Contents1.0 INTRODUCTION41.1COMPANY BACKGROUND51.2 BACKGROUND
PROBLEM DEFINITIONS61.3 STATEMENT PROBLEM71.4 RESEARCH
OBJECTIVE81.5 IMPORTANCE OF THE RESEARCH81.5.1 IMPORTANCE OF THE
RESEARCH TO LEADERSHIP91.6 NATURE OF THIS RESEARCH WORK101.7
RESEARCH QUESTIONS101.8 ASSUMPTION111.9 SCOPE121.10
LIMITATIONS121.11 SUMMARY132.0 LITERATURE REVIEW142.1
LEADERSHIP162.2 LEADERSHIP STYLES192.3 THE TRAIT THEORIE222.3.1THE
AUTHORITARIAN/ AUTHOCRATIC LEADERSHIP STYLE232.3.1.1PARTICIPATIVE
(DEMOCRATIC) LEADERSHIP STYLE242.4.1.2 LAISSEZ-FAIR LEADERSHIP
STYLE242.5 CONTINGENCY THEORIES252.5.1 CRITICAL VIEW OF HERSEY-
BLANCHARD MODEL282.6 POWER AND INFLUENCE THEORIE292.7
ENTREPRENEURSHIP322.8LEADERSHIP IN ENTREPREURSHIP352.9CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION362.10MEASURING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION392.13THE LINK
BETWEEN EMPLOYEE TURNOVER AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION463.0
METHODOLOGY493.1 POPULATION SAMPLE503.2 DATA COLLECTION513.3
INSTRUMENTS533.4 LEADERSHIP STYLE INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE543.5
EMPLOYEE JOB SATISFACTION QUESTIONNAIRE (ESQ)543.6 CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION QUESTIONNAIRE (CSQ)552.15DATA ANALYSIS563.8 RESEARCH
LIMITATION573.9 RESEARCH ETHICS584.0 DATA PRESENTATION AND
ANALYSIS594.1 EMPLOYEE JOB SATISFACTION QUESTIONNAIRE (ESQ)604.2
LEADERSHIP INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE ANALYSIS654.3CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION QUESTIONNAIRE PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS704.4
SUMMARY794.4.1 Leadership interview questionnaire804.4.2 Customer
care satisfaction805.0 DISCUSSION825.1 Leadership style845.2
Employee job satisfaction855.3 Customer care satisfaction.866.0
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION886.1 Summary of purpose886.2
Summary of procedure896.391CONCLUSION916.4 Recommendation927.0
BIBLOGRAPHY948.0 APPENDIX A106
CHAPTER 11.0 INTRODUCTIONAccepting the significance of small
scale business in regional economic development has made many
economies focus on entrepreneurial actions as a strategy to
counterbalance the economic drop brought about by globalization
(Allen 2006). In Africa of today, the guiding power in the
expansion of African economies is the micro and small scale
enterprises (MSEs) where entrepreneurship belongs. Small and medium
scale enterprises (SMEs, Small and Medium scale business, SMBs) are
organizations whose headcount or staff turnover falls below certain
limits. Its definitions classified organizations with fewer than
ten numbers of employees as micro and fewer than fifty numbers of
employees as small and those with more than fifty and lesser than
two hundred and fifty numbers of employees are regarded as medium
scale enterprises. (European commission, 2003). These micro and
small scale enterprises are making considerable contributions to
the improvement of all African economies. From the government of
Ghana report, World Bank report in 2006 shows that the micro
enterprises of Ghana employ fewer than five people which represent
70% of its labor force of the country. While the private sector of
the Kenyans economies engaged thirty- two million employees as well
made a contribution of eighteen percent of the countrys GDP in
2003. (OECD, 2005). The effect of these small scale businesses in
Nigeria economy is hard to correctly determine but it is considered
to be extremely dynamic and important. According to Nwaka (2005)
& Ariyo (2005), an estimate of forty five and sixty percent of
Nigerian labor force is engaged by the private enterprise which is
a reflection of fifty percent of the countrys employment status as
well as fifty percent industrial productivity. This project
research is investigating the impact of leadership style on
customer satisfaction in entrepreneurship. It focuses on Nevon
Nigeria Limited as a case study. It is designed to understand if
leadership style relates to the extent customers are satisfied with
entrepreneurship in Nigeria. Nevon Nigerian Limited is an
organization owned and managed by one man hence the word
entrepreneurship in this study.The word entrepreneurship is
mentioned in this research work only for two reasons:it was
mentioned because the company in focus ( Nevon Nigeria Limited) is
owned and managed by one manalso to limit the scope of this
researchCOMPANY BACKGROUND
As mentioned earlier, Nevon Nigeria Limited is a company that is
own and managed by one man. The company is involved in the
importation of various textile materials from China, United
Kingdom, Vietnam, and South Korea. It was among the first fifty
entrepreneurial businesses in the western part of Nigeria. Its
headquarters is located at Breadfruit Street, Victoria Island,
Lagos, Nigeria with three branches within the region of Lagos
State. The company has staff strength of twenty five in all of its
branches including its headquarters. Nevon Nigerian Limited was
formed in July 15th 1998.
1.2 BACKGROUND PROBLEM DEFINITIONS
Entrepreneurship is a fundamental component in economic
development (Stern, 2005), so is leadership style the answer to
entrepreneurial success (Bass, 1990) The start up and the closure
of small scale business are the determining factor in the local
regional economies in Africa of today. (Deskins, Hill, & Rork,
2007; Morris, 2002; SAB, 2004). Swiercz & Lydon (2002), states
that there are various rationale responsible why hot start up
company fails, they fail due to either the innovation of new
technologies, introduction of new market or new distribution
channels or may be as a consequence of inexperienced administrative
team. They stressed that the incontestable critical factor
responsible for the failure is the leadership ability of the
Entrepreneurial CEO. Although, Nevon Nigeria limited is not a
startup company, it has been in existence for 12 years, but the
critical factor presumed to be responsible for its failure to grow
as expected is the leadership strength of CEO. There are many
studies stressing on the importance of leadership competencies as
well as the leadership weight on the operation of the organizations
(Bass, 1990). This statement adds more strength on the fact that
leadership is a very essential ingredient to the survival of an
organization in this fast changing business world of today.Owing to
the common influence demonstrated by entrepreneurial actions,
leaders of many geographical areas are focusing their energy and
resources on efforts to initiate entrepreneurship in hope of
gaining the needed economic growth. (Haggerty 2005). Haggerty
stressed further that regardless of the hard work to increase
entrepreneurial activities many regions (Lagos region for instance)
are not getting the required economic outcome they are expecting to
get. This may be either poor customer satisfaction or the style of
leadership they are practicing. An assessment of 50 percent of all
new entrepreneurial business failed or close down within four years
of startup due to their style of leadership . (Haggerty 2005).In
addition to the above discussion, customers satisfaction is another
vital issue in the success of any traditional business makeup like
entrepreneurship (Bradley,1994), Satisfying customers has been seen
as the one of the most essential hypothetical and practical problem
for most market and customer researchers. (Kondo, Higash, &
Takyo-ku, 2001). In order to achieve any organizational aims and
objectives, understanding the meaning of customers satisfaction
must be paramount. Zairi (2000), said that customers are the
purpose of doing business. And the overall customer attitude
towards a service provider is satisfaction.(Hansomark &
Albinsson, 2004). This was the notion that initiated the idea to
carry out an investigation on the leadership style on customer
satisfaction.1.3 STATEMENT PROBLEMAs the average entrepreneurial
business start-up rate within 1989 to 2001 increases, it death rate
within the same period increased more on a higher rate, but there
is a small or no conformity on the real entrepreneurial failure
rate (Lydon 2002). 70% to 80% of entrepreneurial businesses fail
within its first year of start up and just 50% of the businesses
(entrepreneurship) that survived in its first year remained in
business for more than 5 years. This is as a result of the
unsuccessful promotion of entrepreneurship in order to increase the
economy. (Gugliada 2003).Nevon Nigeria limited the case study of
this research work was formerly a big player in the entrepreneurial
business, but recently, the company started experiencing a huge set
back in their market share, high staff turnover as well as poor
customer satisfaction. This study is looking into the impact of
leadership style the company is practicing and how customers are
been satisfied. This project research is trying to find the impact,
the effect of leadership styles on customers satisfaction in of
entrepreneurship. 1.4 RESEARCH OBJECTIVEBasically the purpose of
this research project is to investigate the impact of leadership
styles on customers satisfaction in entrepreneurship. Actually, it
is difficult to find literatures that provide a direct link between
entrepreneurial leadership style and the level their customers
satisfaction. 1.5 IMPORTANCE OF THE RESEARCHThe important aspect of
this research work is the need to make available support materials
in future that will help guarantee the success and growth of any
new and already existing entrepreneurial business in Nigeria like
Nevon Nigeria Limited the case study of this research workTo create
awareness to the entrepreneurial society in Nigeria and the world
as a whole that there is a connection between the leadership style
they show and the level of customers satisfactions.This study will
also be of useful to the society in general as it will offer good
influence to in growing economic as well as providing firmness in
the economic depressed areas by offering the leadership techniques
needed to advance the success and growth of entrepreneurship This
study may also contribute to the development of the link between
leadership customer satisfactions which might initiate successful
new business ventures.
