TOPIC: Critically evaluate the application of leadership theories to a

leader in an organisational context management theories to a

contemporary organisation.

Lanre Jolaoso
74111287
Leadership and Management Theories - BS4S16
Caroline Ntara
17th October 2019.
Introduction

This paper takes a critical look at the Leadership and management

styles with organizational reference on 9mobile Nigeria. It begins with an
introduction of the company and tries to navigate through some of
challenges the company has faced to transition from Etisalat Nigeria to
9mobile Nigeria. The essay then proceed to critically evaluate leadership
theories from the Leader-centric traits theory to behavioral theories of
leadership and the contemporary approach.

Our discourse will evaluate the application of leadership theories using

former MD to 9mobile Boye Olusanya, who was pivotal in transforming
the company and moving it from the brink of collapse to growth. We will
try to identify principles from varying leadership theories which he
exhibits and how such theories could have been responsible for his
successes and survival of the organization.

We will delve into management theories from the early postulations of

the Taylor’s scientific method and the assembly line system to more
contemporary approach of Mintzberg. We will examine the theories and
show how those management approaches have influenced and continue
to influence organizations such as 9mobile.

There’ll be a focus on Henri Fayet’s 14 principles of Management and

how they relate to 9mobile, as well showing how traces of Fayet’s
specialization and planning are largely reflected in 9mobile’s current
organogram. We also took a journey on Max Weber’s bureaucracy and
how organization now focus more on processes than individuality.
The Organization – 9mobile

9mobile, formerly known as Etisalat Nigeria is one of the four main

telecommunications company in Nigeria. It is rivalled by South African
owned MTN, Indian’s Bharti Airtel and locally owned Globacom Nigeria
PLC. The company started operations in 2008 using the brand name
Etisalat Nigeria. Its unique brand and Quality of service quickly pushed
its subscriber base up to about 22million users within a short period of
operation. It has since gone through different phases and challenges to
evolve into what is now operating as 9mobile Nigeria.

UAE telecom operator Etisalat has entered Nigeria through a strategic

partnership with Mubadala Development Company, an investment
vehicle owned by the Government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Etisalat
will be the operating partner for the Nigerian telecommunications
company established by Mubadala to own and operate its
telecommunications business in Nigeria. Etisalat will hold 40 per cent
interest in the company, Mubadala will have 30 per cent with the
remaining shares held by Nigerian investors. The commercial launch in
Nigeria is scheduled for March 2008. (Africa Business Review, 2007)

The Problem

Etisalat Nigeria in a bid to expand its network and further compete with
rivals in the industry had taken a loan of 1.2 billion US dollars from a
consortium of Nigerian banks in 2013. The Loans were taken in USD
because the cost of dollar currency debt at time was at about 7% as
against the Naira debt that was about 20%. (Adegbiyi, 2018) Having
paid about 42% percent of the loan value, the oil price crash and the
devaluation of the Naira that followed almost doubled the value of the
Naira to the dollar (Naira rate was 161 N/1 USD in 2013).

The 2015/2016 global crash in the price of crude oil caused a severe
shock to the Nigerian economy, reliant as it is on this commodity for
most of its foreign exchange earnings. The value of the Nigerian Naira is
intricately linked to crude oil revenues, and the relationship is
responsible for Nigeria’s strength and stability in high oil price markets
 and its weakness and turbulence when the price of crude oil
declines. (Adegbiyi, 2018)

The devaluation now means Loan repayments are now more expensive
than budgeted. Loans that were taken when the Naira was below 200N
to the dollar are now to be repaid when the Naira to dollar conversion
ratio is over 320N.The company was unable to meet up with its
obligation and was unable to pay its numerous vendors and partners.
The loan was fully restructured in 2015 but EMTS defaulted on a
payment due in February 2017. When the Banks threatened to take over
the company, pushed for a debt to equity solution which the company
had no choice but to accept. Etisalat announced that the Banks had
exercised enforcement rights, requesting the transfer of 100% of the
EMTS shares to the appointed trustee of the Banks. (Adegbiyi, 2018)

