Leadership Styles and Organisational Commitment in Malaysian Enterprises: A Descriptive Profile and Research Framework

Jie Li; Weixiang Gan; Tara Ahmed Mohammed; Mengfei Xiao

doi:10.6981/FEM.202611_7(11).0019

Authors

Jie Li SEGi University, Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya 47810, Selangor, Malaysia
Weixiang Gan Post Doctorate-Researcher, Lincoln University College, Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan 47301, Malaysia
Tara Ahmed Mohammed SEGi University, Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya 47810, Selangor, Malaysia
Mengfei Xiao Post Doctorate-Researcher, Lincoln University College, Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan 47301, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6981/FEM.202611_7(11).0019

Keywords:

Transformational Leadership; Transactional Leadership; Organisational Commitment; Motivation; Power Distance; Malaysia.

Abstract

This article examines how transformational and transactional leadership can be studied in relation to affective, continuance and normative organisational commitment in Malaysian enterprises. It combines a descriptive profile based on archived age‑and‑gender survey frequency summaries with a literature‑grounded research framework. The descriptive analysis presents reported fieldwork quantities, age and gender composition, and questionnaire item allocation. The displayed category total of 270 is the denominator for within-characteristic demographic shares. The questionnaire account identifies seven constructs and 68 substantive items. The framework distinguishes developmental and inspirational leadership from contingent exchange, and separates emotional attachment, perceived costs of leaving and felt obligation. It treats employee motivation as a distinct construct and individual power-distance orientation as an employee-level interpretation of authority. The contribution is a set of differentiated propositions and research questions for future assessment, accompanied by documentation of the retained descriptive material. The article does not report hypothesis tests or estimate leadership effects. Future studies should examine both leadership constructs together, distinguish motivational quality and types of obligation, and test mediation and moderation through explicitly specified designs. These distinctions provide a basis for investigating commitment without equating attachment with dependence or duty.

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