1 Introduction The definition and interpretation of leadership and its various styles can vary depending on the person or situation The term "leadership" has been applied in different fields such as p[.]
1 Introduction The definition and interpretation of leadership and its various styles can vary depending on the person or situation The term "leadership" has been applied in different fields such as politics, business, academia, and social work, among others The leadership style in an organization is an important factor that can either enhance or hinder the motivation and commitment of its members The concept and definition of leadership style may vary from one situation to another, but the influence of leadership style on organizational performance cannot be overstated According to McGrath & MacMillan (2000), there is a strong relationship between leadership styles and the performance of an organization Effective leadership is considered to be a powerful tool for managing development and gaining a competitive advantage that is sustainable (Al Khajeh, 2018) Leadership style plays an important role in helping organizations achieve their current goals by connecting job performance to valued rewards and ensuring that employees have the necessary resources to complete their tasks Sun (2002) found that there has been a significant positive correlation between leadership style and organizational performance in both schools and enterprises Kotter (1995) believes that leadership is crucial in reducing the likelihood of mistakes and increasing the chances of success Leadership, along with incentives and motivators, is essential in promoting people's motivation to work towards common goals, and it plays a critical role in forming, transmitting, and changing organizational culture (Senge, 1990) Transactional leadership is a leadership style where leaders use rewards and punishments to motivate and guide their followers In this style of leadership, followers are rewarded for their good performance or compliance with established rules and procedures, while they are punished for poor performance or breaking the rules Transactional leaders focus on the task at hand and provide specific instructions and feedback to their followers to ensure that they meet the expectations and goals of the organization This style of leadership works well in stable and predictable environments where there is a clear chain of command and standardized procedures While previous research has examined the effects of transactional leadership on employee performance, little attention has been given to its impact on team performance, particularly in the context of student-led teams Therefore, this study aims to investigate the influence of students with transactional leadership style on team performance By examining the relationship between leadership style and team performance, this study will contribute to a better understanding of effective leadership in student-led teams and provide insights into how transactional leadership can be used to improve team performance in educational settings Studying the influence of students with transactional leadership style on team performance is important in the context of the education system in Vietnamese universities As universities in Vietnam increasingly emphasize group projects and teamwork, understanding the impact of leadership styles on team performance can provide valuable insights into how to better structure and manage student groups Transactional leadership, which focuses on a system of rewards and penalties, is a common leadership style in many organizations, including universities By examining the impact of this leadership style on student teams, universities can identify effective ways to promote teamwork, improve student performance, and enhance the overall educational experience Ultimately, this research can contribute to the development of more effective educational practices and policies in Vietnamese universities In conclusion, this research aims to solve these research question below: How important is leadership style in team performance according to university students? What are university students aware of transactional leadership style? What characteristics of transactional leadership style have the most influence on team performance? Literature Review: Leadership definition: Defining leadership can be a complex task, as there is no universally accepted definition Despite extensive research and analysis, the concept of leadership remains problematic Meindl and Ehrlich (1987) acknowledged the difficulties in generating an intellectually compelling and emotionally satisfying understanding of leadership. Nevertheless, leadership can be considered as a process involving various activities carried out by a leader to achieve a goal, which may or may not be congruent with organizational goals (Hersey, Blanchard & Dewey, 2008). Daft (2014) provides a definition of leadership as "the process of influencing people to enable the achievement of relevant goals". Goleman (2000) emphasizes the importance of achieving results, stating that "a leader's singular job is to get results". House and Aditya (1997) view leadership as the ability to motivate and enable individuals to contribute to organizational objectives. Bass (1990) defines leadership as an influencing process that aims to achieve goals, while Armstrong (2009) defines it as the exercise of influence on others to act in concert towards the achievement of a goal they might not have achieved without that influence 2.2 Theories of leadership: It is possible to estimate that there has been thousands studies on leadership carried out globally until now One way to approach the study of leadership is by examining the qualities that effective leaders possess in any organizational context, which includes Leadership Theory, Theory X and Y, or McGregor's Theory (McGregor 2017) Another perspective is to focus on the specific behavior patterns exhibited by leaders in any organizational environment, such as the three styles of leadership identified by Levin and Leithwood (2005), Likert's management system (Likert and Likert 1976), and Blake and Mouton's management grids A third approach to studying leadership is to consider the behavior of leaders within specific situations, as seen in situational leadership concepts developed by Tannenbaum and Schmidt (1973), Fiedler and Mahar (1979), Hersey and Blanchard (1977), House (1996), Stinson and Johnson (1975), and Vroom-Yetton-Jago (1974) Moreover, there are newer approaches that examine leadership qualities in relation to specific situations, including causal or attributive theory, the concept of a leader-reformer, and charismatic leadership Among the most prominent theories are transformational and transactional leadership theories Since the late 1980s, theories on charismatic and transformational leadership have become increasingly popular James MacGregor Burns is credited with originating the concept of transformation in leadership, as documented in his book "Leadership." This concept was further developed by Bass, who introduced the term "transformational" that has become prevalent in academic literature (Kuhnert & Lewis, 1987; Breevaart et al., 2014) Burns (1978) posited that exceptional leaders could transform employees by understanding and fulfilling their needs to boost motivation In contrast, transactional leadership focuses on a framework of appealing to the interests of employees Although both approaches address the needs of followers, transformational leadership surpasses transactional leadership by encompassing role modeling that benefits the organization (Bass & Bass, 2009) Transactional leadership is a leadership style that is still relevant and brings numerous benefits to organizations Even though transformational leadership has gained more popularity and attention in recent years, it is important to recognize that transactional leadership can still play a crucial role in organizational success Meta-analyses have shown that transactional leadership is strongly associated with employee motivation, leader effectiveness, and satisfaction Furthermore, the transactional leadership style can actively contribute to strategic leadership and improve organizational effectiveness Additionally, Waldman, Ramirez, House, and Puranam (2001) argue that transactional leadership is more universal than any other supportive leadership behavior Therefore, it is important to conduct research on transactional leadership to fully understand its potential benefits and to develop strategies for implementing this leadership style effectively in organizations 2.3 Transactional leadership style The concept of transactional leadership involves a trade-off of resources, which can include non-monetary items like acknowledgement or appreciation, between leaders and followers Kuhnert and Lewis (1987) provided a clear definition of transactional leadership as the replacement of one objective with another to enhance the overall efficiency of the organization The four dimensions of transactional leadership comprise of contingent reward, active management by exception, passive management by exception, and laissez-faire The contingent reward dimension involves offering incentives and rewards upon the completion of a task to motivate employees (Breevaart et al., 2014) Active and passive management by exception dimensions occur when leaders intervene to address suboptimal organizational performance (Breevaart et al., 2014) Bass (1985) proposed that the fundamental aspects of transactional leadership are establishing expectations, negotiating agreements, clarifying responsibilities, and providing rewards and recognition to achieve the desired goals and performance level between leaders and followers This behavior serves as the basis for building a structured relationship between the leader and the followers, where they have a mutual understanding of their roles and responsibilities, and rewards are provided for meeting performance expectations The transactional leadership approach fulfills the needs of followers by providing rewards or recognition for meeting task objectives and achieving the expectations of leaders (Bass, 1997; Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Moorman, & Fetter, 1990) This type of leadership focuses on exchanges or swaps between leaders and employees Leaders with transactional behavior can increase employee commitment to new ideas by offering tangible rewards for successful initiatives and the development of new ideas, thereby demonstrating their investment in the program To help followers understand the importance of organization-focused ideation, transactional leaders are also good at explaining the target which should be achieved to their employees This can help followers recognize the significance of their self-efficacy when they reach their goals According to Jansen, Vera, and Crossan's study (Citation2009), the transactional leadership style is effective in motivating followers to participate in organizational ideation programs This leadership style promotes excellence and efficiency, encouraging employees to make suggestions for improving the firm's services, procedures, and products In an organizational context, a leader with transactional behavior may be well-suited for ideation programs that prioritize efficiency and standardization, which can be effective in improving and leveraging the current routines and resources of the organization This is according to the study by Vera and Crossan (2004), who argue that transactional leadership, like transformational leadership, can facilitate creative ideation through employee participation in ideation programs In conclusion, transactional leadership is a style that emphasizes the exchange of resources between leaders and followers to achieve set goals and objectives It is a structured approach that relies on contingent rewards, active and passive management by exception, and laissez-faire Transactional leaders are effective in motivating followers by providing tangible rewards and recognition for their efforts While transactional leadership has been criticized for its focus on task completion rather than personal growth, it remains a relevant and useful leadership style in many organizational contexts, particularly those that require efficiency and standardization. 2.4 Team performance: According to Katzenbach and Smith (1993), a team is a group of individuals with different skills who share a common goal, performance targets, and approach, and hold themselves responsible for achieving them In contrast, Jackson, Chuang, Harden, and Jiang (2015) described teamwork as a process that involves communication, collaboration, and coordination among a group of people who work together to achieve a shared objective and have some common interests Working in teams can improve organizational responsiveness and serve as the primary unit of performance Teams also offer valuable educational benefits in an academic setting Team experiences can improve student learning outcomes Students in small group learning environments achieve better grades and deeper understanding (Oakley, Brent, Felder, and Elhajj, 2004) Additionally, teamwork allows students to receive support from peers (Feichtner & Davis, 1984) and collaborate to increase the overall performance of the class (Hernandez Nanclares, Rienties, & Van den Bossche, 2012) 2.5 Relationship between transactional leadership and team performance Transactional leadership is primarily built on a system of rewards and punishments, which does not provide much inspiration for individuals to go beyond their basic duties As a result, followers of transactional leaders may become complacent and only strive to meet minimal expectations to avoid punishment In this leadership style, there is a mutual understanding between the leader and the follower regarding the reward that the follower will receive upon achieving the agreed-upon level of performance (Bass, 1990) The effectiveness of transactional leadership is contingent on the extent to which the