The Solution

On the 4th of July 2017, Etisalat announced the dissolution of the former
board led by Hakeem Osagie who had served as the Chairman and
Matthew Wilshere who served as the CEO. They announced the
appointment of a new board led by Dr. Joseph Nnanna as Chairman,
Boye Olusanya as Chief Executive Officer and Funke Ighodaro as Chief
Financial Officer. These appointments were after a series of negotiations
and agreement by all stakeholders which included the associations of
Lenders, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the telecoms regulator
Nigerian Communications Commissions (NCC). (Anon 2017Vanguard)

The new board had the task of reviving the fortunes of the company,
stopping the leakages and waste and preparing the company for future
investment and/or sale. They had an initial mandate of 1 year for the
quick turnaround of the company but were only able to achieve this 17
months later. These 17months was a key period for 9mobile because the
survival or collapse of the company at the time seems a real prospect.

That is why the Leader we are focusing on in this paper is Boye

Olusanya; Boye had the job of stopping the sinking ship from drowning,
making it attractive for commercial sailing and preparing it for potential
 investors. This was no enviable task as the collapse of the
company at the time in history would have rendered
thousands of people jobless as well as worsen the economic situation of
the country that had just sunk into recession for the 1 st time since 1987.
(BBC, 2016)

The Leader

The company at the point of resumption released the profile of the new
board members and our focus is on Boye who is profiled here as found
on Vanguard newspaper Nigeria.

Mr. Boye Olusanya – Managing Director/CEO Boye Olusanya, the new

CEO of Etisalat Nigeria is bringing on board an impeccable wealth of
experience from the Nigerian telecoms sector. At ECONET Wireless, he
was Deputy Chief Executive Officer and subsequently the Acting Chief
Executive Officer where he successfully managed the affairs of the
Company after the disengagement of the former operators. At CELTEL
NIGERIA LIMITED, Boye assumed the role of Deputy Chief Executive
Officer and led the business strategy initiative for data services as well
as key strategic operational changes in the business. Boye has handled
high level responsibilities at Dangote Industries Limited where he served
as Chief Business Transformation Officer responsible for management
of all enterprise-wide projects in the Group. He was also MD at Dancom
Technologies Limited with responsibility for managing all the telecom
assets and the IT Infrastructure. He oversaw the sale of the 3G
subsidiary as well as managed the rollout of the fibre backbone network
covering 4400km across the country. (Vanguard Newspaper, 2017)
Leadership Theories

To evaluate the application of leadership theories, it would be important

to identify the leadership discourse from classical to contemporary
theories that have been postulated over time. The Oldest of the
Leadership theories is the Great Man Leadership theory. The Great
Man Theory arose from the believe that Leaders are born and not made;
that leadership qualities are innate therefore those born without the
qualities are unable to aspire for leadership roles.

That is the foundation upon which the Great Man Theory was
established in the 19th century by proponents such as historian Thomas
Carlyle, who put forth the idea that the world’s history is nothing more
than a collection of biographies belonging to great men. (Villanova
University, 2019)

One of the main critics of the Great Man theory was Herbert Spencer,
Herbert was a philosopher, political theorist and sociologists and he
believed that the Great Man Theory was too primitive, childish and
unscientific. He believed Leaders are made environmentally and before
a great man can make society, society must have first made him and
turn him into who he is. Another criticism of the Great Man Theory is that
most of the traits are masculine and this presupposes that there are not
female born leaders. Putting this in Today’s context, the likes of Queen
Elizabeth, Margaret Thatcher, Hillary Clinton, Sirleaf Johnson, Oprah
Winfreh are not qualified to be leaders. (Juneja, 2015)

Another theory is the Traits Leadership theory whose cardinal premise

is that there are some innate qualities that leaders are born with as
opposed to being learnt or acquired from experience. The Traits theory
follows directly from the Great Man Theory with its assertion that
Leaders are born and not made. The theory sort to identify different
personality traits that are linked with Leadership and it is one the oldest
inquiry into the nature of this subject. The Trait theory has gone through
historical shifts and different theorists such as Landmark (1948) and
Mann (1959) have tried to study and analyze different traits which they
believe are inherent, while Landmark studied, analyzed and synthesize
 124 traits studies, Mann reviewed 1400 finding on
personality of leadership in different groups. (Northhouse,
2012)

