Name: AYANBANJO LOUWAFEMI

Matric Number: 990201061

Course: MSc. Management
Topic:
Leadership orientation and business sustainability: The Perspective of
Employee in Medium-Sized Enterprises within the courier and logistics
industry in Lagos, Nigeria.

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 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Leaders are important to all types of organizations and play different roles as well as

perform various important functions in organization. Nowadays, the purpose of any

organizations is to survive and maintain its entity by improving performance. Organizations

must always increase their performance to be highly competitive in markets (Arslan &

Staub, 2013). Medium Enterprises (SMEs) performance is generating numerous discussion

between researchers, practitioner, academics and politicians (Arham, 2014). Previous and to

date literature suggest that to achieve good performance and sustainability of organization,

leadership is critically important factor (Madanchian & Taherdoos, 2017). This is the

direction or part which a leader has considered right to follow in achieving their leadership

goals. This can be task-oriented or people oriented. If a leader simply focuses on getting task

done without much emphasis or empathy for workers, they are known as task oriented leader

while if they consider the perception of others and as one who thinks about developing team

builders, they are referred to as people oriented.

Leadership Orientation describes the direction which a leader has considered right to follow

in achieving their leadership goals. This can be task-oriented or people oriented. If a leader

simply focuses on getting task done without much emphasis or empathy for workers, they are

known as task oriented leader while if they consider the perception of others and as one who

thinks about developing team builders, they are referred to as people oriented (Joo, Hee &

Piaw, 2014). Joo et al (2014) support the view that leadership orientation includes structural,

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human resource, political and symbolic behaviour that help to enhance the leadership

qualities and performance of the organisation.

Business sustainability is achieved through employee performance and good effective leadership

orientation. To this effect, Veliu, Manxhari, Demiri and Jahaj (2017) assert that there appear to

be as many ways to lead organizations as there are leaders and their orientations. The most

successful leaders have integrity, they inspire people with a shared vision of the future, they set

clear goals and motivate people towards them, they manage delivery, and they communicate

well with their teams. However, leadership is not “one size fits all” thing, and styles

vary significantly among the successful leaders. Leadership has a direct impact on effective

employee engagement. Organisations tries to prompt and effective and efficient achievement of

goals through its resources by dealing with those strategy implementation killers such as

ineffective senior management team, vertical communication, strategy and conflicting priorities

and improve, develop leadership skills down the line, involving the stake holders in the

processes. These assist in the realization of goals and sustain the business competitive advantage

The environment of current organization has become very competitive and highly complex.

Nigeria as a developing country is challenging mature countries in a number of business

regardless of industry. In today’s global and dynamic competitive environment, the role of

organization's leaders and managers are becoming more conical. This is particularly due to

global competition, fragmented and demanding markets and diverse and rapidly changing

technologies. The leadership of any organization should, therefore, ensure a conducive

organizational climate that will facilitate optimum organizational performance and long term

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sustainability (Ocheni, Atakpa, Nwankwo, 2012). This climate should be one that will be a

conducive motivation in the worker, to willingly contribute the best of his quota in

accomplishing the goals of the organization. Thus, it is leadership task for the leader to adopt the

leadership style that suits the organisation’s philosophies; ideal and congruent with the

organisation’s mission. Ocheni, Atakpa, Nwankwo (2012) asserts that a good leadership style,

“… obtains effective behaviours that provide positive outcomes for both the individual and the

organization.” In other words, the style of leadership works hand in hand with the organisational

performance (i.e. the leadership style adopted goes a long way in determining the workers’

productivity and ultimately reflects on the general performances of the organisation). To achieve

organizational goals through people, managers exhibit diverse leadership styles. Therefore, it has

become imperative to assess leadership (Ocheni, Atakpa, Nwankwo, 2012).

Northouse (2014) defined Leadership as “a process by which an individual influences a group of

individuals to achieve common goals”. Northouse states that the term followers will be used to

describe those whom the leader is attempting to influence. The term subordinates is often used in

organizational settings, but the term followers suggests that leaders can be in any role or

position, and a bureaucratic hierarchy is not necessarily implied.

Empirical studies have strongly put an emphasis that leadership is one of the most important

factors for organisational effectiveness and success. This suggests that leadership plays key role

in influencing organization effectiveness particularly in Nigerian logistic companies. Research

on organizational behavioural aspects has been a focus of studies by scholars for the past few

decades. The wide research done by scholars on this topic is due to its positive organizational

4
outcomes in both tangible and intangible aspects, especially on organizational performance. This

includes effectiveness both on employee and customer satisfactions resulting lo improvements in

a firm's economic returns. Market share and profitability changes in business environment and

globalization have forced most organizations to re-evaluate their competitive strategy to gain

competitive advantage in the global market (Ocheni et al, 2012). By adopting the appropriate

leadership styles, leaders can affect employee job satisfaction, commitment and improved

organizational performance (Voon, Lo, Ngui & Ayob, 2011).

Globally, the business environment of current organizations has become very competitive, highly

complex and demanding leaders and managers’ skill and proficiency in their leadership styles.

Leadership styles must be carefully and regularly checked and improved upon if an organisation

will sustain its competitive edge over rivals. In the organization system, there are critical

resources and assets that bring about organizational change, yet most times, they are very

complex to manipulate and influence; it is the human resources of the organization. It is so

central that organization needs to identify a personality who has the ability to influence

coordinate and control the activities of others (followers or employees) to achieve desirable

organizational performance. Such organisation must be unique, dynamic, and innovative as well

as become team player to enable it accommodate diverse employees’ behaviour to accomplish

organizational goals and objectives. In today's competitive business environment, progressive

organizations rely upon their leaders to facilitate the changes and innovations required to

maintain a competitive advantage within the industry where it operates.

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Leadership is one of the factors that play a significant role in enhancing and retaining the interest

and commitment of employees in organisation. Organisation, group, institutions developed or

even the emerging economies of the world face leadership problems. The success or failure of

any organisation depends on the leadership and the styles. Leadership is one of the contentious

issues in all societies and organisations. Leadership is the aspect of management that falls under

the direct function of a manager and one of the attributes of a good manager is effective

leadership. The reason behind the wide spread concern about leadership is that there is a direct

relationship between leadership and goal attainment and sustainability in every organisation

(Onuegbu & Okeke, 2018).

Leadership is considered a major factor that has an indisputable influence on employee

performance, growth and sustainability in any kind of organisation (Ogbonna & Harris, cited in

Obicci, 2015). But how employees perform under different kinds of leadership has been a point

of contention among researchers and scholar alike (Gadot, 2006). Studies have shown that

employee performance increases under an extraverted leadership when employees are passive,

and if employees are proactive result will be opposite (Grant, Gino and Hofmann, 2011).

Leadership has an immense influence on the performance of employees. Better improvement of

employee performance is a clarion call for organisations in the midst of continual rising

challenges due to scandals and unethical behaviours (Wang et al., 2005).

In an organisation, leadership is a great resource that guides employees as well as the

organisation into the realization of its corporate objectives. The need for an effective leadership

in the present day business environment has been enhanced because for an organisation to react

6
appropriately in the face of competition and to also realize its objectives; the top leadership play

an important role in determining its success or failure (Ogunola, Kalejaiye and Abrifor, 2013).

Consequently, most organisations are currently re-examining their strategic goal by developing

directions, which start the establishments of moral administration for reasons for productivity

and business benefit.

Ogbonna and Harris (2000) point that ethical leadership in an organisation influences employees’

performance since it is expected to determine the organisations capacity to define the

association's objectives and procedures, create structures, procedures, controls and center

abilities for the association which will eventually determine the organisations adaptation to

changes in the business environment. The moral authority rotates around the level of business

practice that connects the parts of culture and moral business hone (Oates & Dalmau, 2013).

Osabiya and Ikenga (2015) emphasized that to enhance the performance of an employee,

workers will depend on a. large event of leadership style that is operational within an

organizational setting. No leader uses any of the style exclusively. A leader may use an

autocratic style when necessary to serve a particular purpose and the democratic style in vice-

versa. It is in view of the foregoing that this study examines leadership orientation and

achievement of business sustainability in SMEs.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

It is generally accepted that the effectiveness of any set of people is largely dependent on the

quality of its, leadership, as effective approach to leadership has been found to facilitate the

attainment of the follower's desires, which in turn results in increased organizational

effectiveness (Petrovsky, 2009). The problem of this study therefore is concerned with the issue

7
of dysfunctional leadership within the organizational context and the goal is to provide a useful

answer to how leadership will help to motivate employee towards exerting great effort on the

achievement of corporate objectives and hence, organizational performance. Hence, the

importance of effective and value-driven leadership and organizational objective must be

embraced. It has been established that the strength of an organisation lies in its leadership. Yet

most firms and organisations have not performed as expected Mohammed et al (2014). This may

be as a result of poor leadership, since leaders direct the activities and business sustainability.

