DOI: 10.11648/j.iecon.20260103.11 ISSN: 3071-4931

Comparative Analysis of Transformational and Transactional Leadership Styles as Drivers of Organizational Innovation and Ambidexterity

Sixto Monegro
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In the contemporary post-pandemic organizational scenery, meaning rapid digital transitions alongside harsh socio technical disruptions, organizations need leadership paradigms that can, at the same time, protect operational steadiness and encourage strategic innovation. This study offers an extensive systematic literature review mixed with a meta-analytic synthesis, aimed at looking at the relative validities, structural movements, and contextual limits of transformational and transactional leadership approaches. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 guidance, and then we synthesized quantitative outcomes from 87 separate study sources that contained 626 correlations and involved 21,815 participants. Methodological quality in the primary literature was evaluated critically with the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Checklist for Analytical Cross-Sectional Studies. The quantitative pooling indicates transformational leadership has the highest overall true score validity. 44 across organizational performance outcomes, and it is followed closely by transactional contingent reward at. 39. By comparison, laissez-faire leadership shows a notable negative validity of -. 37. Also, active and passive management-by-exception turned out to be highly inconsistent, with relationships that change meaningfully depending on the context. Overall, the results give firm empirical support to the augmentation hypothesis, suggesting transformational leadership builds on a transactional baseline, rather than replacing it. The study also outlines a unifying, stage sensitive model for ambidextrous leadership: transformational “opening” behaviors tend to nurture explorative innovation, whereas transactional “closing” behaviors strengthen exploitative execution. Finally, regression modeling indicates that structural constraints, such as organizational unit size and geographical setting, meaningfully forecast when constructive leadership behaviors appear versus when passive avoidant patterns show up.

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