An Identification/Assessment of Dominant Leadership Style: A case study on Acme

Engineering & Trading Pvt Ltd Company.

Acknowledgements i
TabI es of Contents --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------i i
List of Tabl ~ v
Abbreviations and/or acronym v
Abstract
Keywo.rds: Leadership, Leadership style
Chapter 1.
1. INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents back ground of the study, objectives of the study, research
question and scope & limitation of the study and operational definition of terms.
1.1 Background
};.,- Back ground of the study:
In today's fast changing business environment, effective management of human capital is very
important to keep pace with the changes as well as to have effective and sustainable
performance through tomorrow. In other words, having ample resources by itself unless
supported by the necessary qualities of leadership doesn't guarantee success at individual,
social, national as well as international level.

Thus, as different leadership style bring different results in an organization, identifying and
applying effective leadership style is one of the factors required for the proper functioning of
the Company. This issue was put by J.Gonos, P.Gallo (2013) as "What leadership style work
best for me and my organization Managers, therefore, need to know how to effectively
manage; they must select the appropriate style of leadership, but particularly make sure the
enterprise constantly improves its performance. Management, Vol. 18, 2013, 2, pp. 157-168
J. Gonos, P. Gallo: Model for leadership style evaluation)".
Therefore purpose of this study was to assess the leadership styles practiced in the case
company, to identify the dominant style and to recommend the effective one based on the
factors affecting leadership style.

>-" Background of the study CaseCompany: The case Company, Acme Engineering & Trading
Pvt Ltd Company, was established in Ethiopia in 2003 E.C and have been engaged in areas
of energy, water supply and Engineering Laboratory. It supplies wide range of
engineering goods and undertakes turnkey projects. In addition it imports and
distributes electro-mechanical and solar products.

The company has 48 permanent employees out of which, 15 are experienced engineers,
13 are technicians and 20 are supporting staffs.
1.2 The objectives, research question significance and scope of the thesis, and Limitations of
the study
};.,- The objective of the study is:
./ To assess the leadership styles frequently practiced in the case company and to
 identify the dominant styles .
./ To recommend effective leadership style to the case company based on the factors
affecting the leadership styles.
};;:,, The research question is: What type of leadership styles are being employed by leaders
in the case company ( ... )?
};;:,, Significance of the study: As different types of leadership style brings different results in
an organotin, it is very important for a company/organization to know what type of style
its leaders are applying. Therefore, the study is significant in identifying the dominant
leadership style in the case company, can be used as starting point for further study in
the area with different dimensions as well as it can be helpful in filling the knowledge
gap for employing the effective leadership in the case company.
};;:,, Scope: The study focuses on assessing and identifying the dominant leadership styles in
the case company using survey questions. And two types of survey questionnaire with
20 statements were used one for employees and the other for leaders.
};;:,, Given the scope, the study is a mini research which is limited to identifying the dominant
leadership in the case company using survey questionnaire.
};;:,, Definitions of the key terms:
./ Leadership: According to Robbins, Stephen P.; Judge, Timothy A., (2009) leadership
is defined as the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or
set of goals .
./ Leadership Style: refers to the behavior pattern exhibited by leaders as they are
trying to influence the behavior of the employees measured by
Leadership style survey Questionnaire .
./ Leaders: refers to those leaders of the college who are directly responsible for
directing the case company and directly coordinating the academic affairs .
./ Leadership is a dynamic process of influencing people which, in certain
organizational conditions, can have an effect on other members, with the aim of
meeting the objectives of the group (Vol. 18, 2013, 2, pp. 157-168 J. Gonos, P. Gallo)
1.3 Research methods
./ Primary data was collected/gathered from the case company using questionnaire
method of data collection. Two type of 20 questionnaire containing 20 statements of the
common characteristics of five leadership styles were prepared and distributed to. 20
selected employees and 4 managers. Under each statements there are five choice of
agreement level to the statement by respondents (Strongly agree, agree, neutral
disagree, strongly dis agree). The respondents were required to rate/choose the level of
agreement to the statements. Then, all the respondents rated/ filled their answer and
returned the questionnaire. Then value was given to the agreement level (Strongly
agree=4, Agree=3, Neutral=2, Disagree=l, Strongly Agree=O) and multiplied by the
number of respondents to get total and mean score of all leadership styles.

