LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION AS SENSE-MAKING: A PARALLEL INTERPRETATIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP ACROSS GENERATIONAL COHORTS IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

Abstract

Purpose: This study explores how transformational leadership practices are experienced and interpreted through leadership communication across Generation X, Generation Y, and Generation Z professionals in the pharmaceutical industry.

Design/methodology/approach: Adopting an interpretivist qualitative approach, the study employs Parallel Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Thirteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with pharmaceutical industry professionals from three generational cohorts (Generation X, Generation Y and Generation Z). Analysis followed a strict IPA sequence, beginning with idiographic, line-by-line coding for each participant, followed by emergent theme development at the individual level, cohort-level thematic clustering, and cross-cohort synthesis to identify convergent and divergent meaning structures.

Findings: Five final selective themes emerged: (1) leadership communication as sense-making, (2) trust as the core currency of leadership relationships, (3) recognition and psychological safety as drivers of engagement, (4) leadership as mediation across hierarchy and generations, and (5) evolving psychological contracts across generational cohorts. Findings reveal generationally distinct interpretations of leadership communication and highlight the pivotal mediating role of Generation Y middle managers.

Originality/value; This study advances transformational leadership, psychological contract, and generational cohort theories by grounding them in lived experience. Methodologically, it demonstrates the value of Parallel IPA for examining generational leadership dynamics without compromising idiographic depth.