Title: Impact of transformational leadership on quality of work life: the mediating effect of organisational justice

Authors: Kaniz Marium Akter; Swee Mei Tang; Zurina Adnan

Addresses: Department of Management, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Tangail, Bangladesh ' Department of HRM, School of Business Management, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Kedah, Malaysia ' School of Business Management, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Abstract: Working life is an important part of people's overall lives. Research on service employees' working life is essential due to the nature of the job. This study aimed to investigate the impact of transformational leadership (TL) on the quality of work life (QWL) and test the mediation effect of organisational justice (OJ), based on the social exchange theory. Three hundred and twenty-three full-time operational employees of Bangladeshi hotels participated in a questionnaire survey. Employing a PLS-SEM approach, a measurement model tested the data, and a structural model tested the research hypotheses. Results found a strong impact of TL on the operators' QWL, and a significant mediating effect of OJ in the aforementioned relationship. The implications of hotels' transformational leadership and organisational justice for operators' working life are tremendous that contributed to QWL, TL, and OJ literature. Although the results may not be generalised, they offer some fascinating insights that point to potential directions for future research.

Keywords: quality of work life; QWL; transformational leadership; organisational justice; hotel industry.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMP.2025.147615

International Journal of Management Practice, 2025 Vol.18 No.4, pp.397 - 420

Received: 01 Aug 2023
Accepted: 15 Aug 2024
Published online: 24 Jul 2025 *

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