MAGNT Research Report (ISSN. 1444-8939) Vol.2 (6): PP. 903-912 Investigating the Relationship between Transformational Leadership and Organizational Justice with the Quality of Work Life (Case Study: the Staff of the Directorate General for Health Insurance of Isfahan Province) 1 1,2 Hamid Shekarian 2 Dr. Zohreh Aghababaei Dehaghani and 3 Enayatallah Aghaei Department of Management, Dehaghan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran 3 Islamic Azad University Naragh Branch, Iran Abstract: The objective of the present study is to "investigate the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational justice with the quality of work life of the Staff of the directorate general for Health Insurance of Isfahan Province using a descriptive-correlational study. The population of the study includes all headquarters staff working in the directorate general for Health Insurance of Isfahan Province equaling 197 individuals. Among these individuals, 130 participants were selected randomly as the sample size. The instruments employed in the present study include Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire of Bass and Avolio (1997), the Organizational Justice Questionnaire of Niehoff and Moorman (1993), and the Quality of Work Life Questionnaire of Walton (1974) whose Cronbach's alpha for each questionnaire was obtained as 0. 92, 0. 88 and 0. 72 respectively. The data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage and mean) and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation coefficient). The results obtained from the data analysis indicated that there is a positive and significant correlation between transformational leadership and distributive and interactional justice, and between distributive and interactional justice and work life quality. Accordingly, all hypothesis of the research are confirmed. The main suggestion of the present study is increasing and reinforcing components and features of transformational leadership along with observing justice and fairness among the staff working in this organization. Key words: Organizational justice, Transformational leader, Work life quality. Introduction: In recent years, there have been studies to identify the main role of the health of the staff in the general performance of organizations. During recent decades, the increasing effect of factors such as globalization, IT, the competition among commercial companies and limited natural resources have changed the ideas and attitudes of individual toward the definition of a successful company. In the past, financial resources were the main factor in defining a company as a successful one. In recent years, ethics, work life quality and job satisfaction increasingly are considered as the necessary factors of success and stability of organizations (Koonmee, 2010). During this period, the approach of work life quality has been the topic of a lot of scientific researches in western countries; in spite of the fact that organizations' managers have considered it newly, it has remained tremendous effects on the improvement of the staff's job satisfaction as well as the reduction of their absence and delays (Dolanet al. 2005). Work life quality is considered as a vital issue for organizations in order to be able to attract and maintain human resources. Studies conducted on the issue of work life quality indicate that the more the organizations enhance the measures which enhance work life (DOI: dx.doi.org/14.9831/1444-8939.2014/2-6/MAGNT.111) MAGNT Research Report (ISSN. 1444-8939) quality of the staff, the more the benefits resulting from it are gained by the staff and employers (Saatchi, 1997). Different factors are effective on work life quality among which transformational leadership and organizational justice can be referred to. Nowadays, changes and transformations have been increasing in all dimensions of human life; therefore, to survive and be active, organizations have to be innovative and accompany changes and transformations created in different domains. Traditional management skills including financial talents, the skill of producing products (making) and marketing skills are important factors in most of organizational successes, but they are not sufficient for organizational transformation. When organizations are increasingly challenged by competitive environments, the most vital element, i. e. leadership should be focused on. System can be designed for creating operational efficiency, but it is leadership which makes organizations capable of maintaining their dominant situation (Shirvani and MemarMontazerin, 2010). Leaders who want revive organizations should create an equal level of energy for encountering a future different form that of the past. These leaders lead organizations from present time to the future and employ proper changes and transformations for attainting organizations' objectives. In addition, these leaders produce visions of potential opportunities for the staff and develop among them the commitment to changes and improvement of culture and need to design new strategies for optimally using energy and resource development. Such leaders are called transformational ones. Transformationalleadership providesorganizational systems with the basis and foundation of long-term organizational changes which makes accessible higher objectives. On the other hand, transformational