The influence of leadership role competencies on organisation change outcome in the manufacturing industry in south Africa.
- Authors: Smit, Hermanus Bernardus
- Date: 2007-11-21T09:25:54Z
- Subjects: organizational change management , leadership , manufacturing industries management
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:13170 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/131
- Description: Recent authors identified a lack in leadership competencies to deal with organisation change within the South African organisation context as a burning issue (Tizard, 2001; Kriek, 2002; Fontyn, 2001; Msomi, 2001 and Rossow and Bews, 2002). This has resulted in a lack of employee initiative, adjustment, empowerment and a high turnover rate. With this research the author examined the influence of role utilisation, according to leaders’ competence, on the outcome of organisation change. The aim of this research was to contribute towards finding solutions for the perceived lack in leadership competence in managing change. The design used was quasi-experimental ex post facto: post-test/observation only. Three organisations in the manufacturing industry were selected because they were busy with the implementation of major organisation change initiatives. Two phases were identified for this research. Phase I investigated the utilisation of leaders in specific leadership change roles and Phase II investigated the influence of leaders’ change role competence on change outcome. Hypotheses were formulated for each phase. Phase I Leaders’ utilisation in change roles was investigated. This entailed the extent to which they were utilised in roles for which they received their highest average competence ratings. A literature study was done on leadership competencies. From the literature study, four leadership change roles (Initiator, Shaper, Monitor, and Assessor) were identified. A questionnaire measuring the level of competence for each role was designed. The respondent organisations’ management teams were asked to identify the leaders they utilised and for which roles they were utilised. These leaders were rated by means of a 360-degree assessment. The respective leaders were assessed by themselves, their managers, a peer and a subordinate. Competence was determined by means of the average ratings received on all four competence clusters . The results obtained from Phase I were expressed in terms of role congruence. Role congruence referred to situations where leaders were utilised in roles for which they received their highest average competence ratings. The hypotheses for Phase I were: H0: There is no statistical difference between the average competence scores leaders received on the different roles. H1: The average competence scores for the roles leaders were utilised in, are higher than for those they were not utilised in. Phase II Phase II investigated the influence of the congruence results on change outcome. A questionnaire measuring the “soft” dimensions of organisation change was developed. Random samples of all the literate employees in the respondent organisations were used to complete this questionnaire (Change Outcome Questionnaire). The hypotheses for Phase II were: H0: There is no statistical difference in terms of change outcome for roles where congruence was obtained and roles for which congruence was not obtained. H1: For roles where congruence was obtained, there will be higher levels of success (change outcome). Both questionnaires (Leadership Role Competence Questionnaire & Change Outcome Questionnaire) were validated in terms of content validity. A Cronbach alpha was determined for both questionnaires. Only the Leadership Role Competence Questionnaire was initially found to be reliable. To resolve the reliability dilemma on the Change Outcome Questionnaire, the constructs and their items were factor analysed to determine the underlying validity of constructs, resulting in construct validity for this questionnaire. A Cronbach alpha was again administered to this questionnaire (after the factor analysis) and it was found to be reliable. Phase I Results: Role Congruence The extent to which leaders were utilised in roles for which they achieved their highest average ratings (expressed in terms of role congruence) was determined through the application of a correspondence analysis. The results for Phase I were: • Two roles (Initiator and Assessor) achieved potential congruence. • The other two roles (Shaper and Monitor) did not achieve congruence. • A relationship between both the Shaper and Monitor roles was identified. The competencies for these two roles were linked to the items that measured Resistance to Change. • For Phase I the null hypothesis was rejected. There was a difference between the average competence scores leaders received on the different roles. Phase II Results: The Influence of Role Congruence on Change Outcome The change outcome results were determined through the Change Outcome Questionnaire. The results for Phase II were: • The factor analysis done on the Change Outcome Questionnaire (discussed on p. iii) resulted in the extraction of three factors. One factor represented only one item and was therefore excluded resulting in the analysis of only two factors (Change Buy-In and Support & Resistance to Change); • The results obtained from the Change Outcome Questionnaire indicated a successful outcome for the Change Buy-In and Support factor and an unsuccessful outcome for the Resistance to Change factor; • The similarity of the results for the three organisations obtained for Phase I (correspondence analysis on congruence between role utilisation and role competence) and for Phase II (ANOVA on Change Outcome results) allowed for the comparison of their results. No significant statistical differences existed. Statistical evidence was therefore not conclusive to either reject or accept the null hypothesis for Phase II (there is no difference between roles with high congruence and roles with low congruence on change outcome); and • Although the null hypothesis for Phase II could neither be accepted nor rejected, the indications are that role congruence appears to have had a positive influence on change outcome and that a lack of congruence appears to have had a negative influence on change outcome. From the results of this study it was concluded that the research goals had been satisfactorily addressed. , Dr. Louis Carstens
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Effective transformational leadership behaviours for managing change.
