Transformational leadership : inspiration or domination : a critical organisational theory perspective.
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Date
2010
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Abstract
Within academic literature and contemporary organisations, it has become widely accepted
that transformational leaders are required to harness the potential of their human resources in
the direction of accomplishing organisational objectives and achieving organisational
success. Transformational leaders are typically portrayed as charismatic, visionary
individuals who are primarily concerned with the needs of their followers and who project a
passionate and inspirational attitude within the organisational context. Little research
however, has been directed toward a critical analysis of the power dynamics inherent in the
leader-follower relationship and the discursive practices which influence and are influenced
by this relationship. The current study sought to determine the extent to which a textual
analysis of electronic journal articles pertaining to transformational leadership accurately
reflected the presence of discursive effects. The findings revealed that both the knowledge
products associated with transformational leadership as well as the practice of
transformational leaders were informed by and embedded within a human resources
management (HRM) discourse. As this discourse seeks to advance the interests of
management and the organisation, transformational leadership functions as a mechanism
through which the control and domination of workers is enacted within the workplace.
Transformational leaders, through their alliance with a managerialist ideology, aspire to
motivate employees to transcend their own self-interests and align their values with those of
the organisation thereby engendering compliance, docility and self-domination. Discursive
formations persuade employees to invest their subjectivities in the organisation, producing a
hegemonic situation in which employees become instrumental in their own subordination.
Description
Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.
Keywords
Theses--Industrial psychology., Transformational leadership.