Summary
The article Transformational leadership and service quality in UAE hospitals was written by Naceur Jabnoun and Aisha Rasasi in 2005. The authors examine the relationship between service quality and transformational leadership in UAE hospitals (Jabnoun & Rasasi, 2005, p. 70). The researchers examine patients’ perceptions of service quality. Moreover, they investigate medical workers’ views on the leadership strategies adopted by hospital administrators.
One of the tasks that the scholars set is to determine whether transformational leadership can contribute to the improvement of service quality in medical institutions. In particular, they focus on such aspects as reliability, empathy, or responsiveness (Jabnoun & Rasasi, 2005, p. 75). Furthermore, this study is supposed to throw light on current practices used in UAE hospitals. Researchers pay close attention managers’ ability to implement the principles of transformational leadership. These are the main questions that Naceur Jabnoun and Aisha Rasasi examine.
Key Learning Points
There are several words, phrases and expressions that the authors consistently use in their article. One of them is service quality (Jabnoun & Rasasi, 2005, p. 70). It should be noted that the authors single out several dimensions of quality, namely reliability, empathy, responsiveness, assurance, and tangibles (Jabnoun & Rasasi, 2005, p. 75). The key point that the authors make is that service quality can and should be measured quantitatively. These data should be the main indicator of organizational efficiency. The second concept which the authors frequently mention is transformational leadership. This term describes a variety of strategies that enable a leader to bring improvements through intellectual stimulation, active encouragement of worker’s initiatives, and creating a vision that appeals to employees (Marshall, 2010, p. 4).
One of the ideas that the authors emphasize is that transformational leadership is strongly related to service quality. Additionally, one can refer to such a concept as transactional leadership which the authors compare to transformational approach (Jabnoun & Rasasi, 2005, p. 73). This model implies that a leader strongly relies on rewards and punishments in order to improve the performance of employees (Marshall, 2010, p. 17). Yet, little attention is paid to the intellectual stimulation of workers and their values (Marshall, 2010, p. 17). These are the notions that the authors focus on. In my opinion, these concepts are of great importance to business administrators.
Statements relevant to the session
This article contains some statements that are relevant to this course and the readings. In particular, I would like to distinguish the following claims made by Naceur Jabnoun and Aisha Rasasi in their research article:
- “Transformational leaders guide their subordinates toward performance beyond established standards and goals – emphasizing employee empowerment, rather than dependence” (Jabnoun & Rasasi, 2005, p. 72). Overall, this sentence describes the main principles of this leadership approach.
- Transformational leadership can be “associated with higher quality and productivity while management by exception is associated with poor quality” (Jabnoun & Rasasi, 2005, p. 78). This is by far the most important statement made by the authors. It means that managers should not focus only those situations when employees underperform. Instead, they should continuously empower workers and encourage their initiatives.
- “Passive avoidant leadership has been found to be almost uniformly negatively correlated with organizational outcomes” (Jabnoun & Rasasi, 2005, p. 78). In this way the writers attempt to emphasize the idea that a leader should be pro-active when interacting with employees.
- “Transactional leadership has been noted to result in lower quality and productivity than transformational leadership” (Jabnoun & Rasasi, 2005, p. 78). In other words, the authors say that empowerment of employees and their intellectual stimulation can be more effective than mere use of rewards and punishments. These are the main statements that are relevant to the course. These claims can have profound implications for managers and organizational leaders.
Critical analysis
Overall, this article is easy to understand, because the authors clearly describe their main research questions and the research methodology. Moreover, the scholars explain the relations between dependent and independent variables in detail. In my view, this study is well-designed, and their findings can be relevant to many practitioners who work in medical institutions. Overall, the ideas discussed by Naceur Jabnoun and Aisha Rasasi are familiar to me. Such notions as transformational or transactional leadership have been discussed in many textbooks, articles, or empirical studies. Overall, the principles of transformational management have long been popular among business administrators.
Many academic works emphasize the benefits of transformational leadership. Yet, I can say that the researchers throw a new light on the advantages or disadvantages of different leadership style. Moreover, they show how transformational leadership affects the work of medical institutions. This research shows how administrators can improve the work of healthcare organizations, and this is the main strength of the study. Overall, the findings of the authors do not contradict my views on management. I also believe that a person, who acts as a leader within an organization, should empower employees, stimulate their creativity, and encourage their initiatives.
Only in this way, they can improve organizational performance and the quality of their work. This argument is supported by other researchers; for instance, Adam Grant (2012) reports that inspirational motivation and intellectual stimulation helps governmental organizations improve their performance (p. 459). Thus, one can tell that the principles of transformational management can be applicable to different organizational settings. In my view, the study carried out by Naceur Jabnoun and Aisha Rasasi is very useful because the authors empirically demonstrate the effects of transformational leadership on organizational performance. More importantly, similar studies can be replicated in other companies or public organizations.
Practical implications
The findings derived in the course of the study can be applied to other business or public organizations. Judging from my experience, I can tell that employees attach much importance to the behavior of a leader especially such aspects as inspirational motivation or intellectual stimulation. The use of rewards and punishment can yield some short-term results, but this strategy does not ensure that workers want to improve their skills or acquire new ones. On the whole, there are several lessons that I have learned.
First of all, managers should remember that employees’ satisfaction with their work depends on their ability to fulfill their talents and take creative decisions. The task of leader is to provide workers with such an opportunity. Secondly, performance cannot be improved only by punishing or rewarding workers. Such an approach does not affect their attitude toward work. Finally, business administrators should seek empirical evidence that can tell whether their strategies can be effective. Only in this way, they can take informed decisions.
Reference List
Grant, A. M. (2012). Leading with Meaning: Beneficiary Contact, Prosocial Impact, and the Performance Effects of Transformational Leadership. Academy Of Management Journal, 55(2), 458-476.
Jabnoun, N. & Rasasi, A. (2005). Transformational leadership and service quality in UAE hospitals. Managing Service Quality, 15(1), 70-81.
Marshall, E. (2010). Transformational Leadership in Nursing: From Expert Clinician to Influential Leader. New York: Springer Publishing Company.