LITERATURE REVIEW AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
3.1 Theoretical Review
3.1.8 Leadership
In the success and failure of private or public organizations, leadership will be the most important determinant. Historical studies of organizations have tended to examine key issues like leadership, structure and culture as if their meanings were
self-evident, (Lawler, 2008, p. 27).Leadership is important in public sector organizations, effective leadership provides higher-quality and more efficient goods and services; it provides a sense of cohesiveness, personal development, and higher levels of satisfaction among those conducting the work; and it provides an overarching sense of direction and vision, an alignment with the environment, a healthy mechanism for innovation and creativity, and a resource for invigorating the organizational culture (Wart, 2003, p. 214).
In the definition of leadership, Bass (1999) argued that leadership is a multifaceted issue and he asserted that there are business leaders, political leaders, and community leaders. Leadership is defined as a process of social change; a process of persuasion by which an individual or team induces a group to pursue objectives held by the leader or shared by the leader and his or her followers (Blythe & Gardner, 1990; Higgs, 2003). Moreover, leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a groups of individuals to achieve a common goal (Northouse, 2013, p. 5;
Morrison, 2007) argued that contemporary organizations require individuals with refined leadership skills to inspire others to perform to their fullest potential.
The literature on leadership theory and research, especially public sector leadership, started before 1990 until now, the era of mainstream leadership theory started with the era of great man leadership, the traits approach of leadership, contingency leadership, transformational leadership, servant leadership and multifaceted leadership (Wart, 2003, p. 218).
3.1.8.1 The Traits Approach
According to Northouse (2004), the traits approach was one of the first systematic attempts to study leadership. In the early 20th century, certain characteristics were studied to determine what make people great leaders. These theories were referred to as the “great man” theory, because their “focus was on identifying the innate qualities possessed by great social, political, and military leaders such as Mahatma Gandi, Abraham Lincoln, and Napoleon”.
Traits are multifaceted and many traits contributed to leadership. As depicted in figure 3.5, some of the important traits identified in many of the research studies that classified people as good leaders are intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity, and sociability (Bass, 1990; Burns, 1978, as cited in Flemming, 2009, pp. 23-26).
Figure 3.4 Major Leadership Traits
Source: Northouse, 2004, as cited in Flemming, 2009.
The trait approach suggested that a leaders must have the following traits:
1) Intelligence, the leader must possess the necessary intelligence or intellectual ability in order to effect organizational change. A person in a position of leadership requires strong verbal and perceptual abilities to effectively articulate the vision, goals and objectives of the organization.
2) Self-Confidence, the leader must have self-confidence which reflects the leader’s ability to apply competencies and skills to his, or her, assigned tasks and it includes a sense of self-esteem and self-assurance, while conveying the belief that he, or she, provides the prerequisites for the position of leader.
3) Determination, leadership requires determination to get the job accomplished, and it requires the leader to have characteristics, such as initiative, persistent, and dominance in order to enable others to act. Individuals with determination show a willingness to challenge the status quo, they are proactive and they have the capacity to persevere in the face of obstacles.
4) Integrity, integrity encompasses honesty and trustworthiness and leaders with integrity inspire confidence in others because they can be trusted to do what they say they will do. Such persons are loyal, dependable and believable, and seek to promote the same principles in their followers.
5) Sociability, this principle requires leaders to seek out pleasant and social relationships.Such a leader is friendly, outgoing, courteous, tactful and diplomatic. They are sensitive to other’s needs and are concerned about their overall personal development. Leaders that possess these traits have good social skills and create cooperative relationships with their followers.
Moreover, Nadler and Tushman (1990) identify three behaviors that are characteristic of leadership activities in complex organizational change.
1) Charismatic leadership, with envisioning, energizing and enabling skills, charismatic leaders can mobilize and sustain activity through personal actions and perceived personal traits.
2) Instrumental leadership, this includes making competent teams, clarifying required behavior, building in measurements, and administering rewards and punishments, that can influence individuals into believing in the importance of change, to achieve their personal and organizational goals.
3) ‘Spreading the gospel of change’ through leadership is one strategy that helps with coalition building through identification of potential allies within the organization and development of said allies’ leadership ability to further disseminate the gospel of change. Successful leaders involve various stakeholders made up of their senior team, senior management and leadership throughout the organization styles and develop a communication strategy.
3.1.8.2 Effective Leadership
Effective leadership is essential to organizational effectiveness.
Effective leaders create positive organizational cultures, strengthen motivation, clarify mission and organizational objectives, and steer organizations to be more productive and have high performing outcomes (Sirisetti, 2011, p. 45).
