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A case study of transformational

leadership and para-police
performance in Indonesia
Adi Indrayanto
Jenderal Soedirman University, Purwokerto, Indonesia

John Burgess and Kandy Dayaram

School of Management, Curtin University, Perth, Australia, and

Case study of
transformational
leadership
373
Received 18 March 2013
Revised 12 September 2013
Accepted 12 September 2013

Noermijati
Management Study Program, Brawijaya University, Malang, Indonesia
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate and examine the mediating effect of trust
and commitment on employees performance in the context of transformational leadership at Civilian
Para-Police Force Institution.
Design/methodology/approach Leaders and employees at the Civilian Para-Police Force in
Indonesia were surveyed and interviewed. Multiple regressions are used to examine and explore the
direct and indirect relationship and also provide a model of transformational leadership.
Findings Transformational leadership does not directly influence towards employee performance;
rather trust and commitment are found to be the mediating variables in the relationship between
transformational leadership and employee performance. The result supports a model of
transformational leadership that is considered to be more effective and suitable for improving
performance in para-police organisations.
Research limitations/implications Limitations include the cross-sectional data analysis, the
country and institutional specific focus, and a small sample size (n 132).
Practical implications Organisations with similar duties as those of the Indonesian para-police
organisation could embrace the suggested transformational leadership model for the purposes of
improving organisational performance through maintaining public order, while at the same time
avoiding any abuse of social and religious norms, and human rights.
Originality/value This study provides a detailed account of the effectiveness of transformational
leadership for para police organisations in the Indonesian context.
Keywords Transformational leadership, Empowerment, Performance, Trust,
Organizational commitment, Civilian Para-Police Force
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Previous literature highlighted the significant influence of transformational leadership
on employee performance across many organisations (Bass et al., 2003; Masi and
Cooke, 2000). Transformational leadership is deemed to be effective in improving
employee performance because leaders serve as a role model for their subordinates
who seek to meet the expectations demanded of them by leaders in their organisation
(Bass and Riggio, 2006).
In the context of transformational leadership, prior research provides insights into
some of the factors that are found to be mediating variables in the relationship between
The authors would like to acknowledge DIKTI (Sandwich-Like Program 2012) and School of
Management of the Curtin University for the support.

Policing: An International Journal of

Police Strategies & Management
Vol. 37 No. 2, 2014
pp. 373-388
r Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1363-951X
DOI 10.1108/PIJPSM-03-2013-0029

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374

transformational leadership and employees performance. Studies by Jung and

Avolio (2000), Casimir et al. (2006), and Pillai et al. (1999) reveal that trust has a
significant mediating influence in the relationship. Bass (1996) suggested that
commitment is also an important intervening variable in improving employee
performance in the context of transformational leadership. However, Ozag (2006) and
Farndale et al. (2011) suggest that commitment is influenced by trust, that is,
leaders that are considered to be trustworthy will be more effective in improving
employee commitment and performance.
The research examines the mediating influence of trust and commitment in
the relationship between transformational leadership and employee performance.
The context is a para-police organisation in Indonesia where the effectiveness of the
organisation is dependent upon employee and public perceptions of leadership that is
perceived to possess characteristics that are aligned with transformational
leadership that is, ascendency, sociability, sensing, self-confidence, internal locus
of control, and nurturance (Bass and Riggio, 2006). The article is organised as follows.
In the first section, the aims and structure of the research are explained. Following this
literature review provides a brief overview of the concept of transformational
leadership and the outcomes, and the organisational issues. This develops a model that
will be tested. Following, the research methods are explained and this is followed by an
analysis and discussion of the findings. This is then followed by a final section which
sets out the implications and limitations of the research.
Leadership in military and police organisations
Studies on leadership in police and military organisations reveal that police
officers need supportive management and organisational support to improve their
commitment (Dick and Metcalfe, 2007; Young and Dulewicz, 2009; Vito et al., 2011).
This indicates that leaders are a key component of supportive management; to improve
subordinates commitment, leaders need to provide organisational support and
motivation. Denstens (2003) study of senior police officers finds that subordinates
who receive clear direction from the leaders are more likely to perform well, and
more likely to have higher job satisfaction than those who do not receive clear
directions from leaders. According to a study on UK Royal Marines by Hardy et al.
(2010), there is evidence that transformational leadership behaviours can predict
followers performance. Research on Sergeants and Platoon Leaders suggested that
transformational leadership positively impacted on platoon performance (Bass et al.,
2003). The finding also suggests that those Sergeants with transformational leadership
had a greater impact on the platoons performance than did the platoon leaders.
That is, direct leadership and line managers are important in facilitating commitment
and group performance. These findings provide an account on how transformational
leadership can influence employees performance, commitment, as well as job
satisfaction within the context of a military organisation.
Despite the numerous studies on transformational leadership and employees
performance in military organisations, there have been no studies conducted of
semi-military organisations. This kind of organisation is different from full military or
full police organisations. The differences lie in terms of duties, responsibilities,
competencies, governance and organisation. Para police or semi-military organisations
are generally dealing with public law and order enforcement in regency or provinces,
while military organisations are generally dealing with government-sponsored
defence and activities nationally or internationally. Police organisations