Moreover, the increasing market competition demands that organizations’ management adopt

effective and proactive leadership style in order to be able to influence people to intensify effort

and improve on task effectiveness that would result in competitive advantage for the organization

(Dess et al, 2009). It has been noted that the practice of different leadership styles in an

organization has a significant effect on the job effectiveness and subordinate relationship which

eventually determines their efficiency and level of effectiveness on the job.

In the word of Veliu et al (2017) managers must know that leadership requires a number of

judgments each day that requires sensitivity and understanding of various leadership strategies.

How democratic, autocratic and transformational leadership positively influence employees’

performance and other organisational objectives is important to unravel. Each leadership style

is a combination of different types of behaviour and characteristics of leaders. If there is the

need to make a decision quickly and take urgent action, a leader should rely on the autocratic

style.

Obviously, not all leaders want to be participative and understanding, and overcoming such

reluctance to involve followers becomes crucial. As such, the reluctance to participate in shared

8
responsibility and accountability becomes a thing to ponder upon, a serious problem. The type of

leadership in practice in an organisation may be responsible for these problems. Therefore, this

study attempts to examine and describe the relationship and the relationship between leadership

orientation and business sustainability.

The importance of effective and value-driven Leadership orientation and business sustainability

cannot be overemphasized. It has been established that the strength of an organisation lies in its

leadership. Then the question: Why had some organizations performed poorly? The literature

shows that it is as a result of poor leadership, since leaders direct the activities and performance

of an organization. Moreover, the increasing market competition demands that organizations’

management adopt effective and proactive leadership orientation in order to be able to influence

people to intensify effort and improve on task performance that would result in competitive

advantage and long term sustainability for the organization (Dess, Lumpkin and Eisner, 2009). It

has been noted that the practice of different leadership orientation in an organization has a

significant effect on the job performance and subordinate relationship which eventually

determines their efficiency and level of sustainability of the business.

However, problem arises in situations where relationship with workers are unhealthy;

relationships between the boss and subordinates; there is unresolved and poorly managed

conflict; frequently stalled jobs; dissatisfied customers and staff, as well as poor quality product

and services delivery. These problems may not be unconnected with the leadership orientation of

the boss which may subsequently lead to sub-optima Work performance. The leadership

orientation dimensions or elements such as delegation, intellectual flexibility, empathy, worker

participation and planning and decision making seemed to be less emphasized in some

9
organisations (Bolman and Deal 1990, Hassan, 2015). Some other leadership orientation

elements such as structural, human resource, political and symbolic Charisma are still lacking in

some these organisations (Joo, Hee, & Piaw, 2014).

Therefore, this study attempts to examine and describe the relationship between leadership

orientation and business sustainability: The Perspective of Employee in Medium-Sized

Enterprises within the courier and logistics industry in Lagos, Nigeria.

1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The purpose of this study is to critically examine the relationship between leadership orientations

and business sustainability using employee perspective in Medium Enterprises within the

Courier Ligistics Industry in Lagos, Nigeria. Specific objectives are to:

i. Evaluate the effect of delegation on business sustainability.

ii. Identify the impact of intellectual Flexibility on business sustainability

iii. Determine if the Empathy for workers affect business sustainability.

iv. Determine the impact of worker participation on business sustainability.

v. Examine the role of planning and decision making on business sustainability.

1.4 Relevant Research Questions

The following questions serve as guides to the research study:

i. Does delegation have effect on business sustainability?

ii. Are there any impacts of intellectual Flexibility on business sustainability?

iii. How does Empathy for workers affect business sustainability?

iv. What are the impacts of worker participation on business sustainability?

v. Do planning and decision making have impact on business sustainability?

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1.5 Relevant Research Hypotheses

Hypothesis I

HoH01: There is no significant relationship between and business sustainability

Hypothesis II

HoH02: There is no significant relationship between intellectual flexibility and business

sustainability

Hypothesis IIII

HoH03: There is no significant relationship between empathy for workers and business

sustainability

Hypothesis IV

HoH04: There is no significant relationship between worker participation and business

sustainability

Hypothesis V

HoH05: There is no significant relationship between Planning and decision making and business

sustainability

1. 6 Significance of the Study

This study is important to the management of companies in Courier and Transport Service

Industry because it provides an objective assessment of their leadership competence in the

organization. The employees will benefit from this study by knowing what leadership style

motivates them to perform to the best of their ability. The findings of the study will be of

immense benefits to all stakeholders in organisations both in the private and public sectors

11
and will serve as a guide towards formulating measures to promoting value based Leadership

in organisations.

The shareholders have so much to benefit in that it will enable the choice of professional

managers with right attitude and leadership quality to manage their investments in the

company. It is expected that the academic institutions, researchers and students of

management will greatly benefit from this study as it contributes to existing knowledge by

identifying the mix of leadership style that motivate workers towards improved performance.

1.7 Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The research is focused on the influence of leadership orientation and business sustainability:

the perspective of Employees in selected SMEs. The study was carried out using employees

of 20 (twenty) different businesses in Lagos, Nigeria. The restriction in scope to the above-

named organizations is due to logistic and proximity reasons and the fact that the firm in

Lagos are one of growing employers of labour.

The study cuts across all cadres of employees and involves all functional units or

departments within the organization. As expected, the study is constrained by limited time,

inadequate fund and inaccessibility to busy executives.

1.8 Operational Definition Terms

Effectiveness: In this study, effectiveness is the degree to which something is successful in

producing a desired result; success. “The effectiveness of the treatment”

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Great man approach: This is a leadership perspective that sought to identify the inherited

traits that leaders possess which distinguish them from people who are not leaders.

Leader: The role that managers play when hiring employee motivating them or dealing with

behavioural processes.

Leadership style: Leadership style is the pattern of behaviours engaged in by the leader

when dealing with employees.

Leadership: This is an influence process directed at shaping the behaviour of others. It is the

ability to guide, direct and influence people.

Leadership Orientation: This is the direction or part which a leader has considered right to

follow in achieving their leadership goals. This can be task-oriented or people oriented. If a

leader simply focuses on getting task done without much emphasis or empathy for workers,

they are known as task oriented leader while if they consider the perception of others and as

one who thinks about developing team builders, they are referred to as people oriented.

Organisation: This is company or group of people registered and who provides service or

produce tangible goods to serve humanity.

Stakeholders: All those having a stake in the organization’s success including employees,

owners, customers, government authorities and creditors.

Trait: This is a distinguishing personal characteristic of a leader such as intelligence,

honesty, Self-confidence, and appearance.

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 References

Bass, B., & Avolio, B. (2014). Transformational Leadership and organizational culture. Public

administration quarterly, 17 (1), 112-121

Dess, G. Lumpkin, T. and Eisner, A. (2009). Strategic Management: Text and Cases. New York,

Mc-Graw Hill publishing.

Grant, A. M., Gino, F & Hofmann, D. A. (2011). Reversing the Extraverted Leadership

Advantage: the Role of Employee Pro-activity, Academy of Management Journal 54, 3,

528–550.

Hassan, A.A. (2015). The Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Leadership Competence

Development of Employees, International Review of Management Business Research, 4
(1). 96-103

Joo, M.T.H., Hee, T.F and Piaw, C, Y. (2014). Leadership Orientation of an education leader in a
Private University in Malaysia, Precedia- Social and Behavioural Sciences 114, 681-686.

Mohammed, U.D., Yusuf, M.O. Sanni, I.M, Ndule, T.I, Bature, N.U and Kazeem, A. O (2014).

The Relationship between Leadership Styles and Employees’ Performance in

Organizations (A Study of Selected Business Organizations in Federal Capital Territory,

Abuja Nigeria). European Journal of Business and Management 6.(22)

Obicci, P. A. (2015). Effects of ethical leadership on employee performance in Uganda Net

Journal of Business Management 3(1), pp. 1-12

Ocheni, S.; Atakpa, M. and Nwankwo, B. C (2012): Re-Engineering Organizational Success

Through Effective Leadership, European Journal of Business and Social Sciences, 1 (3)

119 - 130.

