Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................................... 3

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 3
1.1 Back Ground of the Study ....................................................................................................................... 3
1.2 Problem Statement ................................................................................................................................. 7
1.3 Research Questions ................................................................................................................................ 8
1.4 Research Objectives ................................................................................................................................ 8
1.5 Statement of Hypothesis ........................................................................................................................ 8
1.6 Significance of the Study ......................................................................................................................... 9
1.7 Scope and Limitation of the Study .......................................................................................................... 9
1.7 Scope of the Study ................................................................................................................................ 10
1.8 Organization of the Study ..................................................................................................................... 10
CHAPTER TWO ............................................................................................................................................ 11
LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................................................... 11
2.1 Conceptual Framework ......................................................................................................................... 11
2.2 The Theoretical Framework on Leadership .......................................................................................... 16
2.2.2 Transactional Theory of Leadership: ................................................................................................. 17
2.3 The Empirical Literature on Leadership style and employees performance ........................................ 24
CHAPTER THREE .......................................................................................................................................... 29
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................................ 29
3.1 Area of Study......................................................................................................................................... 29
3.2Research Design ..................................................................................................................................... 30
3.3 Sample and Sample Techniques: .......................................................................................................... 31
3.3.1 Target population .............................................................................................................................. 31
3.3.2 Sample technique .............................................................................................................................. 31
3.4 Method of Data Collection.................................................................................................................... 32
3.5 Questionnaire design and administration ............................................................................................ 32
3.6 Variables; Definitions and measurement ............................................................................................ 33
3.7 Analytical Tool....................................................................................................................................... 34
3.8 Model .................................................................................................................................................... 34

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CHAPTER FOUR ........................................................................................................................................... 35
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF RESULT ................................................................................................ 35
4.1 Data Presentation and analysis of demographic information .............................................................. 35
4.1.1 Gender of the Respondent ................................................................................................................ 35
4.1.2 Level of Education .............................................................................................................................. 35
4.1.4 Distribution of Primary Functions by respondent ............................................................................. 37
4.2; Data Analyses (Hypothesis Testing) ..................................................................................................... 39
4.2.1 Interpretation for leadership style on employee’s performance ...................................................... 43
4.2.2 Interpretation for Autocratic leadership style ................................................................................... 44
CHAPTER FIVE ............................................................................................................................................. 45
SUMMARY OF MAJOR FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................ 45
5.1 Summary of Findings: ........................................................................................................................... 45
5.2 Conclusion:............................................................................................................................................ 45
5.3 Recommendations: ............................................................................................................................... 46
5.4 Limitations to the Study: ....................................................................................................................... 46
5.5 Area for Further Research: ................................................................................................................... 47
References .................................................................................................................................................. 48

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 CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Back Ground of the Study
Leadership is an important area in management that occupies of central
position in our everyday life. It involves the still of leading and dealing with
people. One thing among human group is that there is always a leader otherwise
the group cannot live to achieve its purpose.
The success in leading a group is contingent upon both leaders ability to
hold power effectively and the existence of an opportunistic situation. The
problems which result within organizational members disagree on both the nature
of the goals of which people aspire, and the art of leadership. Leadership as we
use the term in this work refers to behaviour undertaken within the context of an
organization that influence the ways in which other organizational members
behave. It could be observed that leadership and management envisages deeply
into what the organization can achieve if the quality of recognition is accorded to
them. Leadership includes the source of influences that are built into positions in
an organizational hierarchy. These include organizational sanctioned rewards and
punishment authority and also expert power. It could be seen however that
subordinates within the organization, though not all seem to enjoy the influence
that exist all over the above organizational hierarchy provided by them in the
organization.
Four things stand out in this respect. First to lead involve influencing others
Stogdill (1950). Second, where there are leaders there are followers. Third, leaders
seem to come to the forefront when there is a crisis or special problem. In other
words, they often become visible when an innovative response is needed. Fourth,
leaders are people who have a clear idea of what they want to achieve (goal) and as

