Evaluation of leadership and organizational performance in small scale industries in Nigeria: a case of selected small scale industries in Aba,Abia state,Nigeria

Master’s Thesis

Evaluation of leadership and Organizational Performance in Small Scale industries in Nigeria;

A Case of Selected Small Scale industries in Aba, Abia State, Nigeria

By

Owolabi Yusau Lawal

&

Chukwuma Kingsley Chukwuebuka

May 2007

Evalu atio n o f l eadership and Organizat ional Performance in S mall - Scale ind ust ri es i n Nigeri a; A C as e of S el ected Sm all S cal e in dust ri es

in Aba, Abi a St at e, Ni geri a

^By

Owolabi Yus au Lawal

&

Chuk wum a Kingsl e y Chukwu ebuka

A thesi s s ubmitt ed in parti al fulfil lment of th e req uirem ent s fo r th e degree o f M BA (M as ter o f Business Admi nistrati on ) Bl eki n ge Insti tut e

of Technol ogy, S weden.

Ma y 2007

Supervisor

Dr. Klaus Solberg Søilen

 

 

 

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From tim e i mmem o rial, the rol e of l eaders in ens uri n g excell ent organiz ati on al p erfo rman ce can not b e over em phasiz ed. Th e need for adequat e m otiv atio n, suit abl e workin g environm ent, comp ens ation and effi ci ent commun icatio n bet ween em plo yers and empl o yees are important to promo ting ex cellent organization perfo rm ance. Thou gh studi es o n moti vatio n an d leadersh ip rol e amon gst empl o yees are well studi ed in u rb an cen ters in devel oped countries, les s could b e s ai d o f rural cent ers in d ev elo pin g count ri es li ke Ni geria. Therefore, it was important to eval uate leadershi p and organiz atio nal p erformance in small - s cale ind ust ri es in Aba, Abi a st at e, Ni geria. Th e ev al uati on was done through us e of qu estionnai res wit h question s tail ored towards det ermini n g: th e rel atio nshi p bet ween l ead ers hip and orga nization al perform an ce, p att ern of l eadershi p and the ex tent i t h as affect ed organiz ati on al p erfo rman ce, th e factors respo nsibl e for worker’s lo w perform an ce and ho w lead ership st yl e h as affected l abor m anagem ent rel ati ons and p rod uct ivit y in three s elect ed sm all s cal e indust ries in the stud y area. Aft er an al yzing t he resu lt wi th C hi-squ are, it was concl uded th at to at t ain th e obj ectives of small -s cal e indust ri es in Aba, Abi a st ate Ni geria, it was necess ar y t hat l eaders hip reco gnizes t he needs of th e workers, emp lo y appropri at e moti vation al t oo l su ch as prom otio n o f st aff b as ed on merit and skills, provid e suit ab le worki ng environm ent and provide an appropri at e l eaders hip st yl e that wil l encourage free fl ow of info rmation among emplo yer, sup eri or offi cers and ot her emplo yees.

Ke y words: sm all -scal e indust ri es, l eadership st yl e, moti vat io n and

organiz ati on al p erforman ce.

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TABLE OF C ONTENTS ... 3

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1.1 Back ground ... 8

1.2 P urpos e an d ch al lenges faced during t he stud y ... 10

1.3 H ypoth esi s and o bjectiv es of t he study ... 11

1.4 Si gni fi cance and limitat ions of s tud y ... 13

1.5 Defi nitio n o f terms ... 13

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Concep t o f l ead ershi p ... 16

2.1 Lev els of lead ers hip ... 17

2.1.1 P art ici pation ... 18

2.1.2 Leadershi p P ro cess ... 18

2.1.3 Impo rt an ce o f t he proces s ... 19

2.2 Leaders hip Abil i t y ... 19

2.3 Trait th eor y ... 21

2.4.0 Beh avi oral th eor y ... 22

2.4.1 The Ohio Stat e Uni versi t y St ud y ... 22

2.4.2 P rudent ial Li fe In surance C ompan y ... 24

2.4.3 The Mi chi gan Studi es ... 25

2.5 Likert Lead ershi p theo r y ... 26

2.6 Si tu atio nal Theory ... 27

2.7 Fi el der’s co ntin gen c y th eor y ... 28

2.7.1 Fi eld er’s revis ed th eo r y ... 29

2.7.2 C riti cism o f Fi elder’s Theor y ... 30

2.8 Leaders hip i n Ni geri a ... 32

2.9 Leaders hip amo n g th e Igbo cult ural group ... 33

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Res earch Desi gn an d Met hodology... 36

3.1 S ou rces o f d at a ... 36

3.2 Instrum ent fo r data coll ection ... 37

3.3 S amplin g and samplin g t echniq ue ... 37

3.4 Determi nation o f sam pl e siz e ... 38

3.5 Techniques o f data an al ys is ... 39

3.5.1 M eth od fo r dat a p res ent ation i ncl udes us e of: ... 39

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Presentation o f Dat a ... 42

4.1 An al ys is of dat a from respondents ... 42

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Dat a Anal ys is ... 56

5.1 H ypoth esi s o ne ... 56

5.2 H ypoth esi s t wo ... 58

5.3 H ypoth esi s t hree ... 59

5.4 H ypoth esi s four ... 61

5.5 Int erp retat ion an d m eaning of anal yz ed data ... 62

5.6 Theori es relevant to t his stud y ... 63

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Dis cuss ion and fin di n g ... 66

6.1 C on clus ion ... 67

6.2 R ecomm en d ation ... 69

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Table 1: List o f s el ect ed com pani es ... 39

Table 2: Num b er of questio nnaires administered an d coll ect ed ... 39

Table 3: S ex o f work ers ... 42

Table 4: Age dist rib ution o f the workers ... 43

Table 5: T ype o f edu cation poss ess ed b y respondents ... 43

Table 6: Lo ngetivit y of staff ... 43

Table 7: Natu re o f b usin ess owners hip ... 44

Table 8: Lev el o f di recto r’s involvem ent in d ail y bu sin ess acti vit y ... 44

Table 9: R epo rtin g o f s ectio nal heads to t he manager ... 45

Table 10: l ev el of co rdi alit y bet ween heads and subo rdin at es ... 45

Table 11: d egree o f freed om ... 46

Table 12: Suit ab ilit y of workin g envi ronment for th e wo rk ers ... 46

Table 13: s atis fact ion o f wo rkers wi th pres ent salar y ... 47

Table 14: Promoti on of staff in the compan y ... 47

Table 15: Fact or d ecidin g whom t o p rom ote in t he compan y ... 47

Table 16: J ob m otivation ... 48

Table 17: Level of m otiv atio n among st aff in the com p ani es ... 48

Table 18: Ex ist en ce of t raini n g faciliti es ... 49

Table 19: T yp e o f t raini n g recei ved ... 49

Table 20: Del egati on of dut y and authori t y ... 50

Table 21: Perfo rm an ce ev aluation ... 50

Table 22: l eaders hip st yl e ... 51

Table 23: Motiv atio n of workers bas ed on their effo rts and con tri buti ons ... 52

Table 24: l ev el of m otiv atio n among t he respo nd ents ... 52

Table 25: ex isten ce of perfo rmance meas urem ent i n t he compani es ... 53

Table 26: How to en han ce organizati onal perfo rmance ... 54

Table 27: facto rs affectin g o rganiz ation perfo rm ance ... 54

Table 28: Co ntin gen c y table for l eaders hip st yl e ... 57

Table 29: Com put ati on o f C H I – SQUAR E (X

) v alue for H yp othesis 1 ... 57

Table 30: Co ntin gen c y table for factors decidin g whom to promote in the comp an y ... 58

Table 31: Com put ati on o f C H I-S QUARE (X

) v alue fo r h yp ot hesi s 2 59 Table 32: Co ntin gen c y table for res ponse of leaders to hi gh perform an ce ... 60

Table 33: Com put ati on of C H I-S QUARE (X2) fo r h ypoth esi s 3 ... 60

Table 34: Co ntin gen c y table for factors t hat moti vat es st aff’s prom otio n ... 61 Table 35: Com put ati on of C H I-S QUARE (X

) v alue for h yp ot hesi s 4 61



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We are grat eful to Klaus Solberg Søilen (PhD) for his timely response and advice duri n g t his st ud y. To st aff and di rect ors of Ariari a shoe plaz a, Sunsis on v ent ures an d Chub a pl as tics, Aba, Abi a State Ni geri a, we are thankful for yo u r cooperatio n and gesture duri n g t his s tud y. To all our fri ends an d famil y, who sup ported us al l through thi s stu d y, we are thankful.