1.5.1 IMPORTANCE OF THE RESEARCH TO LEADERSHIP The study of
leadership amongst entrepreneurs involves the exploration of the
whole varieties of leadership feature in the background of
entrepreneurial success. This kind of investigation might offer a
leadership framework as regards to entrepreneurs, in turns
providing access to a reasonable expansion of leadership awareness.
According to Bass et. al, (2003), it is very important to carry out
further research always on leadership; so this research work may
add to the academic literature in the area of leadership styles as
a major contributing factor towards the rate of staff turnover as
well as the level of customer satisfaction. The significance of the
study to leadership is summarized by Adcroft, Willis, & Dhaliwi
(2004) that the case for leadership, innovation and creativity
skills of entrepreneurship is made in the globalization literature,
by administrative expert like Gary Hamael and in the responsibility
of private sector management on the unruly public sector.
Nevertheless, except the anxiety between acknowledgment and
endorsement is settled, the doubt will remain that it is little
more than a case of scholarly supply creating an insatiable and
impractical public and private sector requirement.1.6 NATURE OF
THIS RESEARCH WORKThis is both quantitative and qualitative
research work. Linking leadership style to customer satisfaction in
entrepreneurship may or may not add to the body of knowledge
surrounding the types of leadership characteristics successful
entrepreneurs are using and its effect to their customers.
Entrepreneurs are faced with the issues of building leadership
traits in order to nurture their business as well as to change them
into a height of professionalism. (Fernald et.al 2005), thus,
increasing the level of how customers are satisfied. As mentioned
earlier, this research work seeks to link leadership styles in
entrepreneurship with how customer are satisfied. Obviously,
satisfying customers is a major and appreciated result of good
marketing practice. This is in agreement with Drucker, (1954) and
Anderson, Fornell & Lehman (1994) that the principle purpose of
a business is to create a satisfied customer which has been found
to be initiator of higher future profitability. The feasible
profitability of an organization relies on pleasing customers in
the present retained customer should be seen as profits making
asset for the organization. (Anderson & Sullivan,1993;
Reichheld 1996) 1.7 RESEARCH QUESTIONS In addressing this research
topic, the impact of leadership style on customer care satisfaction
in entrepreneurship the following questions guided this study to
completion This work tries to link the relationship between
entrepreneurs leadership styles and customers satisfaction and as
well answer the overarching questions like:The following research
questions guided this research work to completion. What are the
various leadership styles, factors, behaviours, if actually any
exist is responsible for entrepreneurial success.Do leadership
styles in an organisation relates or connects to how customers are
satisfied in entrepreneurship?The study answers these questions by
creating the link between leadership styles and employee job
satisfaction, followed by the link between employee job
satisfaction and staff turnover (high and low), and finally the
link between employee turnover and customer satisfaction.The
rationale behind these links, is employees are more satisfied with
leaders who are considerate or supportive than with those who are
either indifferent or critical towards the (Yukl 1971), and also,
Negative leader- employee relationships reduce productivity and
increase absenteeism and the turnover to the organization can be
quite high. (Keashly, trott, & Maclean 1994; Ribelin 2003).
1.8 ASSUMPTION The following assumptions were necessary for the
completion of this research study. The exactness of these
assumptions may affect the validity of this research
work.Assumption 1The reply to the survey and demographic statement
shows sincere appraisal by participant.Assumption 2The Data
collection was only from populace who volunteered to offer truthful
responses, this is because the data collections will not be by
force so the real mindset of the populace regarding the survey will
be achieved.Assumption 3The voluntary data collection would not
bias the outcome this research work. Whatever data that is
collected will be used without adjustment to suit this research
workThere will be a guarantee of full privacy of the individuals
and the companys identity of all partakers in the survey so as to
smoothen the progress of sincere responses. 1.9 SCOPE The scope of
this research work was limited to exploring the impact of
leadership styles behaviors to customers satisfaction in
entrepreneurship in Nigeria particularly in the western region of
Nigeria.1.10 LIMITATIONS
Notwithstanding the authenticity of this research work, some
limitations were encountered during the course of undertaking this
study. The framework and scope of the research had to be attired in
other to create a positive link between the factors under
discussion. The timeframe for submission of the final completed
work which was brought forward made it almost impossible to fit in
all the necessary information pertaining to the research topic.Also
responses to the questionnaires may be influenced by the
individuals mood and by the environmental conditions in the setting
at the time the questionnaires are completed.1.11 SUMMARYAccording
to Swiercz & Lydon (2002), the major driver of success in
entrepreneurship is the leadership strength style and manner of the
entrepreneur. There have been wide researches on entrepreneurship
as well as customers satisfaction. But this chapter introduces the
relationship of entrepreneurial leadership styles and customers
satisfaction. Because the major stake in accomplishing any
conventional business makeup is through satisfying the customers (
Ho & Wo 1999). This chapter also contains the research question
and hypothesis as well as the assumption upon which the study is
assessed. It also covers the scope and the limitations.
CHAPTER 22.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
INTRODUCTIONThe rising pace of competition in todays business
world has made organizations to pay more attention to how customers
are being satisfied. This statement is supported by Zairi (2000)
that customers are the main purpose of doing business in recent
time: and that the future and security of many organizations will
be put in jeopardy if their customers satisfaction, loyalty,
retention is not fully considered. In as much as customers
satisfaction is paramount to modern organizations, providing
effective leadership is also important for any organizations that
want to remain relevant and continue to advance. (Allio, 2009).
Strong, effective, and forward thinking leadership can as well
provide organizations and professions with opportunities to become
more attractive to customers. (Bryant, 2003).This research work
considered both internal and external customers satisfaction of the
company, but focuses mainly on the External customers of an
organization. According Hallowell et al., (1996) ; and Stanley
& Winser, (1998), they defined external and internal customers
as: External customer are people and organizations who have a need
for the goods and services of a particular organization as well as
people who are willing to give some of their money in exchange for
a solution that meets their needs and expectations. Internal
customer are employees and manager within an organization, they
give support and help that create external customer
satisfaction.The above definitions of both internal and external
customer were the working definition used in this research
work.This is because this work tried to established external
customer satisfaction through the activities of the internal
customers which comprises of employees and managers of Nevon
Nigeria Limited and people who are willing to exchange their money
for a solution that meets their needs.( the external customers).
This research work will not review in details the internal
customers but will only show the how they (internal customers)
contribute to external customers satisfaction. In order to show
that internal customer (the employees) have link towards external
customer satisfaction, John Smith the former CEO of Marriott
Corporation that states that you cannot have a happy customer
served by unhappy employees (Heskett, et al., 1997) this statement
invariable means thats happy and satisfied employees produces happy
and satisfied customers. . Similarly Heskett (1997), supported the
following sequential connection to describe well- to do
organizations: great employee satisfaction begets high employee
motivation which begets high level of service quality compared with
the level the customer expects which also begets high customer
satisfaction begets increased sales volume. Also, Schneider &
Bowen (1985b) and Marshall (2001) explained that high degree of
customers satisfaction can only be substantiate by a well- built
organizational commitment , low employee turnover alongside a
formidable leadership style of the company. Bowen & Schneider
(1988), account that a high percentage of when customers report
adverse views of goods and services quality, they as well report
been served with terrible attitudes or overhearing employees
complaining about their jobs and environment. This present chapter
reviews the literature and describes the process of leadership
style, a broad definition of leadership, entrepreneurship,
leadership in entrepreneurship customer satisfaction and its
measurement. Also this chapter describes the link between
leadership style and employee job satisfaction, the connection
between employee job satisfaction and employee turnover and finally
the connection between employee turnover and customer satisfaction.
This research work created the following links to find out if the
leadership style of Nevon Nigeria limited has impact to customer
satisfaction.The link between leadership style and employee job
satisfactionThe link between employee job satisfaction and employee
turnoverThe link between employee turnover and customer
satisfaction
2.1 LEADERSHIP Studies on the concept of leadership are very
broad. Theoreticians and practitioners of modern management have
discussed the issue of leadership at length but no single
definition of leadership has been universally accepted. New
statements and assumptions regarding leadership come up almost
every minute of the day. Though, majority of them are extremely
personal and research the subject in an unappreciated cultural
structure of standard and suppositions. Before exploring this
concept leadership, it is necessary to get the definitions and the
meaning clearly. I will list the some definitions of leadership by
some researchers in a tabular form and on my own review three
separate leadership definitions.The table below shows the various
definitions of leadership.Table 1 Definitions of leadership
YearAuthorDefinition of Leadership1957Hemphill & Coons
Leadership the personal actions used to direct group to attain a
set end. 1957StogdillIt is a domineering act on subordinates or
organizations to accomplish the aim placed by the leader.