Ogbonna, E & LIoyd C. Harris (2000). Leadership style, organizational culture and

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 performance: empirical evidence from UK companies. Int. Journal of Human

Resource Management 11:4, 766–788

Ogunola, A. A. Kalejaiye, P. O. and Abrifor, C. A (2013). Management style as a correlate of

job performance of employees of selected Nigerian brewing industries. African Journal

of Business Management. 7(36), 3714-3722.

Onuegbu, R. C. & Okeke, M.M (2018). Effect of Leadership Styles on Employee Performance in

Selected Nigerian Organizations: A Study of Naze Industrial Clusters, Owerri,

International Journal of Management Science 7 (1). 43-59

Osabiya B and Ikenga, E. (2015). The Impact of Leadership Style on Employee’s Performance in

an Organization Public Policy and Administration Research 5 (1)

Petrovsky, L. W. (2009). Factors affecting the context for motivation and performance of

employees in public organisations. Academy of Management Review, 7 (1), 89-98.

Veliu, L, Manxhari, M, Demiri, V, Jahaj (2017). The influence of leadership styles on

employee’s Performance Journal of Management 2 (31)

Voon, M. L., Lo, M.C., Ngui, K. S, Ayob, N. B. (2011). The influence of leadership styles on

employees’ job satisfaction in public sector organizations Malaysia. International

Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences 2 (1), 24-32

Wang,H., Law,K.H.S., Hackett,R.D& Wang, D and Chen, Z.X. (20105). Leader-Member

Exchange As A Mediator Of The Relationship Between Transformational Leadership

And Followers’ Performance and Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Academy of

Management Journal 48 (3), 420–432.

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 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Preamble

The review of related literature is based on Leadership orientations and business sustainability: a

perspectives of employees in SMEs is divided into the empirical review of previous work a nd

theoretical framework as applied to the area of study. The review is necessary in order to access

previous researchers’ and scholarly opinion on the topic. This would enable us evaluate the

validity of the findings in this study in the light of established and relevant theories. Other

emerging perspectives as listed by Samad and Abdullah, (2012) would also be discussed.

2.2 Theoretical Framework

Several theories have been postulated on effective leadership orientation and business

sustainability. It is not surprising to find a considerable volume of theory and research

concerning leadership. This is a result of its importance to all kinds of group activities. Most of

these theories had come into being in the period beginning with World War II. According to

Yukl (2005), numerous studies on the theory of leadership can be summarized into five broad

theories, namely, trait, behavioural, contingency or situational approach, contemporary

integrative approach, and power and influence approach. The trait approach refers to the inherent

personal characteristics of the leaders where the original trait conception of leadership was

founded on the major assumption that leaders possessed universal characteristics that made them

leaders; those traits were seen to be relatively fixed, inborn, and applicable in various situations.

The behavioural approach is defined as behaviours of the leaders.

16
Tjosvold (2001) theorized that if power were to be defined in field theory rather than in

behavioural terms, it is more like the control of valued resources where A has power in relation

to B when A has resources that can affect the extent that B accomplishes goals. Later,

contingency or situational approach came into the picture which largely displaced the dominant

trait and behaviour approach. This approach views leadership performance as dependent upon a

match between leadership style and the situation. It also focuses on the degree to which the

situation gives control and influence to the leaders. The primary thrust was that the qualities of

leaders differentiate in various situations and so were those qualities were perhaps appropriate to

a particular task and interpersonal context. Thus some basic styles of leadership highlighted

above will therefore be examined and analyzed next in the subsequent sections.

2.2.1 Fielders Contingency Theory

This research theory as conducted by Fielder, (2004) and his associates is an ambitious one. It

was developed over the past dozen years to determine the existence of basic leadership style and

more importantly to discover which leadership style is appropriate in what situation.

2.2.2 The Trait Theory

The earliest studies, of leadership conducted by Tjosvold, (2001) were based on an attempt to

identify the traits that leaders actually possessed. Starting with “Great man Theory” that leaders

are born and not made, a belief dating back to the ancient Greeks and Romans enquiries were

made to identify the physical mental and personality traits of various leaders. The “Great man

Theory” lost much of its acceptability with the rise in influence of the behaviourist school of

psychology which emphasized that people are not born with traits other than inherited physical

characteristics and perhaps tendencies towards good health. Before 1949, most of the studies on

17
leaders were concentrated on the identification of traits, even in recent years such studies have

been made.

2.2.3 The Managerial Grid Theory

Blake and Mouton (1964) in developing organization development programmes carved a

variation of the production-centred and employee-centred axis. Without much departure from the

two earlier studies, their own approach was christened; Concern for people and concern for

production. The underlying assumption per taps is-that the two dimensions are independence

such that there can be increased and decreased concerns for production and people occurring

together at the same lime.

2.2.4. Victor Vroom’s Contingency Theory of Leadership

This is another theory that has attracted a lot of attention in the recent years. Robbins and Ludge,

(2009) notes that unlike Fielder, Victor Vroom believes that leaders can learn to lead, that they

can modify and enlarge their repertories (skills) of styles to match their growing awareness of

which style is appropriate in a certain situation, Vroom concentrates on a single dimension of

leadership- the degree to which the leader shares decision-making with subordinates as a group.

2.2.5 The Trait Theory

The earliest studies of leadership conducted by Tjosvold, (2001) were based on an attempt to

identify the traits that leaders actually possessed. Starting with “Great man Theory” that leaders

are born and not made, a belief dating back to the ancient Greeks and Romans enquiries were

made to identify the physical mental and personality traits of various leaders. The “Great man

18
Theory” lost much of its acceptability with the rise in influence of the behaviourist school of

psychology which emphasized that people are not born with traits other than inherited physical

characteristics and perhaps tendencies towards good health. Before 1949, most of the studies on

leaders were concentrated on the identification of traits, even in recent years such studies have

been made.

Bums (2008) in his book titled “Handbook of Leadership” noted that numerous researchers

identified five physical traits as related to leadership ability. They include energy appearance and

height, four intelligence and ability traits, sixteen personality traits such as adaptability

aggressiveness, enthusiasm and self-confidence, six task related and nine social characteristics

such as cooperativeness, interpersonal skills and administrative ability.

Also, the trait approach does not give guide as to how much of any trait of a line should possess.

Furthermore, out of many studies, there is no uniformity of identified traits with actual instance

of leaderships as Eugene (2001) has noted that research has produced such a variegated list of

traits presumably to describe leadership that, for all practical purpose, it describes nothing. Fifty

years of study have failed to produce one personality trait or set of qualities that can be used to

discriminate between leaders and non-leaders.

Nevertheless, some studies have identified significant correlation between certain traits and

leadership performance. Omolayo (2007) found that there was a definite correlation between trait

of intelligence, scholarship, dependability, responsibility, social participation and socio-

economic status of leaders compared with non-leaders. Keith, (2009) likewise found that leaders

have high intelligence, broad social interests and maturity, strong motivation to accomplish and

great respect for an interest in people. But even these correlations between traits and leadership

19
are not persuasive. Most of these so called traits are patterns of behaviour that one would

naturally expect from a leader.

2.2.6 Michigan Group

Like the Ohio group examines leader behaviour in many industrial organizations and came up

with two polarized dimensions of leadership styles.

(a) Employee-centred (b) Production-centred

They concluded that the two styles influence employee performance and satisfaction. Employee-

centred leaders were those who recognized their subordinates as people, showed concern for

their well-being, and encouraged employee involvement in goal setting. The production-centred

leaders were those who emphasize the close supervision of workers. The propositions were

tested in many areas particularly in large industrial organizations to determine their validity. A

favourable result was obtained by the group in a large insurance organization where it was found

that employee-centred leaders supervised and maintained groups, with higher morale and

productivity. The result obtained further show that the production-centred leader supervised

groups with lower productivity and morale (McCauley, et al, 2004).

2.2.7 Conceptual Clarification

The concepts considered in this study embrace those things apart from the styles discussed below

which attract the attention of the leaders, shape their style and how they approach them. The

study digs deep into concepts like: delegation, compensation, concern for workers, planning and

decision making.

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2.2.8 Conceptualizing Leadership Orientation

Leadership Orientation is the direction or part which a leader has considered right to follow in

achieving their leadership goals. This can be task-oriented or people oriented. If a leader simply

focuses on getting task done without much emphasis or empathy for workers, they are known as

task oriented leader while if they consider the perception of others and as one who thinks about

developing team builders, they are referred to as people oriented (Bolman and Deal, 1984,1990;

Joo, Hee & Piaw, 2014).