We are als o grateful to the M BA t eam i n Bl eki nge In stitut e o f Technolog y, S weden for t ak ing us through th e n ecess ar y rud iment s in this program and pro vidin g an avenue to stud y at thi s l ev el.

Las tl y we are grat eful to God for Hi s m erc y an d favor all throu gh this stud y.

 

 

 



 

 

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Reces sio n in eco no m y is a basi c charact eri sti c o f m ost devel opin g or third world co unt r y. Ni geri a, whi ch i s t he mo st po pul at ed nati on in sub-Saharan Afri ca, falls in to this cat egor y. Th e cons eq uence o f thi s recessi on i nclud es s harp redu cti on in forei gn ex ch an ge, hi g h cost o f living, po vert y, un emplo ym ent: which was averaged at 5 % between 1976 and 1998 and con tinu ed depreci ati on i n t he valu e of th e nati on ’s currenc y called Naira (=N=) (Ekpo and Umoh, 200 7). To salvage the countr y from t his lo omin g epi dem ic, the managers of t he co untr y were com pell ed to loo k i n ward and re-eval uat e the indust ri al strat egi es us ed b y the nation.

Bas ed on the n ati on’s fragil e econo m y, th e need to groom an d encourage es tablish ment o f more sm all -s cal e indust ri es was re- engineered un der t h e Ob as anj o admi nist rat ion (197 7-1979) (Un amaka and Ewu rum , 199 5). Prior to t his peri od, the focus of i ndus trial pol ic y in Ni geri a has b een on as sem bling pl ants, whi ch are m edi um s cale indus tri es . This i dea was d evel op ed duri ng the post second wo rld war era where the n eed t o rei nv ent th e wh eel of indust ri al develo pment in Europe was p rim e. It was int ended that Europ e s hou ld be redev el op ed as a new indust ri al b as e: m ai nl y au tom at ed and voi d o f artis an ship th at was comm on du rin g the pre-s econd worl d war era i n Eu rope (Budhwar and Yaw, 200 1)

Ni geri a as a dev elo pin g n ation is affected b y the modern economic theor y o f d ev elo pin g th e n ew worl d. Thus, the n atio n’s devel opm ent planner accept ed ad optin g t he poli c y of impo rt substit utio n thro ugh indus tri al t echnolo gy, whi ch enco urages small -s cale in dust ri es. At this point , it b ecom es im port an t t o t he l eadership of th e nation t o prev ent exodus to dev el op ed cen ters and red uce, if not ab le to eradicate the problems caus ed b y econ omi c recess ion throu gh encou rag em ent of small s cal e ind ust ri es within t he l ocal comm uniti es with t he aim o f using lo cal raw m at erials.

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An organization is a soci al set up, which has a bo und ar y that separat es it from its envi ro nm ent , p urs u es it s own collecti ve goal s, an d cont rol s its own p erform an ce (Hi ck s and Gullet , 1975). In a fo rm al organiz ati on, int eractio ns are rationall y coo rdi n ated and direct ed through tim e on a co ntin eou s b asis . The person at th e helm o f affairs is usuall y th e l eader.

Kraines (2 001 ) stres sed th at the word l eadershi p h as been us ed b y m ost

disciplin es : p oliti cal science, busines s executi ves, so ci al wo rk ers and

educatio nist . Howev er, th ere is l arge dis agreem ent as regards the exact meanin g.

This vi ew was al so suppo rted b y Taffi nder (2006, p g 6 ), who gave different d efi nitio ns to l eadership: “a s imple m eaning: l ead ership is getti ng p eopl e to d o thin gs t he y have never t hought of d oi ng, do not beli eve are pos sibl e or th at the y do not want to do”. With reference to an organizati on, h e defin ed leadership as “t he actio n of commi tting empl o yees to co nt rib ute th ei r best to the purpos e o f the o rgan ization”.

While on a compl ex and m ore accu rat e vi ew, he expl ains that yo u on l y know l ead ers hip b y i ts cons eq uences – from th e fact th at indi viduals or a group of peopl e st art t o b ehave in a parti cul ar wa y as a res ult of t he actions o f som eon e else”.

It is impo rt ant to d istin guish between l eaders hip as an o rganiz atio n functi on an d as a p erson al qualit y. Accordi n g t o Bo wer y (2004 ) t he lat er ent ails sp eci al combi nat ion of perso nal charact eri sti cs, whi ch brings to li ght qu alit ies and abilit ies of i ndivi du als. Th e fo rmer refers to the d ist ribut ion o f po wer through out an organization and it brin gs to focus th e patt ern of po wer and authori t y in th e organizati on.

Defini ng l ead ership in it v ari ous reflection s is ver y i mportant . However, it i s n eces sar y to butt ress what our fo cus is when an y of it s definit ion is referred to an d under what conditi on.

Previous vi ews abo ut lead ershi p show that it i s s een as a personal abili t y. Ho wev er, M essi ck and Kram er (2004 ) were o f th e opinio n that the degree t o whi ch individuals ’ exhibit s leaders hip depen ds not onl y on his ch aract erist ics and pers on al abili ties, but al so on th e charact eri sti cs of t he situ ati on and enviro nm ent in whi ch he find s hims elf.

Mess ick and Kram er (20 04 ) furt her expl ained t hat sin ce h um an bei n gs could beco me m emb ers of an organizati on i n o rd er t o achi eve certain personal o bj ectiv es, the extent to whi ch the y are acti ve members depends on how th ey are con vinced that thei r mem bers hip will en abl e them to ach ieve th ei r pred et ermined objectives. Th erefo re an i ndivi dual will su ppo rt an organizatio n if he beli eves that th rou gh it, hi s perso nal obj ecti ves and goals co uld be m et, i f not th e perso n’s i nterest in the organiz ati on will decline.

Consid erin g th e s elect ed indust ri es in Aba, Abi a st at e, Ni geri a for t hi s

stud y, t he effecti venes s o r i neffecti veness li es i n t he l ead ership and

organiz ati on of th e institut e. Accordi ng to Akpal a (19 88) so me

comm on probl ems were m entioned to affect o rganiz ational perform ance

in Ni geri a busi ness and oth er insti tutions. Amon g t h es e probl ems faced

b y econ omic and go vernm ent ins tituti ons in Ni geri a are b ad attit ude to

work amo n g Ni geri an wo rk force, poor organizati on al perfo rmance,

ineffici en c y and in effectiv enes s in most places. Th e writ er butt ress ed

his poi nt b y sa yi n g t hat m ost organiz ations in Ni geri a are m anaged b y

managem ent s ys t ems that are strange to the t ypi cal Ni geri an cult ure.

However, su ggesti on s were made that the ri ght t yp e o f leadershi p an d motivatio n were not app lied in m anagi ng Ni geri an workers .

Among t he ob jecti ve of an y sm all s cal e i ndust r y is to mak e profit and achi eve liqui dit y s tatu s. Th e y t r y t o achieve t his b y pro vidi ng empl o ym ent , facilit ate econ omi c growth, provid e goo ds an d servi ces and pu rchas e goo d s and services through effecti ve and effici en t production and di stri bution of goods and servi ces. As ob served in most Ni geri an sm all -s cale sett in gs, t he effecti venes s of t hese roles is great l y det ermin ed b y th e avail abi lit y and acces sibilit y t o perso nn el , fin an ce, machin er y, raw m at eri al s an d possibi lit y of m aki ng th ei r goods and servi ces av ail abl e t o thei r im mediate com munit y and t he n atio n at l arge (Unam ak a and Ewurum, 1 995 ).

