Thesis 2013 0220 PDF

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The Role of Transformational Leadership Behaviors in Affective Employee

Engagement: An empirical study in the two industries of retail and financial
services in Ho Chi Minh City
ABSTRACT
According to many previous studies, the effective leaders are one of the most
important factors in engaging the employees to the organization; leveraging the
human capital to create sustainable competitive advantage for the organization
efficacy and leading to organizational benefits. The purpose of this study was to
investigate the relationship between transformational leadership behaviors and
affective employee engagement and to examine their impact on employees level of
affective engagement in private and foreign-owned companies in Ho Chi Minh
City. Total participants in the research were 320 full-time employees from the
industry of retailing and financial services in Ho Chi Minh City. The majority of
employees have worked in private organizations (55.3%) and followed by foreignowned companies (44.7%); in financial services (53.4%) and in retail industry
(46.6%) respectively.
The findings of the study indicated that transformational leadership behaviors

including intellectual stimulation, idealized influence behaviors and individual
consideration have significant and positive correlations with affective employee
engagement. Among the independent variables, individual consideration is found to
be the most important factor in driving affective employee engagement.
The research results have contributed to the literature and provided more evidences
for the managers in their decisions of their workforce planning. However, the
sample for the research is still limited due to the application of convenient sampling
method and surveyed only in Ho Chi Minh City. Therefore, the generalization is not
so high; the study might have not covered all the demographic factors; and also
some other important variables were not considered all due to the scope of the
study. All the restrictions will motivate the next researchers in this interesting topic.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am deeply grateful to my advisors, Dr. Nguyen Huu Lam and Dr. Nguyen Dinh
Tho for the guidance and comments through the process of completing this thesis.
Without the support and encouragement from Dr. Lam and Dr. Tho, the thesis
might not be possible in meeting the requirements and expectations of the research.
I also extend my thanks my classmates in sharing with me the ideas; store managers
in Crescent Mall in district 7 and MBA students at the University of HCMC
Economics in filling in the questionnaires.
I would like to acknowledge the support and encouragement of my family in the

concession of time, money and effort to complete the program. Most of all, I would
like to be grateful to my Buddha for giving me good health, optimism and strength
to finish the study.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................1
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................3
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................4
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION .........................................................................8
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY .................................................................8
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ..............................................................10
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ....................................................................11
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS .............................................................................12
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ................................................................12
1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY ...............................................................................13
1.7 STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY ....................................................................13
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ...........................................................14
2.1 INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................14
2.2 THE CONCEPT OF LEADERSHIP ..............................................................15
2.3 THE EVOLUTION OF LEADERSHIP THEORIES .....................................15
2.4 LEADERSHIP MODEL .................................................................................17
2.5 FIVE DIMENSIONS OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP
BEHAVIORS ........................................................................................................18
2.5.1 Idealized influence (Attributes) (IIA): leaders instill pride and build trust
...........................................................................................................................18
2.5.2 Idealized influence (Behaviors) (IIB): leaders emphasize collective sense
of mission, talk about values and beliefs ..........................................................18
2.5.3 Inspirational motivation (IM): leaders communicate and express
enthusiasm, optimism, confidence, and emotional appeals. .............................18
2.5.4 Intellectual stimulation (IS): leaders stimulate followers to view the
world from new perspectives; encourages problem solving, critical thinking
and creativity. ....................................................................................................18
2.5.5 Individual consideration (IC): leaders develop, coach, and teach each
follower to grow individually by paying attention to individual needs, desires
and assigning projects. ......................................................................................18
2.6 THE CONCEPT OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT ....................................19
2.7 THE EVOLUTION OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT ...............................20
2.8 TWO DIMENSIONS OF AFFECTIVE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT ......21
2.9 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRANSFORMATIONAL
LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT .................22
2.10 RESEARCH MODEL AND HYPOTHESES ..............................................24
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ...........................................26
3.1 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH ........................................................................26
3.1.1 Sampling ...................................................................................................26
3.1.2 Data collection and In-depth interview ...................................................26
3.2 QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH .....................................................................27
3.2.1 Response rate and sample size .................................................................27

3.2.2 Data sources and type ..............................................................................29
3.2.3 Data gathering instruments .....................................................................30
3.2.3.1 Multifactor leadership questionnaire ...............................................30
3.2.3.2 Affective employee engagement questionnaire .................................31
3.2.4 Independent and dependent variables of the study ..................................32
3.2.5 Data analysis and presentation procedures ............................................33
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND FINDINGS ....................................................34
4.1 DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PARTICIPANTS ..........34
4.2 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS FOR TRANSFORMATIONAL
LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS AND AFFECTIVE EMPLOYEE
ENGAGEMENT ...................................................................................................36
4.2.1 Employees perception to Transformational leadership behaviors ..........37
4.2.2 Employees perception to their organizational engagement.....................37
LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS AND AFFECTIVE EMPLOYEE
ENGAGEMENT ...................................................................................................38
4.4 SCALE ASSESSMENT .................................................................................40
4.4.1 Cronbach Alpha .......................................................................................40
4.4.2 Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) .........................................................42
4.4.2.1 Independent variables .......................................................................43
4.4.2.2 Dependent variables .........................................................................44
4.5 CORRELATION AND REGRESSION ANALYSIS ....................................44
4.5.1 Correlation analysis .................................................................................44
4.5.2 Regression analysis ..................................................................................45
4.5.2.1 Assessment of the model ....................................................................45
4.5.2.2 Testing of the hypotheses ..................................................................49
4.6 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .....................................................................51
4.6.1 Regression analysis ..................................................................................51
4.6.1.1 Intellectual stimulation .....................................................................51
4.6.1.2 Idealized influence behaviors............................................................52
4.6.1.3 Idealized influence attributes and inspirational motivation .............52
4.6.1.4 Individual consideration ...................................................................52
4.6.2 Industry analysis ......................................................................................53
4.6.3 Discussion of the results ..........................................................................53
4.6.4 Summary ...................................................................................................54
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION 55
5.1 CONCLUSIONS .............................................................................................55
5.2 THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE STUDY ..................................................56
5.2.1 Contributions to the literature .................................................................56
5.2.2 Contributions to the practices ..................................................................56
5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................57
5.3.1 Recommendations for the organizations and managers in Ho Chi Minh
City ....................................................................................................................57
5.3.2 Recommendation for future research .......................................................59

5.4 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY ..................................................................60
REFERENCES ..........................................................................................................61
Appendix A: Total Variance Explained ....................................................................66
Appendix B: Rotated Component Matrixa ................................................................67
Appendix C: Total Variance Explained ....................................................................68
Appendix D: Rotated Component Matrixa ................................................................69
Appendix E: KMO and Bartlett's Test ......................................................................69
Appendix F: KMO and Bartlett's Test ......................................................................69
Appendix G: ANOVAa .............................................................................................70
Appendix H: Histogram Dependent Variable AC ....................................................70
Appendix I: Normal P-P Plot of Regression Standardized Residual Dependent
Variable AC ..............................................................................................................71
Appendix J: Scatterplot Dependent Variable AC .....................................................72
Appendix K: ANOVAa .............................................................................................72
Appendix L: Histogram Dependent Variable SC .....................................................73
Appendix M: Normal P-P Plot of Regression Standardized Residual Dependent
Variable SC ...............................................................................................................74
Appendix N: Scatterplot Dependent Variable SC ....................................................75
Appendix O: Questionnaire (in English) ..................................................................76
Appendix P: Questionnaire (in Vietnamese) ............................................................81
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Location for paper survey, sample size and response rates ........................28
Table 2: Independent and Dependent variables ........................................................32
Table 3: Summary of Employees profile .................................................................35
Table 4: Mean and Standard Deviations of Transformational Leadership Behaviors
and Affective Employee Engagement for employees responses .............................36
Table 5: Pearson correlation matrix between transformational leadership behaviors
and affective employee engagement dimensions ......................................................39
Table 6: Cronbach Alpha ..........................................................................................41
Table 7: Result of EFA for Independent variables ...................................................43
Table 8: Result of EFA for Dependent variables ......................................................44
Table 9: Correlation analysis ....................................................................................45
Table 10: Summary (AC) ..........................................................................................46
Table 11: Summary (SC) ..........................................................................................46
Table 12: Anova (AC) ...............................................................................................46
Table 13: Anova (SC) ...............................................................................................47
Table 14:Profile of Independent variables ................................................................47
Table 15: Profile of Independent variables ...............................................................48
Table 16: Summary of results of hypotheses ............................................................50
Table 17: Industry analysis .......................................................................................53
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Proposed Research Model .........................................................................24
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

In Vietnam News (2002), it showed that:
More than 43% of employees in Vietnam express high levels of commitment

to both their job and the company they work for. In its global employee
commitment report 2002 Taylor Nelson Sofre says the commitment
percentage in Vietnam is higher than the average in the Asia-Pacific region
and Europe, but slightly lower than in the United States and Latin America.
And then in Thanhnien News (2008), it is suggested that:
Vietnam needs more skilled workers since its WTO accession. The survey by
Grant Thornton, a global accounting, tax and business advisory firm which
involved over 7,800 privately held businesses in 34 countries shows that 84
percent of Vietnamese companies focus on recruiting and retaining staff,
compared to a global average of only 59 percent. Vietnamese companies
focus more on attracting and retaining employees than do companies
elsewhere.
Employee retention is considered the greatest challenge for businesses in Vietnam

and becomes a hot topic for discussions for any workshops of human resource
managers. Vietnamese employees aggressively accelerate their career to better
positions, challenging jobs and better pay. In a survey of Navigos Group, the
leading and largest executive recruitment solution provider reported in Vietnam
Plus (2010) 63,8 percent of respondents from 168 companies operating in Vietnam
including foreign-invested ones ranked the employee retention as the number one
human resource challenge in 2010. And it also confirmed getting the right people
into the right job with the right skills and to have them stay and grow are missions
which will keep human resource personnel busy in 2010. As long as this is the fact,
employee retention is hard work.
According to Towers Watson (2011) in a briefing of engagement indicator survey,