1969Bowers Leadership is an activity process of interpersonal
relationship; others behavior is influenced through this process to
achieve the set target. 1977Davis Leadership may be defined as an
influence on the employees to passionately pursue positive
objective. 1982Morphet, Johns & RellerIt is defined in the
societal structure, as a personal exploit, manners, confidence use
to control others under volunteer agreement. 1986Richards &
Engle The creation of mental picture, value as well as the
formation of surroundings that help accomplishes a target.
1990SergiovanniLeadership involves the satisfying the demands of
the subordinates by a means of discussion, cooperation and
concession by a leader in other to get the best out the workers.
1990Jacobs & Jaques Leadership is an act that helps others to
endeavor as well as to improve the desire to realize a goal.
1993RobbinsLeadership is the flair to control group of people so as
to accomplish a set target. 1994YuklLeadership is a act of
influencing followers, whereby they are motivated to accomplish a
target. 2001NorthouseLeadership is the swapping of affiliation
between a leader and the followers. 2003FryLeadership is the
process of using leading-tactics to give an exciting reason to
improve the employees possible for growth and maturity.
Personal review of leadership definitionThe concept of
leadership as pronounced by Druker, (1970): states that leadership
is the lifting of mans vision to higher sights, the raising of mans
performance to high standard the building of mans personality
beyond its normal limitation. According to Alford & Beatty,
(1951), leadership is the ability to voluntarily obtain tangible
actions and results, without coercion.Finally, Davis, (1967)
considered leadership as the persuasive force by which others can
be made to enthusiastically adopt per-determined objectives.
Consequently according this author it is the human factor that
unites and motivates a group towards the achievement of
objectives.Management in all business areas and organizational
activities are the act of getting people together to accomplish
desired goals and objectives efficiently and effectively.
(Gomez-Mejia et al., 2008)Although the above three definitions of
leadership clearly reveal that there is a difference between
leadership and management, but in this research management is part
of the definition of leadership. The reason for this is that
leadership and management both aim at achieving a goal and also
mobilize and utilizes of resources. And also according to, Peter
Druke (1970) the most efficient way to produce anything is to bring
together under one management as many as possible of the activities
needed to turn out the product This brings research working
definition of leadership as the ability to bring together the right
group of people in order to achieve a common goal with or without
coercion.2.2 LEADERSHIP STYLES
Leadership style is the comparatively reliable method of actions
that shows the characteristics of a leader. (DuBrin 2001).
According to the U.S. Army hand book (1973), leadership style is
the way and approach of offering guidelines, implementing strategy
as well as inspiring group of peoples. In todays economy,
organizations call for a competent leader who is aware of the
complexities of the fast changing global environment.
Organizational efficiency or its performance might be affected by
the various styles of leadership it uses (Nahavandi ,2002).From
Mahatma Gandhi to Winston Churchill to Martin Luther King to
Rudolph Giuliani, there are as many leadership styles as there are
leaders. Fortunately, businesspeople and psychologists have
developed useful and simple ways to describe the main styles of
leadership, and these can help aspiring leaders understand which
styles they should use. I emphasized the word style because nowhere
in the world, neither in the west nor in the Far East nor in
Africa, is there a unique leadership approach that is applicable to
all situations and entities. Researchers and practitioners agree
that the major role of a leader is to obtain results. However,
despite the high number of studies, the diversity in range of
training and increased specialty in management, a number of people
have not yet adequately grasped what leads to leadership
efficiency. In fact, two schools of thought exist on that issue:
while one school believes that leadership skills are inborn the
other suggests that they can be acquired. Based on research with
3000 American Chief Executives Officers, Daniel Goleman, an
American psychologist and consultant and author of several best
sellers including Emotional Intelligence, Working with Emotional
Intelligence and co-author of leading with emotional intelligent
distinguished six leadership styles, each of which is a product of
individual emotional intelligence. The leadership styles are:
coercive, authoritative, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting, and
coaching. However, only four of these six styles consistently have
a positive impact on a companys environment and financial
success.Golemans research found that leaders who have positive
results on the working environment reap better financial benefits
than those that have a negative impact. Specifically, leaders who
have mastered the four positive styles (authoritative, democratic,
affiliative, and coaching) have the most preferred environment and
business performance. Furthermore, they are considerate of the
impact they have on theirs and adjust their style to the one that
is best suited for each situation and employee and customers
(Goleman, 2003 )It is important also to note that not all leaders
possess all six styles of leadership. However, these styles can be
learned through understanding which emotional intelligence
competencies are inlaid in each style. Goleman identified effective
leader as having one common trait a high degree of emotional
intelligence. Emotional intelligence include: self awareness, self-
regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. Through
repetition, time, desire, and effort, these emotional intelligence
competencies can be mastered leaving the leader with great resultI
would now endeavor to review other leadership styles and states
whether they are appropriate to African culture. Although I do not
believe that there is an African style of leadership different from
that of Europe or America, or of Japan in particular or Asia in
general. But I believe there are universal styles of leadership
that are applicable, with variations that are specific to a given
cultural, ethnic and religious environment.Studies have shown that
the most successful leaders are not those that stick to a
particular leadership style. They combine several styles within
short span of time depending on the circumstances, comparable to a
golf player with 13 sticks. Africa is not an exception to this
rule.More leadership framework will be review as we explore the
leadership theories.Leadership theories Researchers have developed
a number of leadership theories over the years, and these theories
can be classified into four main types.1. The Trait theories 2. The
behavioral theories. 3. The contingency theories 4. The power and
influence theories.2.3 THE TRAIT THEORIEBefore the world war two,
leadership theories and research focused on identifying the
personal trait of leaders that differentiated them from followers.
The trait identified included intelligence, dominance, self
confidence, level of energy and activity, and task relevant
knowledge. While reviews of this research suggested that such trait
are not reliable predictors of who will emerge into role (
Stogdill, 1948: Mann, 1959), other reviews have shown that trait
influence our perception of whether someone is a leader( Lord,
1986). Level 5 leadership by Collins (2001), represents one of the
more recent trait approaches to leadership and he proposes that
leaders who build enduring greatness for their organizations
possess seemingly contradictory characteristics, including modesty,
shyness, personal humility, and fearlessness, on the one hand, and
professional will, unwavering resolve, ferociousness, and
fearlessness, on the other. According to Collins, these
characteristics are driven by needs to build, create, and
contribute to something larger and longer lasting than oneself(as
opposed to needs for fame, fortune, power and adulation ). In turn,
these characteristics promote the implementation of a number of
practices associated with building enduring greatness in an
organization, including creating and reinforcing a culture of
disciplineIn conclusion, trait theories argued that leaders share a
number of common personality traits and characteristics, and that
leadership emerges from these traits. Trait theories help us
identify some qualities that are helpful when leading others.
However, none of these traits or any combination of them will
guarantee success as a leader.
BEHAVIORAL THEORIESBehavioral theories focus on how leaders
behave. Whether they dictate what needs to be done and expect
cooperation? Or do they involve the team in decisions to encourage
acceptance and support?In 1939 Kurt Lewin led a group of academic
researcher to study the different kinds of leadership and they came
up with an influential report that was used to establish the three
major leadership styles. Kurt Lewin developed a leadership
framework based on a leaders decision-making behavior. He argued
that there are three major leadership styles (1) The Authoritarian/
Autocratic leadership styles (2) The Participative/Democratic
leadership style and (3) The laissez-fair leadership style.
THE AUTHORITARIAN/ AUTHOCRATIC LEADERSHIP STYLE
This is a leadership style where by leaders instruct their
subordinates what they (leaders) want to be done as well as how
they want it to be executed, without consulting or seeking the
advice of their subject. This type of leadership style is
considered appropriate when decision genuinely need to be taken
quickly, when theres no need for input and when team agreement is
not necessary for a successful outcome.PARTICIPATIVE (DEMOCRATIC)
LEADERSHIP STYLEAccording to Lewin (1939) this is a type of
leadership that always says let work together to get a solution. It
is a leadership style where the leader and few of its employees put
heads together in the process of making decision.(that is trying to
determine what is to be done and how it is to be done). The final
authority in the decision making process lies with leader alone.