Ocheni, Atakpa and Nwankwo (2012) define leadership styles as the different philosophies

adopted by leaders in the piloting of the affairs or activities of an organization. They posited

that “these philosophies often find expression in the way the enterprise is organized and in

the design of lines of demarcation of authority, accountability and responsibility.” The

exercise of authority forms the basis upon which many researchers classify the styles of

leadership. According the scholars, experiences have shown that these leadership

philosophies as well as their perception of constraints and opportunities have immense

influence on corporate performance. This research seeks to provide guidance to banking

services managers, consultants, business managers and further researchers regarding the

ways in which leadership styles can improve the performance of organizations.

Ogunola, Kalejaiye and Abrifor (2013) defined leadership as the process of influencing the

activities of a group of people by a leader in efforts towards goal achievement. It involves a force

that initiates actions in people and the leader. It could be described as the ability to get things

done with the assistance and co-operation of other people within the school system (Omolayo,

2000; Aghenta, 2001). Leadership style could be described in various ways. It refers to the

21
underlying needs of the leader that motivate his behaviour. It is the manifestation of the

dominant pattern of behaviour of a leader. It is also a process through which a person or group of

persons influence others in the attainment of group goals. The autocratic leadership style is also

known as the authoritarian style of leadership. Power and decision-making reside in the

autocratic leader. The autocratic leader directs group members on the way things should be done.

The leader does not maintain clear channel of communication between him/her and the

subordinates. He or she does not delegate authority nor permit sub-ordinates to participate in

policy-making. The democratic style of leadership emphasizes group and leader participation in

the making of policies. Decisions about organizational matters are arrived at after consultation

and communication with various people in the organization. The leader attempts as much as

possible to make each individual feel that he is an important member of the organization.

Communication is multi-directional while ideas are exchanged between employees and the

leader. In this style of leadership, a high degree of staff morale is always enhanced (Mba, 2004).

2.2.9 Achievement of Business Sustainability

The major objective of the any business is sustainability. It is achievable through performance.

Performance could be described in various ways. It could be an act of accomplishing or

executing a given task. It could also be described as the ability to combine skilfully the right

behaviour towards the achievement of organizational goals and objectives. It is argued that job

Performance is determined by the worker‘s level of participation in the day to day running of the

organization. Job performances are typically determined by the motivation to work hard and high

motivation means greater efforts and higher performances. Thus, it can be said that motivation is

to push workers towards improved performance and increased productivity. Also the

managements’ concern has increased for the employees for keeping them motivated on the job.

22
Employers use a wide range of motivational techniques including monetary incentives, goal

setting, job enlargement, behaviour modification, participation, award and recognition plans,

discipline, and counselling Ogunola, Kalejaiye and Abrifor (2013)

Ogunola, Kalejaiye and Abrifor (2013) postulated that organizations need highly performing

individuals in order to meet their goals, to deliver the products and services they specialize in,

and finally to achieve competitive advantage. Performance is also important for the individual

employee. Accomplishing tasks and performing at a high level can be a source of satisfaction,

with feelings of mastery and pride. Low performance and not achieving the goals might be

experienced as dissatisfying or even as a personal failure. Moreover, performance and

performance -if recognized by others within the organization-are often rewarded by financial and

other benefits. Performance is a major-although not the only-prerequisite for future career

development and success in the labour market. Although there might be exceptions, high

performers get promoted more easily within an organization and generally have better career

opportunities than low per-formers. Job performance and performance consist of the observable

behaviours that people do in their jobs that are relevant to the goals of the organization and that

can be scaled (measured) in terms of each individual‘s proficiency (that is, level of contribution)

(Ogunola, Kalejaiye and Abrifor, 2013)

2.2.10 Leadership Orientation and Achievement of Business sustainability

Performance is of interest to organizations because of the importance of long tern business

sustainability in the workplace. Campbell (1990) explains that performance is not the

consequence of behaviour, but rather the behaviour themselves. In other words, performance

consists of the behaviour that employees actually engage in which can be observed. In the

23
context of work settings, the performance of all individuals that makes up the organization is

targeted towards the achievement of the goals of the organization. The overall productivity of the

organization is hinged on the performance of each individual within the organisation.

Contemporary organizations in today‘s context are characterized by such constantly changing

dynamics as complexity of customization and competitiveness, importance of people rather than

strategies; reliance on technology and the rise of knowledge economy both for the individual

employees and the organization as a whole among many other organizational objectives

(Ogunola et al, 2013).

Ocheni, Atakpa and Nwankwo (2012) concluded thus: Indispensable to organizational

objectives, amongst other determinant variables, is its leadership. The effect of effective

leadership in achieving organizational objective becomes manifest through the management

philosophy obtainable in that work situation. In other words, the style of leadership at work in a

given organization dictates the organizational performance. Leadership is so pivotal in any

organization that good leadership is said to be the bedrock and sine-qua-non for all

organizational growth and development. The contention here is that there exists interrelationship

between the two concepts; leadership and organisational performance. Where organizational

leadership is exemplary in nature, motivational, workers will discharge duties with zeal and

enthusiasm, which will in turn enhance greater organizational performance. In contrast, given all

requisite technology and skill, organizational performance might still remain low if the

leadership is incompetent and cannot elicit the best in the workers towards the realization of

organizational target objectives. The leadership of any organization should, therefore, ensure a

conducive organizational climate that will facilitate optimum organizational performance

24
(Ocheni, Atakpa and Nwankwo, 2012). This climate should be one that will be a conducive

motivation in the worker, to willingly contribute the best of his quota in accomplishing the goals

of the organization. Thus, it is leadership task for the leader to adopt the leadership style that

suits the organisation’s philosophies; ideal and congruent with the organisation’s mission.

Ocheni, Atakpa and Nwankwo (2012) referencing Schlesinger 1983) asserts that a good

leadership style, “… obtains effective behaviours that provide positive outcomes for both the

individual and the organization.” In other words, the style of leadership works hand in hand with

the organisational performance (i.e. the leadership style adopted goes a long way in determining

the workers’ productivity and ultimately reflects on the general performances of the

organisation). To achieve organizational goals through people, managers exhibit diverse

leadership styles.

In addition, Leadership style has a way of affecting organisation’s performance in many

contexts. The concept has been a frequently repeated issue for academicians and practitioners

and widely researched by scholars. Numerous studies have found that leadership has a positive

effect on organization performance despite a significant impact and influence on individual and

organizations. Leadership style and behaviours of individual may contribute to important

subordinates’ outcomes such as performance, satisfaction and perception towards leaders’

performance. Although, literatures have revealed the significant influence of leadership styles on

organizational performance, in recent years the focus of the leadership studies have been shifted

and accompanied by the acceptance of the distinction between classical, transactional and

transformational leadership (Samad, and Abdullah, 2012).

25
Samad, and Abdullah, (2012) found relationship between classical and transformational

leadership styles and organizational performance. The study also examined the influence of each

classical leadership style and each aspect of transformational leadership style on organizational

performance. It further examined the different effects of classical and transformational leadership

styles on organisational performance. The results found that all of the classical leadership styles

and transformational leadership aspects were positively related to organizational performance.

The study stressed that transformational leadership is the core component of successful

leadership behaviour to influence organizational performance. Past studies found a positive and

significant relationship between transformational leadership style and followers’ performance,

commitment, satisfaction and organizational performance (Samad, and Abdullah, 2012)

2.2.11 Other Perspectives on Leadership orientation and style:

Leadership has been discussed based on various perspectives. Senior and Fleming (2006)

classified leadership Styles in the following categories-.

i. Concern for task which is also referred as result oriented

ii. Concern for people or person centred or employee oriented

iii. Directive leadership or authoritarian leadership or autocratic leadership

iv. Participative leadership or democratic leadership

v. Transactional leadership

vi. Transformational leadership

26
Despite various leadership styles portrayed according to Senior and Fleming (2006), the last two

leadership styles had received much attention. Continuously, most scholars are in agreement that

there is no single leadership style that indicates the most appropriate style to all situations.

McCrimon (2007) views leadership based on four paradigms: classical, transactional

transformational and organic leadership. Classical thinking of leadership style refers to how the

decisions are made and based on behavioural perspective. It consists of three major leadership

styles; authoritarian leadership, participative or democratic leadership and delegative or laissez

faire leadership. Cherry (2010) stated that currently, these leadership styles are very influential in

organization context mid has attracted a great deal of attention among researchers. The second

paradigm is transactional leadership which is based on reciprocal relationship between leaders

and the followers. It also refers on the management of the whole internal and external

environment to influence followers, recognizing their needs and wants as well as clarifying how

it is possible to meet this complexity through negotiated rewards and agreements system.