Vietnam labor market has experienced a fierce talent war in which Vietnamese
employers are trying to engage their talent through some employee engagement
programs. In the Towers Watsons data, it also showed that employee engagement
levels in Vietnam have remained steady over the last five years (currently 78%
favorable) and higher than employee engagement levels in the overall Asia Pacific
Region (currently 74% favorable). However, employee intent to continue working
for their current companies is lower in Vietnam (54%) compared to Asia Pacific
(61%). In other words, the war for talent is fiercer in Vietnam than elsewhere in
Asia Pacific because employees are at higher risk of leaving.
It is clear evidence that employee engagement has become one of the most leading
priorities for human resource practitioners and senior managers in the organization
today in Vietnam. It is also the role of HR managers and line mangers to understand
what are the critical factors affecting employees to get their high commitment to the
company. Based on that, the managers come up with strategic action plans to
engage their employees into the sustainability of the organization. These
requirements from the reality are really urgent for the managers in Vietnam to deal
with them in their daily managerial works.
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1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Nowadays, the workplace changes day by day and requires products and services to
keep in line with this demand. In order to remain competitive, employee
engagement is one of the most important factors in the face of these pressures.Since
employee engagement is strongly correlated to the leadership behaviors of direct
mangers and this concerns a focus on improving the quality of leadership in
achieving greater employees to engage to the organization and its sustainable
growth, and the profitability as well. Many researchers have revealed that employee
engagement and leadership behaviors are of crucial determinants in the
organizational success. However, leadership is one of the least understood concepts
in the corporate world and the term of employee engagement should also be
considered in many dimensions to result in a full picture of this relationship.
Beverly and John (2008) shows indisputable links between employee engagement
and various measurements of financial success in which a US survey of 24 publicly
listed traded companies with a total of over 250,000 employees over the last 5 years
recognized the stock prices of 11 companies with highest engagement increased an
average of 19.4% in comparison to only 8% of those in the same industries. Several
surveys also reveals that companies with high employee engagement levels
experienced a higher operating margin, net profit margin, revenue growth and
earnings per share than those with low employee engagement.
It is clear that employee performance or behavior on the job is influenced by his or

her immediate manager and its positive relationship will be essential to
strengthening employee engagement. So, to improve the quality of leadership and
management can be the most important step in keeping the employee committed to
the organization.
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On the contrary, engagement is also complicated and continuous for further

research then it requires a simultaneous solution as the employees can be
emotionally engaged, cognitively engaged or physically engaged.
According to Towers Watson (2012), the voluntary turnover rate in Vietnam was
15,8% in 2010 and 13,1% in 2011. The main reason is due to the conflicts and
disagreement with their direct managers behaviors. Academicians, researchers and
practitioners have highlighted the significant influence that managers can have on
engagement levels of the employees. Effective managers can have more engaged
staffs and the quality of the relationship between a manager and employees is one of
the most crucial factors driving engagement. Towers Perrin (2006, as cited in
Gemma and Carl, 2009) posits that many of the factors that influence employee
engagement and retention are factors directly and indirectly within the managers
control.
Many previous researches have demonstrated the positive relationship between

leadership behaviors and employee engagement. However, the number of studies
conducted in Vietnam in general and in specific organizations or industries are
lacking and limited. Therefore, this research is considered important to test the link
between transformational leadership behaviors and affective employee engagement
in the industry of retail and financial services in Ho Chi Minh City and also to
explore employees perceptions on these behaviors.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The research is to explore the relationship between transformational leadership

behaviors and affective employee engagement in the industry of retail and financial
services in Ho Chi Minh City. To achieve the goal, the specific objectives of the
study are:
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To examine the relationship between transformational leadership behaviors

and two dimensions of affective employee engagement.
To identify the employees perceptions about the transformational leadership
behaviors and two dimensions of affective employee engagement.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Specific research questions are:
1) What are the perceptions of employees in the industry of retail and financial
services about transformational leadership behaviors and two dimensions of
affective employee engagement?
2) What is the relationship between transformational leadership behaviors and
two dimensions of affective employee engagement?
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
Firstly, the result of the research is important to bring the awareness to the
managers in Ho Chi Minh City about the determinant variables in influencing the
engagement level of the employees in their organization.
Secondly, it will be useful as the reference or guidance for the others to conduct
further studies in related topics and other organizations regards to similar problems.
Thirdly, it is believed the research can add more value to the literature on leadership
behaviors and employee engagement, especially in Vietnam setting.
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1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The focus of this study is to examine the relationship between transformational

leadership behaviors and affective employee engagement in the industry of retail
and financial services in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Of course, the data for the
study is delimited to the surveyed employees of the two industries in Ho Chi Minh
City.
The study can also cover its limited share of the sampling frame which only
considered a particular group and therefore the results cannot be generalized to
represent for the whole industry or other various types of organizations in Vietnam.
1.7 STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY

The thesis is organized into five chapters as follows
Chapter one: presents the background of the study, describes the problem
statements, research objectives, significance of the study.
Chapter two: provides literature review.
Chapter three: focuses on the research methodology, describes data
collection and analysis methods.
Chapter four: analyses and presents the research findings by showing how
each of the questions has been answered and how the findings contribute to
the purpose of the study.
Chapter five: provides the conclusions, limitations and recommendations.
The end of the thesis includes references, appendices and questionnaires of the
survey form to collect primary data for the work.
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CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Leadership refers to the tools, behaviors and capability that a person needs in order
to be successful at motivating and directing others. While employee engagement
(Kahn, cited in Jessica and Helena, 2011) concerns the degree to which individuals
make full use of their cognitive, emotional, and physical resources to perform rolerelated work.
When people talk about high-performing employee retention, they often focus on
financial and non-financial incentives. However, researches from all over the world
show that there is another mutual link of leadership behaviors in keeping the staff
engaged at work. All organizations expect to have engaged employees and willingly
to spend their resources to improve employee engagement. And one of the
antecedents of employee engagement is leadership behaviors.
Researchers believe that leadership is one of the most important organizational

factors having direct impact on the motivation, satisfaction and the performance of
individuals. Tichy and Cohen (as cited in Salman, Riaz, Saifullah, and Rashid,
2011) said that the scarcest resource in the world today is the leadership talent
capable of continuously transforming organizations to win in tomorrows world.
The individuals and organizations that build leadership engines and invest in leaders
developing other leaders have a sustainable competitive advantage.
Moreover, Kotter and Haskett (as cited in Salman et al, 2011) consider leadership as
a single most important factor in making organizational change and establish its
strategic direction. In reality, the relationship between the leaders and employees is
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a causal link and has a mutual link on each other. The leader behaviors will have a
direct impact on staff performance and engagement.
2.2 THE CONCEPT OF LEADERSHIP
There is no single correct definition of leadership as various researchers explore in

different aspects and leadership is also a complex phenomenon involving the leader,
the followers and the situation. Researchers may focus on the relationships between
the leader and the followers; the physical traits, behaviors, personality; or the
situations that affect the ways the leader acts.
Leadership can be understood in different definitions as the process a leader induces

a subordinate to behave in a desired manner; direction and coordination for the
work of group members; an interpersonal relation others comply because they want
to; the process of influencing a group towards achieving the goals; or the actions
that focus resources to create opportunities (Richard, Robert, and Gordon, 2009).
2.3 THE EVOLUTION OF LEADERSHIP THEORIES
Leadership traits
The theory considers leaders to possess some abnormal abilities to set them apart,
make them different from others and bring them to success. It also supports the
leaders might obtain some universal characteristics that the others cannot. The study
of leadership is to attend to the traits of the person, also called Great Man theory
and assumes leaders are born rather than are made (Sharon, 2003).The
shortcomings of this theory are that they cannot measure the leaders performance
and attend to different circumstances.
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Leadership behaviors
The approach focuses on what the leaders do rather than what are their qualities. It
also considers the correlation of leaders behaviors, effectiveness, and task.
If the leaders can show these behaviors, they will satisfy the members, enhance the
relationship and social stability of the group.
Situational leadership
The approach considers the effectiveness of a leader to depend on some specific

situations, the nature of the work, the nature of environment, and subordinates. So it
proposes the styles of leadership might be different in different levels in the
organization.
Situation leadership also can be leadership traits or leadership behaviors depending
on the leaders actions or responses in a given situation.
Contingency leadership
It is to focus on the situational variables to predict the appropriate leadership styles

in comparison to the given circumstances. In the same meaning, the leadership
effectiveness is combined both the qualities of the leaders and the demands of the
situations. In order to make a good decision, the leaders have to address to
situational variables.
Transactional leadership
The model focuses on social contract between the leaders and the followers in
relation to the effectiveness; the mutual benefits which the leaders deliver to
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followers the rewards or recognition in exchange for the commitment or loyalty of

the followers.
Transformational leadership
Transformational leadership does not aim to replace the transactional leadership but
to contribute to describe more attributes of the leaders. Transformational leaders
focus on the needs of the followers, engage them to the organization and implement
the organizational performance.
2.4 LEADERSHIP MODEL
The concept of transformational leadership was firstly introduced by Burns with the
definition of transformational leadership as a process both the leaders and the
followers promote each other to motivation, rationality, problem solving and
morality.
Transformational leaders enhance the followers capability by creating new
demands and values so that they can grow their performance. Moreover,
transformational leaders often challenge others for changes, extraordinary works
and drive the organization effectively. They have an important role in influencing
the organization changes; designing a very clear picture for the organization and
share the vision so that the employees can be inspired of it (Burns, 1978, as cited in
Gholamreza, Hasan, and Ali, 2009).
Transformational leaders always encourage the followers to think of new

perspectives in solving problems; help the followers to try harder their capability
and inspire them to focus on the organizational objectives. They also influence the
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followers to attempt higher results by providing new perspectives and higher efforts
in attaining the goals. The transformational leader asks followers to transcend their
own self-interests for the good of the group, organization, or society; to consider
their longer-term needs to develop themselves, rather than their needs of the
moment; and to become more aware of what is really important. Hence, followers
are converted into leaders (Bass, 1990, as cited in John, 2006).
Evidences from researchers show that transformational leaders focus on the task,
value and vision (Bass, 1985, as cited in Gholamreza et al, 2009). Transformational
leaders treat each employee individually, provide them personal attention and tend
to manage through inspired motivation and individualized consideration (Burns et
al, as cited in Yueh-shian, n.d.).
2.5 FIVE DIMENSIONS OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP

