The Relationship between Transformational Leadership of Immediate Superiors, Organizational Culture, and Affective Commitment in Fitness Club Employees

In an uncertain global business environment, eff ective human resource management is a crucial element in improving organizational eff ectiveness. However, relatively little research has examined the characteristics of transformational leadership and the types of organizational culture suitable for improving organizational eff ectiveness in the sport management fi eld. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between transformational leadership of immediate superiors, organizational culture, and aff ective commitment in fi tness club employees. For this purpose, a survey was given to a convenience sample of 300 employees of fi tness clubs working in the Gwangju and Dae-gu metropolitan cities in South Korea. The data were then analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlations, and multiple regression analysis. The major fi ndings of this study were as follows. First, transformational leadership had a signifi cant eff ect on the organizational culture in fi tness clubs. Second, transformational leadership had a signifi cant eff ect on aff ective commitment of employees of the fi tness clubs. Third, organizational culture had a signifi cant eff ect on aff ective commitment of employees in fi tness clubs. The fi ndings of this study may be helpful for fi tness clubs to determine the characteristics of transformational leadership and the types of organizational culture needed to improve aff ective commitment of employees.


Introduction
In today's increasingly complex business environment, many companies strive to gain competitive advantages to meet the demands of diverse consumers and to survive and develop in the intense competition between companies. Although concerted eff orts are needed to improve organizational performance under these conditions, the fi rst strategy companies can consider is effi cient management of human resources. Given that leadership is conceptualized as a series of activities that integrate and coordinate the eff orts of organization members, motivate them, and exert their infl uence in the manage-ment process to achieve the goals of the organization (Bass, 1998), leadership can be considered a key factor for effi cient human resource management.
Because transformational leadership is perceived as a leadership style suitable for uncertain or crisis situations (Yukl & Howell, 1999), there have been many studies of the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational eff ectiveness in a variety of areas. For example, Walumbwa, Orwa, Wang, and Lawler (2005) used fi nancial fi rms in the United States and Kenya to conduct a comparative cultural study of the eff ects of transformational leadership on job sat-EFFECTIVE HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT FOR FITNESS CLUBS | K. LEE & W. CHO isfaction and organizational commitment. Njoroge, Gachunga, and Kihoro (2015) examined the mediating eff ects of employee participation in the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational commitment by using instructors of technical schools in Kenya.
A rapidly changing market environment is challenging for any organization, and sports organizations are no exception. Sports organizations have limited human and material resources internally and should be able to compete infi nitely in the global market externally. Th us, as part of effi cient HR management, several recent studies in sport management have dealt with the eff ects of transformational leadership on organizational eff ectiveness, such as job satisfaction, athlete satisfaction, and organizational commitment (Hallajy, Janani, & Fallah, 2011;Kent & Chelladurai, 2001). As Wallace and Weese (1995) pointed out, however, empirical studies on the causal relationship between transformational leadership and organizational eff ectiveness in sport management are inadequate.
Additionally, based on the results of previous studies that concluded that establishing management strategy suitable for organizational culture type and for understanding organizational culture accurately play a key role in enhancing organizational eff ectiveness (Acar, 2012;Shoaib, Zainab, Maqsood, & Sana, 2013), further research is required to empirically examine the relationship between transformational leadership, organizational culture, and organizational eff ectiveness, in order to establish a comprehensive and systematic strategy for the survival and development of sports organizations in a rapidly changing business environment. Accordingly, this study sought to explore the relationship between transformational leadership of immediate superiors, organizational culture, and aff ective commitment of employees working at fi tness clubs in South Korea.
Regarding the relationship between transformational leadership, organizational culture, and aff ective commitment, relevant literature shows that transformational leadership directly or indirectly aff ects organizational culture. Acar (2012) argued that charisma, one sub factor of transformational leadership, had a signifi cant eff ect on hierarchical culture, that inspirational motivation had a signifi cant eff ect on clan culture and hierarchical culture, and that individualized consideration had a signifi cant eff ect on clan culture. Rasid, Manaf, and Quoquab (2013) suggested the importance of mediating eff ect of organizational culture because leadership infl uenced organizational commitment indirectly through organizational culture. Also, the relationship between the two variables has been found in the sports fi eld. In a study of taekwondo leaders in Korea, (a) the idealized infl uence had a signifi cant infl uence on the consensus culture and rational culture; (b) the individualized consideration had a signifi cant infl uence on the consensus culture, rational culture and innovation culture; and (c) the inspirational motivation had a signifi cant infl uence on bureaucracy culture (Park, 2011). Based on this literature, this study formulated the following research hypothesis in terms of the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational culture.
Hypothesis 1: Transformational leadership of immediate superiors in fi tness clubs will have an eff ect on organizational culture.
In relation to the relationship between transformational leadership and aff ective commitment, it has been found that transformational leadership has a positive infl uence on aff ec-tive commitment in various fi elds. In a comparative study of fi nancial institutions in Kenya and the United States, a significant positive relationship was found between the two variables (Walumbwa, Orwa, Wang, & Lawler, 2005). Also, in a study of Egyptian workers in seven industries (e.g., telecommunications, education, energy, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, business services, and fi nancial services), transformational leadership was found to have a positive eff ect on aff ective commitment (ElKordy, 2013). Furthermore, in a study of employees working at a college physical education department in the Midwest of the United States, sub dimensions of transformational leadership, including intellectual stimulation, charism, and individualized consideration, showed a signifi cant positive correlation with aff ective commitment (Kent & Chelladurai, 2001). Based on the results of those studies, this study formulated the following research hypothesis concerning the relationship between transformational leadership and aff ective commitment.
Hypothesis 2: Transformational leadership of immediate superiors in fi tness clubs will have an eff ect on the employee's aff ective commitment.
No consensus has been reached on the relationship between organizational culture and aff ective commitment. Kim (2007) said that consensus culture, developmental culture, and rational culture did not have a signifi cant eff ect on organizational commitment, but that the hierarchical culture had a signifi cant positive infl uence on organizational commitment. Acar (2012) argued that clan culture and market culture made unique contributions to aff ective commitment, but that hierarchical culture and market culture had no signifi cant eff ects on aff ective commitment. Shoaib, Zainab, Maqsood, and Sana (2013) suggested that only clan culture among the organizational culture types had a positive correlation with aff ective commitment. Based on the results of these studies, this study formulated the following research hypothesis regarding the relationship between organizational culture and aff ective commitment.
Hypothesis 3: Th e organizational culture of a fi tness club will have an eff ect on aff ective commitment of its employees.