This type of leadership style is important when team agreement
matters, but it can be quite difficult to manage when there are
lots of different perspective and ideas2.4.1.2 LAISSEZ-FAIR
LEADERSHIP STYLEThis is a leadership style where by leaders offer
little or no leadership guidance to subordinates. The decision
making lies on the followers. Typically this type of leadership
style happens when the team is highly capable and motivated and it
doesnt need close monitoring or supervision. That is where the
staff knows their job more than their leader and takes possession
of their job. Similar to Lewinss behavioral theories is the
Blake-mouton managerial Grid and John Adairs Action Centered
Leadership Model. Blake-mouton managerial Grids model helps to
decide how best to lead, depending on organizations concern for
people versus concern for production. This model describes five
different leadership styles: and they are impoverished, country
club, team leader, produce or perish, or middle of the road
leadership styles. The John Adairs Action- Centered leadership
model is a framework thats consistent with behavioral theories of
leadership. Adair proposes that using this model, the best
leadership style is determined by balancing task, team, and
individual responsibilities he also went further to sate that any
leader who spend time managing each of these elements will likely
be more successful than those who focus mostly on one
element.Cleverly, then, how leaders behave impacts on their
effectiveness. Researchers have realized, though, that many of
these leadership behaviors are appropriate at different times. So,
according to Adair, the best leaders are those who can use many
different behavioral styles and use the right style for each
situation.2.5 CONTINGENCY THEORIESThe third leadership theories
reviewed in this chapter was the CONTINGENCY THEORIES.The
realization that there is no one correct type of leader led to
theories that the best leadership style is contingent on, or
depends on, situations. These theories try to predict which
leadership style is best in which circumstance.When a decision is
needed fast, which style is preferred? When a leader needs the
support of his team, is there a better way to leader? Should a
leader be more people oriented or task oriented? These are all the
examples of questions that contingency leadership theories try to
address. The contingency leadership theory proposes that the
organizational or work group context affects the extent to which
given leader trait and behaviors will be effective. Contingency
theories gained prominence in the late 1960s and the 1970s; for
example Fielders contingency model (Fiedler, 1967; Fiedler &
Chemers, 1984), the Vroom- Yetton decision- making model of
leadership(Vroom & Yetton, 1973), Hersey and Blanchard (1977)s
Situational leadership theory. Fiedlers contingency model argues
that the effectiveness of the leader is dependent upon certain
situational criteria. Fiedler assumes leader effectiveness is
determined by an interaction between situational characteristics
and the leaders behavior. The focus is on the leaders ability to
change the situational characteristics to accommodate ones
style.While Vroom-Yetton decision making model of leadership
assumes that the leaders decision making style, in interaction with
situational characteristics, determines leader effectiveness. The
leader attempts to accommodate the situational characteristics. But
the major difference between Fiedlers model and the Vroom-Yetton
model is the assumption of a predisposition to a particular style.
On the one hand, most of the decision making theorists feel that a
leader is not predisposed to using a particular style; that the
demonstration of a style of decision making should be determined
entirely by situational criteria.(Vroom & Yetton, 1973). In
other words, the leaders style should be determined by situational
characteristics. On the other hand, Fiedler proposes the constancy
of leadership style regardless of the situational characteristics.
In other words, the effective leader (after appropriate training)
changes the situational characteristics to enhance the positive
interaction with his or her leadership style.Another management
expert Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard argue that things happen
because leaders do not match their style of leadership to the
maturity of the person or group they are leading. When style and
maturity do not matched, failure is the result. Dr Paul Hersey
professor and author of the Situational Leader and Ken Blanchard
author of the best selling The One Minute Manger created the
Hersey-Blanchard leadership theories which states that instead of
using just one style, successful leaders should change their
leadership style based on the maturity of the people they are
leading and the details of the task. According to Hersey and
Blanchard using this theory, leaders should be able to place more
or less emphasis on the task, and more or less emphasis on the
relationships with the people they are leading depending on what is
needed to get done successfully.According Hersey and Blanchard,
there are four main leadership styles:Telling (S1) according to
Hersey and Blanchard, leaders in this category tell their people
exactly what to do and how to do it.Selling (S2) in this category,
leaders still provide information and direction, but there is more
communication with followers. The leaders sell their message to get
the team on board.Participating (S3) - leaders in this group focus
more on the relationship and less on direction. The leader works
with the team and share decision making responsibilities.Delegating
(S4) here, leaders pass most of the responsibility onto the
followers or group but still monitor how the followers progresses
with assigned responsibility. They are less involved in
decisions.Hersey and Blanchard also stated that knowing when to use
each of the styles is largely dependent on the maturity of the
person or group you are leading, and they break maturity down into
four different levels.Maturity level 1 (M1) people at this level of
maturity are the bottom level of the scale. They lack the
knowledge, skills, or confidence to work on their own, and they
often need to be pushed to take the task on.Maturity level 2 (M2)
at this level, followers might be willing to work on the task but
they still do not have the skills to do it successfully.Maturity
level 3 (M3) here, followers are ready and willing to help with the
task, they have more skills than the M2 group, but they are still
not confident in their abilities.Maturity level 4 (M4) these
followers are able to work on their own. They have high confidence
and strong skills, and they are committed to the task.This model
maps each leadership style to each maturity level, as shown
belowMaturity LevelMost Appropriate Leadership StyleM1: Low
maturityS1: Telling/SellingM2: medium maturity, limited skillsS2:
Selling and CoachingM3: medium maturity, higher skills but lack
confidenceS3: Participating/ supportingM4: high maturityS4:
Delegating
2.5.1 CRITICAL VIEW OF HERSEY- BLANCHARD MODELThis model is one
of the best known amongst the various situational theories of
leadership and it is widely used in management training. ( Rego,
2004); and it has generated wide interest because it recommends a
more dynamic and flexible leadership style instead of static
leadership. The motivation, ability and experience of collaborators
can and must be constantly assessed to determine which style or
combination of styles that is recommended, taking into account the
changes in the need of employees and the characteristics of each
situation.From this research point of view this model fails to
distinguish between leadership and management. What is called
leadership is really management style. Leadership is not primarily
about decision making, it is about inspiring people to change
direction. Leaders may vary in the way they inspire people to
change, but this is when they have decided on the need to change.
Hence leadership style dose not reduced to decision making style.
Again, this model focuses too exclusively on what the person in
charge does. Finally, leaders and managers have to behave
differently in different situations, but that is just a trivial
fact of life, rather than anything profound in terms of our basic
understanding of what it means to lead and to manage.The criticism
that have been made of this model cannot be ignored, but its
intuitive tendency and widespread acceptance shows that it has
brought added value to the field of leadership studies (Rego,
2004).2.6 POWER AND INFLUENCE THEORIEThese theories of leadership
takes an entirely different approach compared to the three
discussed previously. These theories are based on the different
ways in which leaders use power and influence to get things done,
and the leadership style that emerge as a result. Perhaps the most
well known of these theories is the French and Ravens Five Forms of
Power. This model distinguished between using your position to
exert power, and using your personal attributes to be powerful.In
their original article, French and Raven (1959), identified three
types of personal power Legitimate, reward and coercive and two
sources of personal power as expert and Referent (personal appeal
and charm) agent O can exert on a person P. Further bases have been
adduced - in particular by Morgan (1986). Who identified 14, while
others have suggested a simpler model for practical purposes- for
example, Handy (1976), who recommends threeAccording to French and
Raven (1959), reward power is defined as power whose basis is the
ability to reward. The strength of the power of O/P increases with
the magnitude of the rewards which P perceives that O can mediate
for him. Reward power depends on Os ability to administer positive
valences and to remove or decreases negative valences. The strength
of reward power also depends upon the probability that O can
mediate the reward, as perceived by P.Coercive / Punishment
powerAccording to French and Raven (1959), coercive power is
similar to reward power in that it also involves Os ability to
manipulate the attainment of valences. Coercive power of O/P stems
from the expectations on the part of P that he will be punished by
O if he fails to conform to the influence attempt. Thus, negative
valences will exist in given regions of Ps life space,
corresponding to the threatened punishment by O. the strength of
coercive power depends on the magnitude of the negative valences of
the threatened punishment multiplied by the perceived probability
that p can avoid Expert powerExpert power according to French and
Raven is an individuals power deriving from the skills or expertise
of the person and the organizations need for those skills and
expertise. Unlike the others, this type power is usually highly
specific and limited to the particular area in which the expert is
trained and qualified.Legitimate powerThis is also called
positional power. French and raven (1959), states that legitimate
power is the power of an individual because of the relative
position and duties of the holder of the position within an
organization. Legitimate power is formal authority delegated to the
holder of the position.Referent PowerThis is the power or ability
of individuals to attract others and build loyalty. it is based on
the charisma and interpersonal skills of the power holder. A person
may be admired because of specific personal trait, and this
admiration creates the opportunity for interpersonal influence.
Here the person under power desires to identify with these personal
qualities, and gains satisfaction from being an accepted follower.
