The effects of transformational leadership on perceived organizational support and organizational identity

The concept of TL which was first introduced by Burns [16] and subsequently operationalized by Bass and Steidlmeier [17] is described as an interconnected progress between the leader and his/her followers. TL is the most studied leadership practice in organizations [5]. In Bass’ study, it was categorized for the first time as four moral-based foundations; inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, and idealized influence [5, 18]. While inspirational motivation refers to the capacity of leaders to articulate a clear, stimulating vision for their followers, leaders with intellectual simulation dimensions create new learning opportunities and encourage innovation. The individualized consideration dimension involves support, mentoring, and coaching for each employee. However, transformational leaders with idealized influence earn the trust and respect of subordinates by acting as role models.

These foundations are essential for a leader to transform his/her followers by increasing their awareness of the value of what is at stake, focusing on the collective effort, and stimulating the followers’ needs toward achieving the goals and vision of an organization within the framework of ethical and moral values. TL in short is about positively impacting the followers of an organization into a fascinating yet achievable vision, motivating followers to go beyond their abilities to achieve such a vision while maintaining stability and advancement of the organization they work in [19, 20]. Other researchers, nevertheless, argue that TL is simply about formulating, communicating, and implementing a new vision for the organization [21, 22]. The positive role of TL extends to be a stimulus for loyalty and an extraordinary level of performance and quality [20].

In a nutshell, TL with four dimensions of inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, and idealized influence is strongly related to POS [23]. But individualized consideration and inspirational motivation are the focuses of this article, for several reasons. First, they were selected in order to remain consistent with prior studies that examined TL (see [23]). Next, because individualized consideration includes concern with followers’ needs, TL should enhance their subjective well-being. Inspirational motivation provides followers with purpose and efficacy. Thus, it conveys a positive valuation of their contributions to the organization. In other words, transformational leaders, who display a concern for the needs of subordinates and inspire subordinates to dedicate themselves to organizational goals, more strongly convey POS [23].

2.2 Inspirational motivation

Inspirational motivation refers to the capacity to motivate followers to reach high expectations [24]. Leaders who have this dimension have the ability to the explanation of their vision, beliefs, and mission. Even though motivation plays a key role in any leadership style, it is a core dimension in transformational leadership. There is a positive direct relationship between learning orientation and motivation orientation at the individual and group levels of an organization on innovative behavior, hence, resulting in increased productivity and performance [25, 26]. Therefore, TL through its individualized characteristics is a major factor towards motivation and innovation among the followers [27, 28]. Afsar and Umrani [25] also demonstrated the positive impact of TL creating an inspiring motivational environment in the organization essential for creativity, better performance, empowerment, innovation, engagement, and addressing complex tasks.

Furthermore, Chang et al. [29] outline the relationship between work motivation and TL relationship with the latter having a positive effect on the former. For example, inspirational motivation influences the followers to continuously improve the value of their work by making it enjoyable, productive, and creative [20, 31]. Yammarino et al. [32] and Getachew and Zhou [33] asserted that TL extensively impacts the inspirational motivation process which results in the employees positively behave and reach their utmost capabilities. Since it is important that employees feel that they are appreciated for their achievement, engagement, and contribution, leaders need to consider this dimension in their inspirational motivation efforts. In the same line of research results, Bass and Avolio [7] and Morkeviciute and Endriulaitiene [20] also highlighted self-motivation and commitment of employees through the support given in a TL environment to be of positive effects for an organization.

2.3 Individualized consideration

Individual consideration is defined as “the degree of personal attention and encouragement of self-development a leader devotes to the employees” ([24]; p 28). TL is related to the behavioral, personal/individual characteristics, and high empathic standards of the leader towards the followers’ individual needs and attention [34]. Therefore, involving and including employees in the transformation of the organization embodies the essence of individual consideration [35, 36]. It is the expected mentoring customized role of the transformational leader towards the followers is that constitutes a strong feeling of being worthy and of value in the organization [37]. TL takes an individualized approach by linking the priorities of individual employees to the advancement of the organization [7, 36]. Further research has confirmed a strong positive and significant relationship between the individual consideration leadership behavior and the performance of the employee [36].

