Development of a Self-Transformational Leadership Scale for Medical Representatives in Thailand

Abstract

Medical representatives play a critical role in the pharmaceutical companies. However, there is a lack of studies in skills improvement for medical representatives in Thailand. Considering the work context, medical representatives have to demonstrate the self-leadership behaviors and transformational leadership behaviors. Therefore, the aims of this study were to develop a self-transformational leadership scale for medical representatives in Thailand and test the psychometric properties. A sequential exploratory mixed method design was implemented to explore the definition of self-transformational leadership of medical representatives in Thailand. Firstly, each in-depth interviews with eleven key informants were conducted. The interview was tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim. A 34-items scale was generated and distributed. The participants were 347 medical representatives in Thailand. The qualitative results showed the definition and four components of self-transformational leadership specific to work context of medical representatives in Thailand that are self-idealized influence, self-inspirational motivation, self-intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. The quantitative results showed that the scale developed from the previous phase was statistically appropriate. The goodness-of-fit indices demonstrated that the self-transformational leadership model was consistent with the empirical data (Chi-square = 1465.57, df = 523, p-value =.00, RMSEA =.07, SRMR =.07, NFI =.90) with a Cronbach’s alpha score of.92. This study contributes to behavioral science research by providing a scale of self-transformational leadership that measures both the internal and external factors that affect self-transformational leadership behaviors. © 2022,Journal of Behavioral Science. All Rights Reserved.