BEHAVIORS
2.5.1 Idealized influence (Attributes) (IIA): leaders instill pride and build trust
2.5.2 Idealized influence (Behaviors) (IIB): leaders emphasize collective sense of
mission, talk about values and beliefs
2.5.3 Inspirational motivation (IM): leaders communicate and express enthusiasm,
optimism, confidence, and emotional appeals.
2.5.4 Intellectual stimulation (IS): leaders stimulate followers to view the world
from new perspectives; encourages problem solving, critical thinking and creativity.
2.5.5 Individual consideration (IC): leaders develop, coach, and teach each
follower to grow individually by paying attention to individual needs, desires and
assigning projects.
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The five constructs are measured by MLQ form 5X (Bass & Avolio, 1997, as cited
in Ronald and Rebecca, 2008).
2.6 THE CONCEPT OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
Numerous definitions of employee engagement can be referred to a condition in

which the employee has an organization purpose and show their enthusiasm,
effectiveness, effort, commitment, involvement, passion to the work. In
engagement, employees tend to express themselves physically, cognitively and
emotionally during their role performances. Employee engagement also captures the
extent to which employees are motivated to contribute to the organizational success
and provide discretionary effort to accomplishing their tasks for the achievement of
organizational goals.
According to Nitin (2005), employee engagement is the level of commitment and

involvement that an employee has towards their organization and its value. An
engaged employee can be aware of business context and works to improve
performance for the benefit of the organization. Kahn (as cited in Sandeep, Mark,
Chris, Emma, and Katie, 2008) defines employee engagement is the harnessing of
organization members selves to their work roles.In addition, engagement also
relates to the degree of discretionary effort that the employees willingly apply in
their work; choose whether to contribute at minimum level of their performance or
to go beyond the minimum to offer outstanding effort (Beverly and John, 2008).
There are three components of employee engagement: cognitive engagement refers

to thinking, affective or emotional engagement refers to feeling, and behavioral
engagement refers to doing. The cognitive aspect concerns the employees belief
about the organization; their managers and working conditions. The emotional or
affective aspect refers to how employees feel whether they have positive or negative
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attitudes. And the physical or behavioral aspect implies the physical energies of the
employees to accomplish their roles.
2.7 THE EVOLUTION OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
Wave 1 (1990-1999)
This wave begins with the concept of personal engagement by Kahn (as cited in
Mary, 2011) as the harnessing of organizational members selves to their work
roles; in engagement, people employ and express themselves physically,
cognitively, and emotionally during role performance. Then Buckingham and
Coffman (as cited in Mary) come up with the definition of an engaged employee if
he or she can answer yes to all 12 questions of Gallup questionnaire.
Wave 2 (2000-2005)
This wave witnesses the emergence of many consultancy firms in measuring

employee engagement through the perceptions of work and the satisfaction with the
organization. And Harter (as cited in Mary) defines employee engagement as a
combination of cognitive and emotional antecedent variables in the workplace. This
omits Kahns (1990) behavioral element represented by his physical engagement
component.
Schaufeli and Bakker (as cited in Mary) influence the concept in reference to the
organization context and job engagement with dimensions: cognitive, emotional and
physical.
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Wave 3 (2006-2010)
In this period, Saks extended Kahns viewpoint in considering both job engagement
and organization engagement. And the CIPD (as cited in Mary) with the literature
support from some academics also identifies the three dimensions of employee
engagement: emotional engagement (being very involved emotionally with ones
work; cognitive engagement (focusing very hard while at work); and physical
engagement (being willing to go the extra mile for your employer).This wave also
draws the interest of many researchers such as: Macey and Schneider, Kular, Shuck
and Wollard, Attridge, Albrecht to contribute to the diversifications of the literature
review of employee engagement.
2.8 TWO DIMENSIONS OF AFFECTIVE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
Affective employee engagement comprises two components: affective commitment

and supervisory commitment.
Affective engagement is a multi-dimensional construct focusing on the individuals
relationships with their roles, organizational commitment, job involvement and job
satisfaction. Researches from academicians and practitioners have showed a strong
correlation between the work outcomes and the line manager, leadership and
follower thinking and behavior. Therefore, affective engagement is measured by the
employees feelings of commitment to their immediate supervisor in particular and
the organization in general.
According to Allen and Mayer (1990, as cited in Dilys, Sarah, and Sue, 2004),
affective commitment is the most important form of commitment because it
indicates the most potential benefits for the organizations. Employees with high
affective commitment will go beyond their role and duty for the good of the
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organization. Moreover, affective engagement is a positive feeling about doing a

good job (Kerstin, Catherine, Emma, Chris, and Mark, 2010).
Supervisory commitment engagement is also a multi-dimensional construct to

attend to the relationships between the direct supervisor and the subordinates. The
employees tend to engage to the organization if they commit to their line manager.
Researches from academicians and practitioners also provide positive correlation
between the line manager and the followers.
The construct of affective commitment is measured by Allen and Mayers
organizational commitment scale and the construct of supervisory commitment is
measured by Beckers job satisfaction (as cited in Jonnie, 2009).

LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
According to Hai Nam and Sherif (2011), transformational leadership lies in the
leaders ability to inspire trust, loyalty and admiration in followers. It builds
relationships, gives larger meaning to activities and enlists followers by focusing on
intangible qualities such as vision, shared values, and ideas.
Transformational leadership is strongly positively correlated with follower job

satisfaction, follower motivation and organizational commitment (Jessica and
Helena, 2011). In addition, transformational leadership behaviors are associated
more with positive attitudes from employees; result in higher levels of individual,
group, and organizational performance (Bass, 2003, as cited in Nichola, Matthew,
Lew, Calum, and James, 2009); look for potential motives in followers, seek to
satisfy higher needs, and engage the full person of the follower (Burns, 1978, as
cited in Priyanka and Venkat, 2000); predict higher follower OCB, employee
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performance, satisfaction and perceived leader effectiveness (Bass & Avolio, 1990,
as cited in Caroline, 2007); and enhance job satisfaction, reduction of work
pressures and increase on employees morale (Dahlen, 2002, as cited in Sulieman,
Hussein, and Ayat, 2011).
Report from Lowe et al (as cited in Caroline, 2007) shows meta-analytical evidence
to support the findings that transformational leadership is effective, productive,
innovative, and satisfying to followers. Transformational leadership uses soft
influence tactics, such as inspirational appeals and ingratiation to motivate
followers (Charbonneau, 2004, as cited in Caroline, 2007).
Individuals exhibiting transformational leadership are considered to be more

effective leaders. It is also true for higher and lower level leaders in public and
private settings (Lowe et al, 1996, as cited in Sulieman et al, 2011). The ability of
the transformational leaders has an important influence on individual outcome and
perceptions of justice (Greenberg, 2003, as cited in Azman, Mohd, Hassan,
Nurhana, and Karen, 2010); serves the function to engage followers into their work
and generates task performance (Tsang-lang, Li-chu, Chih-wei, and Yi-li, 2011).
From the above-mentioned evidences, the transformational leadership behaviors

provide clear links with engagement constructs. Transformational leaders move
followers beyond their self-interest for the great good of the organization by
creating a blame-free environment and building trust in leader to enable employee
engagement (Kahn, as cited in Jessica and Helena, 2011); to engage the followers
higher needs (Hunt, 1996, as cited in Robert and Beverly, 2000); to positively
correlate with how effective subordinates perceive leaders, how much effort they
will expend, how satisfied they are and how well subordinates perform as rated by
the leader (Hater and Bass, 1988, as cited in Cheryl, Delene, and Gert, 2003).
24
2.10 RESEARCH MODEL AND HYPOTHESES
Based on the literature review and prior research, I propose:

Research Model:
Independent variables
Dependent variables
Transformational leadership behaviors
Affective employee engagement
Figure 1: Proposed Research Model

Idealized influence
attributes (IIA)
H1a+
H1b+
Idealized influence
behaviors (IIB)
H2a+
H2b+
Affective
commitment
(AC)
H3a+
Inspirational
motivation
(IM)
H3b+
H4a+
Intellectual
stimulation
(IS)
H4b+
H5a+
Individual
consideration
(IC)
H5b+
Supervisory
commitment
(SC)
25
Hypotheses:
H1: Idealized influence (attributes) is related positively to both affective
commitment and supervisory commitment.
H2: Idealized influence (behaviors) is related positively to both affective
commitment and supervisory commitment.
H3: Inspirational motivation is related positively to both affective commitment and
supervisory commitment.
H4: Intellectual stimulation is related positively to both affective commitment and
H5: Individual consideration is related positively to both affective commitment and
26
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter shows the methods studying the relationships between independent
variables and dependent variables. It also outlines the research design, unit of
analysis, the population, the sample, the sampling technique, the measurement, the
collection and administration of data, the technique of analyzing data. The study
was intended to be carried out in Ho Chi Minh City and was designed for the
quantitative study to collect the relevant information regard to transformational
leadership behaviors and employee engagement. It is also considered as survey
research.
3.1 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

The qualitative research was conducted in October 2012 to assess the scales in the
questionnaire; to test the model; to modify the scales; and also to refine scale items
if possible before moving to the quantitative research.
3.1.1 Sampling
Six participants were attended in the investigation and the prerequisite for the
participants as respondents was that he or she must have worked for at least one
year under the current manager and the employees also had at least 3 years of
working experience so that they could have enough capability to understand and
answer the survey.
3.1.2 Data collection and In-depth interview

Firstly, the interviews were conducted by asking the employees how they
understood the measurement scales. Secondly, they received the questionnaire and
27
went into details of each item. And finally, the researcher recorded the results for
further in-depth interviews.
Based on the results, the measurement scales were modified into the questionnaire.
After that, the second interviews were conducted by also asking the same questions
in the first interview. The result this time showed clear evidence that the
participants had understood the meaning and the Vietnamese translation of the
measurement scales. Then the quantitative research was implemented for further
explorations.
3.2 QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