Therefore all int egrated groups inclusive of s mal l-s cal e in dust ries n eed to be coordin at ed to achi ev e effective res ult. It is t herefore the manager o r l ead er’s rol e t o achi ev e this (Glantz, 200 2).

Glantz (2002 ) fu rth er ex plai ned t hat models on hu man rel ati on s ho ws that there are no es s enti al confli cts that can s ati sf y workers soci al and ps ychol o gi cal need s. Th es e needs are enti rel y congru ent with organiz ati on al goals of effectivenes s and productivi t y.

The ex tent (d egree) to whi ch all mem bers of an organizati on use t heir abili ties an d in flu en ces in th e effecti ve ut ilizatio n of resou rces dep ends upon ho w wel l th e man agers (l eaders ) of t he o rganiz ation understand and perform t hei r j obs. M addock and Ful ton (199 8) explained that leadership and ot her process es of t he organizati on must be such that can ensu re max i mum probabil it y withi n all i nt eractions and rel ati ons hips wi th t h e o rgan izati ons, each m ember wil l in the li ght of his back ground, v alues and expect ati ons, view th e exp ens es as supporti ve and one whi ch can build and maint ai n his s ense of personal worth an d im portan ce.

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The num ber o f sm all scale indust ries spri ng up yearl y in Ni geria are so much b ut at t he end of t he d ang, m an y of th em go downhill b ecause of a lot of fact ors mil itati n g agai nst them and the probl ems have b een att ributed to th e perform an ce o f Leadership.

This work will fo cu s on Ev alu ati on of l ead ers hip and Organ ization al

Perform an ce in Small Scal e indust ri es i n Ni geri a; A Cas e Stud y o f

Sel ect ed Sm all S cal e ind ust ri es in Aba, Abi a St at e, Ni geria. Ab a,

whi ch is locat ed in east ern part of Ni geri a, is cho sen becau se it is one

of the st ron gest co m merci al nerv e cent ers of th e count r y. The num ber

of sm all -s cale ind us tri es spri nging up from t his area is un parallel ed when com p ared to ot her citi es in t he countr y.

This work will al so det ermin e t he patt ern o f l eaders hip an d the ex tent it has affect ed organizatio n al perform ance in the s el ected s mall scal e indus tri es i n Ab a, Abi a State, Ni geri a, identif y th e facto rs that are responsibl e for wo rk er’s lo w p erform ance in t he s elect ed area of stud y.

Also, we will find out how l eadership st yl e has affect ed l ab or managem ent rel atio n s and producti vit y in the s el ected area of stud y.

For each of th es e p urp os e of stud y, h ypoth esis will be formulat ed to ans wer th em usin g by chi Sq u are as a st aticall y too l o f an al ys is.

It is beli eved th at th is stud y wi ll be of i mmers e import an ce becaus e it will rev eal the rel ationshi p bet ween leaders hip and organization al perform an ce in Ab a, Abi a State, Ni geria and how l ead ers hip st yl e could be appli ed to sm all -s cale industri es b earin g i n mind t he environm ent al di fferences. Secondl y, it will b e of great import an ce to the student o f busi ness administ rat ion who ma y b e h eadin g s mall -s cale indus tri es aft er th ei r studi es.

Finall y, this st ud y will en able m an agement and l eaders o f small s cale indus tri es to becom e aware of the factors that actu all y mo ti vat e thei r empl o yees to lo w an d hi gh p ro ductivit y i n th ei r work areas .

Regardl ess of th e p urp os e and merit s of this st ud y, som e chall en ges were faced in t his st ud y:

I. Presence of ob server m a y dist ort norm al behavio rs of the respo nd ent.

II. Rel ativ e di fficult y i n measuri ng effect iveness as respond ent s hav e di fferin g vi ews

III. Descript ion o f m an agem ent st yl es are su bjectiv e

IV. Stand ard and q ualit y of s ubordi nate m a y i nflu en ce managem ent st yl e



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The foll owi ng h ypo th es es were posit ed to gui de us in reachin g th e research o bj ect iv es.

1. Ho: l ead ershi p fun ct ion and patt ern in s mall scal e i ndu stri es in

Ab a, Abi a s tat e, Ni geri a does not si gnifi cantl y affect the o veral l

perform an ce of th e b usiness out fit (organization )

H1: l ead ers hip funct ion and patt ern i n s mall -s cale i ndustri es in Ab a, Abi a s tat e, Ni geri a si gnifi cantl y affect the o verall perform an ce of th e b usiness out fit

2. Ho: Ex ist en ce of a favorable worki ng envi ro nm ent does not enh ance em plo yees ’ hi gh input to th eir organizati on in the sel ected sm all -s cal e indus tri es in Ab a, Abia Stat e, Ni geri a.

H2: Exist en ce o f a conducive working envi ronm ent enhances empl o yees’ hi gh i np ut to their organiz ati on in th e s el ect ed sm all - scal e indust ri es in Aba, Abia St ate, Ni geria

3. Ho: Po sitiv e resp o nse of the l eaders to hi gh performance vari abl es do es not p romot e maximization of th e ob jecti ves of t he organiz ati on in th e sel ected area of stu d y in Aba, Abi a St at e, Ni geri a.

H3: P ositi ve resp o nses of t he lead ers to hi gh perfo rm an ce vari abl e p romot e maximizati on of t he o bjecti ves of the organiz ati on in th e sel ected area of stu d y in Aba, Abi a St at e, Ni geri a.

4. Ho: st aff promoti on based on merit and skill will not moti vat e staff to hi gher organ izational perform an ce i n thi s area o f stu dy.

H4: st aff p rom otio n bas ed on merit and skill wi ll motivat e s taf f to hi gh er organiz atio nal perform ance in t his area of stu d y.

Bas ed on t he above h yp ot hesis, the following obj ectiv es will b e reached:

1. To anal yz e th e rel ation shi p between leaders hip and organiz ational perform an ce in t he sel ected sm all -s cal e indust ri es i n Aba, Abi a State Ni geri a.

2. To determin e the pattern o f l eadership and t he ext ent it has affected organ izati onal p erform ance in the s elect ed s mall -s cale indus tri es in Ab a, Abia Stat e, Ni geri a.

3. To ident if y the factors that is responsibl e for worker’s low perform an ce i n t he s el ect ed area of stud y

4. To fi nd out h o w leadership st yl e has affected l abo r m an agem ent rel ati ons and produ ct ivit y i n t he s elect ed area of stud y.

 



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Ni geri a as a n ation i s currentl y faced wit h a sharp increas e i n num ber of entrep reneu rs who form busi ness i n commo n areas relating t o maint enance, whol esal es and production indus tri es . The running o f thes e busin es s units necessit at es frequent interacti ons and exp ectat ions bet ween the en trep reneu r an d t he em plo yees.

Bas ed on t his, t his s tud y will be of imm ens e s i gni fi can ce in a n umb er of wa ys:

1. It will h elp to rev eal t he rel ati ons hip bet ween l ead ers hip and Organizati on al perfo rmance and how l eadershi p st yl e coul d be app lied to smal l-scal e indust ri es beari ng in mind the env iro nm ent al i nflu ences and differences.

2. It wi ll b e o f imp ort an ce for s tudent s o f busines s admini stration who mi gh t b ecom e future managers , l ead ers and entrepreneurs.

