Resumen

PEDRAJA-REJAS, Liliana; RODRIGUEZ-PONCE, Emilio  y  RODRIGUEZ-PONCE, Juan. The Influence of Leadership Styles on Effectiveness: a Comparative Study Among Large, Small and Medium-Sized Private Businesses. Revista de Ciencias Sociales [online]. 2008, vol.14, n.1, pp.20-29. ISSN 1315-9518.

The purpose of this study was to identify whether or not leadership styles have a statistically significant influence on the effectiveness of private enterprises. An empirical study was carried out with the participation of 21 large companies and 98 small and medium-sized enterprises in the north of Chile. Results indicated that the transformational leadership style has a positive impact on the effectiveness of large companies, while the transactional leadership style does not show a statistically significant impact on the effectiveness of large companies. For small and medium enterprises, the transformational leadership style has a positive impact, but the transactional leadership style has a negative impact on the organizational effectiveness of this type of organization. Consequently, conclusions are that transformational leadership is a positive style and is desirable for leaders of small and medium enterprises as well as for directors of large companies. On the other hand, transactional leadership is not a desirable style, because it affects small and medium enterprises negatively and has no statistical relevance in the case of large companies.

Palabras clave : Transformational leadership; transactional leadership; effectiveness.