3
such have to develop the best strategies and adopt the effective leading style which
are goals oriented to influence their subordinates in achieving this goals.
Since every organization cannot progress by depending on one or two
individuals’ effort, there is therefore the need for a manager (leader) to enhance the
collective effort of each and every subordinate to adopt organizational goals as
their own personal goals. What leadership style will the manager adopt in order to
witness an increase in each subordinate performance that will lead to
accomplishing the organizational goals? He or she must first start by understanding
what the organization requires from him/her, understand the goals of the
organization, understanding the type of employees he or she is dealing with.
Should also understand the industry or the type of company there are in, and to
exercise just the style that will be appropriate for a particular situation and that
which is best for both the organization and the employees.
Since every organization cannot progress by depending on one or two
individuals’ effort, there is therefore the need for a manager (leader) to enhance the
collective effort of each and every subordinate to adopt organizational goals as
their own personal goals. What leadership style will the manager adopt in order to
witness an increase in each subordinate performance that will lead to
accomplishing the organizational goals? He or she must first start by understanding
what the organization requires from him/her, understand the goals of the
organization, understanding the type of employees he or she is dealing with.
Should also understand the industry or the type of company there are in, and to
exercise just the style that will be appropriate for a particular situation and that
which is best for both the organization and the employees.
Mwita (2000) state that performance is a major multi-dimensional construct
aimed at achieving results and has a strong link to strategic goals of an
organization. In an attempt for managers to achieve these results (strategic goals),
4
most of them have cause subordinates to become curious about the special traits,
behaviour and styles that their leaders might exhibit at their job side. If this is the
case is there any correlation then between the way leaders in an organization
should lead and manage their employees and their performance?
It is with this question that we can align the work of Timothy (2011), with the
result he concluded from his study on “The effect of Leadership Style on
Organizational Performance on some small scale enterprises in Lagos state
Nigeria”. This study was carryout on two leadership styles; the transactional and
the transformational leadership style and at the end he concluded that the
transactional was more appropriate in inducing performance in small scale
enterprises than transformational leadership. This study does not cancel
transformational leadership style in support for transactional leadership style, but
that transactional leadership style prove to work better in this case than the
transformational leadership style. Therefore it is necessary in every organization
for personnel’s in position of leadership position to identify their industry, know
what the goals of the organization are and adopt appropriate leadership style that
will be appropriate to enable subordinates to work in accordance to this goals.
Leaders need a new mix of competencies to properly shape their board and
develop their subordinates to meet 21st-century challenges. Shifting cultures,
rapidly changing technology and other factors will require new patterns of
leadership. The 21st-century leaders will need greater awareness of diverse factors
and new sets of competencies - characteristics that lead to success on the job-to
help them make relevant, correct and timely decisions in the leadership of change
and leadership of subordinates.
Bennis(1989), “On Becoming a Leader”, state that it is the skill of
influencing people to work enthusiastically toward goals identified for being for
the common good”, and assert that; the key to leadership is accomplishing the task
5
at hand while building relationships. Task are important for the day to day survival
of the organizations, while developing people and team are important for the for
the long- range performance of the organization. This implies that leaders must
build a good relationship with their subordinate in order to achieve their goals.
In the past several decades, management experts have undergone a revolution on
how they defined leadership and what their altitudes are toward it. They have gone
from a very Classical autocratic approach, and somewhere along the line, it was
determined that not everything old was bad and not everything new was good, no
particular leadership style can be considered the best or the worst. Rather different
styles were needed for different situation and each leader needs to know when to
exhibit a particular approach. There are many ways to lead and every leader has his
or her own style. Some of the more common styles include;
• Autocratic
• Democratic
• Laissez-faire
• Transactional leadership style and
• Transformational leadership style.
Due to this different leadership styles, it has different meanings. Peter Drucker,
a well known leadership guru defines leadership as “doing the right things
A particular approach of leadership style undertaken by any manager in an
organization, would also influence the organization in a particular way, either
positively (high employee’s performance) or negatively (low performance).
Because many organizations are relying on the ability of management to control
employees behavior, many leaders are practicing theory X with the assumption that
employees are untrusting with regards to accessing confidential or propriety
business since they have dislike for work and can only be forced by their leaders to
work.
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 Performance is an increasingly important concern for the image providing
cable line companies especially within the Buea municipality. This is because
there is high demand for image services from student’s hostels, hospitals, hotels
and the numerous drinking bars and restaurants within the municipality. As a result
of this, subordinate response in rendering services to the increasing demand of
their services will determined the type of leadership behind it. A leader who like to
always see increasing performance and can employ appropriate styles to harmonize
his or her subordinates to increase their performances to meet up with customers
demand will be appropriate here. On the other hand, the style leaders
(organizational managers) might be using to control their subordinates might be
downgrading the performances of their subordinates because of the way they
perceived their leaders (manager’s style). In view of this, this study will be
establish to find out how leadership styles could linked to performance of its
employees as far as the SWECOM cable network is concern.
1.2 Problem Statement
Employee performance, which includes executing defined duties, meeting
deadlines, team input, and achieving departmental goals. In various institutions and
organizations such as: SWECOM PLC, they need sound leadership styles which
include corporate approaches, authoritative approaches and laissez-faire
approaches to leadership. However, at SWECOM Buea, there is common friction
between individual responsibilities and roles, as stated by the annual review report
by SWECOM PLC (2015) this causes internal politics. Various studies such as:
Namutebi (2012) and Kmugisha (2012) coupled with research findings, pointed at
a lot of authoritative leadership tendencies and thus this serves as a breeding
ground for poor innovation, decreased commitment, poor tem chemistry which
greatly affects employee performance as was indeed observed through the study
findings. This suggests that; the inability to meet performance targets due to the
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lack of the strategic interventions of specific leadership styles to specific situations
is the problem at hand. Therefore the problem of this study was to establish the
type of leadership styles that are exhibited at the performance of their employees in
rendering their services since they are not flexible in rendering their services since
they are not flexible in rendering their services in response to demand.
1.3 Research Questions
1. What is the leadership style used in SWECOM PLC Buea?
2. To what extent do leadership styles and practices affect workers’
performance?
3. Will changing the leadership style influence employee’s performance?
4. What is the correlation between reward and employee performance?
1.4 Research Objectives
The main objective of this study remains to determine the impact of leadership
style on worker’ performance. To attain the main objective, the following specific
objectives must be attained;
1. To determine the leadership style used in SWECOM PLC Buea.
2. To evaluate the extent to which leadership styles and practices affect
workers’ performance.
3. To find out if changing the leadership style influences employee’s
performance.
4. To determine the correlation between reward and employee performance?
5. To provide the necessary recommendations?
1.5 Statement of Hypothesis
Under the statement of hypothesis, the researcher will denote it as;
H0: Leadership styles have no significant influence on employee’s performance.
H1: Leadership style has a significant influence on employee’s performance.

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1.6 Significance of the Study
This study is carry out because leadership is the main weapon of the organization
through better leadership managers can achieve their organizational goals and can
increase their productivity also of the organization positive leadership influence a
big impact on the workers and the turnover of the organization. The study will help
in recommending a leadership framework for the SWECOM cable network that
how it leadership style will be more effective in committed employees for the
organization.
This study is intended to investigate whether employees’ performance is
related to the leadership style adopted by the management. The aim of this study is
to contribute to the promotion of existing frontier or boundary between human
knowledge and strengthen the relationship between the management/employer and
the employees in the SWECOM cable. The study is also important as it will enable
the organization to adopt just the right leading style that will enable them to
witness maximum production from employee’s performance thus achieving the
organizations objectives.
1.7 Scope and Limitation of the Study
The study findings are expected to benefit SWECOM PLC and
organizations intending to obtain better performance from their workers by using
new approaches to leadership and reducing the influence of authoritative
leadership as well as increasing the use of corporate leadership.
The study would also be useful to leaders, councilors, and managers in
organizations by employing leadership styles in relevant situations. This would
help reduce social accidents, wastage and internal conflicts in the working
environment.

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 The research is also intended to be useful to future researchers, students
and academicians to see the importance of different leadership styles on
performance. This study will add to existing knowledge .
1.7 Scope of the Study
This study will be carried out within the Buea municipality and will cover an
entire network of SWECOM PLC within this municipality, their employees and
their managers who are their leaders to determine their leading styles on the
performance of their employees in the different sub areas within the municipality.
This study will be carried out between December 2015 and May 2016. And in
content terms, it aims at exploring how the various leadership styles stimulated the
execution of defined duties, meeting deadlines and achieving organizational goals
from 2010 to 2016.

1.8 Organization of the Study

This work is organize into five sections, starting from chapter one containing;
background of the study, problem statement, research objectives, research
questions, statement of hypothesis, significant of the study, scope of the study, and
organization of the study. In the second chapter, which is literature review, we
shall come across some concepts in leadership, major trends in the leadership result
studies, related theories and empirical literature on leadership and lastly theories on
leadership. The third chapter will follow with the methodology. In this chapter, it
start with the background of the study area, the research design, the method of data
collection, sample and sample techniques, research design and questionnaire
administration. Chapter four comprises of data presentation and discussion of
results. Chapter five has to do with the summary of major findings, conclusion and
recommendations of the research.

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 CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter reviews relevant literature written by other authors relating to
leadership styles in organizations. The chapter is made up of conceptual
framework, theoretical and the empirical literature.