The purpose of the study is to explore the relationship between transformational
leadership behaviors and affective employee engagement by surveying the
employees. The target population of the study included the employees in Ho Chi
Minh City currently working in the industry of retailing and financial services.
In summary, the combination of purposive and simple convenient sampling

techniques was applied to select samples. It was to ensure the target groups within
the population are adequately represented in the sample and to improve efficiency
by gaining greater control on the composition of the sample.
3.2.1Response rate and sample size
The sample consisted of participants of the study surveyed in Ho Chi Minh City. I
combined both paper survey distributing the questionnaires to the employees in
Crescent Mall, in the University of HCMC Economics and online survey through
Google Docs.
28
The study includes 26 variables in which 15 variables are independent and 11

variables are dependent. As a general term, the sample size should be greater than
100 and the minimum sample should obtain the ratio of 5 observations per variable.
As such, the minimum sample size is equal to 130 at least (Hair, Black, Babin, and
Anderson, 2010).
However, in order to increase the accuracy of the data for further analysis a sample
of 320 respondents was selected from the employees in Ho Chi Minh City currently
working in the industry of retailing and financial services.
For paper survey, I distributed 130 questionnaires to the employees in Crescent

Mall and 115 questionnaires to the employees currently joining MBA, Finance
major at night time in the University of HCMC Economics whereas 104 employees
questionnaires in Crescent Mall and 109 employees questionnaires in the University
of HCMC Economics were successfully completed and returned with a nonresponse rate of 20% and 5,2% respectively. The total sample size of 213
respondents including the employees in Crescent Mall and in the University of
HCMC Economics were used in this study amounting to a total non-response rate of
13,1% from the beginning sample.
Table 1: Location for paper survey, sample size and response rates
No
Location for paper survey
Sample
Responses
size
Non-response
rate
Crescent Mall (Retailing industry) 130
104
20%
University of HCMC Economics 115
109
5,2%
213
13,1%
(Financial industry)
Total
245
29
The questionnaires were distributed to the employees by handout and online survey
in October 2012 in which handout contributed to 213 samples and online survey
contributed to 107 samples.
3.2.2 Data sources and type
In order to come up with the relevant data for the study, both primary and secondary
date sources were applied. Primary data is the information that the researcher finds
out by himself/herself regard to the specific topic and the advantage of this type of
data collection is to help collect the information fit for the researchers purpose. The
information resulting from this type is more consistent with the research questions,
purpose and directly linked to the study.
As the study is empirical in nature, primary data was collected from the employees
in Crescent Mall and in the University of HCMC Economics to answer the
questions. So, the questionnaires were designed on Likert scale of measurement
basis to collect primary data and the variables were ranked to measure the degree of
their strength, agreement or disagreement of the respondents.
Secondary data is to serve the researcher to better understand and explain the
research problem. So it is necessary to review the existing data for what to be
accomplished in the study. This saves time and effort for the researcher because
he/she can discard the data that is not fit for the study and also results in the
information that can only serve for the specific study. The secondary data of this
study is also referred to many sources to get better insight on the research topic and
to establish the theoretical framework for the research; to design the sample frame
and questionnaire for primary data. It was also considered to validate and compare
the data with the questionnaire and existing literature, articles as well.
30
3.2.3 Data gathering instruments
The quantitative methodology involving the questionnaire with 5-point Likert scale
was used as the measurement instrument. The instruments included multifactor
leadership questionnaire (MLQ) and employee engagement questionnaire was
employed in the research to get the quantitative information on transformational
leadership behaviors and affective employee engagement respectively.
3.2.3.1 Multifactor leadership questionnaire
Before selecting the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire for the research, other
instruments such as 360 degree leadership feedback, managerial grid, situational
leadership questionnaire were also considered as optional measurements of
leadership behaviors. Since the subscales and items of these instruments do not
focus on the differentiation of the transformational leadership behaviors but to place
emphasis on identifying the behaviors appropriate for situational or task basis, then
none of them was suitable for the research.
The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire has been introduced and improved since
1985 and it was also developed through many versions of the questionnaire. Bass &
Avolio (1995) introduced the MLQ form 5X with nine subscales of leadership
behaviors.
Participants were asked to judge the extent to which they recognized the
transformational leadership behaviors of their manager measured by the MLQ. The
MLQ form 5X is self-scoring and used 15 items to measure 5 subscales (3 items for
each) in the study. The items using a 5-point Likert scale labeled as 1= strongly
disagree, 2= disagree, 3= neutral, 4= agree, 5= strongly agree. High score shows
high effectiveness of transformational leadership behaviors of the manager.
31
Examples of items from the MLQ form 5X questionnaire:

Idealized influence attributes (IIA): instills pride in me for being associated with
him/her
Idealized influence behaviors (IIB): talks about the most important values and
beliefs
Inspirational motivation (IM): talks optimistically about the future
Intellectual stimulation (IS): re-examines critical assumption to question whether
they are appropriate
Individual consideration (IC): spend time teaching and coaching
3.2.3.2Affective employee engagement questionnaire
For this specific study the affective commitment and supervisory commitment were
selected as the measure of affective employee engagement. Affective commitment
scale was employed from Meyer & Allen (1990, as cited in Jonnie, 2009) and
Supervisory commitment scale was from Becker, Eveleth & Gilbert (1996, as cited
in Jonnie, 2009).
The affective employee engagement consists of two dimensions as affective

commitment and supervisory commitment. The selected questionnaire is also a selfscoring and the responses to each of 11 items (5 items for affective commitment and
6 items for supervisory commitment) are rated by a 5-point Likert scale labeled as
1= strongly disagree, 2= disagree, 3= neutral, 4= agree, 5= strongly agree. High
score shows high employees engagement perception to the organization and low
score implies low perception in the scale.
Examples of items from the affective employee engagement questionnaire:
32
Affective commitment: I would be very happy to spend the rest of my career in this
organization
Supervisory commitment: When I talk about my supervisor, I usually say we
rather than they
3.2.4 Independent and dependent variables of the study
The variables in Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ form 5X) were

considered as independent variables with the subscales inside. In addition, two
separate measures of affective employee engagement were employed as dependent
variables including affective commitment and supervisory commitment as follows
in the table 2.
Table 2: Independent and Dependent variables
Independent variable measures

Instrument
Variables
Multifactor
Scales/Subscales
Leadership
Idealized influence attributes
Idealized influence behaviors
Questionnaire
Transformational
Inspirational motivation
(MLQ Form 5X)
leadership behaviors
Intellectual stimulation
Individual consideration
(Bass & Avolio, 1997)
Dependent variable measures

Instrument
Employee
Variables
Engagement Affective
Questionnaire
(Meyer & Allen, 1990;
Becker, Eveleth & Gilbert,
1996)
Engagement
Scales/Subscales
Employee
Affective commitment
Supervisory commitment
33
3.2.5 Data analysis and presentation procedures
After the data was collected, the statistical techniques were employed to analyze the
information as the quantitative research. So, the survey data was processed by
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS); the relevant data was coded and
then transferred to SPSS for analysis and presentation.
The analysis of data begins with reliability test for the scales through Cronbach
Alpha. And in Cronbach Alphas reliability analysis, the closer it is to 1.0 the higher
the internal consistency reliability. In addition, two-tailed Pearson correlation
coefficient analysis was carried out to investigate the relationship between
transformational leadership behaviors and affective employee engagement
dimensions.
Then multiple regression analysis was also conducted to examine which among the
five independent variables is the most important in explaining affective employee
engagement. In this part, the correlation coefficient R will indicate the strength of
relationship between the variables and also provide how much of the variance in the
dependent variables explain. R Square is also provided to show the amount of
variance in explaining the dependent variables, F statistic and the significance level
help interpret the results.
In the research presentation, frequency table was to summarize the respondents

profile of frequency and percentages whereas the descriptive statistics such as mean
and standard deviations of employees answers to transformational leadership
behaviors and employees commitment to the organization. The details of the
presentation on variables with the interpretations will be discussed in the next
chapter.
34
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND FINDINGS
The chapter presents, discusses the results of the study and also provides the
association amongst transformational leadership behaviors and affective employee
engagement.
The main purpose of the study is to examine the relationship amongst the
independent variables namely IIA, IIB, IC, IS, IM with the dependent variables
namely affective commitment and supervisory commitment. It targets to achieve the
research objectives, to answer the research questions in the chapter one and to
verify the hypotheses in the chapter two.
The statistical method of Pearson correlation is to determine the existence of the

relationships between the independent and dependent variables. Regression analysis
is to examine which among the five levels of independent variables which one is the
most important in explaining employee affective engagement. Findings on the
demographics of the participants and the statistical analyzes are also presented to
interpret and understand the results.
4.1 DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PARTICIPANTS
There was a total sample of 320 full-time employees participating in this study from
the industry of retailing and financial services in Ho Chi Minh City. In the summary
of employees profile, male and female were equal in the percent by sharing 50%
for each. The majoritys age group was between 26 to 35 years (49.4%), followed
by those under 26 years old (46.9%).
Most of the employees have worked for their current organization under 3 years
(60.3%), followed by 3 to 5 years (25.3%); worked under the current manager 2 to 3
years (45.3%), followed by under 2 years (37.5%) as the minimum requirement was
35
that the employees had at least 3 years of working experience and at least 1 year of
working under the current manager.
The majority of employees have worked in private organizations (55.3%) and

followed by foreign-owned companies (44.7%); in financial services industry
(53.4%) and in retail industry (46.6%) respectively. From the total participants,
most of the employees were single (76.3%), followed by 23.8% married; 80.6% of
the employees had bachelor degree, followed by 16.3% for master degree.
Table 3: Summary of Employees profile
Demographic
Categories
Frequency
Percent
Gender
Male
160
50
Female
160
50
Under 3 years
193
60.3
3 to 5 years
81
25.3
Above 5 years
46
14.4
Under 2 years
120
37.5
2 to 3 years
145
45.3
Above 3 years
55
17.2
Private
177
55.3
Foreign-owned
143
44.7
Retail
149
46.6
Financial services
171
53.4
Under 26
150
46.9
26 to 35
158
49.4
36 or older
12
3.8
Education
High school
10
3.1
(Academic qualification)
Bachelor
258
80.6
Master
52
16.3
Single
244
76.3
Married
76
23.8
Worked for current company
Worked under current Manager
Company type
Industry/ Department
Age group
Marital status
36
4.2
DESCRIPTIVE
LEADERSHIP
STATISTICS
BEHAVIORS
FOR
AND
TRANSFORMATIONAL
AFFECTIVE
EMPLOYEE
ENGAGEMENT
The descriptive statistics was used to examine the mean, standard deviation and
other information that are not clear in the data. It was also employed to determine
the employees perception to the transformational leadership behaviors and
employee engagement. Table 4as below contained descriptive data for five
transformational leadership subscales and two employee engagement scales. The
distribution of scores for the sample showed reasonable variance and normality in
subsequent analyses.
Table 4: Mean and Standard Deviations of Transformational Leadership

