Dutch Journal of Finance and Management

Dutch Journal of Finance and Management, 2026 - Volume 9 Issue 1, Article No: 44900
https://doi.org/10.55267/djfm/19223

Published Online: 30 Jun 2026

Views: 18 | Downloads: 9

This study examines the relationship between leadership styles and employee motivation within the organizational context of the Port of Leixões, one of the largest maritime ports in Portugal. In increasingly complex and competitive organizational environments, leadership plays a crucial role in fostering employee engagement, motivation, and performance. Drawing on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as the theoretical framework, the research explores how different leadership styles relate to employees’ motivational dimensions in a port authority setting. The study adopts a quantitative research design based on a structured questionnaire administered to employees of the Port of Leixões. A total of 111 valid responses were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and repeated-measures ANOVA with SPSS. The analysis evaluates the relationship between motivation dimensions and four leadership styles: task-oriented, people-oriented, participative, and autocratic leadership. The findings indicate that employees generally report moderate levels of motivation and perceive their leaders as playing an important role in fostering it. Self-esteem needs emerge as the most valued motivational dimension among respondents. Regarding leadership, task-oriented and people-oriented styles show the strongest associations with employee motivation, while autocratic leadership receives the lowest evaluation. Contrary to some expectations, task-oriented leadership does not negatively affect motivation. This study contributes to the leadership and organizational behaviour literature by providing empirical evidence from the port industry - an organizational context that remains relatively underexplored. The results highlight the relevance of balanced leadership approaches that combine attention to tasks and people in promoting employee motivation

Leadership styles Employee motivation Port industry Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Organizational behaviour

