Leadership styles and employees' behavioral outcomes within a sterile insect technique organization: A correlational study

Sterile insect technique (SIT) organizations support the demand for more sustainable agriculture. High productivity is paramount for SIT organizations’ success (Vreysen & Robinson, 2011). A global problem causing lost productivity is employee disengagement (Gallup Consulting, 2010). Effective leadership styles prevent employee disengagement (Attridge, 2009; Raja, 2012). In this quantitative correlational study, the relationship between SIT employees’ perceptions of supervisors’ leadership styles and SIT employees’ perceptions of satisfaction, extra effort, and leadership effectiveness within a large-scale SIT organization as measured by the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire 5X short rater form (MLQ-5X) is examined. Bio-Insect is a pseudonym to identify the SIT organization examined. The full range leadership (FRL) model is the theoretical framework for the study (Bass & Avolio, 2004). The independent variables are the scores of the main leadership styles included in the FRL model, namely transformational, transactional, and passive-avoidant behavior. The dependent variables are the leadership outcomes of the FRL model, namely satisfaction, extra effort, and perceived leadership effectiveness. Both the independent and dependent variables are measured with the MLQ-5X. The findings of the study reveal a relationship exists between SIT employees’ perceptions of supervisors’ leadership styles and SIT employees’ perceptions of satisfaction, extra effort, and leadership effectiveness within Bio-Insect as measured with the MLQ-5X. Leadership outcomes increase when SIT supervisors increase transformational and transactional leadership behaviors and decrease when SIT supervisors increase passive-avoidant behaviors.