(Montana & Charnov 2008 ) Another valid leadership style that
is supported by power and influence theories is Transactional
leadership. This leadership style assumes that work is done only
because it is rewarded, and it therefore focuses on designing tasks
and reward structures. While it may not be most appealing
leadership strategy in terms of building relationships and
developing a long-term motivation work environment, it does work,
and it is used in most organizations on a daily basis to get things
done.Within all of these theories, framework, and approaches to
leadership, there is an underlying message that leaders need to
have a variety of factors working in their favor. Effective
leadership is not simply based on a set of attributes, behaviors,
or influence. A wide range of abilities and approaches is required
to draw upon.Having said this, however, there is one leadership
style that is appropriate in very many corporate situations and it
is transformational Leadership style. According to Avolio &
Bass (2004), transformational leadership is a leadership style
where the leaders inspire their teams constantly with a shared
vision of the future. While this leaders enthusiasm is often passed
onto the team, he or she may need to be supported by detail people.
Transformational leaders are exceptionally motivating, and they are
trusted. When a leader have a team that trust him and the team is
really fired up by the way he/ she leads they will achieve great
things. (Bass et. al, 2003; Dvir el. Al 2002; Block, 2003; Lowe et.
al 1996; Gardner & Stough 2002).According to Robins, (2003),
entrepreneurs demonstrating a transformational leadership style in
management create a better employees working performance as well as
building a satisfactory working environment for the employees.
Again when an employee is satisfied with his job, he/she develops a
personal relationship with the organization and this relationship
produces a better service which leads to higher productivity as
well as higher employee retention, thus low employee
turnover.(Mobley et al. 1979).In conclusion, while the
transformational leadership approach is often highly effective,
there is no one right way to lead or manage that fits all
situations (Stiles, 2009). Good leaders often switch instinctively
between styles, according to the people they lead and the work that
needs to be done.(Stiles, 2009)2.7 ENTREPRENEURSHIP
As mentioned earlier, Nevon Nigerian limited is a business
enterprise owned and managed by one man hence the word
Entrepreneurship in this research. Also entrepreneurship is
mentioned in order to limit the scope of this research work. Owing
to this, this study will briefly review the concept
entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is quite a new concept,
occasionally it is contentious, and a growing ground for management
exploration. Finding a suitable ground for defining the meaning of
entrepreneur has posed a serious challenge for many researchers.
For up to a decade ago this area of study has been described is
young i.e. it is in a decisive phase. (Perryman1982; Peterson and
Horvath, 1982; Paulin, Coffey & Spaulding 1982; and Sexton,
1982 ).Presently there is no commonly acknowledged definition of
the concept entrepreneur. Even, the literature of entrepreneur is
completed with criteria staring from imagination and uniqueness to
individual characters such as look and technique. There are many
models of entrepreneur as there are many researchers researching on
entrepreneurs. (Cunningham & Lischeron,1991; Churchill &
Lewis,1986).The research on entrepreneurship has shown that it can
be defined in two major angles from the entrepreneurial firm and
entrepreneurial people (Krackhardt, 1995). Entrepreneurial firm are
diminutive quick rising untreated as well as system-based instead
of mechanistic and officious (Aldrich & Austen, 1986; Drucker,
1985; Birley 1986).In the study of leadership work flow, that is a
type of firm level entrepreneurship, entrepreneur is defined in
three forms. (Sayles & Stewart, 1995).Entrepreneurship is an
action that uses income opportunities with no regard to resources
at present controlled. (Stevenson & Jarillo,
1990)Entrepreneurship is the expanding of the existing resources
through improved learning, synergies, or bootstrapping. (Burgelman
1983; Leibstein, 1968; Stewart 1989; Venkataraman, McMillan &
McGrath, 1992).Promotes change and innovation that leads to merging
of resources and an innovative way of executing a business
(Burgelman, 1983; Schumpeter 1943)Entrepreneurial people explore
opportunities to obtain added value. From this definition,
entrepreneurship is seen as a behavioral characteristic of
employees and managers in a firm, not as a characteristic of the
firm itselfRecently the concept of entrepreneur was defined by
Deakins & Freel (2009) as someone who has the ownership of a
new business enterprise, venture or thought as well as assuming
momentous responsibility for the intrinsic risks and the possible
result. Entrepreneurs in this modern world have turned out to be
the champions in the development of economic as well as the current
enterprises. (Sathe, 2003). Many researchers have tried to link the
ideas of entrepreneur and leadership into entrepreneurial
leadership to explore the concept of entrepreneurship behavior and
leadership style. (Gupta et. Al 2004; Tarabishy et.al 2005). They
tried to merge entrepreneurship and leadership style to form what
is called ENTREPRENURIAL- LEADERSHIP which is used to demonstrate
the leadership style/ behavior in entrepreneurship. (Tarabishy
et.al 2005). In an environment that is characterized by dynamism,
uncertain competition, and complexity, an entrepreneurial leader
who possess a different view from the behavioral style of leader is
required. (Cohen 2004). Owing to the fact that previous researcher
have tried to merge entrepreneurship and leadership style to form
entrepreneurial leadership as mentioned above, this research is
aimed to find out the impact of leadership style on customer
satisfaction in entrepreneurship, so a review on entrepreneurial
leadership was carried out.LEADERSHIP IN ENTREPREURSHIP There has
been too much emphasis on good leadership and management styles
stressing on it as if it is the only way to uplift an organization.
But in reality there are many successful ways to manage and lead an
organization as mentioned previously. Basically, entrepreneurs will
always find themselves using one of the following styles or even
combination of two more styles. The most important thing is merging
your leadership style with the vision of the organization.
According to Merrill & Sedgwick (1995), a lot of entrepreneurs
like running their businesses by themselves in order to maintain
their sovereignty in the business.The concept of entrepreneurial
leadership was formed by those who recognize that a change in the
style of leadership is essential for business to competitive world
wide. Entrepreneurial leaders undertake a very crucial role in the
success of any business enterprise. The perception of
entrepreneurial leadership is comprehensible due to the unexplored
and extraordinary areas that lies in future for business in this
fast change market (Tarabishy, et . al 2005). On the outer level,
entrepreneurs may be linked with leadership functions as creating
vision for the development of a fresh product, services or
administration. An entrepreneur can also be a leader as research
has proven that entrepreneurial leadership has to do with concepts
and ideas which are not connected to organizational issues (El-
Namaki 1992); but it tends to be personal quality or manners which
comprises of problem solving, making decision, visualization, and
strategic thinking.CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
When we talk about customer care satisfaction, invariably we are
talking about creativity. Creativity I think allows us to handle or
diffuse problem at hand or may be later on in the process of
conducting our daily business activities. According to Hutchens
(1989), when discussing on the issue of customer satisfaction it
means trying to understand the needs and expectations of the
customers. Customer satisfaction can mean virtually anything. It
can involve variable such as price, lead time, conformance,
responsiveness, reliability, professionalism and convenience; and
it is sometimes a complication mix of all of these and more (Craig,
2003). Industry by industry and even across product line, the
importance of each variable can differ drastically.In business
terminology, customer satisfaction is the measurement of how
products and services offered by an organization meet or exceed
customers expectation. It is also seen as key performance indicator
within businesses and also as part of the four of a balance
scorecard. (Gitman & McDaniel, 2005). Customers satisfaction is
viewed as an essential differentiator in a competitive marketplace
where businesses compete for customers. As mentioned earlier
customer satisfaction is a justification and valued result of
high-quality service and marketing practice. The quality of
services is extremely difficult to assess, because services are
intangible and heterogeneous. It is not feasible to develop
well-defined quality standards that will allow an organization to
exercise full control and reject unsuitable services before they
are sold to the customers. The direct involvement of customers in
the provision of services brings this research to talk of quality
not as recruitment of certain objective characteristics
corresponding to stated standards, but as quality conceived by the
customer.Quality= Customer satisfaction = Value/ Cost (Olga ,
2009).This definition of quality by Olga, implies a close
relationship between the product or service and the consumers. In
current market conditions, the consumers play the role of arbiter,
so failure will result if customer satisfaction is not taken into
consideration.According to Olga, (2009), The potential financial
benefits of an increased number of satisfied customers are often
quite substantial. The greater the satisfaction of the buyers
company, the more willing he will be to buy again from the same
provider. However, these benefits are not immediately apparent, and
the company needs to be able to see the prospects. In contrast, the
consequences of customers dissatisfaction may be felt much faster
and can be very severe. One disappointed customer will talk about
the problem he has encountered with another 35 potential customers
on average, and this secondary effect may impact future sales of
the company.The most obvious reason why companies have to worry
about customers satisfaction is that they need customers to be
ready to repurchase their services in future. A positive evaluation
of products that have been purchased helps to retain customers.
People who evaluate a product or service negatively are unlikely to
use them and pay for them again. It is usually cheaper to retain
existing clients than to attract new ones. Therefore, companies
focus on ensuring that their customers have a satisfactory
experience of using their products and services.In this research
work, the customers satisfaction variables that was considered are,
Responsiveness, professionalism and understanding the needs of the
customers; this is due to the location of the company in focus
(Victoria Island Lagos) Victoria Island in Lagos is a place where
first and middle class worker resides and from personal experience,
customers do of the company care much about how professional they
were treated, how does the company understands their needs to
matter how they pay for it. So this research will measure the
customers satisfactions based on these three variables mentioned
above; this will lead us to a brief review of customer satisfaction
measurement.CONSEQUENCES OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND
DISSATISFACTION
The consequences of not satisfying customers can be severe.
