Introduction
1.1 Background to the Study
Leadership is commonly seen as an important variable affecting organizational performance. In organizations of any size, it is likely that organizational performance should be related to the aggregate effects of leaders at different hierarchical levels (Ibid). An understanding of the interplay between leadership, organizational culture and organizational performance is an important factor for developing effective organizations. Firms operate in a highly volatile and tense environment where appropriate leadership styles worth of leading the organization and adjusting with the changes made for the achievement of the organizational goals. Determining ways to optimize the performance of people and hence, the organization has been and continues to be a major concern for organizational leaders. In modern service-based, knowledge economy, many companies are beginning to shift away from traditional models of management developed for production-oriented firms thereby requires a broader range of leadership skills and styles that are adaptive to diversity and to dramatic, often discontinuous changes in the work environment. A proactive organizational leader influences the employees to contribute efforts towards the accomplishment of goals and objectives of the organization (Ibid).
Leadership is critical to the transformation of a business organization because it gives a positive direction to the use of human and capital resources in achieving the objectives of the firm. A leader is a person who influences, directs, and motivates others to perform specific tasks and also inspire his subordinates for efficient performance towards the accomplishment of the state corporate objectives. Leadership is the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people[1]. Leadership focuses on the development of followers and their needs. Managers exercising transformational leadership style focus on the development of value system of employees, their motivational level and moralities with the development of their skills[2]. The difficulty in studying concepts such as leadership, organizational performance, and the interrelations between the two constructs, is that these terms are hard to define, describe, and to measure systematically. The disagreement among theorists concerning the definitions of these variables has led to further controversy about research design and instrumentation and to worsen this situation, there appears to be few gains being made to improve our understanding of these important concepts.
Leadership is the relationship that exists between an individual and a group which is built around some common interests wherein the group behaves in a manner directed or determined by the leader. Leadership formulates the company’s business strategy and builds its resources, including its people, finances and operations. An organization can achieve a competitive advantage by creating a knowledgeable platform of business processes. [3]stated that employees must imbibe the organizational culture so that the top management should provide a precise blue print and direction in motivating the employees in the right platform in order to achieve the organizational goals. A good quality demonstrated by leaders help to develop skills that embrace every aspect of culture in order to enhance the performance of the organizations[4].
In addition, sees performance in the organization as the ability to acquire and utilize its limited resources in the pursuance of the organizational goals. The culture of an organization has a great impact on the performance of the organizations and added value to the employees of the organization. The incentives for knowledge sharing and creating an atmosphere which is beneficial for successful knowledge management systems have designed the analytical evaluation factors in the implementation of knowledge management systems. Based on this background, this study evaluates the relationship between leadership and organizational performance in Nigerian business organizations.
1.2 Statement of Problem
Leadership is an essential asset of every organization, as it points the direction of the organization and show the way forward. Several organizations have struggled with performance and meeting its obligation owing to poor or ineffective leadership. The attendant difficulty facing organization in their pursuit of organizational goals gives birth to this research work so as to bridge the gap between leaders in an organization and their roles in enhancing better organizational performance. The complex business environment makes the customer’s demands quality service rendering, flexibility, and speed are concerned, putting as a result the emphasis on improving customer services. The increasingly competitive marketplace brings about innovation concerns and the exploitation of business opportunities in achieving a successful business goal in the immediate future.
However, leadership is an essential asset of every organization, as it points the direction of the organization and show the way forward. However, individuals belong to an organization to achieve some personal objectives[i]. However, the concept of leadership style has helped to elucidate relevant organizational questions on leadership, satisfaction, ethics, motivation, performance, and turnover.
Prior studies had been conducted on the area of leadership style and organizational performance in Nigeria[ii]. Several organizations have struggled with performance and meeting its obligation owing to poor or ineffective leadership. The attendant difficulty facing organization in their pursuit of organizational goals gives birth to this research work so as to bridge the gap between leaders in an organization and a good organizational culture in enhancing better organizational performance. A single research work will not be enough to evaluate leadership impact upon organizational performance.
1.3 Aims and Objectives of the Study
The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between leadership and organizational performance in seven up bottling company in Nigeria.
The specific objectives are to:
- Examine the relationship between participative leadership and organizational performance.
- Examine the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational performance.
- Examine the relationship between transactional leadership and organizational performance.
- Examine the relationship between laissez-faire leadership and organizational performance.
1.4 Significance of the Study
The study will be of great importance to organizational leaders, captains of industries and potential leaders by equipping them with requisite knowledge of leadership in enhancing the performance of the organizations. Organizational success depends on the organization’s ability to diagnose and understand situational factors in the environment and adopt organizational processes and structure that will enhance its performance. It will also reflect on the relationship between individual leaders and their subordinates and how such relationship has affected their job performances and the growth of the organization.
Business administrators will gain knowledgeable insight into leadership quality in order to have the ability to adjust to situations and have self-control of their leadership traits. It exposes them to some good administrative skills especially in the area of staff welfare and identifies the possible problems militating against the performance of these activities and proffer solutions that will eradicate these lapses so that there will be growth and development of the organization. This research work will also add to the body of knowledge available on the subject been examined and serve as a basis for further academic research and investigation for stakeholder to rely on
1.5 Scope of the Study
This study is to evaluate leadership and organizational performance in Nigeria. The scope of the study cut across the total number of employees of Seven Up Bottling Company located in Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State for the period of 2017. A purposive sampling technique will be used in sampling the respondents for the given study
1.6 Methodology
The methodology adopted in the collection, analysis and interpretation of the data collected for the study is hereby outlined. It attempts to provide a detailed analysis of the research design, population and sampling technique, operationalization and measurement of variables, sources of data collection and method of data analysis.
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