Article Critique: Transformational Leadership & Technology Adoption

This report offers a comprehensive critique of Afzaal H. Seyal's 2015 article, "Examining the Role of Transformational Leadership in Technology Adoption: Evidence from Bruneian Technical & Vocational Establishments (TVE)." The report begins with a summary of the article, highlighting Seyal's discussion of transformational leadership's effectiveness in Brunei's technical and vocational institutes, emphasizing its role in empowering individuals and promoting self-motivation. The critique then analyzes the article's main points, including the adoption of transformational leadership styles by top management and teachers in Brunei, and the survey-based findings that reveal a significant relationship between this leadership style and technology development. The report also explores the arguments presented, focusing on the quantitative research methodology and the positive perceptions of transformational leadership among educational leaders. The critique further delves into the article's findings, emphasizing the transformational leadership's capacity to inspire individuals and facilitate the integration of technology. The strengths of the article are identified, such as its relevance to the current focus on technological advancements in education. However, the report also highlights weaknesses, including the narrow scope of the study, which is limited to Brunei's vocational and technical institutes, the lack of qualitative data, and the absence of critical analysis of the transformational leadership approach itself. The report concludes with an informed opinion, supporting the article's findings while acknowledging its limitations, and emphasizing the need for broader perspectives on the application of transformational leadership.

Running head: LEADERSHIP MANAGEMENT
Leadership Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Article- Seyal, A. H. (2015). Examining the Role of Transformational Leadership in Technology
Adoption: Evidence from Bruneian Technical & Vocational Establishments (TVE). Journal of
Education and Practice, 6(8), 32-43.
Introduction
Name of the Authors- Afzaal H. Seyal
Title of the Article- Examining the Role of Transformational Leadership in Technology
Adoption: Evidence from Bruneian Technical & Vocational Establishments (TVE)
Main Point Described by Author
The author has been capable of discussing the effective role of the transformational
leadership in the Technical and Vocational Institutes present in the economy of Brunei. The
author comments that in the respective field of education and practice, the proper usage of such
kind of leadership is highly essential that will be capable of empowering the different individuals
and make them self-motivated which will be helping them in performing their task effectively.
He cited that transformational leaders are mainly expected for defining needs related to change,
create new visions for themselves and their followers and inspire the followers to transcend their
own interests for pursuing the long-term goals in a successful manner.
Thesis Statement
From the analysis and critique of the article, the proper aspect needs to be understood is
to understand the importance and relevance of the transformational leadership approach in the
economy of Brunei and the respective study as it is mainly based on the vocational and technical
institutes which are present at Brunei.

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Summary
Analysis of Main Points Highlighted in Article
In the respective article, the main points which have been highlighted that in the economy
of Brunei, the different leaders such as the top management of different institutions mainly
deputy principals, principals, ICT coordinators along with technical administrators try to adopt
the transformational leadership style. As commented by Waheeda (2019), speaking regarding the
different teachers, their transformational leadership style is highly efficient factor which
influence the satisfaction of the students, provides motivation and empowerment to the students
which enhances their performance in delivering their best and receiving the successful outcomes.
It is considered to be the style wherein the active engagement of the students in developing
knowledge along with skills and communication are being facilitated which will be helping them
in giving their best.
With the usage of the survey method, it helps in indicating the fact that majority of the
vocational and technical school leaders has been capable of showing the significant and effective
relationship among the transformational leadership style along with development of technology
as well as the operational phase. In the current scenario of the Information and Communication
Technology, it has been noticed that various schools and colleges are trying to adopt the ICT
application in their institutions and the implementation is playing a vital role among the different
practitioners along with academicians in the entire globe (Wachidi, Rodgers & Tumanov, 2020).
From the different researches which have been conducted by the researcher, it has been known
that in order to achieve competitive advantage in the market, the proper flexibility and liberty
needs to be provided to the different subordinates or the students for showcasing their views.