2.4 Perceived organizational support

POS is about how much the organization cares about its employees, and how much the employees are valued and respected in terms of their engagement, achievements, and contribution to the organization [38, 39]. The concept of perceived supervisor support is about respecting and valuing the employees’ contribution by the supervisor [40]. The identification of oneself to the organization and its groups through well perceived organizational support tends to give a sense of security, belonging, self-content and results in extra-role behavior [39, 41]. POS needs to be perceived as a favorable treatment by employees so that they can perform well with an extra-role expected behavior [38, 42].

Loi et al. [43] contend that affective commitment can be an instrument towards extra role-behavior by the employee, and the employee will be willing to exert more effort into addressing more complex tasks when POS is in place and practiced by the leadership of the organization. Stinglhamber et al. [44] assert that TL is positively related to POS with a strong sense of belonging and affective commitment to the organization by the employee. There is a positive and favorable relation between TL and POS [45]. On the group level, POS plays a major role in the groups’ positive and distinctive outcome in an organization governed by TL environment [33, 47]. Employees, as a group, need to know, feel, and see that their involvement, contribution, and well-being are valued and recognized by the organization [48, 49].

2.5 Organizational identity

OI is described as members’ shared perceptions about their organization’s central, distinctive, and enduring qualities [50]. It answers the question “Who are we as an organization?” [51]. Without a conception of OI, it is impossible for entities to coherently act toward others and for others to know how to interact with them [52, 53]. OI is an important competitive advantage of the organization as OI has its social, behavioral, and organizational psychology roots [19, 54]. Dimensions of loyalty, belonging and membership, commitment, organizational culture, collective and common characteristics among the group, and almost permanent and stable attachment to the organization are all fundamentals of OI for the organization to competitively stand out among its peers [52, 55–57].

Some researchers consider OI as a separate entity from organizational commitment. Yet, others contend that they have similar characteristics to the extent that OI can be a part of an organizational commitment [19, 59]. In addition, TL is argued and proven by many researchers to be a major predictor to achieve OI by the followers, and that TL is positively related to OI, organizational citizenship behavior, productivity, commitment, and performance [19, 61].

3.1 Relationship between transformational leadership and perceived organizational support

Several studies in the literature support the relationship between TL and organization-related employee behaviors [22, 62–67]. For example, Emery and Barker [66] examined the effect of transactional and transformational leadership on the organizational commitment and job satisfaction of customer contact personnel in banking organizations. The study results showed that the transformational factors of charisma, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration are more highly correlated with job satisfaction and organizational commitment than the transactional factors. Another study demonstrated that there is a strong relationship between TL and POS [62]. In a recent study which was conducted on teachers, Bernarto et al. [67] found that TL had a positive effect on POS.

Rita et al. [22] investigated the relationship among TL, organizational commitment, motivation, organizational citizenship behavior, and the performance of employees. The study which was conducted on public sector employees in Indonesia showed that TL has an indirect effect on employees’ performance through organizational citizenship behavior. Motivation, on the other hand, is found to have a direct effect on the employees’ performance. Another study in Belgium on employees of a water production organization has shown that there is a strong positive feeling of belonging to the organization when the leader is identified as a genuine role model of the organization [44]. Based upon the literature discussed above, the following hypotheses are posited:

Hypothesis 1: Inspirational motivation dimension of TL has a positive impact on POS.

Hypothesis 2: Individualized consideration dimension of TL has a positive impact on POS.

