A study on the relationship between leader empowering behaviour and organisational commitment in Maltese enterprises

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to discuss empowerment in the workplace as an outcome of the Transformational Leadership model exploring organisational commitment as a desired result of leader empowering behaviour. The research explores this relationship within the context of local organisations, and more specifically, within the SME context. Konczak et al.’s (2000) instrument of Leader Empowering Behaviour is used alongside Meyer et al.,’s (1993) Organisational Commitment Questionnaire. The research methods consisted of a review of relevant literature on leadership and organisational commitment together with the collection and analysis of quantitative data (n=161) using descriptive statistics and non-parametric testing. The findings from this research indicate a relationship between leader empowering behaviour and organisational commitment which differs across organisational contexts. More importantly, the research suggests that human interactions exert influence on organisational outcomes.