NOTE: The hypotheses in green are proved correct, the ones in red are not.

OBJECTIVE: We examined the validity of three leadership approaches in an organization in India. We

used a multi-theory and multi-method design to competitively test transformational leadership
theory, the nurturant–task leadership model, and a local organization-specific leadership model.

Hypothesis 1. The factors of transformational leadership will positively predict subordinate

performance.

At the heart of the transformational leadership model is the notion that transformational leaders
motivate their followers to commit to and realize performance outcomes that exceed their
expectations.

Bass elaborated on three principal leadership processes which are involved in achieving such
outcomes:

(a) these leaders heighten followers' awareness about the importance and value of
designated goals and the means to achieve them,

(b) they induce followers to transcend their self-interests for the good of the collective and
its goals, and

(c) they stimulate and meet their followers' higher order needs through the leadership
process and the mission. Transformational leadership has a positive effect on various
outcomes at individual, dyad, group, and organization levels

Hypothesis 2. The factors of the nurturant–task leadership model will positively predict subordinate
performance

The NT (Nurturant Task) leader model incorporates a combination of leadership styles and suggests
that an ideal leader in India is both nurturing and task oriented. NT leaders are warm and
considerate, show affection, care for their subordinates, and are committed to their growth.
However, their nurturance is contingent on the subordinate's task accomplishment.

Sinha (1995) identified the following characteristics which might influence leader effectiveness in
India.

1. Excessive dependency. Indians seek support, guidance, and encouragement in situations

where they are apparently competent to make decisions and function without being patted
on the back.
2. Preference for hierarchy. The Indian social structure is based on a caste system which is
hierarchically arranged. The preference for hierarchy manifests in a strong status
orientation. Seniors and superiors are respected and obeyed.
3. Preference for personalized relationships. Kumar and Singh (1976) observed that Indian
managers have a two-dimensional framework to perceive others and to interact with them:
own-others and personal–impersonal. Family members are own and personal while
strangers are impersonal and others.

Hypothesis 3. RDO leadership model factors, derived from the content analysis of interview data,
will positively predict subordinate performance.

we collected interview data for the development of a RDO leadership model grounded in the cultural
and organizational context of the research site, i.e., specific to the RDO organization.
an increased use of qualitative research methods that probe more deeply into particular
organizational contexts. Such research will often be susceptible to criticism for lack of internal
validity, but when coupled with experimentation and survey methods, these methods can provide a
powerful basis for theory building and programmatic hypothesis testing

A local organization-specific leadership model, labeled as the RDO leadership model, developed in
this research addresses both of these concerns as the model is grounded in the cultural and
organizational context of the research site and assessed via qualitative methods.

Hypotheses 1 through 3 are necessary but not sufficient to establish the effect of each theory and
associated set of factors on subordinate performance. The first three hypotheses test for the total
effects, i.e. how much of performance variance is explained by one leadership model. The various
factors of these leadership models, however, may be correlated with each other.

Hypothesis 4a. Given the nurturant–task leadership model and the RDO leadership model, the
addition of transformational leadership will significantly increase the prediction of subordinate
performance.
Hypothesis 4b. Given transformational leadership and the RDO leadership model, the addition of
nurturant–task leadership model will significantly increase the prediction of subordinate
performance.
Hypothesis 4c. Given transformational leadership and the nurturant–task leadership model, the
addition of the RDO leadership model will significantly increase the prediction of subordinate
performance.

Setting: Rural Development Org (RDO) in Gujarat

DISCUSSION:

Transformational Leadership Inventory (TLI), used to measure transformational leadership theory,

had good psychometric properties with regard to reliability and validity of the scales. If this research
design had been a single-theory design with transformational leadership being tested in India, the
results would have supported the transformational leadership theory's validity in the Indian context.
The results from a single theory test would have supported the prevailing notion that
transformational leadership theory is universal. The use of alternate measures representing the
culturally contingent view and unique, organization-specific local view (RDO model) of leadership led
to the additional conclusion that, in the presence of alternate models, the transformational
leadership model did not significantly predict the outcome variable, subordinate performance.

The effectiveness of the RDO leadership model might be rooted in its ability to incorporate the
unique context of the organization. The research site is an organization which deals with social
changes. The ability to deal with local communities may sensitize the organizational members to the
importance of context