3.2 Relationship between transformational leadership and organizational identity

Some studies in the literature have supported the relationship between TL and OI [25, 69]. For instance, a study that explored the relationship among TL, motivation to learn, task complexity, and innovative work behavior found that there is a significant effect of TL on innovative work behavior through motivation as a mediator [25]. The study concluded that innovative work behavior is therefore a sign of organizational identity and belonging in a TL environment. Such finding is a positive indicator of the effect of motivation and TL on the strong engagement of the employees; hence, their OI. Similar results were found in a different study that focused on Taiwan’s 50 index good performing companies and concluded that TL and work motivation are positively related to innovative work behavior [29]. Another study finding also revealed that TL significantly affected the OI [26, 69]. Regarding the relationship between TL dimensions and OT, Hesar et al. [70] investigated the relationship between five dimensions of TL which are idealized influence, idealized behavior, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration on the faculty members of the state universities of west Azerbaijan province. The results showed a favorable positive relationship between TL and OI. It is worth highlighting that intellectual stimulation had the strongest effect on OI. Additionally, a recent study that concentrated on female employees in Lithuania employed in various private and public sectors investigated the relationship between some of the dimensions of TL and work motivation. In the study that explored individualized support, intellectual simulation dimensions of TL, and intrinsic/extrinsic motivation, it was found that motivation was effective only when the transformational leader is perceived as a role model providing a genuine vision for the future and applying intellectual stimulus [20]. These previous findings suggest the following hypotheses:

Hypothesis 3: Inspirational motivation dimension of TL has a positive impact on OI.

Hypothesis 4: Individualized consideration dimension of TL has a positive impact on OI.

3.3 Relationship between perceived organizational support and organizational identity

Social exchange theory [71] is among the most important theories to understand workplace behavior [42]. Based on the reciprocity principle in social exchange theory, it has been suggested that higher employee commitment and identification are also associated with more social support in the workplace (e.g., POS and perceived supervisor support) because employees who felt supported by the organizations would be more likely to feel obligated to repay the organization with commitment and identification [72]. Thus, high OI tends to increase the exchange of social resources and expectations of such resources [73].

POS has been positively related to OI in the literature. For example, Lam et al. [41] examined the effect of POS on OI in a study conducted on Nurses in China. The study showed the indirect effect of POS on the extra-role behavior of Nurses through the feeling of OI by employees. Another research conducted on 234 teachers in Turkey examined the relationship among perceived supervisor support, OI, organizational citizenship behavior, and teachers’ burnout. The study found a positive relationship between perceived supervisor support and OI [74]. Based on the literature discussed above, the following hypothesis can be suggested:

Hypothesis 5: POS has a positive impact on OI.

3.4 Mediating effect of POS between transformational leadership and organizational identity

Although TL and its relationship with POS and OI have been studied by numerous researchers (e.g., [20, 74]), there is a dearth of research examining the mediating role POS plays in the relationship between TL and OI. Several studies examined the mediating role of POS among a variety of variables [33, 76]. For instance, in research in China, collective efficacy was perceived to increase the positive effect of TL through POS [33]. Similarly, the mediating role of POS in a TL environment and the effect of creativity was the target of a recent study among 369 employees in the Jordanian banking sector. It was found that TL positively affected the creativity of employees as well as POS. However, POS was not significantly related to the creativity of the employees since only specific dimensions of POS were investigated. This study indicated the important role of the individualized consideration of the leader in a TL environment to inspire employees to be creative and hence more engaged and attached to the organization with an identity [49]. Based on the above research, this study, which attempts to fill in the gap in IC literature, posits the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 6: POS mediates the relationship between inspirational motivation and OI.

4.1 Sample and data collection procedure

A quantitative method is used in this paper to investigate the relationships among the research model constructs shown in Fig. 1. A survey questionnaire has been developed to test these relationships. The responders could not be reached in person. As a result, an online survey was used to contact the respondents. Before beginning the survey, respondents were asked to accept to participate. The survey technique is recommended to investigate and validate relationships between a range of variables or constructs across a large population [77]. Furthermore, the survey technique can retrieve information that cannot be achieved using observational techniques and helps in generalizing the findings to the whole population of the study [77]. In this study, a close-ended questionnaire has been conducted to gather data from professionals working in the finance sector. The questionnaire is comprised of two sections. The first section collects the respondent’s demographic information (i.e., gender, education level, and position). The second section covers transformational leadership (i.e., Inspirational Motivation and Individualized Consideration), perceived organizational support, and organizational identity items. No control variables were used in this study. A five-point Likert scale has been used (i.e., 1 = strongly disagree; 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, and 5 = strongly agree) for the purpose of this study. The “neutral” point is used as it is perceived as with drawbacks on the scale and may decrease the biases in data collection since the respondents are only required to answer a negative or positive answer ([78].

