5. Conclusions
This paper used an SEM model to test how leadership affected infrastructure and core
QM practices in manufacturing plants in Thailand. Leadership was measured using
the transformational and transactional leadership model (Podsakoff et al., 1990, 1996).
Contrary to the original propositions, transformational and transactional leadership
did not have opposite effects on the level of infrastructure QM practices. Rather
transformational and transactional leadership complemented each other. Both loaded
onto the same second-order factor labeled “leadership” in this study. This is a
significant finding of the research. This second-order leadership factor suggests that
effective leaders respond to poor performance and simultaneously provide a vision of
the future to their employees. They do this not only by vocal means, but also by
modeling appropriate behaviors for their employees. While modeling the behaviors
they want employees to exhibit, these plant managers also stimulate their employees to
rethink how they do their work. This suggests that more involved leaders (i.e. those
who model behaviors and stimulate their employees as well as punishing inappropriate
behaviors are able to positively affect the level of QM practices.