leaders can influence in believes and values of Vol.2 (6): PP. 903-912 their followers and be effective on them. Such leaders, via their behaviors can change the whole organization and cause that their followers trust and be loyal (Ghaderi, 2009). Regarding the importance of the variable of transformational leadership, organizational justice, work life quality in organizations' performance, the present study is to investigate the relationship between work life quality and transformational leadership with the mediating role of organizational justice in the directorate general for Health Insurance of Isfahan Province and presents some applied suggestions for being applied in this organization. In general, it can be said that the realization of the organization's objectives depend each and every three investigated factors in the research. In continuance, the question is whether there is any correlation between transformational leadership and work life quality of the staff of the directorate general for Health Insurance and organizational justice has the mediating role? In addition, investigating the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational justice on the one hand and the relationship between organizational justice and the staff's work life quality are considered. Therefore, the environment and conditions of the organization should be made for the staff in such a way that they be motivated by fair behaviors and also pay attention to leadership style. This issue can result in increasing work life quality. Theoretical framework: a. Transformational leadership The term transformational leadership first was extensively used by Burns (1978), a scholar working within political sciences and was proposed as one of the most dominant theories of organizational behavior. After him, Bass and Avalio extended the ideas proposed by Burns and established the concept of transformational leadership. Their works was founded on Burns' participation, as well as Bennis and Nanus, (DOI: dx.doi.org/14.9831/1444-8939.2014/2-6/MAGNT.111) MAGNT Research Report (ISSN. 1444-8939) (1985), Tichi and Dwana (1986) and others (TaghaviGharabolagh, 2009). Burns identifies that transformational leaders own visions and challenge others and call them to effort. He continues that only those leaders are transformational who are capable of designing necessary paths for new organizations because they are the origins of changes, are dominantly aware of organizations and ride over waves of changes" (AbediJafar and Moradi, 2005). Burns considers the concept of transformational leadership in two macro and micro levels. This concept in the micro level can only be interpersonal (non-organizational), while in the macro level, it is the observer of uniting power resources and creation of transformation in the totality and skeleton of social systems (Sanjaghi, 2001). According to Burns, transformational leadership can be implemented by every situation in organizations. In this kind of leadership, individuals can influence their peers, superordinate and subordinates. This kind of leadership can occur in everyday activities of individuals, however it is not very common (Yukl, 2003: 496). b. Organizational justice Since the issue of justice is by nature is an abstract, analytical and theoretical issue, it always encounters different ideas and views. This diversity can be observed especially after that justice is present in all personal, family aspects and aspects of social macro dimensions and institutions and organizations, in laws and legal systems, philosophy and politics and etc. this issue causes the dispersion of the issue of justice and its definitions and borders. Justice has always been with a kind of ethical judgment and therefore it is an ethical and normative issue. The mentioned diversities cause that justice can be a relative issue and different theories and ideas have different basics and limitations for it in such a way that there are conflicting discussions and debates about it. Vol.2 (6): PP. 903-912 This issue that something is considered the same for everyone or it belongs to one in terms of one's quality or relevant to one's functions and products or needs, or even to one's social status, or according to what the law considers for one, something be for one, these all are the meanings separating ideas and theories from each other (AkhavanKazemi, 2000). According to Hobbes, justice refers to act the commitments which one person has accepted them for the sake of his benefits. Therefore, the basis of justice is social contracts. Hume, who were influenced by the thoughts of Hobbes and was the inspirer of Utilitarianism, considers justice in supplying mutual interests. The issue of justice is principally engendered somewhere which benefits and their conflicts over it are present. Therefore, people can agree about a fair act. Such agreement should be considered fair regarding personal benefits (Bashiriyeh, 2000: 116). Organizational justice is a term which is used for describing the role of justice directly related to job opportunities. Particularly in organizational justice it is presented that with which methods should the staff be treated in order that they feel they are treated fairly (Moorman. 