2.1 Conceptual Framework

2.1.0 Definition Of Concepts.
This part of the work will be defining key terms and concepts like
leadership, leadership styles and different types of leadership styles like autocratic
and laissez faire leadership.
2.1.1 Leadership
According to Lawal (1993) Leadership is the process of influencing others
to work willingly toward an organizational goal with confidence. Leadership is
generally defined simply as the process of influencing people to direct their efforts
toward achievement of some particular goal or goals. According to Koontz et al
(1985), leadership is generally defined simply as the art of influencing people so
that they will strive willingly towards the achievement of group goals. This
concept can be enlarging to include not only willingness to work but with zeal and
confidence.
2.1.2 Leadership style: Leadership style is the manner and approach of providing,
direction, implementing plans and motivating people as seen by the employees, it
includes the total pattern of explicit and implicit actions of their leaders (Davis
1993).
2.1.3 Effective leadership: It is a process by which an individual who is a leader
aimed at improving his or her own responsibility in managing subordinates, their

11
job and Leadership development capabilities in accordance to the need and goals
of the organization. John Adair, (1988), in his book “Effective Leadership”.
Effective leadership can also be defining as that leadership process which
generates increased motivation and effort, greater motivation and effort are factors
that lead to high organizational performance.
2.1.4 Employee’s performance:
The job related activities expected of a worker and how well those activities
are executed in accordance with the required standard in the achievement of
organizational goals. Many business personnel directors assess the employee
performance of each staff member on an annual or quarterly basis in order to help
them identify suggested areas for improvement. (Kelly Burkart, 2013).
Competency How well does the employee do his job? Good indicators are
ability to handle the assigned workload, completing work on time with minimal
errors, and ability to work largely unsupervised. If an employee is struggling in
one of these areas, find out the reason. The solution could be as simple as
providing more training.
Productivity This is easier to measure in some areas, such as manufacturing
and sales, but every employee has a responsibility to be productive. Does the
employee use her time efficiently, prioritize projects, and multi-task when
necessary? Can you count on her for consistent, reliable results? Another
indicator of productivity is if she continually strives to improve her skills and
asks for suggestions.
Communication skills Employees should demonstrate the verbal and written
skills required for their jobs. They should be able to offer and ask for help when
needed, and accept and provide constructive criticism. Listening skills are
equally important, especially for employees who have direct contact with
customers. Good communication skills reduce mistakes and misunderstandings.
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 Commitment This is one area where actions often speak louder than words. Do
employees come in on time and put in a full day’s work? Do they dress
appropriately, and if there’s a dress code, do they follow it? Do they take
responsibility for their errors? Do they take advantage of additional training or
educational opportunities? Do they make suggestions for improvements in their
work environment? All these are signs of committed employees.
Cooperation Employees who work well together are able to share in success
and accept responsibility for mistakes. They treat each other with respect and
work to resolve conflicts before they become disruptions. They keep work
issues inside the work place and don’t air grievances to the general public.
Employees with these characteristics know the value of being team players.
Professionalism Frequent absences, excessive gossiping, and using company
time and resources for personal projects are more than examples of poor
behavior. They can also be distractions for other employees who are trying to
do their work and take pride in their professionalism. Having an employee
handbook or code of conduct can provide clear guidelines and eliminate gray
areas on how employees are expected to behave on the job.
Keep in mind evaluating employee performance should be an ongoing
process. Everyone has good and bad days. Don’t be quick to form an opinion based
on a single incident. Look for patterns in performance—good and bad. When you
have a formal evaluation, use it as an opportunity for encouragement and
professional growth.
Ideally your employees will share your vision of the company’s future and
the important role they play in its success. Measuring their performance will help
you to allocate resources and build your business as employees continue to grow in
their careers.

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2.1.5 Employees; an individual who works part time or full time under a contract
or employment, whether oral or written, express or implied and has recognized
rights and duties. Also called workers.
2.1.6 Autocratic leadership style:
In this style of leadership a leader has complete command over their
employees/team. The team cannot forward their views even if they are best for the
team or organizational interests. They cannot criticize or question the leaders way
of getting things done. The leader himself gets the things done. According to
Mullins (2002), the autocratic leadership style is that which manager solely
exercises decision-making and authority for determining policy, procedures for
achieving goals, work tasks and relationships, and control of rewards or
punishments. However, this style is control by a domineering leader and is
exemplified by the dictation of all policies and procedures by the leader with little
or no group participation in decision making, the imposition of task and methods
on subordinates, absent of effective communication between leader and the group.
2.1.7 Laissez-faire leadership style:
Here the leader totally trust their employees/team to perform the job
themselves. He just concentrates on the intellectual/rational aspect of his work. The
team/employees are welcomed to share their views and provide suggestion which
is best for organizational interest. According to Mullins (2006), he describes
laissez-faire style as genuine and it is where the manager observes subordinates
perform their task on their own. This style is marked by indecision on, uncertainty
and indifference. The leaders seldom have a clear vision of organization goal and
develop no policy. He allows complete freedom to the group to work freely
without interference and it individual members to do as they wish, but is readily
available where help is needed. This style can be defined as “the action of the
14
leader whereby no initiative is taken to guide or control individuals and groups.
The word “genuine” as use in the description above by Mullins is emphasized
because it is to be contrasted with the manager who could not care, or who
deliberately keeps away from the trouble spots and does not want to get involved.
Furthermore, the manager allows subordinates to get on with their work at hand,
and again they are left to face decisions which rightly belong to the manager.
2.1.8 Democratic/participative leadership style:
The leaders invite and encourage the team member to play an important role
in decision making process, though the ultimate decision making power rests with
the leader. The leader guides the employees on what to perform and how to
perform, while the employees communicate to the leader t heir experience and
their suggestion if any. According to (Mullins, 2002), democratic leadership can be
defined as the action of the leader whereby consultations are made with
subordinates in decision making given greater providence to individual or group
participation. The manager shares the leadership functions with members of the
group where he or she takes part as a team member. This leadership style permits
self expression, creativity and group interaction. It is person oriented and task
oriented. Flippo, (1976) describe this leadership style as “consultative leadership”,
where employees feel and believe that their views are truly desired and can have an
impact upon the decision.
2.1.9 Transformational leadership style:
Sullivan and Decker, (2001), defined it as “a leadership style focused on
effecting revolutionary change in organizations through a commitment to the
organization’s vision.”Transformational leadership redefines people’s missions and
visions, renews their commitment, and restructures their systems for goal
accomplishment through a relationship of mutual stimulation and elevation that
converts followers into leaders and leaders into moral agents.
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2.1.10 Transactional leadership style:

Transactional leadership style is the process by which leaders are able to

entice subordinates to perform and thereby achieve desired outcomes by promising
rewards and benefits for the accomplishments of task and administering
punishments when task are not well accomplished(Bass,1990).

2.2 The Theoretical Framework on Leadership

For the purposes of this work, performance is defined as the execution or
accomplishment of work, acts, feats, etc. It is assumed that leaders aspire to
increase subordinates’ job satisfaction and performance. Here we shall talk of
action center approach to leadership. This could be seen from the work of Dougla
Mc Gregor, Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid.
2.2.1 Dougla Mc Gregor (1960):
He came up with a theory and term it; theory x and theory y in his book “the
human side of an enterprise”.
Theory x
He came up with the following assumptions; that human beings has an inherent
dislike for work, that they must be forced or threaten with punishment to work and
finally an average human being need to be directed, wishes to avoid any form of
responsibility , but needs job security.
A common believe of many authoritarian leader is that followers require
direct supervision at all times or else the will not operate effectively. This believe
is in accordance with Gregor’s theory X. in the minds of authoritarian leaders,
people who are left to work autonomously will ultimately be unproductive while
those who are controlled by leaders would be more productive hence leading to
high employees performance.

