Research Article Published 30 June 2020

Leadership Styles and Attributes of Prominent Women Business Leaders: A Case Study

How to Cite

How to Cite

Abdullah, Z., Saad, N., Amran, N. A., & Ibrahim, M. (2020). Leadership Styles and Attributes of Prominent Women Business Leaders: A Case Study. Journal of Business Management and Accounting, 10(1), 1-27. https://doi.org/10.32890/jbma2020.10.1.1
Zarifah Abdullah
Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz School of Accountancy, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia
Natrah Saad
Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz School of Accountancy, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia
Noor Afza Amran
Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz School of Accountancy, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia
Marhaiza Ibrahim
Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz School of Accountancy, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia
Full text
PDF View full text 456 KB · 27 pages XML JATS full text 123 KB · machine readable HTML Read online 79 KB
DOI 10.32890/jbma2020.10.1.1 Cite this article
Share this article
Citations
1
OpenAlex, highest of the sources checked
Reads
606 +2
Abstract + full text
Downloads
643
PDF and XML
Percentile
88th
By citations, works of the same year

Article

Abstract

Malaysia is encouraging the involvement and participation of women in developing its economy and in transforming it to become a developed nation by the year 2020. However, studies that look into the attributes of successful women business leaders are scarce. Hence, it is the focus of this paper to reveal the attributes of prominent women business leaders and their respective leadership styles. Three (3) prominent women business leaders from various industries participated in this study and data were gathered through qualitative semi-structured interviews. It was found that the attributes possessed by these participants are similar to their  male counterparts. The only differences between men and women business leaders are in terms of (i) the amount of focus time spent between domestic chores and work, and (ii) the motherly/sisterly approach portrayed by the participants, which is unique to women business leaders. The participants demonstrated three styles of leadership, namely paternalistic, transformational, and participative.

Keywords
Prominent women business leaders attributes leadership styles qualitative case study

Metrics & impact

Citations by source

Harvested 08-09-2026

Counts differ by index because each source crawls a different corpus. Crossref counts only registered reference lists; Google Scholar includes theses, preprints and grey literature.

OpenAlex
1
Open corpus, updated daily View →
OpenCitations
0
Open references only View →
Crossref
0
Deposited reference lists only View →
Scopus
0 Not indexed
Indexed titles only View →
Google Scholar
Publishes no citation count that can be read automatically.
Includes theses and preprints Search →
Dimensions
Publishes no citation count that can be read automatically.
Includes policy documents Search →

Citations over time

New citations recorded in each year, as reported by OpenAlex.

1
0
0
0
0
0
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

Reads & downloads

Abstract views 606
PDF downloads 643
XML downloads 0
Full-text HTML 0
Counted under COUNTER Release 5 rules; known robots excluded.

Attention beyond citation

Citation percentile 88th
Field-weighted citation impact 0.27
Works this article cites 72

From OpenAlex. A field-weighted impact of 1.00 is the world average for work of the same field, type and year. No Altmetric key is configured, so news, policy and social attention are not shown.