leader and followers are content with the system of performance-based evaluations As a result, the predicted sequence in which leadership style has a positive effect on employee motivation, leading to enhanced employee and organizational performance, appears to be inapplicable to transactional leadership According to Howell & Avolio (1993), contingent reward leadership, which involves rewarding followers for achieving agreed-upon objectives, has a negative effect on their performance if managers not follow up on their promises consistently, resulting in perceived ineffective leadership The level of contingent reward leadership is also contingent on the organizational context, and in certain situations such as organizational change, transactional leadership may result in negative outcomes due to the penalties associated with managing by exception Leaders who passively wait for problems to arise before taking corrective action reinforce the roles and expectations of their followers, a key aspect of transactional leadership (Bass, 1990) According to Jayasingam, Ansari & Jantan (2009), ineffective leadership has been associated with the use of coercive power Transactional leaders often use both reward and coercive power Coercive power is based on the belief that the leader has the ability to inflict punishment in the organization, and it seems that transactional leaders tend to rely more heavily on coercive power However, working in an environment where one fears losing their job or facing demotion only serves to make the employee ineffective and unproductive, as they spend most of their time worrying about the consequences of not meeting the leader's expectations As seen from research, transactional leadership heavily relies on power and a system of rewards and penalties However, this type of leadership has been found to be ineffective and can even demotivate employees The effectiveness of leadership styles on employee performance is dependent on the organizational context and setting, as noted by Howell & Avolio (1993). Research Methodology 3.1 Research Design: This study will utilize a mixed-methods research design, which combines quantitative and qualitative research approaches The quantitative component will involve a survey to collect data from the target audience The qualitative component will involve focus group discussions to gain deeper insights into the survey results. 3.2 Sampling: The target population for this study is 4th year students of the University of Languages and International Studies To achieve the goal of 200 responses, a convenience sampling method will be used, where participants will be recruited based on their availability and willingness to participate Students will be recruited through social media platforms, email invitations, and referrers Sinh viên năm 4? Tần suất? chuyên ngành, đặc điểm (gender, ) Nên dùng The frequency of Phải nói rõ là 3.3 Data Collection: The data collection process will be conducted over a period of to weeks Data collection will involve two phases: Phase 1: Online survey will be used to collect quantitative data The survey will be distributed via email, social media platforms and referrers The survey will be available in Vietnamese to accommodate participants' language preferences The survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete and will include closed-ended questions. Phase 2: Focus Group Discussions Focus group discussions will be conducted after the survey results have been analyzed Participants will be invited to participate in a focus group discussion through email or direct sales The focus group discussions will be conducted online via both Zoom and physical platform, and each session will last approximately hour The discussions will be conducted in Vietnamese The discussions will be recorded and transcribed for analysis. 3.4 Data Analysis: The data analysis process will be conducted in two phases: Phase 1: Quantitative Data Analysis The quantitative data collected from the survey will be analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize the data, and inferential statistics will be used to test the research hypotheses. Phase 2: Qualitative Data Analysis The qualitative data collected from the focus group discussions will be analyzed using thematic analysis The data will be coded, and themes will be identified The themes will be compared with the survey results to gain a deeper understanding of the research findings. 3.5 Ethical Considerations: This study will adhere to the ethical guidelines set forth by the University of Languages and International Studies Informed consent will be obtained from all participants before data collection Participants will be informed of their right to withdraw from the study at any time Participants' confidentiality will be ensured throughout the study DIAS, M.A.R.I.A.A.P.A.R.E.C.I.D.A and BORGES, R.E.N.A.T.A.S.I.M.O.E.S (2017) “Performance and leadership style: When leaders and followers disagree?, RAM Revista de Administraỗóo Mackenzie, 18(2), pp 104–129 Available at: https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-69712016/administracao.v18n2p104-129 Rajbhandari, M.M., Rajbhandari, S and Loock, C (2016) “Relations- and taskoriented behaviour of school leaders: Cases from primary schools in Finland,” South African Journal of Childhood Education, 6(1), p 10 Available at: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v6i1.360 Ruzgar, N (2018) “The effect of leaders’ adoption of task-oriented or relationship-oriented leadership style on leader-member exchange (LMX), in the organizations that are active in service sector: A research on tourism agencies,” Journal of Business Administration Research, 7(1), p 50 Available at: https://doi.org/10.5430/jbar.v7n1p50 Salcinovic, B et al (2022) “Factors influencing team performance: What can support teams in high-performance sport learn from other industries? A systematic scoping review,” Sports Medicine - Open, 8(1) Available at: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40798-021-00406-7 Sherwood, A.L and DePaolo, C.A (2005) “Task and relationship-oriented trust in leaders,” Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 12(2), pp 65–81 Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/107179190501200206 Wanyoko, M.S and Muchanje, P.N (2021) “Task-oriented leadership style on students’ academic achievement in public secondary schools in Nyeri County, Kenya,” Journal of Educational Research in Developing Areas, 2(1), p 24 Available at: https://doi.org/10.47434/jereda.2.1.2021.24. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311975.2017.1361663 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/ 333825703_Transformational_and_Transactional_Leadership https://www.irmbrjournal.com/papers/1371451049.pdf 10 https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-transactional-leadership-2795317 11 https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/193848/1/econ-review-v13-i2-p007020.pdf 12 https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1068712.pdf 13