The most common characteristics in all the theories and those traits that
have withstood some logical checks are Intelligence, Self-confidence,
Determination, Integrity and Sociability. (Northouse 2013, p. 23)

There are obvious flaws in the trait-based theory. While proponents

suggest that certain traits are characteristic of strong leaders, those who
possess the traits don't always become leaders. (Cherry, 2017)

The trait leadership approach is very problematic and inconclusive as it

is impossible to prove or identify traits which distinguishes between
Leaders and non-Leaders. (Cole and Kelly, 2016). (Leadership material)
There is also a lack of uniformity amongst researchers on this topic as
they have looked for every possible character to differentiate between
the leaders and followers and have failed to find a consensus because
some of the Leadership traits have been identified in followers that do
not become Leaders.

Researchers have studied leadership skills and abilities for a number of

years. However, there are two influential models. The first one is a
model proposed by Robert Katz in 1955. The second approach is
proposed by Michael Mumford and colleagues in the year 2000. These
models can be seen as complimentary to each other, since they offer
different views on leadership from the skills point of view.

There is also the Skill Leadership theory which focuses on knowledge

and expertise; here leaders are mostly the most competent. Katzz
(1955). This position can be likened to that of the Greek Philosophers
who posited that Leadership of the state should only be granted to the
most skilled and most knowledgeable in the society, this they rereferred
to as the Philosopher king.

The city of the kallipolis that Socrates discusses is an ideal city and
everything must work according to his plan. Socrates feels that the best
way to establish a just city would be to create a city that has three
classes of people. The three classes are the guardians (rulers),
guardians (auxiliaries), and producers (everybody else). Socrates feels
that in order for this city to work the best people, or golden people,
would be on top as rulers. Then the auxiliary guardians/soldiers, or silver
 people, would be educated to believe that this is this best
city so they will not revolt against the city.
( https://www.kibin.com/essay-examples/the-ideal-state-according-to-
socrates-kfuxRUgA)

According to Katzz, an individual can through learning and skills

acquisition ascend to position of leadership where he can become a
great Leader. He identified 3 key abilities a leader should have as
Technical Skills, Human Skills and Conceptual Skills. According to Plato,
a philosopher king is a ruler who possesses both a love of wisdom, as
well as intelligence, reliability, and a willingness to live a simple life.
(Plato, Sterling et al, 1996).

Balance is a key element in skilled -

The point of conflict of the Philosopher King theory with the Skilled
Leadership theory is that those in the bottom pyramid are unable to
acquire such skills as to make them a part of either the middle class or
the top echelon of society. They can at best be the best of their class
and are forbidden certain knowledge and literatures because the
information can open their minds to start revolt.

Overall, the skills approach seems to extend the boundaries of

leadership. By including, for instance, motivation, critical thinking,
personality and conflict resolution, the skills approach addresses more
than leadership (Northouse, 2013). However, there is lack of explanation
of
how variations in social judgment skills and problem-solving skills affect
performance. Another
criticism is that this approach claims not to be a trait model when, in fact,
a major component
in the model includes individual attributes, which are trait-like
(Northouse, 2007, p. 55).

 Breadth of the skills approach appears to extend beyond the

boundaries of leadership, making it more general/less precise
 Weak in predictive value; does not explain how skills lead to
effective leadership performance
 Skills model includes individual attributes that are trait-like
(Northouse, 2007, p. 55).
While most of the previous Leadership theories have focused on
characteristics of the Leadership, the style leadership theory focuses on
what leaders do and how they do it.
Style Leadership theory focuses on the behaviour as researchers and
scholars gradually moved away from Traits theory in the late 1940s.
Behaviour is a more consistent factor in the determination of leaders.
Behaviours can be objectively determined from observation and
experience.

There are two important behavioural studies that developed from Ohio
University in the late 1940s, these theories came along as a result of the
lack of conclusiveness of the traits theory and they were able to come to
their summations using the Leaders Behavior Description Questionnaire.
After compiling and analyzing the results, the study led to the conclusion
that there were two groups of behaviors that were strongly correlated.
These were defined as Consideration (People Oriented behavioral
Leaders) and Initiating Structure (Task Oriented Leaders). (Leadership-
central.com, n.d.)