Identifiers
DOI · 10.32890/jbma2020.10.1.1
OpenAlex · W3110100581

References

References 98
Deposited to Crossref with the article DOI
  1. Abdullah, S. N., Ku Ismail, K. N. I., & Nachum, L. (2016). Does having women on boards create value? The impact of societal perceptions and corporate governance in emerging markets. Strategic Management Journal, 37(3), 466-476.
  2. Alam, S. S., Jani, M. F. M., & Omar, N. A. (2011). An empirical study of success factors of women entrepreneurs in Southern Region in Malaysia. International Journal of Economics and Finance, 3(2), 166-175.
  3. Alimo-Metcalfe, B., & Alban-Metcalfe, R. J. (2001). The development of a new transformational leadership questionnaire. Journal of Occupational and Organisational Psychology, 74(1), 1-27.
  4. Al Khajeh, E. H. (2018). Impact of leadership styles on organisational performance. Journal of Human Resources Management Research, 2018, 1-10.
  5. Allafchi, N. (2017). Effect of democratic leadership style on management of communication with customers in Melli Banks of Hamedan. International Journal of Cultural and Social Studies, 3(2), 168-179.
  6. Al Malki, M., & Juan, W. (2018). Impact of laissez-faire leadership on role ambiguity and role conflict: Implications for job performance. International Journal of Innovation and Economic Development, 4(1), 29-43.
  7. Alstyne, B. V. (2010). Parental leadership: The Mary Poppins metaphor. Journal of Conscious Evolution, 5, 1-6.
  8. Amini, M. Y., Mulavizada, S., & Nikzad, H. (2019). The impact of autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire leadership style on employee motivation and commitment: A case study of Afghan wireless communication company (AWCC). IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 21(6), 45-50.
  9. Amran, N. A., Saad, N., Abdullah, Z., & Ibrahim, M. (2017). Leadership style in transforming the business landscape. Journal of Business Management and Economic Studies, 2(2), 52-62.
  10. Aronson, J. (2004). The threat of stereotype. Educational Leadership, 62, 14-20.
  11. Asrar-ul-Haq, M., & Kuchinke, K. P. (2016). Impact of leadership styles on employees’ attitude towards their leader and performance: Empirical evidence from Pakistani banks. Future Business Journal 2, 2016, 54-64.
  12. Avolio, B. J., Bass, B. M., & Jung, D. I. (1999). Re-examining the components of transformational and transactional leadership using the multifactor leadership. Journal of Occupational and Organisational Psychology, 72(4), 441-462.
  13. Aziz, H. (2016). Merdeka set education for women right. New Straits Times, 31 August 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2020, from https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nst. com.my/node/169 537/amp.
  14. Basit, A., Sebastian, V., & Hassan, Z. (2017). Impact of leadership style on employee performance (A case study on a private organisation in Malaysia). International Journal of Accounting and Business Management, 5(2), 112-130.
  15. Baskarada, S., Watson, J., & Cromarty, J. (2017). Balancing transactional and transformational leadership. International Journal of Organisational Analysis, 25(3), 506-515.
  16. Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectation. New York, NY: Free Press.
  17. Bass, B. M., Avolio, B. J., Jung, D. I., & Berson, Y. (2003). Predicting unit performance by assessing transformational and transactional leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 207-218.
  18. Baxter, P. E., & Jack, S. M. (2008). Qualitative case study methodology: Study design and implementation for novice researchers. Qualitative Report, 13(4), 544-559.
  19. Bellon, E. O., Ngware, M. W., & Admassu, K. (2017). The role of parental leadership in academic performance: A case of pupils in the free primary education program in Kenya. Education and Urban Society, 49(1), 110-130.
  20. Bernasconi, F. Y. (2019). Determination is key to successful leaders. Retrieved April 14, 2020, from https://sites.psu.edu/leadership/2019/09/12/determination-is-key-to-successful -leaders/.
  21. Bolivar, J. M., & Chrispeels, J. H. (2011). Enhancing parent leadership through building social and intellectual capital. American Educational Research Journal, 48(1), 4-38.
  22. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Journal of Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.
  23. Brown, M. E., & Trevino, L. K. (2006). Ethical leadership: A review and future directions. The Leadership Quarterly, 17(6), 595-616.
  24. Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. New York, NY: Harper and Row.
  25. Cheng, B. S., Chou, L. F., & Wu, T. Y. (2004). Paternalistic leadership and subordinate responses: Establishing a leadership model in Chinese organisations. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 7, 89-117.