To ensure the survey questionnaire’s reliability and accuracy, content validity and face validity are carried out [79]. For content validity, the questionnaire was sent to five experts who assessed the completeness, readability, and accuracy of the questionnaire items. This is deemed necessary to reach the agreement on which items are to be used in the questionnaire [79]. Experts are composed of academicians and practitioners experienced in Human Resource Management (HRM) and organizational behavior.

The snowball sampling technique is used to conduct a pilot study to validate and refine the survey questionnaire [80]. Based on the first author contacts, the survey questionnaire is sent to seven respondents. The respondents are asked to complete the questionnaires. They are later asked to provide comments on the difficulties faced while completing the questionnaires, as well as added suggestions on how to improve them, including additional item statements, or delete items. The questionnaire is further revised, and changes are applied based on the respondents’ feedback.

The data collected for this study are from professionals working in eight financial institutions in Istanbul. The finance sector is considered ideal research setting in turkey. The population of this study is the individuals who work in the financial institution and the sample was the individuals who work in commercial banks in Turkey. The main reason for selecting this sector is that commercial banks in Turkey are relatively large, institutionalized, and demonstrate comparatively advanced leadership implementation. It is suggested that the financial institutions serve as a backbone of the economy as a whole to operate effectively [81]. Furthermore, relevant studies indicate that financial institutions particularly banks are amongst the pioneers in terms of organizational and individual performance and the importance of the banking industry is increasing in Turkey in the last few years [14, 82].

According to Hair et al. [83], the targeted sample should be more than 200 complete surveys. Hence, the survey questionnaire for this research was sent to 500 potential respondents via emails. The email-based questionnaire is preferred over other techniques like in-house or telephone surveys since it enables the respondents to answer the questions more thoughtfully by taking their own time and allows them to complete the survey any time they prefer. Questions like the organization name, respondent’s name, organization location are not asked to avoid privacy issues. The respondents of the sample were decided using judgmental sampling, which is a form of convenience sampling in which the population elements are selected based on the researcher’s judgment. Convenience sampling is considered as a type of non-random sampling where respondents meet certain practical criteria, such as easy accessibility, geographical proximity, availability at a given time, or the willingness to participate in the study [84].

A total of 300 surveys are returned, achieving a 60 % survey response rate. The collected data are prepared for analysis by running data cleaning, screening, and missing data analysis [83]. Accordingly, 63 surveys are exempted from the analysis due to incomplete cases where a percentage of missing data is greater than 10 percent or with missing data on the dependent variables [83]. The total number of 227 responses are usable responses and are used in this study, which is above the recommended sample size (i.e., 200 or above) that is adequate for using Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) [83].

4.2 Procedures for data analysis

PLS-SEM is used to conduct the data analysis. PLS was chosen as a variance-based SEM since it is more suitable for exploratory studies than covariance-based SEMs like Linear Structural Relations (LISREL) and Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) [85]. Furthermore, the PLS method has many advantages that make it suitable for the current analysis, including the ability to evaluate complex structural equation models for a large number of constructs, the ability to manage both reflective and formative constructs, and the fact that it has less sample size requirements than other models [85]. PLS-SEM is an inclusive multivariate analysis that includes two sub-models, namely, the measurement model and the structural model. While the measurement model tests the association among data gathered from the survey and the latent variable, the structural model tests the strength of the relationship between the latent variables [85]. SEM helps in evaluating the association between exogenous and endogenous variables at once rather than doing it separately [85].

4.3 Measures

The survey questionnaire consists of 24 items. Inspirational Motivation (IM) is measured by five items which are adapted from Bass and Avolio [7]. Sample items are “Keeping them motivated” and “Encouraging reaching the objectives”. Individualized Consideration (IC) is measured by seven items that are adapted from Bass and Avolio [7]. Sample items are “Encouraging employees’ self-development” and “Valuing employees’ contributions”. Perceived Organizational Support (POS) is measured by eight items, adopted from Kawai and Strange [86]. Sample items are “I think that my organization contributes to my professional success” and “I feel that I get enough support from my organization if needed”. Lastly, Organizational Identity (OI) is measured by four items that are adapted from He et al. [87]. Sample items are “I care about people’s opinion about my organization” and “I prefer to use the term “we” instead of “them” regarding my organization”. The authors adopted the questionnaire after discussing the questions with a panel of experts. Later, it was finalized based on the feedback received from the pilot study which was administered with 30 respondents chosen conveniently among employees working in the financial institutions.

