Impact of Perceived Transformational Leadership on Productivity of Information Technology Professionals in Sri Lanka: Mediating Effect of Organizational Commitment

Abstract

Today, the IT industry in Sri Lanka hiring cost of IT professionals is rising day by day. Therefore, the problem is how employers could motivate IT professionals to achieve organizational goals and how to lead employees to improve productivity. The leadership style of a leader will not only effect on achieving organizational goals, but also employee performance. But in management research area the Transformational Leadership had played an extensive role and it influences on employee productivity. This study attempts to assess the impact of perceived transformational leadership on productivity of IT professionals in Sri Lanka with the mediating effect of organizational commitment. For the quantitative survey, a total of 202 questionnaires were collected using simple random sampling technique and the sample size of this research is based on Krejcie & Morgan’s (1970) formula. Sample size is determined as 270 based on calculation for a general population and 90% confidence level and 5% of standard margin error. The population of this study was IT Professionals in Sri Lanka, who are directly working in ICT organizations. The effective response rate is 75% and the results show that the productivity of IT professionals is moderate and positively influenced by transformational leadership. In addition to that, organizational commitment was found to be a partial mediator between transformational leadership and employee productivity. Thus, research findings remind organizational mangers should work as leaders and explore the transformational leadership styles to improve the productivity of employees and thereby it will eventually improve employee’s organizational commitment. The results of this research are thought to be very helpful in future studies and it can be conducted as a case study for other organizations. Correspondingly, it can be conducted based on other leadership styles with IT professionals and depending on the industry area leadership styles can be changed and it will be beneficial for the development of employee productivity.