Impact of Leadership on Organisational Performance in UAE University - Research Paper Example

Running head: IMPACT OF LEADERSHIP ON ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE IN UAE UNIVERSITY Impact of Leadership on Organisational Performance in UAE University Student’s Name Course Tutor’s Name Date Table of Contents Introduction (Objective & Scope) It is common knowledge that leaders have an effect on the organisations they lead. Specifically, it has been hypothesised that leadership determines the performance of an organisation on different fronts, which include social, legal and ethical responsibilities (Cebula et al., 2012, p.3). Further, leadership is charged with a guiding and change management role, which is essential in modern organisations, which have to put up with pressures from diverse stakeholders who include customers, government, competitors, employees and shareholders. This paper will address the role of leadership in the performance of the United Arabs Emirates University (UAEU). The research paper is premised on the following objectives i. To identify the impact of leadership on UAEU’s organisational performance ii. To find out the perceptions that faculty members and department heads hold regarding the university’s performance, and whether they link performance to its leadership To attain the above objectives, the paper will use some ideas from Militaru (2012, p. 342), and bases the performance of UAEU on three parameters namely the service offered by the university to students and the society; the research conducted in the university and its impact on UAE’s innovation and industry; and thoroughness in teaching as demonstrated by faculty members. The paper commences with background information about the university and the leadership that has been demonstrated in the institution. Next, the research paper conducts a literature review where other work written on leadership and its effect on organisational performance is reviewed. This is followed by a discussion on the research method used to obtain results for the study. Thereafter, a review of the findings obtained from a mixed methods research is provided. The final part of the paper consists of a conclusion and recommendations section, where the researcher notes that a more research needs to be done in other universities to determine the effect that leadership has on the performance of such institutions. Background Information The United Arab Emirates University was founded in 1976 as the flagship higher education institution in the UAE (UAEU, 2015, about UAEU). Currently, the university has nine colleges catering to an estimated 14,000 students. The university’s leadership consists of a university council which sits at the apex of the organisational chart. Next on the leadership hierarchy is the chancellor, who is then followed by the vice chancellor (VC) and deputy vice chancellors responsible for student affairs and enrolment, finance and administration affairs, research and graduate studies, and academic affairs. For the sake of clarity and simplicity, this research paper will detail the effect that the leadership offered by the vice chancellor has on the academic performance of students at UAEU. While the university council and the chancellor may be ranked higher in UAEU’s leadership structure, it is the VC who is charged with the mandate to manage the university by engaging in directing it into an ideal academic path. Additionally, the VC is charged with overseeing all the activities that support the university’s academic mission. Some of the VC’s responsibilities include budget and finance, strategic planning, and all other activities that support UAEU’s academic mission. The impact of a vice chancellor’s leadership on academic performance is indirect. This is because on many occasions, the VC does not lecture students or supervise them in their studies. However, his leadership style arguably has an impact on the people who interact directly with the students. As Militaru (2012, p. 342) notes, there is a direct correlation between university outcomes which include research and lectures offered to the students, and a leader’s performance. Specifically, Militaru (2012, p. 342) found out that leadership can either motivate or de-motivate staff, it can offer intellectual stimulation to lecturers, and it can also influence how lecturers relate with the university and the students. As illustrated in appendix A, the VC is in direct contact with the academic council in UAEU. Additionally several departments are under his guidance and watch, including the media and communications department, the information technology sector, the international relations department and the department that is in charge of planning, academic and institutional development. Further, the VC is charged with the responsibility of working with four people who deputise him. They include deputy VCs for student affairs and enrolment, finance and administration affairs, research and graduate studies and academic affairs. The current VC at UAEU is Dr. Ali Rashid Al Noaimim and his leadership approach will be the focus of this research paper. Notably, UAEU has been ranked at the 11th best performing university worldwide by the World University Rankings as indicated by Swan (2015, para. 6). Literature Review Many articles have been written about the impact of