Transactional and transformational leadership : a comparative study of the difference between Tony Fernandes (Airasia) and Idris Jala (Malaysia Airlines) leadership styles from 2005-2009

Abstract

Leadership plays an essential role in the success of managing organisation. The purpose of this paper is toexamine the leadership styles of two leaders in managing the two biggest airline companies in Malaysia namely,Malaysia Airlines and Air Asia. The results showed that the strong leadership style and approach by the twohave contributed to the success of the mentioned airlines. The transactional and transformational approacheshave significantly given impact in managing the organisation in the current competitive business environment.Other leadership constructs such as entrepreneurial, ethical, innovative and creative have emerged from the twokey leaders in this study and require further discussion in the future. Furthermore, this study managed to providesome insight and perspective of the qualities much needed by the current leadership scene.