  26. Cherry, K. (2020). The democratic style of leadership. Retrieved April 8, 2020, from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-democratic-leadership-2795315.
  27. Cohen, D., & Crabtree, B. (July, 2006). Qualitative research guidelines project. Retrieved April 8, 2020, from http://www.qualres.org/HomeSemi-3629.htm.
  28. Davies, B., & Brighouse, T. (2019). Passionate leadership. British Educational Leadership, Management, and Administration Society, 24(1), 1-3.
  29. De Cremer, D. (2006). Affective and motivational consequences of leader self-sacrifice: The moderating effect of autocratic leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 17, 79-93.
  30. Demuijnck, G. (2009). Non-discrimination in human resources management as a moral obligation. Journal of Business Ethics, 88, 83-101.
  31. Department of Statistics Malaysia (2019). Retrieved April 4, 2020, from https://www. dosm. gov.my/.
  32. Densten, I. L. (1999). Senior Australian law enforcement leadership under examination. Policing and International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, 22(1), 45-57.
  33. De Vries, G., & Homan, A. C. (2008). Diversity and leadership: Transformational leadership and its role in managing diversity. Gedrag en Organisatie, 21(3), 295-309.
  34. Douglass, A. L., Maroney, M. R., Coonan, M., Friedman, D. H., & Carter, A. (2019). You have a status: A case study of parent leadership in a U.S. school readiness initiative. International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy, 13(2), 1-21.
  35. Eberlin, R. J., & Tatum, B. C. (2008). Making just decisions: Organisational justice, decision making, and leadership. Management Decision, 46(2), 310-329.
  36. Edgeman, R. L., Dahlgaard, S. M. P., Dahlgaard, J. J., & Franz, S. (1999). On leaders and leadership. Quality Progress, 32(10), 49-54.
  37. Farh, J. L., & Cheng, B. S. (2000). A cultural analysis of paternalistic leadership in Chinese organisations. In J. T. Li., A. S. Tsui, & E. Weldon (Eds.), Management and organisations in the Chinese context (84-127). London: Macmillan.
  38. Farh, J. L., Cheng, B. S., Chou, L. F., & Chu, X. P. (2006). Authority and benevolence: Employees’ responses to paternalistic leadership in China. In A. S. Tsui, Y. Bian, & L. Cheng (Eds.), China’s domestic private firms: Multidisciplinary perspectives on management and performance (230-260). New York: Sharpe.
  39. Flick, U. (2004). Triangulation in qualitative research. In a companion to qualitative research. 3, 178-183. Accessed from https://books.google.com.my/books? hl=en&lr=&id=6lwPkSo2XW8C&oi=fnd&pg=PP194&dq=Flick+2004+t riangulation+in+qualitative+research&ots=Zq--5oWsIk&sig=-ncC5fWe-VLTvi8abm1M8dcpCBc#v=onepage&q=Flick%202004%20triangulation% in%20qualitative%20research&f=false <> on May 19th, 2020 at 12 pm.
  40. Gelfand, M. J., Erez, M., & Aycan, Z. (2007). Cross-cultural organisational behaviour. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 479-514.
  41. Gilbert, J. A., Stead, B. A., & Ivancevich, J. (1999). Diversity management: A new organisational paradigm. Journal of Business Ethics, 21(1), 61-76.
  42. Gonzalez, J. A., & Zamanian, A. (2015). Diversity in organisations. Diversity in organisations. In J. D. Wright (Ed.), International Encyclopaedia of the Social and Behavioural Sciences (2nd ed.), Volume 6 (595-600). Oxford: Elsevier
  43. Harms, P. D., Wood, D., Landay, K., Lester, P. B., & Lester, G. V. (2018). Autocratic leaders and authoritarian followers revisited: A review and agenda for the future. The Leadership Quarterly, 29(1), 105-122.
  44. Hays (2018). Number of women in management rises in Malaysia. Retrieved April 5, 2020, from https://hrasiamedia.com/top-news/2018/number-of-women-in-management-rises-in-malaysia/.
  45. Hirschmann, R. (2020). Students in public higher education institutions in Malaysia 2012-2018 by gender. Retrieved April 4, 2020, from https://www.statista.com/ statistics/794845/students-in-public-higher-education-institutions-by-gender-malaysia/.
  46. Hood, J. N. (2003). The relationship of leadership style and CEO values to ethical practices in organisations. Journal of Business Ethics, 43(4), 263-273.
  47. Howell, J., & Avolio, B. (1993). Transformational leadership, transactional leadership, locus of control and support for innovation: Key predictors of consolidated-business-unit performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 891-902.
  48. Howell, J. M., & Shamir, B. (2005). The role of followers in the charismatic leadership process: Relationships and their consequences. Academy of Management Review, 30(1), 96-112.
  49. House, R. J., & Shamir, B. (1993). Toward the integration of transformational, charismatic and visionary theories. Academic Press.