5.1 Descriptive analysis

Table 1 lists the respondents’ demographic characteristics, including gender, education, working experience, and position. The respondents are grouped into four categories according to their position: first-line employees, experts, middle managers, and managers. Roughly these are considered as standard categories of ranking in financial institutions. Even though position difference can be considered as a contingency factor in leadership [88] the results of this research disclosed no significant difference based on position. The respondents are female (52%), university graduates (49%), and first-line employees (43%).

Since the non-response rate represents an issue in data analysis, the sample is split into two groups (early group and late group) as per recommendation by Sivo et al. [89]. The responses of the two groups are compared using demographics. The statistical test has shown no significant differences between the two groups which indicate that the nonresponse bias is not likely to be a serious concern. Accordingly, the data for the common method bias issue is also tested [90] by conducting Harman’s one-factor test statistical analysis [91]. The analysis reveals that the most covariance explained by one factor is only 31 percent (i.e., there is no single factor that explains a substantial amount of variance). Hence, the common method biases have no significant threat to the measurement validity of this paper [92]. Moreover, to minimize the common method biases, the items that represent one construct are distributed among the questionnaire and not grouped [80, 93].

All indicators of inspirational motivation, individualized consideration, perceived organizational support, and organizational identity is modeled as reflective indicators that are caused by their latent constructs [92]. Smart PLS 3.0 software [94] is used to validate the measurement model. Construct validity and reliability tests have been conducted and all measures are found to have achieved a satisfactory level; therefore, all of the measures are valid and reliable. Four values are used to validate the measurement model based on Hair et al. [85]. The first value is the individual indicator reliability which refers to the degree to which the measurement item is free of random errors and results in consistent and stable measures over time [95]. The second value is the internal consistency reliability, which is measured using Composite Reliability (CR). The third value is the convergent validity (i.e., the extent to which a measure correlates positively with alternate measures of the same construct) [95]. The fourth value is the discriminant validity, which is defined as the extent to which a construct is truly different from other constructs [95].

Firstly, the indicator reliability of reflective items using the internal consistency test and outer loadings of each item on its respective latent construct is conducted [96]. We performed the internal accuracy test for the full-scale measures to estimate the initial reliability of the measures. Internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach’s alpha (α), which should be greater than 0.7 to retain the item [95]. All Cronbach’s alpha values of all constructs were found above the cut-off value of 0.7, as shown in Table 3. Moreover, according to Hair et al. [96], the outer loadings of the reflective indicators should be above the threshold value of 0.708 and t-statistical above 1.96 (see Table 2). All outer loadings are above the recommended value; thus, item reliability is supported. Also, item collinearity (strong correlations between items) was calculated to retain the selected items. The Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) was used for collinearity purposes, which is a metric for determining how multicollinear a collection of multivariate regression variables is. Multicollinearity levels greater than 3 are often regarded as problematically high [85]. Table 4 shows the VIF values of all items, with values less than 3, which provide another evidence of the validity of these items.

Secondly, all constructs have achieved values above the recommended value of 0.70 for CR as shown in Table 3. Thirdly, the convergent validity is assessed using Average Variance Extracted (AVE). All AVEs values are found to be above the required value of 0.50 [85]. Finally, the discriminant validity is assessed using Fornell and Larcker [97] criterion and the indicators’ cross-loadings. In Fornell and Larcker criterion, the square root of each construct’s AVE value should be greater than its highest correlation with any other construct. The numbers along the diagonal in bold font refer to the square root of the AVE value; off-diagonal elements are correlations among latent constructs, the square root of AVE is greater than the variance shared by each construct and its opposing constructs, in all cases (see Table 3). Secondly, the indicators’ cross-loadings reveal that no indicator loads higher on the opposing endogenous constructs (see Table 2). Consequently, a high degree of discriminant validity of all constructs is achieved.

