The influence of leadership styles and organisational culture on the implementation of gender policy in a large orginisation

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The influence of leadership styles and

organisational culture on the implementation of

gender policy in a large orginisation

N Jones

orcid.org 0000-0002-3243-4511

Mini-dissertation accepted in partial fulfilment of the

requirements for the degree Master of Business Administration

at the North-West University

Supervisor: Prof JC Visagie

Graduation: May 2020

Student number: 20044960

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ABSTRACT

The study investigated the influence of leadership styles and organisational styles on the implementation of gender policy in a large organisation.

The implementation of gender policies within organisations, particularly in a more visible, large organisation, has become topical - as well as a must for progressive and success seeking organisations. Organisations have progressed slowly in adopting the gender transformation agenda partly due to hostile leadership characteristics and an environment that is not conducive to the crafting and implementation of gender policy.

In the interest of expanding debate and discussion on the characteristics of leadership and organisational culture, a qualitative study employing semi-structured interviews - which were self-administered on a sample of nine (9) employees from one large organisation - was conducted. The study collected qualitative data which was analysed thematically to extract meanings the participants ascribed to the phenomenon under study.

The study concluded that leadership styles and organisational culture were essential drivers of success in the implementation of gender policy. Leadership styles and organisational culture associated with an organisation are born out of the preferences of leaders, and they can either drive gender transformation or impede it.

Leaders are recommended, on the backdrop of the patriarchal history of most large organisations, to choose leadership styles and organisational cultures that lean more towards participative rather than dictatorial approaches.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I want to acknowledge the Almighty for affording me the strength to persevere and complete this project.

Throughout the preparation of this mini-dissertation, I received a lot of inspiration and support. Therefore, I want to acknowledge the following people:

My parents, Clement and Rehana Jones, for the encouragement and calming reassurance throughout.

My employer, Eskom, for allowing me to embark on this MBA rollercoaster ride, it was such a thrill.

My supervisor, Prof Jan Visagie, thank you for the advice, support and guidance in making me achieve this milestone. You tested my thinking beyond the obvious and made the journey less disheartening.

Mr Callen Maketshemu, your helpful advice gave me the necessary tools I needed to choose the right direction and finished my work successfully.

My go-to-girl, Farahnaz Alexander, for your willingness to always assist. Naeem Ahmanto (IT), for your help and patience.

My study group, “Risky Returns”: I cannot imagine having achieved this without you.

I would also like to acknowledge the contribution of my colleagues for taking time from their busy days to participate in this research.

Last, but not least, all my family, friends and colleagues who tirelessly motivated and supported me throughout this journey.

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

1.1 INTRODUCTION

In recent times the implementation of gender policies in organisations has become a topical issue. Intense pressure from gender activists, academia, regulators and civil societies is largely credited for causing gender transformation in countries but also in organisations. Empirical studies associate gender equality with organisational performance (Boulouta, 2012:1). The outcome is that organisations have no choice but to comply with gender equity prescriptions as they stand to benefit from the performance and social licenses associated with the construct of gender equality. According to Salhi (2013:5), driving operations within organisations have been the preserve of men but the past few decades have seen increased gender transformation, marked by challenges to the rationale for establishing patriarchal workplaces. Policy implementation entails the development of policy objectives and priorities in practice (Khan, 2016:4).

The overarching objective of a typical gender policy is the attainment of gender equity. Further to this, gender policies outline the obligation to the evolution of equity throughout the work environment by maximising operational and organisational effectiveness and the improvement of sustainability (Keddie, 2009:23; Ayman and Korabik, 2010:158; Birkland, 2016:9; Halabisky, 2017:11). The inevitable process of implementing gender policies in organisations, small and large, is faced with several challenges (Lee-Gosselin et al., 2013:468). In particular, large organisations may not cope with the ideal pace of gender transformation due to their sheer size and slow response to change. In the South African context, several tools have been deployed to ensure that organisations attain the social and economic objectives of gender equity, as this is also credited for contributing to social justice.

Elements that drive the effective implementation of gender policy in an organisation are of interest to both academics and practitioners. According to Khan (2016:7), appropriate organisational design is a necessary prerequisite for effective policy implementation. Delegation of authority and pleasant organisational culture enhances the capability of the organisation to implement a policy. Accordingly, leadership styles and organisational culture are expected to play a vital role in shaping the outcomes of implementing gender policies in organisations. Macarie and Emilian (2011:146) further argue that there are differences in the organisational culture of women-led and men-led organisations, and these variances may arise due to differences in leadership styles and

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organisational cultures. Khan et al. (2015:87) state that leadership style is loosely the equivalent of the leader’s behaviour. On the other hand, Luthans (2010:71) defines organisational culture as a sequence of fundamental theories conceived, found and developed by a particular group, to deal with its internal adaptation and integration problems.