The task-oriented leaders focus more on the policies and behavior of

the organization, they are more concerned with the hierarchy,
organisational structures. Task-oriented leaders are still concerned with
their staff motivation; however, it's not their main concern. They will favor
behaviors that are in line with Initiating, Organizing, Clarifying and
Information Gathering as against the people-oriented leaders whose
behaviours are more concerned with the promotion of the better-ness of
the people. They are more concerned about motivating their staffs and
subordinates, People oriented leaders still focus on the task and the
results; they just achieve them through different means. Leaders with a
people focus will have behaviors that are in line with: Encouraging,
Observing, Listening, Coaching and Mentoring.

Lewin (1939) also highlighted 3 behavioral leadership style; he listed

autocratic, laisse faire and the democratic leaders. Autocratic leaders
are those that make decisions at will without consulting anyone. They
are Leaders that take decision without consideration of the mood and
feelings of the employees. Laisse Faire Leaders are leaders with an I
 don’t care attitude – they most abdicate their responsibility
to the subordinates and do not interfere in the running of the
day to day. A democratic leader on the other hand is the leader that
carries everyone along, he consults relevant departments before
decisions are made and basically opens up the process of decision
making thereby making the employee feel carried along.

While Lewin’s theory thrived, another study by Tannerbaum and Schmidt

(1958) investigated the style approach using the Leadership
Continuum Theory. It basically posits that Leadership is not an extreme
as Lewin had pointed out with Autocracy and Democracy – but a
midpoint between those extremes in real life practical situations.

Specific leadership styles specified within the continuum include telling,

selling, consulting, and joining leadership styles. They support that
leadership practices exercised by the majority of organisational
managers lies somewhere in the middle and individuals often adopt
characteristics and styles according to the situation/ context. (overview 6
material)

Another approach talked about leadership as an ephemeral activity, it

means that Leadership style arose out the prevailing situation that
currently exist within the organisation. Here leadership is situational.
Situational Leadership proposes that there is no singular approach to
leadership and Leaders adapt based on the situation at hand.
Adaptability is a key element of this theory and one that every Leader
must possess. There are situations which will make Leaders act
autocratic, other situations requires a benevolent and caring leader. The
Situational Leadership approach was developed by Hersey and
Blanchard in 1969. Their theory is based on the amount of direction (task
behaviour) and socio-emotional support (relationship behaviour) a leader
must provide given the situation and the "level of maturity" of the
followers. (overview 6 material)

There is also the contingency approach which was championed by

Austrian Psychologist
Fred Edward Fiedler (1967). The contingency approach is very similar
to the situational approach; its main focus however is on the
identification of situational variables that forecast the best leadership
style that suits a corresponding situation and society at a particular time.
The effectiveness of a given pattern of leader behaviour is contingent
upon the demands imposed by the situation. The theory is hinged on the
 factor of the situation which is characterised by 3 factors
which are the leader member relations which looks into the
feeling of love, trust and loyalty members have for their leader. Task
structure is another factor, and this relates to task and processes for its
accomplishment. Lastly, he mentioned the position power factor which
relates to the amount of authority and power the position of leadership
holds.

Although a number of contingency theories have emerged ever since

(e.g. Fiedler, 1967; Fielder and Chemers, 1974;Hersey and Blanchard,
1969), no single theory has been postulated. This is because, although
having several strengths, contingency theory, generally falls short in
trying to explain why leaders with certain leadership styles are effective
in some situations but not others.
The least preferred co-worker (LPC) scale validity has also been
criticised as it does not correlate well with other standard 22 leadership
measures. Contingency theory also fails to adequately explain what
should be done about a leader/situation mismatch in the workplace
(Northouse, 2007, p.118-120).

