Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
By
April 2011
Supervisor
Dr LADOJA
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
I consider this thesis as a good way of enhancing my own learning about this
specific area of Strategic leadership. Moreover, it is a first step in the
specialization process in preparation for my future career. Leadership style
and complexity are current issues in today’s business research area so I
found it interesting to put those two concepts in relation and confront it to a
real business example. The MBA thesis seems an excellent opportunity to
assess in depth of this issue on leadership in complexity. With my thesis
work I aimed at deepening my understanding of the phenomenon of
leadership. As I have contemplated leadership thoroughly two years at
university now and moreover having concerned myself with Business
Administration and management already a number of years before, this gave
me a huge variety of insights of theories and different concepts about
leadership and management.
I consider this academic background as highly valuable, however, this
project was the possibility for me to enrich as well as challenge my mainly
theoretically shaped understanding through practical insights. In this sense,
the thesis was a great opportunity to gain deeper understanding of
leadership, from a different perspective. I suppose that this has contributed
to a more holistic view on leadership and thus might be helpful for my
aspirations of becoming a leader. Anyway, I am sure that conceptualizing,
researching, interpreting and writing this thesis has already been beneficial
for my personal developments, as student and as human.
However, besides from the influences the thesis project had on me, it has a
purpose for people outside my sphere as well, I assume. Although I am
aware that I create subjective knowledge here, I think that it is also of value
for others, as I want to share my understanding with the reader. With this
work I want to contribute to the existing perception of leadership by adding
a different notion to prevailing literature and discourse in this field. My aim
in this regard was to contemplate leadership from an alternative angle, since
I suppose that the understanding of leadership has to be reinterpreted in
order to fit to the contemporary Western context. In this sense, I see my
thesis all and foremost as an awareness medium, meant to increase
consciousness about the importance of certain complex and difficult to grasp
concepts, in connection with leadership and people in general. In brief, I aim
at enhancing awareness about aspects of leadership that have not been
addressed a lot so far. Therefore, I chose a title for my thesis which is rather
unconventional in business discourse, as I see it. Thus I want to challenge
the reader’s view and inspire her or him to think right from the first contact
with my paper
1.3 Research questions
Leadership styles have evolved throughout the time and today, leaders
cannot implement change in the current business context exclusively
through imposing their decisions without considering the importance of the
environment and the impact on people within organizations.
The world economic crisis has been a breakthrough and has changed many
ways of considering doing business responsibly. Thus, the new environment
is constantly evolving on a non-linear basis due to many different factors
such as technology, versatile consumers, world markets... For that matter, I
am optimistic in thinking that highlighting how leaders proceed in the
implementation of change, would be of great use for future research. In
addition to all the above, I would be glad if this thesis research would
contribute as an added value to the business world fellow researchers,
practitioners, future managers, etc…
GENDER
Women are now considered to have the right to compete with their male
counterparts on an even basis and many companies already show a much
more representative workforce in terms of gender, also in the senior
managerial and leadership ranks. The process also enjoyed considerable
attention in Etisalat Nigeria.
Men and women are reported to be equal in terms of memory, learning
ability, creativity, reasoning ability, and intelligence (Ragins, Townsend and
Mattis, 1998: 28-42), but because men and women are treated
differently, gender differences might impact on social and value related
studies. Due to the impact of religion and culture on gender role
stereotypes (i.e. men are breadwinners and women take care of the
household) researchers may also be biased in terms of assumptions,
stereotyping and prejudice concerning gender groups Gibson, Ivancevich &
Donnely (2000) confirm that there is no evidence that men are better job
performers than women or vice versa. However, this does not mean that
the two groups are equal in terms of worldviews and value orientation
and still need to be respected and valued for their differences in this
regard. This study focuses on those variables influencing effective
Leadership behavior and, if differences in work-related value orientation do
exist between gender groups, these differences may also have an impact on
the way leaders prefer to influence follower behavior. Differences as such
are not what are important for this study - the researcher is rather
interested in how these differences influence the effectiveness of follower
performance and satisfaction.