Behaviors and Affective Employee Engagement for employees responses
Variables
Mean
Std. Deviation
Idealized influence attributes (IIA)
320
3.64
.80
Idealized influence behaviors (IIB)
320
3.43
.77
Intellectual stimulation (IS)
320
3.58
.89
Inspirational motivation (IM)
320
3.62
.72
Individual consideration (IC)
320
3.17
1.00
3.49
Affective commitment (AC)
320
3.10
.99
Supervisory commitment (SC)
320
2.88
.97
2.99
Affective engagement
Valid N (listwise)
Note:
N= 320
320
37
Each subscale of transformational leadership behaviors has 3 items

Subscale of affective commitment and supervisory commitment has 5 items and 6
items respectively
4.2.1 Employees perception to Transformational leadership behaviors
The sample size of 320 for all variables showed that the purpose of the research was
to determine employees perception to the current organizations transformational
leadership behaviors and their engagement to the organization. The mean values for
each of transformational leadership behaviors subscales ranged from 3.17 to 3.64;
individual consideration had the highest standard deviation 1.00, followed by
inspirational motivation scored at 0.89.
The overall scores of data for transformational subscales were fit for the ideal levels
for effective leadership which suggests the mean of 3.0 or higher for idealized
influence attributes, idealized influence behaviors, inspirational motivation,
intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration.
4.2.2 Employees perception to their organizational engagement
In addition to the scores of transformational leadership behaviors, the mean and

standard deviations of the employee engagement to their organization also were
presented in the table 4 as indicated by the respondents. The mean and standard
deviation scores for each of the affective employee engagement scales ranked by
respondents as affective commitment (AC) has 3.10 and 0.99, supervisory
commitment has 2.88 and 0.97 respectively.
From the table, the respondents perceived their affective engagement with higher
mean of 3.10 whereas their supervisory engagement was at 2.88. The standard
38
deviation score of affective engagement was also higher than supervisory

engagement.
According to some previous researchers, they did not provide the benchmarks for
average, required or ideal mean scores for affective engagement or supervisory
engagement but focused on identifying the relationship amongst the different types
of organizational commitment, the outcomes, the findings, and the level of
influence. However, they also proposed the required ranking from affective
commitment as the leading factor, then other kinds of commitment.
The results of the study reflected the mean scores were consistent with the abovementioned by showing that the affective commitment had the highest score,
followed by the supervisory commitment. This also indicated the employees had a
strong affective commitment towards their organizations where they considered
themselves as belonging to the organizations. In addition, they also committed to
engage with their manager and organization through the high mean score of
supervisory commitment only after affective commitment.
4.3
THE
RELATIONSHIP
LEADERSHIP
BEHAVIORS
BETWEEN
AND
TRANSFORMATIONAL
AFFECTIVE
EMPLOYEE
ENGAGEMENT
In the section, the relationship between transformational leadership behaviors and

affective employee engagement was explored by two-tailed Pearson correlation
analysis.
It also provided correlation coefficients which indicated the strength and direction
of relationship; the p value also indicated the probability of the significance of the
relationship. The findings are presented below.
39
Table 5: Pearson correlation matrix between transformational leadership

behaviors and affective employee engagement dimensions
Pearson Correlation
AC
SC
.729** .134*
.203** .247** .111*
.547**
.000
.016
.000
.000
.048
.000
320
320
320
320
320
320
AC Sig. (2-tailed)
IS
IM
IC
320
Pearson Correlation
.729** 1
.114*
.180** .237** .103
.614**
.000
.042
.001
.000
.065
.000
320
320
320
320
320
320
320
Pearson Correlation
.134*
.114*
.249** .168** .348** .189**
.016
.042
320
320
Pearson Correlation
IIA Sig. (2-tailed)
.000
.003
.000
.001
320
320
320
320
.203** .180** .249** 1
.125*
.227** .134*
.000
.001
.000
.026
.000
.017
320
320
320
320
320
320
Pearson Correlation
.247** .237** .168** .125*
.217** .216**
Sig. (2-tailed)
.000
.000
.003
.026
320
320
320
320
Pearson Correlation
.111*
.103
.348** .227** .217** 1
.193**
.048
.065
.000
.000
.000
.001
320
320
320
320
320
Pearson Correlation
.547** .614** .189** .134*
.216** .193** 1
Sig. (2-tailed)
.000
.000
.001
.017
.000
.001
320
320
320
320
320
320
IIB Sig. (2-tailed)
IM Sig. (2-tailed)
IC
IIB
SC Sig. (2-tailed)
IS
IIA
320
320
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
320
.000
.000
320
320
320
320
320
40
From the results, individual consideration (IC) had significant positive correlation
with supervisory commitment (0.614**), affective commitment (0.547**); followed
by intellectual stimulation with 0.237** and 0.247**; idealized influence behaviors
with 0.180** and 0.203** respectively for supervisory commitment and affective
commitment.
The findings suggested that there was a positive relationship between individual
consideration (IC) and both supervisory commitment and affective commitment.
This resulted in managers to focus more on spending time teaching and coaching,
treating employee as an individual rather than just as a member of a group, helping
employee to develop their strengths.
4.4 SCALE ASSESSMENT
4.4.1 Cronbach Alpha
41
Table 6: Cronbach Alpha

Scale Mean if Item
Scale
Variance
Deleted
Item Deleted
if
Corrected
Item-Total
Cronbach's
Correlation
Item Deleted
Idealized influence attributes: Alpha = 0.887

IIA1
7.27
2.584
.844
.781
IIA2
7.29
2.807
.766
.850
IIA3
7.27
2.794
.730
.882
Idealized influence behaviors: Alpha = 0.801

IIB4
6.81
2.617
.655
.720
IIB5
7.00
2.520
.621
.758
IIB6
6.75
2.614
.666
.709
Inspirational motivation: Alpha = 0.759

IM7
7.18
2.492
.555
.715
IM8
7.24
2.367
.603
.663
IM9
7.28
2.148
.614
.650
Intellectual stimulation : Alpha = 0.784

IS10
7.18
3.355
.672
.654
IS11
7.29
3.374
.636
.694
IS12
7.03
3.736
.565
.769
Individual consideration: Alpha = 0.831

IC13
6.36
4.301
.678
.778
IC14
6.30
4.342
.706
.750
IC15
6.37
4.422
.686
.770
Affective commitment: Alpha = 0.940

AC36
12.63
15.658
.802
.933
AC37
12.17
16.496
.808
.931
AC38
12.28
15.715
.845
.924
AC39
12.39
15.580
.896
.915
AC40
12.47
16.018
.839
.925
Supervisory commitment: Alpha = 0.876

SC41
15.16
20.111
.646
.861
SC42
15.37
19.618
.723
.848
SC43
15.14
18.826
.776
.838
SC44
15.23
18.501
.816
.830
SC45
15.09
19.466
.748
.843
SC46
14.39
23.624
.376
.899
Alpha
if
42
All the scale items satisfied the requirement with the Alpha was higher than 0.7 and
Corrected Item-Total Correlation higher than 0.5, except for the item SC46 would
be eliminated (0.376 < 0.5). And this resulted in increasing the Cronbach Alpha of
Supervisory commitment from 0.876 to 0.899.
4.4.2 Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)
The EFA extracted principle axis factoring with the rotation of promax and all the
components satisfied KMO higher than 0.5, significance smaller than 0.05,
eigenvalues higher than 1, eigenvalues cumulative % higher than 60% and factor
loading greater than 0.5.
43
4.4.2.1 Independent variables
Table 7: Result of EFA for Independent variables
Component
1
IIA1
.895
IIA2
.881
IIA3
.856
IIB4
.830
IIB5
.808
IIB6
.861
IM7
.794
IM8
.763
IM9
.830
IS10
.870
IS11
.834
IS12
.767
IC13
.841
IC14
.866
IC15
.851
The five components satisfied KMO equivalent to 0.753, significance equivalent to

0, eigenvalues higher than 1, eigenvalues cumulative % equivalent to 73,72%
(Donald and Pamela, 2006 and Nancy, Karen, and George, 2005). The analysis
showed that five components explain 73,72% the variance of the data.
44
4.4.2.2 Dependent variables
Table 8: Result of EFA for Dependent variables
Component
1
AC36
.743
AC37
.864
AC38
.853
AC39
.863
AC40
.807
SC41
.637
SC42
.842
SC43
.836
SC44
.828
SC45
.677
The two components satisfied KMO equivalent to 0.932, significance equivalent to

0, eigenvalues higher than 1, eigenvalues cumulative % equivalent to 76,73%. The
analysis showed that two components explain 76,73% the variance of the data.
4.5 CORRELATION AND REGRESSION ANALYSIS
4.5.1 Correlation analysis
The correlation analysis was implemented amongst the variables of affective

commitment (AC), supervisory commitment (SC) and idealized influence attributes
45
(IIA), idealized influence behaviors (IIB), inspirational motivation (IM), intellectual

stimulation (IS) and individual consideration (IC).
Table 9: Correlation analysis