1991). This issue can be related to employing the staff, job promotion, and the staff's benefits. c. Work life quality More than one decade has passed from proposing work life quality (Dolan et al. , 2005). During this time, the concept was thought in the domain of HRM as a global one and its supply and promotion was the key of the success of every organization (Jamshidi, 2000). The concept of work life quality has been applied as diverse methods, an approach in industrial relations, a method for re-designing jobs, participation in group decision making and a movement for promoting efficacy (DOI: dx.doi.org/14.9831/1444-8939.2014/2-6/MAGNT.111) MAGNT Research Report (ISSN. 1444-8939) promotion (Dolan et al. , 2005). Hackman and Oldhams (1980), investigate the concept of work life quality in interaction between workplace and personal requirements. Workplaces capable to properly realize the personal needs of the staffby considering positive effects, they have provided supreme work life quality. They emphasize that personal needs are realized to some extent through receiving rewards from organizations. in a general sense, work life quality is related to a state in which all dimensions of life and it means subjective perception of the staff of an organization from the physical and psychological desirability of workplaces and work conditions (Maadanipoor, 2002). Work life quality in the sense of having correct monitoring, appropriate work conditions, paying favorable benefits and the most important issue, i. e. creating a challenging, participatory and convincing space (Salmani, 2005). Suttle (1977), takes work life quality a degree that work can realize the most important and basic needs of individuals through their experiences in workplaces. In general, jobs in contemporary workplaces usually propose sufficient rewards, benefits and advantages for the staff in order that they do their jobs as the best. This issue is similar to Maslow’s discussion in the hierarchy of needs in which individuals have different levels of needs which organizations have important roles in satisfying these needs (Rethinam& Ismail, 2008). Chaleshtari (2008), in his research, by presenting a model indicated that transformational leadership not only has direct effects on the organizational citizens' behavior, but also its indirect effect is more than its direct one through organizational justice. Therefore, managers of Physical Education Organization, by employing this leadership method can not only increase the staff's perception of organizational justice, but increase the occurrence of their own staff's organizational Vol.2 (6): PP. 903-912 citizens' behaviors in effective organizational efficacy. Furthermore, Nazarpouri and Alizadeh (2012), in a study found out that one of the most important features of each organization for working in the changing conditions of today is to have individuals who tend to participate in successful changes and this issue is possible when individuals feel calm and convenient in their workplaces. In addition, higher education is the main axis of human developmentall over the world which can provide the ground for development by creating required capabilities. Nowadays, the promotion and improvement of work life is considered as one of the most important parts and infrastructures of management and it is highly emphasized. According to the results obtained from this research, it is identified that organizations should pay particular attention to organizational justice as one of the most important factors affecting work life quality of the staff. McFaline (2010), in his research states that the role of distributive justice as a mediating factor in the relations between job commitments, work relations with colleagues, and interchanging leader-member is more than the role of procedural justice. Cangelin&Dessleh (2007), in a research investigates the work life quality and productivity of faculty members of a Pharmacy School. The results indicated that the plans for formal monitoring, particularly for females and faculty members of the Pharmacy School have appropriate effects on their productivity and work life quality. Accordingly, the present study is to investigate the mediating role of organizational justice in relationship between work life quality and transformational leadership. Doubtlessly, investigating such a topic can be a way to enrich the literature of transformational leadership, work life quality and organizational (DOI: dx.doi.org/14.9831/1444-8939.2014/2-6/MAGNT.111) MAGNT Research Report (ISSN. 1444-8939) justice as well as variables related to it. Therefore, the present research is meant to answer the following hypotheses: Vol.2 (6): PP. 903-912 There is a correlation between distributive organizational justice andwork life quality. general for Health Insurance of Isfahan Province equaling 197 individuals among which 130 participants were selected as the sample size. The instruments employed in the study includeMultifactor Leadership Questionnaire of Bass and Avolio (1997), the Organizational Justice Questionnaire of Niehoff and Moorman (1993), and the Quality of Work Life Questionnaire of Walton (1974) whose Cronbach's alpha for each questionnaire was obtained as 0. 92, 0. 88 and 0. 