Impact of Leadership Styles on Employees’ Outcome:

Mediating Role of Organizational Culture

Makhdoom M. Aamir Duryab Hashmi*, Chaudhry Abdul Rehman† and
Muhammad Ilyas‡

Abstract
Paternalistic Leadership is generally used to make more humane and
moralize workplace. Transformational Leadership qualities lead to
perform beyond expectations in organizations. It is argued that
paternalistic leadership and transformational leadership along with
organizational culture plays an important role in building trust,
satisfaction and commitment in organization. It is important to have an
effective leadership style along with organization culture for
employees/teachers to be more committed, satisfied and trusted which
is necessary for the wellbeing of the organization. This paper
investigates the influential role of leadership styles on employees’
outcome by way of organization culture, organization commitment,
trust and satisfaction. Data will be obtained from 150 individuals
working in public and private universities of Lahore. The mediating
role of organization culture between different leadership styles and
employees’ outcome will also be examined. The findings are expected
to be important for education policy makers and administrative
authorities to improve teaching leadership skills.

Keywords: Paternalistic Leadership, Transformational Leadership,

Culture, Trust, Satisfaction and Commitment.

Introduction
Academic leadership depends on persons who play a major role in
administration of educational institutions. These individuals are at the
core of organizational and individual development that ultimately leads
to society’s development. Process to categorize elements, practices and
features of effective leadership in higher education has been broadly
examined for a long time (Bryman, 2007).
In university environment, Vice Chancellors, Rectors, Heads of
the Departments, Deans, Chairman and Directors are considered as
leaders. Educational sector is totally different from industry setting at
larger perspective. Educational sector has its own dynamics and

*
Makhdoom M. Aamir Duryab Hashmi, Assistant Director Examinations,
University of Education, Lahore. Email: aamirduryab@gmail.com
†
Chaudhry Abdul Rehman, Superior University Lahore, Pakistan
‡
Muhammad Ilyas, Government College Women University Sialkot, Pakistan.
Impact of Leadership styles on Employees’ Outcome… Hashmi, Rehman and Ilyas

characteristic that serves the purpose of educational needs. Studies

conducted by (Bryman, 2007) and Gibbs et al. (2009) investigated
effective leadership in higher education settings to recognize specific
actions, practices and signs of effective leaders such as giving direction,
credibility and trust. Different Leadership styles have different impacts
on employees’ outcome.
Transformational Leadership qualities lead to perform beyond
expectations in organizations (Wang et al., 2011). Paternalism is a socio-
cultural characteristic of Asian, Middle-Eastern and Latin American
cultures (Erben & Guneser, 2008). It refers to the manner in which a
father treats his children in life matters (Aycan, 2006) and it relies on
personalized loyalty to the leader and absolute submission to him. This,
in turn, lead to the paternalistic leader who guides his subordinates in
their professional and personal lives (Pellegrini and Scandura, 2008).
Organizational commitment and job satisfaction increased its
importance over the last few years (Lok and Crawford, 2004). These
comforts predict the input of employees as positive and negative feelings
towards work and the organization that may have powerful effects on the
way employees behave in an organization. Research conducted by
several scholars has shown that leadership and organization’s culture
have significant impact on employee’s commitment, trust and
satisfaction (Lok and Crawford, 2004).
This research will show what is expected by employees in terms
of leadership style, organizational culture, being satisfied with their job,
being committed to an organization and feeling trustworthy. It will also
add value to leadership style, performance and organizational culture
studied being a guide for current and future leaders in their struggle.

Development of Theories and Existing Research Gap

Many past studies are conducted on the issue of leadership style in
various sectors of Pakistan. Rehman and Afsar (2012) examined the
impact of paternalistic leadership on organizational citizenship behavior
and commitment. Their results found a positive relationship among
variables in context of SME’s. The association of paternalistic
leadership and employee outcomes was examined in context of banking
sector by (Anwar, 2013). Paracha et al. (2012) examined the impact of
transformational and transactional leadership styles on employee
performance with the mediating role of job satisfaction in primary
education sector of Pakistani.
Transformational and transactional leadership styles were
examined in context of their impact on achievement motivation on
teaches of HEI’s in Pakistan (Munaf, 2011). Few other studies have