Moreover, the Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio of Correlations (HTMT) value was calculated to ensure the discriminant validity [98]. The HTMT is a measure of similarity between latent variables. If the value of the HTMT is higher than 0.9, then there is a lack of discriminant validity. Table 5 shows the HTMT value. All values are less than 0.9, which validate the above results that discriminant validity of all constructs is achieved.

The effect of transformational leadership on perceived organizational support and organizational identity is investigated in this study. Six hypotheses were developed to do this. H1 hypothesizes that the inspirational motivation dimension of transformational leadership will positively affect perceived organizational support, H2 hypothesizes that the individualized consideration dimension of transformational leadership will positively affect perceived organizational support, H3 hypothesizes that the inspirational motivation dimension of transformational leadership will positively affect organizational identity, H4 hypothesizes that individualized consideration dimension of transformational leadership will positively affect organizational identity, H5 hypothesizes that perceived organizational support has a positive impact on organizational identity, and H6 hypothesizes that perceived organizational support mediates the relationship between inspirational motivation and organizational identity.

The PLS algorithm and the bootstrapping procedure are used to assess the significance of relationships. The assessment of the structural model has been conducted using the following criteria [85]: coefficient of determination (R2), path coefficient, the mediation effect of perceived organizational support, the effect size for each path model (Cohen’s f2), and the model fit. First and foremost, R2 is the central criterion for the evaluation of the inner model. R2 refers to the model’s predictive accuracy and represents the independent (exogenous) latent variable’s combined effects on the dependent (endogenous) latent variable [85]. An acceptable R2 with 0.75, 0.50, 0.25, describing substantial, moderate, or weak levels of predictive accuracy, respectively [99]. Inspirational motivation and individual consideration collectively explain 48.5 percent of the variance on perceived organizational support which can be described as moderate predictive accuracy. Inspirational motivation, individual consideration, and perceived organizational support collectively explain 50.1 percent of the variance on organizational identity, which can be described as moderate predictive accuracy as well.

Secondly, the path coefficients that represent the strength of the relationships (B value) between variables should be significant and consistent with the proposed directions [85]. Figure 2 shows the path coefficients, the significance for each path, and R² values. One hypothesis is found to be not supported and of a negative result (B = –0.041, p = 0.476, T = 0.713) due to the impact of inspirational motivation on organizational identity (H3). All other hypotheses are supported; the impact of inspirational motivation on perceived organizational support (H1) is found significant (B = 0.265, p < 0.01, T = 3.878), the impact of individualized consideration on perceived organizational support (H2) is found significant (B = 0.491, p < 0.01, T = 6.686), the impact of individualized consideration on perceived organizational support (H4) is found significant (B = 0.491, p < 0.01, T = 6.686), the impact of perceived organization support (H5) is also found significant (B = 0.411, p < 0.01, T = 5.361). Moreover, to check the mediation role of the relationship between inspirational motivation and organizational identity (H6), the recommendation of Zhao et al. [100] is applied. According to Zhao et al. [100], to test the mediation effect, the significance of the indirect effects (i.e., inspirational motivation^* perceived organizational) is investigated. If the indirect effect is significant, then the direct effect should be checked. If the direct effect is significant, then it will result in complimentary (partial) mediation. However, if the direct effect is insignificant, then there is only indirect (full) mediation only. Since the direct effect (IM → OI) is not significant (B = –0.041, p = 0.476, T = 0.713) and the indirect effect (i.e., inspirational motivation^* perceived organizational) is significant (B = 0.109, T = 2.856, p < 0.01), then the relationship between inspirational motivation and organizational identity is fully mediated by perceived organizational support (see Table 6). Also, since the direct relationship between individualized consideration and organizational identity (IC → OI) is significant (B = 0.395, T = 4.993, p < 0.01) and the indirect relationship is significant also (B = 0.202, T = 4.702, p < 0.01), then the relationship between individualized consideration and organizational identity is partially mediated by perceived organizational support. To sum up, the results support Hypotheses 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 but do not support Hypothesis 3.

OPEN IN VIEWER

Fig. 2

Partial Least Square SEM Results.