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Theory y
External control and threat are not necessary to forced people to work
because they will normally work if they are committed to the job, that an average
human being learns under proper condition not only to accept but also to seek for
responsibilities, an intellectual potentiality of an average human being is only
partially utilized.
The concept of theory X and Y can be summaries in the table below.
Table: 2.0 Summary of Gregor’s Theory X and Y

Theory X
-The average human being prefers
to be
-Directed, wishes to avoid
responsibility.
-most people must be cored,
controlled, Directed, or threaten
with punishment to get them to put
forth adequate effort to achieve
organizational objectives because of
their human nature
-The average human beings has an
inherent dislike of work and will
avoid if possible
Theory Y
- People will exercise self- direction
and self control to achieve objective
to which they are committed.
- The expenditure of physical and
mental effort in work is as natural as
play or rest, and the average human
being learn not only to accept but to
seek.
- The capacity to excise high
creativity and imagination in the
solution of organizational problem is
widely, not narrowly distributed in
the population

Source: (Douglas Gregor, 1960).

2.2.2 Transactional Theory of Leadership:
Transactional theories, also known as management theories, focus on the
role of supervision, organization and group performance. These theories base
leadership on a system of rewards and punishments. Managerial theories are often

17
used in business; when employees are successful, they are rewarded; when they
fail, they are reprimanded or punished.
Transactional theory, as its name implies, involves a “transaction” between a
supervisor and a subordinate. The type of the transaction whether a reward or
discipline, depends on the employee’s performance. Timothy (2011) with the
result he concluded from his study on “The effect of Leadership Style on
Organizational Performance on some small scale enterprises in Lagos state
Nigeria”, which was carryout on two leadership styles; the transactional and the
transformational leadership style and at the end he concluded that the transactional
was more appropriate in inducing performance in small scale enterprises than
transformational leadership.
Bass (1985), theorized that the transactional leaders appeal to the
subordinates’ self interests (as cited by Chan, 2005). Transactional leaders attempt
to meet the current needs of their subordinates through bargaining and exchanging.
Transactional leaders expect their followers to attain agreed-upon goals without
encouraging them to take on greater responsibilities for self-development or
leading others. There is no attempt to change followers’ attitudes, values, growth,
and development on a long-term basis. Both leaders and followers focus on
achieving the negotiated performance level Chan, (2005). A transactional leader
motivates subordinates by giving rewards for successful services provided. This
leader clarifies the subordinates’ goals and arranges contingent rewards as
inducements toward the achievement of the goals (Singer and Singer, 1990) as
cited by Duncan (2011).
Leadership behaviors that emphasize telling or controlling would be classified
as transactional leadership because rewards and discipline are administered
according to adherence or deviation from instructions. Transactional leadership is
a reinforcement technique requiring constant application. There are two main
18
components of transactional leadership - contingent reward and management-by-
exception.

Contingent Reward: is when the leader provides rewards if the subordinate
performs in accordance with the performance expectations or expends the
necessary effort (Densten, 1999). The contingent reward aspect of
transactional leadership should also relate positively to performance in that
these leaders clarify expectations and recognize achievements that positively
contribute to higher levels of effort and performance (Bass et al,2003)

Management-by-exception: It represents the taking of action by the leader
when the follower does not meet the performance expectations (Densten,
1999). In the management-by-exception approach, transactional leaders
clarify expectations, specify standards for compliance, define what
constitutes ineffective performance, and monitor closely to ensure that
deviances and errors are corrected promptly (Bass, cited by Chan, 2005).
The work of some authors could show that leaders who adopt the
transactional leadership style could help in increasing employee’s
performance enterprises in Lagos state Nigeria”. This study was carryout on
two leadership styles; the transactional and the transformational leadership
style and at the end he concluded that the transactional was more appropriate
in inducing performance in small scale enterprises than transactional
leadership.
2.2.3 Transformational Theory of Leadership
Transformational theory of leadership is base on the leader’s ability to
motivate followers to rise above their own personal goals for the greater good of
the organization (Bass, 1985, 1996 as cited by Murphy & Drodge, 2004).
Bass (1985), theorized the transformational style of leadership comes from
deeply held personal values which cannot be negotiated and appeals to the
19
subordinates’ sense of moral obligation and values (as cited by Chan, 2005).
“Transformational leaders go beyond transactional leadership and are characterized
as; visionary, articulate, assured, and able to engender confidence in others so as to
motivate them to surpass their usual performance goals” (Schwarzwald,
Koslowsky and Agassi, 2001). The transformational leaders attempt to stimulate
the undeveloped or dormant needs of their subordinates (Chan, 2005).
Bass declared there were four types of transformational leadership behavior,
namely idealized influence (charisma), inspirational motivation, individualized
consideration, and intellectual stimulation (Densten, 1999).

Idealized influence: Represents role-modeling behavior where the leader
instills pride, faith, and respect, and has a gift for seeing what is really
important, and transmits a sense of mission.

Inspirational motivation: Represents the use of images and symbols that
enable the leader to raise the expectations and beliefs of their follower
concerning the mission and vision.

Individualized consideration: Represents providing experiential learning
and occurs when the leader delegates a project, provides coaching and
teaching, and treats each follower as an individual.

Intellectual stimulation: Represents cognitive development of the follower
and occur when the leader arouses followers to think in new ways and
emphasizes problem solving and the use of reasoning before taking action
Transformational leaders encourage their subordinates to bring creative viewpoints
to work and stimulate a team vision through positive motivation. With regards to
the SWECOM cable network company, the transformational leader expects their
subordinates to be more occupied with problem solving and community-oriented
policing which more often than not equate to improve performances.

20
 Lowe and Kroeck, (1996), reported transformational leadership has been
shown to have a positive relationship on follower performance. Another finding
that was particularly noteworthy was their conclusion transformational leadership
is more highly associated with effectiveness than transactional leadership. Their
tests also suggest that leader behavior may be more important at lower
organizational levels than has been generally assumed by those who view
transformational leadership as primarily a means to be utilized only by senior
management. It should be noted; the authors also reported that transactional
leadership is a necessary component of effective management.
2.2.4 The Path Goal Theory
it was developed by a psychologist Rorbert house in 1971 and then refined and
updated it in 1996.he said four different types of leadership to achieve goals and
improving performance this include;
• Supportive leadership; here you focus on relationships you show sensitivity
to individual team members need and you consider your team members best
interests. This leadership style is best when tasks are repetitive or stressful.
• Directive leadership; with this you communicate goals and expectations and
you assign clear tasks. This style work best when task or project are
unstructured or when task are complex and team members are
inexperienced.
• Participative leadership; with participative leadership, you focus on mutual
participation .you consult with your group and you consider their ideas and
expertise before making a decision. this approach works best when your
team members are experienced, when the task is complexes and challenging
and when your team member want to give you their input.
• Achievement-oriented leadership; here you set challenging goals for your
team. you have confidence in your team’s abilities so you expect your team
21
 to perform well and you maintain high standards for everyone. this style
works best when team members are unmotivated or unchallenged in their
work.
The link between path goal theory and performance is that leaders provide
necessary directions and support to subordinates to achieve individuals as well as
organizational goals (Silver 2001). The stated goal of this leadership theory is to
enhance employees performance and satisfaction by focusing on employees
motivation. It emphasizes the match between leader behavior and subordinates
characteristics along with work setting (Nort House 2013). It explains how a leader
can provide support to subordinates on the part to goals by using specific behavior
based on subordinates needs and work settings or situations in which subordinates
are operating.
2.2.5 Hersey-Blanchard situational leadership:
This theory was created by Dr. Paul Hersey, a professor and author of the
situational leader and Ken Blanchard author of the best selling one minute manager
among others.
The theory states that instead of using just one style, successful leaders should
change their leadership style based on the maturity of the people they are leading
and the details of the task. Using this theory, leaders should be able to place more
or less emphasis on the task and more or less emphasis on the relationship with the
people they are leading depending on what is needed to get the job done
successfully.
• Leadership style
According to Hersey and Blanchard there are four main leadership styles;
Telling (s1): leaders tell their people what to do and how to do it.