The question as to whether gender differences do account for differences
in
leadership styles and behaviours has occupied the attention of
many
researchers over the past few decades (Hennig & Jardin, 1977; Sargent,
1981; Nieva & Gutek, 1981; Hall, 1984; Eagly, 1987; Eagly & Johnson,
2000).
Leadership findings generated in experimental settings established
leadership
styles to be gender stereotypic (Eagly et al, 2000:56). These findings concur
with the generalizations that male and female leaders often differ
in
experimental settings (Brown, 1979; Hollander, 1985). Women’s
leadership
styles were found to be more democratic than those of men, even
in
organizational settings. Eagle et al (2000: 56) ascribe these differences
to
underlying differences in female and male personalities or skills or
other
subtle differences in the status of men and women who occupy
similar
organizational roles.
Leadership-based research (Bass et al, 1994) has firmly established the fact
that leadership styles differ in terms of follower effectiveness. These
researchers indicate that higher levels of participation and both leader
and follower involvement lead to higher levels of follower performance,
satisfaction with the style, and extra effort. The opposite was found to be
true for those leaders following a transactional and autocratic approach. This
can easily lead to a belief that women, being more democratic than men, are
more effective in influencing the performance of followers. However,
whether men or women are more effective leaders as a consequence of
their differing styles is a
complex question. Even though in recent years many behavioral consultants
and theorists have criticized traditional management practices for being
overly
hierarchical and bureaucratic (Peters & Waterman, 1982; Bass, 1990;
Handy,
1991), Eagle et al (2000) remain unwilling to argue that women’s
relatively
democratic and participative style is either an advantage or
disadvantage.
This unwillingness stems mainly from the numerous barriers being faced
when doing leadership investigations, i.e. the fact that the environments
in
which managers carry out their roles are diverse, even within the
same
organisation. Kent & Moss (2000: 45) argue that, while past research
has
consistently shown that men more often emerge as leaders than
women,
some of the barriers in terms of social acceptance that prevented women
from
emerging as leaders are indeed coming down. In fact, the results from the
study of Kent et al (2000) show those women are slightly more likely to
emerge as leaders than men. Whether men or women who do emerge as
leaders are more effective in terms of follower behavior remains an issue
for further debate and research.
AGE
Leader behavior is shaped and formed, amongst other forces, through
learning from firstly, the resultant behavior of followers, secondly, formal
leadership development and thirdly, observing the behavior of other
significant leaders. This process takes place over time, implying that
age could be regarded as another independent variable which may
have an influence on leadership research results. There seems to be a
firmly held expectation that leadership experience leads to more
effective leadership (Fiedler, 2000: 147).
Similarly, time (and therefore age) seems to have the same influence on the
forming of values and organizational culture. Hofstede (1980: 345) found
that differences in values among respondents of different ages may be
due to what he refers to as “maturation” and “zeitgeist”. Maturation refers
to the fact that respondents’ values shift as they grow older. Certain shifts
are due only to the aging of respondents. Zeitgeist effects occur when
drastic changes in conditions cause everyone’s values to shift, regardless of
age. “Generation” is also used as a term indicating that certain values are
fixed in the youth and then stay with their age cohort over its lifetime
(Hofstede, 1980: 345).
LANGUAGE
Arguably the most important element of effective leadership behavior is the
ability to verbally communicate with those being led. Most evidence
suggests that leadership in essence is a relationship that exists between
two or more people in a social setting (Stogdill, 2000: 30). Through
communication, amongst other factors, the leader influences the behavior
(performance) of followers. Transformational leadership requires leaders
to continuously interact with and inspire followers to higher levels of
performance.
RELIGION
EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
Hofstede (1980: 345) points out that seniority and age effects are not easy
to separate. His research results indicate that seniority and age are
correlated across individuals between .52 and .76 with a median of .61. The
values of both senior and older people were found to be more stable than
those of junior and younger employees.