Variables
AC
SC
IIA
IIB
IS
IM
IC
Pearson Correlation
.134*
.203**
.247**
.111*
.547**
Sig. (2-tailed)
.016
.000
.000
.048
.000
320
320
320
320
320
Pearson Correlation
.114*
.180**
.237**
.103
.614**
Sig. (2-tailed)
.042
.001
.000
.065
.000
320
320
320
320
320
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
4.5.2 Regression analysis
4.5.2.1 Assessment of the model
The R square was used to assess the research model; however the adjusted R square
would be selected in examining the conformity of the model.
Function:
AC= F (IIA, IIB, IM, IS, IC)

SC= F (IIA, IIB, IM, IS, IC)
46
Table 10: Summary (AC)
Model
R Square
Adjusted
R Std. Error of the Estimate
Square
1
.577
.333
.322
.81454
Table 11: Summary (SC)
Model
R Square
Adjusted
R Std. Error of the Estimate
Square
2
.632
.400
.390
.75912
R Square was equal to 0.333 and 0.4 respectively, so they were suitable for further
analysis.
Table 12: Anova (AC)
Model
Sum
of df
Mean Square F
Sig.
.000b
Squares
Regression
103.824
20.765
Residual
208.333
314
.663
Total
312.157
319
a. Dependent Variable: AC
b. Predictors: (Constant), IC, IIB, IS, IIA, IM
31.297
47
Table 13: Anova (SC)
Model
Sum
of df
Mean Square F
Sig.
.000b
Squares
Regression
120.498
24.100
Residual
180.949
314
.576
Total
301.447
319
41.820
a. Dependent Variable: SC
From the table 12 and 13, F was equal to 31.297 and 41.820 respectively; the Sig.
was 0.000 and 0.000 respectively. So the model 1 and 2 were fit for the data and
could be used for the analysis.
Table 14: Profile of Independent variables
Model
Unstandardized
Standardized
Collinearity
Coefficients
Coefficients
Statistics
B
1 (Constant) .636
Std. Error Beta
Sig. Tolerance VIF
.328
1.942
.053
IIA
-.001
.062
-.001
-.012
.991 .833
1.201
IIB
.166
.062
.129
2.661
.008 .908
1.101
IS
.145
.054
.130
2.699
.007 .913
1.095
IM
-.062
.069
-.045
-.897
.370 .828
1.208
IC
.504
.048
.511
10.596 .000 .915
1.093
From the table 14, it showed that:

-
The variables of IC, IS and IIB had a positive impact on the affective
commitment.
48
The variables of IIA and IM had a negative impact on the affective

commitment.
The Sig. of IIA and IM was 0.991 and 0.370 respectively, above the standard
of 0.05 to show no statistical reflect on the affective commitment. VIF of all
variables was less than 2 to show no collinearity happened.
The histogram and normal probability plot also satisfied the regression (see
Appendix H, I, J).
Table 15: Profile of Independent variables
Model
Unstandardized
Standardized
Collinearity
Coefficients
Coefficients
Statistics
B
2 (Constant) .524
Std. Error Beta
Sig. Tolerance VIF
.305
1.715
.087
IIA
-.030
.058
-.025
-.525
.600 .833
1.201
IIB
.133
.058
.105
2.281
.023 .908
1.101
IS
.122
.050
.112
2.439
.015 .913
1.095
IM
-.068
.065
-.050
-1.045 .297 .828
1.208
IC
.573
.044
.590
12.915 .000 .915
1.093
From the table 15, it showed that:

-
The variables of IC, IS and IIB had a positive impact on the supervisory
commitment.
The variables of IIA and IM had a negative impact on the supervisory

commitment.
The Sig. of IIA and IM was 0.600 and 0.297 respectively, above the standard
of 0.05 to show no statistical reflect on the supervisory commitment. VIF of
all variables was less than 2 to show no collinearity happened.
49
The histogram and normal probability plot also satisfied the regression (see
Appendix L, M, N).
4.5.2.2 Testing of the hypotheses
Hypothesis H1 was suggested to have a positive relationship between

idealized influence attributes and both affective commitment and supervisory
commitment.
However, Beta = -0.001 and P = 0.991 > 0.05 in model 1.
Beta = -0.030 and P = 0.600 > 0.05 in model 2.
So the hypothesis is unsupported.

idealized influence behaviors and both affective commitment and
Beta = 0.166 and P = 0.008 < 0.05 in model 1.
So the hypothesis is supported.

inspirational motivation and both affective commitment and supervisory
commitment.
However, Beta = -0.062 and P = 0.370 > 0.05 in model 1.
Beta = -0.068 and P = 0.297 > 0.05 in model 2.
So the hypothesis is unsupported.

intellectual stimulation and both affective commitment and supervisory
commitment.
50


individual consideration and both affective commitment and supervisory
commitment.
Table 16: Summary of results of hypotheses
Hypothesis
Content
H1
positive
relationship
between
P-value
Result
0.991 > 0.05
Unsupported
idealized influence attributes and

both
affective
commitment
and
0.600 > 0.05
between
0.008 < 0.05
supervisory commitment
H2
positive
relationship
Supported
idealized influence behaviors and

both
affective
commitment
and
0.023 < 0.05
between
0.370 > 0.05
H3
positive
relationship
Unsupported
inspirational motivation and both

affective
commitment
and
0.297 > 0.05
between
0.007 < 0.05
H4
positive
relationship
Supported
intellectual stimulation and both

affective
commitment
and
0.015 < 0.05
between
0.000 < 0.05
H5
positive
relationship
individual consideration and both

affective
commitment
and
0.000 < 0.05
Supported
51
4.6 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.6.1 Regression analysis
Model 1
(YAC = 0.636 - 0.01 XIIA + 0.166 XIIB + 0.145 XIS - 0.62 XIM + 0.504 XIC)
Affective commitment = 0.636 0.01 idealized influence attributes + 0.166
idealized influence behaviors + 0.145 intellectual stimulation 0.62 inspirational
motivation + 0.504 individual consideration
Model 2
(YSC = 0.524 - 0.3 XIIA + 0.133 XIIB + 0.122 XIS - 0.68 XIM + 0.573 XIC)
Supervisory commitment = 0.524 0.3 idealized influence attributes + 0.133
idealized influence behaviors + 0.122 intellectual stimulation 0.68 inspirational
motivation + 0.573 individual consideration
The purpose of the study is to examine the transformational leadership behaviors to

affect affective employee engagement. From the results of regression, there were
some conclusions as follows.
4.6.1.1 Intellectual stimulation
It was the smallest regression coefficient in both first function and second function,
0.145 and 0.122 respectively. As such, intellectual stimulation would dramatically
impact on affective employee commitment and supervisory commitment. Managers
obtaining high intellectual stimulation might positively influence on affective
employee engagement.
52
4.6.1.2 Idealized influence behaviors
It was the second largest regression coefficient in both first and second function,
0.166 and 0.133 respectively. As such, idealized influence behaviors would
dramatically impact on affective employee commitment and supervisory
commitment. Managers obtaining high idealized influence behavior might
positively influence on affective employee engagement.
4.6.1.3 Idealized influence attributes and inspirational motivation
They had no statistical meaning in the regression model. As such, idealized

influence attributes and inspirational motivation showed no impact on affective
4.6.1.4 Individual consideration
It was the largest regression coefficient in both first and second function, 0.504 and
0.573 respectively. As such, individual consideration played a very important role
in impacting on affective employee commitment and supervisory commitment.
Managers obtaining high individual consideration behavior positively influenced on
affective employee engagement.
53
4.6.2 Industry analysis
Table 17: Industry analysis
Industry
Retail
Financial services
Total
AC
SC
Mean
3.2134
3.0295
149
149
Std. Deviation
.98328
.98375
Mean
2.9953
2.7462
171
171
Std. Deviation
.98601
.94503
Mean
3.0969
2.8781
320
320
Std. Deviation
.98922
.97210
Depending on the mean value of affective commitment and supervisory

commitment, it could be concluded that the employees in the industry of retail were
more engaged to their organization than the employees in the financial services.
4.6.3 Discussion of the results
Transformational leadership behaviors including intellectual stimulation, idealized

influence behaviors and individual consideration were fit for this study after each by
each influencing on the affective employee engagement. The variables of idealized
influence attributes and inspirational motivation were not correlated with affective
54
engagement. This can be explained as the employees have not recognized these
behaviors showing in their managers.
4.6.4 Summary
This chapter presents the results of the sample with statistical descriptions,
inspection of scale items and hypotheses. From the Cronbach Alpha and EFA, it
indicated all the variables were satisfactory, not any variables eliminated and the
scales items were suitable for the analysis. After the inspection, the hypotheses of
H2, H4, H5 are kept. Next chapter will summarize the overall study, contributions,
implication for managers, limitations and recommendations for future research as
well.
55
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, RECOMMENDATION AND