22
Selling (s2): leaders provide information and direction, but there is more
communication with followers. Leaders “sell” their message to get people on
board.
Participating (s3): leaders focus more on the relationship and less on direction. The
leader work with the team and share decision making responsibilities.
Delegating (s4): leaders pass most of the responsibility on to the follower or group.
The leaders still monitor progress, but they are less involved in decisions.
Style S1 and s2 are focused on getting the task done, style s3 and s4 are more
concerned with developing team members ability to work independently.
• Maturity level
According to Hersley and Blanchard knowing when to use each style is largely
dependent on the maturity of the person or group you are leading. They have
broken down maturity into four different levels
M1: people at this level of maturity are at the bottom level of the scale. They
lack the knowledge, skill or confidence to work on their own and the often need to
be pushed to take the task on.
M2: at this level, followers might be willing to work on the task but they still
do not have the skill to complete it successfully.
M3: here, followers are ready and willing to help with the task. They have
more skills than the m2 group, but they are still not confident in their abilities.
M4: here, followers are able to work on their own. They have high confidence
and strong skills and they are committed to their task.
The model maps each leadership style to each maturity level as shown below;
Maturity level most appropriate leadership style.
M1: low maturity s1 telling
M2: medium maturity, limited skill s2 selling.
M3: medium maturity, higher skills but lacking confidence s3 participating.
23
M4: high maturity s4 delegating.
The situational leadership theory has contributed to the leadership
effectiveness by underlining the need for leaders to adapt their behavior to
different situations thus increasing employees performance.
2.3 The Empirical Literature on Leadership style and employees
performance
The empirical literature on leadership styles and employees performance states the
findings of other authors on autocratic leadership and laissez faire leadership styles
and their results on employees performance as follows.
2.3.1 Autocratic Leadership Style And Employees Performance
Peter (2013) from his studies focused on management style as a correlation
of job performance of employees of selected Nigeria brewery industries. A sample
of 200employees was selected from the two industries. Two instruments were used
to generate data for the study namely; Supervisory Behavior Descriptive
Questionnaire (SBDQ) and Role Based Performance Scale(RBPS). The result of
the study indicated that there was a relationship between management styles and
job performance. Also employees were found to be more responsive to the
autocratic management style due to the nature of the work in the industry.
Nadarasa from his study investigated the effect of principal leadership style
on teachers job satisfaction. The design of the study was descriptive survey
designed for the data collection, only the primary data collection technique was
used by the researcher. Questionnaires were given to selected sample inorder to get
needed data. Answers to these questions where analysed using the regression and
correlation analyses. Finding of this study states that autocratic leadership has
negative impact on teachers job satisfaction.
Schwartz(1987) found a high submissiveness among workers in democratic
organization but those in autocratic organization express frostration and anger.
24
Bales(1970) found two different categories of specialist in work groups. These are
task specialist and social emotional specialist is concerned with maintaining
positive social relationship within the group and motivating the group members to
accept the goals of the group. However, a good leader can combine the two
categories actually distinguished two different style of leadership namely;
autocrative and democratic leadership. Lewin(1939) concluded that democratic
style of leadership is the most effective but Smith and Peterson(1988) pointed that
the effective group leader is dependent on the criterion which was been used to
access leadership. Thus if leadership is accessed in term of productivity, then
autocratic style is most efficient but if the role is seen as maintaining good moral
and a steady level of work, democratic style is effective.
2.3.2 Laissez Faire Leadership Style And Employees Performance;
Webb(2003) conducted a study on president leadership behavior associated
with followers, job satisfaction, motivation, extra effort and presidential. He
received the data through sample multi-leadership questionnaire(MLQ) of 315
chief student affairs officers, chief academic and financial were chosen from the
town of 105 member organization in the council for Christian universities and
colleges 223 participants (70.8%) return questionnaires, results were received with
the help of descriptive statistics were utilized to describe the sample mean and
standard deviation. They found that laissez faire leadership has significant and
negative relationship with motivation towards extra work.
Judge and Piccolo (2004) collected data through literature search( chapters
dissertation articles books and unpublished reports published from 1887-2003) use
the meta analytic procedure and divided studies moderator analysis and at the end
they use regression analysis and got through meta analytic. The found a negative
relationship between laissez faire leadership with follower motivation.

25
 A survey was conducted by administering questionnaires to 400
correspondents in the banking sector in Bangkok. The result show that most of the
bank employees mostly the females between 20 and 39years old are neither
satisfied nor dissatisfied. They are ambivalent. Transformational leadership style
was seen to have a positive effect on various facets of employee job satisfaction.
Transactional leadership style also turns out to be perceived as having a positive
effect on different facets of employees’ job satisfaction so did laissez faire
leadership.
2.3.3 Effect of Transformational Leadership and Transactional Leadership
on Employee Performance
Transformational leadership style, transactional leadership style and work
motivation directly affects on employee performance. This consistent with Bass
theory (Yukl, 1998) that transformational leadership is a leadership style that can
arouse or motivate employees, so they can thrive and achieve at a high level of
performance, more than what they thought before. Similarly, David (2002) says
that one of key factors that affecting employee performance is work motivation.
Employees with high work motivation and transformational leadership style affect
to improve employee performance. Therefore, work motivation positively and
significantly may mediate the relationship between transformational leadership
styles on employee performance. On other hand, basically transactional leaders
emphasize that a leader needs to determine what needs to be done by subordinates
to achieve organizational goals. In addition, transactional leaders tend to focus on
completion of organizational tasks. To motivate subordinates carry out their
responsibilities, transactional leaders rely heavily on a rewards system and
punishment to his subordinates. Reward and punishment is a motivation to
subordinates. Motivation is as a result of encouragement to fulfill needs (Luthans,
2006:270). Employee performance is influenced by motivation or vice versa.
26
Performance is result of work accomplished during a given period that requires
ability through effort, skill and motivation fulfillment through a leadership style
from leader. This is in line with opinion of Robbins (2008: 218) who says that
employee's performance is a function of interaction between ability and
motivation, if not adequate, performance will be negatively affected. Intelligence
and skills also should be considered in addition to motivational abilities. In terms
of employee performance, Bernardin and Rusel (Ruky, 2004:340) suggests five
primary criteria that can be used to measure performance, namely: 1. Work quality,
2. Work quantity, 3. Timeliness, 4. Work independence and 5. Individual
relationships.

