sobre el desempefio en las pequeiias empresas. Para este efecto se trabaja con la tipologia de liderazgo transformacional, liderazgo transaccional y el estilo laissez faire con una muestrade 96 gerentes de pequeflas empresas del norte de Chile. Los resultados observados indican que el estilo de liderazgo transformacional se presenta en un bajo grado en las empresas en estudio, mientras que el estilo transaccional se presenta en un alto grado en las organizaciones estudiadas y el estilo laissez faire es muy poco frecuente. Asimismo, considerando los efectos del liderazgo sobre laeficacia de las pequefias empresas analizadas, se observa que el liderazgo transformacional tiene un impacto positivo sobre la eficacia, en tanto que el liderazgo transaccional y laissez faire tienen un impacto negativo. Palabras clave: Direccion estrategica, liderazgo transaccional, liderazgo transformacional, liderazgo laissez faire, pequefia empresa. ABSTRACT This work aims at finding out whetheror not leadership style influences the performance of small firms. To this purpose, the study utilized the categories of transformational, transactional leadership and laissez faire st}'le, with a sample of 96 managers of small companies in the north of Chile. The results obtained show that, in the organizations studied, transformational leadership is moderate, whereas the transactional style isfrequent and laissez faire style is infrequent. Similarly, with regard to the effects of leadership on the effectiveness of the small companies analyzed, it was found that transformational leadership has a positive impact on performance, whereas transactional leadership and laissez faire style had a negative impact. Keywords: Strategic management, transformational leadership, transactionalleadership, laissez faire leadership, small business.

INTRODUCTION Organization outcomes (i.e. strategic decisions and performance), are partially predetermined by the features of those who participate in administration [19].

This work was based on the premise that in a context of limited rationality, the field of view is limited by the cognitive base and values, thus infiuencing selectiveperception and interpretation, and hence management perception and strategy selection.

Universidad de Tarapaea. Av. 18 de Septiembre 2222 Ariea, Chile. lpedraja@uta.el, erodrigu@uta.el, mdelgado@uta.el, jrodriguez@gniail.eom

Ingeniare - Revista Chilena de Ingenieria, vol. 14 N° 2, 2006

There are several studies that have supported this view, demonstrating that diversity [33], [36], [11],leadership style [ 16], [28], [39], [31 ] and top-management team size [18], [1] are variables that can influence the decisionmaking processes, and consequently, the effectiveness of the organization. Contrarily, the Ecology of Organizations proposes that there is a process of natural selection for the "species" of organizations, which implies that the environment determines who will survive. According tothis theory, the top management team will be composed of passive agents with a minimum impact on corporative development[20], [2], [3], [12]. The present research is focused on discovering whether or not there is any statistically significant relationship between leadership style and effectiveness of small organizations in the Tarapaca region of Chile.

because it has direct effects on the...