Background The world of work is rapidly changing, and military organisations are no exception. Military organisations are increasingly subject to political and public scrutiny. At the same time, various treaties and codes of conduct have placed greater accountability on soldiers and military leaders for their actions during times of peace and combat. The transformation of the roles which military organisations fulfil, as well as the way in which soldiers and military leaders are to conduct themselves, led to the relatively recent introduction of the term ‘New Wars'. The new war construct encapsulates models, theories and approaches which stand in stark contrast to those of traditional warfare and has not yet received much attention from scholars in the field of leadership. In an attempt to respond to the various contextual factors encompassing a modern approach to warfare, military leaders need to adopt new, i.e. more contextually relevant, approaches and strategies in order to accomplish the desired outcomes of various crucial missions within a changed context. Aim of the research study The aim of the present research study was, therefore, to identify a new leadership theory, model and/or approach, which will be better suited to a changing military landscape. In order to achieve this aim, a novel view on leadership, i.e. virtuous leadership, was suggested. It is argued here that virtuous leadership will enhance military performance within a modern operational environment. In the present study, the direct and indirect relationship between virtuous leadership, new war practices and military performance was investigated. Research design and method Given the dearth of literature in this field of study, an exploratory research design was employed to gain insights pertaining to the proposed relationship between Virtuous Leadership, New Wars and Military Performance. A composite questionnaire consisting of items responded to on Likert-type response scales, and open-ended questions were designed to measure the constructs under investigation. Qualitative data from open-ended questions, as well as quantitative data from close-ended questions, was, therefore, collected, i.e. a mixed-method approach was employed to collect data. The data was further collected crosssectionally, i.e. at a given point in time from a convenient or non-probable sample of military personnel (n=138). Data analysis Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were calculated to summarise sample statistics and determine the strength and direction of the relationship between variables of interest, respectively. The PROCESS procedure (Hayes, 2018) was further employed to estimate the mediating effect of new war practices on the relationship between virtuous leadership and military performance. Results The statistical analyses revealed a statistically significant positive relationship between virtuous leadership and military performance; virtuous leadership and new war practices; as well as between new war practices and military performance. The results further revealed a statistically significant direct and indirect, i.e. a partially mediated, relationship, i.e. that new war practices significantly mediated the relationship between virtuous leadership and military performance. Findings Virtuous leadership is positively attributed to positive organisational outcomes. These research findings suggest that military organisations could enhance desired organisational outcomes by incorporating virtuousness with other leadership approaches for optimum military performance. Contribution Based on these findings of the current study, the military leadership theory has hopefully been enriched with new construct and insights. It is therefore recommended that virtuous leadership should be part of leadership training from the junior level in order to shape desired military conduct within and beyond the organisational premises. Qualitative insights suggested that military leaders demonstrated outstanding communication skills, military professionalism, compassion and exemplary leadership throughout peacekeeping deployment. However, most soldiers cited competence, emotional intelligence, courage and fairness as attributes that require further development to enhance leadership effectiveness in a new war context.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/32796 |
| Date | 04 February 2021 |
| Creators | Mahlelehlele, Tumelo Clement |
| Contributors | Schlechter, Anton F |
| Publisher | Faculty of Commerce, School of Management Studies |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Master Thesis, Masters, MCom |
| Format | application/pdf |
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