3. This stu d y wil l als o hel p man agem ent and leaders of sm all-scal e indus tri es to b ecom e aware of the facto rs that act ual l y moti v at e thei r emp lo yees t o l o w and hi gh productiv it y in thei r work

Im port antl y, i t is expect ed t hat when thes e su ggesti ons are made and applied b et ween l eaders and workers in the organiz atio n, t he y would enhance co -o p eratio n and improvement in their perform ance, hi gh productivi t y and int erp erson al rel ati onshi p. Other organizat ional iss u es such as st ress, agg ressio n, regres sion, fixatio n and fri cti on among workers and lead ers cou ld als o be reduced.

Conducti n g thi s res earch usin g all small-scal e ind ust ries in the enti ret y of Abi a State, Ni g eri a co uld have s h own a more thorou gh work.

However, limit ed b y tim e and logi sti cs , this res earch is focu sed on three o f t he mos t po pul ar sm all-scal e i ndustri es in th e st at e.



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Leadershi p: th e wo rd l eaders hip does not hav e a sin gle definit ion becaus e th e meani n g cou ld often be affect ed b y wh at it i ntends to cover. Taffi nd er (20 06) gav e the follo wi ng as d efiniti ons o f l ead ers hip:

“a sim pl e m eanin g: “a sim pl e m eaning: l eaders hip is getting peo pl e to

do thi n gs th e y h ave nev er thought of doi ng, d o not b eli eve are possi ble

or t hat th e y do n ot want to do”. Wit h referen ce to an organi zation, h e

defined l eaders hip as “th e acti on of committi ng em plo yees to

contri but e thei r best to the p urpos e of t he organiz atio n”. While o n a

com plex and more accurat e view, he explains th at yo u on l y know leadership b y its co nsequ ences – from t he fact th at i ndivi d uals or a group of p eopl e st art to b ehave i n a particul ar wa y as a res ult o f th e actions o f som eon e else”

Emplo yer: an employer can be defined as a pers on o r instit ution that hires peopl e.

Emplo yee: this refers to th e person being hired (sup pli er o f l abor).

Managem ent : this can be d efined as an act of controllin g and directi ng peopl e so as to coo rdi n ate and harmon ize t he group thereb y accomplis hin g go al (s) within and be yond the capacit y of p eopl e b eing directed (Dub rin, 20 07).

Corporat e im age: as ex plained b y C roft and Dalt on (2003) corpo rat e image sho ws o r d epi cts th e att ributes people giv e to an organi zation . In other wo rds it could mean t he id ent it y of the organization

Motivatio n: Efklid es HW DO (2001) defined motivation as a conscious act aim ed at spurrin g b ett er results from i ndividu als who ma y ordi naril y n ot read y to go b e yo nd their capacit y.

Organizati on al en viro nm ent: Dubri n (20 07) expl ain ed t hat organiz ati on al beh avior refers to t he m icro envi ro nment affecting the perform an ce o f an organiz ati on. This i ncl udes su ppli ers, custom ers, small -s cal e indust ri es and t h e publi c.

Organizati on al p erfo rman ce: t his was explain ed b y St ankard (2002 ) not

to mean the p erform an ce of th e si ngl e parts o r unit s of t he organ izati on

but t he prod uct o f all int eractions t aking place in th e organization. 

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The stat e o f th e art fo cusi ng on problem s of l eadership and organiz ati on is cov ered i n thi s chapt er. J ust as hum ans, t he needs of an organiz ati on are num ero us. Therefore it is imp ort an t for an organiz ati on to effectiv el y coo rdinat e t he behavi or of peopl e in order to achieve its ai ms and o bj ecti ves.

Accordi n g to Lo ndon (200 1), obj ectives assist ex ecutiv es in performi n g leadership roles b y pro vidi ng t he b asis for u nitin g th e efforts of the workers withi n th e o rganiz ation. It was further st ressed th at achi eving set obj ect iv es h elp to giv e id entit y t o an organizat ion as well as recogniti on and s tat u s.

As m enti on ed b y Dubri n (2007), there are di fferent cl ass es of needs . These i nclude: p h ysical, s ocial and egoisti c needs . Ho wev er, job satis faction i s oft en ass ociat ed with hum an n eed and conditi on.

Leadershi p h as b een linked to m anagement as it involves directin g, controllin g t o an ex tent the n ature, degree, ex tent and pas sé o f activiti es and ch an ges occu rring within the organization. M anagem ent as a process is root ed in th e int eracti o ns of people at work directed towards m ax imizati on of effi ci enc y and scarce resou rces: labor, machin es , raw m at erials and i nform ati on (Hoov er HWDO, 2001).

Im port antl y, l eaders hip of an o rganiz ati on sho uld b e given adequ at e att enti on, if th e o rganizati on i ntends t o achi eve i ts o bj ect ives . The practice of lead ers hip as it were i nvolves taking ch arge and streamlini n g th e activiti es of organiz ation mem bers to ensure th at desi red resu lts are achieved.

In cont ext, leaders hip dev elopment can be vi ewed as t h e pl ann ed experi ence, gui ded gro wth and t raini ng oppo rtuniti es p ro vided for thos e in p osition o f aut horit y. To thi s effect the lead er of a s mall s cale busines s shou ld recognize that thei r resp onsibiliti es inclu de p erfo rmi ng managem ent fu nctio n, whi ch according t o Du bri n (200 7) are plannin g, organizi n g, di recti n g, co nt rolli ng and co-ordi nation of al l acti vities as the y rel at e to th e activiti es of the firm i n order to achi ev e t he firm’s obj ecti ves.

Pal e y (2 004) ex pl ain ed th at pl anni ng is a process o f loo kin g ahead to

det ermine th e cou rs e of act ion(s ) a fi rm or organiz atio n wi ll foll ow t o

achi eve it s o bj ect ives. Both short and long t erm plans shoul d b e dul y

considered fo r an organiz ati on’s success . The co nt ribut o r furth er

butt ress ed th at organizin g as a functi on involv es correlatin g the basic

com ponent s o f th e fi rm: p eo pl e, t as ks and mat eri als s o that t he y follo w

and ali gn wi th t he s et go als and obj ectives.

In most organiz atio n, di recti ng i nvol ves face-to -face su pervisio n of empl o ym ent . In t he dail y busi ness acti vi ties , the effectiveness of th e manager or l eader i n di recti ng is a major fact or in d et erm ining the success o f th e ind ust r y.

Controlli n g as anot h er dut y of a leader is the fu nct ion t h at p rovided t he manager with th e m eans o f checking to ensu re that the pl ans that were devel op ed were prop erl y im pl ement ed.

This was furt her ex plai ned b y Hui sman and Wis sen (200 4); control invol ves havi n g t he capacit y to guide and correct acti viti es, whi ch do es not promot e achi evi ng th e organizat ion’s goals. However, cont rol could be sai d t o consist of fou r basic st eps :

I. Set st an d ard o f p erformance (est abl ish accep tabl e l ev els of empl o yee ou tput )

II. Check p erformance at regul ar i nt erval s: hou rl y, dail y, weekl y or m ont hl y.

III. Det ermin e i f th ere are deviation s from th e p erfo rm ance stan dard

IV. If th ere are devi ations, t ake corrective m easures such as mo re trainin g o r ret rai ning. If no devi ation exists, con tinu e wit h th e activit y.

 

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A leader is an yo ne who directs and controls a group o f peopl e to achi eve a set purpo se (Hi cks and Gull et, 1975). Ho wever a soci al organiz ati on h as man y l eaders operat ing at th e sam e t ime. Th e y m a y b e rivals but t h e y s hare th e v arious l eadership fun ctions of plannin g, directing, revi ewi n g, and coordinating and so on. Ci rcums tance m a y caus e ch an ges in lead ership patt ern thus leadin g t o cl assi fi cation of leadership , b as ed on how it i s perform ed (Hicks an d Gull et, 19 75).

It was furt h er co mm ent ed b y Hi cks and Gull et (19 75 ) th at th ere m i ght be two t yp es o f l eaders:

I. Uno ffici al l eader: t his l ead er is often not im po rt ant in an organiz ati on, t hou gh the power as cribed to su ch lead er m a y ris e o r fall.