leadership on organisational performance. Notably, not many of such papers are dedicated to evaluating the impact of leadership on organisational performances in the UAE or on academic institutions in and outside the UAE. Among the few such articles is one authored by Militaru (2012, pp. 343-346), where it was found out that leaders who use the transformational style of leadership stand higher changes of motivating their followers to exert more effort in their work. Consequently, Militaru (2012, p. 346) discovered that transformational leadership has a positive effect on the performance of universities because the managers, deans and lecturers working in such institutions are more engaged in their task performance, which eventually leads to better output. The concept of ‘organisational performance in universities’ is not clearly defined in literature. However, Feller (1990, p. 335) notes that efficient performance in universities is perhaps evident when the institutions of higher learning play their social role of supplying collective technological and scientific knowledge to students. Feller (1990, p. 335) notes that the duty of an institution of higher learning is to impart students with practical knowledge and to conduct research that helps students as well as the society at large. He notes that commercialising innovations developed through a university’s research projects should not be a major focus for the institutions. Rather, they should focus their attention towards developing the students’ capacity to conduct their own research and develop innovations in future (Feller, 1990, p. 335). A look at other literature sources that discuss the impact of leadership on organisational performance reveals that several studies support the notion that a leader’s personality has a notable effect on organisational performance. Peterson et al. (2003, p. 88) and Welbourne, Cavanaugh and Judge (1998, p. 4) for instance note that the influence that a leader has on the organisation is to a great extent dependent on his/her personality. Welbourne et al. (1998, p. 4) specifically note that charismatic leaders are more likely to have a higher performance impact because they are able to communicate the vision of their organisations to the people they lead. Additionally, such leaders are more likely to stimulate their followers’ intellect in a manner that enhances performance. Transformational leaders were also found to have positive impacts on teams, and Welbourne et al. (1998, p. 4) note that performance in organisational units was found to have registered significant improvements when the person at the helm of leadership had a charismatic personality. Lieberson and O’Connor (1972, p. 172) liken a leader to a coach, whose brilliance affects his team’s performance. The authors acknowledge that while the contribution that leaders have on performance is contentious, there is no denying that leaders’ ability to foster team work, manage internal problems effectively, and handle the concerns of different stakeholders have an impact on organisational performance (Lieberson & O’Connor, 1972, p. 173). Similar sentiments are expressed by Hambrick (1994, p. 180) and Peterson et al. (2003, p. 796), who note that the group leader, though sometimes considered a member of the organisation, often has dominating influence on the different organisational outputs. Research Method This research project will use a mixed methods research design. According to Creswell (2003, p. 11), mixed methods research is ideal for use where the researcher intends to use both quantitative and qualitative data to understand a problem. In this research paper, quantitative data was gathered using a questionnaire, while the qualitative data was obtained from interviews that the researcher conducted. Since the VC’s performance is best gauged by the people he works with in the management of the university, a convenience sample was used among faculty staff who teach in different departments in the universities. Seventy email questionnaires were sent to faculty members, whose emails the researcher had obtained from the university administration. Thirty-five questionnaires were sent to female respondents, while an equal number was sent to male respondents. After a month, 50 fully completed questionnaires were emailed back to the researcher. An additional five partially-filled questionnaires were also emailed back. The latter were not analysed. In addition to the questionnaire and in line with the mixed methods approach that was adopted for this study, the researcher arranged five interviews with five department heads, whose interactions with the VC made it likely that they knew him better than other people who do not interact so often with him. Of the five respondents who were interviewed, three had been in the university for 10 years (or more), while one had worked in the institution for four years. The last respondent had been in the university for six months only at the time of doing the research. Three of the respondents were male while two were female. Analysis The questionnaire that was used for this survey had relied greatly on the dimensions of transformational leaders as indicated by Rafferty and Griffin (2004, p. 329-354). In their paper, the two authors hypothesised that leaders who affect the workplaces positively are visionary, good communicators, able to stimulate