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Impact of Leadership styles on Employees’ Outcome… Hashmi, Rehman and Ilyas

examined the styles of Transformational, Laissez-Faire and Transactional

leadership in teachers of higher education institutions of Pakistan. In
this context, Khan et al. (2011) examined these relationships with extra
role job performance and satisfaction. The predominant literature has
focused on transactional and transformational leadership style (Sarwat et
al., 2011) and paternalistic leadership style that is prevalent in Asian
cultures that has not attained attention particularly in higher education
institutions.
There are many Leadership styles but it is not possible to discuss
all of these as are beyond of this study’s objective. We have used two
key leadership styles i.e. Transformational and Paternalistic leadership.
This study will help to find significant effect of Transformational and
Paternalistic Leadership styles on commitment, trust and satisfaction of
public and private universities of Lahore. On the basis of the results,
suggestions for improvement may be given to the education reform
authorities.

Significance of Research
This study intends to examine the impact of leadership styles of leaders
in public and private universities of Lahore with commitment, trust and
satisfaction using culture as a mediator. Also it would determine the type
of leadership styles which are best for running academic institutions of
higher learning.
This study will help to identify the perceptual gaps among the
various stakeholders and policy makers on the merit and demerits of the
new selection system for the leaders. Based on the initial findings, this
study could be expanded to the universities throughout the province of
Punjab and to compare all 4 provinces in the later stages, to come up
with recommendations for policy makers that which leadership style
(transformational or paternalistic) is more appropriate and effective in
higher education institutions. Investing in education will definitely give
long-term benefit to the overall economy but only if we act in right
direction. Pakistan has its own problems that can be solved only with
appropriate solutions.

Research Objectives
i. To test the affect of leadership styles on employee’s outcome?
ii. To investigate, how does the culture (Bureaucratic, Innovative and
Supportive) affect the relationship between leadership styles and
employee’s outcome?

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Impact of Leadership styles on Employees’ Outcome… Hashmi, Rehman and Ilyas

iii. To examine, whether public universities differ from private

universities in terms of different leadership style’s affect on
employee’s outcome with culture as a mediator?

Hypothesis
H1: Transformational leadership style has an effect on employee’s
satisfaction, commitment and trust
H2: Paternalistic leadership style has an effect on employee’s
satisfaction, commitment and trust
H3: Culture (Bureaucratic, Innovative or Supportive) mediates the
relationship between leadership styles (transformational and
paternalistic) and employees’ outcome (satisfaction, commitment
and trust)
H4: Public universities are different from Private universities in terms of
different leadership styles which have significant affect on
employees’ outcome (satisfaction, commitment and trust) while
culture acts as a mediator.

Theoretical model

Leadership Styles Culture Employees' Outcome

Transformational Satisfaction

Paternalistic Commitment

Trust

Figure1: Theoretical model

Methodology
This is a quantitative research aimed at testing a causal relationship,
hence positivist paradigm is adopted. We used cross sectional survey, as
this is most appropriate method of gathering data given the research
objectives. Following deductive approach, the hypotheses will be tested.

Population and Sampling

For the population of interest, universities which are operating in Lahore
are selected. The main reason to select the city of Lahore is owing to its
metropolitan status and its diverse range of teachers with different
backgrounds across the country. As per recommendation of Stevens
(1996), the reliable sample should be larger than number of predictors

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Impact of Leadership styles on Employees’ Outcome… Hashmi, Rehman and Ilyas

multiply by 15; hence we defined 150 sample size in order to ensure the
collection of minimum required analysis size.
For collection of reliable sample, study used proportionate
approach of Stratified sampling technique. In present research, two
strata’s were developed i.e. Public sector universities and private sector
universities. Teachers from public and private sector universities were
selected as respondents.

Instruments
Paternalistic Leadership Questionnaire is adopted from (Cheng et al.,
2004). It is measured on six point Likert scale. Transformational
Leadership Questionnaire is adopted from (Bass and Avolio, 1997).
Questionnaire for trust, commitment & satisfaction is adopted from (Hon
and Grunig, 1999). It is measured on seven point Likert scale.
Questionnaire for Culture is adopted from (Wallach, 1983).The data will
be collected through self-administered questionnaires to be filled by the
teachers of public and private sector universities of Pakistan.

