Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 33 (2012) 667 – 671

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1877-0428 © 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of PSIWORLD2011doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.01.205

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The effects of a transactional analysis training programme on team leadership factors in automotive industry

Daniel Ciucur a*, Augustina Florentina Pîrvu b

a“Tibiscus” University of Timi oara, Daliei no 1A Street, 300558, Romania bCIUCUR & CIUCUR scpp, Timi oara, V.Alaci no 8 Street, 300281, Romania

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify a modality to improve the leaders’ and managers’ qualities and abilities requested in team leadership. The study sample was represented by 30 managers and leaders from a local automotive factory, randomly selected. The 16PF Inventory was used as a data collection tool. The results highlighted significant differences regarding Emotional Stability and Social Boldness between the managers who attended a Transactional Analysis based Leadership Training Programme and those who did not attend. No statistically significant differences were found regarding Warmth. © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of PSIWORLD 2011

Keywords: ledership factors, leadership, managers, Warmth, Emotional Stability, Social Boldness, Transactional Analysis.

1. Introduction

The paper objective rised from practical and real-life organisational concerns and business matters of a local Automotive Industry Plant and consisted in identifying a modality for improving the leaders and managers qualities and abilities requested in team leaderhip. The main approach used in this study is a comprehensive metaanalysis conducted by Morgeson, Scott DeRue, and Karam (2010), an integrative view of team leadership, which summarizes the research theories and literature on the leadership processes within a team. Team effectiveness and performance are related to certain stages of leadership functions, according to Morgeson et al. (2010). The organisational leadership functions stage we referred to in this research is the Action Stage. Some of the most important Action Stage leadership functions for a team to effectively perform are: to monitor the team and its boundaries, to challenge the team and to

* Daniel Ciucur. Tel.: +40744557754. E-mail address: daniel@ciucur.ro.

© 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of PSIWORLD2011Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.

Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.

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“support the social climate” (Morgeson et al., 2010). Barrick, Stewart, Neubert and Mont (1998) stated that cohesion among team members represents a major team leadership factor and it is highest when team leaders and team members are high on “agreeableness, extraversion, and emotional stability”. Another important factor in this stage consists in positive social interactions reflected by the positive relationship between social climate support and team productivity (Campion, Medsker, and Higgs, 1993). Research conducted by Schminke, Wells, Peyrefitte and Sebora (2002) highlighted that a supportive leader is a leader who shows warmth for the team’s members, who cares for interpersonal aspects of team members and has good relationship skills. In order to accomplish the research’s objective, a Transactional Analysis based Leadership Training Programme for leaders and managers (TALTP) was implemented. Transactional Analysis represents a theory of personality, an “elegant, and effective system on which to base the practical activities of professionals in psychotherapy, counseling, education, and organizational consultation“ founded in the 1950s by San Francisco psychiatrist Eric Berne, MD (Steiner, 2005). Significant results and effects of a TA Training Programme in an organisational context were obtained by Bossenmayer (2011). The effects of Transactional Analysis 101 Training upon self perceptions of ego-state dynamics were examined. Statistically significant results were found in decreasing the Critical Parent Level assessed after the Programme, and one month later. The three Ego States model represents one of the core ideas of TA theory (Erskine and Trautmann, 1981, 1988; Hargaden and Sills 2002; Hay, 2009). In the early three ego-state model, “the Parent is a language of values, the Adult is a the language of logic and rationality, and the Child is a the language of emotions” (Bossenmayer, 2011). Significant effects of TA based trainings and programmes regarding personal development and change were also obtained in different studies (Prothero, 1978; Wissink, 1994; Newton & Temple, 2003; Lerkkanen & Temple, 2004).

2. Methodology

2.1. Objective and research hypothesis

The objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a TALT Programme for leaders and managers.The research hypothesis is that there are significant differences regarding the16 PF scales: Warmth, Emotional Stability and Social Boldness, between leaders and managers who attended TALTP and leaders and managers who did not attend the Programme. People with high level of Warmth are described as warm, participating, attentive to others, people having a increased level of Emotional Stability are described as adaptive and mature, being emotionally stable, and individuals with a high level of Social Boldness are not easily offended, are daring and willing to take risks (Cattell, 2004).

2.2. Sample and participants

This research sample is represented by 30 employees holding a management position from a major Timisoara automotive company. Subjects ranged in age from 18 to 55 (M=34.43, SD=4.32). Most participants were male (N=20; representing 66,6%) and 10 were female (33,3%). The subjects were randomly selected from the factory’s management population (managers, department managers, coordinator managers and team leaders). All subjects voluntarily agreed participating in this research.

2.3. Test

The psychological instrument used in this research was the Cattell’s 16 PF Inventory. Reports on using 16 PF Inventory in an industrial/organisational setting in assessment of employee personal development

669Daniel Ciucur and Augustina Florentina Pîrvu / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 33 (2012) 667 – 671D. Ciucur et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 00 (2011) 000–000

and team building were provided by different researchers (Walter, 2000; Watterson, Aldridge and Seelback, 2002).

