Recent years have seen an increase in females that are occupying management and
leadership roles in organisations. Most of the studies have focussed on the difficulties
that are experienced by women in working environment. This study, on the contrary,
sets out to explore the attributes of successful female leaders. Specifically, the purpose
of this study was to investigate the attributes that make women successful leaders. The
research focussed on leadership and management profiles. In particular, the leadership
and management traits were established and benchmarked against the attributes of
successful famous women leaders. The study was carried out within a framework of a
survey questionnaire employing quantitative data collection method. The study
consisted of 98 participants from both private and government sector. The quantitative
data was analysed using the relevant statistical tools. The major findings under
management profiles, apart from lacking the ability to structure work, centre on the fact
that female managers are good motivators. The results further indicated that women
managers prefer to provide coaching and support, sharing what needs to be done than
telling them what to do. The major finding under leadership profiles was that female
managers preferred to lead by example; meaning that they focus on setting an example
for the followers and are willing on taking risk. Another imperative finding was that
women leaders demonstrated team-building leadership style when it comes to decision-making
and problem-solving. Recommendations, using these findings, were made for
women aspiring to leadership, women already in leadership and management positions
and organisations. / Thesis (MBA) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2010
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/15925 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Luse, MNS |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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