Abstract
This research study is set in a state-owned company and undertaken to understand the relationship between Perceived Leadership Attributes from multiple stakeholder perspectives, Social Capital, and Organisational Effectiveness. The underlying principle is that multiple stakeholders will share different views on the effectiveness of Leadership through attributes they perceive as desirable and undesirable. Stakeholders desire a quality relationship found in Social Capital. Quality relationships manifest when there is Trust, Collaboration, and attributes that lead to mutual satisfaction for both stakeholders and Leadership. Based on the diverse opinions and experiences between stakeholders and the organisation, Reputation is established. Factors that influence the Reputation of the state-owned company are what they have earned by doing the right thing through Ethical Behaviours, Good Governance, and practices for Sustainability. Therefore, as a result of both tangible and intangible drivers, an organisation will be successful in its performance, which leads to Organisational Effectiveness. A critical literature review led to the researcher’s conclusion that the problem statement to be solved is ‘what is the relationship between Perceived Leadership Attributes, Social Capital, and Organisational Effectiveness’ through the lens of multiple stakeholders. No other research has addressed this problem, and there are no studies that give answers to this question in a state-owned company. Therefore, the multiple stakeholder perspectives were deemed as a key premise in which to undertake this study. Evidence from the literature confirmed that stakeholders are perceiving Leadership to live up to desirable and undesirable attributes, and cultural differences impact stakeholder perceptions. In addition, different stakeholders view the qualities of a healthy relationship with the state-owned company differently, given that their needs are quite diverse. Models used to measure organisational effectiveness are different, and new trends have gone beyond the triple bottom line of solely 5 addressing people, planet, and profit attributes. New models show that attributes for organisational effectiveness now include people, planet, profit, technology, social, economic, and environmental attributes. These attributes are complex, given the human-centeredness and the diverse meanings stakeholders have ascribed to how success is being defined. The proposed model culminated from this critical review, and the next objective was to obtain further input from multiple stakeholders. Therefore, the study had two research objectives: firstly, to build a conceptual model of relationships between PLAs, SC, and OE based on the literature review and findings emerging from focus groups and interviews in phase 1. Secondly, to validate the conceptual model that can empirically test the relationship between PLAs, SC, and OE in phase 2. An exploratory sequential qualitative approach, using a single case study method and underpinned by an adapted grounded theory, was an effective research design. Two phases were adopted. Phase one consisted out of a theoretical formulation of a conceptual model of the relationships between Perceived Leadership Attributes (PLAs), Social Capital (SC), and Organisational Effectiveness (OE). In the second part of phase one, focus groups and interviews were introduced to hear multiple stakeholders' experiences and derive the themes they ascribed to Perceived Leadership Attributes, Social Capital, and Organisational Effectiveness to refine and test the conceptual model. Content analysis was used, which makes it possible to analyse the data qualitatively and quantify the data simultaneously. The study was executed in a single state-owned company (SOC). The sample was purposive, and 83 internal and external stakeholders contributed to phase one’s finding. Stakeholders included non-management, management, executives, suppliers, and customers. Phase one culminated in a conceptual model, using an iterative approach, which was to be validated in phase two.
Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology)