Impact of Laissez-faire Leadership Style on Employee Productivity in Private Organizations in Nigeria
Chapter One
Objective of the study
The broad objective of this study is to examine impact of laissez-faire leadership style on employee productivity in private organizations in Nigeria. Specifically the study sought to:
- Investigate the benefit of adopting a specified leadership style in Organization.
- Determine if Laissez faire leadership style affect worker’s productivity.
- Ascertain the impact of Laissez faire leadership style on firm’s economic growth and performance.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
CONCEPTS OF LEADERSHIP
According to Lawal,A.A.(1993) Leadership is the process of influencing others to work willingly toward an organizational goal with confidence. According to Asika,N.(2004), “Leadership is generally defined simply as the process of influencing people to direct their efforts towards achievement of some particular goal or goals”. According to Koontz et,al (1982). “Leadership is generally defined simply as the art of influencing people so that they will strive willingly towards the achievement of group goals”. ‘This concept can be seen to include not only willingness to work but with zeal and confidence. Sikula,A.F.(1996), sees “Leadership simply as an act that involves influencing others to act toward the attainment of a goal”. According to Akpala,A. (1990) “leadership has been defined in terms of’ functions performance by executives as ‘individuals and as a group”. ‘This concept clarify that the responsibility of the superior is to direct behaviour into channels that promote the achievement of organization and departmental goals. Further studies have been carried out by researchers to examine the issue of leadership In the view of Eze (1982), he sees Leadership as a relational concept involving both the influencing agent and the person being influenced. This he claimed means that without followers there can be no Leader. He further indicated that the factor which interact to produce an effective leader include not only the abilities and characteristics of the group he is leading, but also the characteristics of the situation in which his leadership takes place. To round it up, Eze (1982) described the Nigeria leader as having authoritarian leadership characteristics and practices. They seem to maintain a rigid dictatorial approach to management as well as a master—servant. rider horse relationship with subordinates. A Nigeria by nature and training is autocratic and demands nothing hut respect and obedience from his is subordinates.. Eze (1982), posited further that leadership particularly in the public sector becomes the ‘cradle of influence to rule enforcement and productivity, shoddiness and inefficiency, double standards, lack of seriousness and indiscipline. Okafor (1981) asserts that Nigeria leaders are tight lipped, egg head, who clogged up the nation’s wheel of’ progress. he further explained that Nigerian leader in the foreign owned private sector is also an autocrat who maintains a master servant relationship with his subordinates. He equally hold the concessionary view of public office, but unlike his counterpart in the public sector, he is performance conscious, works hard to reach target set for him by his foreign masters and is highly responsible and accountable. He does this because of his fear of dismissal and because he enjoys good working conditions and good fringe benefits. Akpala,A. (1982 ) concluded that the consequences of this miserable style include the characteristic work attitude of the Nigerian work force
LEADERSHIP STYLE
Leadership is life blood of any organization and its importance cannot be underestimated. Many authors have studied this phenomenon, but there is no conscious definition of what leadership is, no dominant paradigm for studying it, and little agreement regarding the best strategies for developing and exercising it (Bennis, 2007; Hackman & Wageman, 2007; Vroom & Jago, 2007). Omolayole (2006) views leadership as that kind of direction, which a person can give to a group of people under him in such a way that these will influence the behavior of another individual, or group. Ngodo (2008) perceives leadership to be a reciprocal process of social influence, in which leaders and subordinates influence each other in order to achieve organisational goals. Leadership style is viewed as the combination of traits, characteristics, skills and behaviours that leaders use when interacting with their subordinates (Marturano & Gosling, 2008, Jeremy et al., 2011). Flippo & Musinger (1999) see leadership as a pattern of managerial behavior designed to integrate personal or organizational interest and effect, in pursuit of some objectives. Fiedler (1969) postulates that leadership style refers to a kind of relationship whereby someone uses his ways and methods to make many people work together for a common task. In modern leadership theories, five leadership styles have been presented, including (i) charismatic leadership, (ii) transactional leadership, (iii) transformational leadership, (iv) visionary leadership, and (v) culture-based leadership (Yukl, 1994; Bass, 1990; Sashkin, 1996; Sergiovanni, 1987).
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, we described the research procedure for this study. A research methodology is a research process adopted or employed to systematically and scientifically present the results of a study to the research audience viz. a vis, the study beneficiaries.
RESEARCH DESIGN
Research designs are perceived to be an overall strategy adopted by the researcher whereby different components of the study are integrated in a logical manner to effectively address a research problem. In this study, the researcher employed the survey research design. This is due to the nature of the study whereby the opinion and views of people are sampled. According to Singleton & Straits, (2009), Survey research can use quantitative research strategies (e.g., using questionnaires with numerically rated items), qualitative research strategies (e.g., using open-ended questions), or both strategies (i.e., mixed methods). As it is often used to describe and explore human behaviour, surveys are therefore frequently used in social and psychological research.
POPULATION OF THE STUDY
According to Udoyen (2019), a study population is a group of elements or individuals as the case may be, who share similar characteristics. These similar features can include location, gender, age, sex or specific interest. The emphasis on study population is that it constitutes of individuals or elements that are homogeneous in description.
This study was carried to examine impact of Laisses-faire leadership style on employee productivity in private organizations in Nigeria. Dataplus interactive forms the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the analysis of data derived through the questionnaire and key informant interview administered on the respondents in the study area. The analysis and interpretation were derived from the findings of the study. The data analysis depicts the simple frequency and percentage of the respondents as well as interpretation of the information gathered. A total of eighty (80) questionnaires were administered to respondents of which only seventy-seven (77) were returned and validated. This was due to irregular, incomplete and inappropriate responses to some questionnaire. For this study a total of 77 was validated for the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain impact of Laisses-faire leadership style on employee productivity in private organizations in Nigeria. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of Laisses-faire leadership style on employee productivity in private organizations in Nigeria
Summary
This study was on impact of Laisses-faire leadership style on employee productivity in private organizations in Nigeria. Three objectives were raised which included; Investigate the benefit of adopting a specified leadership style in Organization, determine if Laissez faire leadership style affect worker’s productivity and ascertain the impact of Laissez faire leadership style on firm’s economic growth and performance. A total of 77 responses were received and validated from the enrolled participants where all respondents were drawn from Dataplus interactive. Hypothesis was tested using Chi-Square statistical tool (SPSS).
Conclusion
The current research proposes the conceptual framework which can be used to analyse the influence of laissez-faire leadership in response to role stressors, such as role conflict and role ambiguity which are directly related to job performance and cooperation. Furthermore, future research should consider the influence of another role stressor known as work overload and its consequent impact on employees’ performance and job satisfaction. Additionally, an impact of various leadership styles, such as transactional and transformational leadership should be considered. In a highly competitive world, it is crucial for the organizations to be aware of the potential impact of role stressors. As it can be seen from the review of the previous literature and findings of the current research, role stressors such as role ambiguity and role conflict are found as the most important source of job dissatisfaction and job performance. Understanding the nature of role stressors and potential sources which may cause them to will help organizations to take control of managing role stressors. Managing role stressors and controlling them will enable organizations to increase the productivity and job satisfaction of employees. Moreover, leaders and their management styles also play a critical role in managing role conflicts and finding main sources of role stressors. The majority of role stressors such as role ambiguity arise as a result of lack of quality of feedback and suggestions provided by leaders. Therefore more attention from practice and academia should be paid to job performance, roles and leadership should themes as they relate to one another.
Recommendation
We recommend that democratic, participatory and supportive leadership should exist within the organization, leaders should set vibrant high performance organizational culture through interpersonal relation, dialogues and transparency. Leaders should adopt effective communication pattern to produce enthusiasm and foster an atmosphere of confidence within the organization. It should note that the aforementioned as indices and indexes of democratic leadership style which culminated to high performance.
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