Purpose – The purpose of this study is to advance the literature on leadership by investigating the Full Range Leadership Model (FRLM) Bass and Avolio (1994-1997) in the context of the Colleges of Technology (CoTs) in Oman. Design/methodology/approach – In order to achieve the research objective and answer the research questions, a qualitative study was undertaken. The data was obtained by two methods, namely semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The semi-structured interviews were held with College Deans, Heads of Departments (HoDs) and teachers. The focus groups were carried out with seven groups of students from four CoTs. The data was analysed by a thematic approach, following the systematic steps outlined by Braun and Clarke (2006). Findings – Significant relationships were found between the transactional leadership approach and institutional theory (Isomorphism and legitimacy). The findings advance leadership knowledge by exploring the relationship between the components of FRLM, transformational and the transactional leadership approaches in hierarchical levels of leadership in the context of the CoTs in Oman. Both the Deans and the HoDs employed transactional leadership approaches to ensure compliance with the requirements of the Ministry of Manpower. Moreover, the study extended the leadership literature by exploring the interaction between leadership approaches of the Deans and the HoDs on multi-national teachers and Omani students. Originality/value – The originality of this research lies in its exploration of the relationship between transformational and transactional leadership approaches in hierarchical levels of academic leadership and its identification of the characteristics of effective leadership in HEIs from a multicultural perspective. / Ministry of Manpower (MoMP)

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership styles in a petrochemical organisation (represented by transformational, transactional and laissez-faire leadership styles) and to determine if emotional intelligence can predict an effective leadership style. Leaders (N = 161) were selected from a business within a South African petrochemical organisation. Self reports from the EQ-i and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ Form 5X) were analysed. Correlation analyses indicated statistically significant relationships between emotional intelligence and transformational and laissez-faire leadership. Findings indicated positive correlations between emotional intelligence (specifically adaptability) and transformational leadership. Negative correlations were obtained between emotional intelligence (specifically intrapersonal skills) and laissez-faire leadership. Theoretical implications and practical applications of these findings were discussed. / Psychology / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

In the first decade of the 21st century, the number of functioning business organizations in Nigeria decreased by 45%. The high rate of business failures in Nigeria has left many questions about what is needed for creating business success. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the influence of internal and external dynamics on leaders in Nigerian microfinance organizations. Twenty leaders from microfinance institutions participated in face-to-face semistructured interviews. The data analysis process involved the use of Moustakas's modified van Kaam method, which resulted in the emergence of 12 themes. The themes that emerged included: (a) staff turnover, (b) financial fraud, (c) knowledge gap, (d) lack of real-time technology, (e) ethical behavior of leaders, (f) organizational bureaucracy, (g) foreign exchange fluctuation, (h) poor state of Nigerian economy, (i) competition from unethical practices of other organizations, (j) constant changes of government policies and poor regulatory controls, and (k) noncompliance with the Microfinance Policy and Framework by stakeholders. There was a common perception among the participants that there was a need for government intervention in providing improved infrastructure and adequate regulatory controls. The findings provide indications from participants' responses that business success is dependent upon business leaders' effectiveness in their roles and ethical practices as perceived by the followers. The study is significant in that its findings may assist businesses and government to focus on the effectiveness of leaders, increase labor relations, and increase the overall success of business which in turn improve the economy of Nigeria.

In the United States, approximately 7% of nonprofits' annual revenue is lost as a result of a lack of ethical financial operations among nonprofit executive directors (EDs). This represents $85 billion in estimated annual losses in available operating funds. This study addressed the problem of ineffective leadership in nonprofit organizations from the perspective of EDs responsible for ethical financial operations. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences of nonprofit EDs who self-reported the use of 1 of Burn's and Bass' 3 leadership styles and whether leadership style influenced the use of the Sarbanes Oxley Act to manage the ethical financial operations of their human service nonprofit organization. Qualitative data were collected from 12 EDs through semi structured interviews and then coded and analyzed using a modified van Kaam procedure. The results of the study indicated that EDs who self-reported using transformational leadership style were more inclined to adhere to the Sarbanes Oxley Act. In addition, participants acknowledged the need for organizational support to improve leadership qualities in EDs, efficiency, and effective ethical financial operations in nonprofit organizations. The study provides a baseline for nonprofit organizations to increase positive social change by adding knowledge on implementing strategies that will result in the enhancement of quality leadership in EDs that may ultimately result in more efficient and effective ethical financial operations in nonprofit organizations.

