Filipino Female BPO Leaders: How Authoritarian Leadership Style Impacts Work Performance

Abstract

The Philippines controls 10-15% of the global Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) market (Rostron, 2013) and has an estimated number of female workers rising to 55%. In an organization as large as the BPO sector, leadership styles were utilized to achieve organizational goals with the help of team leaders. This study aimed to identify the relationship between the authoritarian leadership style imposed by female Filipino team leaders and the work performance of their subordinates. It intended to answer the research question, “How did the authoritarian leadership style of Filipino female BPO leaders impact their subordinates’ job performance?,” using a descriptive correlational research design based on data collected from 110 respondents across various BPO companies in the Philippines. A survey questionnaire was distributed, incorporating the nine-item Authoritarian Leadership Style by Cheng et al. (2004) to evaluate the authoritarian leadership style among Filipino BPO leaders and the four-item Work Performance Scale by Carmeli et al. (2007) to assess subordinates' work performance. The results of the study revealed that the authoritarian leadership style of female Filipino BPO leaders influenced their subordinates’ work performance. It indicated that authoritarian leaders created a positive linear relationship with their subordinates' work performance. Following the Leader-Member Exchange theory, in-group members were likely to demonstrate higher work performance due to their positive relationship with their leaders. Conversely, out-group members exhibited struggling performance as they received less support and fewer opportunities from their leader.