According to Hoyer and Maclnnis (2001), dissatisfied consumers can
decide to:-Discontinue purchasing the good or serviceComplain to
the company or to a third party and perhaps return the item,
orEngage in negative word-of-mouth communication.Customer
satisfaction is important because satisfaction influences
repurchase intensions whereas dissatisfaction has been seen as a
primary reason for customer defection or discontinuation of
purchase (La Barbera & Mazursky, 1983).
MEASURING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
In order to keep business moving and also to adapt to the ever
changing business environment, companies and organizations need to
keep hold of their already-existing customer and the same time
aiming the non-existing customers. (John, 2003). Measuring how
customers are satisfied shows a sign of how booming an organization
is at offering their products and services to the market place.
(Oliver, 1980, 1993; Parasuraman, Berry & Zeithmal 1988, 1991).
Customer satisfaction is an intangible concept. The true
demonstration of the condition of satisfaction differs for
individuals to individuals as well as from products and services.
The true form of satisfaction is dependent on a number of
psychosomatic and physical variables which show a relationship with
satisfactory behaviors as return and recommendation rate. Comparing
products from different organizations can vary the level of
customer satisfaction. Having seen the importance and benefits of
increasing customer care satisfaction to an organization, how it is
measured is still very unclear. Customer satisfaction has been
researched from the standpoint of the individual customer and what
actually compel their satisfaction and also from industrial point
of view to weigh against customer satisfaction score across
companies and industries. (Oliver & Swan 1989; Oliver 1993;
Fournier & Mick 1999; Fornell 1992; Anderson, Fornell &
Lehmann 1994; Fornell et al 1996; Mittal & Kamakura 2001).
Customer satisfaction has also been studied in a single business
unit or across many. (Schlesinger & Zornitsky 1991; Hallowell
1996; Loveman 1998; DeWulf, Odekerken-schroder & Iacobucci
2001). This shows that there are more than enough literature on
which to rely on when trying to measure customers satisfaction as
precise tools for measuring the level of customer satisfaction like
SERVQUAL have been built up in the past.( Parasuraman, Belly, &
Zeithaml, 1988, 1991). While trying to measure the level of
customer satisfaction, it is likely that perception of quality can
have a separate satisfactory implication on different customers and
market segments. Anderson, & Mittal (2000), states that market
environment, segment population can manipulate customer
satisfaction and how the product is been used. When segment
specific variation is not taking into consideration, companies may
focus on the wrong aspect for a given set of customers. (Anderson
& Mittal 2000). Customers with the same level of satisfaction
but with dissimilar personality may display different level of how
the re-purchase goods and services. (Mittal, & Kamakura 2001).
Obviously, it is important market and customer segmentation be
considered as a key factor when measuring customer satisfaction and
its consequences. The research work by parasuraman, Berry and
Zeithaml (1985) and (1988) offers the ground for measuring customer
satisfaction with a service by using the gap linking customer
expectations of performance and the perceived experience of
performance. There study came up with a satisfactory gap that is
semi quantitative in nature but Cronin and Taylor (1992), widen the
disconfirmation theory by joining the gap as explained by
Parasuraman et al.,(1988) (two separate measures perception and
expectation), as a solitary measurement of performance in
connection to expectation. The common measures of customer
satisfaction involve a survey with a set of statement using a
likert technique or scale. Likert scale technique according to
Wuensch (2005), is a psychometric scale frequently used in
questionnaires. This likert scale is the regularly used scale in
survey research. It is used in such a way that the term is
frequently interchanging with rating scale despite the fact that
the two are not synonymous. Using this technique, customers are
expected to judge each statement in terms of their performance and
expectation of performance of the service being measured.Although
this scaling technique comes with come weakness like central
tendency bias participants may avoid extreme response categories
and also may agree with the statement as presented in order to
please the experimenter.As mentioned earlier, this research tried
to established the impact of leadership style on customer
satisfaction by creating three separates links and the links are
the link between leadership style and employee job satisfactionthe
link between employee job satisfaction and employee turnoverthe
link between employee turnover and customer satisfactionThe reason
behind these links from this research point of view was that
organizational leadership styles contributes to how employees are
satisfied with their job and how employees are satisfied with their
job determine how they stay in the company as well as how they give
their best to the company and to the external customers.THE LINK
BETWEEN LEADERSHIP AND EMPLOYEE JOB SATISFACTIONBefore establishing
the link between leadership style and employees job satisfaction,
let define job satisfaction briefly.Job SatisfactionJob
satisfaction may be defined as a positive emotional response from
the assessment of a job or specific aspects of a job (Locke 1976;
Smith et al., 1969). It is influenced by many factors such as: the
working conditions, the work itself, supervision, policy and
administration, advancement, compensation interpersonal
relationships, recognition, and empowerment (Castillo and Cano
2004)According to Quick (1998), each person has a different set of
goals and can be motivated if he/she believes that: there is a
positive correlation between efforts and performance; effective
performance will result in a pleasing reward; the reward will
satisfy an important needs; and the desire to satisfy the need is
strong enough to make the effort meaningful.The relationship
between leadership and employee job satisfactionLeadership style is
an important determinant of employee job satisfaction. The
reactions of employees to their leaders will usually depend on the
characteristics of the employees as well as on the characteristics
of the leaders. (Wexley & Yukl 1984). The employee job
satisfaction is influenced by the internal organization
environment, which includes organizational climate, leadership
types and personnel relationships (Seashore and Taber 1975).The
quality of the leader-employee relationship or the lack of thereof-
has a great influence in the employees self esteem and job
satisfaction. (Chen & Spector 1991; Brockner 1988; DeCremer
2003).As Wilkinson and Wagner (1993) argued, it is stressful for
employees to work with a leader who has a hostile behavior and is
unsupportive. If subordinates are not capable of figuring out how
to perform the work by themselves they will prefer a leader who
will provide adequate guidance and instructions. Also according to
Robbins (2003), the employee resign rate with transformational
leadership is less than with transactional leadership. Improving
the employees working situations; fulfilling their needs and
helping them perform better are positively related to
transformational leadership (Liu et al. 2003).Therefore, it can be
said that employees are more satisfied with leaders who are
considerate or supportive than with those who are either
indifferent or critical towards subordinates.(Yukl 1971). Negative
leader- employee relationships reduce productivity and increase
absenteeism and the turnover to the organization can be quite high.
(Keashly, trott, & Maclean 1994; Ribelin 2003).THE LINK BETWEEN
EMPLOYEE JOB SATISFACTION AND EMPLOYEE TURNOVER.Employee turnover
has been of interest for mangers, leaders, and researchers across a
wide array of disciplines. In the past two decades, interest in
turnover has intensified, as the pressure for the financial
performance among recent organizations has increased.Therefore,
Employees turnover is defined as the rotation of workers around the
labor market; between firms, job and occupations; and between the
states of employment and unemployment. (Abassi & Hollman.,
2000). The term turnover is defined by Price (1977), as the ratio
of the number of organizational members who have left during the
period being considered divided by the average number of people in
that organization within the same period. According to Milman,
(2002) higher levels of employees turnover can lead to lower levels
of customers satisfaction. He stressed further that poor working
environment may not be the only indicator of employees turnover; it
may also be a reflection in the loss of experienced employees and
established customer relationship, low compensation, inadequate
benefits, poor working conditions, poor workers morale as well as
job attitudes and improper recruitment and selections.Employees
turnover may be either voluntary or involuntary. Voluntary employee
turnover according to Ito & Brotheridge, (2005) is when the
behavior of an employee is seeking for a new job. Also involuntary
turnover occurs when the organization takes the initiative to
terminate or discharge an employee through firing, layout,
downsizing, or rightsizing.(Berger & Berger 1999). In response
to employee turnover, particularly voluntary turnover, Mobley and
colleagues (Mobley, homer & Hollingsworth, 1978; Mobley,
Griffeth, Hand & Meglino, 1979) proposed a theoretical causal
process to explain this phenomenon. Their casual process contains
four core antecedents of employee turnover. First are demographic
characteristics that influence a persons decision whether to remain
with or leave a job. Second, job satisfaction impacts a cognitive
withdrawal process stressing turnover intension. Third, work
environment factors significantly shape employee job satisfaction.
This in turn shapes turnover intension. Finally, turnover intent
influences voluntary turnover.These four core areas are still
critical in todays research examining voluntary employee turnover.