Data Analysis

Table 1: Reliability Analysis:

Variables Cronbach Alpha No of Items
Transformation Leadership Style .962 12
Paternalistic Leadership Style .891 5
Trust .950 6
Satisfaction .937 5
Commitment .942 4
Culture .890 24

Cronbach’s value is used to measure the internal consistency of the

construct. According to Pallant (2007), value of 0.7 of Cornbach
Alpha is acceptable however value greater than 0.8 is preferable.
The Cornbach Alpha’s for individual factors impact is well above
the minimum requirement and is quite acceptable.

Table 2: Mediation Analysis

Path a Path b Path c Path c’ Path a Path b Path c Path c’
TLS,OC, T PLS, OC, T
Coefficient .3430 .4741 .9839 .8213 .3119 .2612 .8498 .7683
Se .0425 .1553 .0696 .0855 .0331 .1575 .0533 .0722
t-value 8.0772 8.077 14.143 9.604 9.4320 1.657 15.935 10.64
p-value .0000 .0029 .0000 .0000 .0000 .1004 .0000 .0000
DV Model
R2 .6886 .7190
Adj. R2 .6825 .7135
F 112.7651 130.5023

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Impact of Leadership styles on Employees’ Outcome… Hashmi, Rehman and Ilyas

TLS, OC, S PLS, OC, S

Coefficient .3430 .5245 .9613 .7814 .3119 .2428 .8600 .7843
Se .0425 .1676 .0752 .0923 .0331 .1607 .0543 .0736
t-value 8.0772 3.130 12.777 8.466 9.4320 1.510 15.843 10.64
p-value .0000 .0023 .0000 .0000 .0000 .1339 .0000 .0000
DV Model
R2 .6471 .7154
Adj. R2 .6401 .7098
F 93.5045 128.215
TLS, OC, C PLS, OC, C
Coefficient .3430 .4718 1.1021 .9403 .3119 .2822 .9312 .8432
Se .0425 .1791 .0794 .0986 .0331 .1897 .0641 .0869
t-value 8.0772 2.634 13.885 9.533 9.4320 9.432 14.537 9.698
p-value .0000 .0097 .0000 .0000 .0000 .1400 .0000 .0000
DV Model
R2 .6740 .6793
Adj. R2 .6676 .6730
F 105.4402 108.0139
Notes: TLS= Transformational Leadership Style, PLS=Paternalistic Leadership Style,
OC=Organizational Culture, C=Commitment, T=Trust, S=Satisfaction.

Transformational Leadership Style, Organizational Culture and Trust

Results of mediation analysis reflected in Table 2, clearly indicates that
transformational leadership has positive impact with culture as shown by
path A. As path a shows the relationship of independent variable with
mediator i.e. B=.3430, t=8.0772, p=.0000. Similarly, for path b Table 2
clearly indicates positive relationship of culture with trust. As path b,
shows the relationship of mediator with dependent variable i.e. B=.4741,
t=8.0772, p=.0029. Path C, shows total impact of independent variable
on dependent variable including mediator i.e. B=.9839, t=14.1439, and
p=.0000. Similarly path C′, shows total impact of independent variable
on dependent variable excluding mediator i.e. B=.8213, t=9.6040 and
p=.0000, thus, showing the partial mediating impact of culture in
relationship of transformational leadership and trust.

Transformational Leadership Style, Organizational Culture and

Satisfaction
Results of mediation analysis reflected in Table 2, clearly indicates that
transformational leadership has positive impact with culture as shown by
path A. As path a shows the relationship of independent variable with
mediator i.e. B=.3430, t=8.0772, p=.0000. Similarly, for path b Table 2
clearly indicates positive relationship of culture with satisfaction. As path
b, shows the relationship of mediator with dependent variable i.e.
B=.5245, t=3.1302, p=.0023. Path C, shows total impact of independent
variable on dependent variable including mediator i.e. B=.9613,
t=12.7775 and p=.0000. Similarly path C′, shows total impact of
independent variable on dependent variable excluding mediator i.e.
B=.7814, t=8.4667 and p=.0000, thus, showing the partial mediating

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Impact of Leadership styles on Employees’ Outcome… Hashmi, Rehman and Ilyas

impact of culture in relationship of transformational leadership and

satisfaction.

