Title

The relationship between transformational leadership behaviors of athletic directors and leadership substitutes variables with the job satisfaction of coaches at NCAA Division I and III institutions

Date of Completion

January 1999

Keywords

Business Administration, Management|Education, Physical

Degree

Ph.D.

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between transformational leadership behaviors of athletic directors and job satisfaction of coaches at NCAA Division I and III institutions. Using Kerr and Jermier's (1978) leadership substitutes theory as framework, this study also examined the extent to which situational variables moderate the relationship between transformational leadership behaviors and coaches' job satisfaction. Data for this study were collected from a national sample of 618 coaches from NCAA Division I and III institutions. The Transformational Leadership Behavior Inventory developed by Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Moorman, and Fetter (1990) was used to measure coaches' perception of the transformational leadership behaviors of their athletic directors. Coaches' perception regarding the existence of situational variables was measured by using the Substitutes for leadership Questionnaire developed by Kerr and Jermier (1978). The job satisfaction of coaches was measured by using the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (Weiss, Dawis, England & Lofquist, 1967). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, discriminant analysis and logistic regression. ^ The results of this study suggest that there is a significant relationship between transformational leadership behaviors of athletic directors and coaches' job satisfaction at both NCAA Division I and III institutions. It was discovered that situational variables such as coaching ability, group cohesion, organizational rewards and winning record to be significant predictors of coaches' job satisfaction at NCAA Division I institutions. For Division III institutions, coaching ability, organizational formalization, and group cohesion were significantly related with coaches' job satisfaction. In this study, professional orientation was discovered to be a leadership neutralizer, while group cohesion to be a substitute of transformational leadership behaviors at NCAA Division III institutions. It was concluded that transformational leadership behaviors of athletic directors have a direct relationship with coaches' job satisfaction in the absence of a strong leadership substitute or neutralizer. However, in the presence of leadership substitute and neutralizer, it was concluded that transformational leadership behaviors influence coaches' job satisfaction indirectly, through the moderating effects of the substitute and neutralizer. ^

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