Abstract
This article examines the effect of transformational leadership on friendship at the workplace and organizational climate at a major military organization, in the Isfahan province of Iran. The study also examines the mediating role of organizational climate in these relations. This is a descriptive-correlative study. Considering the number of questions in the questionnaire, a sample of 530 individuals was selected and questionnaires were distributed among them. After collecting the questionnaires, 502 of them were fully completed and used for data analysis. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and the Sobel test were used to analyze the data. The results show that transformational leadership has a positively significant effect on friendship at the workplace and organizational climate. Organizational climate has a positively significant effect on friendship at the workplace. Moreover, organizational climate has a mediating relation between transformational leadership and friendship at the workplace. The results also show that military commanders can promote interpersonal and organizational relationships by changing their leadership style, and thereby create a friendly atmosphere among military personnel, leading to increased satisfaction and motivation as well as defense commitment. Implications of these results for practitioners and researchers are discussed.
Introduction
Having a friend seems to help soldiers to endure in the battlefield and maintain their morale. Creating a friendship network in any military organization can motivate the personnel to work and fight for one another.
By ‘friendship network’ is meant the creation of an informal structure among colleagues, which is not based on bureaucratic and hierarchical control. Instead, mutual commitment and social obligations between friends motivate people to do their mutual responsibilities.
Effectiveness in an army is dependent on the solidarity among its small groups [23]. Both in armed forces and scientific analyses it has been proven that group cohesion among combatant soldiers is very necessary. In the absence of a sense of union and mutual responsibility, every soldier would try to preserve his own life or even escape the war [23]. This could in turn weaken the troops’ morale considerably and possibly lead to their defeat.
A soldier’s concern for his survival in the battlefield is minimized by his emotional bonds with his fellow soldier [64]. Therefore, friendship is of special importance among military personnel because it creates unit cohesion and hence effectiveness in the battlefield, group performance, job satisfaction, and overall well-being [67].
The role of a commander in a military unit is highly influential. This influence is mostly manifested in the relationship between leaders and members or Leader-Member Exchange (LMX).
Leader-Member Exchange theory focuses on interactional relationships, which leaders have created and preserve with their members [60]. Sparrow and Liden [56] believe that interpersonal relationships between leaders, members, and colleagues can create an interconnected social system, which can be exploited in teams and organizations.
In any army, competent military leaders can play a determining role in fostering interpersonal relationships among leaders, members, and colleagues. These competencies lead to trust, clarify intentions, inspire confidence, build teams, set an example, and keep hope alive [61]. Considering their environment complexity, military organizations should be able to evolve over time in order to accomplish their ultimate intention, which is to defend their country. Military leaders should constantly be aware of organizational change and embrace it [11]. Military leaders have realized that in total institutions, formal authority is the main factor that motivates members to do their tasks. However, emotional factors tend to be the dominant motivational element in combat units. Formal authority can induce obedience while emotional influence creates willingness to do things that are above and beyond their usual responsibilities. For instance, the willingness to endanger one’s life [39] is something that soldiers need. Therefore, military organizations should seriously consider changing their despotic régimes to ones, in which emotional commitment and friendship among soldiers motivate them to fight for one another on the battlefield. Popper [43] believes that using a suitable leadership style in military units, which increases the defense commitment of the personnel is an emotion-rousing leadership.
Military units usually operate at remote areas under difficult conditions where direct supervision by commanders is not possible. Therefore, leadership and cohesion in military organizations have become very important [12].
Considering the above discussion regarding leadership, change in military organizations, emotion-based motivation, and friendly bonds between soldiers, it can be suggested that transformational leadership is the suitable leadership style for military organizations.
Transformational leadership theory is one of the well-known theoretical frameworks on leadership. Studies carried out in military organizations show that transformational leadership brings about important outcomes such as motivation, greater endeavor, and emotional commitment in followers [20].
Considering the importance of the above-mentioned points, in this study, it is attempted to determine the effects of transformational leadership on friendship at the workplace and organizational climate in military organizations.
Literature review and hypotheses development
Friendship at the workplace
Friendship is defined as a long-term relationship based on mutual interest and support that helps people deal with daily life struggles [18]. Friendship at the workplace is defined as personal and informal interactions in a work setting [29]. Relationships with colleagues at work often create affiliation bonds, which are known as friendship [53]. The voluntary nature of friendship differentiates friendly relationships among colleagues from their other relationships [52]. In most organizations, the formal structure determines the people with whom we have to cooperate and relate. In other words, people are codependent based on their duty [15]. Friends at the workplace are referred to as ‘close’ friends and not ‘best’ friends. These relationships can become closer based on personality, similarity, proximity, and shared duties. However, if there are factors outside of the workplace that people share and have in common, these friendships turn into very close ones or even best friendships [37].