- Authors: Vinger, Metsu Jacob
- Date: 2007-12-06T05:50:53Z
- Subjects: leadership , organizational change management , higher education management
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:13734 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/139
- Description: The research investigated the problem of the apparent lack of leadership among leaders in the higher education (HE) sector in South Africa (SA). In particular, the research investigated the perception that there is a lack of transformational leadership among leaders in the public institutions of higher learning. This will compromise the leaders’ ability to manage change successfully. This problem was therefore viewed from the perspective of the changing HE landscape in SA in which institutions of higher learning are being merged or incorporated. One of the potential consequences of these mergers and incorporations is that the newly formed institutions may be challenged by a lack of appropriate leadership. The view that a lack of appropriate leadership is one of the root causes of institutions finding themselves in a precarious situation is widely supported by scholars and role players in the HE sector. The aim of this research was to establish the frequency of exhibition of transformational leadership and its behaviours, as well as to ascertain the level of transformational leadership among leaders in the HE sector. Transformational leaders are, by definition, change agents. Therefore, the research was premised on the assumption that if leaders exhibit transformational leadership and its behaviours frequently, if not always, and if their level of transformational leadership is high, then they will necessarily be able to manage change successfully. The Full Range of Leadership Styles (FRL) was adopted in that in addition to transformational leadership, the transactional and laissez-faire leadership styles were also measured. Fundamental to the FRL model is that every leader exhibits each style to some extent and that the model represents how frequently a leader exhibits a particular style of leadership. The findings of the empirical study generally indicated that the picture painted by scholars and role players in the HE sector about leadership in that sector is not as bleak as they claim, although some improvements in developing transformational leadership still have to be made. , Prof. Frans Cilliers
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Transformational leadership and its relationship with personality preferences in South African organisations.
- Authors: Linde, Trudi
- Date: 2008-04-23T10:39:45Z
- Subjects: leadership , organizational change management , personality and occupation , South Africa
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:8599 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/285
- Description: The general purpose of this study is to investigate and identify the relationship between transformational and leadership personality preferences. The aim of the study is therefore to establish an empirical link between transformational leadership and certain aspects of personality preferences in order to verify if these leaders can be distinguished from others by means of their personality preferences. The transformational leaders’ ratings as identified by use of the Multifactor questionnaire are compared with personality preferences indicated on the scales of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator®. Given the research literature an expectation exists that a statistically significant difference will be found between aspects of personality preferences of transformational and non-transformational leaders. Therefore transformational leaders will be identifiable from non-transformational leaders by their personality preferences. The research group was a convenience sample that consisted of 66 leaders chosen from two organisations in the financial and entertainment industries at the level of team leader or in a supervisory capacity. The statistical procedures utilised in the analysis of the data included analysis of frequencies, ttests and cross tabulations. Firstly, the transformational leaders in the selected organisations were identified successfully. As far as determining the personality preferences of the identified transformational leaders and establishing any possible links between the transformational leadership style and chosen personality preferences, the only significant difference was found between the introversion and extroversion preferences. A significant difference between introversion and extroversion in terms of the Intellectual Stimulation rating on the MLQ was found as well as in terms of the Average and Inspirational Motivation ratings. No other statistically significant differences or interdependencies were found between the personality preferences as identified by the MBTI® and any of the ratings on the MLQ. The third objective of determining whether personality preference can be utilised to predict transformational leadership is therefore answered. From the findings of this study it seems as if personality preferences cannot be utilised to predict transformational leadership in for instance a selection process in a company. As this research group was highly selected and not representative of the general population, it is not possible to generalise the findings of this study. Although the research group was not representative, the findings of this study matched with those of other studies, and the deduction is therefore made that if this study was to be repeated, similar results would be found. , Prof. S. Kruger
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