Leadership Styles

Abstract

Various studies have already been conducted in relation to the determination of the effects of leadership styles on organizational performance. More often than not, these studies have pointed out a certain leadership style which has a positive effect on organizational performance. These studies however, focus on the private sectors rather than looking into the members of the public sector wherein the balancing of interests is more complicated. In this sense, the study focuses on the Abu Dhabi Municipality and the effects of the implemented leadership styles therein on organizational performance. The results of the study show that transactional and transformational leadership positively affects organizational performance in the Abu Dhabi Municipality, taking the different components thereof such as extra effort, effectiveness and outcome.

Chapter 1:

Introduction

Background of the Study

Various researches have already pointed out the importance of leadership. Leadership has been considered important in view of its influence on the success or failure of organizations. This is generally attributed to the fact that the effective leader aids the organizations and its members to fully realize their goals, thereby leading them to the attainment of the latter. However, it has also been recognized that the leaders cannot merely rely on themselves to accomplish the said task (Northouse 2009; Gill 2006; Palestini 2009; Barman 2009). Hence, they must come up with initiatives by which they could foster a climate of leadership within the organization. The latter, in turn, also helps the organization in attaining the desired level of success. Most of the studies conducted in relation to leadership and its effects on the success of the organization have been conducted in the context of private organizations (Gardner, Avolio and Walumbwa 2005; Palestini 2009). Nevertheless, the importance of leadership is also evident as regards the members of the public sector.

The importance of the concept of leadership in the public sector, however, has long been recognized. It has become one of the most important issues that must be addressed as various states have discovered a gap in relation to the manner by which their public sectors function vis-à-vis the needs of their constituents (Morse and Buss 2008; Christensen 2007) . Undoubtedly, different nations all over the world have discovered that there is something missing with the culture by which public sector is based upon and the fulfillment of public interest (Van Wart 2003; Raffel, Leisink and Middlebrooks 2009). Usually, complaints as regards the lack of dedication to the values of the public service and the manner by which the interests of the people are taken into consideration are the most evident. In this sense, the common recommendation

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