Does transformational leadership stimulate user orientation? Evidence from a field experiment

The study investigates how the use of transformational leadership can be used by kindergarten coordinators to reinforce employees’ motivation by getting them to focus on the children’s needs and interests (user orientation). The researchers evaluate the effect, both in the short and long term, of a course in transformational leadership and user orientation among coordinators in Danish kindergartens. The research question is: Does transformational leadership affect the coordinators’ user orientation?

The results show a positive effect on the kindergarten teachers’ user orientation three months after the kindergarten coordinators completed the leadership course, but there was no lasting effect 15 months after the intervention. The researchers believe the results show that kindergarten coordinators, at least in the short term, can use transformational leadership to stimulate user orientation and thus increase the motivation of their employees. 

142 kindergarten coordinators were divided into an intervention group and a control group. Coordinators in the intervention group participated in a one-year transformational leadership course. The participants in the control group did not receive any kind of leadership training. A total of 80 coordinators completed the course. In addition, a survey was conducted both before and after the leadership course among the kindergarten teachers who worked for the kindergarten coordinators. A total of 590 kindergarten teachers responded to all the surveys.

Bro, L. L. & Jensen, U. T. (2020). “Does transformational leadership stimulate user orientation? Evidence from a field experiment”. Public Administration, 98(1):177-193.