The Relationship Between Transformational Leadership and Human Capital Development: The Mediating Effect of Knowledge Management and Organizational Culture

H uman capital de elopment is one of the most important enablers for any organ isation to achieving a u tainab1c compet i t ive ad antage. Thus organisation arc interested in adopting various in i t iat ives and mechan isms to support the development of human capital , uch a tran fonnat ional leader hip style, knowledge management pract ices and bui ld ing organ i ationa! cul ture. Thi study intends to examine the mediating effect of knowledge management and organisational cul ture on the relationships betwcen transfonnational l eadersh ip and human capital development in the Abu Dhabi emirate. Thi study used a structured questiOlUlaire to col lect data from a large sample of employee drawn from go emment and semi -government enti t ies in the Abu Dhabi Emirate. The que t ionnaire consists of two parts. The inquirie of the first part based on Bass and Avol io ' s ( 1 995) MLQ Fonn 5x-Short to measure and ident i fy the leadersh ip factor incorporated i n their model . The inquir ie of the second part investigated the various aspect of knowledge management and organ isational cul ture, which might ha e ignificant effect on human capital development in an organisation. The human capi ta l development as perceived by respondents is a lso measured using a separate scale . The quanti tative analysis of the questionnaire data was conducted to examine the factor structure of the variables measured, whereas the structural equation model ( SEM) est imation tested the hypotheses of the study. The generated results of this study revealed that transfonnational leadersh ip as perceived by respondents has posi tive effects on the human capital developmcnt of subordinates. The findings also indicated knowledge management and organisational culture partia l ly mediated the relationship betwecn transfonnational leadership and the human capital development. The impl ications of the study fi nding on theory, pract ices, and pol icymaking are providing a roadmap to organi sat ions to put much concern on developing leadership and boosting human capital development in the UAE and s imi lar contexts. Ke words: Government organisations, transformational leadership, human capital development, knowledge management, organisational culture, Abu Dhabi Emirate, UAE. � :h ,t: rl t � 10 ' L ,c0' , (;, l 1: t' C� [ � � c' C " C f " & \ \ � ,� � , { t . r. \ � '� D', •• L ( ' . [ \ ,t' � t ·l [. 1f f· CL ' ct. (;, � , � f � t Co � l' [ , 1 t � t : ( , , t ·· � � �' ,i ,� � � , r f ' r. � �[ � � � ,�, t 'd'i. � 't; . 1: 1 t' f L 1. � � 1 '[ 1 , �' r c. -£ " L " . , . ,. L � . L ' � (, , (;, f � r � t� [ [ . [ f , t. " 1 1 �: 'Z � 1: � \ �: 'E, � C l � ,[ \ � � �, f '� 2 1f � '0' ,[ � l ' � OJ '� . [ { f ' � � ;. ' . ;: 0' 1' . � ' . � "� L ' � . (;, . : t' 'h c: . � � . <" . � E P» � 1> E r . "C ,� , t 'i. 1: C ' . 'f 1 , " f 't '1 » '� t' . � 1. , (, � � '-, � . , <t� . G < . 'ct. r " , E � �: 1> ! ;:. I> 1> f ,f ,� � 't ' 'r,. ,c; \e,. f '1� ;:. : J . t' � � � t 0 1: G ct. [ ' ; rl ,t ' � � . Co ::0 �: . ,. t' ': ' . :� ''. '-1 't. � � <D f , � ( , <; ; 1 (,, . t� ;( ! = � , (;, '. � � f ' C\. , f C' , r (;, 1c' t. 1: C o 0 >< . [ GL t L . L \" " ::-: � ' " � 0' '[ t �, f '\-' ct. '� , 0 � , t ' �' L Of. � � � { i f <: -£ <,. � fF;, f 't : b � f' :t t l ] ' (-