Leadership Styles in Ghana: The Ghanaian Perspective - Research Paper Example

Prospectus: Leadership Styles In Ghana: The Ghanaian Perspective

Problem Statement

Nanjundeswaraswamy & Swamy (2014) states that leadership is viewed to be a fundamental factor in determining the success of an organization as it influences the interpersonal relationships, career growth, and employee retention. Although there has been a substantial interest in research about the impact of leadership styles on an organization, most of the previous researches that have focused on this subject have significantly delved on the impact of leadership styles on employee production. Others have also researched on the impact of leadership styles on job satisfaction and employee retention. The choice of leadership styles is usually influenced by the need to achieve follower motivation depending on the culture, economic, and social context of the people (Linjuan & Stacks, 2013). However, the existing literature on leadership styles has a gap about the leadership styles used in specific countries depending on their culture. Therefore, this research has been motivated by the need to fill this gap and is hence designed to study the leadership styles in Ghana.

It is true to state that leadership style has a significant impact on the success of any organization as it determines the level of interpersonal relationship between the management and the subordinates and, therefore, the level of employee motivation. However, leadership is a diverse concept that involves the management of various success factors in an organization to enhance efficiency and promote success (Puni, Ofei, & Okoe, 2014). According to Wakabi (2016), the multifaceted nature of leadership makes it effective depending on the culture and the situation at hand. Due to the constantly changing organizational environment and social climate, leadership styles keep on changing. In this perspective, leadership styles are tailor made to suit a specific environment and the situation at hand, and is thus influenced substantially by the cultural aspect of the society (Vito, Higgins & Denney, 2014). The complexity of the task of leaders which has also been created by the changing organizational environment ranging from policy interpretation, shared leadership, collaboration, interaction, and communication has necessitated the need to understand the leadership styles used in a country. This forms the basis of this study which seeks to understand the leadership styles in Ghana to add insight in the existing literature and fill the gap in the literature about the leadership styles used in the country.

Purpose of the Study

This research study is purposely focused on investigating the leadership styles used in Ghana. The focus of the research will be on identifying the various leadership styles used in the country and how they are commonly practiced in the country. Further, the research study will focus on identifying the leadership styles which are more prevalent in Ghanaian perspective. The study is, therefore, aimed at achieving the following objectives

Main Objective

To examine the various leadership styles in Ghana

Specific Objectives

• To identify the different leadership styles used in Ghana
• To discover the most prevalent leadership styles in Ghana
• To examine the most favorable leadership styles in Ghana
• To identify how different leadership styles used in Ghana are effective in the Ghanaian context.

Significance of the Study

As aforementioned, an effective leadership style is very critical in influencing organizational performance and fostering a healthy interpersonal relationship between the leader and the followers. The findings of the study will be useful as it will act as a guide to leaders in Ghana to understand the best leadership style to use while leading the subordinates. As a researcher, this research study will also be very helpful to me as it will increase the scope of my understanding on how a leadership style is influenced by the setting and context of its application. On the other hand, the findings of this study will fill up the existing gap in literature by providing a new body of knowledge and insight about types of leadership styles in Ghana.

The findings of this study will also help to advise leaders in Ghana on how to become effective leaders. The study will help to examine, identify, and show the best leadership style which can be used in Ghana to increase organizational performance. By identifying the most prevalent leadership styles in Ghana, the study will help to identify the most favorable and preferred style of leadership in Ghana, and this can help to advice leaders on the best effective leadership style in the country. This will also help to identify the weak areas of each leadership style and guide leaders who use that style how to develop their weak areas. Therefore, this study will help leaders to intentionally identify how to become more effective in the leadership roles by adopting the most effective leadership styles suitable for the Ghanaian context. This study will thus help to create greater awareness of Ghanaian leaders on the various styles of leadership they can use in their organizations. This will educate them to develop their areas of weakness in leadership as the findings will help them to examine their leadership profiles in comparison to the prevalent leadership styles in the country. The usefulness of the study will be to positively impact on the effectiveness of leadership in Ghana thus opening a new possibility for change and transformation.