Managing employee engagement is critical to the success of an organization, but 85% of managers struggle with engaging employees. The purpose of this single-case study was to explore effective communication strategies within an organization and determine how managers used these strategies to increase employee engagement, productivity, and organizational effectiveness. Data were collected from organizational documents, observations, and semistructured interviews with 6 managers of a corporation located in the midwestern United States. All participants were working full-time for at least 3 years, had a managerial title, and were responsible for departmental communication. Moustakas's modified van Kaam method was used for data analysis. Communication theory provided the conceptual framework for the study. Three themes that emerged from the participants' interviews, observations, and data analysis were coaching employees, motivation, and consistency in communication. The findings of this study may impact positive social change by improving the organizational competitive environment through engagement in the community and society. The implications for positive social change include the potential for managers with direct reports to improve their understanding of the causes of engagement and disengagement, internal communication strategies that cause disengagement, and the benefits of implementing engagement strategies. The results of this study may provide managers with knowledge about employee engagement strategies used to improve productivity and organizational effectiveness within the industry. Community relationships could also improve as a result of effective communication.

Purpose: The population of Sweden is steadily increasing, which raises the need for new infrastructure and new buildings. To meet these demands the construction industry must become more efficient. According to several researchers, better leadership can be a part of accomplishing this. Discussions regarding leadership are mostly from the leaders’ perspective and usually the decisions about what kind of leadership is needed is made by the leaders themselves. Not very often do the followers get a chance to share their thoughts on what they need to become more efficient. Earlier research shows a correlation between motivation and efficiency. Therefore, this study attempt to find out what motivates construction workers. This study intended to examine what type of leadership construction workers think they need to become more efficient. The study’s aim was to contribute knowledge about how leadership can increase the efficiency on the construction site. Method: Two methods for data collection were used. A literary review based on effective leadership and interviews with construction workers about their thoughts on what type of leadership would increase their motivation and efficiency. Findings: This study has, by answering the research questions, contributed knowledge about how leadership can increase the efficiency on the construction site. The construction workers are of the opinion that their leaders have a big impact on their efficiency. The leaders’ knowledge and experience of the production phase as well as their ability to communicate and plan ahead were all seen as factor that affect their efficiency. The literary review for this study found 23 effective leadership traits. According to the construction workers the leadership skills that contribute the most to their motivation and efficiency are humility, relationship-management, and self-awareness. Connecting the construction workers responses to the efficient leadership theories showed that the most relevant theories for increasing the workers motivation and efficiency are Transformational and Servant Theory. The theory of Servant is the most relevant since it focuses on the followers. Implications: To increase the efficiency one must focus on the people in the industry. By changing the leadership based on the construction workers' opinions their efficiency can be increased. Therefore, it is recommended that leaders on the construction site work with the leadership theories Transformational and Servant and that they develop the effective leadership traits, especially the traits the construction workers find most important. Limitations: This study was limited to the leadership from the site supervisor to the construction workers. The focus was on what type of leadership the construction workers wanted to become more motivated and efficient. Furthermore, the study was limited to four leadership theories and effective leadership traits. Keywords: Efficiency, motivation, effective leadership traits, Contingency Theory, Transformational Theory, Transactional Theory, and Servant Theory. / Syfte: Sveriges befolkning växer stadigt vilket medför en ökad efterfrågan på nya bostäder och ny infrastruktur. För att tillgodose denna ökade efterfrågan behöver byggbranschen bli effektivare. Enligt flera forskare kan effektiviteten delvis ökas genom bättre ledarskap. Diskussioner om ledarskap utgår nästan enbart från ledarnas perspektiv och det är vanligt att ledarna bestämmer vilken typ av ledare som behövs. Det är sällan följarna får chansen att framföra åsikter sina om vad de behöver för att bli mer effektiva. Tidigare forskning har också visat att det finns ett samband mellan motivation och effektivitet. Därför undersöktes även vad som motiverar yrkesarbetarna. Denna undersökning avsåg att ta reda på vad yrkesarbetarna anser sig behöva för ledarskap för att bli mer motiverade och effektivare. Målet med undersökningen var att bidra med kunskap kring hur ledarskap kan öka effektiviteten i byggproduktionen. Metod: I undersökningen användes två metoder för datainsamling. En litteraturstudie med utgångspunkt i effektivt ledarskap samt intervjuer med yrkesarbetare om deras syn på vilket ledarskap som skulle öka deras motivation och effektivitet. Resultat: Genom att svara på frågeställningarna har undersökningen bidragit med kunskap kring hur ledarskap kan öka effektiviteten i byggproduktionen. Yrkesarbetarna anser att produktionsledaren har stor inverkan på deras effektiviteten. Det som påverkar är produktionsledarens kunskap och erfarenhet om produktionen samt deras förmåga att kommunicera och planera arbetet. Under litteraturstudien påträffades 23 effektiva ledaregenskaper. Enligt yrkesarbetarna är det egenskaperna ödmjukhet, relationshantering och självkännedom som bidrar mest till att öka deras motivation och effektivitet. Genom att koppla yrkesarbetarnas svar till de effektiva ledarskapsteorierna har det visat sig att Transformational och Servant Theory är de mest relevanta teorierna för att öka yrkesarbetarnas motivation och effektivitet. Eftersom Servant Theory fokuserar på följarna anses den mest relevant. Konsekvenser: För ökad effektivitet ska fokus läggas på de människor som branschen består av. Genom att anpassa ledarskapet efter yrkesarbetarnas åsikter kan deras effektivitet öka. Med anledning av detta rekommenderas det att ledare i byggproduktion arbetar med ledarskapsteorierna Transformational och Servant, samt att ledaren utvecklar de effektiva ledaregenskaperna, framförallt de egenskaperna som yrkesarbetarna efterfrågade. Begränsningar: Undersökningen behandlade endast ledarskapet mellan produktionsledaren och yrkesarbetarna. Fokus låg på vilket ledarskap yrkesarbetarna ville ha för att bli motiverade och effektiva. Vidare begränsningar var att enbart undersöka fyra ledarskapsteorier samt de effektiva ledaregenskaperna. Nyckelord: Effektivitet, motivation, effektiva ledaregenskaper, Contingency Theory, Transformational Theory, Transactional Theory, och Servant Theory.