II. Offi ci al l ead er: the indivi du al h oldi ng this positi on i s

official l y gi ven ch arge over t he subordi nat es who should b e

directed and cont rol led. The subo rdin at es n eed to b e l ed t o

val ue th e rewards the y obt ain from t hei r work. This coul d b e cash (m on e y), friendship, st atus, ap prov al o r a com bin ation o f an y of th es e. In most cas es offi cial leaders coul d be cal led sup erviso rs o r m an agers and the y res erv e th e po wer to reward or pu nish. To a lower extent , th e su cces s of su ch l ead ership dep en ds on ex peri ence and t eachers vi rt uosit y, b ut o n thei r man agem ent st yl e at a greater ex tent.

Accordi n g t o Gol dm an (20 06), earl y wri ters were of t he opi nion t hat leaders o r m anagers were gi ven bi rth t o an d not m ad e, p erh aps t he y came from a s peci fi c fami l y or lineage. Thus, t here is onl y one specifi c form o f l ead ershi p st yl e. However, lat er stu di es fo cusin g on behavioural p oint of view of both leaders and subordinat es in act ual work sit uat ion s ho wed th at t here exist different fo rms o f l ead ers hip st yl es.

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Worker’s part ici pati on refers to the i ncl usion o f workers in decisi on - maki ng p ro cess in t he organiz atio n. This means th at th e emplo yees could h ave ad equat e in fo rm ation on whi ch to base t hei r deci sion (Dubrin, 20 07). So me tim es , when t he invol vement o f em plo yees in decisi on -makin g is much, it coul d b e b ecaus e th e y are co -o wners o f the busines s. At tim es, man agem ent m akes the m ajor decis ions and later invit es th e empl o yees fo r comm ents . The extent t o whi ch th e worker’s parti cipatio n is p ossi ble and desirable i s a ver y cont roversi al issue as it ent ails po liti cal ov erton es (Al lan, 2003).

A renounced t eacher of busi ness m anagem ent Do u gl as McGregor propound ed th e THEOR Y X and Y. The t heor y gav e two contras ting ass umpti ons on emplo yee b eh avi our. The s umm ar y of this theor y is oft en woven into man agem ent st yl es. The p ro founder was o f t he opini on th at Th eo r y Y was t he correct ass umpti on to make and th at organiz ati on sh oul d be o rgan ized on t hat basi s. He stres sed th at Theor y X gave emplo yees t he opportunit y to satisf y onl y basi c and securit y needs , whil e t h eo r y Y en abl es to satis f y Masl aw’s hi gher needs s uch as ego and s el f-actu aliz atio n. However, tod ay, n o m an ager is all of t heor y X or Y (Wikip edia, 2007 ).

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Effecti ve l ead ership : the role of reduction in lab or t urnover as wel l as gri evan ces are facto rs affecting l ead ershi p pro cess , th e pri nci pal aim o f this res earch in m an agem ent st yl e is to establis h its rel ation to effectiven ess . Effective leadership i s det ermined b y th e degree to whi ch it facili tat es adeq uate or hi gh producti vit y (Dub ri n, 200 7).

Boswell (1973 ) ex pl ain ed that s ome studies have shown that effectiv e

managers st ress th e need fo r s upport ive peo pl e. Oth er studies did not

produce cl earl y d efi ned resul ts on t his. Some h av e h owever showed

revers e rel ati ons hip to th e fo llowin g: siz e of the fi rm , the n at ure of th e production proces s, perso nal iti es of subordi nates, th e feelin gs of t he subordi nates and th e man ager’s power in t he organizat ion.

In cont ex t, there m ay b e n o m anagement st yl e th at could be effecti ve i n ever y sit uat ion . Th us, th ere has to be modifi catio ns. Agboli an d Chikwen du (200 6) furth er stres sed that different work situat ions need different st yl es if t he y are to perform optimall y. Oft en, man ager’s skills co uld b e s aid t o be diagnosti c. The manager as sess es al l relevant fact ors affectin g work. However, di agnosi s ma y not al wa ys b e foll owed b y prop er beh avio r becaus e managers could fi nd it di ffi cult to ch ange thei r st yl es (Bo swell , 19 73 ).

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Tas k st ru ct ure (ex tent to whi ch a work is defined or p ro gram med) could be sai d to b e an import ant factor det ermini ng t he managem ent st yl e.

Gerhard (2 002 ) ex plai ned that technolo gy o ft en influ ences task struct ures and t his i s best ill ust rated b y t wo extrem es:

I. Stru ctu res or hi ghl y programm ed work; an ass em bl age in a mass prod uction factor, is s tri ctl y d efines wi th respect t o meth od and t ime. Ever y job is s peci fi c as regards tim e and meth od. Ev er y job i s speci alized and should b e carried out with strict compl iance to achi eve th e d es ired result . Bas ed on this, t he su bordin at e is l eft t o t ak e lit tle or no indivi dual decisi on on t he jo b.

II. Unst ru ctu red or loosel y programm ed: this has a wid er persp ectiv e. It allows the subordin at e to make decisio ns regard in g m eth odol ogy and s equ en ce of performi n g hi s job.

Occasio nall y, th e jo b ma y be unspeci fi c hence t here coul d be man y m eans of d oing it. Thus , it can be s aid t hat t he subo rdi nate is at his own lib ert y. 

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It is unqu esti on abl e that th ere are unlimi ted researches on ho w peopl e acqui re l eaders hip abilit y. However, the Ari sto crats beli ev e t hat it is in born (in t he b loo d): just like monarchy. Most wo rk kno wn toda y att empt s to descri be lead ership act and t echniqu es , theo rize about wh y leaders em erge; un d erstand peopl e and t he d ynami cs of i nt erperson al rel ati ons .

Bot h n ear and far, t here exist hi ghl y tal ent ed p eo ple with l ead ers hip

abili t y. Variou s in fo rmal groups: p reparator y to uni versi t y, families to

soci al inst ituti ons , traditi on al s etti n gs to m odern s etti ng all h av e distinguis hed s et o f peo pl e who have demonst rated su perior leadership act. Ho wev er, teachi n g this process coul d be diffi cul t. Thi s could be due t o the fact t hat l ead ers hip is a d ynamic p erson al process (Gerhard, 2002).

Leadershi p could b e s aid to be d yn amic becaus e it v aries with circumst an ces and i ndivi du als invol ved. It is als o said to b e personal becaus e of the int er-p erson al influences all owed . Ho wever, this do es not necess ari l y m ean direct contact bet ween the l ead er an d th e subordi nates. Whil e some l eaders are known to have d irect cont acts with t hei r s ubo rdi n ates as evi denced in most sm all s cal e in d ustri es in Ni geri a, others are void o f this p roces s, pos sibl y b ecause of l arger number of s ubord in ates inv olved.

In business , ex cell ent lead ership abili t y appears rare. Thi s ma y b e partl y due to th e fact that great abilit y i s rare, emplo yees co uld work without zeal, l ack of alternati ves for the em plo yees , in abili t y to finance a ch an ge, and th e subordinat es are l az y o r are hi ndered b y a union (Bud hwar and Yaw, 2 001). In t his situ ati on, a m anager does n ot need to us e m uch l ead ers hip. Therefore he m a y d ep end on n egativ e motivatio n and aut hori t y to co mmand (Bud hwar and Yaw, 2 001).

Budhwar an d Yaw (2 001 ) fu rther st ress ed t hat thi s si tuati on i s unfort unat e and un frien dl y for both superio r and su bo rdi nat es. It l eads to defensiv e an d uns upporti ve beh avi or o n th e part of th e s ubordi nates.