While it is generally argued that most casual model are meant to
explain voluntary employee departure across a variety of
organizations, most studies have generally looked at employees in
one or only a handful of occupations. During the past century, a
variety of conceptual models for turnover process have been
developed. While these models have diverse origins from a wide
array of disciplines, many researchers have theorized that job
satisfaction is a key antecedent of workers turnover (Mobely et
al., 1979; Prince & Mueller, 1986; Williams & Hazer, 1986).
Roznowski and Hulin (1992) contend that overall job satisfaction
measures are the most informative data a leader or researcher can
have for predicting employee behavior. Further, it has been
theorized that high levels of job dissatisfaction leads to employee
withdrawal, particularly in terms of voluntary employee turnover,
the explained variation has typically been small (Locke, 1976). As
a result of weak to modest magnitudes, Mobley and colleagues
(Mobley et al., 1978, Mobley et at., 1979) proposed that the
relationship between job satisfaction and turnover moderated by
intensions, and most researchers now accept the premise that
intension to stay or leave a job with a particular employer is the
final cognitive step in the decision making process of voluntary
turnover (Steel & Ovalle, 1984). As a result, turnover
intension has been integrated in most employee turnover models
developed in the past 20 years.This can be concluded by saying that
the effect of job satisfaction on turnover, however is only a part
of the equation. It is equally important to explore, confirm, and
understand the key antecedent of job satisfaction. Identifying
factors that influence job satisfaction provides administrators and
leaders with necessary, meaningful information to make intelligent
decisions regarding intervention aimed at increasing employee job
satisfaction (Cranny, Smith & Stone, 1992). Moreover, rather
than treating job satisfaction as either an exclusive exogenous
variable or the final endogenous variable, it is important to look
at both the causes and effects of job satisfaction. THE LINK
BETWEEN EMPLOYEE TURNOVER AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
In recent times, the connecting relationship between employee
satisfaction, employees turnover, customers satisfaction as well as
organizational profitability is a topic of growing academic and
managerial interest (Oliver, 1997; Rechheld, 1996; Rust et., 1995).
This has lead to a stream of research which helped to conceptualize
the notion of a service profit chain (Heskett, et al., 1994, 1997),
in which companys profitability is hypothesized to be dependent on
the satisfaction level of employees and customers. According to
Heskett et al, (1997), the service profit chain assume that higher
employee satisfaction levels reduces employee turnover rate which
then leads to higher customer satisfaction. This is so because when
an employee is satisfied with his job, he/she develops a personal
relationship with the organization and this relationship produces a
better service which leads to higher productivity as well as higher
employee retention, thus low employee turnover.(Mobley et al.
1979).This link was concluded by reviewing the study of Estelami
and Hurley (2003) (does employee turnover predicts customer
satisfaction?) in their study, they tested how well employee
turnover predicts customer satisfaction. By using two
convenience-store chains they examine four turnover indicators as
well as nonlinear transformations of the four indicators. Surveys
were used to validate the dimensions being measured and to
determine employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction.Their
result show that certain employee turnover indicators predict
customer satisfaction levels well and that their predictive ability
is equivalent to that of single-item employee satisfaction measures
gained through employee surveys. Also as they predicted, the
relationship between employee turnover and customer satisfaction is
non-liner: when levels of employee turnover are low, improvement in
turnover rates (that is, decrease in turnover rates) yield big
improvements in customer satisfaction. When employee turnover is
high, however, improvements in turnover rates have less impact on
customer satisfaction.
SUMMARY This research work is aiming to find out if a leadership
style in entrepreneurship has any link to the level of customers
satisfaction.This chapter reviewed the different definitions of
leadership and as well the different the types of leadership
theories. (The trait, behavioral contingency and power influence
based theories as well as the transformational and transactional
leadership theories). From the above discussion in this chapter,
Organizations as we understood is a social system where human
assets are mainly the most essential indicators of organizational
effectiveness and competence, so leadership technique in an
organization is very important to both employee and customers
satisfactions. This chapter also reviewed the link between
leadership style and customer satisfaction by reviewing three
possible links from leadership style to employee jobs satisfaction
and how employee job satisfaction relates to employee turnover and
how this turnover predicts customer satisfaction.This chapter was
able to conclude categorically that employees are more satisfied
with leaders who are considerate or supportive than with those who
are either indifferent or critical towards subordinates.(Yukl
1971). Negative leader- employee relationships reduce productivity
and increase absenteeism and the turnover to the organization can
be quite high. (Keashly, trott, & Maclean 1994; Ribelin 2003).
And also when employee turnover is high, improvements in turnover
rates (that is decrease in turnover rates) have less impact on
customer satisfaction and vice versa.(Estelami & Hurley
2003)
CHAPTER 33.0 METHODOLOGYAccording to old proverb from great
philosopher Aristotle, well begun is half done. The purpose of this
research work is to find out the impact of leadership style on
customers satisfaction in entrepreneurship and also to analyses and
compared the various leadership styles associated with
entrepreneurial success. This research work is going to use both
qualitative and quantitative research method; this is because
Quantitative method is used to answer questions about the
relationship among measurable variables with the purpose of
explaining, predicting and controlling observable facts, while the
Qualitative method is used to answer questions about the complex
nature of the observable facts, often with the purpose of
describing and understanding the phenomena from the participant
point of view.However, there are advantages as well as
disadvantages in using the survey method in data collection. One of
the advantages of using the survey method is the ability to
establish a relationship among variables and to draw data from many
respondents and one its major disadvantage is the failure of the
method to indicate the direction of the relationship. But in recent
studies, the use of quantitative and qualitative approaches has led
to the establishment of not only the existence of a relationship
but also the direction of the relationship.In academic field of
entrepreneurship, many researchers such as Timmons & Spinell,
(2004), Sathe (2003), Deakins & Freel (2009), believes that
leadership styles of entrepreneurs are vital factors in
entrepreneurial success. Leadership research supported the idea
that the full range of leadership factor can be quantifiably
measured. (Avolio & Bass 2004). This chapter presents the
design of this research work and also described how it will help
contribute to the academic field of entrepreneurial leadership. It
also addresses appropriateness of the research design as well as
the population, data collection, validity and data collections.
This study will also use the deductive reasoning approach to draw
its conclusion. Deductive reasoning approach works from the more
general to the more specific. Sometimes this is casually called the
top down approach where the conclusion follows from premises
existing facts.3.1 POPULATION SAMPLE Due to the nature of this
research work a random and non random, purposive sampling method of
respondent was employed; (Babbie, 1992). Non random sampling method
was employed to gather data from the customers because the actual
number of the companys customers cannot be determine. So, the
questionnaire was administered to the customer on each customers
visit to company. While random sampling method was used to collect
data from the employees as opinion from the entire employee will do
a great deal to this research work. Also, a non random sampling
technique was used to gather information from the CEOThe idea
behind the combination of random and non random sampling technique
in data collection is to help this study cover enough respondents
opinion for quality data analysis.In order to keep this study
manageable, focus was made only on the employees of the company,
inclusive of all the 3 branches, the CEO and its customers. The
main subjects of this research are the Managing Director / Chief
Executive Officer of Nevon Nigeria, 3 branch supervisors, 22
employees with about 25 customers of the company.
3.2 DATA COLLECTION This research work will focus on Nevon
Nigeria limited because full access to reach the personnel in the
organization to conduct the interview and survey was confirmed.This
research work used questionnaires administered to the participants
through electronic mail and Telephone interview with the managing
director of Nevon Nigeria limited as a source of its primary data
collection. Journal information from emerald and sources from the
internet was the sources of the secondary data collection.In order
to collect data for this research work, questionnaires was
administered to the participants through the managing director of
the company for the purpose of finding the impact of the companys
leadership styles on the employee job satisfaction, employee
turnover and customer satisfaction. The questionnaires were sent
through electronic mail because of the research time frame and as a
means to get more participants involved in the survey.
Questionnaire method is useful in this data collection because the
responses are gathered in a standardized way; it is more objective
and the quickest way to collect information. However, in some
situation they can take a long time not only to design but also to
apply and analyze.While administering the questionnaire there was
an assurance that all the correspondence from the participants will
be and remain confidential. The participants correspondence to the
survey was on voluntary basis.The questionnaire was distributed to
random sample size of 50 participants; the CEO 3 supervisors from
the three different branches, the twenty five works in all the
branches with at least twenty customers.One week after sending the
questionnaires, a confirmatory request e-mail and text was sent to
the managing director of the company to confirm if the
questionnaires has been sent to all the participants, as well as
soliciting questions or comments and requested that the completed
surveys be returned as soon as possible. Upon receiving the
completed survey, a thank you e- mail was sent to all the
participants through the managing director of the company. The
survey comprises of a descriptive and non experimental data
collection method which is used to draw information from a large
sample. It also allows the investigation to derive precise and
impartial data to support the conclusion and generalization of this
work. This applies in studies requiring the determination and
investigation of links or relationships between or among variables.