3. Results and discussions

To accomplish the objective of the study, a qvasiexperiment was conducted and a 16 PF pretest managers’ assessment was completed. A first group of 15 randomly selected managers attended an Transactional Analysis based Leadership Training Programme led by an external training provider. After finishing the Programme, a16 PF posttest participants’ assessment was completed. A comparison between the two groups regarding Warmth, Emotional Stability and Social Boldness was made.

For the statistical processing of data, the SPSS 13.0 program was used.

Table 1. The managers’ pretest descriptive statistics for Warmth, Emotional Stability and Social Boldness

N Statistics Emotional Stability Warmth Social Boldness

TALTP * nonattending managers

15 Mean 17.13 8.40 18.33

Std. Deviation 1.922 1.724 2.193

TALTP attending managers 15 Mean 16.93 8.13 18.07

Std. Deviation 2.052 1.685 1.944

* TALTP = Transactional Analysis based Leadership Training Programme

In order to verify the research hypothesis, a two independent samples Mann-Whitney (U) nonparametrical test comparison of means was applied (Popa, 2008); no significant differences were found between the two groups of managers before starting the Transactional Analysis based Leadership Training Programme (pretest), as shown in table 2. The Warmth, Emotional Stability and Social Boldness levels were similar at the pretest moment between the two groups of managers.

Table 2. The pretest results of the Mann-Whitney (U) test comparison between the two groups of managers (grouping variable: TALTP) regarding Warmth, Emotional Stability and Social Boldness

Emotional Stability Warmth Social Boldness

Z -.336 -.529 -.316

p .737 .597 .752

Following the statistical processing of data, a two independent samples Mann-Whitney (U) nonparametrical test comparison of means was applied (table 4).

Table 3. The posttest descriptive statistics for Warmth, Emotional Stability and Social Boldness

Statistics Emotional Stability Warmth Social Boldness

TALTP* nonattending managers

Mean 17.20 8.33 18.20

Std. Deviation 1.971 1.799 2.366

TALTP attending managers Mean 18.80 8.53 20.07

Std. Deviation 2.007 1.598 1.486

Note: N=15; *TALTP= Transactional Analysis based Leadership Training Programme

670 Daniel Ciucur and Augustina Florentina Pîrvu / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 33 (2012) 667 – 671D. Ciucur et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 00 (2011) 000–000

Table 4. The posttest results of the Mann-Whitney (U) test comparison between the two groups of managers (grouping variable: TALTP) regarding the level of Warmth, Emotional Stability and Social Boldness

Emotional Stability Warmth Social Boldness

Z -2.015 -.317 -2.105

p .044 .751 .035

Significant differences regarding Cattell’s Primary Personality Factors: Emotional Stability and Social Boldness, between the managers that have attended a training program designed for improving the team leadership skills and the managers that have not attended this program were found. No statistically significant differences were found regarding Warmth (table 4). The results indicate that nonintelective, personality traits (Emotional Stability and Social Boldness) in managers can be improved by implementing an organisational Transactional Analysis based Leadership Training Programme. The hypothesis was partially confirmed.

4. Conclusions

The results of the study showed significant differences regarding Cattell’s Primary Personality Factors: Emotional Stability and Social Boldness, between managers who attended a Transactional Analysis based Leadership Training Programme and managers who didn’t attend the Programme. No significant differences regarding Warmth were found. Empirical data to support the effectiveness of TA based Training Programmes was reported in other organisational and educational settings (Erskine & Maisenbacher, 1975; Amundson & Sawatzky, 1976; Kenney & Lyons, 1980; Underhill,1982; Talob, 1994; Stapleton & Stapleton, 1998; Cam & Akkoyun, 2001). For an organisation to show high performance in the Action Stage (Morgeson et al., 2010), its leaders and managers have to demonstrate a high level of team leadership factors as Warmth (Schminke et al., 2002), Emotional Stability (Barrick et al., 1998) and Social Boldness. The practical implications of the results are that Transactional Analysis based Leadership Training Programmes can be used with positive and significant effects in increasing the Emotional Stability and Social Boldness levels in team managers and leaders. For the Warmth factor’s level to be incresed and the full organisational objective to be accomplished, an adjustment of the content of the TA Programme has to be realised in order to increase the Nurturing Parent’s theory and application sections’ volume, Warmth being a trait of the Nurturing Parent (Novey et al., 1993). This would be the research direction in a future study - significant results in increasing the level of the Nurturing Parent being obtained by Prothero (1977) and in modification of diferent Ego States level being reported by Boholst (2003) and Bossenmayer (2011). One of the limitations of the study is the study’s sample small volume which is limiting the practical application of the results of the research to the factory’s studied population.

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