Uncovering the relationship between transformational leadership, organisational culture, affective commitment and employee performance: the case of a Malaysian educational institute

Leadership in 21st century requires leaders and not managers (Bennis, 2004). Current leaders are expected to be a person with vision, a motivator, an influencer, and a coach (Bass, 1985). Globalization demands organization to seriously consider their leadership style, organizational culture, organizational commitment and employee performance (Lok & Crawford, 2004). This study tested the relationship between Transformational Leadership (TL), Affective Commitment (AC), Organizational Culture (OC) and Employee Performance (EP). These variables are crucial in determining the success of an organization. Education institutes in Malaysia are preparing themselves for globalization and the concern here is are they ready for the challenges to come. This research was specifically conducted in a public listed college university in Malaysia. A simple non-probability convenience sampling method was used to recruit its employee as subjects. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to establish a model that describes the relationships between Organizational Cultural, Transformational Leadership, Affective Commitment and Employee Performance. The objective is to establish a model that makes theoretical sense and provides acceptable fit to the data. Overall ten hypotheses were tested in this study. Six hypotheses on the direct effects and another four were on the indirect or mediatings effects of AC, TL, OC and EP. All hypotheses were supported by the findings except for two. Although this study has its limitations but the study findings were very realiable and well validated. This is a good study to be replicated in other Higher Learning Institutions in Malaysia.