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EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP AND ITS LINEAR DEPENDENCE ON JOB SATISFACTION

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   Background to  the Study

 The study of leadership has been an important and central part of the literature on management and organization behaviour for several decades. Indeed, “no other role in organizations has received more interest than that of the leader” (Schwandt & Marquardt, 2000,).  Organizations all over the world are deeply concerned with understanding, searching and developing leadership. Regardless of the type of organization, leadership is discerned to play a vital role in establishing high performing teams. Leaders are facing greater challenges than ever before due to the increased environmental complexity and the changing nature of the organization. If we trace back into history, it becomes evident that leaders should have the ability to draw out changes in relation with environmental demands. The current era not only demands having a competitive edge and sustained profitability but also the maintenance of ethical standards, complying with civic commitments and establishing a safe and equitable work environment.

Leadership is one of the critical elements in enhancing organizational performance. Being responsible for the development and execution of strategic organizational decisions, leaders have to acquire, develop and deploy organizational resources optimally in order to bring out the best products and services in the best interest of stakeholders. In short, effective leadership is the main cause of competitive advantage for any kind of organization (Zhu et al., 2005; Avolio, 1999; Lado et al., 1992; Rowe, 2001). Leaders are not only responsible for exhibiting ethical behaviour rather they are responsible for generating ethical climate in the organization. Mulki et al. (2006) indicate that ethical climate is a significant predictor of trust in supervisor, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment and trust in supervisor is an antecedent of job satisfaction and turnover intentions

According to Lao Tzu (Chinese Philosopher) "A leader is best when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, they will say: we did it ourselves. Good leaders are made not born. If one has the desire and will power, one can become an effective leader .A leader can be defined as the one who prompts life in the organization and the one who insures the stability and the persistence of the organization in the goals it was established for; in short, a leader who is capable is one who is able to move the organization to sthe direction he envisions and sets. By having certain leadership competencies and skills, a leader should be able to adapt his/her leadership styles and behaviours to achieve organizational goals and objectives. At the individual level, leaders who are able to influence, motivate and direct employees will often be rewarded by loyalty and performance of their employees (Mosadegh & Yarmohammadian 2006).

Good and effective leaders matter to the overall performance and well-being of the organization and its members; they also matter to other stakeholders of the organization, such as the customers and the society at large. In other words, effective leadership is a corner management, psychology, and sociology, to name a few. Many of these studies seem to centre on a specific theme: what makes an effective leader. To address this important question, a number of leadership theories and models have been developed to enhance our understanding of this seemingly simple yet very complex topic especially in the modern world and organizations. But in general many scholars, despite the variety of models and theories put forth, seem to agree that an effective leader is one who is able to achieve organizational performance (Mastrangelo, Eddy, & Lorenzet 2004), and in this context performance of the organization can be measured in a myriad of ways. One of the most consistent ways to measure whether the organization is performing and hence effective is job satisfaction of employees (Robbins, 2009,)

Mosadeghrad (2003) defines employees’ job satisfaction as their attitudes towards the job and the organization they perform these jobs in. In this context, job satisfaction can be considered as a multifaceted term including employees’ perceptions and feelings in relation to rewards, the nature and conditions of job, motivation, the relationship with co-workers, promotion, and supervision. When employees are said to be satisfied with their job that the organization is said to be effective and under this situation, the success and effectiveness of the organization and hence its members is attributed partly to the role played by the leader. Not only does job satisfaction need to matter, Mosadeghrad also argues that employees’ commitment and their productivity are mainly affected by managers’ leadership styles which are seen as a combination of managerial attitudes, behaviours, and competencies. Indeed, Kaltreider (1997) assert that subordinates are highly affected by their leaders’ abilities and skills and such an influence increases or decreases the extent to which leaders lead with honesty, encourage efficiency, and channels of communication with subordinates.

Within the perspective of human resource management, it has often been theorised that employees’ knowledge, abilities and skills will enable them to be good performers when they are hired (Peters, 2005). Indeed, according Pfeffer and Salanciz (1975), organizations should consider a skilled and satisfied workforce as an essential priority to achieve the desirable goals and to survive in highly competitive environment. This is because the competencies and skills they possess will enable them to exhibit work behaviours appropriate and relevant to the performance of the job. It is further theorized that employees are likely to more productive if their performance is rewarded assuming that the reward received has value to them, as argued by the expectancy theory (Victor Vroom, 1964).