Transactional leaders organize the subordinates’ tasks so that their job is carried out efficiently.

Bass (1985) suggested transactional leadership as the core component of effective leadership

behaviour that could influence organizational objectives.

The third paradigm is transformational leadership characterized by charisma (idealized

influence), inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration.

Transformational leaders integrate creative insight, persistence and sensitive to the followers.

The role of transformational leader is to develop and inspire the subordinate to be more

responsible and committed to the challenging goals. This visionary leader inspires and activates

employees to perform beyond normal procedure and depends on the vision presented by the

leader. The fourth paradigm is organic leadership which is based on teamwork without formal

27
distinction between leaden and followers. Members of the team are working together in whatever

roles of authority and power they may riot based on position of power (Rok, 2009). Rollinson

(2008) concludes that leadership can be looked based on two perspectives or approaches:

descriptive approach and functional approach. Descriptive approach refers to theories that

describe leadership in terms of either what a person is or his or her distinctive style of behaviour.

In other words, it focuses on whether a leader has appropriate style of behaviour to be adopted to

undertake responsibilities. Functional approach to leadership refers to theories that explain

leadership in terms of the functions performed by the leader with respect to the followers.

A number of theories have emerged each representing different perspective of leadership.

Among new emerging theories are like spiritual leadership and authentic leadership. Literatures

have highlighted that the theories and research in leadership have a long pedigree in the social

and organizational sciences (Rollireon, 2008). Accordingly, leadership has been addressed based

on the following approaches or perspectives: leadership based on traits, behaviours and

situational characteristics. Failure of trait theory to predict the success of individual leadership

has led to the development of theories that relate to behaviour with leadership success. The

behavioural theory includes the three categories of behavioural leadership styles postulated by

Lewin (1939) which according to literature was heavily influenced by human relation theory. On

the notion that there is no single leadership style that indicates the most appropriate style to all,

situations researchers have explored various perspective of leadership approaches in their study.

Samad, and Abdullah, (2012) highlighted the relationship of classical leadership styles

(authoritarian, participative, delegative) transformational leadership style (which consists aspects

of charisma or idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and

28
individualized consideration) arid organizational performance. Classical leadership styles which

according to Cherry (2010) are very influential in organisation context and has attracted a great

deal of attention among researchers could be appropriate to be applied in Nigerian companies as

these companies are highly in need of leaders who can influence the members to achieve

superior performance. The question is whether classical leadership styles appropriate enough to

transform and make great changes in the logistics companies. Thus, the study proposed a link

between transformations leadership style and organizational performance. This is because

transformational leaders are able to create great change in both followers and the organization.

This leadership style has also attracted a great deal of attention among researchers (Samad, and

Abdullah, 2012).

2.2.12 Determinant of effective leadership Orientations

Burns (2008) introduced a normative element: an effective Burnsian leader will unite followers

in a shared vision that will improve an organization and society at large. Burns calls leadership

that delivers “true” value, integrity, and trust transformational leadership. He distinguishes such

leadership from “mere” transactional leadership that builds power by doing whatever will get

more followers.

But problems arise in quantifying the transformational quality of leadership - evaluation of that

quality seems more difficult to quantify than merely counting the followers that the- straw man

of transactional leadership, Burns, (2008) has set as a primary standard for performance. Thus

transformational leadership requires an evaluation of quality, independent of the market

demand that exhibits in the number of followers.

29
Current assessments of transformational and transactional leadership commonly make use of the

Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), developed by Bass and Avolio in 1990 and

revised in 1995 (Smith, 2003). It measures five dimensions of transformational leadership:

idealized influence - attributions; idealized influence - behaviours; inspirational motivation;

individualized consideration; intellectual stimulation; The three dimensions of transactional

leadership measured by the MLQ are: contingent reward; management by exception (active);

management by exception (passive).

The functional leadership model conceives leadership as a set of behaviours that helps a group

perform a task, reach their goal, or perform their function. In this model, effective leaders

encourage functional behaviours and discourage dysfunctional ones (Greenleaf 2007). In the

path-goal model of leadership, developed jointly by Martin Evans and Robert House and based

on the “Expectancy Theory of Motivation”, a leader has the function of clearing the path toward

the goal(s) of the group, by meeting the needs of subordinates (Fielder, 2004). Some

commentators use the metaphor of an orchestral conductor to describe the quality of the

leadership process. An effective leader resembles an orchestra conductor in some ways. He/she

has to somehow get a group of potentially diverse and talented people -many of whom have

strong personalities - to work together toward a common output (Petrovsky, 2004). Will the

conductor harness and blend all the gifts his or her players possess? Will the players accept the

degree of creative expression they have? Will the audience enjoy the sound they make? The

conductor may have a clear determining influence independent of the market demand that

exhibits in the number of followers.

30
Current assessments of transformational and transactional leadership commonly make use of the

Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), developed by Bass and Avolio in 1990 and

revised in 1995 (Smith, 2003). It measures five dimensions of transformational leadership:

idealized influence - attributions; idealized influence - behaviours; inspirational motivation;

individualized consideration; intellectual stimulation; The three dimensions of transactional

leadership measured by the MLQ are: contingent reward; management by exception (active);

management by exception (passive).

The functional leadership model conceives leadership as a set of behaviours that helps a group

perform a task, reach their goal, or perform their function. In this model, effective leaders

encourage functional behaviours and discourage dysfunctional ones (Greenleaf 2007)

In the path-goal model of leadership, developed jointly by Martin Evans and Robert House and

based on the “Expectancy Theory of Motivation”, a leader has the function of clearing the path

toward the goal(s) of the group, by meeting the needs of subordinates (Fielder, 2004). Some

commentators use the metaphor of an orchestral conductor to describe the quality of the

leadership process. An effective leader resembles an orchestra conductor in some ways. He/she

has to somehow get a group of potentially diverse and talented people -many of whom have

strong personalities - to work together toward a common output (Petrovsky, 2004). Will the

conductor harness and blend all the gifts his or her players possess? Will the players accept the

degree of creative expression they have? Will the audience enjoy the sound they make? The

conductor may have a clear determining influence on all of these questions.

31
2.2.13 Medium Enterprises (MEs)

There is no universal definition or criterion for MEs as they are context dependent and have

different definitions for different countries (Abe et al. 2012). Medium Enterprises (MEs) are

perceived as the backbone of any country as they are interlinked with almost every facet of

the society and economy. According to Madanchian et al. (2016) MEs is also viewed as the

engine of growth, and catalysts for economic and social transformation in a country. The

contributions of MEs at macro or micro level are the results of successful MEs managed by

effective leaders (Madanchian, Hussein, Noordin, & Taherdoost, 2016b). This is achieved

through leadership behaviours or styles of the MEs’ leaders, who have direct influence on their

organizational performance, competitive edges and successes (Popa, 2012).

2.2.14 Leadership Orientation in Medium-Sized Enterprises within the courier and

logistics industry

According to Avolio et al. (2003), leadership has an important role in the development and

growth of any organization. The reason for this fact is that the leaders of the organization

generally consider all the plans and business decisions, effective and timely decisions

considering by the leadership of the organization can have a wide impression on the crucial

business results.

In relation with Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding, Jacobs, & Fleishman (2000), leadership

becomes more essential when one has to develop and lead adaptive analysis to new or changing

situations. Amagoh, 2009; Chen (2013) pointed out that a successful leadership knowledge

results from the key elements consist of changing attitudes, personnel development, and

improved business and leadership skills. To drive the success of SMEs, good leadership has

been recognized as the key elements (Madanchian et al., 2016b).

32
On the other hand, and due to the fact that all SMEs are more and more showing to a

competitive, dynamic environment full of changes and difficulties, the way they deal with

human resources also changes. Nowadays, people are seen as human capital (Youndt,

Subramaniam, & Snell, 2004), as an essential part of the organization’s success, able to add

more or less value to the organization. But for this to happen, the organization has to

appreciate them and motivate them to demonstrate their capacities and understand how they

can contribute to the firm’s good performance. There must be interaction of behavior, which

the leader must encourage, and its success depends on the style of leadership. Langowitz &

Allen (2010), in a study related to the importance of SME founders, concludes that the

leader is the founder and argues that many SME leaders present proactive behavior.