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership styles in a petrochemical organisation (represented by transformational, transactional and laissez-faire leadership styles) and to determine if emotional intelligence can predict an effective leadership style. Leaders (N = 161) were selected from a business within a South African petrochemical organisation. Self reports from the EQ-i and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ Form 5X) were analysed. Correlation analyses indicated statistically significant relationships between emotional intelligence and transformational and laissez-faire leadership. Findings indicated positive correlations between emotional intelligence (specifically adaptability) and transformational leadership. Negative correlations were obtained between emotional intelligence (specifically intrapersonal skills) and laissez-faire leadership. Theoretical implications and practical applications of these findings were discussed. / Psychology / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Studiens syfte var att undersöka om kontextuell intelligens är en möjlig lösning till dagensstora mängd ledarskapsrecept. Primärdata från en enkätundersökning med 389 giltiga svarsamlades in angående sex av beteendena som utgör Kutz (2016) teori för kontextuellintelligens, vilket utgjorde metoden för studien. Kontextuell intelligens visade sig vara ettmöjligt svar till de många och kritiserade ledarskapsstilar som har idealiserats.Signifikanstestet visade på signifikant skillnad mellan chefers och medarbetares bedömningarav svenska chefers beteenden och prestationer. Studiens resultat indikerade att forskningbaserad på självutvärdering präglas av allvarliga brister. Studien visade därmed att teorin förkontextuell intelligens inte enbart kan vila på chefers självbedömning, utan bör kompletterasmed observatörers bedömningar av chefer för att ge en mer sanningsenlig bild och förbättraledarskapet. Dessutom bör rekrytering förlita sig på forskning baserad på fler perspektiv änenbart självbedömningar för att undvika misslyckanden vilka kan minska organisatoriskeffektivitet. / The purpose of this study was to examine whether contextual intelligence is a possiblesolution to today's vast array of leadership concepts. Primary data from a questionnaire surveywith 389 valid answers were collected regarding six of the behaviors constituting Kutz (2016)theory of contextual intelligence which formed the method of the study. The findings showedthat contextual intelligence proved to be a possible response to the many and criticizedleadership styles that have been idealized. The significance test showed statisticallysignificant differences between managers and employees assessments of Swedish managers’behavior and performance. The results indicated that research based on self-evaluation ischaracterized by serious shortcomings. This study therefore shows that the theory ofcontextual intelligence can not only rely on managers’ self-assessment and should becomplemented by observers' assessments of managers to give a more truthful picture andimprove leadership. In addition, recruitment should rely on research based on moreperspectives than just self-assessments to avoid failures which could reduce organizationaleffectiveness.The thesis is written in Swedish.

Magister Educationis - MEd / After seventeen years since the apartheid education system was abolished in Namibia, the education system remains stagnant. The government has been spending big budgets on Education. The Ministry of Education introduced various educational policies and innovations aimed to change the Education system. Yet, the quality of education remains poor. Although there are seemingly various reasons why the quality of education system is poor, education policies are not implemented effectively to bring about the desired quality of education and the desired quality of education and continuous improvement of schools. There is a lack of commitment and culture of learning, which are said to be the preconditions for educational change. And practitioners seem to lack the urgency required to implement policies. Notwithstanding this, there seem to be another reason why policies are not implemented effectively in schools. This research study argues that professional preparation of principals to implement educational policies is done intensively and rigorously. Hence, such professional preparedness of the school leaders is not impacting effectively on their leadership and management in schools. / South Africa

Magister Legum - LLM