According to Tanase (2015:850), organisational culture is a necessary condition that is prevalent in each organisation. Generally undetectable to the workforce of the organisation or external environment, the culture of the organisation nonetheless predominantly determines the performance of the workers. Theoretically, certain leadership styles and organisational cultures are associated with successful organisations, and some can lead to organisational failures as cultures produce leadership - and leadership influences culture (Ayman and Korabik, 2010:159; Greaves, 2012:100; Mcguire and Palus, 2015:3).

Research has also shown that although South Africa has comprehensive legislation in place to improve gender equality, the progress has been relatively slow (Soeker et al., 2015:16). As the overall performance of any organisation is management’s inevitable responsibility, a question arises whether the slow progress of gender policy in terms of success is perhaps not linked to leadership styles and organisational cultures that are not progressive or transformative.

Ayman and Korabik (2010:158) also suggested that perhaps the approaches to the study of leadership, gender, and culture should be seen as dynamic, multidimensional and multileveled and need to be integrated. It is from this perspective that this research investigates the influence of leadership styles and organisational culture on the implementation of gender policies in an organisation: particularly one characterised as a large organisation.

1.2 BACKGROUND

The large organisation targeted for this research is Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. Eskom is a renowned energy utility solely owned by the South African government. Eskom generates around 95 per cent of the electricity consumed in South Africa and around 45 per cent of the electricity used in Africa. Eskom has been around for 96 years and is Africa’s most prominent electricity producer.

Eskom has different divisions: Generation, Transmission and Distribution and a few subsidiaries under its belt. At the point of the study, Eskom had 28 power stations, one nuclear power station; 45 556 employees- of which 6 500 were in management - an asset base of R758 billion and a turnover of R180 billion (Eskom, 2019:26).

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Diverse leadership styles and organisational culture in Eskom can potentially interfere with the urgent implementation of gender policies, prompting an assessment of their influence on the implementation of the critical policy.

1.3PROBLEM STATEMENT

Implementation of gender policies is urgent (Rust, 2008:3; Holmes and Jones, 2010:48; The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2017:37). Large organisations are lethargic in effecting change (Graetz and Smith, 2010:141), and that characteristic may negatively affect implementation. Against the backdrop of this phenomenon, high employment levels in large organisations mean that the objectives of gender policies will not be timeously. Research into leadership styles and organisational culture suggests that these constructs could be a critical factor in increasing the pace of implementing gender policies in large organisations. Large organisations are complex and are associated with numerous variables which if not understood, may cause them - and society at large - to miss out on the benefits of implementing gender policies.

Leadership styles and organisational cultures take different forms and have been classified from different perspectives. There is a possibility that some leadership styles and organisational cultures are in conflict with the objectives of gender equity. The response of large organisations to the conflicts determines the success, or failure, of the implementation of gender policies.

Given the above background of the problem, this study investigates the influence of leadership styles and organisational culture on the implementation of the urgent and necessary gender policies in large organisations, with the view to expanding the debate on gender policy and exploring the extent to which important organisational constructs influence gender policy.

1.4RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

1.4.1 Primary objectives

• Investigate the influence of leadership styles on the implementation of gender policy in a large organisation.

• Investigate the influence of organisational culture on the implementation of gender policy in a large organisation.

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1.4.2 Secondary objectives

• Determine the necessity of the implementation of gender policy.

• Determine the challenges faced in the implementation of a gender policy

• Establish how the challenges faced by a large organisation in implementing a gender policy, could be resolved

1.5RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1.5.1 Primary question

• What is the influence of leadership styles and organisational culture on the implementation of gender policy in a large organisation?

1.5.2 Sub-questions

• Is it necessary to implement a gender policy in a large organisation?

• What are the challenges faced by a large organisation in implementing a gender policy?

• How can the challenges faced by a large organisation in implementing a gender policy, be resolved?

1.6IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY

Leadership styles, organisational culture and gender are in themselves complex: however, they are mutually engaging and influential within both work and social environments. Leadership is believed to have the power to influence the success of organisations (Hao and Yazdanifard, 2015:1). Leadership is thus a measurement that the average person uses to measure potential. Good leadership includes empowering employees to make decisions, the supporting of their decisions by executing plans efficiently and through the definition and recognition of prevailing leadership styles (Johansson, 2015:86).

Furthermore, there have been ideological shifts with regards to understanding gender equity and a range of different ways in which gender and gender policy has been understood and in which

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gender disadvantage has been addressed, and this has impacted the organisation and institutional life.

