Transformational leadership and employees' helping and innovative behaviors: contextual influences of organizational justice

Purpose - This article explores whether transformational leadership (TFL) influences individuals' extra-role behaviors, specifically helping and innovative behaviors. More importantly, it focuses on whether TFL's influence on employees' helping and innovative behaviors is contingent upon two subdimensions of organizational justice (OJ): distributive justice (DJ) and procedural justice (PJ). Design/methodology/approach - The authors relied on the 2017 Korean Public Employee Viewpoint Survey conducted by the Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA), which is based on stratified, two-stage cluster sampling. Because the dependent variables for the empirical models were summed averages, the authors used OLS as a statistical method. The regression was performed using Stata 14. Findings - The results revealed that TFL was positively associated with both helping and innovative behaviors. When moderated by DJ, TFL has a positive impact only on helping behavior. However, when moderated by PJ, TFL has a positive influence on both behaviors. Research limitations/implications - TFL was measured using four items. While the measure reflects four dimensions of TFL, its construct validity may be subject to criticism. Relying on a one-year cross-sectional dataset means that this study's findings might not be fully generalizable to all public sector environments across different cultures. Practical implications - This article's findings on how TFL is contextualized under different OJ contexts will help advance understanding of how it works in contemporary public organizations. Originality/value - Despite the importance of OJ as a vital heuristic that reshapes employees' perceptions of their organizations, few studies have focused on how it can moderate the relationship between TFL and employees' extra-role behaviors. By investigating such moderating effects, this study advances the scholarly understanding of boundary conditions that affect TFL and its effectiveness in organizational settings. It utilizes a South Korean survey, which brings an international perspective to this understanding.