Whilst such theory of work performance has been empirically validated by research (e.g.Bagozzi et al., 2003; D’Andrade, 1992; George & Brief, 1996; Hyland, 1988;Kanfer, 1990, 1992; Locke, 1991; Locke & Henne, 1986), it is interesting to see whether such theory can be extended to explain leadership effectiveness. To what extent the skills and competencies possessed by a leader will enable him/her to exhibit leadership behaviours, and to what extent such behaviours will make employees satisfied with their job? Over the last two decades, organizations have faced so many challenges that influence them to adopt new strategies and reshape their managerial styles not only to deal with challenges in terms of logistics, technology, and managing supply chain, but also in terms of managing the human assets. This is important since it has been argued that there is a significant and positive relationship between leadership styles and job performance, stress, and employeejobsatisfaction(Chiok Foong Loke, 2001; Dunham Taylor,2000,Goleman,2000;Mosadeghrad,2003;Morrison et al., 1997; Seo, Ko, & Price 2004; Stordeur et al.,2000; Vance & Larson, 2002).Goleman (2000) further stresses that an effective leader should not only depend on a single leadership style but on the contrary he should be able to use a number of different styles (whether transformational, transactional, task-oriented, personnel-oriented, laissez fair, democratic, autocratic, or other styles) that suit the environment or situation he works in and people he deals with. Indeed, Skansi (2000), in identifying the determinants of job satisfaction, considers leadership to play a central role in convincing and influencing people to help organizations to achieve their objectives.

1.2   Statement of the Problem

Against the foregoing, the study investigates the effective leadership and its linear dependence on job satisfaction in work organization in oyo state, Nigeria.

1.3   Objectives of the study

Based on the above arguments on the need to study leadership, this study intends to achieve the specific research objectives.

· To find out the effect of leadership style/behaviour applied by managers in different organization {Nigerian brewery and Power Holding Company of Nigeria {P.H.C.N} on employees job satisfaction.

·To explore the relationship between supervisors communication competence and their task and relational leadership styles.

· To examine the influence of supervisors communication competence and leadership styles on employee job satisfaction

· To understand the ways/strategies of leaders communication as a means to improve employees commitment.

1.4   Research Questions

The following research questions were generated for the study;

· Is there any difference in the  degree of leadership effectiveness between Nigerian breweries and Power Holding Company Of Nigeria[P.H.C.N]

· Does leadership style influence job satisfaction both in Nigerian Breweries and Power Holding Company of Nigeria (P.H.C.N).

· Is  there any significant relationship between leadership style and job satisfaction of employees in Nigerian  Breweries   

· Is there any significant relationship between leadership style and employees’satisfaction in Power Holding Company of Nigeria(P.H.C.N)

1.5   Significance of the Study

Organizations nowadays are struggling and trying their besttofind new strategies and set plans to develop their human assets (including managers and employees) in order to adapt themselves with the new challenges they face in the highly competitive market. Depending on such a notion, it is with a high necessity for organisations to update their strategies and to get a full understanding of what skills, abilities, and proper style should a leader show in managing and satisfying employees. A new model or framework for leadership styles, leaders’ competencies, and employees’ job satisfaction. This study will allow theorists as well as practitioners, who are concerned with organisational development, leadership development, and human resources development, to design a new model or framework for new model or framework for leadership styles, leaders’ competencies, and employees’ job satisfaction.

1.6   OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

The following terms were defined in order to avoid ambiguity:

Job Satisfaction: This is an emotional response that occurs as a result of the interaction between the worker’s values concerning his/her job and the profits he/she gained from his/her job.it is also the state of pleasure the employee gains from his job and his job experience.

Leadership: Leadership is defined as “a process by which an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve common).Leadership has been defined in a number of ways, such as the ability to guide followers toward shared goals.

Emotional intelligence:

Leadership effectiveness

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