Idealized influence and commitment: a granular approach in understanding leadership

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between the idealized influence component of transformational leadership (TL) and employee organizational commitment in two different cultural contexts. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from the members of two manufacturing organizations, one in Australia and one in Iran. Questionnaires were distributed to all levels of the two organizations. In total, 189 completed questionnaires were returned from the two countries, representing a response rate of 56.7%. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test the hypotheses. Findings The results demonstrated statistically significant relationships between two forms of idealized influence -attributed and behavior - and the employees' organizational commitment in the Iranian sample. However, in the Australian sample, only idealized influence behavior showed a significant impact on employee commitment. Furthermore, the findings showed that identified motivation mediates the relationship between idealized influence behavior and organizational commitment. Practical implications The findings of the current research point to additional ways of increasing identified motivation that, in turn, enhances organizational commitment through leadership practices that are culturally informed. These findings are especially salient in culturally diverse and multinational organizations. Originality/value This paper has arrived at a deeper explanation of the processes through which leader behavior can produce employee commitment by clarifying the mediation role of identified motivation between idealized influence behavior and organizational commitment.