their subordinate intellectually, and able to recognise people based on merit (Rafferty & Griffin, 2004, p. 329). The questionnaire that was sent to faculty members at UAEU was thus meant to gauge if indeed the VC was a transformational leader. Notably, transformational leadership has been associated with improved performance by multiple authors (Boerner, Eisenbeiss & Griesser, 2007, p. 15; Garcia-Morales, Llorens-Montes & Verdu-Jover, 2008, p. 299; Katou, 2009, p. 329). From the results, it was evident that the UAEU VC is positively thought of by the people he leads. Out of the 50 questionnaire responses, 33 (66 percent) strongly believed that the VC had a vision for the university. An additional 15 people (30 percent) believed he had a vision, while only four percent respondent indicated that the VC did not have a vision. An overwhelming 90 percent of respondent believed he had charisma, while the remaining 10 percent believed he possessed charisma. Similarly 90 percent respondent agreed that the VC was an effective communicator, while 10 percent believed he was an okay communicator. When asked if the VC was good at handling social crises in the university, only 4 percent of the respondents believed he was not. The remaining respondents believed he was very good (70 percent) and relatively good (26 percent). Eighty percent of the respondents believed the VC was a good problem solver, while another 18 percent believed he was an okay problem solver. Only 2 percent of the responses (representing one person) thought that the VC was not good in solving problems. When asked if the VC was good in consulting, 80 percent of the respondents gave him their absolute vote of confidence, while another 20 percent thought he was okay in consulting. Perhaps the most relevant findings for this paper was that 84 percent of the respondents indicated that they had been absolutely inspired by the VC’s leadership approach, while another 12 percent indicated they were moderately inspired. Only two people did not see his leadership as inspiring. Asked whether they work harder as a result of being inspired by the VC, 78 percent respondents chose the ‘very much so’ option, while 18 percent chose the ‘yes’ option. Only 4 percent respondents did not acknowledge him as a source of inspiration in their professional work. The VC also scored highly on motivation with only one out the 50 respondents indicating that he is not motivational. He also had impressive results when gauged for individualised consideration of his subordinates, with only 4 percent respondents indicating that he does not possess individualised consideration. Ninety-six percent of the respondents indicated that he challenges their intellect, while an additional 98 percent indicated that the VC’s actions have improved their awareness or interest in problems at UAEU. Another 96 percent of the respondents responded positively to the question of whether the VC recognises the contributions made by faculty at the UAEU. Curiously, all negative sentiments about the VC were from two people who had been in the institution for less than year. Interestingly, the two respondents were not of the same gender and they also worked in different departments. The interview revealed that the respondents thought that the VC was a transformational leader. When asked to expound on some of the traits he possesses to justify their claims, the respondents mentioned the VC’s charisma, team focus, consulting with others and his easy-going nature. When asked to rate the VC’s innovation performance, three of the five respondents gave him a strong rating arguing that it is under his leadership that UAEU has invested heavily in research and urging lecturers to foster innovative thinking among students. The VC received a fair rating from two respondents, on who indicated that while many investments have been made in research, the university was yet to come up with any major innovation. The other respondents cited the collaboration of UAEU and Elsevier as a fair indication of the VC’s innovation performance. The respondents also rated the VC’s communication approaches highly, with all of them giving him a strong rating. Some of the reasons that were cited by the respondents for such ratings include: the VC is an eloquent communicator, a good listener, a sensible person, and good at receiving feedback. It also emerged that the VC is good at interacting with other people. Four of the respondents also linked the university’s performance based on teaching, research, and other services to the leadership offered by the VC. One of the respondents noted that the VC always wants to be in touch with what is happening in the university, while another admitted that the VC is always willing to champion the university’s cause. Still, one respondent argued the VC is responsible for ensuring that the university is running smoothly. One respondent indicated that the VC could partly be credited with the university’s performance noting that a lot of the hard work is done by lecturers. The final question sought to understand if the respondents were inspired or motivated by the VC to work harder in their service provision. Three respondents said they had been inspired or motivated by the VC and one even attributed her longevity in the institution to the VC. One indicated that the VC’s enthusiasm is infectious, while the other