2.3 Empirical Review of Leadership orientation and Business Sustainability

This study investigates leadership succession and sustainability of small family-owned

businesses in Anambra, South East Nigeria. The study employed the survey research design,

carried out in Onitsha and Nnewi commercial and industrial hubs of Anambra State. The simple

random sampling technique was employed to select sample of 298 registered small business

owners. A five-point Likert structured 6-item questionnaire was adopted for data collection. The

study employed Pearson Product Moment Correlation to determine the relationship between the

dependent and independent variables. Also, the Paired Sample t-test was employed to verify the

existence of statistical evidence proving that the mean difference between the paired

observations in the hypothesis is significantly different from zero. The findings revealed that,

mentoring and human capital development has significant influence on sustainability of small

family owned businesses. The study therefore recommended that, family businesses owners

33
should identify the successor early enough and adopt mentorship as a process to equipping the

successor, who must however willingly show genuine interest and is not coerced into the

business, and adequate time should be devoted for training of chosen successors, in order to

equip them with relevant skills that will make their businesses survive beyond the present

through several generations.

The distinguishing characteristics of SMMEs autonomy is the freedom to take decisions

according to the individual’s preference (Uchenwamgbe, 2013). The owner/manager is a

vital person in the small nosiness context because he or she has to make key decisions on

day-to-day basis that can affect the growth and survival of the business. In doing so, the

leadership style adopted has a telling effect on the direction of the business. Several

leadership styles in SMMEs have been studied by different authors from different

countries. Previous studies by Lawal et al. (2015) found that participating SMMEs

are occasionally autocratic and participative in style. However, they are more autocratic

than participative. The authors concluded that most of the participating firms reported good

business performance with the highest in public image followed by performance stability,

innovativeness and operating efficiency, growth rate, profitability, adaptability, among

others.

Similarly, Mgeni (2015) investigated leadership style by SMMEs in Tanzania, and reported

that overwhelming majority of the respondents used entrepreneurial leadership style. The

study concluded that there is a significant strong positive correlation between entrepreneurial

leadership style and business performance. Franco and Matos (2013) investigated leadership

34
styles in SMMEs and reported that transformational and transactional styles were the

dominant approaches. Obiwuru et al. (2011) studied the effects of leadership style on

organizational performance in small-scale enterprises. They reported that transactional

leadership style had significant positive effect on performance, while transformational

leadership style had positive but insignificant effect on performance. Perrigo (1980) in

Uchenwamgbe (2013) alleges that small business leaders lend to maximize control and

eschew delegation of authority and responsibility, preferring instead to directly carry out or

to supervise most of the daily operations of their organizations themselves. Thus, this type of

leadership aligns with autocratic style.

The further review points at previous works in area of leadership and effectiveness of leadership

orientation with reference to the achievement of business sustainability. To this Ocheni Atakpa

and Nwankwo (2012) carried a research on re-engineering organizational success through

effective leadership. These were his findings; Indispensable to business sustainability, amongst

other determinant variables, is its leadership; The effect of leadership on business sustainability

becomes manifest through the management philosophy obtainable in that work situation. In

other words, the style of leadership at work in a given organization dictates the business

sustainability. Leadership is so pivotal in any organization that good leadership is said to be the

bedrock and sine-qua-non for all organizational growth and sustainability. The contention here is

that there exists interrelationship between the two concepts; leadership and organisational

performance. Where organizational leadership is exemplary in nature, motivational, workers

will discharge duties with zeal and enthusiasm, which will in turn enhance greater organizational

performance. The leadership of any organization should, therefore, ensure a conducive

35
organizational climate that will facilitate optimum organizational performance (Ocheni Atakpa &

Nwankwo, 2012).

Samad and Abdullah, (2012) in their research “The influence of effective leadership styles on

organizational performance of logistic companies” revealed that in recent years, the focus of the

leadership studies have been shifted and accompanied by the acceptance of the distinction

between classical, transactional and transformational leadership. Samad and Abdullah, (2012)

found relationship between classical and transformational leadership styles and organizational

performance. The study also examined the influence of each classical leadership style and each

aspect of transformational leadership style on organizational performance. It further examined

the different effects of classical and transformational leadership styles on organisational

performance. The results found that all of the classical leadership styles and transformational

leadership aspects were positively related to organizational performance.

The study stressed that transformational leadership is the core component of successful

leadership behaviour to influence organizational performance. Past studies found a positive and

significant relationship between transformational leadership style and followers’ commitment,

satisfaction and organizational performance (Samad, and Abdullah, 2012)

Leadership style is the pattern of behaviours engaged in by the leader when dealing with

employees. Oldham and Blanchard, (2006) identified three leadership styles which are

autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire. Autocratic leadership style involve the leader making all

the decisions, wielding absolute power, assigning tasks to members of the group and maintaining

a master-servant relationship with members of the group. On the other hand, democratic

leadership style involves the use of consultative approach, encourages group participation in

36
decision making and maintaining a master-master relationship with group members. The laissez-

faire leadership style involves non-interference policy, allows complete freedom to all workers

and has no particular way of attaining goals. However, there is no one best style of leadership.

The performance of a particular style is dependent on the organizational situation (Omolayo,

2004). In a related study, Pilip et al, (2006) evaluates the various forms of biases that may occur

when employees are faced with the task of evaluating their superiors in leadership position based

on the style and qualities of leadership. The authors chose two major style-Transactional and

Transformational leadership styles for the purpose of evaluation. They consider transactional

leader to be promoters of change, elicit performance beyond expectations by instilling pride,

communicating personal respect, facilitating creative thinking, and providing inspiration.

In transactional leadership, leader-follower relationships are based on a series of exchanges or

bargains between leaders and followers. According to Omolayo, (2007) these leaders can be

effective to the extent that they clarify expectations and goals, but they generally neglect to focus

on developing the long-term potential of followers.

Transactional Leaders can transact with followers by rewarding effort contractually, telling them

what to do to gain rewards, punishing undesired action, and giving extra feedback and

promotions for good work. Transformational leaders move beyond this simple exchange as on

processes (Eugene, 2001). They set challenging expectations and enable others to achieve higher

levels of performance. Transformational leadership comprises four distinct factors: charisma,

inspiration, individual consideration and intellectual stimulation.

37
Omolayo, (2007) investigated the effect of leadership style on job-related tension and

psychological sense of community in work organizations. He described leadership style the

pattern of behaviours engaged in by the leader when dealing with employees. Relying the

definition given by Drawling and Sayles, (2004) the author envisage work stress as the harmful

physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of a job do not match the

capabilities, resources or needs of the work.

Work stress is the feeling of tension, discomfort, uncertainty, indecisiveness and distress that a

worker experiences as a result of the social and physical circumstances of the work setting.

Chaudhury and Holbrook, (2001) further opined that Leaders can reduce these stress by

providing direction and support for their employees, and this makes style of leadership very

important in organizations. In the work environment, people work and relate as group thereby

creating an impression of a community through sharing of ideas, solving problems and

participating in Psychological activities of community. He is of the opinion that the style of

leadership could enhance the psychological wellbeing of the work community thereby relieving

work related stress of community members.

Greenleaf (2007) studied culture within organizations. Part of his study was on the dependence

relationship or Power Difference - the extent to which the less powerful members of an

organization expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. He described some factors

that influence managerial style to be used as follows: How much time is available, are

relationship based on respect and trust or disrespect, who has the information - the boss or

subordinates or both, how well employees are trained and how well are leaders knowledgeable,

38
what are the laws or established procedures such as training plans, type of task - is it structured,

unstructured, complicated or simple, stress levels and internal conflicts (Omolayo, 2007).

A good leader uses all three styles depending on what forces are involved between the followers,

the leader and the situation; For instance, using an authoritarian style on a new employee who is

just learning the job (Chaudhury and Holbrook, 2001). The leader is competent and a good

coach. The employee is motivated to learn a new skill. The situation is a new environment for

the employee, using a participative style with a team of workers who know their job and want to

become part of the team (Bass and Avolio, 1994). The leader knows the problem but does not

have all the information, using a delegate style with a worker who knows more about the job

than the leader. The leader cannot do everything and the worker has to take ownership of her

job. Also, the situation might be that the leader is attending to another call (Bass, 2006). Using

all three: a leader informing her subordinates that a procedure is not working correctly and a new

one must be established (authoritarian), asking for their ideas and input on creating a new

procedure (participative) and delegating tasks in order to implement the new procedure

(Chaudhury and Holbrook, 2001). Odham and Blanchard (2006) also found that employees

produced more creative work when they were supervised in a supportive, non-controlling

manner. Besides, there are various research findings in the literature investigating the

relationship between particular leadership styles such as transformational leadership and

organization's innovative orientation. Transformational leadership is typified as being consisted

of four unique but inter-related behavioural components: inspirational motivation (articulating an

appealing and/or evocative vision), intellectual stimulation (promoting creativity and

innovation), idealized influence (charismatic role modelling), and individualized consideration

(coaching and mentoring) (Bass, 2006).