are generally dealing with apprehension of criminals, as well as prevention and

detection of crime.
In Indonesia, the recruitment process of Civilian Para-Police Force employees is
under the responsibility of the Ministry of Home Affairs (Undang-Undang RI, 2004a);
whereas police recruitment is under the Indonesian National Police organisations
responsibility (Undang-Undang RI, 2002), and the recruitment process of military
soldiers is under the responsibility of The Indonesian National Armed Forces (UndangUndang RI, 2004b). Thus, the Civilian Para-Police Force is classified as government
employees. With regards to selection process, passing physical tests is one of the main
criteria to select a military officer; whereas for Satpol PP (para-police) officers, this
is not as important because the institution has its own way to train the officers to be
physically ready to do their tasks once the candidates join the institution.
The para-police force has distinctive duties to maintain the regulation enforcement
of regency or provinces regulations. They deal with local law and order issues. This
duty is different to that of national police officers in terms of the scope of authority; in
which Para-police officers are responsible to maintain security and public order,
law enforcement, providing protection, shelter, and services to residents of a regency/
province. On the other hand, police officers focus on law enforcement and prevention of
crime cases at the state level, that is, across provinces. Police officers have one national
top leader in Indonesia (which is known as police general); whereas para-police officers
do not have a national top leader, because they serve the leader of a regency or
a province. The militarys main task is national defence, and they have a national top
leader which is known as Indonesian National Army Commander. Considering that
there are significant differences between those three institutions, it is of interest
to examine whether transformational leadership has also the same influence to
employees performance such as those in military or police organisations.
Leadership across different cultures
Different cultural groups of employees may have different conceptions of what
are the most important characteristics of leadership. Studies conducted by Young
and Dulewicz (2009) into the British Royal Navy, and Yang et al. (2012) into the
Taiwanese police department reveal that leaders competency is a significant factor in
influencing employees performance. Leaders competency is closely related to the
conceptualisation of capability which is an element of idealised influence
characteristic in transformational leadership. Hyllengren et al.s (2011) study on
a group of Norwegian and Sweden military officers (who are under training or
academy programme) emphasises the significance of trust in the relationship between
leaders and subordinates. Leaders who are able to display individualised consideration
towards employees need will more likely to gain trust from subordinates.
Transformational leadership (which include idealised influence, inspirational
motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualised consideration to followers)
was confirmed as being an important determinant of individual and unit performance
in Murphy and Drodges (2004) research into the Canadian Mounted Police Force.
The above research supports the contribution of transformational leadership
across cultures as having a positive impact on employee performance in military and
police organisations. Leaders who are able to act wisely (in terms of inspiring vision
and providing clear direction) and provide support (as in giving individualised
consideration) to their subordinates are more likely to build employee commitment to
perform effectively.

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The significance of transformational leadership study in para police context

The Civilian Para-Police Force institution in Indonesia (known as Satuan Polisi
Pamong Praja or Satpol PP) was established in order to maintain public order. Satpol
PP is a semi-military organisation which has four main duties:
(1)
(2)
(3)

maintaining public order in sub districts;

enforcing the implementation of local government regulations;
prosecuting violations against regional regulations; and

(4)

performing intelligence services.