72 respectively. Analyzing the data was conducted using descriptive (frequency, percentage, and mean) and inferential (Pearson correlation coefficient) statistics. There is a correlation between interactional organizational justice and work life quality. Research findings: There is a correlation between transformational leadership and distributive organizational justice. There is a correlation between transformational leadership and interactional organizational justice. There is a correlation between transformational leadership and work life quality. Research hypothesis: 1st hypothesis: there is a correlation between transformational leadership and distributive justice. The present survey study is an applied one conducted using a descriptive method. The population of the study includes all headquarters staff working in the directorate Answering the first hypothesis, Pearson correlation coefficient was used. The results are illustrated in table 1: Table 1: the correlation of transformational leadership and distributive justice among staff working in the directorate general for Health Insurance of Isfahan Province Variable Distributive justice Significance level transformational leadership 74 .0** 00 .0 The results of the above table indicate that there is a direct and significant correlation between transformational leadership and distributive justice at the significance level 99%. This correlation was in such a way that the more the managers of the directorate general for Health Insurance of Isfahan Province enjoy transformational leadership feature, the more the distributive justice will be. This correlation is significant at the significance level 99% (P<0. 001). 2nd hypothesis: there is a correlation between transformational leadership and interactional justice. Answering the first hypothesis, Pearson correlation coefficient was used. The results are illustrated in table 2: (DOI: dx.doi.org/14.9831/1444-8939.2014/2-6/MAGNT.111) MAGNT Research Report (ISSN. 1444-8939) Vol.2 (6): PP. 903-912 Table 2: the correlation of transformational leadership and interactional justice among staff working in the directorate general for Health Insurance of Isfahan Province Variable interactional justice Significance level transformational leadership **0. 68 00 .0 The results of the above table indicate that there is a direct and significant correlation between transformational leadership and interactional justice at the significance level 99%. This correlation was in such a way that the more the managers of the directorate general for Health Insurance of Isfahan Province enjoy transformational leadership feature, the more the interactional justice will be. This correlation is significant at the significance level 99% (P<0. 001). 3rd hypothesis: there is a correlation between transformational leadership and work life quality. Answering the first hypothesis, Pearson correlation coefficient was used. The results are illustrated in table 3: Table 3: the correlation of transformational leadership and work life quality among staff working in the directorate general for Health Insurance of Isfahan Province Variable work life quality Significance level transformational leadership 86 .0** 00 .0 The results of the above table indicate that there is a direct and significant correlation between transformational leadership and work life qualityat the significance level 99%. This correlation was in such a way that the more the managers of the directorate general for Health Insurance of Isfahan Province enjoy transformational leadership feature, the more the degree of work life qualitywill be. This correlation is significant at the significance level 99% (P<0. 001). 4th hypothesis: there is a correlation between distributive justice and work life quality. Answering the first hypothesis, Pearson correlation coefficient was used. The results are illustrated in table 4: Table 4: the correlation of distributive justice and work life quality among staff working in the directorate general for Health Insurance of Isfahan Province Variable work life quality Significance level distributive justice 25 .0** 00 .0 The results of the above table indicate that there is a direct and significant correlation between distributive justice and work life quality at the significance level 99%. This correlation was in such a (DOI: dx.doi.org/14.9831/1444-8939.2014/2-6/MAGNT.111) MAGNT Research Report (ISSN. 1444-8939) Vol.2 (6): PP. 903-912 way that the more the managers of the directorate general for Health Insurance of Isfahan Province enjoy distributive justicefeature, the more the degree of work life quality will be. This correlation is significant at the significance level 99% (P<0. 001). 5th hypothesis: there is a correlation between interactional justice and work life quality. Answering the first hypothesis, Pearson correlation coefficient was used. The results are illustrated in table 5: Table 5: the correlation of interactional justice and work life quality among staff working in the directorate general for Health Insurance of Isfahan Province Variable work life quality Significance level interactional justice 80 .0** 00 .0 The results of the above table indicate that there is a direct and significant correlation between distributive justice and work life quality at the significance level 99%. This correlation was in such a way that the more the managers of the directorate general for Health Insurance of Isfahan Province enjoy interactional justicefeature, the more the degree of work life quality will be. This correlation is significant at the significance level 99% (P<0. 