39
According to Burns, (2001) the transformational leader recognizes and exploits an existing need

or demand of a potential follower. Such a leader looks for potential motives in followers, seeks

to satisfy higher needs, and engages the full person of the follower. The result of

transformational leadership is a relationship of mutual stimulation and elevation that converts

followers into leaders and may convert leaders into moral agents. Bass, (2006) describes

Transformational leadership as a leadership that transforms people and organizations in their

values, standards, goals, needs and ethics. Transformational leaders use outstanding influence in

order to move and motivate others to accomplish tasks beyond personal and organizational

norms.

According to Chaudhury and Holbrook (2001), transformational leaders influence change in

attitudes and assumptions in order to build commitment for company and organizational goals.

Therefore, transformational leadership is a shared and cooperative process among organizational

members. Managers on all levels of every type of organization can exhibit a transformational

leadership style in times when considerable change is needed. Empirical evidence, however,

indicates that managers on lower levels of organizations have transformational leadership, more

so than higher levels of management.

The third transformational leadership dimension is intellectual stimulation, which refers to

leaders who challenge organizational norms, encourage divergent thinking, and who push

followers to develop innovative strategies. Individual consideration, the fourth transformational

leadership dimension, refers to leader behaviours aimed at recognizing the unique growth and

developmental needs of followers as well as coaching followers and consulting with them.

40
Finally, Ogunola, Kalejaiye and Abrifor (2013) postulated that organizations need highly

performing individuals in order to meet their goals, to deliver the products and services they

specialize in, and finally to achieve competitive advantage. Organisational performance is also

important for the individual employee. Accomplishing tasks and performing at a high level can

be a source of satisfaction, with feelings of mastery and pride. Low performance and not

achieving the goals might be experienced as dissatisfying or even as a personal failure.

Moreover, performance -if recognized by others within the organization—are often rewarded by

financial and other benefits. Performance is a major—although not the only—prerequisite for

future career development and success in the labour market. Although there might be exceptions,

high performers get promoted more easily within an organization and generally have better

career opportunities than low per-formers. Job performance and performance consist of the

observable behaviours that people do in their jobs that are relevant to the goals of the

organization and that can be scaled (measured) in terms of each individual‘s proficiency (that is,

level of contribution).

The empirical studies have strongly put an emphasis that leadership is one of the most important

factors for organisational effectiveness and success. Research on organisational behavioural

aspects has been a focus of studies by scholars for the past few decades. The wide research done

by scholars on this topic is due to its positive organisational outcomes in both tangible and

intangible aspects, especially on organisational performance. This includes effectiveness both on

employee and customer satisfaction resulting to improvements in a firm's economic returns.

Market share and profitability changes in business environment and globalization have forced

most Organisations to re-evaluate their competitive strategy to gain competitive advantage in the

global market (Ocheni et al, 2012). By adopting the appropriate leadership styles, leaders can

41
affect employee job satisfaction, commitment and improved organisational performance (Voon,

Lo, Ngui & Ayob, 2011).

2.4 Conceptual Model:

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Leadership Orientation Business Sustainability

Shareholders Management
Delegation
Profitability

Intellectual flexibility Market share

Corporate Gobvernance
Empathy

Social Responsibility
Worker Participation

Planning and decision Self-Reliant Team

Making

Developed by Ayanbanjo Oluwafemi (2020) for this study.

2.5 Gap in Literature

The review identified types or styles of leadership orientations and their importance to the

business sustainability in organisation and in social settings. However, no significant relationship

of these leadership styles have been fully established and their impact on modern day business

performance. This gap will be bridged in the course of this work.

Further, autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire are part of the types of leadership. Autocratic

leadership style involve the leader making all the decisions, wielding absolute power, assigning

tasks to members of the group and maintaining a master-servant relationship with members of

42
the group. On the other hand, democratic leadership style involves the use of consultative

approach, encourages group participation in decision making and maintaining a master-master

relationship with group members. The laissez-faire leadership style involves non-interference

policy, allows complete freedom to all workers and has no particular way of attaining goals.

However, there is no one best style of leadership. The effective performance of a particular style

is dependent on the organizational situation (Omolayo, 2004). In a related study, Pilip et al,

(2006) evaluates the various forms of biases that may occur when employees are faced with the

task of evaluating their superiors in leadership position based on the style and qualities of

leadership. The authors chose two major style-Transactional and Transformational leadership

styles for the purpose of evaluation. They consider transactional leader to be promoters of

change, elicit performance beyond expectations by instilling pride, communicating personal

respect, facilitating creative thinking, and providing inspiration. In transactional leadership,

leader-follower relationships are based on a series of exchanges or bargains between leaders and

followers.

It is necessary to state that the effect of effective leadership and its impact on the achievement of

organisational goals and objectives has acknowledged, according to the literature reviewed. In

spite of this, companies and many establishments still fold up unexpectedly even in Nigerian

organisations.

In sum up, in the current business environment, besides factors such as finance, strategy and

innovation, it becomes important to find out about SMEs’ leaders, due to the increasing need to

understand the road to success and the process of creating sustainable competitive

advantages, in other words, SMEs must manage to find and adopt strategies that allow them to

43
overcome their challenges (Madanchian et al., 2016b). Based on the literature reviewed in this

paper on leadership practices in SMEs, it has showed that to enhance the organizational

perfor manceorganisational performance, the leadership behaviours play a significant role in

SMEs. Conversely, theConversely, resultsthe results are different and questionable and for

that reason more efforts is needed in relation to business sustainability to understand of the role of

leadership orientation in SMEs.

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 Font Type should be Cambria Headings for all Chapter Titles, Section
Headings and Sub-section Headings
 Font Type should be Times New Roman (for the body of your work)
 Font Size for Main Headings/Titles should be 14
 Font Size for sub-headings/titles should be 13
 Font size and type for the body of your work should be 12 and Times New
Roman respectively
 You must double space your work (2.0 spacing for the main body of your work
and 1.15 for tables)
 Align your work properly (justify)
 Some of your sentences are disjointed so you need to read through chapter
by chapter to ensure that your work is well arranged
 Use British spelling all through your writing i.e. 's' instead of 'z'
 Capitalise the beginning of each word in Main Headings/Titles e.g Focus
Group Interviews
 Capitalise the beginning of each word in your sub-headings/titles e.g Focus
Group Interviews

44
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51
 CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODS

3.1 Preamble
This chapter is concerned with the research design, population, sample size and sampling

technique used in the study. It includes instrument used to collect the data, methods of data

analysis to maintain validity and reliability of the instrument.

3.2 Research Design

The research design adopted for this study was the survey method. The choice of the survey
method was informed by its applicability for collecting standardized data that allows the
researcher to create information for precisely answering the how, who, what, where, and when
questions concerning the subject matter of the research. Besides, the data structures created,
survey methods could increase the ability to make generalized inferences about the defined target
population (Adedayo, 2006).

3.3 Population of the Study

Population is the total membership or population or “universe” of a defined class of people,

objects or events (Asika, 2006). The target population comprised the members of staff of courier

and logistics. The population of the medium enterprises (MEs) in Lagos is 619 according to

SMEDAN report 2018. However, in the courier and logistics subsector, there were about 230

operators (SMEDAN report, 2018).

3.4 Sampling, Procedure and Sample Size

One hundred and forty (146) respondents will be selected. Simple random sampling technique

will be used to select samples from the population. Since there are data on Medium Enterprises

in Lagos, the study make use of the simple random sampling to arrive at the data for the study.

52
Yarmane Formula for determining sample size was adopted. The justification of his formula was
done since Ajuwon, et al (2018) noted that for a survey based on random sample, the sample size
required could be determined withdetermined with the use of Taro Yamene (1973) formula as
follows;
N
n= 2
1+ N (2)
Where:
n = Sample size
N = Population 330 is the population of the study
1 = a constant
e = degree of error expected
Therefore, substituting values:
230
n= 2
1+ 230(0.05)
230
=
1+ 230(0.0025)
230
=
1+ 0.575
230
=
1.575
= 146
Thus, the sample size for this study is 146. The questionnaire administration procedure sought
the consent of the respondents.