The good character of a commander can be a very important factor in creating friendly relationships with his members. However, if a commander has little power distance with his members and socializes with them out of work settings, then their friendly relationship can become very close and they may become best friends. Nielsen et al. [38] consider the dimensions of friendship at the workplace to include opportunity for friendship and prevalence of friendship.
The factors influencing friendship at the workplace can be categorized into personal or contextual factors. Personal factors include sex composition, personality, and similarity. Contextual factors include workplace and external factors. Workplace factors include division of labor, position level in the organizational hierarchy, distance between home and workplace, job similarity, cohesion, and organizational culture. External factors include life events, socialization, and external leisure activities (such as picnics and sports competitions) [32]. Contrary to other friendships that take place between people with similar backgrounds, friendship at the workplace can happen between personnel with different age, gender, position, and work levels [1]. Trust, commitment, kindness, and the value of shared information between the parties are necessary for creating friendship at the workplace [19]. Friendship at the workplace is mostly created based on team work requirements in an organization. The greater the need for team work, the higher the need for friendship at the workplace [38]. Therefore, in military organizations that are based on team work, we should expect a greater degree of friendship at the workplace compared with other organizations. However, Berman et al. [3] believe that a workplace culture that emphasizes fear and personal benefit may be detrimental to creating friendly relationships. Even though in such cultures friendships do occur, organizational attempts at enhancing friendships do not exist. The organizational plan of military forces, which is based on precise respect for hierarchy may take away opportunities for friendship among the personnel.
Hierarchy is one of the obstacles to friendship at the workplace. It is also one of the most important aspects of bureaucracy and includes control of the subordinates by superiors and can reduce friendship at the workplace [32]. However, it can be claimed that if a commander uses transformational leadership style, he can reduce the harmful effects of hierarchy and increase friendship among personnel by improving the organizational climate. It has long been assumed that military organizations should have serious bureaucratic and hierarchical structures where formal relationships are dominant between the leaders and other employees. However, due to changes in attitudes and culture, employees now demand to have interpersonal relationships within these organizations where friendship at the workplace has helped to improve many of the problematic trends that used to entangle military organizations over the years.
According to Mises [35] the word ‘bureaucracy’ is invective and often has an opprobrious meaning. Merton [33] points out that the horrid hybrid term ‘bureaucrat’ already has an absolutely negative meaning. Reviewing the literature on bureaucracy, it can be observed that most researchers have mentioned its negative functions and consequences in the organization and the society [58]. Veblen, Dewey, Warnotte, and Merton have emphasized the fact that bureaucracies are not so effective and have in fact dehumanizing consequences for the people who work in these organizations [45]. Morgan [36] considers bureaucratic organizations as myopic organizations trapped in the status quo and accepting the current reality as an inevitable reality.
There are pioneering business enterprises and societal organizations such as the AES corporation, the ESBZ, Resources for Human Development, The Morning Star Packing Company, Sun Hydraulics Corporation, David Allen Company, and INET Oxford (Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School) that reject the top-down imposed authority and power sham, in favor of collegial decision making, opting instead for collegial control and responsibility [13].
Some of the positive functions of friendship at the workplace that can be created by leaders include: increased employee commitment to the organization [46], increased the work enjoyment and creativity of employees [66], boosted morale, reduced job turnover and management of work-related stress [27], increased intimacy [52], job involvement, job satisfaction, and employee motivation [47], improved communication [3], creation of an informal network and improvements in team performance [26], reduced stress [14], increased commitment and group cooperation [21], facilitation of leader-member exchange and positive reactions in followers [49], and psychological safety [6].
Considering the positive consequences mentioned regarding friendship at the workplace, it can be argued that creating friendly relationships at work by military leaders can alleviate the negative effects of bureaucratic and hierarchical structures in military organizations and create a more desirable and humane organizational climate by reducing the power distance between leaders and followers while facilitating the relationships between them.
Friendship at military organizations
The proposed notion of a flat army (a connected and engaged organization) by Pontefract [42] and recent changes in military forces indicate that military organizations should put aside their harsh and pessimistic views about the employees and create an atmosphere based on friendship where comrades remain in the organization for one another and fight for one another during a war.