Transactional leadership affect on employee performance. This is consistent

with Burns in Bass (2005) that exchange relationship in transactional leadership,
where subordinate are expected to offer a performance to leader, in this case the
form of transaction, employer offers an abstract reward (trust, commitment and
respect), and real rewards. It can be interpreted as fee or remuneration.
Transaction process between leaders and subordinates directed to produce a
satisfactory performance. It consistent with theory of Bass and Avolio (2003)
which says that transactional leadership style affect on employee performance.
Transactional leadership styles can affect positively or negatively on performance.
It depends on employee assessment. Positive effect can occur when employees
assess transactional leadership positively and a negative effect can occur if
employee considers that transactional leadership styles cannot be trusted
because they do not keep their promises, dishonest or not transparent. Study
effect of transactional leadership on performance is conducted by Haryadi (2003),
Andarika (2004), and Ahn et.al (2005) which explains that transactional
leadership style has positive and significant effect on employee performance.

27
 Theory the effect of transformational leadership on performance is proposed
by Butler (1999) that a transformational leader encourages subordinates to have
vision, mission and organization goals, encouraging and motivating to show
maximum performance, stimulates subordinates to act critically and to solve
problems in new ways and treat employees individually. As a consequence
subordinates will reciprocate by showing maximum work. It is similar with
Haryadi et.al. (2003) study conclusion that there is a significant relationship
between transformational leadership on employee performance. This study results
demonstrate that supervisor also more likely to adopt transformational leadership
approach, because leader provides good motivation and good example.
Similarly, Suharto (2005) suggests that more frequent transformational
leadership behaviors implemented will bring significant positive effect to
improve psychological empowerment quality of subordinates. Transformational
leader that gives attention to individual will capable to direct vision and mission of
organization, providing motivational support, and creating new ways to work
effectively. It proved instrumental to subordinate psychological empowerment.
Suharto (2005) revealed that transformational leadership styles such as
charisma, idealistic influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and
individual consideration have a significant effect on employee performance,
because by time is sometimes affected by transformational leadership style.
Similarly, Koh et al. (1995) showed that there was significant relationship
between transformational and transactional leadership with performance

28
 CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter deals essentially with the methods and procedures used to
gather and analyzed the data in this study with the view to verify the hypothesis as
stated. It comprises the research design, population of the study (target/accessible),
sampling/sampling techniques, instruments for gathering data, validation of
research instruments administration of research instruments, and methods of data
analysis.
3.1 Area of Study
The SWECOM cable network Company Ltd is a sole proprietary company
operating in most of the Regions in Cameroon and South West Region in particular
with it head quarter in Buea. This company falls under the service industry,
providing images within the Buea municipality, it provides images to a vast
population including; households, hospitals, hotels, student’s hostels, drinking bars
and restaurants.
The SWECOM cable network company is a private company that was set
operational in the year2004. The vision of the SWECOM cable network company
is to become the number one image providing company especially within the Buea
municipality, it seek to provide quality and affordable images to it adorers since it
services has no age limit in consumption. In attempting to become a number one
image providing company implies building amazing relationship with their
employees and business partners in their service domain to bring out the best of
entertainment. It would have to enrich the community with clear, quality, lively
images and updates.
Currently, the SWECOM Company Ltd holds about 42.6% of the total
image providing within the Buea municipality, a good coverage of the general
market situation. (SWECOM Annual Report 2015).
29
Fig 3.1 Administrative set up of the SWECOM cable network

Manager

Field supervisor Secretary Finance Field supervisor

1 clerk 2

Technicians Technicians

Source; SWECOM cable network Buea

The figure above shows the hierarchical structure of SWECOM Buea. The
Branch is headed by a branch manager. Who is assisted by two field supervisors.
While the office or clerical duties are left to the secretary and the finance clerk in
charge of finances. The last level is made of field technicians who are in charge
technical activities in the field. The technicians report to report their activities to
the field supervisors.
3.2Research Design
A research design is a plan which specifies how data relating to a given
problem should be collected and analyzed. Mbua, (2003) defines a research design
as “a blue print, methodology or plans of activities to be implemented by the
researcher toward completing his work”. According to Orodho (2003), research
design is a scheme, outline or plan that is used to generate answers to research
problems. It is needed because it facilitates a smooth sailing of the various research
operations thereby making research as efficient as possible yielding maximum
information with minimum expenditure of effort, time and money(Kothari, 2003).
For the purpose of this work, it better to use the descriptive research design in the
case study of the SWECOM Cable net work company to discover if there is any
30
relation between the two variables dependent (employees performance) and the
independent (leadership style). It will involve collecting information by
administering a questionnaire to a sample of SWECOM respondent to find the
leadership system in influencing their work performance. The period of study is
from December 2016 to may 2016.
3.3 Sample and Sample Techniques:
This section of the work will look at the sample and sampling techniques used to
analyzed data. This is done as follows
3.3.1 Target population
Although the case study for this research will be the SWECOM Company Ltd. The
entire permanent employee (both management and subordinate staff) of SWECOM
Company Ltd, working within the Buea municipality will be set as the target
population of this research. Contract staffs were excluded, due to their short and
unstable period of engagement in the company. The simple random sampling
procedure will be used in this study. This is because the researcher will be dealing
with a homogeneous population, and with this sample technique, all the employees
will have equal chances or probability of being selected. The essence of using this
method will be to avoid bias in the research.
3.3.2 Sample technique
The simple random procedure is used for the purpose of this work in order to
give every member an equal opportunity of being part of the sample population.
The researcher designs two papers of equal shape, size and same colour. These
papers contain names of permanent employees drawn from the employees register,
each paper contain a set of fifteen names each. These names were welled folded
and put in a box then after a thorough re-shuffling, a child was asked to come and
pick from the bucket a single paper. This paper was unfolded and the names of
employees on it were registered down to form the sample population.
31
3.4 Method of Data Collection
The success of every research programme requires the gathering of data. This
data cannot be gathered in a haphazard manner thus this study employed the
quantitative research approach because some statistical analysis have to be done in
testing the variables and because it deals with variables that can be assign easily
with numerical value for example employees performance. A variable here refers
to any attribute that can take on different values or that can change. In addition,
some statistical models and figures would have to be used to explain what is
observed. And as such data collection for this research came from primary source
through questionnaire to employees of SWECOM cable Network Company.
Primary Source:
For the purpose of this work, questionnaires will be used. This is because it ties
with the hypothesis to determine leadership impact on employee’s performance. In
addition, primary data is most suitable for quantitative analysis.
3.5 Questionnaire design and administration
The questionnaires that are used for this work to gather data from employees
of SWECOM cable network service are close-ended. A series of about fifteen
questions are designed with five options from which the respondents are to respond
as either; Strongly Disagreed (SD), Disagreed (D), Neutral (N), Strongly Agreed
(SA) and Agreed (A) following the Likert differentiated scale type from 1-5 as
denoted above. These alternatives stress the degree of feelings of the respondents
for every question.
The questionnaires will be administered at the head office of the SWECOM
cable network at Bakweri Town. A total of (15) questionnaire will be circulated to
the employees pertaining to the number of subordinate’s staff that had to form the
sample size of the population. These questionnaires are filled in by the respondent
themselves with the help of the administrator in some cases. The exercises of
32
questionnaires administration took over a period of one week since most of the
workers are mostly field workers and were not readily available at the level of the
head office.
3.6 Variables; Definitions and measurement
Dependent variable
• Employees performance
Performance is a measure of a person’s ability to execute a specific task
(Goodhue and Thompson 1995). An organization that fosters high employees’ job
satisfaction is also more capable of retaining and attracting employees with the
skills that it needs (Mosadegh 2006). Employees’ job satisfaction refers to the
attitude of employees towards their job and the organization which employed
them. This research points out that employees performance is influenced by many
organizational factors ranging from salaries, job autonomy, job security, work
place to leadership. In particular Leaders within an organization can adopt
appropriate leadership style to affect employees’ job satisfaction. This will be
measure using percentages with the help of Likert differentiated scale type.