In performing their duties, Satpol PP is expected to act assertively yet to avoid any
breach with regards to social and religious norms, as well as human rights. However, in
the past the record of Satpol PP indicated an inability to meet their organisational
objectives (Nurullah, 2011). The Indonesian media reported breaches of human rights
on a regular basis by Satpol PP officers (Nurullah, 2011). For example, in performing
law enforcement with regard to unregistered street businesses, it was reported that
Satpol PP officers have physically harassed street operatives and street children
(Radar Banyumas, 2010).
The urgency to transform the aggressive behaviour of Satpol PP, often involving
violation of human rights, was deemed to be a significant challenge to improving the
reputation of the organisation, as well as employee performance. One of the important
factors which influence employee performance is leadership. Many studies have
examined the relationship between leadership style and performance in various setting
of organisations. For example, leadership is found to correlate positively to employee
performance in military institutions (e.g. Bass et al., 2003; Masi and Cooke, 2000),
private sector organisations (e.g. Hater and Bass, 1988; Yammarino and Dubinsky,
1994), the public sector (e.g. Wofford et al., 2001), educational institutions (Harvey et al.,
2003) and non-profit organisations (e.g. Egri and Herman, 2000; Riggio and Orr, 2004).
Transformational leadership and performance
In the context of leadership research, transformational leadership has been identified
as an important factor that affects employee performance (Bass, 1996; Bass and Riggio,
2006; Yukl, 2010; Batram and Casimir, 2007; Elenkov, 2002). According to Jung and
Avolio (2000) transformational leadership has a positive influence towards improving
employee performance directly and indirectly (through trust as the mediating
variable). Hence, transformational leadership is an important attribute for managers
that assist them to achieve the organisations objectives, including the improvement in
subordinates performance.
Transformational leadership is a style of leadership that inspires followers to
involve, commit, and share their vision and goals for the organisation; encourages
followers to be innovative in solving organisational problems; and supports followers
to have leadership competencies through coaching and mentoring (Bass and Riggio, 2006).
Transformational leadership can be an important factor that influences employee
performance due to idealised influence, individual consideration, inspirational
motivation, and intellectual stimulation which are provided by the transformational
leader. A leader can have an idealised influence when his subordinates admire,
respect, and trust them. Inspirational motivation involves leaders ability to inspire
enthusiasm and optimism to subordinates. A transformational leader also attempt to
stimulate subordinates creativity and innovation to solve problems and find solutions.

Individual considerations refers to leaders ability to act as a coach or mentor for

subordinates by giving attention to each individuals need for achievement and
growth, in hopes that subordinates can reach their potential.
According to Wang et al. (2005), the relationship between transformational
leadership and employee performance is a social identification process in which
subordinates proudly identify themselves as a member of a certain group, and are
motivated to make additional contributions to the group. Transformational leaders can
boost the employee pride and confidence by displaying their belief and trust towards
subordinate ability to perform optimally as expected, and to provide appreciation for
subordinate achievement.
Based on the literature the following hypothesis is proposed in this study:
H1. Transformational leadership has significant influence on employee performance.
Trust as mediating variables
Leaders require trust from subordinates to support strong employee engagement.
According to Mayer et al. (1995), trust is reciprocal leaders will trust employees when
they are able to perform as well as expected, and employees will trust their leader when
the leader is able to provide individual attention to subordinates. Furthermore, Pillai
et al. (1999) state that trust will result in performance improvement as well as improved
employee satisfaction.
Trust is substantial in the relationship between leaders and employees due to
uncertainties that may exist in the process of change within an organisation. In this
context, trust will trigger employees willingness to perform the tasks and
responsibilities given by leaders in times of uncertainty. Employees need to trust
that the decision made by their leader is a good decision; whereas leaders need to trust
that employees will do their tasks according to the decision which has been made.
Hence, it can be said that trust is a key element in the beginning phase of decision
making process that involves risks (Mayer et al., 1995).
Several factors that are important in developing trust include how the organisation
treats its employees, perceptions of fairness within the organisation, and whether the
promises and obligations to employees are met by the organisation (Sharkie, 2009).
This paper argues that when leaders, management, and organisations can fulfil the
employees needs (salary, benefits, and safety), it is more likely that employees will
have high commitment to their duties, and a high degree of loyalty to the organisation.
Leaders should ensure that they make the best decision that will support employee
needs. Trust is substantial in the relationship between leaders and employees because
employees perceive that their life, future, and welfare depend on their leaders.
The more trustworthy the leaders, the more employees are willing to commit themselves
to their responsibilities and duties, which will then improve their performance.
Casimir et al. (2006) state that trust mediates the relationship between
transformational leadership and employee performance. Their study was conducted
in two countries Australia and China which have different cultural backgrounds.
The proposed hypothesis was that trust has a mediating effect on the relationship
between transformational leadership and employee performance was only confirmed
by the Australian organisations. However, although trust was found to be not
mediating the relationship between transformational leadership and employees
performance in Chinese organisations, the correlation value of transformational
leadership and trust was high. This finding justifies the inclusion of trust as