one indicated that the VC keeps reminding them of their contribution to the students’ lives. The fourth respondent indicated that he was partially inspired or motivated while the fifth one indicated that she had not been in the institution long enough. Notably, there was a similarity in responses provided by people who had not been in the organisation for long in both the qualitative and quantitative studies: they ranked the VC’s performance much lower when compared to others who had been in the organisation for longer. From the responses received both from the quantitative and qualitative studies, it is obvious that the VC at UAEU is a transformational leader. True to studies done linking transformational leadership and organisational performance (e.g. by Chi, Yeh &Yu, 2011, pp. 1-9), the results of these studies seem to suggest that the VC as a leader contributes to the perceived performance of the university. As Bass (1999, p. 9) and Bass and Avolio (2000, p. 137) indicate, transformational leaders establish good communication networks, something that gauging by both the quantitative and qualitative results, the VC of UAEU has done. Garcia-Morales et al. (2008, p. 301) note that transformational leaders influence the manner in which followers absorb knowledge positively through proper communication. As a result, performance is enhanced. From the qualitative study, it is evident that the VC is a good communicator who reminds his subordinates of their role in helping students. Arguably, that is an ideal way of increasing their absorptive capacity. Senge et al. (1994, p. 233) also note that transformational leaders guide the professional routes of others, something that the VC at UAEU seems to do. Garcia-Morales et al. (2008, p. 304) also found out that leaders’ link with performance is partly associated with their ability to create an atmosphere that encourages innovation. From both the quantitative and qualitative results, it is evident that the UAEU VC is perceived to be creating the right environment for innovations. Conclusion and Recommendations This study fills a gap in knowledge where the impact of leadership in institutions of higher learning and the performance therein have not been researched as much as the impact of leadership in corporate organisational performance has. From this research, it is evident that the performance of a university can to a great deal rely on the nature of the leader (in most cases the VC) who has been given the mandate to manage the university. The study has also succeeded in drawing a link between transformational leadership and enhanced organisational performance. In future however, researchers should target understanding the impact of other leadership styles (e.g. transactional leadership on the performance of universities). Notably, past studies have already established that transformational leadership has a positive impact on the performance of most organisations. However, not much research has been done in relation to other leadership styles. This study also recommends that future researchers should device a specific method through which university performance can be measured. Arguably, this study has to a great extent relied on the perceived performance of the university as seen through the eyes of the respondents. However, it is rather difficult to ascertain whether the respondent’s perceptions were objective or whether they were guided by personal biases. References Bass, B. M. (1999). Two decades of research and development in transformational leadership. European Journal of Work and Organisational Psychology, 8(1), 9-32. Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. J. (2000). MLQ multifactor leadership questionnaire technical report. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Boerner, S., Eisenbeiss, S.A., & Griesser, D. (2007). Follower behaviour and organizational performance: The impact of transformational leaders. Journal of Leadership and Organisational Studies, 13(3), 15-26. Cebula, N., Craig, E., Eggers, H., Fajardo, M.D., Gray, J., & Lantz, T. (2010). Achieving performance excellence: The influence of leadership on organizational performance. Washington, DC: National Institute of Correction. Chi, H. K., Yeh, H. R., & Yu, C. H. (2011). The effects of transformational leadership, organizational culture, job satisfaction on the organizational performance in the non-profit organisations. Retrieved from http://www.jgbm.org/page/15%20Chiou%20Huei%20Yu%20.pdf Feller, I. (1990). Universities as engines of R&D-Based economic growth: They think they can. Research Policy, 19(4), 335-348. Garcia-Morales, V. J., Llorens-Montes, J., &Verdu-Jover, A. J. (2008). The effects of transformational leadership on organizational performance through knowledge and innovation. British Journal of Management, 19(4), 299-319. Hambrick, D.C. (1994). Top management groups: a conceptual integration and reconsideration of the “team” label. Research in Organizational Behaviour, 9, 369-406. Katou, A. A. (2015). Transformational leadership and organizational performance: Three serially mediating mechanisms. Employee Relations, 37(3), 329-353. Lieberson, S., & O’Connor, J. F. (1972). Leadership and organizational performance: A study of large corporations. American Sociological Review, 37(2), 117-130. Militaru, G. (2012). The impact of transformational leadership on University