Comrades in armed forces have great feelings of friendship toward one another. The affection among soldiers enables them to withstand a formidable enemy army. Soldiers in a war situation are willing to accept many dangers for loyalty to their comrades in a combat unit. Mutual affection between soldiers and their sacrifice for one another is a necessity for their survival. It is evident that such an approach is beneficial not only to the soldiers but also to military organizations. Therefore, one of the most important and necessary bonds in the armed forces is friendship or comradeship [62].
Friendship at the workplace may be particularly important when people work together for long periods of time in areas that provide little opportunities for making friends outside the work setting (e.g. military jobs that involve living far from home where there is little chance to develop friendships outside the work environment). Furthermore, in stressful jobs (such as military jobs) having close friends can provide people with the support and counselling they need in order to adapt to their work [47]. Since military personnel usually live away from their home towns, they need to develop friendly relationships with their colleagues at work or their neighbors at their organizational place of residence.
According to military scholars [22, 56], friendship creates an intense affective bond between comrades that makes them fight for one another. Friendship enriches and adds an ethical dimension to the relationship between fellow soldiers. History shows that friendship bonds between homogenous groups of soldiers have played an important role in connecting them in battle. Friendship is a key instrument in creating cohesion among soldiers. It can function as an essential motivational instrument that helps in boosting group cohesion [67]. The support provided by fellow soldiers and sharing information as well as unit cohesion on the battlefield are greatly needed in a military force. Therefore, one of the most important functions of friendship at the workplace in military organizations is to increase defense commitment among the personnel.
When colleagues turn into friends, a greater sense of cohesion and social embeddedness is made possible. This suggests that organizations should focus on measures that promote friendship among colleagues who have work-related interactions [34]. Kirke [24] has categorized various informal relationships in a military unit that have been presented in Table 1.
Friendship in a military unit
Friendship in a military unit
Maintaining national security is one of the most important functions that military organizations provide [10]. Therefore, it is a national security threat to have dissatisfied and exhausted personnel with lack of commitment. In this respect, one factor in maintaining national security is to create a friendly and positive relationship network in military organizations in order to enhance employee morale and spirit.
It is important to comprehend the factors that enable soldiers to fight to the very end. In many countries and during the world wars, various studies were carried out suggesting that friendship, group cohesion, morale, and fighting for comrades are among the most important reasons why soldiers keep fighting [55].
Kaplan and Rosenmann [22] have conducted a research to study the affective bonds between combatant soldiers and three different groups of military colleagues, best friends among civilian men, and friends from the opposite sex. The results indicate that affective bonds between combatant soldiers and their military colleagues and best male civilian friends were greater than their bonds with friends from the opposite sex.
Engl [9] investigated the friendship experience by officers and soldiers in the US Continental Army during the years 1775–1783. The results show that officers and soldiers experienced different types of friendship. Officers formed friendships based on military status, decency, and politeness while soldiers found their friends within informal and friendly social gatherings. This was an indication of their different values.
Klepper et al. [25] studied friendship networks among the Royal Naval College students in the Netherlands. They investigated friendship formation and military discipline among the students. The results indicated that the students tended to adjust their military discipline with the level of discipline presented by their friends. They also showed task-based dependence and had limited freedom in choosing their friends.
Verweij [62] studied the role of friendship and comradeship in armed forces while investigating the difference between comradeship, brotherhood, and friendship in a military context. These differences were analyzed by taking help from the Achilles and Patroclus story, war poetry, and the book by Aristotle on friendship. The results indicated that in military organizations, friendship is a prerequisite to forming comradeship bonds.
Siebold [54] offers a standard model of group cohesion in an army, which is based on the bonds between military personnel and friendship among them. This model involves a primary group cohesion and a secondary group cohesion. He concludes that group cohesion in the army is the result of a primary group cohesion (colleague and leader bond) and a secondary group cohesion (organizational and institutional bond). The nature of the social bonds between colleagues is based on trust and teamwork.
Transformational leadership and friendship at the workplace
Transformational leaders are people who utilize their charisma and vision to bring about changes in their followers and create personal motivation in them. Transformational leadership involves inspirational motivation, idealized influence, individualized consideration, and intellectual stimulation [12]. Inspirational motivation is the ability of leaders to clearly depict a vision in a way that is appealing to the followers. Idealized influence consists of the behavior presented by a leader that enables the followers to identify themselves with it. Individualized consideration is the amount of attention that leaders pay to their followers’ needs and the way leaders act as mentors or coaches who listen to their concerns [51]. Transformational leadership is highly related to issues such as cohesion, organizational effectiveness, personnel satisfaction with supervisors, and the perceived group performance. Transformational leadership theory has also been investigated in the military context [12]. Transformational leadership is an important resource in a military context that guarantees high levels of performance, loyalty, and commitment [51].