  50. Hussain, S. T., Abbas, J., Lei, S., Haider, M. J., & Akram, T. (2017). Transactional leadership and organisational creativity: Examining the mediating role of knowledge sharing behaviour. Journal Cogent Business and Management, 4(1), 1-12.
  51. Idris, F., & Ali, M. K. A. (2008). The impacts of leadership style and best practices on company performances: Empirical evidence from business firms in Malaysia. Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, 19(1-2), 163-171.
  52. Islam, M. A., Jantan, A. H., Rahman, M. A., Hamid, A. B. A., Mahmud, F., & Hoque, A. (2018). Leadership styles for employee empowerment: Malaysian retail industry. Journal of Management Research, 10(4), 27-40.
  53. Jang, Y. (2015). Effects of parental leadership and verbal control modes on preschool children’s leadership. The Korean Journal of Community Living Science, 26(2), 249-259.
  54. Jogulu, U., & Ferkins, L. (2012). Leadership and culture in Asia: The case of Malaysia. Asia Pacific Business Review, 18(4), 1-19.
  55. Judge, T. A., & Piccolo, R. F. (2004). Transformational and transactional leadership: A meta-analytic test of their relative validity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(5), 755.
  56. Kanungo, R. N. (2001). Ethical values of transactional and transformational leaders. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 18(4), 257-265.
  57. Karia, N., & Asaari, M. H. A. H. (2019). Leadership attributes and their impact on work-related attitudes. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 68(5), 903-919.
  58. Karim, S. A., & Azmi, I. A. G. (2008). Muslim women entrepreneurs: A study on success factors. In the Proceeding of National Islamic Entrepreneur Seminar II, Islamic Studies Academy, Universiti Malaya, on 15 October 2008.
  59. Kark, R., & Shamir, B. (2002). The influence of transformational leadership on follower’s relational versus collective self-concept. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2002(1), D1-D6.
  60. Kearney, E., & Gebert, D. (2009). Managing diversity and enhancing team outcomes: The promise of transformational leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(1), 77-89.
  61. Khan, M. S., Khan. I., Qureshi, Q. A., Ismail, H. M., Rauf, H., Latif, A., & Tahir, M. (2015). The styles of leadership: A critical review. Public Policy and Administration Research, 5(3), 87-92.
  62. Kim, L. (2017). Do you have these 7 important leadership qualities. Retrieved April 15, 2020, from https://medium.com/marketing-and-entrepreneurship/do-you-have -these-7-important-leadership-qualities-c98a3a32a366.
  63. Ku Ismail, K. N. I., Amran, N. A., Aripin, N., Abd.
  64. Manaf, K. B., & Abdullah, S. N. (2017). Women representation on boards of Malaysian companies and firm characteristics. JGD, 13(1), 13-32.
  65. Lewin, K., Llippit, R., & White, R. K. (1939). Patterns of aggressive behaviour in experimentally created social climates. Journal of Social Psychology, 10, 271-301.
  66. Leonard, A., & Grebler, A. F. (2006). Exploring challenges to managing transformational leadership communication about employment equity: Managing organisational change in South Africa. Journal of Communication Management, 10(4), 390-406.
  67. Malaysia Demographics Profile (2019). Retrieved March 30, 2020, from https://www. index mundi.com/malaysia/demographics_profile.html.
  68. Merican, J., & Ghani, S. (2016). Advancing the women agenda: Where is Malaysia at now? Retrieved April 1, 2020, from http://www.leaderonomics.com.
  69. Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, Malaysia (2019). Malaysia ranks high in women’s educational attainment, The Malay Mail, 7 November 2019.
  70. Mittal, R. (2014). Charismatic and transformational leadership styles: A cross-cultural perspective. International Journal of Business and Management, 10(3), 26-33.
  71. Nishii, L. H., & Mayer, D. M. (2009). Do inclusive leaders help to reduce turnover in diverse groups? The moderating role of leader-member exchange in the diversity to turnover relationship. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(6), 1412-1426.
  72. Oner, Z. H. (2012). Servant leadership and paternalistic leadership styles in the Turkish business context. Leadership and Organisational Development Journal. Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 300-316. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437731211216489
  73. Ozkan, O., & Ozturk, I. (2020). Impact of organisational culture and leadership styles on employee performance: A research study on the banking industry. Research Journal of Business and Management, 7(1), 45-55.
  74. Parry, K. W., & and Proctor-Thomson, S. B. (2002). Perceived integrity of transformational leaders in organisational settings. Journal of Business Ethics, 35(2), 75-96.