Thirdly, the effect size –f² evaluates whether the omission of a specified exogenous construct has a substantive impact on the endogenous constructs [85]. The values obtained are as shown in Table 7. f² values of 0.02 –represent a small effect, 0.15 –represent a medium effect, and 0.35 –represent a large effect [85]. A strong relationship is found between individualized consideration and perceived organizational support, as well as, between perceived organizational support and organizational identity. Moreover, a medium relationship is found between individualized consideration and organizational identity. Furthermore, a small relationship is found between inspirational motivation and perceived organizational support as well as between inspirational motivation and organizational identity.

Finally, the model fit is calculated by estimating the value of the standardized root mean square residual (SRMR). The model fit is a measure of how well the sample data fit the conceptual model under investigation (i.e., how well the constructs of the model approximately represent the real-world phenomenon) [101]. SRMR is defined as the difference between the observed correlation and the predicted correlation [98]. Thus, SRMR allows the assessment of the average magnitude of the discrepancies between the observed and the expected correlations as an absolute measure of (model) fit criterion [98]. A value of SRMR less than 0.10 or 0.08 (in a more conservative view) is considered a good fit [98]. The PLS analysis shows that the SRMR value is 0.078 –less than 0.08, which indicates that the research model is a good fit.

Moreover, the blindfolding approach (a sample re-use method that eliminates a portion of the data matrix, calculates the parameters, then predicts the missing part using the estimations) was used with the default number of iterations (i.e., D = 7) to examine the predictive significance of the dependent components. Stone–Geisser’s (Q²) test was used to test the model predictivity. A Q² value greater than zero suggests that the independent variables (Inspirational Motivation and Individualized Consideration) are predictors of the dependent constructs (Perceived Organizational Support and Organizational Identity) [98]. The prediction indices 0.02, 0.15, and 0.35, which make up Q2, are classified as modest, medium, and significant impacts, respectively [85]. Organizational Identity was found to have a Q² value of 0.256 and Perceived Organizational Support was found to have a Q² value of 0.362, which is significantly higher than 0.

6.1 Theoretical implications

Even though many empirical studies have researched the relationship between TL and OI, there has been a gap in terms of exploring mediating factors that influence this relationship. This study demonstrates that POS is such a mediator. This research thus shows that leaders’ inspirational motivation affects OI if only employees have a positive perception regarding the organization’s supporting policies and procedures [102]. It has been suggested that inspirational motivation is one of the antecedents of organizational identity [103].

Another contribution of this research to the literature concerns the positive effects of both inspirational motivation and individual consideration dimensions of TL on POS. This research result thus demonstrates that, when leaders can motivate followers to reach high expectations [24] and can describe and develop each of their followers’ demands, they can enhance employees’ perception of their organizational support. This result is consistent with the existing literature [104, 105].

Individual consideration is an important factor that influences POS and OI positively. In the last contribution of this research, it is found that, when leaders provide each employee with individualized consideration involving support, mentoring, and coaching, employees feel a more supportive environment in their organizations, and their identification with their organizations increases. These findings are consistent with the existing literature. For example, Epitropaki [61], Rezaee et al. [106], and Hesar et al. [70] found a significant and strong relationship between the dimensions of TL including individual consideration and OI. Similarly, Wang and Zhu [107] reveal that group-level TL is significantly and positively correlated with group creative identity. Additionally, a study conducted on employees in a water production organization in Belgium shows the positive relationship between TL and POS resulting in strong positive feelings of belonging to the organization, however, only when the leader is identified as a genuine role model of the organization [44].

6.2 Implications for practice

TL is of strategic and practical importance regardless of the context used in the organization. In an era of continuous and abrupt changes, the type of leadership adopted by an organization is of strategic value to its success and advancement. The research has consistently reported the beneficial outcomes of adopting and applying TL.

The findings of this research have several practical implications. First, the findings of the study would help to advance the knowledge and research of the important role of key individuals in the organization. This study confirms the importance of POS on organizational identity hence belonging and retention of key individuals and talent, where the latter is a strategic HR trend supported by leading organizations like SHRM. This study would advance the research of the key role of leadership in retaining key individuals and talents and focus on the person-organization match. In addition, this study while focusing on a certain sector in a specific country, only enrich and add evidence to the findings of the importance of how strategic organizational support is perceived and resulted in enhancing the competitive advantage of the organization, a strategic dimension that enriches the research in this area. The findings of this study extend the concept of “key individuals and talents” to a multi-level perspective in the organization addressing all types of members. Another important implication of this study, that POS to be well analyzed so the proper and most effective POS strategies and practices addressing the diverse members with their different needs and motivations [108]. Further, this study implicitly implies continuous organizational change and the courage to pursue such change, realizing that such change is only possible with the pivotal contribution of key individuals and the support of most members.

