Transformational leadership has been discussed as a way to promote high performance especially in an uncertain and distressed situation. But there is little knowledge about the process through which it exerts influence on team performance.
In this study, two aspects of transformational leadership process are investigated in the R＆D project team context. One aspect is motivational process through which transformational leadership affects team performance directly. The other aspect is cultural process through which transformational leadership influences team climate and in turn, team climate has effects on the team performance. Empirical study is conducted using survey data from 252 R＆D project teams in both 6 government-sponsored research institutes and 9 private R＆D centers in Korea.
Transformational leadership dimensions from Bass' MLQ(charisma, inspiration, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration) are closely correlated with team climate dimensions(autonomy, cooperation, change orientation) with the exception of tension. Multiple regression analyses shows that transformational leadership has both direct and indirect effects (through team climate) on team members' perception of team efficacy. But there exists no significant relationship between transformational leadership and team performance assessed by panels. Project uncertainty moderates some relationships between charisma and outcome variables(team climate and performance). Also, some effects of transformational leadership on outcomes are higher in government-sponsored research institutes than private R＆D centers.
In addition, construct-level validity of aggregated measures of transformational leadership and climate are tested with $r_{wg}$ and WABA.