(Cohen, et al., 2003).In this study, 50% of the respondent were
contacted ahead of time to seek their willingness to cooperate in
the data collection process by explaining to them the purpose of
the research work and the need for their participation in gathering
of the data to ensure that there responds can validly the support
the conclusion of this work.This study follows a timetable that
prearranged sufficient time for data collection, because of the
need to draw willing customers and wait for their responds to the
questionnaires.3.3 INSTRUMENTSThe instruments of this present
research include (1) Questionnaires for employee job satisfaction,
(ESQ), (2) customers care satisfaction Questionnaires CSQ), and (3)
leadership interview questionnaire.The rationale behind these
instruments, is that the location and geographic area covered by
this research (Lagos state Nigeria); questionnaires are more
familiar to most people and it is easier to administer. Also,
questionnaire is a time and cost efficient research instrument. So,
this exposes me to a broad range of respondents.Also, as this
research work requires responses from the CEO/ Managing director of
the company, interview questionnaire to the CEO offers a less
intrusive means of access than telephone or face to face survey.
Although this type of instrument has some disadvantages. According
to Burgess, (2001), it is reported that it is common for survey
response rate to be around 20%. So this research is designed to
produce a high response rate in order to gain sufficient data for
meaningful analysis.The employee job satisfaction and customers
satisfaction questionnaires were used to find out how the
leadership style of the company affect the employees and the
customers. While the leadership interview questionnaire was used to
find out what kind of leader the CEO of the company is as well as
his style of leadership.These two quantitative and qualitative
approaches were used to make the research more complete in
investigating the impact of leadership style on customer
satisfaction in entrepreneurship.3.4 LEADERSHIP STYLE INTERVIEW
QUESTIONNAIRE The leadership style interview questionnaire focused
on exploring and evaluating recognized leadership style and
competencies of the organization.The questions in the interview
were administered to the CEO/ managing director of the company in
order to assess his leadership skills, style and his leadership
potentials. The interview questionnaire is a semi-structured open
ended questionnaire with seven questions which requires the CEO to
provide examples of how he has demonstrated his leadership
competencies and skills.3.5 EMPLOYEE JOB SATISFACTION QUESTIONNAIRE
(ESQ)The objective of this questionnaire is to obtain information
from the employees on how the leadership style of organization is
affecting their job satisfaction.Employee job satisfaction is an
area of complex research and theory. This research work is using
employee job satisfaction questionnaire as proposed by Frederick
Herzberg. This type of questionnaire is used because it helps to
gather data in two dimensions. The Hygiene factors and the
Motivation FactorsThe hygiene factors are an essential component of
job satisfaction which requires sufficient attention to guarantee
employee job satisfaction. The hygiene factors relates to the base
level, and administrative factors such as pay, work environment and
other benefits or facilities associated with the job.Motivation
factors are more aligned with factors such as the degree of
autonomy and decision making capacity associated with the job. It
also include factors that makes job more intrinsically rewarding
that is interesting content, importance of the work, conducive team
environment, as well as good leadership relationship.The
questionnaire is designed with fifteen questions which if answered
fully will indicate the level of employee satisfaction with the
companys leadership style. The participants are expected to respond
to each of the questions by ticking in their desire option in box
provided beside each of the questions. Where box with 1 represent
strongly disagree and box with 10 stands for strongly agree. The
sample of the questionnaire is the appendix. A3.6 CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION QUESTIONNAIRE (CSQ)The aims and objective of
administering the Customer care satisfaction questionnaire (CSQ)
was to gather data from the customers point of view in order to
find out if the leadership style the company is practicing connects
to their level of satisfaction. The questionnaires were designed
with a total of seven questions.Questions number 1, 2, and 3 were
designed to find out the quality of the companys products.
Questions number 4i, 4ii, 4iii and 5 were designed in order to find
out the leadership style of company from the customers point of
view. Questions number 6 and 7 were designed to find out if the
leadership style of the company links to customers satisfaction.
While questions number 8 and 9 were designed to find out from the
customers point of view if they think the leadership style of the
company has a link to their level of satisfaction.The population
sample for this questionnaire was twenty five (25) participants and
twenty five (25) questionnaires were administered to the
participants.Out of the twenty five administered questionnaires,
only fifteen (15) customers returned their questionnaires
completed.The data in the questionnaire was analyzed using
statistical tools like the bar chart after which the conclusion was
made based on deductive reasoning.DATA ANALYSIS
Content analysis technique will be used to analyze the
information gathered from the leadership interview questionnaire;
this is because Content analysis is a research tool focused on the
actual content and internal feature of media. It is used to
determine the presence of certain words, concepts, theme, phrases,
characters, or sentences within texts or sets of texts and to
quantify this presence in an objective manner. Text can be defined
broadly as books book chapters, essays interviews, discussions,
speeches, etc. (Berelson, 1952).According to Bernard Berelson,
content analysis is a research technique for the objective,
systematic and quantitative description of manifest content of
communication. (Berelson, 1952).In order to carryout content
analysis on this text, (the leadership interview questionnaire), it
will be coded or broken down to a manageable categories on a
variety of levels, that is word sense, or sentences and then it
will be examined using one of the content analysis methods like the
conceptual analysis or inferences analysis. The result will then be
used to make inferences about the information in the interview
questionnaire. The employee job satisfaction questionnaire (ESQ),
will be analyzed using Frederick Herzberg model of 1968. This
method entails the participated employees to rate their opinion in
the questions from 1 5. Where 1 stands for completely disagreed
with question and 10 stands for completely agreed. At the end of
each question, the rated scores will be added together, which will
then be used to find out how the companys leadership style connects
to employee job satisfaction.The customer satisfaction
questionnaire was also analyzed based on the customers response to
each of the questions in the questionnaire. The analyses were done
based on the discretion of the researcher that is without using any
specified model. This is because the questions that was asked in
the questionnaire was simple to analyze and it was a straight
forward question.After analyzing all the questionnaires, the result
was presented in a graphical and tabular form for easy
understanding.3.8 RESEARCH LIMITATIONThe known limitation of this
research is finance and time factor. The time required to produce
this project is too small compared to various activities to
undergo. Due to the short time frame in gathering all the necessary
information I was not able to travel down to the company. I
initially wanted to travel down to the company in Nigeria to
organize a session in the company where all the participants will
be present and I will personally give out the questionnaire and
conduct face to face interview where necessary as well as give
clear details on the aims and objectives of the research.Another
major limitation considered when conducting the survey was the
assurance of an adequate and representative sample of the
population being surveyed.3.9 RESEARCH ETHICS The group that will
participate in this research work that is in the interview and the
survey will be given understandable explanation of the purpose,
scope as well as the future result of the research. Also the type
of information that is needed for this research work will be
obviously stated as a will of policy for privacy and anonymity.This
research works will be carried in such a way that it will guarantee
the participants (the employees, customers and senior staff of
Nevon Nigeria limited) privacy in the interview and questionnaires.
The interview and the questionnaire were designed in such a way
that it examines how the organizational leadership link with
customers satisfaction with no intention of including any
confidential or private matter in the process. There will be no
expected adverse effects from the completion of the questionnaire;
therefore, the risk will be negligible. Participants have the right
to fair treatment, privacy, confidentiality and informed consent.
(Polit & Hungler, 1999; Fain, 1999).
CHAPTER 44.0 DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSISThis study is
designed to investigate the impact of leadership style in customer
care satisfaction in entrepreneurship.The following research
questions below was asked What are the various leadership styles,
factors, behaviours, if actually any exist is responsible for
entrepreneurial success. 2. Do leadership styles in an organisation
relates or connects to how customers are satisfied in
entrepreneurship?In order to analyze these research questions, data
for this research works was collected in two different ways.
Firstly by interviewing the CEO/managing director of the company
using interview questionnaire and also by administering
questionnaires to the employees and the customers.These data
collected will be analyzed in the following ways:Presenting and
analysing the employees job satisfaction questionnairePresenting
and analysing the leadership style interviewed
informationPresenting and analysing the customers satisfaction
questionnaire4.1 EMPLOYEE JOB SATISFACTION QUESTIONNAIRE (ESQ)The
information in the employee job satisfaction questionnaire was
presented in a tabular form and was analyzed using the Frederick
Herzberg model of 1968 as mentioned earlier. Although it is an old
model but still effective. Frederick Herzberg model was chosen
because the questions in the survey comprises of two important
elements useful for this research study, that is the hygiene
factors elements and the motivation factors element. These elements
were described at the beginning of this chapter.A sample size of
twenty five employees was originally marked for this research work.
Twenty employees returned their completed questionnaire and out of
the twenty returned questionnairesSeventeen employees answered all
the questions in the survey and the three employees answered 14
questions each. Employee number 5, 7, 8 in the questionnaire left
questions number 7, 8 and 14 unanswered respectively on reasons
best known to them. This depicts that 85% of the total number of
employees answered the entire question in the question