This study confirms the positive relationship between individualized consideration and both POS and OI in a framework of TL. Therefore, there is a growing need to focus more on the individual side of employees. Yet, it is a challenging task as organizations are becoming larger, and diverse, in terms of people and operation. Thus, mentoring by the transformational leader is strategic through a structured yet flexible mentoring program. The mentoring program needs to focus on the “few” at certain levels and functions of the organization. The transformational leader is the one to coordinate the mentoring program to ensure the healthy development of effective, loyal, ethical, and committed key players capable physiologically and passionately and can engage in leading the organization [109]. The mentoring program needs to assure the development of employees with strong OI and person-organization match.

Research continuously indicates the value of the behavioral individual aspect of the employees. TL is well fit to address such individual dimensions; hence, the leader and organizational support are essential to address the individual needs and the wellbeing of employees. One way of showing this support is to be at the soft and hard dimensions yet both to be tangibles to the employees. At the hard dimension, the incentives of support are essential to be in place so people will buy into its vision and have a stronger feeling of OI. Such incentives’ system needs to be perceived as fair and addressing the essential and development needs of the employee, in particular the key players. Similarly, there is a need for a well-established strong soft dimension support system that is based on high standards of ethical values, empathy, sincerity, career and growth opportunities, autonomy, and trust. Each is core to the development of the employee and essential to create a strong organizational identity.

TL needs to be perceived as the cradle of care and support to the employees; thus, the leader in such a challenging yet rewarding environment needs to act with full transparency, sincerity, honesty, and genuineness. Only then, the inspirational motivations’ efforts will be fruitful and will cause strong organizational identity and belonging. Consequently, the organization will start experiencing extraordinary commitment and achievements by the followers of complex tasks and demonstrate an extra-role behavior.

TL and OI need to play a major role in the strategic planning of the organization, adding competitive advantage for any organization believing in continuous improvement and positive inevitable change. However, other forms of leadership can play similar or even complementary stronger roles in the organization like stewardship and servant leadership, if applied in a framework of shared values governed by TL. Such a framework addresses the social and psychological needs of the individual, as well as the success of the organization.

6.3 Limitations and further research

There are some limitations to this study. First, the study results are derived from a limited sample, only the finance sector in Turkey. This makes it difficult to generalize the findings of the study. Similar surveys with higher sample sizes may provide different results. The finance sector is strictly controlled by laws and regulations in Turkey. These regulations include legislation, national and international standards, licensing, the rules on liquidity, foreign investment requirements, liquidation regimes, managerial issues, and labor relations in the banking sector [110]. Therefore, it makes it difficult to generalize the findings. Furthermore, the sector has a common, innovative, and highly competitive organizational culture which may also restrict the coverage of findings [15]. Therefore sector-specific conditions should be kept in mind while evaluating the findings of this study.

Second, self-reported issues may constitute a limitation in this type of sensitive study. However, with this in mind, the survey is designed and administered carefully to minimize this potential limitation. In future research, it would be useful to make comparative analyses among different sectors and geographies. Moreover, it is worth exploring the integration and the difference between organizational commitment and organizational identity. Both may lead to a more engaged loyal employee, although some research may dispute or support this notion. Nonetheless, we believe that a strong genuine organizational identity should result in organizational commitment. In the long run, we need to keep caring and addressing the maturity of individual consideration in the relationship between the employee and the organization within a transformational leadership model. Another limitation of this study might be the small number of participants (227 respondents). Some authors believe that the minimum number of responders should be 10 times the number of elements (10×24 = 240) [83]. PLS analysis, on the other hand, is distinguished by its capacity to deal with tiny samples. As a result, 227 responses are adequate for this study [85].