Empirical study to investigate the impact of Authentic Leadership on Organizational Commitment in the healthcare sector of Pakistan

Abstract

Authentic leadership is a relatively new concept in the arena of leadership and has started gaining limelight in the past two decades. This form of leadership involves honest self-concepts on behalf of the leader which encourage him to be ethical, honest in his relationships with followers and being objective in decision making. The purpose of this particular study is to determine the impact of authentic leadership on organizational commitment. Furthermore, this study goes a step ahead and investigates the effect of each dimension of authentic leadership including self-awareness, relational transparency, balanced processing and internalized moral perspective on organizational commitment. To understand these relationships, a quantitative study was conducted through the use of questionnaires. These questionnaires were directed towards the healthcare sector of Pakistan, particularly to the doctors. A sample was taken from renowned hospitals of Islamabad and Rawalpindi using random sampling. Results of the study conclude that a positive association is observed between authentic leadership and organizational commitment. Furthermore, positive relationships are also found between each dimension of authentic leadership and organizational commitment. The findings of this study are greatly significant for healthcare managers who intend to boost the motivation of employees working in healthcare sector. As the doctors and consultants have a wide array of options for working, there are chances that they might switch to another organization. Moreover, individuals prefer attractive compensation over staying for longer period of time in the organization. Inclusion of authentic leadership in this setup will definitely prove useful to reduce turnover and enhance commitment of the employees to the organization. A glance of the literature has shown that work has been done in the Western context only and not enough studies are conducted in the healthcare sector of Pakistan. This paper will contribute in building literature on this arena and this context. Therefore, it has implications for both the theory and the industry