processes (Liou, 2018) of transformational leadership.
5.3 Research limitations and future research
Some limitations in this study will need to be addressed in future research.
First, the participants come from the same organization so that all other factors affecting the research results were excluded. Thus, the research conclusions must be cautiously generalized. It will be interesting to evaluate the linkage of transformational leadership on workplace performance in larger samples, and across different industries. Second, although based on theories to give the reasons for both effects of social identification on collective efficacy, and leader identification on affective commitment, these five variables including transformational leadership measured in the two waves from Time 1 to Time 2, but it still exists hidden possibilities which hinder to make conclusions about causality. Furthermore, the specific insurance context to which the research sampling grant permission could also limit the generalization of the research conclusions. From the perspective of insurance culture, it is possibly constrained by insurance procedures limited to convey the full range of transformational behaviors and not likely very conducive to complete transformational leadership picture. Third, the research may not deny potential options that collective efficacy (or affective commitment) may synthesize in the meantime or even before social identification (or leader identification). Last, long-term designs had better be used to test the sequence of variables. transformational leadership processes from a dual level prospect or multilevel will be suggested to investigate, that is, at both level of individual and team respectively.
In summary, the current study merges transformational leadership, self-concept, and social identity theories to explore an identity-based analysis of the effects of transformational leader behaviors on follower outcomes. From dual processes the motivational process shaping collective efficacy and the relational process leading to affective commitment, transformational leadership is considered as a sense-making process. At least in the context of the organization conducted in this study, it has shown that leader and social
identification processes are affected by transformational leader behaviors, and that social identification is a more common utility/explanatory mechanism. The relevant results could help leaders to guide and make decisions about how and why they will apply transformational leadership depends on their situation and the underlying psychological processes of employees.
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