A critical evaluation of Leadership theories would not be complete

without looking at more contemporary concept namely Transactional and
transformation Leadership theories. Transactional Leaders as the
name implies are Quid Pro Quo leaders, they are leaders that thrive on
the exchange of rewards for performance. With transactional leadership,
Leaders exchange valuables things such as salary increments,
promotions and other incentives with their subordinates for good service
delivery and meeting of set target.

Transactional leadership focuses on results, conforms to the existing

structure of an organization and measures success according to that
organization’s system of rewards and penalties. Transactional leaders
have formal authority and positions of responsibility in an organization.
This type of leader is responsible for maintaining routine by managing
individual performance and facilitating group performance.
(https://online.stu.edu/articles/education/what-is-transactional-
leadership.aspx)

Transactional leadership is too straight forward and short cited according

to numerous scholars. Leaders here are on the lookout for fast and
immediate result instead of long term value. Transactional leadership
practices lead followers to short term relationships of exchange with the
 leader (Burns, 1978) Other scholars opined that
Transactional leadership is a rigid approach because it
attempts to manage all situation using the same throwing dog to the
bone approach.

Transformational Leadership theory is the most studied theory in

Leadership. It basically refers to the leadership style in which leaders
encourage, inspire and motivate followers to be the best they can be by
innovating and creating changes that will help them grow and shape the
future success of the organization. Burns (1978: 141) defined a
transformational leader as “one who raises the followers’ level of
consciousness about the importance and value of desired outcomes and
the methods of reaching those outcomes”.

The concept of transformational leadership started with James V.

Downton in 1973 and was expanded by James Burns in 1978. In 1985,
researcher Bernard M. Bass further expanded the concept to include
ways for measuring the success of transformational leadership. This
model encourages leaders to demonstrate authentic, strong leadership
with the idea that employees will be inspired to follow suit.
(https://www.cio.com/article/3257184/what-is-transformational-
leadership-a-model-for-motivating-innovation.html)

There are four elements of transformational leadership and they are

Individualized Consideration, Intellectual Stimulation, Inspirational
Motivation, and Idealized Influence Charisma. Idealized Influence
Charisma refers to leaders with strong influence and charisma, followers
adore and respect them and see them as role models. They are the
epitome of perfection and have near god status amongst followers.

Inspirational motivation refers to the ability to the leader to influence and

motivate the followers. Most leaders here are good orators and are able
to deliver speeches that moves people into action. They are able to
appeal to the follower’s senses and inner sub conscious and they are
able to inspire them into actions that’ll benefit them.

Individual consideration is a one customer, one employee leadership;

here the leader is able to relate and mentor followers on an individual
 level. This leader listens to the concerns and needs of each
follower and provides support and is empathic of each
person’ situation and background. When a leader shows individualized
consideration, they are also aware of the unique talents that each
follower brings to the workplace and support them in developing and
demonstrating these key skills and behaviors.

Intellectual Stimulation is the extent to which transformational leaders

challenge assumptions, take risks and solicit followers’ ideas. They
recognize followers through stimulation, creativity and innovation. The
leader support and collaborates with the followers as they try new
approaches and develop innovative ways of dealing with organizational
issues. (https://www.ckju.net/en/dossier/qualities-transformational-
leaders-and-what-distinguishes-them-transactional-
leaders#transformational-leaders-guide-followers-through-inspiration-
and-motivation) The leader here carries the followers along by asking for
opinions, engaging them before decision making.

Application of Leadership Theories to Boye Olusanya

After examining various leadership theories, we would be applying them

to Boye Olusanya because he came at a critical time in the evolution of
9mobile. Boye is one leader that encompasses a lot of leadership style
and approaches. As a leader, he displays some of the traits of the Great
Man and traits theory with high intelligence, Self-confidence,
Determination, Integrity and Sociability although it is difficult to ascertain
if he was born with the traits or were as a result of learning which the
Skilled theory believes is a possibility.

Boye’s term at the managing director of 9mobile could pass for

Situational or Contingency Leadership from the outset but from history, it
is clear that he has an expertise in managing companies struggling and
in transition. This he had previously achieved with Zain’s transition to
Airtel.