Stacey (1996, as cited in Sirisetti, 2011, p. 46) debates that effective organizations product of the leaders who can consistently stabilize the chaotic situation and adept at introduction of innovative and creative solutions. Finally, organizations in the 21st century are in need of more leaders than mere managers. The challenges facing these leaders include 1) leading organizations with dwindling resources and ever-increased demands for quality service, sustainable development and retention of skills for organizational continuity, 2) Cultivating a performance
management culture with a focus on results rather than process, 3) Upholding good governance despite a dynamic and potentially hostile environment, 4) Instituting effective staff retention strategies within a change fatigue syndrome; and 5) Keeping pace with advances in information technology and workforce renewal.
Effective leadership behavior, the essence of leadership in organizations, is influencing and facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives. Leaders can improve the performance of a team, or organization, by influencing the processes that determine performance (Yukl, 2012, p. 66).
A hierarchical taxonomy describes the leadership behaviors used to influence the performance of a team, work unit or organization. The four meta- categories and their component behaviors are shown in table 3.3. Each meta-category has a different primary objective which involves determinants of performance. For task-oriented behavior, the primary objective is to accomplish work in an efficient and reliable way. For relations-oriented behavior, the primary objective is to increase the quality of human resources and relations, which is sometimes called "human capital."
For change-oriented behavior, the primary objectives are to increase innovation, collective learning, and adaptation to the external environment. For external leadership behavior, the primary objectives are to acquire the necessary information and resources, and to promote and defend the interests of the team or organization.
Table 3.3 Hierarchical Taxonomy of Leadership Behaviors
Meta- Categories Specific Component
Describe Behaviors
Task-oriented (to ensure people, equipment and resources are used efficiently to accomplish the mission of organization)
Planning Making decisions about objectives and priorities, organizing work, assigning responsibilities,
scheduling activities and allocating resources among different activities (Specifically activities and project planning).
Clarifying Use clarifying to ensure that people understand what to do, how to do, and the expected results.
Clarifying includes explaining work responsibilities, assigning tasks, communicating objectives,
Table 3.3 (Continued)
Meta- Categories Specific Component
Describe Behaviors
priorities, and deadlines, setting performance standards and explaining any relevant rules, policies, and standard procedures.
Monitoring operations
to assess whether people are carrying out their assigned tasks, the work is progressing as planned, and tasks are being performed adequately.
Problem solving
to deal with disruptions of normal operations and member behavior that is illegal, destructive, unsafe including "crisis management” and disturbance handling.
Relations-oriented to enhance
member skills, the leader-member relationship, identification with the work unit or organization, and commitment to the mission
Supporting To show a positive regard, build cooperative relationships and help people cope with stressful situations.
Developing to increase the skills and confidence of work-unit members and to facilitate their career advancement.
Recognizing use praise and other forms of recognition to show appreciation to others for effective performance, significant achievements, and important
contributions to the team or organization.
Empowering Can empower subordinates by giving them more autonomy and influence over decisions about work.
Change-oriented to increase innovation,
collective learning, and adaptation to external changes
Advocating change
Explaining why change is urgently needed is a key leadership behavior in the theories of change management.
Influencing people to accept the need for change involves increasing their awareness of problems.
Envisioning change
to build commitment to new strategies and
initiatives and to articulate a clear, appealing vision of what can be attained by a work unit or organization.
Encouraging innovation
many leaders can encourage, nurture, and facilitate creative ideas and innovation in a team or
Table 3.3 (Continued)
Meta- Categories Specific Component
Describe Behaviors
organization, including "intellectual stimulation"and
"encouraging innovative thinking."
Facilitating collective learning
encourage and facilitate collective learning of new knowledge relevant to improving the performance of a group or organization.
External can facilitate performance with behaviors that provide information about outside events, necessary resources and assistance, promote the reputation and interests of the work unit
Networking to build and maintain favorable relationships with peers, superiors, and outsiders who can provide information, resources, and political support.
External monitoring
analyze information about relevant events and changes in the external environment and identifying threats and opportunities for the leader's group or organization.
Representing Represent a team or organization in transactions with superiors, peers, and outsiders (e.g., clients, suppliers, investors, and joint venture partners).
Representing also includes lobbying for resources and assistance, promoting and defending the reputation of the team or organization, negotiating agreements, and coordinating related activities
Source: Yukl, 2012, pp. 68-75.
As mentioned above, effective leadership will lead to an effective organization and the relevance of both the traits and characteristics of a leader will affect the performance of an organization. Thus, in the management of public organizations to achieve their objectives, this study will employ leadership as a factor to measure the performance of public organizations.