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mediating variable in the relationship between transformational leadership and

employee performance.
The formulated hypothesis, therefore, is that:
H2. The effects of transformational leadership on employees performance will be
mediated by trust.

378

Commitment as mediating variables

There are various types of member commitment and loyalty within an organisation,
which are organisational commitment, team commitment, leaders commitment,
commitment to tasks, and individual commitment. Leaders play a significant role in
influencing the level of these commitments. Effective leaders are those who have an
ability to align the various types and levels of members commitment with the vision
and mission of the organisation (Kark et al., 2003).
This is also in line with Gals study (1985; in Bass and Riggio, 2006) on
transformational leadership in military institutions. Commitment is the way of life for
all members of military forces. Commitment is a powerful force (even more powerful
than salary) that influences members motivation to work. This is because military
tasks are closely related to high risks, extreme expectation, and high levels of stress.
Commitment involves members obedience to commands. Therefore, leaders should be
able to utilise subordinates commitment to achieve the goals of the organisation.
According to Mowday et al. (1979), commitment is the relative effort to involve and
engage the organisation. The definition of commitment contains three valuable
elements; first, a strong willingness to perceive the organisational objectives and
values; second, there is extra effort to do something for their organisation; third, there
is an wish to be identified as being a member of organisation (Mowday et al., 1979).
Further, Meyer and Allen (1991) suggest that this also involves employees having
emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement with the organisation.
The relation between employee and their organisation is captured by the concept
of affective commitment. When an employee has awareness of the costs related to
leaving their organisation, it is called continuance commitment; whereas normative
commitment is a feeling to responsibility to continue employment. Thus, employees
with high level of normative commitment will tend to be retained in their organisation.
The conceptualisation of commitment is developed even further by Brierley (1996) who
suggested that employee commitment is the result of internalisation process of
normative values. Commitment will drive employees to perform in accordance with the
objectives of the organisation.
It can be argued that employees who have strong commitment towards his/her
organisation will perform better than those who do not. Good performance of
employees will contribute towards the achievement of the organisations goals.
Subsequently, the ability of organisations to achieve goals will also influence employee
career development. Research conducted by Jaramillo et al. (2005) highlights this
relationship; in which the finding shows that commitment to organisations is
positively related to employees performance.
Each components of transformational leadership which include idealised
influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individual
consideration affects commitment building of employees in various ways. Leaders
will have a powerful influence to build employee commitment to organisations when
subordinates see that the leader is the idealised person whom is worthy to be followed

and obeyed ( Jaramillo et al., 2005). Employees commitment can also be built by the leader
by providing inspirational motivation for employees. Inspirational motivation, in this
context, will build emotional commitment to organisations mission and goals. Intellectual
stimulation refers to the ability of the leader to stimulate his/her employees to find
innovative and creative solutions in problem solving. Meanwhile, individual considerations
can affect employee commitment in which employees feel that the leader give attention to
their individual needs of good career. Individual considerations also deals with the way a
leader provides supervision for his/her subordinates effort in improving their
competencies. Thus, the following hypotheses from the literature are identified:

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H3a. Trust has a significant influence on commitment.

