Abstract

The academic and corporate pursuit of many programs is to understand the implications of leadership styles on organizations. Countless research hours have been spent examining the leadership construct in the hope of developing programs that impact performance. Furthermore, there has been a recent surge in the study of Psychological Capital and the potential implications for human performance and development. The purpose of this quantitative study was to understand the intersection of leadership styles, Psychological Capital, and productivity. The study examined two research questions. The first research question examined what correlation exists between the styles of leadership as measured by the MLQ 5X, and psychological capital attributes (hope, efficacy, resiliency, and optimism) as measured by the PCQ of the field sales associates. The second research question strived to understand if there was a correlation between productivity, as measured by the average sales per person, and either psychological capital of the field associates, the styles of leadership, or both. The leadership styles were measured using the MLQ 5X to determine if the leaders were transformational, transactional, or passive/avoidant. The MLQ 5X also measured the subscores of transformational leadership to see what relationship, if any, exists between the subscore and sales productivity. A total of 59 leaders in 28 districts completed the MLQ 5X. The Psychological Capital of the sales team was measured using the PCQ to determine the overall PCQ score, as well as the subscores of hope, optimism, resiliency, and self-efficacy. A total of 151 sales associates in 28 districts completed the PCQ assessment. The results of the study found that there was a positive correlation between leaders that coach and develop their sales team and teams that have higher sales. The research found that leaders that were more transformational and generate satisfaction had higher sales performance. The analysis also indicated that leaders that were transformational had sales teams with higher self-efficacy. There was not a correlation between Psychological Capital and sales performance.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Dissertations (EdD) -- Organizational leadership; Leadership -- Psychological aspects; Work environment -- Psychological aspects -- Case Studies; Employee morale

Date of Award

2016

School Affiliation

Graduate School of Education and Psychology

Department/Program

Education

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctorate

Faculty Advisor

Sparks, Paul;

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