The Influence of Transformational Leadership on Employee Motivation, Job Satisfaction, and Performance in a Japanese Plastics Manufacturing Plant in the Wellglow Industrial Estate

Abstract

This study aimed to (1) examine the levels of transformational leadership, work motivation, job satisfaction, and employee performance, and (2) investigate the mediating role of job satisfaction in linking transformational leadership and work motivation to employee performance. The sample consisted of 200 employees working at a Japanese plastic manufacturing company located in the Wellgrow Industrial Estate. Based on the conceptual framework of Hair et al. (2006), a quantitative research design was employed. Data were collected through a questionnaire, which demonstrated an Index of Item-Objective Congruence (IOC) ranging from 0.67 to 1.00 and a reliability coefficient of 0.897. Descriptive statistics—frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation—were used, while inferential statistics were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) via SmartPLS software.

The findings revealed that the overall influence of job satisfaction, which mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and work motivation on employee performance, was high across all dimensions. Transformational leadership had the highest mean score among the examined variables. Regarding direct effects, work motivation exerted the strongest influence on employee performance, followed by job satisfaction and transformational leadership, respectively.Moreover, transformational leadership exhibited an indirect effect on employee performance through work motivation and job satisfaction.