When Boye came in, his first task was to stabilize the company, the next
was to gradually start growing revenue. With this he had to call upon his
transactional leadership qualities by incentivizing and rewarding dealers
and retailers. With this, retailers were able to push more products to the
customers which in turn led to a higher growth. Apart from retailers and
 dealers, employees were also pushed to deliver more for a
bonus reward.

The leadership theory that is most applicable to Boye Olusanya is the

transformational Leader, but this assertion begets the question of who a
transformational Leader is. As posited earlier this is the leadership style
in which leaders encourage, inspire and motivate followers to be the best
they can be by innovating and creating changes that will help them grow
and shape the future success of the organization. Burns (1978: 141)

Boye short span of Leadership was able to reinstall believe back in the
employees, he was able to paint a new bright future from the gloom that
pervaded at the time. Although it was a time austerity and cuts were
necessary to sustain the business, he was able to make the employees
understand the reason and they became willing to weather the storm. He
encompasses the four attributes of transformational leadership which are
Individualized Consideration, Intellectual Stimulation, Inspirational
Motivation, and Idealized Influence Charisma. With this, he was able to
stabilize the company and eventually succeeded in selling 9mobile to
Teleology Holding who became the principal management of the
company after regulatory approvals.

There are as much management theories as there are leadership

theories. Management theory according to BusinessDictionary.com is a
collection of ideas which set forth general rules on how to manage a
business or organization. The study of management as we know it
started with Frederick Taylor’s Scientific management with his attempt to
improve productivity using calculated scientific observation of the current
work processes, experimenting on different methodologies before finally
concluding on the best process to increase efficiency and boost
productivity. Some of the discoveries from this period are still in place
and been used by contemporary organizations till date.

While most visible elements of Taylor’s scientific management are found

in factories and industrial plants with his assembly line system. Elements
of this are also found in the specialization of modern companies like
 9mobile. Employees are employed for specific purposes
and job function; they master and focus on that aspect of
the business instead of doing bits of everything as was the case pre-
scientific method. An employee in Human Resources will have his/her
main work in staff welfare, renumerations amongst others and they
would not be found in IT and other fields of the business.

The focal point of Taylor’s method is breaking down project into smaller
pieces as evident in the assembly line, delegating responsibilities and
training workers to be more efficient as against Soldiering practice. Work
performance been scientifically monitored since every task has been
assigned a duration and employees must complete the task within the
duration for rewards.

As with Taylor’s method creating boredom in the work process as

employees do the same repetitive thing every day. It is commonplace for
workers in organizations such as 9mobile to feel bored and unaware of
decisions and happenings within the organization. A new Chief of
Human Resources resumed recently, and part of his plan was to make
the organization more inclusive to the employees by carrying them along
on changes and development within the organization.

Table 1.0 9mobile Organogram showing different units and

specialization
Taylor was followed by Henri Fayol’s in postulations on Management.
Fayet’s theory is more evident in modern organizations like 9mobile –
Fayet referred to such activities as Planning, forecasting, organizing,
commanding, coordinating and controlling. 9mobile’s structure has a
team responsible for planning and strategy. This team is responsible for
forecasting and planning for future events (see table 1.0). They use
current market trends to predict the future consumer behavior. This
influence the kind of product to introduce to the market and the timing
suitable for such. The role of commanding comes from the board of
management of the company while the chiefs down to the managers are
responsible for organizing their team members. Controlling today in
9mobile is a role shared between Revenue Assurance and Fraud
management team as well as the Audit department.
 Henri Fayol postulated In his book ‘Administration
Industrielle et Generale’ (1916), 14 ‘Principles of
Management’ that are capable of adaptation according to the need,
context and nature of workplace. We would be applying the 14 principles
of Management to 9mobile

