Organisational Leadership and Generation Z

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2020 in the subject Business economics - Review of Business Studies, grade: 1,0, , language: English, abstract: Generation Z are individuals born between 1995 and 2010 who are growing up in a digital work. However, Transformational Leadership is a relatively recent theory of leadership, shown to be effective across various industries. Leaders who cultivate a Transformational Leadership style are able to work together with their followers towards higher goals and shift expectations and perceptions. Thus, this thesis was initiated to test the hypothesis that Transformational Leadership theory is effective for Generation Z.

A web-based survey based on Transformational Leadership was designed to assess Generation Z's expectations of effective leadership. Therefore, 15 statements were individually assessed and then grouped together into the 5 dimensions of Transformational Leadership to determine if Generation Z expressed more importance for any specific dimension. Finally, a depth interview was designed based on the Transformational Leadership theory to see how leaders incorporate Generation Z's expectations effectively into their organisation.

A total of 147 respondents from Generation Z answered the survey with 15 statements. Statements with the most important expectations were ''a leader should promote his followers' further development'' and ''a leader should have confidence in their followers''. When all 15 components were put together to form the five dimensions of Transformational Leadership, the following dimensions were most important to Generation Z: Inspirational Motivation and Idealized Influence Attributes. Further analysis showed that Idealized Influence Behaviour becomes increasingly important with more working experience. Furthermore, three managers were selected for depth interviews from the aviation industry, automotive industry, and an educational foundation for disadvantaged children. The depth interviews provided feedback showing that managers acknowledge Generation Z's values and that there are different approaches for leading Generation Z. Generation Z offers their workforce a number of opportunities such as their flexibility, readiness for change and openness to digitalisation. On the other hand, Generation Z need more attention and leadership support.