Background of the Study

An excellent leader is one who helps to meet the requirements of the subordinates in the process of realizing the goals of the organization and, at the same time, inspires the potential of the subordinates to enhance efficiency. A leadership style, on the other hand, is a leading strategy which a leader uses to give inspiring motive to the subordinates thus enhancing their potential for development and growth (Wakabi, 2016). A better leader is, therefore, one who uses a suitable leadership style in taking the employees in the direction which is effective in enhancing their efficiency and in reducing the cost of the organization.

On the other hand, it has been established prominently that due to the ever changing, equivocal, and fragmented internal and external contexts of organizations, there is an increasing need to continuously modify the conventional concepts of follower-ship and leadership. The dynamics in today’s organizational environment requires the facilitation of employees’ commitment to avoid the optioning of serious sustainability and notations (Nanjundeswaraswamy & Swamy, 2014). It is thus a requirement for the leader to adopt a leadership style which is responsive to the work environment to enhance better promotion plans, better fringe benefits, and promote a good working relationship (Wakabi, 2016). It is prominently identified that an effective leadership style reduces employee turnover and promotes their performance and productivity at work (Vito, Higgins, & Denney, 2014). This is has linked to the ability of an effective leadership style to motivate and inspire employees towards the realization of the mission and vision of the organization which in turn raises their commitment to the organizational goals.

Each leadership style has an impact on the employees and affects their commitment to the organization in a different way since every style has its own strengths and weaknesses (Puni, Ofei. & Okoe, 2014). However, organizational problems which include willingness to meet organizational goals and commitment to the wellbeing of the organization, organizational loyalty, and high turnover are considered the outcomes of leadership styles. Leadership style is also linked to organizational challenges such as ineffective leadership, workplace conflicts, poor working conditions, and lack of training.

In the same way, a leadership style has the ability to develop better working environments, motivate employees, and reduce working and interpersonal conflicts (Puni, Ofei, & Okoe, 2014). Collectively, this facilitates the efficiency and effectiveness of an organization to attain its objectives whose aftermath is improved unit performance and reduced costs. A leadership style involves a complex of decisions and behavior adopted to encourage people and improve employees’ work (Vito, Higgins, & Denney, 2014). Naturally, there are several styles of leadership which thus leads to different approaches of leading people and different relationships between employees and the boss. Since the structure of every organization is unique and specific to it, each leader chooses a leadership model that they feel is suitable for the company in the context of its priorities and goals.

Research Framework

The study is designed to identify the styles of leadership in Ghana. According to the most prominent classification model of leadership, there are three leadership styles which include laissez-faire leadership, transactional, and transformational leadership. This study will use the charismatic leadership approach to identify the type of leadership style used. According to this approach, the behavioral area is used to conceptualize leadership either as non-leadership (laissez-faire leadership style) (Puni, Ofei, & Okoe, 2014), leadership through punishment and rewards (transactional leadership style), or leadership through behavioral charisma and inspiration (transformational leadership style). This approach has been chosen in this study because of its efficacy in management research which has been demonstrated through other study findings. In laissez-faire leadership style, a leader is likely to avoid responsibilities and not intervene in work-related issues (Puni, Ofei. & Okoe, 2014). The style is highly associated with ineffectiveness, unproductiveness, and dissatisfaction. Transactional leadership style is associated with the security and physical needs of employees and the relationship between the followers and the leader is based on reward systems and bargaining (Linjuan, & Stacks, 2013). However, transformational leadership is based on respect, loyalty, and trust as the subordinates are motivated by the leader to always perform better.

Research Questions

The following research questions will guide this research to enhance the achievement of its objectives.

• Which different leadership styles are used in Ghana?
• Which are the most prevalent leadership styles in Ghana?
• Which are the most favorable and preferred leadership styles in Ghana?
• How is the different leadership styles used in Ghana effective in the Ghanaian context?

Nature of Study

For the purpose of this study, a qualitative research design will be used where data will be collected from six private and public institutions in Ghana. The study participants will be selected from the organizations and will include both the management and subordinate teams. The sampling technique that will be used to select respondents will be stratified random sampling to avoid bias. Data will then be collected using self-administered questionnaires.

Sources of Data

The information required for this study will be obtained from the respondents who will be obtained from the employees and management teams of organizations in Ghana. Data will also be retrieved through observations, group discussions, interviews, and questionnaires. However, secondary data will be obtained through content analysis. The qualitative approach that will be used in this study is more effective since it is a holistic approach and will help to study the styles of leadership used in Ghana in the natural setting.