POPULATION GROUP
ethnic group is then defined as “…a large number of people who, as a result
of their shared cultural traits and high level of mutual interaction, come
to
regard themselves, and to be regarded, as a cultural unity” (Robertson,
1981:282).
When doing culture-sensitive research one should always recognize the fact
that it is not always possible to study certain ethnic issues objectively as
different cultures represent different conflicts in values. Sohng (1994)
proposes four principles for conducting culture sensitive research:
NUISANCE VARIABLES
CONCLUSION
As stated earlier, when analyzing the nature of leadership behaviors and the
factors influencing these behaviors in a Telecommunication context, one
continuously has to bear in mind that “Etisalat” is not just different to
“Western Telecommunication company”, but that the term in itself
represents a huge variety of cultural groups. In addition, the fact that the
Nigerian population also includes a significant Western element cannot
merely be ignored. It is widely accepted that the country should
continuously seek to move towards a society characterized by ethno
relativism where the potential and value in terms of organizational
performance of all groups and cultures are regarded as inherently equal.
1.52 justification of the study
I consider this thesis as a good way of enhancing my own learning about this
specific area of Strategic leadership. Moreover, it is a first step in the
specialization process in preparation for my future career. Leadership style
and complexity are current issues in today’s business research area so I
found it interesting to put those two concepts in relation and confront it to a
real business example. The MBA thesis seems an excellent opportunity to
assess in depth of this issue on leadership in complexity. With my thesis
work I aimed at deepening my understanding of the phenomenon of
leadership. As I have contemplated leadership thoroughly two years at
university now and moreover having concerned myself with Business
Administration and management already a number of years before, this gave
me a huge variety of insights of theories and different concepts about
leadership and management.
I consider this academic background as highly valuable, however, this
project was the possibility for me to enrich as well as challenge my mainly
theoretically shaped understanding through practical insights. In this sense,
the thesis was a great opportunity to gain deeper understanding of
leadership, from a different perspective. I suppose that this has contributed
to a more holistic view on leadership and thus might be helpful for my
aspirations of becoming a leader. Anyway, I am sure that conceptualizing,
researching, interpreting and writing this thesis has already been beneficial
for my personal developments, as student and as human.
However, besides from the influences the thesis project had on me, it has a
purpose for people outside my sphere as well, I assume. Although I am
aware that I create subjective knowledge here, I think that it is also of value
for others, as I want to share my understanding with the reader. With this
work I want to contribute to the existing perception of leadership by adding
a different notion to prevailing literature and discourse in this field. My aim
in this regard was to contemplate leadership from an alternative angle, since
I suppose that the understanding of leadership has to be reinterpreted in
order to fit to the contemporary Western context. In this sense, I see my
thesis all and foremost as an awareness medium, meant to increase
consciousness about the importance of certain complex and difficult to grasp
concepts, in connection with leadership and people in general. In brief, I aim
at enhancing awareness about aspects of leadership that have not been
addressed a lot so far. Therefore, I chose a title for my thesis which is rather
unconventional in business discourse, as I see it. Thus I want to challenge
the reader’s view and inspire her or him to think right from the first contact
with my paper
Leadership: the word leadership does not have a single definition because
the meaning could often be affected by what it intends to cover. Taffinder
(2006) gave the following as definitions of leadership:“a simple meaning: “a
simple meaning: leadership is getting people to do things they have never
thought of doing, do not believe are possible or that they do not want to do”.
With reference to an organization, he defined leadership as “the action of
committing employees to contribute their best to the purpose of the
organization”. While on a complex and more accurate view, he explains that
you only know leadership by its consequences – from the fact that
individuals or a group of people start to behave in a particular way as a
result of the actions of someone else”
organizations.
Intranets.
Chapter 3
3.0 Research Methodology
In studies of this nature, coherent and logical arrangement of materials is
very vital. This chapter handles how data is collected for this study.