Nat ure of environm ent in whi ch i nt erpers onal grou p rel atio ns hip occurs also affects qu alit y of l ead ers hip. The env iro nm ent is affected b y leader’s su cces s and failu res, whi ch in t urn is als o affected partl y b y other ex t ernal facto rs like governm ent polic y (Cl el and , 1998 ). Am on g the environm ent al facto r is the h ygi eni c factor. S upervisio n, working conditio n, wages, p olici es , int erpersonal rel ati on, poli ci es and j ob securit y are eas y t o com e b y during p rosperi t y. Durin g adv ersit y, th e h ygi eni c facto rs m ay gradu all y reduce in volum e, s cope and qual it y:

benefits and s al ari es are reduced . Howev er, human rel ations an d supervisio n m a y imp rov e, cert ai n efforts ma y yi el d b ett er results than the others and th ei r ma y b e s hift o f att enti on as th e case ma y be. At this point, it m a y be important if reward and s el f-d ev elop ment as pects of m otiv ati on s yst em beco me promi nent (Clel and, 1 998 ).

As explain ed b y Do nnell y (1999), adversit y could fast en zeal. Som e

indivi duals li ke to b e in effi ci ent at every p os sibl e o pportu ni t y. Using

the cont rast b et ween the zeal express ed b y th e Briti sh wo rk ers d urin g

the 1930 ’s and d uri n g th e S econd Wo rld War, or b etween the Ameri can

rai lroads wo rk ers b efo re and after t he chan ges made to the Union and

governm ent regul at ions. In both cas es, decis iv e lead ership was

dem onst rated. Ho wev er, the form er chan ged from des ultor y to

brilli ance, while con vers e could be s aid o f th e lat er.

Donnel l y (1999 ) further ex plai ned that i n the 19 30s t he Brit ish were paci fist -minded; th ey cho os e politi cal leadersh ip, whi ch promis ed securit y and sharin g o f wealth. However, du ring criti cal chal lenge, the y choos e p reserv ation of their freedom ab ov e an y ot her t hi n g. Thu s, a leader th at could satis f y th is n eed was ch os en. As regards t he Ameri can railro ad, the em plo yee m oral e was hi gh i n th e years o f construction. But with t he int roducti on of rail road un ions an d governm ent regul ati ons, t he em plo yees t ook s olace in oth ers asid e from thei r m anagers fo r fu lfillm ent of t hei r needs.

What ev er the enviro nment is , l eaders emerge to m ak e deci sions and make posi tiv e im p acts. St rat egic pl anning i s v er y import ant whil e maki ng d eci sion s. Accordi n g to Dubri n (2007 ), sel f-anal ysis of th e com pan y i s n eed ed t o ass ess past performan ce and present positio n of the organiz ati on. St rat egic planni n g is desi gn ed bas ed o n realis tic ass ess ment o f t he capacit y: st rengt h and weak ness o f t he organiz ation, whi ch are o f great m an agerial value (Dubrin, 20 07 ).

The st ud y of l ead ers hip has gone t hrou gh three m ajo r p hases . The fi rst phase fo cus ed on t rait t heor y, the second was on behavio ral th eo r y whil e t he thi rd was on situ ati onal t heor y. Ex pl ain ed belo w are thes e theori es .



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In the p ast , res earchers and t heorists i n leadershi p focus ed on th e feat ures of lead ers. This belief was probabl y du e to th e beli ef that leadership abil it y st emm ed effect ive leadershi p. In tu rn t his eman ated from p ersonalit y charact eristi cs, whi ch are either i nnate o r acquired.

This reasoni n g met h od lo st favor duri ng the fi rst p art of thi s cent ur y.

In fore fro nt of exp laini n g t his reasoning is ‘’great m an’’ t heor y and personal it y t heor y. Acco rdi n g t o Wiki pedia (2 007 ), Great man’s th eor y was explai ned t o b e a t heor y s upport ed by som e peopl e wh o were o f t h e opini on that histo r y shoul d be explai ned b y im pacts of great m en o r heroes. It was b eli eved th at great m en infl uence i ndiv idual s th rou gh thei r chari sma, vi rt ues , int ell ect or politi cal will. It was furth er explai ned that pro gress co uld be accounted fo r b y individ ual effort s and that accom plis h ment of thes e great men who h av e some s peci al personal t rai t m ak es them suit able as effectiv e l eaders.

Studi es in l ead ers hi p were dom in ated by researches int o traits studi es bet ween the end o f Worl d W ar I and aft er Wo rld War II. However, results produ ced b y variou s res earches i n this area were in consist ent.

As earl y as 194 8, S kogdi ll revi ewed about 12 4 studi es o f l ead ers hip

traits and found out t hat leaders are fluent , more p opul ar an d know ho w

to fix thei r job s. Ot h er charact eri sti cs revealed that the result s were n ot

cl ear and un certain. In li ght of thi s, s ix studi es revealed that youn ger

leaders suppo rt ed t rait th eor y. Skogdil l concl uded t hat it woul d b e necess ar y to view l ead ers hip as a relat ionsh ip b et ween p eopl e in a soci al s ettin g t h an as a set of charact eri stics poss ess ed b y t he leader bas ed on th e ex tent to whi ch t raits di ffer Sko gdill (1981 ). It was further st ress ed t hat the ex t ent of the patt ern of perso nal qualit ies o f the l eader sh ould hav e som e links to the characteris tics, goals and activiti es of t he fol lowers. Leadership was als o consi dered to have interact ions of vari ables and chan ges.

In 1949, Nixon an d Carter publis hed a s tud y, whi ch was infl uen tial in discrediti n g u niv ers al t rai t theor y. The stud y was on hi gh s chool students who were memb ers of a parti cular gro up. Th e y were assi gned three tas ks on gro unds o f int ell ectual , cl eri cal and th e last o ne;

mechani cal.

It was dis cov ered th at st ud ents who em erged as l ead ers on g round of intel lectu al test t en d to b e lead ers i n cl erical tests t oo . Ot her l ead ers em erged o n the mech ani cal t as ks (Cart er and Nixon, 1949).

These res ults were not i n agreem ent with th e ex p ectati ons of t rait theor y b ecaus e th e lead ers o ught to have t he sam e tasks assi gn ed.

In recent years, wit h th e n egl ect of t hose d is credit ing trait theori es , leadership th eo r y an d res earches have changed to other fram ework an d approach es. Tho u gh this ma y sound unfortun at e, howev er, it ma y b e said th at u niv ersal lead ership trait do es not exist; s ome evi dences suggest t hat di fferent traits m a y lead t o leadershi p effecti venes s i n different situ ati ons (Out calt HWDO 2000)

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Over tim e when trai t theo r y was dis credited, int erest was fo cus ed on explorin g the rel ati onshi p bet ween behavi or of lead er and wo rk ers’

group perfo rman ce as well as s atis facti on. Quit e a number of research works cont ribut ed to understandi ng the leader’s behav ior i n det ermini ng perfo rm an ce. Among the most import ant stu dies of the past were st udi es carri ed out at t he Ohio s tat e Univ ersit y and t he Universit y o f M ichi gan.

The research carri ed out in Ohi o state res earch fo cus ed mainl y on var ying i ssu es affect in g effectivenes s and impact of l eader beh avi or on the action s o f the s ubo rdin at es . However, th e Mi chi gan stu dies were concern ed with i n teractions among leader behavior, empl o yee satis faction , gro up p ro cess es and perform ance.

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In a pu bli cat ion b y M artin (1970), a l arge amo unt o f di fferent

inform atio n was res earch ed upon ab out managem ent and l eaders hip

st yl e. Thi s was do ne vi a int erviews , observations and questio ns.

Among th e m ai n o bj ectiv es of the res earch was t o t est t he hyp oth es is concernin g th e stru ctu ral det ermination of leader’s b ehavior. Th e writ er furth er butt ressed th at much of t he p ro gram were t arget ed at identif yi n g t he t ypes of behavior dis pla yed b y l ead ers an d the effect of leadership st yl e on grou p work perfo rmance as wel l as sati sfaction.