Participants
Th e subjects of this study were selected from employees working at fi tness clubs in Gwangju and Dae-gu metropolitan cities in South Korea. Based on a convenience sampling method, a total of 300 valid questionnaires were used for data analysis, 152 from private fi tness clubs and 148 from public fi tness clubs. Of the 300 respondents, 166 (55.3%) were men, and 134 (44.7%) were women. Th ose between 20 and 30 years of age represented higher percentage than other age groups, accounting for 40% and 44%, respectively. Th e majority of the respondents (68%) had attained a bachelor's degree. In terms of their current job position, 192 (64%) described it as fi tness instructor, 76 (25.3%) as regular worker, and 26 (8.7%) as manager.

Measures
A survey instrument was used to measure transformational leadership, organizational culture, and aff ective commitment. Th e questions were measured with a Likert scale of 5 points, from 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree. To establish content validity, a panel of experts was asked to verify the ap-propriateness and the representativeness of the questionnaires. Th e construct validity and reliability of the questionnaires were verifi ed through exploratory factor analysis and internal consistency analysis, respectively.
Th e Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) developed by Avolio and Bass (2004) was adapted into Korean and modifi ed for use to measure the transformational leadership of immediate superiors in fi tness clubs. Th e transformational leadership questionnaire consisted of three factors: charisma, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. Each factor was comprised of six items. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation revealed that the three factors explained a total of 69.023% of the variance. Two items of the intellectual stimulation factor were excluded, so a total of 16 items was used to measure the transformational leadership questionnaire. Th e alpha values for the 16 items ranged from 0.810 to 0.912, which indicates that the transformational leadership questionnaire was proven to have suffi cient reliability.
Additionally, the questionnaire originally developed by Quinn and McGrath (1995) was adapted into Korean and modifi ed for use to measure organizational culture. Th e organizational culture questionnaire consisted of four factors: developmental culture, consensus culture, rational culture, and hierarchical culture. Each factor had four items. According to principal component analysis with varimax rotation, all of the items derived from the previous study were converged, and the four factors accounted for a total of 73.626% of the variance. Th e reliability of the organizational culture questionnaire was found to be suffi cient with the alpha values between 0.778 and 0.919.
Finally, the questionnaire used by Goo (2014), Meyer and Allen (1991), Shim and Choi (2014) was modifi ed for use to measure aff ective commitment. Th e aff ective commitment questionnaire was composed of fi ve items as a single factor.

