Unit-Focused and Individual-Focused Transformational Leadership: The Role of Middle Leaders in the Midst of Incremental Organizational Change

Abstract

Although organizational change depends on leadership, researchers have recently begun to integrate the two bodies of literature. Moreover, researchers have largely overlooked the middle leaders’ role. Our study develops a conceptual framework explaining the role of middle leaders during incremental organizational change. We propose that leader unit-focused transformational leadership influences unit performance via unit change efficacy, individual-focused transformational leadership influences follower change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) via follower change commitment, and change-oriented OCB positively impacts unit performance. Further, we posit that change magnitude moderates the leadership effects on unit change efficacy and follower change commitment, respectively.

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