Using positive principles by transformational leaders in military organizations can enhance personnel morale [51]. Leaders’ positive characteristics create positive conditions, which influence employee well-being and promote positive organizational behaviors [17]. An increase in positive emotions creates a stronger feeling of connectedness with others and helps people feel closer to important people in their lives. Moreover, studies indicate that being positive expands peoples’ trust in one another and improves social interactions [39]. Optimism and emotional intelligence are two important traits that leaders should create in the workplace. Optimist leaders tend to consider positive aspects of difficult situations and their high emotional intelligence enables them to be flexible and to adapt to stress and change while fostering strong work relationships that promote trust and fairness [59]. Nielsen et al. [38] define friendship prevalence based on the degree of trust among the personnel and believe that if the personnel trust one another, friendship will spread in the workplace. Huang [19] believes that trust and kindness are necessary to create friendship at the workplace. When leaders have a positive mood, their followers will have a positive mood as well [35]. Transformational leadership focuses on employees’ personal concerns, which can strength their positive feelings and emotions [51]. Transformational leaders create positive relationships among their followers. Evidence shows that experiencing positive interpersonal relationships creates certain psychological, mental, social, and emotional advantages for people [5]. Recently, researches conducted on happiness or subjective well-being, which is its scientific construct, indicated that people who repeatedly experience positive affect tend to be more successful in various aspects of life such as friendship [39]. Transformational leaders focus on employees’ strengths, which creates strong interpersonal ties [51].
High-quality relationships in the Leader-Member Exchange create friendship at the workplace through emotional and social bonds. Through open and honest interactions between leaders and followers, friendship is strengthened among employees [60].
In military organizations, the commanders’ behavior can have a profound influence on the members’ behavior. If a military commander demonstrates positive behavior, has a good character, and treats his followers well, this type of behavior will also spread among the colleagues. On the contrary, if a commander does not behave well, it is possible that his followers will show aggressive and negative behaviors toward one another. In a military unit, the commander plays an important role in creating friendly relationships among the personnel. A military commander can promote great friendships by creating a secure and stress-free organizational climate. Here, great friendship means creating an extensive network of positive behaviors and attitudes among members, in which many people develop good interpersonal relationships and have positive attitudes toward one another. This could create more potential opportunities for the development of friendly relationships. On the contrary, if a military leader spreads insecurity and anxiety in his unit and shows destructive behaviors, a hostile atmosphere may grow, in which the personnel blame one another for work-related problems and difficulties. Lack of trust in such a unit will distance people from one another and will remarkably reduce friendship at the workplace. In these circumstances only a few people will become friends and their friendship should be called a ‘small friendship’.
Based on the above discussion and considering that transformational leadership creates positive behaviors and attitudes in the workplace, strengthens employees’ morale, and increases cohesion in the work environment, the first research hypothesis is suggested as follows:
H1. Transformational leadership in a military unit has a positive and significant relation with friendship at the workplace.
Transformational leadership and organizational climate
Organizational climate is defined as a set of measurable characteristics of the work environment that is directly or indirectly perceived by the people who work and live in it and it is assumed that these characteristics influence their motivations and behaviors [30]. Organizational climate is the result of perceptual consensus among members about the organization [15]. Organizational climate is used as a managerial technique that helps in comprehending the employees’ attitudes regarding their work environment [31]. Organizational climate consists of feelings, perceptions, and values shared by employees in the work environment and includes trust, sense of belonging to the organization, confidence, and loyalty. More than three decades of research in the field of organizational climate shows that the employees’ perception of the organizational climate is directly formed by leadership style and management behavior [31]. Hamidianpour et al. [16] showed that management behavior and leadership style are among the most important factors influencing organizational climate. Leaders and followers can work together to create an attractive, ethical, and positive organizational climate [28].
Leaders significantly influence organizational climate by expressing positive emotions. Thus, transformational leaders contribute to the creation of a positive work climate.
Emotional behavior and leadership style greatly influence the improvement of organizational climate [30]. Increased positive emotions create a greater sense of connectedness with others and influence our feelings about others. Employees that experience positive emotions at work tend to have more respect for one another and enjoy a better organizational climate [35]. Considering the above discussion, the second hypothesis of the study is suggested as follows:
H2. Transformational leadership in a military unit has a positive and significant relation with organizational climate.
