Reward along with punishment serve as the underlying motivators of human behavior. These views are demonstrated noticeably within Maslow's needs hierarchy. Human social groups operate most efficiently when a clear leadership chain of command is defined. One facet of A job that individuals must accept and anticipate is that they have to yield to the mandate of the chief to whom they report. The primary purpose of a subordinate is to perform to the expectations of his or her boss.



The transactional leader acts through constructing comprehensible structures whereby it is apparent what is needed of their juniors, along with the rewards that they get in exchange for obeying orders. Reprimands are not always stated, but they are also well understood and strict systems of discipline are regularly in position.

The first stage of Transactional Leadership consists of the negotiation of a contract, thus the subordinate receives salary and other defined benefits, and the company (and by extension the new employee's manager) receives authority over the subordinate.

When an employee is assigned work by an transactional leader, the employee is fully responsible for the work, even if they do not have the competency or resources to do so. The employee is thought to be at fault when things do not work correctly, and must suffer the consequences of their failure. Likewise, success is rewarded.

Often the transactional leader will work under the expectation that if something isn't broke, don't fix it. In other words, if a principle is operating to expectations, it doesn't warrant notice. Along with this is the expectation that anything above expectations merits praise and rewarding, and anything below expectations needs corrective action.

Transformational leadership is more sales-oriented, but transactional leadership is more performance-oriented. The difference is sometimes stated 'selling versus telling'. Transactional leadership means that positive or negative consequences all depend on good or bad workplace performance.

Transactional Leadership leans more towards the management side when put on a Leadership vs. Management scale. Even though there is a lot of research that points out its flaws, Transactional Leadership is still used widely among many managers.

Behaviorist psychology pioneers B.F.Skinner and Pavlov used carefully conducted experiments on controlled populations in a laboratory setting when formulating their famous theories of Operant and Classical Conditioning. While these shed much light on human and animal behavior, they fall short of understanding man's behavior fully. This is because they rely upon a model of a rational man, whose simple drive towards reward is unclouded by complex social and emotional issues.

Using the Behaviorism to sustain Transitional approach proves true in a practical application, which is confirmed through supply and demand in the employment sector in addition to the effects of deeper needs like Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. However, when the supply of employees isn't enough to meet the needs of demand, then Transactional Leadership is not sufficient; then other approaches prove more effective in the workplace.