H3b. The effects of transformational leadership on employee performance will be
mediated by commitment.
H3c. The effects of trust on employee performance will be mediated by
commitment.
Based on the following hypotheses, the research model provided in Figure 1.
Methods
The population of this research is the employees of Civilian Para-Police Force in four
regencies, which are Banyumas, Purbalingga, Banjarnegara, and Cilacap. Total para-police
employees in those four regencies are 226. In all, 190 respondents were selected
using proportionate random sampling technique for inclusion in the survey.
Questionnaires were sent via mail to the selected respondents and the response rate
was 69 per cent. Overall, 132 valid responses were used for the analysis; and this
sample size is deemed to be sufficient for analysis process according to Iacobucci
(2010). For the purpose of this study, subordinates were given questionnaire on
transformational leadership, commitment, and trust; whereas leaders are given
questionnaire on employee performance. There are 132 subordinates and four leaders
of para-police organisation that are part of this research. First, subordinates which were
selected to be the respondents completed the questionnaires, after that the leaders of those
respondents were given questionnaire on employees performance. Data tabulation and
analysis were done afterward.

Trust

Transformational
Leadership

Performance

Commitment

Figure 1.
Research model

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The research hypotheses were examined with multi-items scale adopted from previous
studies. Instruments selected for the study have already been tested for validity and
reliability. Five point of Likert scales were utilised in the questionnaire; where 1
indicates strong disagreement and 5 indicates strong agreement. Podsakoff et al. (2003)
suggests that one of sources of common method bias is that the data of predictor
variable and criterion variable are obtained from the same source. To avoid common
method bias, this research employs multi-raters. Questionnaire that was given to
subordinates consists of 20 questions on transformational leadership, 18 questions
about commitment, and seven questions on trust. Meanwhile, the questionnaire that
was given to leaders consists of four questions on employees performance.
Transformational leadership is measured with a scale developed by Bass and
Avolio (1994). There are four indicators in transformational leadership including
inspirational motivation, idealised influence, individualised consideration, and intellectual
stimulation. Schoorman et al.s (2007) scales were utilised to assess the trust variable.
The parameters are adopted and adjusted to obtain a better perception to adapt to the
para-police organisation context. Three indicators that are employed consist of honesty,
opinion, and attention. Commitment is assessed using Meyer and Allen (1991) scales; with
the indicators including affective commitment, continuant commitment, and normative
commitment. Assessment for employees performance variable is adopted and adjusted
from Casimir et al. (2006). The indicators for employees performance are competency,
hard work, high standard, and time discipline.
The survey was translated into the Indonesian language, and it was modified in
accordance with the context of organisation. For example, there are three dimensions of
trust variable on the questionnaire, which is different to the instrument developed by
Schoorman et al. (2007) that has no dimension. The new dimensions of trust are
developed based on specific context of Indonesian Satpol-PP organisation. Honesty is one
of the new dimensions which is developed in this study, based on Indonesian contextual
condition. Honesty, in Indonesian context, is one of important factors to build trust between
leaders and subordinates. Questions on transformational leadership, commitment and
performance were also adapted in accordance to the Indonesian Satpol-PP context.
The modification of transformational leadership questionnaire can be seen through the
added questions regarding whether the leader think about ethical consequences in decision
making process (with regards to leadership), how is the bonding process between
employee and the organisation (with regards to commitment context), and whether the
officers do their security task with high discipline (with regards to performance context).
Research instruments were then tested on a pilot study of 30 participants. Validity and
reliability tests show good result. Inter-item correlation that was employed to assess the
internal validity showed high correlation score ( po0.05) for each item. Cronbachs a that
was employed to assess the reliability revealed that the instrument has a good a scores
(a40.6). According to Hair et al. (2006) Cronbachs a score over than 0.6 is good fit.
After data entry was carried out, and the collected data were screened for any
missing values. The collected data were then calculated to provide descriptive
statistics, correlation, and Cronbachs a coefficient. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)
was employed due to construct validity of the measurements. CFA can also assess the
contribution of every indicator in addition to examine the measured variables that
represent the constructs (Hair et al., 2006). In order to obtain better understanding of
the result of measurement, the CFA results and validity result were combined. Finally,
multiple regressions was utilised to examine the hypothesis. Baron and Kenny (1986)
suggested method was also applied to examine the hypotheses.

