Setting the table: How transformational leadership fosters performance information use

Abstract

The article offers a theory of how leadership affects the implementation of management reforms. The central premise of this theory is that leadership can have important but easy-to-miss indirect effects on organizational factors that shape reform outcomes. To test this question, we examine how transformational leadership influences the implementation of performance reforms, using performance information use as a dependent variable. Previous research suggests that leadership can affect how performance information is used among employees but underspecifies the theoretical mechanisms by which this influence occurs. This article develops a theoretical model that proposes that transformational leaders "set the table" for performance information use via a positive but indirect effect on two mediating factors, goal clarity and organizational culture. A structural equation model using self-reported performance information use as a dependent variable provides empirical evidence consistent with our theory. © The Author 2011.