To buttress the initial statement, this chapter deals with the description of
procedure adopted in carrying out the study. It describes the research
design, source of data, instruments for data collection, establishment of
research questions, population for the study, sampling and sampling
technique, sample size and technique of data analysis.
The research design embodies the blue print for the collection, measurement
and analysis of data related to the research questions. Thus, the
methodology used for the collection of data is mainly survey method based
on secondary and primary sources of data collection
Source of Data
The data used for this study was obtained from different sources. This
ranged from questionnaires, personal interviews, observations and library
search. However, field study involves use of questionnaires and schedules of
interviews were applied in obtaining, reinforcing and cross checking obtained
data this report. The data generated for the study comprise of secondary
(desk survey) and primary sources (field survey).
Primary data are those obtained directly from the originators or main
source. The aim of collecting them is to obtain first hand information about
the industries being studied and their business. The bulk of the primary data
were obtained through interviews and questionnaires designed via use of
information generated from secondary survey (desk survey) after taking due
cognizance of the purpose and objectives of the study.
Location of data
The following locations were made use of in this study: libraries, archives,
Head office of Etisalat, Regional office and Internet.
3.1 area of study
Where
n = desired sample size
N= size of the population
e= Limit of error tolerance which was assured to be 5% (0.05);
confidence limit
Computing with the above formula, the number of questionnaires to be
administered was obtained
Therefore in order to arrive at a statistically valid conclusion, we
administered at least 69 questionnaires
Construct validity
Construct validity is when establishing correct operational measures for the
concepts being studied. There are three ways to increase construct validity;
to use multiple sources of evidence, establish a chain of evidence, and to
have key informants review the draft case study report (Yin, 1994). In the
research, the authors have used documents and interviews as sources of
evidence. A total of 20 interviews were conducted within the case study for
data collection which has increased the construct validity. Efforts were made
to find the most suitable and knowledgeable respondents for the interviews
and the persons chosen had relevant knowledge and experience in
Leadership styles in Telecommunication Environment. The interviewees were
contacted in advance about the matters that were going to be discussed to
assure that they qualified for the interviews. The interviews were conducted
in English, which includes the risk of Zero translating errors. In an attempt
to correct possible misunderstandings the data presentation was sent to the
respondents at each location for approval before analyzing it. After receiving
the respondents’ comments some minor corrections were made.
To establish a chain of evidence the authors have throughout the study
made references to all the sources from which evidence was collected. The
draft report has also been draft reviewed by the supervisor as well as by the
respondents from the companies.
3.53 Reliability
Reliability refers to stability and consistency of the results derived from the
research. That is when the following researcher can repeat the exact same
procedure and research and arrive at the same findings and conclusions over
again. Hence, reliability is concerned with consistency, accuracy, and
predictability of specific research findings (Yin, 1994).
Throughout the report I have tried to explain the procedures of the research
in a consistent and unbiased way. I have further organized the report in a
way so that any reader can retrieve any desired material or sources of
information. Moreover, there is a risk that personal biases might have been
present in the interview. Therefore the results can to some extent be
questioned due to the influence from the respondents as well as my own
attitudes and experiences. There is also a possibility that over the years the
objectives and business procedures might be changed or improved which
means that the results of future studies with the same nature as this
research might take another turn.
The information thus far regarding the methods illustrates that a qualitative
approach using grounded theory was selected. Due to this study touching on
multi-disciplinary themes, this study has an intricate nature that creates a
slight difficultly when selecting the appropriate methodology. Mikkelsen
(2005) writes, “The complexity and the purpose of specific development
studies generally warrant tailor-made research designs that cannot be
defined a priori even for studies on similar themes” (p. 141). The following
section will assess the validity of this study based on the methods described
above.