Results
Of the 132 respondents, 98 per cent are male. Most respondents are aged between 30
and 40 years (which comprise of 43 per cent of the respondents). This indicates that
Satpol PP institution is dominated by male workers, and most of them are middle aged.
About 56 per cent respondents have less than eight years work experience.
Table I presents mean, standard deviation, the Pearson correlations between all
variables, and the Cronbachs a coefficient to asses internal consistency. The correlations
between all variables are significant and positive ( po0.01). The relationship between
commitment and trust was the highest (r 0.69), in other hand transformational
leadership and trust shows the lowest relationship (r 0.27). The internal consistencies
for all variables are validated by an acceptable Cronbach coefficient (a 0.82-0.93).
CFA evaluates the validity of measurement with goodness of fit index. In order to
assess CFA, one absolute index, one incremental index, and w2 evaluations are utilised.
The result of model examination shows that w2-value is 101.97 ( po0.01). Based on cut
off value, it can be said that this result is acceptable. Although the w2-value is
significant, Hair et al. (2006) states that this value can be justified due to the fact that
the observed variable are o30 on number of samples that was o250 respondents.
This result is supported by the value of w2 divided by df 1.44, with suggested cut off
less than two. Incremental fit index result shows that the model proposed in this study
is on good fit (CFI 0.98). Absolute fit index result also confirms that the model is
a good fit (RMSEA 0.06), with suggested cut off value o0.08.
According to Hair et al. (2006) CFA can also assess the contribution of each indicator.
The result shows that for transformational leadership the highest contribution is
inspirational motivation with loading factor 0.81; idealised influence has loading factor
0.73, individualised consideration has loading factor 0.73, and the lowest contribution is
intellectual stimulation with loading factor 0.69. Honesty provides strong contribution
to the trust variable with loading factor 0.90. Attention provides a contribution with
a loading factor 0.87 and opinion has a loading factor of 0.82. For organisational
commitment the highest contribution is normative commitment (0.94). Continuant
commitment has a factor of (0.91 and affective commitment is 0.82). The assessment for
employee performance shows that hard work has the highest loading factor (0.93),
while serially high standard has loading factor 0.90, time discipline has loading
factor 0.85, and s competency has a loading factor of 0.80. Overall, indicators show that
measurement of each variable provides a good fit.
According to Baron and Kenny (1986), there are three steps of analysis in examining
the mediation effect. First, transformational leadership must affect trust and
commitment as a mediator, and trust must affect commitment; second,
transformational leadership and trust must affect performance as the dependent
variable; and third, trust and commitment must affect the performance. When

1.
2.
3.
4.

Performance
Transformational leadership
Trust
Commitment

SD

3.47
2.83
2.87
3.01

0.85
0.46
0.66
0.45

(0.93)
0.32
0.30
0.47

(0.82)
0.27
0.46

(0.90)
0.69

(0.92)

Notes: n 132. Standardised Cronbachs a coefficient is reported in parentheses along the diagonal.
po0.01 for all Pearson correlation coefficients (two-tailed test)

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Table I.
Means, standard
deviations, and
correlations between
all variables

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transformational leadership is included in the third equation, the result shows that the
effect of transformational leadership on performance decreases as compared to the
second step. This means that there is only a partial mediation effect. Perfect mediation
is proven if the effect of transformational leadership on performance is insignificant in
the third step. Trust is mediated by commitment if the effect of trust on performance
declines (compared to the second equation) or is insignificant in the third equation.
Tables II and IV present the regression results.
Hypothesis testing is performed by looking at the significance value of the parameter
estimate and p-value. The hypotheses are supported if the p-value of the path between
variables is o0.05. According to Tables II-IV, path analysis of the relationship between
transformational leadership and trust shows parameter estimate coefficient 0.26 with
po0.01. Path analysis on the relationship between commitment (as the dependent
variable) and transformational leadership shows a parameter estimate coefficient 0.46,
with po0.01. The result indicates that transformational leadership does influence
commitment. The regression analysis also reveals that trust has significant effect
through commitment (0.70, po0.01). The result indicates that the first step of Baron and
Kennys (1986) procedure to examine the mediation effect has been proven.
Dependent variable