001). Discussion and conclusion Regarding the theoretical framework, the first hypothesis claims that there is a correlation between transformational leadership and organizational distributive justice. This results are consistent with the results of the researches including that of Nazem and Haddadpoor (2012) which declares that transformational and pragmatic leadership styles have a significant correlation with organizational justice and indicate the direct effect of transformational leadership style and pragmatic one on organizational justice. The highest degree of effect was obtained influenced by direct effect of persuading to regular effort in the dimension of transformational leadership and direct effect of active management on exceptions in the dimension of pragmatic leadership on organizational justice. Among the components of justice, distributive justice was considered as the most important factor of organizational justice in this model. Regarding the theoretical framework, the second hypothesis claims that there is a correlation between transformational leadership and interactional organizational justice. Chalashtari (2008), in his research by presenting a model indicated that transformational leadership not only has direct effects on organizational citizens' behaviors, but its indirect effects through organizational justice is more than direct ones. Therefore, the managers of Physical Education Organization, by employing this leadership method can not only increase the staff's perception of organizational justice, but increase the occurrence of their own staff's organizational citizens' behaviors in effective organizational efficacy. Gillett (2013), in a research found that transformational leaders may contribute to work life quality. The results of this study is (DOI: dx.doi.org/14.9831/1444-8939.2014/2-6/MAGNT.111) MAGNT Research Report (ISSN. 1444-8939) consistent with those of the present study and as observed, the present study confirms this hypothesis. Regarding the theoretical framework, the third hypothesis claims that there is a correlation between distributive organizational justice and work life quality. Taheri Attar in a research states that individuals tend to have a fair payment system and job promotion be fair and unambiguous regarding job types and individuals' skills. If the amount of incomes are fair, job satisfaction occurs (Robbins, 2006). It is clear that each person is not meant to earn money by all means. Many people accept willfully to earn less money, but they want to work in the place they desire or in the places where they feel less discrimination. The main key of relating the amount of income with job satisfaction is not the amount they receive, but this issue depends the perception they have from observing justice in organizations. The existence of qualified and loyal staff with great motivation provides the ground for organizational development because in the circle of the competitive age, that organization wins which attracts efficient human resources and tries to make them capable and developed before implementation and maintain the fair and motivating system. The findings of this study is consistent with those of the present study and the hypothesis is confirmed. Regarding the theoretical framework, the fourth hypothesis claims that there is a correlation between interactional organizational justice and work life quality. The results of the present study is consistent with those of Nazaripoor and Arefnejad (2012). These researches, with the confidence level 95% found that virtual leadership is positively effective on work life quality. In addition, they pointed out that organizational justice has positive effect on work life quality and has the Vol.2 (6): PP. 903-912 role of a mediator for the effect of virtual leadership on work life quality. They also found out that one of the most characteristics of each organization for working in the changing conditions of today is to have individuals who tend to participate in successful changes and this issue is possible when individuals feel calm and convenient in their workplaces. In addition, higher education is the main axis of human development all over the world which can provide the ground for development by creating required capabilities. Nowadays, the promotion and improvement of work life is considered as one of the most important parts and infrastructures of management and it is highly emphasized. According to the results obtained from this research, it is identified that organizations should pay particular attention to organizational justice as one of the most important factors affecting work life quality of the staff. In fact, the perception of the staff from fairness of the procedures based on which rewards are distributed and organizational decision making are adopted (procedural justice) and observing fairness and interactions with the staff (conversational justice) are considered as the consequences effective on work life quality. Furthermore, virtual leadership and concentration on visions and creating feelings and perceptions to the type of friendship in organizations, reinforcing hope in the staff are the secondary factors affecting the staff's work life quality. In the present hypothesis, the significance of the correlation between interactional justice and work life quality is confirmed. Resources: A group of professors of management (2002). 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