  75. Pellegrini, E. K., & Scandura, T. A. (2006). Leader-member exchange (LMX), paternalism and delegation in the Turkish business culture: An empirical investigation. Journal of International Business Studies, 37(2), 264-279.
  76. Perianes, M. B. (2018). Investing in women is smart economics. Retrieved April 1, 2020, from https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/investing-in-women-is-smrt-economics-97f 3ee6446ef.
  77. Revenga, A., & Shetty, S. (2012). Empowering women is smart economics. Finance and Development, March, 40-43.
  78. Rowold, J., & Heinitz, K. (2007). Transformational and charismatic leadership: Assessing the convergent, divergent and criterion validity of the MLQ and the CKS. The Leadership Quarterly, 18(2), 121-133.
  79. Sashkin, M. (2004). Transformational leadership approaches: A review and synthesis. In J. Antonakis, A. T. Cianciolo, & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.). The Nature of Leadership (171-196). Sage Publications, Inc.
  80. Schepers, J., Wetzel, M., & Ruyter, K. D. (2005). Leadership styles in technology acceptance: Do followers practice what leaders preach? Managing Service Quality, 15(6), 496-508.
  81. Shaban, A. (2016). Managing and leading a diverse workforce: One of the main challenges in management. Procedia – Social and Behavioural Sciences, 230, 76-84.
  82. Sharma, L. J. K., & Singh, S. K. (2013). A study on the democratic style of leadership. International Journal of Management and Information Technology, 3(2), 54-57.
  83. Smith, A. (1998). International crises and domestic politics. The American Political Science Review, 92(3), 623-638.
  84. Tarsik, N. F., Kassim, N. A., & Nasharudin, N. (2014). Transformational, transactional or laissez-faire: What styles do university librarians practice? Journal of Organisational Management Studies, 2014, 1-10.
  85. Tatum, B. C., Eberlin, R., Kottraba, C., & Bradberry, T. (2003). Leadership, decision making and organisational justice. Management Decision, 41(10), 1006-1016.
  86. Taylor, M. T., Cornelius, C. J., & Colvin, K. (2014). Visionary leadership and its relationship to organisational effectiveness. Leadership and Organisation Development Journal, 35(6), 566-583. The New Straits Times (September 24, 2018). Government wants 30 percent women in decision making positions by 2030. Retrieved Aril 1, 2020, from https://www. ggogle.com /amp/s/www.nst.com.my/node/414388/amp.
  87. The Star (March 9, 2011). Shahrizat: Appoint more women at decision-making level, 4.
  88. The Star (October 17, 2019). Women representation on PLC boards is still low. Retrieved April 1, 2020, from https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2019/10/17/wo men-representation-on-plc-boards-is-still-low.
  89. Toh, P. S., Liew, W. J., Rahim, I. H. A., & Stephen, S. (2019). Transformational and transactional leadership styles towards organisational commitment in the hotel industry. Journal of Tourism, Hospitality, and Environment Management, 4(17), 34-45.
  90. Tracy, B. (2016). The seven leadership qualities of great leaders. Retrieved April 1, 2020, from http://www.briantracy.com/blog/leadership-success/the-seven-leadership-qualities-of-great-leaders.
  91. Turner, N., Barling, J., Epitropaki, O., Butcher, V., & Milner, C. (2002). Transformational leadership and moral reasoning. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 304–311
  92. Turner, N., Barling, J., Epitropaki, O., Butcher, V., & Milner, C. (2002). Transformational leadership and moral reasoning. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 304–311
  93. Turner, N., Barling, J., Epitropaki, O., Butcher, V., & Milner, C. (2002). Transformational leadership and moral reasoning. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 304–311
  94. Turner, N., Barling, J., Epitropaki, O., Butcher, V., & Milner, C. (2002). Transformational leadership and moral reasoning. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 304-311.
  95. Vugt, M. V., Jepson, S. F., Hart, C. M., & Cremer, D. D. (2004). Autocratic leadership in social dilemmas: A threat to group stability. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40(1), 1-13.
  96. Wartzman, R. (2013). Do women make better corporate leaders than men? Retrieved April 15, 2020, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/drucker/2013/04/02/women-better-corporate -leaders/.
  97. Yammarino, F. J., Spangler, W. D., & Bass, B. M. (1993). Transformational leadership and performance: A longitudinal investigation. The Leadership Quarterly, 4(1), 81-102.
  98. Yang, Q., & Wei, H. (2017). Ethical leadership and employee task performance: Examining moderated mediation process. Management Decision, 55(7), 1506-1520.

Most read articles by the same author(s)