Independent variables
• Leadership Style
Leadership is perhaps the most investigated organizational variable that has a
potential impact on employees’ performance (Cummings and Schwab 1973).
Leadership will be measure using Likert differentiated scale type from 1-5 which
are Strongly Disagreed (SD), Disagreed (D), Neutral (N), Strongly Agreed (SA)
and Agreed (A).
• Autocratic leadership style
Proponents of the autocratic leadership style advocate it as an ideal method to
extract high performance from employees without putting them under stress. They

33
insist the close supervision and monitoring leads to a faster pace of work with less
slack, where the leader assumes full responsibility for the decisions and actions
ultimately creating reduced stress for subordinates. It will be measured using the
likert differential scale.
• Laissez faire leadership style
Two scales are identified and defined as being characteristics of laissez faire
leadership; management by exception (Passive). In this case the leader will not
interfere in any problem until it becomes serious .laissez faire. This is a leader who
has less involvement in performance will be measure using likert differential scale.
3.7 Analytical Tool
With respect to the objective of this study among which is that of analyzing
the relationship existing between leadership and employees performance, the use
of a regression analysis will help establish the relationship under research.
Descriptive statistics will also be used and graphs and tables and pie chats to
analyse the questionnaires. This is because with tables it will be easy to meet the
desires of the respondents. This would also help the researcher to easily sort out the
percentages of the various leadership styles. Thus with tables the analysis will be
simplified.
3.8 Model
EMP = A.L + L.L + µ
Where EMP = Employees performance
A.L = Autocratic leadership style
L.L = Laissez-faire leadership style
µ = error term

34
 CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF RESULT
4.1 Data Presentation and analysis of demographic information
The aim of this chapter will be to present the result from field work; the analysis
obtained from the results, and the information obtained from the administrative
office, Research instruments were analyzed quantitatively using statistical
frequency tables.

4.1.1 Gender of the Respondent

Table 4.1 describes gender of respondents, 15 workers formed the sample size of
this study; there were 13 males representing (86.7%) and 2 females representing
(13.3%). This does not imply that the research was gender bias but that the nature
of work in the SWECOM cable network was labour intensive and as such enabled
males to outnumber the females.

Table 4.1. Gender distribution of the population

Sex Frequency Percentage

Male 13 86.7%
Female 2 13.3%
Total 15 100%

Source: field survey 2016 from SWECOM Cable network

4.1.2 Level of Education
Table 4.2 indicated the level of education of respondents. Most of the sample
population responded with 40% obtaining the ordinary level, 26.7% had FSLC,
13.3% had A/L another 13.3% had others equivalent and finally 6.7% had HND.
This showed that the employees of SWECOM cable network had attained a certain

35
level of education where it could enable them read and have a good knowledge of
the questionnaire before responding to them. Even though assistance was given by
the researcher where considered necessary to enable them understand the
questions better. This can also be depicted as shall be seen below.

Table 4.2 Educational level of the Sample population.

Level of education Frequency Percentage

FSLC 4 26.7
O/L 6 40
A/L 2 13.3
HND 1 6.7
OTHERS 2 13.3
TOTAL 15 100
Source; SWECOM cable network Buea

Table 4.3 Length of service of respondents

Years/post Technicians Secretary finance bills Total Percentage

clerk distributor
0-1 3 0 0 0 3 20%
1-2 5 1 1 1 8 53.3%
3-5 3 0 0 1 4 26.7%
5and 0 0 0 0 00. 100%
above
Source; SWECOM cable network Buea

Looking at the result from the above table, 8 workers with 53.3% had worked with
SWECOM cable network for 1-2 years, 4 respondents representing 26.7% had

36
worked with SWECOM cable network for 3-5 years and 3 respondents
representing 20% had worked with SWECOM cable network for less than 1 year.
From the survey, majority of staff had over 2-3 years of work experience with
SWECOM cable network. Thus this time period gave the researcher reasons to
assume that they had worked enough to understand what leadership style their
leaders have been using over this years , which have enable them response to the
questions on the questionnaire. Looking critically at the response rate of
respondents, no worker has worked for more than 5 years. This clearly indicates
that either employees here are not comfortable with the leadership style or the
working conditions here are not favourable.

4.1.4 Distribution of Primary Functions by respondent

Table 4.3 below represent the primary functions carried out by the respondent in
the SWECOM cable network. Being a service provider, it has four main functions;
Technicians, represent a percentage of 73.3% from 11 workers, Secretary had 1
and a percentage of 6.7% as well as finance Clark and Bills distributors were 2 in
number and had a percentage of 13.3% of the total primary functions in the
SWECOM cable network. The survey shows that technicians dominated the work
force and the primary function of the company. This is because the nature of work
here demands for more technicians than any other function.

Table 4.1.4: Primary functions of the sample population.

Primary function Frequency Percentage

Technicians 11 73.3%
Sectary 1 6.7%
Finance Clark 1 6.7%
Bills distributors 2 13.3%

37
Total 15 100%
Source: Field survey 2016 in the SWECOM cable network.

38
Table 4.5 Significance of Leadership Style on Employee’s Performance

Options frequency Percentage% frequency.

High level of significance by(SA,A) 79 75.3%

Moderate level of significance(N) 12 11.4%

Low level of significance(SD,D) 14 13.3%

Total 105 100%

Source: field survey 2016

In table 4.5, 75.3% of the respondent hold the view that the leadership style was
contributing with a high significance in their performance through regular
evaluation, 11.4% hold the view that leadership style has no significance while
13.3% holds the view that leadership style has no significance on their
performances which could be through; managerial monitoring, managerial
motivation with rewards and punishment especially as the manager has to act like
the human resource manager and the general manager.