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Arguments Presented in the Article
In the respective article, the main arguments which have been presented is that the main
focus has been on the different educational institutions in Brunei economy. The research
methodology is quantitative in nature wherein the surveys were being conducted for
understanding the viewpoints of the different individuals in Brunei and were belonging to similar
kind of profession. The questionnaire helped in noting down the different kinds of views on
transformational leadership and it was found that majority of the audiences feel that
transformational leadership is the most appropriate option which needs to be implemented by the
different schools as it will be apt for making the students understand their viewpoints are
important and they are being valued.
The studies on the leadership of principals along with implementation of the ICT are not
new in Brunei economy. As commented by Van Assen (2018), it has been concluded that the
different leaders such as deputy principals or the teachers who were highly transformational in
nature were able to promote the different achievements of the students and they were capable of
achieving successful results in comparison to the different other leaders who followed the strict
autocratic leadership. In addition, according to Thomas (2017), the transformational leadership in
the Technology Acceptance Model in particular have been showcasing a high level of
effectiveness in maintaining their efficiency in delivering successful results. Additionally, it
further stated that principals as the transformational leaders played a vital role in the successful
kind of implementation of the school related initiatives on the technology user.
Findings of the Article

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Therefore, from the analysis of the article, it has been found that transformational
leadership has the capability in transforming the different members in the universities or schools
such as students into the individuals who transcend beyond the self-actualization along their own
self-interests for the sake of the university or school. In such scenario, the leaders like the
principals or the professors’ helps in nurturing the moral development of the followers to
internalize the same kind of values along with principles in a successful manner which will be
suitable for attaining the desired goals and achieve the best through the ICT in their schools or
colleges (Abdurahman & Septiana, 2018).
In summary, the different important indicators such as encouragement, caring along with
coaching are the major factors which are needed to be implemented by leaders and therefore, the
different leaders using the transformational leadership can be able to reaping the benefits from
the integration of the technology. Through the proper implementation, it will be capable of
capitalizing vocational along with technical colleges’ organizational benefits that help
management for capitalizing the vision which will be suitable for the growth of the students who
are studying in such institutions. The transformational leadership is receiving high level of
success over the transactional leadership style and it is capable of gaining high effectiveness in
managing growth of the institutes in a successful manner.
Critique
Analysis of Strengths and Weaknesses of the Article
From the analysis of the entire article, it has been noted that the article talks regarding the
transformational leadership approach and the adoption in the educational institutions such as
technical or vocational institutions present in economy of Brunei. The strengths of the article

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which can be highlighted is the fact that in the current scenario, the educational institutions are
becoming high popular for using the different technological advancements and due to the
respective fact, the main concern which is needed to be implemented is technological
advancements for making the process of teaching easier and effective in nature. However, there
are few institutions wherein strict autocratic leadership is followed as the traditional method of
teaching is the ultimate option according to them.
The author has further highlighted that the intellectual kind of simulation is effective in
encouraging the innovative thinking among the different individuals and it has been noted that
the three major aspects such as caring, encouragement along with coaching for the leaders are the
main elements that are needed to be implemented by the institutions and specially by the
superiors of the universities to process the innovative thinking from the students which makes
them efficient and the teaching becomes highly interesting in Brunei as well. As discussed by
Noel Tichy, Transformational Leadership Approach is highly effective in the educational
institutions perspective as it is the only discussion provided in the article (Seyal, 2015).
However, on the other hand, the major weaknesses of the article include the different
kinds of aspects which are described as follows:
Firstly, the entire article focused only on the different vocational and technical institutes
and the other kinds of institutes and their teachers and students studying and employed at Brunei
Economy. There is no such discussion on the different other professional fields such as for the
working people who are employed in different other sectors. From the critical analysis of the
article, the author have tried to focus on the technological advancement in the institutes and
therefore, in such scenario, the transformational leadership is the key element that is needed to be