Accordi n g t o Van and Hogg (200 4), though t here are nine d imensions of evalu ati n g m anageri al behavi or, st atisticall y, t wo fact ors were obt ained t hrou gh whi ch leadershi p st yl es could be d es cri bed:

I. A vi ew, whi ch indi cates that lead ershi p b eh avi or, coul d b e defin ed as b ein g i ndi cative of fri end ship , resp ect, m utu al tru st and warmth . This st ress es m utual trust and res p ect b et ween subo rdi nates and managers

II. The s econd impo rt an t fact or was i niti ating stru ctu re. This was defin ed as tho se factors which as sist fli ght comm anders t o organiz e an d d efin e the ki nd of rel atio nship the y h ave wit h thei r sub ordin at es

Martin (1970) d es cri b ed t hese ot her facto rs as b ein g us eful i n researchin g int o m an agem ent st yl e:

I. Prod uct ion Emp h as is: though th is factor was o f l es s si gni fi cance t han the first t wo m enti on ed abo ve, beh avi ors in this cat ego r y i ncl uded attempts to mo ti vat e crewm em bers t o bett er p erform ance by focusing on undo n e j obs.

II. Sensi tivit y: thi s is als o call ed soci al awaren ess. Of l east impo rtance is s en si tivit y. In t his res earch , this categor y ent ails behavio rs showing that the com mander o f th e ai rcraft is sen sitiv e and aware of s oci al rel ati on s in ex ist en ce withi n and ou tsid e t he crews’ environm ent .

Initi al structu re and considerati on were assu med to be t wo indep end ent dim ensi ons of behavi or; t his refl ects that a leader wit h hi gh p erform ance in one m a y not be l ow i n the other. Bas ed on this, four l ead ershi p st yl es were of priorit y:

I. Lo w consi deratio n and lo w i niti ating s tru cture II. Hi gh consi d eration and hi gh initi ati n g struct ure III. Lo w consi deration and hi gh initi ati ng struct ure IV. Hi gh consi d eratio n and low i niti ating s tructu re

Bas ed o n the num ber of stu di es conducted at Ohio St at e Univ ersit y and

other places t o eval uat e th e effects of t his four st yl es on s ubordinat e

perform an ce an d s ati sfact ion , no i ndivi dual l ead ershi p st yl e emerge as

bei ng sui table fo r all. Th e hi gh consi deration an d hi gh initi atin g struct ure was evaluated to result t o hi gh satis faction and perfo rmance more o ft en than an y oth er on e.

Though, d ys funct io nal consequences accomp ani ed t hese positi ve out com es in oth er studi es. According to Ho gg (2004), hi s superior could negativ el y relat e co nsideration t o perform ance ratin g of th e leader, while i n ano ther; ini tial structure could decrease s u bordin at e satis faction and in crease mis underst andi ng. Bas ed o n th is, displ a y o f struct ured and hi ghl y co nsiderat e behavior co uld res ult in positiv e organiz ati on al p erforman ce, this m a y not hap pen i n all cas es . Therefore the effect o f in iti at in g st ru cture and consideration ma y be situation speci fi c.

As offered b y th e ex planat ions abov e, the studies from Ohio St at e Universit y sh ows that con siderati on and initi al st ruct ure are prim ar y behavio rs di spl a yed b y th os e in l eaders hip p ositio ns. Ho wever, s om e cri ticized th em, b ecaus e t he studies fai l to show cl earl y how th es e behavio rs rel at e to subo rdinat e performance and s ati sfactio n in situation s su ch as di fferent sit uations in whi ch t he lead er m ay fi nd him or her.

Ma ybe a bett er ap proach is to eval uate the l eaders hip st yl es initiall y identified agains t th e m ajo r cont ribut ion th e y m ake. This wi ll d efi ne and describ e t he behav ior and du ties of the l eaders . The stud y on prudenti al li fe i nsu rance com pan y will further butt ress t his.

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As describ ed b y M artin (1970), t his stud y was done on this ins uran ce com pan y i n t he US A in l at e 1940’s. The organiz ati on was divided in to two part s: hi gh -p ro d uci ng and low-producin g departm ent s bas ed on the records av ail abl e o n tim e t aken t o perform a speci fic job. Th e superviso rs in volv ed in all the judgm ent s were als o int erviewed based on thei r ap proach t o work and atti tudes t owards the o rganiz atio n, coll eagues and su bo rdin ates. The resul ts show th e su pervi sion could be divided int o t wo m ai n clas ses:

I. Emplo yee cent ered cl ass: this focus o n rel ati ons hip b etween the d ep artm ents in the organiz atio n and preferences , need s and capaciti es o f the su bordinat es . As to this regards , superviso rs are perceived to assis t subo rdin ates get prom ot ed , and a gen eral rat her than clos e supervisi on was p rovi ded.

II. Prod uct ion cent ered cl ass: the focus here is on th e ou tput o f the work d on e b y subordinat es. Un am ak a and Ewurum (199 5) emphas ized th at leadershi p program s s hould be in iti ated i n organiz ati ons and indust ri es. Th es e program s are ex pected to utilize m an ageri al grid, whi ch eval u ates the exten t to whi ch managers are production ori ent ed or people ori ent ed.

Man ageri al lead ershi p does not permit excessi ve favo ring of

eith er o f th e t wo extrem es. That is excessive att enti on of pro du ctio n could matt er wit hout givi ng du e att enti on t o peo pl e and vi ce vers a. However, a l eader who pa ys due att enti on t o both p eople and producti on i s a real motivato r.

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Li kert (1967) expl ai ned th at M ichi gan research ers conduct ed thei r fi rst research o n cleri cal wo rk ers in an ins urance o rganiz ation. Th e res ults obt ained from t he res earch did not show an y st atisti cal si g nifi can ce, however, s up erviso rs in hi ghl y productive s ect ions b eh av ed d ifferentl y as comp ared to t hos e in l es s producti ve sector. Katz an d Kahn (1952) further ex plain ed th at su pervi sors who spent mo re tim e pl annin g as com pared t o en gagi n g i n t ask operatio ns are as soci ated with hi gh er producin g gro ups . Thei r id ea was to gi ve broader go als to work an d allow th em more oppo rtuni t y in det ermini n g th e manner of accomplis hing th ei r t ask s.

The y were sai d t o b e m ore concerned wi th th ei r sub ordinat es and t heir supervisio n t end t o dev el op them for advancem ent and dem onst rated concerns fo r p ers on al gain s. Based on this, fou r m ajo r factors were identified b y Mi chi g an res earchers t o influence emplo yee performan ce and s atis fact ion (Kat z and Kahn, 1952).

I. Different iat ion o f supervis or’s rol e: m an agers or sup ervis ors of effectiv e group alwa ys perfo rm t he t op rol es whil e th e y leav e th e produ cti on or other work to thei r s ubordi nates .

II. Lo os en es s of s up ervision: s ubordi nates i n an effecti v e gro up are often gi v en ad equat e ro om t o d et erm ine to perfo rm t hei r jobs or t asks

III. Emplo yee o ri ent ation: Supervi sors of t hi s t ype o f group oft en hav e and sho w i nt erest i n t hei r subord inat es on in divi dual bas es .

IV. Group rel atio nshi p: No ex act rel ation s hip could be foun d bet ween mo rale and producti vit y. Probabl y work group satis faction coul d affect thi ngs lik e ab senteeism and t urnover.

Other im po rt ant res ults were m ade from the Mi chi gan stu dies . Th e most im po rt ant are t wo fact ors, whi ch help to int egrat e th e results from Michi gan st udi es wi th tho se of Ohi o St at e Universit y. Thes e facto rs showed th at whi le t he res ults from the studi es m a y hold in general , thei r l ev el o f appl ication t o i ndivi dual sit uati ons is qu estio nab le.