CONCLUSION
5.1 CONCLUSIONS
The main objective of the research was to examine the relationship between
transformational leadership behaviors and affective employee engagement in Ho
Chi Minh City. According to the analysis, results and discussion of the study,
conclusions are made on the nature and the relationship of transformational
leadership behaviors and affective employee engagement as well. This chapter will
present the summary of the research results; discuss the findings and contributions
to the practical management. The last part of the chapter will also provide some
limitations of the research and recommendations for further studies.
Most of the employees have worked for their current organization under 3 years
(60.3%) and 2 to 3 years working under their current manager (45.3%). The mean
scores for transformational subscales are fit for the ideal levels of effective
leadership for idealized influence attributes, idealized influence behaviors,
inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration.
Consistent to findings from other researchers, affective commitment also has the
high mean score, followed by supervisory commitment. It means the employees
perceptions of organizational commitment are positive.
The important finding of the study is that transformational leadership behaviors

have a significant influence on affective commitment and supervisory commitment
in which individual consideration involves spending time teaching and coaching,
treating employee as an individual rather than just as a member of a group, helping
employee to develop their strengths. In general, the findings are in line with earlier
research and confirm the transformational leadership behaviors are effective in
56
influencing
on
both
employees
affective
commitment
and
supervisory
commitment.
5.2 THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE STUDY
The study has positively contributed to the literature review and practices as well in
understanding employee engagement in Ho Chi Minh City.
5.2.1 Contributions to the literature
Studying on employee engagement is necessary for the organization in planning for

their workforce accordingly. This research has contributed to the literature by
building the model explaining the factors affecting the affective employee
engagement in Ho Chi Minh City. It also expanded the current knowledge regarding
transformation leadership behaviors and their effects on the process of engagement.
The model was built on the literature of Bass & Avolio (1997) and provided a full
picture of the model and research problems. In addition, the scale items were
surveyed in developed countries, and the research had to modify to be fit for Viet
Nam situation through the empirical data. So, the study will contribute to the
literature and help the researchers to understand more on these variables in Vietnam
setting.
5.2.2 Contributions to the practices
Through identifying factors influencing affective employee engagement, the study

has provided to the managers a clear viewpoint of the employees perception on
their engagement to the organization and the transformational leadership behaviors
of the managers. So the managers can refer to findings of the study to increase their
57
employees engagement to the organization, satisfy their expectation and create

opportunities for the development of the employees career within the organization.
At a practical level, the research has highlighted the importance of immediate leader
behaviors in the employee engagement process. Understanding of these antecedents
can be fed into management training and organizational initiatives.
5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS
In order to keep the organization for sustainable growth, the managers have to think
how to keep the talents engage to their organizations. Based on the findings of the
study, I suggest some critical points to the organizations and managers in Ho Chi
Minh City and also provide some recommendations for future research.
5.3.1 Recommendations for the organizations and managers in Ho Chi Minh City
Leadership behaviors might be different in the type of the organization, the culture,
the industry. However, the findings of the study suggest that transformational
leadership behaviors play an important role in affecting the attitude of the
employees towards engagement to the organization.
It is suggested that the managers in Ho Chi Minh City should pay attention to
developing their employees through the transformational leadership behaviors
especially individual consideration, idealized influence behaviors and intellectual
stimulation. It is because the managers can build the employee engagement by
ensuring the organization always tries to increase the attachment of the employees
to their organization.
The managers who act in ways that treat employees as an individual; coach and
teach the employees; develop their strengths can expect to have followers who show
58
higher levels of affective engagement. It is also imperative to establish a fair system

of benefits, promotion, development from the within to enhance the employees
engagement to their organization and productivity of the organization.
The findings also contributed positively to the practical management as some

conclusions as follows:
Firstly, the findings have showed that individual consideration is the most important
factor in deciding the affective employee engagement with the largest regression
coefficient. This can be considered fit for the reality as the employees expect for
being treated as an individual, coaching and teaching from their managers,
developing their strengths.
Secondly, idealized influence (behaviors) is also an important factor affecting on

employee engagement. The employees have a high perception of affective
engagement in the organization if the managers often talk about their most
important values and beliefs, consider the moral and ethical consequences of
decisions, and emphasize the importance of having a collective sense of mission.
Thirdly, intellectual stimulation also plays a key role in affecting employee

engagement. The employees have a high perception of affective engagement in the
organization that the managers can re-examine critical assumption to question
whether they are appropriate, seek differing perspectives when solving problems,
suggest new ways of looking at how to complete assignments.
Lastly, idealized influence attributes (instill pride in the employees for being
associated with the manager, go beyond self-interest for the good of the group, act
in ways that builds the employees respect) and inspirational motivation (talk
optimistically about the future, talk enthusiastically about what need to be
accomplished, express confidence that goals will be achieved) do not affect
59
affective employee engagement. The reason might be because the employees have
not perceived these behaviors in their managers and their managers also have never
represented these behaviors.
In summary, the findings have showed that each factor influenced on each other
depending on specific situations, objectives and unit of analysis. So, the managers
can base on the results to restructure and plan in keeping the employees with the
organization by applying these transformational leadership behaviors.
5.3.2 Recommendation for future research
The study confirms the link between transformational leadership behaviors and
affective employee engagement. More evidence is needed to show the links
between the relationship of transformational leadership behaviors and affective
Future research can benefit from this study to examine other leadership behaviors
such as transactional leadership and together with other variables such as cognitive
engagement, behavioral engagement, loyalty, self-efficacy, satisfaction, or
innovation to increase the accuracy of the factors affecting employee engagement.
The findings of the study of course cannot cover the all the industries and different
types of the organization. Generalization of the present findings should be examined
in further research in other types of the organization, different samples and different
industries to enhance the consistency of the results.
The study also needs to be replicated in other business contexts and to explore other
demographic variables (e.g. gender, age, tenure) to ascertain if the findings may
vary by the context. In addition, the recommendations for future research offer
60
additional opportunities to investigate the variances in which the leadership

behaviors help to explain in different types of employee engagement.
5.4 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
Of course the research also has some limitations as follows:
Firstly, the research was only conducted in Ho Chi Minh City and cannot cover all
the demographics dimensions. The generalization of the study will be more valid if
it can be surveyed in a larger scope to other provinces.
Secondly, the fit for the research model is also not so high as some items did not
correlate to the dependent variables. Next researches should focus more on the
variables of idealized influence behaviors and inspirational motivation.
Thirdly, the research only focused on the industry of retail and financial service. So,
next researches should focus more industries to understand the factors.
Lastly, this is also the first time that the research performs the research and does not
have a deep expertise in conducting this kind of study. The researcher also found
that it is an interesting and challenging task as it requires high level of experience
and capability. In some perspectives, this can affect the outcomes of the research
indirectly.
61
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Appendix A: Total Variance Explained

Component
Extraction Sums of Squared Rotation Sums of Squared

Initial Eigenvalues
%
Loadings
of Cumulative
Loadings
of Cumulative
of Cumulative
Total Variance %
Total Variance %
Total Variance %
4.082 27.216
27.216
4.082 27.216
27.216
2.471 16.476
16.476
2.086 13.903
41.120
2.086 13.903
41.120
2.250 15.002
31.479
1.750 11.666
52.786
1.750 11.666
52.786
2.181 14.542
46.020
1.713 11.419
64.206
1.713 11.419
64.206
2.117 14.112
60.132
1.427 9.511
73.716
1.427 9.511
73.716
2.038 13.584
73.716
.609
4.057
77.773
.559
3.729
81.502
.443
2.956
84.458
.419
2.793
87.251
10
.413
2.752
90.002
11
.388
2.584
92.586
12
.362
2.415
95.001
13
.305
2.035
97.036
14
.282
1.877
98.913
15
.163
1.087
100.000
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
67
Appendix B: Rotated Component Matrixa
Component
1
IIA1 instills pride in me for being associated with him/her
.895
IIA2 goes beyond self-interest for the good of the group
.881
IIA3 acts in ways that builds my respect
.856
IIB4 talks about the most important values and beliefs
.830
IIB5 considers the moral and ethical consequences of
.808
decisions
IIB6 emphasizes the importance of having a collective
.861
sense of mission
IM7 talks optimistically about the future
.794
IM8 talks enthusiastically about what need to be
.763
accomplished
IM9 expresses confidence that goals will be achieved
.830
IS10 re-examines critical assumption to question whether
.870
they are appropriate

IS11 seeks differing perspectives when solving problems
.834
IS12 suggests new ways of looking at how to complete
.767
assignments
IC13 spends time teaching and coaching
.841
IC14 treats me as an individual rather than just as a member
.866
of a group
IC15 helps me to develop my strengths
Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.
a. Rotation converged in 5 iterations.
.851
68
Appendix C: Total Variance Explained

Compone
nt
Extraction
Initial Eigenvalues
%
Sums
Squared Loadings
of
of Rotation
Sums
of
Squared Loadings
of
of
Tota Varian Cumulati Tota Varian Cumulati Tota Varian Cumulati

l
1
ce
ve %
ce
ve %
ce
ve %
6.57 65.723 65.723
6.57 65.723 65.723
4.08 40.812 40.812
1.10 11.006 76.729
1.10 11.006 76.729
3.59 35.917 76.729
.505 5.047
81.776
.399 3.985
85.762
.348 3.483
89.245
.289 2.895
92.139
.253 2.526
94.665
.213 2.132
96.797
.184 1.844
98.641
10
.136 1.359
100.000
69
Appendix D: Rotated Component Matrixa

Component
1
AC36
.743
AC37
.864
AC38
.853
AC39
.863
AC40
.807
SC41
.637
SC42
.842
SC43
.836
SC44
.828
SC45
.677

Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.
a. Rotation converged in 3 iterations.
Appendix E: KMO and Bartlett's Test
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy.
.753
Bartlett's Test of Sphericity
Approx. Chi-Square
1967.442
df
105
Sig.
.000
Appendix F: KMO and Bartlett's Test

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy.
.932
Bartlett's Test of Sphericity
Approx. Chi-Square
2684.747
df
45
Sig.
.000
70
Appendix G: ANOVAa
Model
Sum
of df
Mean Square F
Sig.
.000b
Squares
Regression
103.824
20.765
Residual
208.333
314
.663
Total
312.157
319
a. Dependent Variable: AC
Appendix H: Histogram Dependent Variable AC
31.297
71
Appendix I: Normal P-P Plot of Regression Standardized Residual Dependent

Variable AC
72
Appendix J: Scatterplot Dependent Variable AC
Appendix K: ANOVAa
Model
Sum
of df
Mean Square F
Sig.
.000b
Squares
Regression
120.498
24.100
Residual
180.949
314
.576
Total
301.447
319
a. Dependent Variable: SC
41.820
73
Appendix L: Histogram Dependent Variable SC
74
Appendix M: Normal P-P Plot of Regression Standardized Residual

Dependent Variable SC
75
Appendix N: Scatterplot Dependent Variable SC
76
Appendix O: Questionnaire (in English)
I am graduating MBus program at the University of Economics in Ho Chi Minh

City. This questionnaire is designed to survey your perception of the
transformational leadership behaviors or your immediate manager and your
affective engagement to your organization. Participation in this survey is voluntary
and no individual data will be reported. Please indicate the extent of your agreement
or disagreement with each statement by circling a number from 1 to 5. The
information is used for academic purpose only and strictly confidential. So I would
like to thank you in advance for your indispensable cooperation.
No
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly agree
Measurement scales
Rating scale
Idealized influence attributes

