The Role of Leadership Styles in Shaping Organizational Culture: A Human Resource Management Approach

Abstract

The study scrutinizes the effect of leadership styles on organizational culture, specifically through the mediating influence of HRM practices. Quantitative data was collected using mixed methods in which structured questionnaires were used to assess leadership styles, HRM practices, and organizational culture across a variety of organizations. Besides, semi-structured interviews were conducted with key personnel from these organizations for qualitative insights. The results showed that transformational leadership had a positive relationship with clan and adhocracy cultures characterized by collaboration and innovation whereas market and hierarchy cultures associated themselves to transactional leaders who are more performance-oriented and formal respectively. These findings are further supported by effective HRM practices that also align needed cultural traits with an organization’s leadership approach. The study emphasizes the importance of integrating leadership approaches with strategic HRM for developing organizational cultures that enhance performance and support strategic objectives. Some future research directions include investigating how these relationships evolve over time, determining the effects of digital transformation regarding this trend as well as individual level results related to it.