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implemented by the superiors for including the flexible thinking which will be delivering the
superior results.
In addition, it has been seen that there is no such qualitative studies involvement in the
entire study which means that only based on the surveys through sending questionnaires to the
different schools and colleges, the decisions have been made which states that without any
proper case study approach or reviewing the other previous literatures, the decisions have been
made that transformational leadership is best suited for the educational institutions which are
planning to implement the technological advancements such as the information and
communication technology to make the process of learning highly efficient and it helps in the
moral development of the children. These are the major weaknesses and loopholes of the
respective article which makes it only one sided and there is no such inclusion of proper
literature which makes the study quite vague and to a certain extent meaningless as well.
The other critique of the article is that it is only mentioned that the transformational
leadership is easy to be implemented as it helps in providing freedom to the employees and
students to showcase their own viewpoints. However, there is lack of criticisms on the
transformational leadership which includes the fact that transformational leadership is highly
difficult to be taught or trained as the components of the leadership are highly complicated in
nature. Moreover, the leadership is mainly designed for the specific group of people which
means that all are not capable of using the style which is the other critique that has not been
mentioned. As commented by (), the transformational leadership is best suited for the set of the
personality characteristics rather than the special requirements which needs to be kept in mind
before the different institutions adopt the respective leadership style. In the article, the main
approach was technological advancement along with ICT adoption and in such scenario, the

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usage of the transformational leadership is highly essential, however, it may not be the key
element in all types of tasks which are being performed. Therefore, in the respective part, the
article lacked in providing the detailed description on the transformational leadership and these
are the few gaps which have been found as the weaknesses of the article.
Stating the Informed Opinions Regarding Clarity and Accuracy of Article Using Specific
Examples from Article for Supporting Evidences
From the analysis of the article, there are different evidences which showcases that the
article mainly deals and talks regarding the educational institutions especially the vocational and
technical institutes only present in Brunei economy. The study tried to fulfill the different
objectives of the adopting and implementing transformational leadership style in colleges for
trying to implement the technological advancements in a superior manner. It showed that the
transformational leadership behavior is highly effective and persistent in the adoption of the
technological applications (Seyal, 2015).
However, the point is that transformational kind of leadership is applicable in different
fields of work which has been completely avoided in the respective article. Therefore, it lacks
proper efficiency in making the audiences understand the concept and importance of
transformational leadership as suggested by Noel Tichy. The author suggested that
Transformational leadership helps in transforming the companies through creating a vision for
guiding change through inspiration and executing the entire change in the tandem with the
different team members who are highly committed towards the tasks which are performed by
them. It is the integral part of the Full Range Leadership Model that is needed to be implemented
by the companies for improving their progress and generating flexibility among the subordinates

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to develop the workplace with brilliant ideas which will be suitable for the efficiency generation
in the workplace.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the entire critique of the article, it has been inferred that the
transformational leadership is one of the most effective kinds of approaches which needs to be
adopted by the different kinds of companies, schools, colleges along with other institutions. With
the implementation of the transformational leadership in the proper manner, it helps in
motivating the followers and encourages learning that is highly efficient for the superiors and
subordinates in the workplace successfully.
The study has fulfilled the objectives and the research questions to a certain extent and
there are some interesting facts and concepts revealed on the leadership style of the leaders or the
principals of vocational and technical colleges in Brunei. It has also the capability in showcasing
the facts that there are significant kinds of differences exist in both the transformational along
with transactional kind of leadership wherein it has been noted that more colleges in Brunei are
focusing on practicing the transformational leadership. As the transformational leadership is
mainly based on the personal values along with beliefs of the different leaders, it helps in leading
to the strong kind of desire for adopting information technology at different levels of the
companies that will be capable of providing competitive advantage.
Lastly, it has been noted that from the overall critique of the leadership aspect, it has been
analyzed that the research article focused entirely on the different kinds of educational
institutions of Brunei which did not able to provide the wide scope on the different other sectors
which are present in the Brunei economy and therefore, based on the single utilization of the

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transformational leadership style cannot be effective in judging the different other sectors of the
economy and it is the negative aspect and loophole in the research paper which could have been
addressed through providing different examples from different sectors such as Information
Technology as well as in the workplaces wherein it will be effective for gaining competitive
advantage. The different criticisms of the transformational leadership have been completely
avoided and ignored which plays a critical role in managing the different tasks in the different
segments of the workplace.

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References and Bibliography
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