1
Instills pride in me for being associated with him/her

2
Goes beyond self-interest for the good of the group
3
Acts in ways that builds my respect
Idealized influence behaviors

4
Talks about their most important values and beliefs
5
Considers the moral and ethical consequences of decisions
77
Emphasizes the importance of having a collective sense of mission
Inspirational motivation
7
Talks optimistically about the future
8
Talks enthusiastically about what need to be accomplished
9
Expresses confidence that goals will be achieved
Intellectual stimulation
10
Re-examines critical assumption to question whether they are
appropriate
11
Seeks differing perspectives when solving problems
12
Suggests new ways of looking at how to complete assignments
Individual consideration
13
Spend time teaching and coaching
14
Treats me as an individual rather than just as a member of a group
15
Helps me to develop my strengths
Affective commitment
16
I would be very happy to spend the rest of my career in this organization
78
17
I really feel as if this organizations problems are my own

18
I do not feel like part of my family at my organization
19
I do not feel emotionally attached to this organization
20
I do not feel a strong sense of belonging to my organization
Supervisory commitment
21
When someone criticizes my supervisor, it feels like a personal insult
22
When I talk about my supervisor, I usually say we rather than they
23
My supervisors successes are my successes
24
When someone praises my supervisor, it feels like a personal
compliment
25
I feel a sense of ownership for my supervisor
26
If the values of my supervisor were different, I would not be as
attached to my supervisor
Demographic questions
1) What is your gender?
Male
Female
79
2) How long have you worked for the current organization?

Under 3 years
3 to 5 years
Above 5 years
3) How long have you worked under your current manager?

Under 2 years
2 to 3 years
Above 3 years
4) What is the type of your organization?

Private
Foreign-owned
Other
5) What is the industry you are working in?

Retail
Financial services
Other
6) What is your age group?

Under 26
26 to 35
36 or older
7) What is your highest level of education?

High school
80
Bachelor
Master
8) What is your marital status?

Single
Married
81
Appendix P: Questionnaire (in Vietnamese)

Hnh vi Lnh o nh hng s gn kt ca Nhn vin i vi Doanh nghip
K nh ch o c c Anh Ch , t i hi n l h c vi n c a tr ng i H c Kinh T , ang
th c hi n lu n v n nghi n c u khoa h c v H nh vi l nh o c a c p tr n nh
h ng s g n k t c a nh n vi n i v i doanh nghi p. V v y, k nh mong nh n
c s c m nh n v s
nh gi c a Anh Ch v hnh vi lnh o cacp
trn ca mnh v quan im ca Anh/Ch v vic gn b vi t chc
Anh/Ch ang lm vic.
C c c u tr l i c a Anh Ch kh ng c
g p r t c gi tr v thi t th c i v i
ng hay sai, ch ng
t i nghi n c u.
Vi c tr l i kh ch quan c a Anh Ch s g p phn quy t
u l nh ng
ng
nh s th nh c ng c a
nghi n c u, v v y r t mong Anh Ch d nh ch t th i gian qu b u v c n nh c

tr l i tng c u d a theo t nh hu ng v quan im ri ng c a c nh n Anh Ch .
T t c c c c u tr l i c a tng c nh n Anh Ch s
c gi k n, t i ch c ng b
k t qu tng h p.C m n s h p t c c a Anh Ch .

Tr n tr ng
BCH s : .Phng v n l c____gi , ng y ___ ___ 2012.

Phng v n vi n:__________________________________
tr l i cho m i ph t biu, Anh Ch h y khoanh tr n con s th hi n

quan im c a m nh ngang d ng v i ph t biu , theo qui c sau:
ng nh t
82
R t kh ng ng
1
Kh ng ng
2
Trung l p
3
ng
R t
ng
Khuy n kh ch c c Anh Ch kh ng dng m c 3 (trung l p)

STT
Cc Ch Tiu nh Gi
nh gi hnh vi lnh o ca cp trn ca anh/ch
1
C p tr n l m cho t i t h o khi
c cng t c l m vi c
cng anh y c y
2
C p tr n h ng t i g t b l i ch c nh n h ng n
l i ch t p th
3
C ch h nh x c a c p tr n l m cho t i t n tr ng
4
C p tr n th ng
c p v c c gi tr v ni m tin trong
c ng vi c
5
C p tr n th ng xem xt c c y u t
o c li n quan
khi ra quy t nh
6
C p tr n th ng nh n m nh tm quan tr ng c a tinh thn
t p th
7
C p tr n c p nh ng i u l c quan v t ng lai
8
C p tr n say m h ng h i trao i v c c c ng vi c cn
t
c
9
C p tr n th hi n t tin cao v c c mc ti u s p
c
ho n t t
10
C p tr n th ng xem xt c c t nh hu ng, k ch b n
nh gi c c quy t nh
11
C p tr n t m ki m c c quan im v c ch nh n nh n kh c
nhau khi gi i quy t v n
12
C p tr n g i ,
xu t nh ng c ch nh n nh n m i m
ho n th nh c ng vi c
13
C p tr n d nh th i gian o t o v hu n luy n nh n vi n
d i quy n
14
C p tr n quan t m n tng c nh n
15
C p tr n gi p t i ph t trin c c im m nh c a m nh
nh gi s gn kt ca anh/ch i vi t chc/ cng ty
16
T i s r t vui khi l m vi c tr n i cho t ch c c ng ty
ny
17
T i nh n th y v n c a t ch c cng l c a ch nh m nh
18
T i kh ng c m nh n t ch c nh l mt phn c a gia
nh m nh
19
T i kh ng c m th y g n b m t thi t v i t ch c
20
T i c m th y m nh thuc v t ch c c ng ty n y
Mc ng
1
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
83
Khi ai
ch tr ch c p tr n, t i xem
nh l ch tr ch
chnh ti
Khi t i n i v c p tr n, t i dng t ch ng t i thay v
anh y hay c y
S th nh c ng c a c p tr n cng l th nh c ng c a t i
Khi ai
khen ng i c p tr n, t i xem
cng l khen
ng i m nh
T i c m nh n m nh g n k t m t thi t v i c p tr n c a
mnh
T i s kh ng g n k t v i c p tr n n u ch ng t i kh c ch
h ng, quan im
21
22
23
24
25
26
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
Phn thng tin c nhn ca Anh/Ch:

1. Gi i t nh c a anh ch ?
Nam
N
2.
Tng th i gian anh ch l m vi c cho c c c ng ty t ch c l bao l u?

D i3n m
T 3 n m n 5 n m
Tr n 5 n m
3.
Anh ch l m vi c v i c p tr n hi n t i bao l u?
D i2n m
T 2 n m n 3 n m
Tr n 3 n m
4.
Lo i h nh doanh nghi p t ch c anh ch

Doanh nghi p T nh n
Doanh nghi p c v n u t n c ngo i
Khc
5. Ng nh ngh anh ch
B n l
ang l m vi c?
ang l m vi c?
84
Ti chnh
Khc
6.
Vui l ng cho bi t tui c a anh ch ?

D i 26
T 26 n 35
T 36 tr l n
7.
Tr nh h c v n c a anh ch ?
T t nghi p trung h c
C nh n
Th c s
8. T nh tr ng h n nh n c a anh ch ?
C gia nh
c th n

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1

The Role of Transformational Leadership Behaviors in Affective Employee

The findings of the study indicated that transformational leadership behaviors

I would like to acknowledge the support and encouragement of my family in the

3.2.1 Response rate and sample size .................................................................27

5.3.2 Recommendation for future research .......................................................59

Figure 1: Proposed Research Model .........................................................................24

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

More than 43% of employees in Vietnam express high levels of commitment

And then in Thanhnien News (2008), it is suggested that:

Employee retention is considered the greatest challenge for businesses in Vietnam

According to Towers Watson (2011) in a briefing of engagement indicator survey,

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

It is clear that employee performance or behavior on the job is influenced by his or

On the contrary, engagement is also complicated and continuous for further

Many previous researches have demonstrated the positive relationship between

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The research is to explore the relationship between transformational leadership

To examine the relationship between transformational leadership behaviors

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Specific research questions are:

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The focus of this study is to examine the relationship between transformational

1.7 STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

Researchers believe that leadership is one of the most important organizational

2.2 THE CONCEPT OF LEADERSHIP

There is no single correct definition of leadership as various researchers explore in

Leadership can be understood in different definitions as the process a leader induces

2.3 THE EVOLUTION OF LEADERSHIP THEORIES

The approach considers the effectiveness of a leader to depend on some specific

It is to focus on the situational variables to predict the appropriate leadership styles

followers the rewards or recognition in exchange for the commitment or loyalty of

2.4 LEADERSHIP MODEL

Transformational leaders always encourage the followers to think of new

2.5 FIVE DIMENSIONS OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP

2.6 THE CONCEPT OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

Numerous definitions of employee engagement can be referred to a condition in

According to Nitin (2005), employee engagement is the level of commitment and

There are three components of employee engagement: cognitive engagement refers

2.7 THE EVOLUTION OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

This wave witnesses the emergence of many consultancy firms in measuring

2.8 TWO DIMENSIONS OF AFFECTIVE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

Affective employee engagement comprises two components: affective commitment

organization. Moreover, affective engagement is a positive feeling about doing a

Supervisory commitment engagement is also a multi-dimensional construct to

2.9 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRANSFORMATIONAL

Transformational leadership is strongly positively correlated with follower job

Individuals exhibiting transformational leadership are considered to be more

From the above-mentioned evidences, the transformational leadership behaviors

2.10 RESEARCH MODEL AND HYPOTHESES

Based on the literature review and prior research, I propose:

Transformational leadership behaviors

Affective employee engagement

Figure 1: Proposed Research Model

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

3.1.2 Data collection and In-depth interview

3.2 QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

In summary, the combination of purposive and simple convenient sampling

.203 .247 .111*

.180 .237 .103

.249 .168 .348 .189

.203 .180 .249** 1

.247 .237 .168** .125*

.348 .227 .217** 1

.547 .614 .189** .134*