Transformational Leadership Style, Organizational Culture and

Commitment
Results of mediation analysis reflected in Table 2, clearly indicates that
transformational leadership has positive impact with culture as shown by
path A. As path a shows the relationship of independent variable with
mediator i.e. B=.3430, t=8.0772, p=.0000. Similarly, for path b Table 2
clearly indicates positive relationship of culture with commitment. As
path b, shows the relationship of mediator with dependent variable i.e.
B=.4718, t=2.6345, p=.0097. Path c, shows total impact of independent
variable on dependent variable including mediator i.e. B=1.1021,
t=13.8859 and p=.0000. Similarly path c′, shows total impact of
independent variable on dependent variable excluding mediator i.e.
B=.9403, t=9.5334 and p=.0000. This shows that culture partially
mediates the relationship between Transformational leadership and
commitment.

Paternalistic Leadership Style, Organizational Culture and Trust

Results of mediation analysis reflected in Table 2, clearly indicates that
paternalistic leadership has positive impact with culture as shown by path
A. As path a shows the relationship of independent variable with
mediator i.e. B=.3119, t=9.4320, p=.0000. Similarly, for path b Table 2
clearly indicates positive relationship of culture with trust. As path b,
shows the relationship of mediator with dependent variable i.e. B=.2612,
t=1.6579, p=.1004. Path C, shows total impact of independent variable
on dependent variable including mediator i.e. B=.8498, t=15.9356 and
p=.0000. Similarly path C′, shows total impact of independent variable
on dependent variable excluding mediator i.e. B=.7683, t=10.6430 and
p=.0000, thus, showing that culture partially mediates relationship
between paternalistic leadership and trust.

Paternalistic Leadership Style, Organizational Culture and Satisfaction

Results of mediation analysis reflected in Table 2, clearly indicates that
paternalistic leadership has positive impact with culture as shown by path
A. As path a shows the relationship of independent variable with
mediator i.e. B=.3119, t=9.4320, p=.0000. Similarly, for path b Table 2
clearly indicates positive relationship of culture with trust. As path b,
shows the relationship of mediator with dependent variable i.e. B=.2428,
t=1.5107, p=.1339. Path C, shows total impact of independent variable
on dependent variable including mediator i.e. B=.8600, t=15.8437 and

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Impact of Leadership styles on Employees’ Outcome… Hashmi, Rehman and Ilyas

p=.0000. Similarly path C′, shows total impact of independent variable

on dependent variable excluding mediator i.e. B=.7843, t=10.6492 and
p=.0000. This shows that culture partially mediates the relationship
between paternalistic leadership and satisfaction.

Paternalistic Leadership Style, Organizational Culture and Commitment

Results of mediation analysis reflected in Table 2, clearly indicates that
paternalistic leadership has positive impact with culture as shown by path
A. As path A shows the relationship of independent variable with
mediator i.e. B=.3119, t=9.4320, p=.0000. Similarly, for path b Table 2
clearly indicates positive relationship of culture with trust. As path B,
shows the relationship of mediator with dependent variable i.e. B=.2822,
t=9.4320, p=.1400. Path C, shows total impact of independent variable
on dependent variable including mediator i.e. B=.9312, t=14.5371 and
p=.0000. Similarly path C′, shows total impact of independent variable
on dependent variable excluding mediator i.e. B=.8432, t=9.6984 and
p=.0000, thus, showing the partial mediating impact of culture in
relationship between paternalistic leadership and commitment. Results
for mediation analysis show that culture mediates the relationship
between leadership styles and employees’ outcome.

Practical Implications
This research shows what is expected by employees in terms of
leadership style, organizational culture, being satisfied with their job,
being committed to an organization and feeling trustworthy. It adds value
to leadership style, performance and organizational culture studied by
being a guide for current and future leaders in their struggle. Culture
(Bureaucratic, Innovative or Supportive) plays a major role in mediating
the effect of leadership styles (transformational and paternalistic) on
trust, satisfaction and commitment.

Directions for Future Research

There are leadership styles other than transformational and paternalistic.
There is need to study the effect of these other leadership styles in public
and private sector universities to find whether there exists more than one
leadership style in public and private universities.
Although higher education institutes play important role in the
society but this does not mean that lower level educational institutes (i.e.
schools and colleges) are less important. So, there is need to conduct this
study in schools and colleges to find out how leadership style of teachers
affect the different dimensions of students’ education i.e. grades,
personality, attitude, punctuality, interest to learn new knowledge etc.

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Impact of Leadership styles on Employees’ Outcome… Hashmi, Rehman and Ilyas

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