There are several areas in which the validity of this study is questioned. The
validity of any qualitative study is often debated due to the inability for it to
be replicated, as well as the lack of experimental nature. A discussion of
some of the potential problem areas with this study seems important so that
the reader is aware of specific problems with the methods. The
Research Methods Knowledge Base (2006) presents a structured way to
evaluate validity in a qualitative study by looking at the four categories of
credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. The
validity of this study will be evaluated below by using these suggestions as a
guiding framework.
Credibility entails whether or not the participants confirm the results of the
thesis.
Although none of the participants have evaluated the final work of this
thesis, grounded theory calls for a rigorous approach in which the results
may not stray far from the data, thus assisting in maintaining the credibility
of the study. In addition to this though, it is relevant to state that there are
always issues regarding data analysis and translation that may lead to the
participants not agreeing with the results.
Transferability refers to whether the results found can be transferred to
other settings and situations. This concretely refers to whether the results
can be transferred to other places in Telecommunication company in Nigeria,
as well as to other countries overall. First, looking at the transferability
within
Nigeria, it is seen that due to the somewhat specific background of the
participants interviewed, the transferability is questioned. All the leaders
interviewed were leaders in the headquarters of Etisalat Nigeria, meaning
that there is a potential characteristic that binds them together causing their
responses to be similar. In addition to this, all of the participants classified
themselves as Christians with the exception of two. As stated before, the
Nigerian population is 50% Muslim and 40% Christian (Uwazie, 1999), and
the bias in the participants’ religion may mean that the findings, especially
those dealing with religion, may not be transferred to other non-Christian
Nigerians. Lastly, the participants are mostly from the Yoruba tribe, making
it difficult to say whether the results can be transferred to populations
outside of this ethnic makeup. Overall, the lack of a more diverse population
is an issue, and future studies could benefit from interviewing a more varied
group of leaders. On the other hand, it will be shown later that some of the
results coincided with other studies’ findings, which may mean some results
are transferable.
It is also relevant to address the transferability of the findings to other
Telecommunication firm outside of Nigeria. Hofstede’s (2001) study
reviewed earlier places Nigeria in a region with Ghana and Sierra Leone,
arguing that they have enough similarities to refer to them as a region
instead of as individual countries. It can be argued that the results of this
study might partly be transferred to these African countries, keeping in mind
the makeup of the participants and its impact on transferability. Although it
is never possible to say that the results are 100% transferable, it still could
be beneficial to take this study as a case of reference to apply to other
developing countries to perhaps formulate their own study, as it is not the
objective of the study to say that all members of developing countries think
this way about their leaders. The third category of dependability considers
the potentially changing context occurring during the time of the study.
According to this section, it is relevant to note that the dynamic nature of
developing countries means they are unstable, and the possibility of
something impacting the participants’ feelings does exist. There were no
major events found by the researcher linked to political leaders six months
prior to this study nor during this study that may have impacted the
participants’ responses to the questions asked though.
Lastly, confirmability deals with how the researchers’ background and
perspectives influence the study. The assistance of the thesis’ academic
advisor improves confirmability, as using her guidance and editing
throughout the study helps to eliminate opinion or unfounded conclusions. In
addition to this, Charmaz (2006) argues, “The subjectivity of the observer
provides a way of viewing. Instead of arresting analysis at the coding stage,
researchers can raise their main categories to concepts… We (researchers)
choose to raise certain categories to concepts because of their theoretical
reach” (p. 139). It is obvious that subjectivity is involved, but with grounded
theory, it is limited through the continual cross comparisons and way in
which the analysis is performed.
These four categories provide an organized manner to look at the validity of
this study. It is relevant to note that although the analysis method followed
through grounded theory is supposed to reduce subjectivity, this being the
researcher’s first study with grounded theory, this was a challenging task to
accomplish. It seems that despite using only data provided by the
participants, it was hard to avoid coding or organization bias due the
researcher’s frame of reference. Although often the situation in research, it
must be stated that the results and discussion presented may not be the
only ways to interpret the data