Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have the potential to enhance economic growth and innovation, create jobs, assist large businesses in the distribution of goods and services, and stimulate competition in the economy. However, SMEs face several challenges that influence their longevity, growth, and success. Poor leadership has been highlighted as influencing the job satisfaction and organisational commitment levels of employees, ultimately contributing to employee turnover and SME failure. This study mentions the dishonest, selfish and corrupt nature of modern leadership and identifies a gap in the literature regarding the practice of leadership, especially among South African SMEs. Against this background, the primary objective of this study was to assess the levels of several contemporary leadership styles displayed by SME owners, namely Servant, Authentic, Ethical and Participative leadership, and to investigate their influence on the Job satisfaction and Organisational commitment levels of employees working in SMEs in the Eastern Cape. A quantitative research paradigm was adopted and a sample was drawn from employees working in SMEs in the Eastern Cape Province. The selection of the sample was done using judgement and convenience sampling. A cross-sectional survey using a structured questionnaire was undertaken, and a total of 236 usable questionnaires were returned on which to undertake the statistical analysis. In order to assess the validity of the dependent variables, namely Job satisfaction and Organisational commitment, tests for uni-dimensionality (using factor analysis) were undertaken. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was undertaken on the independent variables and four factors were extracted, which corresponded with the theoretical dimensions of Relational leadership, Participative leadership, Servant leadership and Ethical leadership. The items intended to measure Authentic leadership did not load as expected, but a factor named Relational leadership emerged as a result of several items measuring Ethical and Servant leadership loading together. All the independent and dependent variables returned Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of greater than 0.7. As such, sufficient evidence of validity and reliability for the scales measuring the dependent and the independent variables was provided. The data collected was also subjected to several statistical analyses. These included descriptive statistics, Pearson’s product moment correlations, multiple regression analyses, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The majority of respondents agreed that they experienced Job satisfaction in the SMEs in which they were employed and that they were committed to these businesses. Relational leadership returned the highest mean score while the lowest score was returned for Participative leadership. The majority of respondents also agreed that the SME owners for whom they worked displayed the leadership styles under investigation. All the independent variables were significantly and positively correlated with the dependent variables, Job satisfaction and Organisational commitment. In addition, significant positive correlations were reported between all the independent variables. The multiple regression analyses revealed that three of the four leadership styles investigated in this study had a significant positive influence on both the Job satisfaction and Organisational commitment levels of employees working in the SMEs. These leadership styles were Servant, Relational, and Ethical leadership. In addition, the results of this study showed that Job satisfaction mediates the relationship between Servant, Relational and Ethical leadership, and the Organisational commitment displayed by employees working in SMEs, but does not mediate the relationship between Participative leadership and Organisational commitment. The findings also showed that the demographic variables investigated in this study had no influence on how SME employees perceived the Servant and Relational leadership behaviours of SME owners. However, the results showed that female respondents perceived SME owners as displaying a Participative leadership style more so than male employees did. The findings also revealed that employees with a post-matric qualification perceived that SME owners displayed higher levels of Participative leadership than those without a post-matric qualification. In addition, the ANOVA revealed that White respondents perceived that SME owners exhibited more ethical behaviours than Black respondents did. Given the findings of this study, several recommendations were put forward to enhance the levels of Servant, Relational and Ethical leadership among SME owners, and to ultimately enhance the levels of Job satisfaction and Organisational commitment experienced by their employees. As such SME owners were provided with practical recommendations on how to attract and retain employees by adopting appropriate leadership behaviours. Employees play a vital role in achieving the goals and vision of a business. Satisfied and committed employees put more effort into ensuring the goals and vision of the business are achieved, contributing to business success and ultimately the economy as a whole.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:9013 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Kupangwa, Welcome |
| Publisher | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MCom |
| Format | xv, 229 leaves, pdf |
| Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
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