Katz and Kahn (195 2) fu rt her ex pl ained that th e Michi gan st udi es were

of the opin ion that it would be diffi cult, but a co ntrar y result was

obt ained from st udi es of em plo yees i n a man ufactu rin g compan y. The result of th e stu d y s hows t hat subordinat es can be l ow o r hi gh on on e or bot h d imensio ns and th at bot h dim ensions li ke con sid eratio n and initi atin g struct ure ma y b e independent . Though a few o f th ose li nked with th e Michi gan s tudi es were of the opinion that th e o rientati on of the em plo yee i s p referred to production orient atio n at all inst ances.

Accordi n g to Katz and Kahn (1952), t he most effecti ve subordin ates in the m anufactu rin g comp an y were found to be hi gh o n bot h dimen sion s, whi ch hap pen to be bot h product ion and emp lo yee orien ted. On a general view, it s eems that effective l eaders dem onst rat e b oth production and em pl o yee orientations in different d egrees, d epend in g on ci rcumst ance o r situ ation . Thi s con clusio n is co ngru ent with the results from Ohio St at e st udi es as regards consi deratio n and initi atin g struct ure.

In rel ati on to l oos enes s of supervisi on factor, s imil ar res ults were obt ained. Beh avi ors, which were indicat ive of loo se s upervi sion such as occasional ch eck up on subordinat es and p rovi din g opport uniti es to change th e mann er the y p erform thei r duti es, were o f import ance. It was discov ered in some stu di es that loose su perv isio n was linked to hi gh pro du ctivit y an d that close s upervi sion was ass oci at ed with lo w productivi t y. Ho wever, anot her st udy co ndu ct ed i n a pl asti c manufactu ring com p an y s howed that clo se sup ervi sion mi ght result in quit e a n umb er o f posit iv e organiz ati onal p erfo rm an ces (Katz and Kahn, 1952 ). Th ei r s ubo rdinat es s aw m an agers who to ok thi s app roach as bei n g go od t eam l ead ers and mem bers .

Consid erin g fi ndin gs such as t hos e explained, it woul d ap pear that the effects o f bot h clos e and l oos e s upervisi on are det ermin ed b y situ ations at hand.

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Li kert p ropoun ded t his theo r y. Accordi ng to Lik ert (196 7) b asi c st yl es used in cat egorizin g tas k ori ent ati on and emplo yee orient at ion were incorporat ed to d ev elop Likert’s model of management effectivenes s.

Bas ed on this mo del, th ere are four possi ble l ead ers hip s yst ems . Nam el y:

I. Ex ploit ativ e an d aut hori tat iv e II. Benevo lent an d authorit ati ve III. Consul tat iv e

IV. Part ici pativ e

With resp ect t o the ex pl oit ative an d authoritativ e s ys tem, the subordi nates carr y o ut th e tasks whil e m anager makes all wo rk rel at ed decisi on. M anagers ten d to s et ri gid st and ard and m et hods for th e subordi nates to wo rk with. Dep artu re from this st an dards and methods b y sub ordin at es att ract th reats and puni shments from the s upervi so r.

The m an agers ent ru st little confi den ce in thei r su bordinat es and in ret urn, t h e su bo rdi n at es fear thei r s uperio rs an d feel t hat the y are inferio r o r different from t hem .

Benevolent an d aut hori tat ive m anagem ent st yl e operates with the manager in co nt rol and iss ues orders, whil e s ubo rdi nates are giv en some l ev el of fl ex ibilit y in carr yi ng out thei r work, however, within speci fi c limi ts an d p ro cedu re.

The t hird s yst em is the con sult ative st yl e. The m an ager set goals and targets aft er d ue cons ultation wit h the su bo rdin at es. Thou gh subordi nates can t ake their own decis i ons on how to go about th eir work, however, hi gh er-l ev el m anagers handle m aj or deci sio ns. Threat and pu nish ment were repl aced b y r ewards as an i nst rum ent o f motivatin g s ubo rdi n at es. In thi s st yl e, s ubordin at es are free to dis cuss work rel ated issues with th ei r managers. In turn th e managers beli ev e that to a large ex tent th ei r s ubordinates can b e t rusted t o carr y out work with minim al s upervi sion and correction.

The forth st yl e i s t he parti ci pati ve st yl e. Thi s is th e l ast and mos t support ed m an agem ent st yl e b y Likert. Goals and targets are set, whil e the group m ak es work rel at ed decisi ons. Thi s is don e aft er incorporati n g th e i deas and suggesti o ns of all grou p members.

Therefore s et go als and d eci sions m a y not be fav ored on perso nal or indivi dual groun ds. Work ers are motivat ed wit h econom ic rewards and a sens e of s el f-wo rth and import ance. This st yl e holds fri end l y interact ion b etween man agers and s ubordinat es .

Conclusi vel y, Li kert’s stu di es shows t hat l ead ers i n organizatio nal departm ents used th e first and s econd st yles of managem ent menti on ed with l ow produ cti vit y. Hi gh producin g departments i n an o rganiz atio n are those m an aged thro u gh consult ati ve and part ici pativ e l eaders hip st yl e.

Bas ed o n all th es e, Li k ert concluded t hat s yst em IV o f m an agem ent i s the best fo rm o f m anagem ent in almost all work sit uati ons . However, other theo rists , who are of the opini on th at no m an agem ent st yl e fit all situation s, hav e o ppo sed this ass ertion.



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Quit e a num ber of l ead ers hip theori es were d ev elop ed o ver t ime, mos t

of them were in t he lat e 195 0’s and 1960’s. These t heori es emphasized

the need for t raits and b ehavi ors of leaders to v ar y with sit uati ons i f the y are t o b e effective at work (Pat chi an, 19 62 ). P at chi an listed the foll owi n g fact ors to affect l ead ers hip effectiv en ess:

I. Person alit y of t he l eader

II. Perfo rm an ce req uirement s of the t as ks for both l eader and foll ower

III. Attitudes, need s and expect ations of his followers

IV. Organizati onal an d p h ysi cal environm ent of the l ead er and the gro up.

Though a numb er of situati on al theori es are kn own onl y a few will b e treat ed here.

 

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Accordi n g to Li k ert (1 967), Fi elder comm en ced studi es on the rel ati ons hip amon g s tru ctu res of leader’s need, producti vit y and mo ral e as well as his int eracti ons with the s ubo rdin at es . Thou gh no cl ear patt ern was dis cov ered i n th es e st udi es , Fi eld er went ahead t o pres en t his “conti ngen c y mo de of effecti ve l eadershi p”.

Li kert (19 67 ) fu rth er expl ained th at work group was cl as si fied into three cat egori es in t he ori ginal m odel prop os ed b y Fi edl er. The fi rst group is th e int eract in g group. The reflection on this group s hows t hat the abilit y o f an i n dividual to carr y out his j ob could d ep end upon another t h at h as co mplet ed his part of the t ot al t ask . An ex ample i s members of a football team. The s econd gro up is t he coachin g group . This grou p als o wo rks to get her on th e same t ask; howev er, group perform an ce is a res ult of cumulat ive perform an ce o f all m embers in the group. Thirdl y i s the counteract ing gro up. This grou p consist s of members who work t o achi ev e onl y in dividu al go als at th e det rim ent of others . For, ex ampl e a n egot iat ion between a Union m anagement and empl o yer for mo re wages.

Initi all y, Fi eld er s u ggest ed his t heory was applicable t o onl y to interact in g gro up. However, add itional evid en ce prom pted him t o extend th e m od el to co aching groups, while co unt eractin g groups were left out (Fill e y an d Hous e, 1 971)

Need st ru ctu re o f l eader is the next maj or el em ent i n Fi eld er’s ori gin al

theor y. This was m easu red b y us e of his LP C questionnaire. This

questionnaire as sess ed t he l evel i n wh ich a leader h olds his l east

preferred co-work ers (LPC ). The questio ns (16 -2 0) in t he

questionnaire d epen din g on the version used des cri b e th e person wh om