Table 1.1 Application of Fayol’s 14 management principles to 9mobile

Fayol’s 14 Principles of Application to 9mobile

Management
1. Division of work by The organization strives to divide
specialization roles and responsibilities per
individual specialty. Those suited
and qualified for engineering
positions are allowed and those
suited for commercial purposes
are employed to do same.
2. Authority Authority is maintained by the
hierarchy and decentralized down
to manager level of control.
3. Discipline 9mobile maintains discipline in the
organization by having employees
sign up to behave in such a way
as been approved by the
organization.
4. Unity of Command 9mobile staffs have only 1 direct
reporting line and escalation
matrix. This is in order to avoid
confusion.
5. Unity of Direction The Manager directs employees
towards the direction of the goals
of the company. This ensures
unison in direction.
6. Subordination of Individual Managers ensure that
Interests to the General organizational goals supersede
Interest individual and employees must
strive hard to achieve organization
goals. 9mobile does it but
assigning targets to be met to
each employee.
7. Remuneration 9mobile strives to be competitive
 in the amount of compensation it
pays its employees, but a lot still
needs to be done to match
industry leaders
8. Centralization The Management board and
authority that is responsible for
decision-making process must be
seen to be balanced in an
organization.
9. Scalar Chain 9mobile recently released a new
organogram to its employees.
This is for employees to know
where they stand and to
understand their reporting line,
immediate manager and
manager’s manager.
10. Order Everything in the organization is
ordered in such a way that the
right resources is at the disposal
of the employees. This enables
them to work at optimum level
without complain and are safe
from work hazard.

11. Equity The organization according to

Fayol must treat his/her
employees fairly. Although every
organization will make such claim
regarding employee welfare. A lot
of the current employees do not
feel treated equally and as such
the morale is down.
12. Stability of Tenure of Job security is one credit that can
Personnel be given to 9mobile in recent
times. Despite the turbulence and
uncertainty, the company has
been able to avoid downsizing
and most employees have stayed
back.
13. Initiative 9mobile strives to give employees
the opportunity to innovate and
create their own ideas and
solutions. This is particularly
 visible in digital business
department where employees
create new products with vendors.
14. Esprit de Corps Fayol wants Organizations to
strive to promote team spirit and
unity and every organization must
find means to achieve this.

Bureaucracy

While Taylor focused on the scientific management and Fayol dealt with
Administrative management. A new theory was developed by Max
Weber, this theory he called Bureaucracy. Weber was a German
sociologist who believed that organizations must be run in a rigid
hierarchical order where tasks are clearly defined, management is
separated from ownership and rules are applied uniformly.

Weber came to this conclusion after observing how organizations were

run in his native Germany where favouritism and nepotism was rife. On
his return from America, he was convinced that organizations must be
based on rational authority, where authority was given to the most
competent and qualified people, that would be more efficient than those
based on who you knew.
 Weber identified six characteristics or rules of a
bureaucracy. They are summarized in the following table.
(https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-
principlesofmanagement/chapter/reading-bureaucratic-management/)

Table 1.2 Application of Bureaucracy to 9moblle

Characteristic of
Application to 9mobile
the Bureaucracy
This is one of the cardinal principles of Weber’s
Bureaucracy. Each level controls the levels below
and is controlled by the level above. Authority and
responsibilities are clearly defined for each position.
Hierarchical
The problem is that this approach creates so many
Management
processes that often delays the execution of task in
Structure
9mobile as approval needs to be sort up the
hierarchy before a project can be executed. 9mobile
has had innovative product die in the pipeline
because of so many approvals and bureaucracy.
9mobile employs this principle to hire based on
special skills and education and subsequent tasks
Division of Labor are clearly defined, and employees become skilled
by specializing in doing one thing. These are
principles that were preached by Taylor and Fayol.
Weber witnessed a lot of nepotism before coming up
with his theory. He posited that every employee
selection and promotion must be based on
Formal Selection
experience, competence, and technical qualification
Process
demonstrated by examinations, education, or
training. 9mobile tries to achieve this although you’ll
still have employees who feel hard done.
9mobile Management also separates management
Career Orientation from ownership with only the CEO being represented
on the board.
All employees are made to sign and agree to the
Formal Rules and
rules and regulation guiding the organization before
Regulations
joining 9mobile
9mobile tries to apply rules uniformly to everyone
and avoid nepotism but you still find employees
Impersonality
complain of such although such complains are
limited.
 Weber’s theory is not without criticism as bureaucracy is
also criticized for the following reasons (Mullins, p.49):
Rules, record keeping, and paperwork become more important than the
ends the administration is supposed to serve.