• Abid, G., Arya, B., Arshad, A., Ahmed, S., & Farooqi, S. (2021). Positive personality traits and self-leadership in sustainable organizations: Mediating influence of thriving and moderating role of proactive personality. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 25, 299–311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2020.09.005
• Barracho, C. (2012). Liderança em contexto organizacional. Escolar Editora.
• Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. Free Press.
• Bergamini, C. W. (2009). Liderança: Administração do sentido. Atlas.
• Beşikçi E. (2019). Strategic leadership styles on maritime safety. Ocean Engineering, 185. 1-11 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2019.05.046
• Bowditch, J. L., & Buono, A. F. (2006). Elementos de comportamento organizacional (6ª ed.). LTC.
• Bryman, A. (2013). Leadership in organizations. Routledge.
• Burns, J. M. (2004). Transforming leadership. Groove Press.
• Burton, L. J., Kane, G. M., & Borland, J. F. (2019). Sport leadership in the 21st century. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
• Butt K., Jabeen M., Zareef M. (2023). What leadership qualities are necessary for productive librarianship? Explore coaxial traits of academic librarians in the twin cities of Pakistan. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2023.102677
• Carapeto, C., & Fonseca, F. (2006). Administração pública: Modernização, qualidade e inovação (2ª ed.). Edições Sílabo.
• Chiavenato, I. (2010). Comportamento organizacional: A dinâmica do sucesso das organizações (2ª ed.). Elsevier.
• Conger, J. A. (1991). Líder carismático: O segredo da liderança. Makron Books.
• Cunha, M. P. E., Rego, A., Cunha, R., Cabral-Cardoso, C., & Neves, P. (2016). Manual de comportamento organizacional e gestão (8ª ed.). Editora RH.
• de Moraes Wyse, R. (2018). Motivação: Teorias motivacionais do comportamento humano. Revista de Ciências Gerenciais, 22(36), 134–141.
• Ferreira, A., & Martinez, L. (2008). Manual de diagnóstico e mudança organizacional. RH.
• Ferreira, H. S., da Silva Martins, J. N., & dos Santos, L. F. (2021). Liderança nas organizações: Revisão bibliográfica em periódicos nacionais. Revista Ciência Dinâmica, 12(1), 27–49. https://doi.org/10.4322/2176-6509.2022.016
• Gagné, M., & Deci, E. L. (2005). Self-determination theory and work motivation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26(4), 331–362. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.322
• Goleman, D. (2017). Leadership that gets results. Harvard Business Review.
• Herzberg, F. I. (1966). Work and the nature of man. World Pub. Co.
• Hunt, T., & Fedynich, L. (2019). Leadership: Past, present, and future: An evolution of an idea. Journal of Arts and Humanities, 8(2), 20–26. https://doi.org/10.18533/journal.v8i2.1582
• Iqbal, Z. A., Abid, G., Arshad, M., Ashfaq, F., Athar, M. A., & Hassan, Q. (2021). Impact of authoritative and laissez-faire leadership on thriving at work: The moderating role of conscientiousness. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 11(3), 667-685. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe11030048
• Khan, M. S., Khan, I., Qureshi, Q. A., Ismail, H. M., Rauf, H., Latif, A., & Tahir, M. (2015). The styles of leadership: A critical review. Public Policy and Administration Research, 5(3), 87-92.
• Latham, G. P. (2012). Work motivation: History, theory, research, and practice. Sage.
• Lewin, K., Lippitt, R., & White, R. K. (1939). Patterns of aggressive behavior in experimentally created “social climates.” The Journal of Social Psychology, 10(2), 269–299. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.1939.9713366
• Lira, M., & da Silva, V. P. G. (2015). Motivação intrínseca vs. motivação extrínseca: A aplicação da escala WPI no contexto do setor público português. Revista de Gestão, Finanças e Contabilidade, 5(4), 171–195.
• Maçães, M. (2017). Liderança, motivação e comunicação. Actual.
• Martinelli, S., & Bartholomeu, D. (2007). Escala de motivação acadêmica: Uma medida de motivação extrínseca e intrínseca. Revista Avaliação Psicológica, 6(1), 21–31.
• Maslow, A. (1954). Motivation and personality. Harpers. Inc.
• Maximiano, A. C. A. (2000). Teoria geral da administração: Da escola científica à competitividade na economia globalizada (2ª ed.). Atlas.
• McClelland, D. C. (1961). Teorias das necessidades. http://www.12manage.com/methods_mcclelland_theory_of_needs.html
• McNicholas M., Piper E. (2016). Security Management and Leadership in Seaports. Maritime Security. 383-426, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-803672-3.00012-1
• Neves, J., Caetano, A., & Ferreira, J. (2011). Manual de Psicossociologia das Organizações. Lisboa: Escolar Editora.
• Odumeru, J. A., & Ogbonna, I. G. (2013). Transformational vs. transactional leadership theories: Evidence in literature. International Review of Management and Business Research, 2(2), 355–361.
• Pinder, C. C. (2008). Work motivation in organizational behavior. Psychology Press.
• Rego, A. (1997). Liderança nas organizações: Teoria e prática. Universidade de Aveiro.
• Rego, A., & Cunha, M. (2010). Liderança positiva (2ª ed.). Edições Sílabo.
• Rego, A., & Cunha, M. (2019). Que líder sou eu? - Manual de apoio ao desenvolvimento de competências de liderança (3ª ed.). Edições Sílabo.
• Ribeiro, M. E. M., Prasniski, M. E. T., da Silva Gallon, M., & dos Santos, B. S. (2016). Ocorrência de motivação intrínseca e extrínseca na escola. Revista Thema, 13(2), 54–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.15536/thema.13.2016.54-67.337
• Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2013). Organizational behaviour (9th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.
• Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2015). Organizational behavior (16th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.
• Robbins, S., Judge, T. A., & Sobral, F. (2010). Comportamento organizacional. Pearson Prentice Hall.
• Schermerhorn, J. (2013). Management (12th ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
• Seixas, J. M. A. (2020). Motivação no trabalho: Um estudo de caso numa IPSS [Unpublished master’s thesis]. IPVC.
• Silva, A. (2016). What is leadership? Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 8(1), 1–5.
• Silva, E., & Reis, M. (2016). Os estilos de liderança e sua influência no desenvolvimento das organizações. Revista Negócios e Projeção, 7(2), 44–53.
• Silva, V., & Reis, F. (2018). Capital humano: Temas para uma boa gestão das organizações (2ª ed.). Edições Sílabo.
• Sun, R., & Henderson, A. C. (2016). Transformational leadership and organizational processes: Influencing public performance. Public Administration Review, 77(4), 554–565. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12654
• Teixeira, S. (2010). Gestão das organizações (2ª ed.). Verlag Dashöfer.
• Teixeira, S. (2013). Gestão das organizações (3.ª ed.). Escolar Editora.
• Verma, R., & Verm, J. (2012). The role of motivation as a moderator of the job demand-burnout-performance relationship among service employees in a social marketing campaign. Decision, 39(3), 68–85.

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.