Data analysis
Th e 300 valid questionnaires collected in this study were analyzed with the SPSS 23.0 statistical program. To determine the levels of transformational leadership, organizational culture, and aff ective commitment, a descriptive statistics analysis was run. Also, the relationship between each variable was verifi ed through correlations analysis and multiple regression analysis. All statistical signifi cance tests of this study were verifi ed at α=0.05 level.

Descriptive statistics and correlations results
In terms of descriptive statistics results, the dimensions of transformational leadership were ranked in order of intellectual stimulation (M=3.48), charisma (M=3.37) and individualized consideration (M=3.32). Th e most common type of organizational culture was hierarchical culture (M=3.64), followed by consensus culture (M=3.60), rational culture (M=3.59), and developmental culture (M=3.53). Regarding correlations between the study variables, the dimensions of transformational leadership had signifi cant correlations with aff ective commitment, and the strongest positive correlation was between individualized consideration and aff ective commitment, r=0.53, p<0.001. Additionally, the factors of organizational culture had signifi cant correlations with aff ective commitment, and consensus culture had the strongest positive correlation with aff ective commitment, r=0.65, p<0.001.

Results of multiple regression analysis
As for the eff ects of transformational leadership on organizational culture, the dimensions of transformational leadership had statistically signifi cant eff ects on the types of organizational culture. As shown in Table 1, transformational leadership of immediate superiors explained 26.4% of the variance in consensus culture (R 2 =0.26, p<0.001), and individualized consideration (β=0.34, p<0.001) made the strongest unique contribution to explaining consensus culture. Some 36.4% of the variance in developmental culture was explained from transformational leadership of the immediate superior (R 2 =0.36, p<0.001), and individualized consideration (β=0.36, p<0.05) made the strongest unique contribution to the prediction of developmental culture. Th e transformational leadership accounted for 26% of the variance in rational culture (R 2 =0.26, p<0.001), and individualized consideration (β=0.29, p<0.001) had the strongest unique contribution to predicting rational culture. Some 24.2% of the variance in hierarchical culture was explained from the transformational leadership (R 2 =0.24, p<0.001), and charisma had the strongest unique contribution for explaining hierarchical culture (β=0.33, p<0.001). Regarding the eff ects of transformational leadership of the immediate superior on aff ective commitment of employees, the dimensions of transformational leadership had statistically signifi cant eff ects on aff ective commitment. As shown in Table  2, transformational leadership explained 32.7% of the variance in aff ective commitment (R 2 =0.33, p<0.001), and individual-ized consideration made the strongest unique contribution to the prediction (β=0.33, p<0.001).
Finally, in relation to the eff ects of organizational culture on aff ective commitment of employees, the dimensions of organizational culture had statistically signifi cant eff ects on affective commitment. As shown in Table 3, the organizational culture accounted for 54% of the variance in aff ective commitment (R 2 =0.54, p<0.001), and consensus culture (β=0.24, p<0.001) had the strongest unique contribution to explaining aff ective commitment, followed by developmental culture (β=0.24, p<0.001), rational culture (β=0.20, p<0.01), and hierarchical culture (β=0.19, p<0.001).