3.5 Data Collection Instrument and Validation

The collected data will be sourced primarily from the population through a structured

questionnaire that was divided into two sections using five point Likert scale. That is Section A

and Section B. Section A deals with personal matters and section B deals with the subject matter.

The project will be presented to the supervisor for content and face validity.

3.6 Method of Data Analysis

53
An analysis of respondent’s characteristics was made in order to enhance proper analysis of the

questionnaire. Since the project engaged the use of questionnaire, the data generated was collated

and presented using percentages and tables in order to ease the stress of analysis and ensure

accuracy. Linear regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses to show the relationship of

the variables.

3.7 Model Specification

Regression formula is y=f(x)

X= Leadership Orientation

Y= Business Sustainability

X1= delegation

X2= Intellectual Flexibility

X3= Empathy

X4=Worker Participation

X5= Planning and decision making

Y1= Shareholders Management

Y2= Profitability

Y3= Market share

Y4= Corporate Governance

Y5= Social Responsibility

Y6=Self-Reliant Team

3.8 Pilot Survey assessment Assessment of Reliability and Validity

The face and content validation of the construct of the questionnaire was established by means of

approval and modification of items by the supervisor for professional appraisal. The modified

54
items eventually constituted the retention of the instrument. Also, the questionnaire was

presented to the some experts who specialized in business management and administration and to

the managers or business leaders among the SMEs. Afterwards, their suggestions were effected

in order to better preserve the validity of the items in the questionnaire. Most of the questions

involved the evaluation of some sentences on 1 to 5Likert-scale.The reliability of the

questionnaire was established through pilot testing of instrument using Cronbach’s Apha

reliability method. In pilot study, 20 personnel were administered that had copies of the

questionnaire with the first and second administration spanned two weeks interval.

Consequently, the pilot –testing on the instrument will be carried out to some companies that are

not part of the study. The dimensions of leadership orientation are: delegation, intellectual

flexibility, Empathy, Worker participation, Planning and decision making and the dependent

variable is the Business sustainability.

The completed questionnaire will be used to obtain the statistical measure of the construct

validity of the variables.

Cronbach Alpha Test:

Variables Scores

Delegation 0.81

Intellectual Flexibility 0.75

Empathy 0.70
Worker Participation 0.77
Planning and Decision 0.72
making
Business 0.85
Sustainability.
SPSS Output

55
3.9 Limitation of the Methodology
There are usually some form of scepticism and suspicion of what the instrument is about and

how it may affect personal lives and company policy. It is was not easy to get workers to

carefully complete the questionnaire as expected.

56
 References
Adedayo, O. A. (2006). Understanding Statistics, Lagos, JAS publications
Asika, N. (2006). Research Methodology in the Behavioural Sciences; Lagos, Revised Edition,
Longman Nigeria Plc.
Yamane, T., ( 1973). Statistics: An Introductory Analysis. 3rd Edn., Harper and Row
Publishers Inc., New York, ISBN-13: 9780060473136, Pages: 1130.

57
 AYANBANJO OLUWAFEMI
M.Sc Management

Department of Business Administration,

Faculty of Management Sciences

Lagos

Dear Respondent,

LETTER OF INTRODUCTION

I am a management student in the department of Business Administration, Faculty of

Management Sciences, University of Lagos. I am in the process of carrying out a research work
titled “Leadership orientation and business sustainability: The Perspective of Employee in
Medium-Sized Enterprises within the courier and logistics industry in Lagos, Nigeria.”

I hereby request your kind assistance to give valid responses to all questions asked as this was
designed to aid a research study in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of Master
of Science (M.Sc.) in Management..Management.

Please be fully assured that all information given below is purely for academic purpose and will
be treated with the strictest confidentiality.

Thank you for your kind cooperation.

Yours Sincerely,

Ayanbanjo Oluwafemi

58
 QUESTIONNAIRE
Leadership orientation and business sustainability: The Perspective of Employee in
Medium-Sized Enterprises within the courier and logistics industry in Lagos, Nigeria

Kindly complete this questionnaire by ticking (V) in the box representing your response to each
question/statement.
SECTION A: BIODATA
1. Gender: Male [ ] Female [ ]
2. Age: Under 20 years [ ] 21-under 25 years [ ] 26-under 30 years [ ]
30-under 35 years [ ] 35 years and above [ ]
3. Marital Status: Single [ ] Married [ ] Divorce [ ]
4. What is your higher education qualification: WASC/TCII [ ] NCE/ND [ ]
HND/B.Sc. / BA/B. Ed [ ] MBA/M.A/M. Ed/M.Sc. [ ]
PHD [ ] Others [ ]
5. What is your length of service: Below 1 year [ ]
1-5 years [ ]
6-10 years [ ]
11 years and above [ ]
6. What is your position in the organisation
Top Level [ ]
Middle Level [ ]
Supervisory Level [ ]
Junior Staff [ ]

59
 SECTION B RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Instruction: Kindly complete this questionnaire by ticking (√) in the box representing your
response to each question/statement.
‘SA= STRONGLY AGREE’; ‘A= AGREE’; ‘U= UNDECICED’; ‘D= DISAGRE’;
‘SD= STRONGLY DISAGREE’.
A Delegation (Del Q) SA A U D SD
5 4 3 2 1
A DELEGATION SD D U A SA
1 2 3 4 5
7 My manager clearly defines the role to be done.

8 My manager clearly defines responsibilities and

accountability procedures.

9 My manager usually develops clear role descriptions

or work assignments
in writing.
10 My manger develops clear time lines and set
deadlines.
11 My manager trains thoroughly before giving the role.

12 My manager discusses new assignments with the

volunteers.
13 My manager keeps in touch informally to access
progress.
14 My manager establishes routine reporting system.

B Intellectual Flexibility SA A U D SD
5 4 3 2 1
15 My manager is focused towards the achievement of set
objectives

My manager embraces and cut through any confusion

16
till the goal is achieved

17 My manager is opened to possibilities

18 My manager encourages creativity, production and

innovation in self and others

60
19 My manager learns quickly and encourage others along
the way

20 My manager gives direction to others as policies and

circumstances change

C Empathy for workers Workers (EQ) SA A U D SD

5 4 3 2 1
21 My manager tries to see things from other people’s
points of view

22 When my manager don't understand someone's point of

view, they ask questions to learn more

23 When my manager disagree with others, it's hard for

them to understand their perspective.

24 My manager considers people's circumstances when

they talking with them

25 My manager tries to imagine how they would feel in

someone else's situation

26 When someone is upset, my manager tries to remember

a time when they felt the same way

D Worker participation Participation (WPQ) SA A U D SD

5 4 3 2 1
27 There is increase in commitment and resistance to
change has reduced

28 My manager’s attitude towards productivity and

attainment of corporate goals has changed for good.

29 There is increase in employee commitment and

acceptance

30 My managers maximize view points and diversity of

perspectives.

61
E Planning and decision Decision making Making SA A U D SD
(PDMQ) 5 4 3 2 1

31 My manager likes to consider all the alternatives.

32 My manager considers how best to carry out the

decision

33 My manager does not like to take responsibility for

making decisions.

34 My manager tries to be clear about my objectives

before choosing

35 My manager take satakes a lot of care before choosing.

F Business Sustainability(BSQ) SA A U D SD
5 4 3 2 1
36 My company maintain the interest of the stakeholders

37 We are making profit

38 There is continuous increase in market share

39 Our employee have high ethical standards

40 We have self reliantself-reliant team responsible for

creativity and innovation

41 Our product and services are of high quality

42. Are there any other comments you wish to make?

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

62
References

Empathy Formative Questionnaire Technical Report (EQ)

Filipe, L, Alvarez, M. Roberto, M.S. Ferreira, J.A. (2020). Validation and invariance across age
and gender for the Melbourne decision making Questionnaire in a sample of Portuguese
adults, Judgment and decision making, 15 (1), 135-148

http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5295fdb1e4b0d73103364931/t/
57b9ccf459cc6886da078889/1471794420767/Intellectual_Flexibility.pdf

http://www.researchcollaboration.org/uploads/EmpathyQuestionnaireInfo.pdf

https://oa-bsa.org/sites/default/files/training-documents/Delegation_The-Art-of-
Delegation_Questionnaires.pdf

https://oa-bsa.org/sites/default/files/training-documents/Delegation_The-Art-of-
Delegation_Questionnaires.pdf

John P. Dennis and Jillon S. Vander Wal, (2010). The Cognitive Flexibility
Inventory: Instrument Development and Estimates of Reliability and
Validity, Cognitive Therapy & Research, 34, (3), 241-253

63