Chapter 2
2. Review of Related Literature 10
2.1. The Nature and Meaning of Leadership 11
 2.2. Leadership Styles 12
2.2.1. The Concept and Meaning of Leadership Style 13
2.2.2. Importance of Leadership Style 14
2.2.3. Factors Affecting Leadership Styles 15
2.2.4. Historical Development of Styles of Leadership 16
2.2.4.1. Transactional Leadership Style 17
2.2.4.2. Transformational Leadership Style 18
2.2.4.3. Democratic Leadership Style
2.2.4.3 Laissez-Faire Leadership Style 19
2.2.4.4 People Oriented Leadership Style 20
CHAPTER Three
3. Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation of Data 21
3.1. Characteristics of the Respondents by Gender and Age

Table 3.1: Characteristics of non-leader employee respondents by sex, age, educational level
and Work Experience
S/N General Characteristics Specific Characteristics No of Respondents

1 Sex Male 15

Female 5

Total 20

2 Age <25 years 2

26-30 years 9

31-35 years 5

36-40 years 4

>40 years 0

Total 20

3 Educational level High School 6

High School Complete 5

College Diploma 1

Firs Degree 8

Second Degree 0

Total 20

Work experience <2 years 4

3-5years 8

6-10 years 5

11-15 years 3

>16years 0

Total 20

};:,, Sex: Out of total 20 non-leader respondents 15(75%) are male and the remaining 5(25%)
are females.
 ;,;:,, Age: The average age of 14(70%) non-leader respondents is 30.5 years( 26 to 35 years)
and this shows majority of the respondents are young.
;,;:,, Education: While 8(40%) respondents have firs degree, 1(5%) has diploma, 11(55%)
respondents are at high school level.
;,;:,, Work Experience: 4(20%) have less than 2 years' experience and the rest 16(80%) have 3-
15 years' experience showing that most respondents are experienced staffs.

3.1. Overview of the Collected Data 22

Table 3.2 Total and Mean Score of Leadership styles by Non-Leader Respondents
Type of Leadership Result Scored Under each Total Mean SD Rank
Style level of Agreement Score
1 2 3 4 5
Transactional 44 126 28 9 0 207 41.40 51.53 5
Transformational 68 144 24 3 0 239 47.80 62.36 3
Democratic 80 141 20 3 0 244 48.80 62.73 1
Laissez-faire 72 126 28 6 0 232 46.40 52.99 4
People Oriented 68 150 18 4 0 240 48.00 65.99 2

To identify the dominant Leadership style the mean score of all Leadership styles was
calculate/computed. The mean score of Democratic was 48.8 and the mean score of People
Oriented was 48.00. As it can be seen from the above table the Democratic leadership style
has the highest score followed by People Oriented. Therefore, it can concluded that the
dominant leadership style in the Case Company is Democratic compared to others.

However, the difference in mean score of among the leadership style has small difference and
this implies the case company leaders use Combinations of all styles.

3.3. The Dominant Leadership Styles 24

CHAPTER Four
5. Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations 25

References:
1. PETER OBANG OJULU(2015}THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEADERSHIP STYLES AND JOB
SATISFACTION OF STAFF IN TEACHERS' EDUCATION AND HEALTH SCIENCE COLLEGE OF
GAMBELLA PEOPLE'S NATIONAL STATE, Graduation Thesis for MA, in Educational Leadership
and management.
2. Management, Vol. 18, 2013, 2, pp. 157-168 J. Gonos, P. Gallo: Model for leadership style
evaluation

Appendixes: 1. Questions for Leaders 2. Questions for Employees