Discussion
Th is study was conducted to empirically examine the effects of transformational leadership of immediate superiors and organizational culture on aff ective commitment of employees in fi tness clubs in South Korea. Th e following discussion is presented based on the results of this study and previous studies. Transformational leadership of the immediate superior had positive eff ects on organizational culture. Especially, this study shows that the charisma leadership of immediate superiors made the largest unique contribution to forming the hierarchical culture. Th is result may indicate that the type of hierarchical culture that features control, effi ciency, and stability can be further strengthened when a fi tness club's immediate superior provides specifi c goals and ideals and directs the employees to follow the proposed vision.
Additionally, it was found that the individualized consideration leadership made the strongest unique contribution to forming consensus, developmental, and rational culture types. Th is result is in accordance with the fi ndings of Lee's study (2014). However, the individualized consideration level (M=3.32) perceived by current employees of fi tness club was found to be the lowest as compared to the levels of charisma (M=3.37) and intellectual stimulation (M=3.48). Th is may suggest that to improve consensus, developmental, and rational culture types in fi tness clubs, leaders should be actively interested and caring for their members, and should strengthen direct contact and two-way communication.
On the other hand, the intellectual stimulation leadership had no statistically signifi cant eff ects on all sub factors of organizational culture. Th is result is similar to what Acar (2012) presented. Th is may occur because dominant culture types in the fi tness clubs that were studied were hierarchical culture (M=3.64) and consensus culture (M=3.60). As Kim (2007) pointed out, a more controllable leadership styleis required in the case of an organization with a strong hierarchical culture type that focuses on seeking effi ciency on a stable basis, whereas a leadership type that encourages commitment to the organization through active care and consideration for individuals is required in an organization with a strong consensus culture type that emphasizes the development of human resources. In this manner, intellectually stimulating leadership, a way for leaders to help the members approach their own problems through new ways when they face a problem, does not seem to be suitable for the organizational culture of the current fi tness club.
As for the eff ects of transformational leadership on aff ective commitment, transformational leadership of the immediate superior had positive eff ects on the aff ective commitment of the employee. Specifi cally, only individualized consideration and charisma were contributing to explaining the employees' aff ective commitment. Th is result shows that the level of psychological attachment to the organization felt by the employees of the fi tness clubs can be changed according to the degree to which the clubs' superiors care about employees individually by identifying their needs and that employees of fi tness clubs also can increase their psychological attachment to the organization when they recognize that the immediate superior has a specifi c vision for the organization.
Finally, the dimensions of organizational culture were found to aff ect the employee's aff ective commitment. Th is result is consistent with what Acar (2012) and Shoaib, Zainab, Maqsood, and Sana (2013) presented. Th e type of organizational culture that made the strongest unique contribution to the prediction of aff ective commitment was consensus culture. Th is result may occur because consensus culture (M=3.60) was one of the main types of organizational cultures that employees of the current fi tness club recognized. Th us, to enhance the emotional commitment of fi tness club employees, fi tness clubs need to implement personnel management strategies suitable for strengthening the consensus culture elements that emphasize human relations and the atmosphere, morale, and teamwork within the organization.
Also of note in terms of the eff ects of organizational culture on aff ective commitment is the relationship between hierarchical culture and aff ective commitment. Considering that the organization with a relatively strong hierarchical culture type has an attribute that emphasizes compliance with rules and procedures (Kim, 2007), it was expected that hierarchical culture would have a negative impact on aff ective commitment. However, this study found that the hierarchical culture of fi tness clubs had a positive eff ect on the employees' aff ective commitment. Th is may be due to the internal and external business environments of Korean fi tness clubs (Kim, Lee, & Jung, 2007;Kim & Sul, 2002). Internally, fi tness clubs in Ko-  rea have diffi culties securing new consumers due to intensifi ed competition among companies, aging of facilities and equipment, small size, and limitations of human and material resources. Externally, domestic economic depression makes it diffi cult for consumers to dispend, and the appearance of a foreign brand of fi tness club with a strong capital base leads to a decline in operating profi t and to profi tability deterioration. In this context, employees of fi tness clubs seem to have positively embraced a hierarchical culture that emphasizes control or coordination of the organization for the stability and survival of the organization. Th e results of this study are meaningful in providing the basic data needed to determine the characteristics of transformational leadership and the types of organizational culture necessary for improving the emotional engagement of employees of fi tness clubs by applying the results of previous research related to management strategy that identifi es the causal relationship between transformational leadership, organizational culture, and aff ective commitment to sport management. However, due to some limitations in the design and methodological aspects of the study, several things need to be supplemented in further research. First, this study was conducted with fi tness club employees working in the Korean metropolitan cities of Gwangju and Daegu. Th us, the results of this study may not be directly applicable to fi tness clubs in other countries. Future research is recommended to investigate the causality between transformational leadership, organizational culture, and aff ective commitment by using a sample of fi tness club employees in other countries. Second, given that this study focused on a cross-sectional study that analyzed the degree of emotional involvement of fi tness club workers at a particular time in connection with transformational leadership and organizational culture types, it would be necessary to carry out an empirical analysis through longitudinal research in future research. Finally, this study limited the measurement of organizational commitment to aff ective commitment. Th us, future research is recommended to classify organizational commitment into three sub factors, such as normative commitment, continuance commitment, and aff ective commitment.