Abstract:
The purpose of this study is to explore the leadership styles of middle level managers working in the Ministry of Education Malaysia. The middle level managers in this research are restricted to those from the Administrative and Diplomatic Officers Scheme of service (PTD: Skim Pegawai Tadbir dan Diplomatik) and Education Officers Scheme of service (DG: Skim Pegawai Perkhidmatan Pendidikan Siswazah/Bukan Siswazah). Leadership style, in this study, is defined as the extent to which a leader exhibits transformational, transactional and/or laissez-faire styles of leadership. This study adopts a mixed methods approach in helping to elicit information pertaining to the leadership styles of the PTD and DG middle level managers. A Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) 5x rater form is used in the quantitative strand while the qualitative part of this study utilises a standardised open-ended interview approach. A total of 122 respondents working in ten departments in the Ministry of Education answered the questionnaire while eight middle level managers (four PTD and four DG middle level managers) were interviewed. The results of both of the quantitative and qualitative strands indicate that the PTD and DG middle level managers showed more transformational leadership styles as compared to transactional leadership styles. In addition, the t-test reveals that the two groups of middle level managers do not show any significant differences in terms of their leadership styles. The findings also indicate that there were no significant differences in the perceptions of the overall transformational, transactional and laissez-faire leadership styles of the PTD middle level managers as perceived by their subordinates from different schemes of service. However, the same could not be said of DG middle level managers as their overall transformational as well as laissez-faire leadership styles indicate significant differences as perceived by subordinates from different schemes of service. This study will benefit the Malaysian public sector in understanding the different styles of leadership among middle level managers working in government organization. More specifically, this study is useful for understanding the similarities and differences of leadership styles of the DG and PTD middle level managers working in the Ministry of Education Malaysia.