4.2; Data Analyses (Hypothesis Testing)

Hypothesis testing

For this study, the hypothesis stated earlier in chapter one is tested either to reject
or accept the null hypothesis. The obtained results from the questionnaire was
analyzed using the t-statistics. This is because the sample size (n) is less than 30
that is (< 30) which is15.

tc = (x-µ 0)

S/√n

39
Where; X =overall sample mean

µ 0 = assumed to be zero

S = overall

n = sample size

S2 = overall variance

Question Observed Frequency of Leadership Style on employee’s

No performance. (O)
Responses SA A N SD D Total
1 6 7 2 0 0 15
2 5 6 3 0 1 15
3 6 9 0 0 0 15
4 2 4 5 2 2 15
5 1 5 5 1 3 15
6 0 2 5 4 4 15
7 0 2 7 3 3 15
8 2 4 4 2 3 15
9 1 2 2 6 4 15
10 0 0 3 5 7 15
11 0 1 8 2 4 15
12 8 4 1 2 0 15
13 5 9 0 1 0 15
14 8 6 1 0 0 15
15 7 5 3 0 0 15

40
16 5 5 2 2 1 15
17 2 2 3 2 6 15
18 6 7 2 0 0 15
Total 64 80 56 32 38 270
Table 4.6 shows the observed frequency of the data.
Source; Frequency Output

From the above table, the overall mean could be calculated as shown below

XSA = ∑xSA = 64 = 4.27

nSA 15

XA = 80/15 = 5.33
XN = 56/15= 3.73
XSD = 32/15 = 2.13
XD = 38/15 = 2.53

Therefore the X (overall mean) = (5.33+3.73+2.13+2.53)/5= 2.74

Table 4.2 Calculation of Variances

Question No
(XSA – XSA)2 (XA – XA)2 (XN – XN)2 (XSD – XSD)2 (XD – XD)2
Responses nSA-1 nA-1 nN-1 nSD-1 nD-1
1 0.21 0.2 0.2 0.32 0.46
2 0.03 0.03 0.04 0.32 0.17
3 0.21 1 1 0.32 0.46
4 0.37 0.13 0.1 0 0.02
5 0.76 0 0.1 0.1 0.015

41
6 1.3 0.8 0.1 0.25 0.15
7 1.3 0.8 0.8 0.05 0.015
8 0.37 0.13 0 0 0.015
9 0.76 0.8 0.2 1.07 0.15
10 1.3 2.03 0.04 0.6 1.4
11 1.3 1.34 1.3 0 0.15
12 1 0.13 0.5 0 0.46
13 0.03 1 1 0.1 0.46
14 1 0.03 0.5 0.32 0.46
15 0.53 0 0.04 0.32 0.46
16 0.03 0 0.2 0 0.17
17 0.37 0.8 0.04 0 0.9
18 0.21 0.2 0.2 0.32 0.46
Total 11.08 9.29 6.36 4.09 6.375
Source; Variance Output

From the table above, the overall standard deviation can be calculated.

S2 = (11.08+9.29+6.36+4.09+6.375)/5

= 7.44

Therefore, S = √7.44

= 2.7

Haven obtained the standard deviation (s) and the overall mean (X), we can
therefore calculate our t- statistics.

tc = (2.74-0)/ (2.7÷√15) = 3.93

42
The tc is now compared to the tabled value of t-statistics (tα/2n-k)

Where; k = number of different samples.

Therefore, t0.02515-1 = 2.145

4.2.1 Interpretation for leadership style on employee’s performance

With the t-test, the calculated tc is compared to the tabled value of (tα/2n-k) on the
statistical table. We reject the null hypothesis if the value of the tc calculated is
greater than (tα/2n-k) of the tabled value.

From the calculations above, 3.93>2.145 (3.93 is greater than2.145), meaning that
the tc>tα/2n-k. So therefore we reject the null hypotheses which state that leadership
style have no significant influence on employee’s performance to leadership style
has a significant influence on employee’s performance.

This confirms related studies like from Maritz ,1995; Bass,1997; Charlton, 2000,
that studied the relationship between Effective leadership and employees
performance where they used the Garrett scores to find the various factors that add
to the effectiveness of leadership and used the regression and correlation analysis
which show that leadership has a significant effect on employees performance in
that leaders must have the ability to attract and influence their subordinates.

Behling and Mcfilen (1996) confirmed the link between high performance and
leadership in the United States by developing a model of Charismatic /
Transformational leadership where the leader’s behavior is said to give rise to
inspiration, awe and empowerment to his subordinate resulting in exceptionally
high commitment, high effort, and willingness to take risk.

43
4.2.2 Interpretation for Autocratic leadership style
The Hypothesis is rejected which stated that autocratic leadership style had no
significance on employees performance to autocratic leadership style have a
significant impact on employees performance. Autocratic leadership style is one in
which the manager retains as much power and decision making as possible. The
premise of autocratic leadership style is the believe that in most cases the worker
cannot make a contribution to their own work and that even if they can make
contributions, they will not. Thus validating Mc Gregor theory X which says
employees have inherent dislike for work. Related studies by Kanten, P., & Ülker,
F. (2014) in the African journal of business management show that autocratic
leadership is said to produce better job performance for employees of selected
industries

In practice it show that the more authoritarian a leader is the more effective the
subordinates. Barry & Kunz. (2013).

44
 CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY OF MAJOR FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary of Findings:
The main objective of this study was to assess if leadership style had anything to
do with employees performance in the image providing cable network
(SWECOM). From support materials and results of the study, it was observed that
there is a significant relationship or link between leadership style and employees
performance of SWECOM cable Network Company. This study found out that
SWECOM company network has the staff that is capable to perform their task but
need a strong and able leader to lead the way. The researcher observed that the
dominant and existing leadership style in this company has been the democratic
from observed respondent rate (question 12 to 18) from the questionnaire which
stressed out on how leadership style affected the employees present work. It was
also observed that little or minimal transactional leadership style was applied by
the management. They motivated subordinates with rewards but failed to
administer punishment on the other hand when task were not well performed.

The leadership style practiced in SWECOM seemed to match the description given
by Daniel Goleman, (2002) in his 6 leadership model, to gain valuable information
from employees especially when there is time (Democratic), but effective action is
its weakness.

5.2 Conclusion:
, From the findingsit is found that leadership style has direct relationship with
employee performance and that depending on the style exhibited by the leader in
an organization, productivity and services is either enhanced or stalled. Whereas

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tasks are important for the day-to-day survival of the organization, developing
people and teams are important for the long-range performance of the organization.

To ensure the organization’s survival and performance, employees of SWECOM

need to be motivated to go beyond ordinary expectations from their manager by
appealing to their higher order needs and moral values. In addition, sharing
decision- making with subordinates generates empowerment and breeds ownership
style provides a sense of belonging to the company. What style to use in aligning
people and their work has been the question throughout this research?

5.3 Recommendations:
It is recommended that regular feedback should be administered on how employees
are performing their task as it will help in carrying out immediate corrections
where mistakes were made. Also, leaders should always communicate the
necessary work requirement to employees and on time in order for them to do
timely planning and execution.

It is also recommended that managers of SWECOM cable Network Company

should adopt a new leadership style that is being more transactional than
democratic because this provides a signal of either a reward or punishment when
tasks are not well performed. With this style employees could help improve on
their performance, while administering sanctions and rewards on the other hand
which act like a sort of motivation and demotivation, but will also make them to
prevent failures to avoid sanctions.

5.4 Limitations to the Study:

Due to time constraints, materials and financial resources, the study was limited
and confined only to SWECOM cable network company within the Buea
Municipality among others image providing companies like SIAT and Chariot.

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5.5 Area for Further Research:
Further research could be conducted on; The role played by employees in an
organization and the effect on the productivity of the organization, The impact of
employee’s perception of leader’s motivation on their performances, The impact of
democratic leadership style on workers performance. The role of transactional and
transformational leadership style on employee’s performance, Autocratic and
democratic leadership style which is more effective on employee’s performance.

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