Transformational Leadership and the Performance of Research and Development Project Groups

A longitudinal study was conducted of transformational leadership and the performance of project groups in three industrial research and development organizations. As hypothesized, transformational leadership predicted higher project quality and budget/schedule performance ratings at time I and one-year later at time 2. A moderator effect was hypothesized and found for type of research and development work. Here, transformational leadership was a stronger predictor of project quality ratings for research projects than for development projects. Initiating structure, however was a stronger predictor of project quality ratings for development projects than for research projects. Theoretical and methodological issues for transformational leadership research in professional organizations are discussed.