Title: Study of authentic-transformational leadership styles in information technology sector - a canonical correlational study

Authors: S. Divya; L. Suganthi

Addresses: Department of Management Studies, College of Engineering, Anna University, Chennai, India ' Department of Management Studies, College of Engineering, Anna University, Chennai, India

Abstract: Leadership study has been a topic of great interest and debate in organisational psychology research for several years. Several leadership theories have been proposed and have evolved over the years. Each leadership trait has been found to have several beneficial outcomes at specific organisational levels. This article aims to empirically study two such successful leadership theories- transformational and authentic. Authentic leadership is a relatively new leadership trait and has been found to elicit positive effects on individual and team level outcomes. While transformational leadership has been analysed extensively over the decades and found to contribute towards organisational improvement at all levels. This article aims to understand if it is possible to combine these two leadership traits so as to maximise the potential success of an individual, team as well as organisation. Canonical correlation is applied to understand how conducive these traits are to each other and if it is possible to train an individual to possess a combination of these two leadership behaviours. The results of this study would be of enormous interest to organisations aiming to gain competitive advantage in terms of talented human resources.

Keywords: authentic leadership; transformational leadership; IT sector; canonical correlation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMCP.2017.087266

International Journal of Management Concepts and Philosophy, 2017 Vol.10 No.4, pp.424 - 444

Received: 16 Mar 2017
Accepted: 07 Apr 2017

Published online: 11 Oct 2017 *

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