Table II.
Transformational
leadership as predictor,
trust as mediator

1. Trust
2. Performance
3. Performance

Table IV.
Trust as predictor,
commitment as mediator

Parameter estimate

Transformational leadership
Transformational leadership
Transformational leadership
Trust

0.26
0.32
0.26
0.24

3.12**
3.82**
3.04**
2.81**

Model R2 Model F
0.07
0.10

9.71**
14.58**

0.15

11.63**

Notes: Sobel test statistic for trust as mediator of the effect transformational leadership towards
performance 2.10 ( po0.05). ** po0.01

Dependent variable

Table III.
Transformational
leadership as predictor,
commitment as mediator

Independent variable

1. Commitment
2. Performance
3. Performance

Independent variable

Parameter estimate

Transformational leadership
Transformational leadership
Transformational leadership
Commitment

0.46
0.32
0.13
0.41

5.95**
3.82**
1.47 ns
4.73**

Model R2 Model F
0.21
0.10

35.41**
14.58**

0.23

19.65**

Notes: ns, not significant, Sobel test statistic for commitment as mediator of the effect
transformational leadership towards performance 3.70 ( po0.001). ** po0.01

Dependent variable

Independent variable

1. Commitment
2. Performance
3. Performance

Trust
Trust
Trust
Commitment

Parameter estimate

Model R2

Model F

0.70
0.30
0.05
0.50

11.02**
3.63**
0.41 ns
4.64**

0.48
0.09

121.46**
13.19**

0.22

18.38**

Notes: ns, not significant, Sobel test statistic for commitment as mediator of the effect
transformational leadership towards performance 4.27 ( po0.001). ** po0.01

Tables II and III provide path analysis results on the relationship between
transformational leadership and employee performance; the parameter estimate
coefficient is 0.32, with po0.01. Thus, it can be said that transformational leadership
affects employee performance. Hence, the first hypothesis is supported. Table IV
provides an answer to H3a which states that trust affect employee performance (which
is indicated by coefficient 0.3 and po0.01). The research finding also supports the
second step of mediation testing by Baron and Kenny (1986). Hence, H3a is supported.
To examine H2, H3b, and H3c, the third step of Baron and Kennys (1986) procedure
is performed. H2 is supported by this research; Table II indicates that there is a
decreasing coefficient on the effect of transformational leadership towards employee
performance (0.26, po0.01). Further information to support this result is conducted
through performing the Sobel test (see Table III). The result shows that the partial
mediation is supported. Thus, it can be said that trust is a mediating variable on the
influence of transformational leadership on employee performance. Table III lists the
results for testing H3a, which established mediation on the effect of transformational
leadership towards performance (indicated by estimated parameter coefficient 0.13,
p40.05). The Sobel test also supports the result (significant), which means that H3a is
supported. Meanwhile, Table IV provides the regression test on the relationship
between trust and employees performance. This demonstrates that the estimated
parameter coefficient is not significant (0.05, p40.05). Thus, it can be said that
commitment does mediate the effect of trust on employee performance. In other words,
H3b is also supported in this research.
Discussion
The result of the data analysis confirms that transformational leadership has a positive
and significant influence on commitment. This finding is in line with the findings of Pillai
and Williams (2004) and McMurray et al. (2010). Transformational leadership practice
which includes idealised influence, inspirational motivation, individual consideration, and
intellectual stimulation is deemed to be effective in building employee commitment to this
para-police organisation. By implementing transformational leadership, leaders will also
be able to foster employee engagement, raise employees awareness towards improvement,
and build loyalty to the organisation. Transformational leadership provides more affective
commitment and is beneficial in enhancing performance (Zeidan, 2006). Interestingly, the
research finds that the type of commitment that exists among Satpol-PP employees is
normative commitment not affective commitment this is explained by the fact that
employment status in a government institution provides a sense of security for employees.
Commitment is confirmed to be mediating the effect of transformational leadership
on employee performance. This finding supports Allen and Meyers (1990) suggestion
that the individual relationship with an organisation can influence the decision of an
employee to stay or leave the organisation. In this context, transformational leadership
plays a significant role in building employee commitment, or even increasing the level
of employee commitment towards the organisation, in order to be able to improve their
performance. This result also confirms the research findings of Pillai and Williams
(2004), Steyrer et al. (2008), and Piccolo and Colquitt (2006) that there is a mediating
effect of commitment on the relationship between transformational leadership and
employee performance.
Previous research by Pillai et al. (1999), Casimir et al. (2006), and Batram and
Casimir (2007) find that trust influences employee performance. The influence of
trust on employees performance in Satpol-PP is found to be mediated by commitment.