Mediating role of positive organizational climate
Studies show that organizational climate has the most influence on employees’ morale and their occupational well-being. The effect that organizational climate has on occupational well-being is stronger than job-related stress factors [7]. Organizational climate is a subset of organizational culture [35]. Mao et al. [32] believe that organizational culture is one of the factors that influence friendship at the workplace.
Positive organizational climate is particularly shaped by the approach adopted by the leader [60]. A leader, who uses transformational leadership style, promotes feelings of personal capabilities, personal discretion, and responsibility [63], all of which are associated with better organizational climate. Positive organizational climate is one of the four strategies proposed by Cameron [5] in order to obtain positive performance from employees. García-Guiu et al. [12] show that utilizing transformational leadership in a military organization can bring about changes in the followers. Some of these changes include boosted morale, trust, and a more cohesive work environment. If team members have strong perceptions about the affective climate of an organization, positive experiences regarding the high quality relationships in leader-member exchange will emotionally motivate them to develop friendship at the workplace [66]. In a positive emotional climate, leaders pay attention to employees’ emotional needs and encourage sharing and developing positive emotions in them [37]. In view of the above discussion and considering that a positive organizational climate leads to positive outcomes such as boosted morale and occupational well-being, optimism, good feelings, trust and a more cohesive work environment, and since transformational leaders can facilitate these outcomes, the third and fourth research hypotheses are suggested as follows:
H3. Positive organizational climate plays a mediating role in the relation between transformational leadership and friendship at the workplace.
H4. Positive organizational climate has a positive and significant relation with friendship at the workplace in a military unit.
Method
This is an applied study in terms of its purpose and is descriptive and survey in nature.
Sample
The statistical population in this study consists of a major military unit in the Isfahan province of Iran. In studies based on structural equation modeling (SEM), the sample size is usually determined through the (5q ≤ n ≤ 15q) formula, in which (q) is the number of questions in the questionnaire and (n) is the sample size [44]. The research questionnaire included 53 questions. Therefore, 530 questionnaires were distributed. After collection, 502 questionnaires were correctly completed and were used for data analysis. Stratified random sampling was used in 3 categories of commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers, and artisan employees. The sampling distribution of this study is presented in Table 2.
Sample distribution
Sample distribution
A three-part questionnaire was used in this study. Transformational leadership was measured using Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) developed by Bass and Avolio [2]. The MLQ is a 29-item instrument, which measures four individual transformational leadership behaviors, namely idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. Military organization climate was measured using the three constructs of unit cohesion, morale, and perceived organizational support (POS), based on the research by Wright et al. [65]. Unit cohesion was measured using the three-item scale by Podsakoff and Mackenzie, while morale was measured based on the research by Wright et al. [65] using a single item. The respondents were asked to report their unit morale using the five-point Likert scale comprising of five degrees from very low to very high. In research, it is more common to use multi-item measures, however, it is acceptable to use a single-item measure to collect data on a specific factor [65]. Perceived organizational support was measured using the eight-item measure suggested by Dawley et al. [8]. Friendship at the workplace was measured using the Nielsen et al. [38] questionnaire. Questionnaires were completed using self-report method based on the five-point Likert scale.
Validity and reliability of the questionnaires
The validity of the questionnaires was approved by military and academic experts. Moreover, the construct validity of the questionnaires was investigated using confirmatory factor analysis by the statistical software AMOS 22. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis indicate the acceptability of the questionnaires. Factor loadings are considered as validity indicators for the 53 questions of the questionnaires. All of the factor loadings were above 0.66 indicating the proper construct validity.
Questionnaire variables, Cronbach’s alpha, and factor loadings have been presented in Table 3. All the coefficients related to Cronbach’s alpha were greater than 0.7 indicating the reliability of the questionnaires.
Validity and reliability analysis
Validity and reliability analysis
This study examines the effect of transformational leadership on friendship at the workplace and investigates the mediating role of organizational climate. Therefore, after testing the validity and reliability of the questionnaire, measurement models and research hypotheses are tested. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to test research hypotheses and to investigate the relation between dependent and independent variables. The Sobel test is used to investigate the mediating role of organizational climate.
Findings
Among the respondents, 102 people (20%) have high school diploma, 36 people (7%) are college graduates, 309 people (61%) have bachelors’ degree, 54 people (11%) have masters’ degree and 1 person (1%) has a Ph.D. degree. In terms of their age, most of the respondents (71.26%) belong to the age group of 29–36.
