Investigating the Impact of Leadership on an Organisation's Management and Performance



ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would first like to express my gratitude for my research supervisor, colleagues, and peers and family whose immense and constant support has been a source of continuous guidance and inspiration.

DECLARATION

I [type your full first names & surname here], declare that the following dissertation/thesis and its entire content has been an individual, unaided effort and has not been submitted or published before. Furthermore, it reflects my opinion and take on the topic and is does not represent the opinion of the University.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTii

DECLARATIONiii

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION1

Background1

Introduction to Organisation2

Significance of the Study to Leadership3

Significance4

Aims4

Research Objectives5

Research Questions5

Thesis Structure6

CHAPTER 02: LITERATURE REVIEW7

Definition7

Characteristics of Leadership8

The contingency and Theories of Leadership9

Aims of Leadership10

Job Satisfaction11

Affective Commitment15

Organisational Performance17

Perspectives on organisational performance18

HOMEBASE - Measuring Organisational Performance20

Strategy Organisational Performance and Planning22

REFERENCES24

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION

Background

Empirical findings of the most recent studies have revealed a number of problems in today's organisations. First, according to Bennis (2007) and Drucker, a large number of organisations are over-managed and under-led. Many firms are relying on the ability of management to control employee behaviours, and this has resulted in resistance, dissatisfaction, uncommitted behaviours, psychological withdrawal, and turnover. Second, organisational leaders are maintaining the status quo, reluctant to try innovative ideas rationalizing for expected returns on large investments. Third, many leaders are practicing Theory X leadership styles with the assumption and belief that employees are untrusting with regard to accessing confidential or propriety business information and that critical decisions create a self-fulfilling prophecy. Fourth, some leaders are undervaluing human capitals, using bureaucratic structure and depersonalisation, and relying solely on technology to solve organisational problem. They consider people needs unimportant and ignore employees' affective organisational commitment and satisfaction. They fail to maintain a proper balance between social and technical considerations. Fifth, some organisations pay no attention to the external environment, and they fail to capture opportunities that innovation and change can bring to their firms gaining or sustaining competitive advantage.

In anticipation of, and response to, the aforementioned problems, today's organisations need leaders who can “shape organisational culture, communicate value systems, model ethical behaviour, engage and inspire followers, and manage diversity”. Organisations will not benefit from leadership styles that are limited to reflecting the patterns of the past; rather they will embrace leadership styles that enable leaders to tune into the possibilities of the future and to foster creativity and innovation. Despite the importance of effective leadership, which is critical to the success of most companies in today's global business environment, there has been a quest for a new leadership paradigm.

Many factors can affect organisational performance. A number of researchers have found that leadership is one of the most significant contributors to organisational performance.

Introduction to Organisation

In this dissertation, the researcher will be studying HOMEBASE as a primary organisation for finding out whether there is any impact of leadership over the organisational performance. HOMEBASE is one of the leading general and home merchandise retailers in United Kingdom. In the market of United Kingdom, they are widely known with ...