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This difference might be due to the fact that previous research did not examine the
relationship between trust and commitment. Other studies that have examined the
relationship between trust and commitment such as those of Ozag (2006), Gilder
(2003), Ruppel and Harrington (2000), and Farndale et al. (2011) found that there is a
strong and significant relationship, in line with the findings in this research.
Furthermore, trust is found to be mediating the relationship between transformational
leadership and employee performance as found by Liu et al. (2010). Trust is mediating
the relationship between transformational leadership and commitment.
The result of the data analysis suggests that in order to develop trust,
transformational leaders should demonstrate clear and correct instructions to
employees. Leaders should perform their task and duty without misrepresentation and
employees should be clear about how the task should be done, why the task should be
done, and what their responsibility is. The finding also suggests that leaders should
be frank to their subordinates in order to establish employee engagement.
Bass and Riggio (2006) state that trust has more attachment with individualised
influence; however, this research finds that the significant dimension of
transformational leadership that exists in the studied organisation is inspirational
motivation. The finding reveals that employees in the para-police organisation feel that
leader should give them inspirational motivation in order to build trust of their leaders.
Employees in Satpol-PP (who are government officers) feel that they understand the
vision and mission of their organisation.
This research suggests that transformational leadership is more likely able
to build subordinate trust, and is more likely to increase the level of employee
commitment to the organisation, and therefore, is more likely to succeed in improving
employee performance.
Conclusion
Transformational leadership has significant influence to employees performance.
Commitment was found to be mediating the influence of transformational leadership
on employee performance. Trust has no effect on employee performance when
commitment exists. This relationship is established because commitment is a
mediating variable on the relationship between trust and employees performance.
This research provides new evidence that transformational leadership concept can be
implemented in semi-military organisations. This is also in line with the research of
Burns (1978) and Bass (1996) that revealed that transformational leadership is
important in many different forms of organisations, including para-police
organisations. This research also provides an account of the role of commitment and
trust as mediating variables in the relationship of transformational leadership and
performance in para-police organisations. The differences of transformational
leadership practices between para-police organisations and other organisations may
affect the development of transformational leadership dimensions.
One limitation of the research is that as the influence of leadership towards followers
needs time to have an impact, data collection process of transformational leadership and
employee performance which was done at the same time may create a bias in measuring
transformational leadership. Other biases that could be present include the small sample
included in the survey. Future research could employ experimental research techniques
to examine the influence of transformational leadership on employees performance.
Research focusing on the design and effectiveness of the training programme for
para-police officers may be fit for this purpose.

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About the authors
Dr Adi Indrayanto is a Lecturer in Management Study Program at the Jenderal Soedirman
University, Purwokerto, Indonesia. He has completed his PhD studies at the Brawijaya University.
His research interests are on the study of HRM, organisations and leadership, organisational
culture, performance, and personal traits. Dr Adi Indrayanto is the corresponding author and can
be contacted at: adiindrayanto@yahoo.com
John Burgess is a Professor of HRM and the Co-Director Change, People, Organisations and
Well Being Research Cluster, School of Management, Curtin University, Perth, WA. His research
interests are on people, organisations, and HR strategic.
Kandy Dayaram is a Professor of Human Resources Management in the School of Management,
Curtin University, Perth, WA. Her research interests are on leadership identity and development,
women in leadership, skills development and capacity building in emerging economies, knowledge
management.
Noermijati is a Doctor of Human Resources Management in Management Study Program at the
Brawijaya University, Malang, Indonesia. Her research interests are on leadership, organisational
culture, performance, and personal traits.

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