Kolmogorov–Smirnov test was used to examine normality of the data. The results in Table 4 indicate that considering the significance level of 0.05, these data have normal distributions.
Kolmogorov–Smirnoff test results
Kolmogorov–Smirnoff test results
Considering the normal distribution of the data and the possibility to use parametric tests, AMOS 22 software was first used to test the fitness of measurement models. In Table 5 fitness indices for these models are shown. Comparing the values of indices with the acceptable amount, it can be concluded that these indices have suitable values.
Total fit indices of measurement models
After testing the total fitness of measurement models, fitness indices for the structural model were also tested. Table 6 shows the indices for fitness of the structural model.
Fit indices of the structural model
As is shown in Table 6, the values of fitness indices indicate the suitable fitness of the structural model. Based on the results of structural equations model (Fig. 1), research hypotheses were tested and presented below.
Figure 1 shows standardized estimates of structural coefficients for the structural model. These estimates were obtained by structural equation modeling.
The results of the structural model analysis.
Regression coefficients and results of the hypotheses test
**0.01 Significance Level, ***0.001 Significance Level.
Critical ratio (CR) and P values were used to test the significance of the hypotheses. When critical value is greater than 1.96, it can be claimed that the related hypothesis is significant at 0.05 level of significance [50]. Table 7 shows the regression coefficients (β), critical ratio values, and P values for each research hypothesis.
A major limitation of this research is that the study is not recursive, thereby ignoring the causal feedback that always plays within reality. Another limitation is the secretive atmosphere of military organizations that not allowed to researchers for explanation all the observations.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of transformational leadership on friendship at the workplace considering the mediating role of organizational climate in a major military unit, in the Isfahan province of Iran. The results of data analysis show that transformational leadership has a positive and significant relation with friendship at the workplace. The results also indicate that transformational leadership creates a positive organizational climate, which facilitates friendship at the workplace.
Leaders and followers can work together to create a very attractive, positive, and ethical organizational climate. One way to do this is to pay attention to positive points in one another and develop these characteristics [28].
Aristotle defined friendship as having good wishes for others and believed that doing good and positive activities for others creates friendship [57]. Therefore, it can be argued that paying attention to and developing positive points in one another by leaders and followers is a form of good wish that can strengthen leader-member friendship as well as friendship among colleagues. The first research hypothesis confirms this argument. These results are consistent with research findings by Boyd and Taylor [4].
Robbins [48] believes that changes in the superiors’ behavior create changes in the attitude of organization members. Changing peoples’ attitude toward one another can change and improve their behavior and thereby improve work environment climate, which is confirmed by the second hypothesis of the present study. These results are consistent with the findings of Maamari and Majdalani [30], Ozcelik et al. [40] and Grojean et al. [15].
Transformational leadership can create desirable and friendly interpersonal relationships among colleagues and between leaders and followers by developing a desirable and trustworthy work atmosphere. A positive work environment, in which colleagues trust one another, helps in fostering close and friendly relationships. This is confirmed by the third research hypothesis. These results are consistent with the findings of Tse et al. [60].
In an organizational climate, in which employees share positive behaviors and attitudes, they will benefit from one another. Mutual benefit contributes to the creation of affiliation bonds and friendship wherein friendly relationships develop between leader-member and among colleagues. This is confirmed by the fourth research hypothesis.
Based on the findings of the present study, the following recommendations are proposed: In order to improve organizational climate and work environment, military organizations should focus on training commanders with positive traits and characteristics. Since overcoming critical and harsh conditions, such as war, requires a sense of belonging and comradeship among the military personnel, military organizations can succeed in such circumstances by appointing commanders with a transformational leadership style. In military organizations, the commanders’ behaviors and attitudes greatly influence their followers’ behavior. Therefore, commanders can create a supportive, friendly, and warm organizational climate using transformational leadership style.
Given the importance of friendship at the workplace and transformational leadership in military organizations, it is suggested that future researchers classify military units in terms of friendship at the workplace and the transformational leadership and measure the level of organizational commitment of the staff of these organizations. As a good research, it is recommended that researchers investigate the relation between friendship at the workplace and combat readiness of military organizations.
The practical implication of this study is that by changing their leadership style and creating an intimate and friendly environment among the employees, military organizations can increase their defensive power and enhance their country’s security. Researchers can also use the development of literature on transformational leadership and friendship at the workplace for their researches.
Footnotes
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Arash Shahin and Farhad Nekue who have played a significant role in the development of the work presented here.