performance through knowledge and innovation. Balkan Region Conference on Engineering and Business Education, 1(1), 343-346. Peterson, R. S., Smith, D., Martorana, P., & Owens, P. D. (2003). The impact of chief executive officer personality on top management team dynamics: one mechanism, by which leadership affects organizational performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 795-808. Senge, P., Roberts, C., Ross, R., Smith, B., & Kleiner, A. (1994). The fifth discipline field book. New York: Double Day. Swan, M. (2015). Three UAE universities in first Times Higher Education rankings in Middle East. The National. Retrieved from http://www.thenational.ae/uae/education/three-uae-universities-in-first-times-higher-education-rankings-for-middle-east United Arabs Emirates University. (2015). About UAEU. Retrieved from http://www.uaeu.ac.ae/en/about/ Welbourne, T. M., Cavanaugh, M. A., & Judge, T. A. (1998). Does the leader make a difference? Relationship between executive leader personality and entrepreneurial firm performance. Centre for Advanced Human Resource Studies – Working Paper Series, 98(17), 1-23. Appendix A: UAEU’s Organisational Chart Source: http://www.uaeu.ac.ae/en/about/organizational_charts.shtml Read More

Literature Review Many articles have been written about the impact of leadership on organisational performance. Notably, not many of such papers are dedicated to evaluating the impact of leadership on organisational performances in the UAE or on academic institutions in and outside the UAE. Among the few such articles is one authored by Militaru (2012, pp. 343-346), where it was found out that leaders who use the transformational style of leadership stand higher changes of motivating their followers to exert more effort in their work.

Consequently, Militaru (2012, p. 346) discovered that transformational leadership has a positive effect on the performance of universities because the managers, deans and lecturers working in such institutions are more engaged in their task performance, which eventually leads to better output. The concept of ‘organisational performance in universities’ is not clearly defined in literature. However, Feller (1990, p. 335) notes that efficient performance in universities is perhaps evident when the institutions of higher learning play their social role of supplying collective technological and scientific knowledge to students.

Feller (1990, p. 335) notes that the duty of an institution of higher learning is to impart students with practical knowledge and to conduct research that helps students as well as the society at large. He notes that commercialising innovations developed through a university’s research projects should not be a major focus for the institutions. Rather, they should focus their attention towards developing the students’ capacity to conduct their own research and develop innovations in future (Feller, 1990, p. 335). A look at other literature sources that discuss the impact of leadership on organisational performance reveals that several studies support the notion that a leader’s personality has a notable effect on organisational performance.

Peterson et al. (2003, p. 88) and Welbourne, Cavanaugh and Judge (1998, p. 4) for instance note that the influence that a leader has on the organisation is to a great extent dependent on his/her personality. Welbourne et al. (1998, p. 4) specifically note that charismatic leaders are more likely to have a higher performance impact because they are able to communicate the vision of their organisations to the people they lead. Additionally, such leaders are more likely to stimulate their followers’ intellect in a manner that enhances performance.

Transformational leaders were also found to have positive impacts on teams, and Welbourne et al. (1998, p. 4) note that performance in organisational units was found to have registered significant improvements when the person at the helm of leadership had a charismatic personality. Lieberson and O’Connor (1972, p. 172) liken a leader to a coach, whose brilliance affects his team’s performance. The authors acknowledge that while the contribution that leaders have on performance is contentious, there is no denying that leaders’ ability to foster team work, manage internal problems effectively, and handle the concerns of different stakeholders have an impact on organisational performance (Lieberson & O’Connor, 1972, p. 173). Similar sentiments are expressed by Hambrick (1994, p. 180) and Peterson et al. (2003, p. 796), who note that the group leader, though sometimes considered a member of the organisation, often has dominating influence on the different organisational outputs.

Research Method This research project will use a mixed methods research design. According to Creswell (2003, p. 11), mixed methods research is ideal for use where the researcher intends to use both quantitative and qualitative data to understand a problem. In this research paper, quantitative data was gathered using a questionnaire, while the qualitative data was obtained from interviews that the researcher conducted. Since the VC’s performance is best gauged by the people he works with in the management of the university, a convenience sample was used among faculty staff who teach in different departments in the universities.

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