A lack of adaptability or flexibility can cause ‘strategic drift

Initiative can be stifled where rules do not cover every eventuality.

Officials become dependent on rules and status and so on.

There can be a tendency towards officious behaviour and hiding behind

rules which are themselves obscure to outsiders.

Stereotyped behaviour can develop, and a lack of individuality can grow.

Psychological freedom and growth can be restricted (Argyris, 1957, in

Mullins, 2007)

We will conclude with Mintzberg and contemporary theorist on

Management. Mintzberg sort to break management and organizational
roles into Interpersonal, informational and Decisional roles. Mintzberg
recommends breaking down management roles and responsibilities and
organizing the workplace to simplify complex concepts. This helps to
organize companies into a more efficient culture, and it allows each
member to develop their own skills. (Sanmi, 2018)

The interpersonal roles contain such positions as the figurehead who

represents the company in ceremonial, social and Legal functions; the
leader role which is a role all mangers must have and the liaison that
responsible for outside office networking. The informational has roles like
the Monitor who is responsible for assessing the company using
information gathered from within and outside, disseminator who passes
on valuable information to the employees and assigns task, and the
spokesperson responsible for passing information to the world while the
decisional role has entrepreneurial whereby managers are able to
innovate and bring forth new ideas , disturbance handler who is
 responsible to fixing issues that may arise, resource
allocator that is able to budget and allocate resources
accordingly and the negotiator that handles negotiating in the interest of
the company.

Could Certain Management theories have been responsible?

Although the main issue that affected Etisalat Nigeria was its inability to
repay the Bank Loans which resulted from the economic slowdown and
devaluation of the Naira. There are also claims of wastage and
mismanagement labelled against the management of the company that
acerbated the issue. This was evidence with the inquiry by Nigeria’s
lower house into how the company managed the 1.2 bn USD Loan.

A House of Representatives panel yesterday summoned members of

the board of the defunct Etisalat Nigeria over the mismanagement of
about N500 billion obtained from commercial banks. The committee said
during a hearing with some stakeholders in the telecommunications
industry that it was apparent that the former board "grossly
mismanaged" the amount and could not pay back. ( Krishi 2018)

Although the accusations are unproven, and the inquiry didn’t come up
with any summations; the Chairman had been forced to resign his
position at one of biggest bank in Africa due to a similar mismanagement
issue. it is safe to infer that Authentic Transformational Leadership (ATL)
would ensure that Loans when taken are properly appropriated to the
intended usage and not drafted for other purposes that may affect the
company with its repayment schedule. ATL would also by virtue of being
disciplined would also be able to influence the directors and senior
managers which will in turn lead other junior employees to follow suit.

Authentic transformational leaders encourage followers to establish their

own internal set of moral principles and ideals, helping them develop
such internal principles and ideals through the leader's use of
individualized consideration (Avolio, 2005). The content of these internal
principles and ideals often reflect virtues and character strengths that
define who the follower is (Sosik, 2006).
Conclusion

Leadership has always been a part of society and how they emerge has
been a focus of thinkers for generations. As society grew; men started
forming alliances, partnerships that later developed into organizations.
Leaders emerged in these organization and as organizations became
bigger, the appropriate management style became an agenda for
theorist, academician and Leaders themselves.

9mobile emerged from the brink of collapse partly through

transformational leadership of Boye Olusanya, although some would
opine differently that the sustenance of the business was as a result of
government and the regulator’s determination not to make it fail.
When Boye took charge of the company employees could be at best
said to just be doing enough to get paid. A process termed soldiering by
 Frederick Taylor. At this transition stage and because of two
key elements missing - motivation and uncertainty
concerning the future, a large exodus of workers begun. Some were
poached by rivals, others emigrated to Canada and some went on to
become entrepreneurs. Those that were left soldiered on until he took
over and sort to motivate the workers as Fayet had preached.

Despite the numerous problems that still exist, the company is on a

different trajectory to profitability nowadays as management tries to
avoid pitfalls that docked the previous handlers of the company. Boye
was used as our transformational leader because of his effort at 9mobile
that saved the jobs of thousands of employees and made them believe
in the future of the company.

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