Organisations must build and retain a pool of the right leaders who are capable, who can bear the right role and who have a competitive advantage (Ferry, 2015:2). As organisational structures influence the thinking of affiliated individuals, whether it be employees or subsidiary organisations, understanding the complexities of how leadership, culture and gender influence each other has become crucial. Studies have shown that women and people from diverse sexual orientations, races and cultures have different approaches to leadership (Greaves, 2012; Ayman & Korabik, 2010). This is also because of various cultural aspects such as understandings of self, reputations, family, religion and politics amongst others, which influence one’s approach to leadership. Leadership per se does not necessarily equate to effective leadership._{Likewise, in leadership, the absence of} particular individuals from certain groups does not always equate to an absence of leadership. Many cultural studies have indicated that it is not known how people function in their own culture; and how they perform in multicultural circumstances (Greaves, 2012; Ayman & Korabik, 2010). In this way, the study aims to contribute to the broader debate by possibly expanding the debate, informing decision-makers and making recommendations regarding the constructs of interest - mainly looking at cross-cultural and multicultural environments in South Africa.

1.7DELIMITATIONS

This research was restricted to people who were easily identifiable and sampled from a single large organisation. The organisation is represented in all provinces of South Africa by a branch network or satellite office, but interviews were conducted at the organisation’s head office, Megawatt Park in Johannesburg.

1.8EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

In order to meet the research objectives of this study, a South African government utility was chosen for empirical research. Utility workers were invited to participate in this study. Qualitative research was embarked on, drawing participants from a single large organisation. The qualitative study adopted a descriptive and exploratory research design which utilised semi-structured interviews to collect views and opinions of the participants concerning the influence of leadership styles and organisational culture on the implementation of gender policy in a large organisation. A non-probability sampling technique, judgemental and purposive sampling, was utilised to select participant managers and employees from the target population. The data was analysed thematically

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to extract meaning from the data so that a viable answer to the research questions could be provided whilst satisfying the objectives of the study.

The emergent themes were used to describe and explore the phenomenon in a literature-controlled discussion. The theme conclusions were assessed in terms of their ability to respond to the research questions and the outcomes presented as conclusions of the study.

1.9LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The study was limited in that the sample was selected using convenient and purposive sampling techniques and thus cannot be fully representative of the sample. The study’s findings were confined to one large organisation as data was obtained solely from one organisation. The utility used for the study was limited to the groups of people represented in the sample. The study cannot be generalised on the population or all large organisations but only those with characteristics as represented in the sample. A self-generated instrument may present inconsistencies and outcomes that affect the study’s credibility by interfering with the outcomes.

1.10 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

The ethical principles can be broken down into four sub-sections, namely harm to participants; lack of informed consent; invasion of privacy, and deception (Bryman, 2012:568). The avoidance of harm to those who are exposed to the research dictates that the researcher does not affect the role players in the study. The researcher avoids harm to participants by ensuring informed consent, privacy, confidentiality and anonymity. Informed consent implies that before consenting to voluntary participation, participants are informed about their rights and privileges. The researcher must ensure that the participation of participants and the information they provide is protected. Information provided by participants cannot be linked to back to the participants, and the participants must remain anonymous throughout the process and after the research process. In consideration of these ethical standards, the researcher prepared an informed consent package, including the following:

• An official participation request.

• The purpose and description of the study.

• Disclosure of the few who would have access to the data (the researcher and academic committee).

• The explanation of voluntary participation rights: the right to withdraw at a point during or after the research.

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• The preservation of privacy, confidentiality and anonymity during and after the research. The researcher shall safeguard the identity and the information provided by participants. Participation in the research would not be associated with any benefits or punishment. In the event that the interviews resulted in emotional disturbances to participants, the researcher would take measures to ensure the participant was debriefed by a professional.

1.11 STUDY LAYOUT

This research paper consists of five chapters with its requisite annexes (Draft covering letter to respondents; Letter of permission to conduct the studies; Interview schedule and Ethical clearance form).

The following will be discussed in each chapter.

Chapter 1: Introduction and background

In this chapter, the influence of leadership styles and organisational culture on the implementation of gender policy in a large organisation is discussed. The background to the problem is also provided. In Chapter 1, the aim of the study, objectives and the questions which the study aims to answer, are also presented. The discussion includes the significance of the study.

Chapter 2: Literature review

The subject area and the subtopics that were invoked by these discussions are discussed; points emanating from the investigations leading to the conclusions and which are held in the body of knowledge about their interaction and findings are also discussed.

Chapter 3: Research Methodology

In this chapter, the methodology that will inform the acquisition of information, collation and summarization; and the processing required leading into the findings and conclusions, will be discussed.

Chapter 4: Presentation of results and discussion

This chapter introduces and addresses the outcomes of the study, driven by the literature findings. This section also offers explanations of the observations.

Chapter 5: Conclusions and recommendations

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1.12 CONCLUSION

In this chapter, the study’s focus area is introduced, and the background to the problem is presented. A problem statement, along with the research questions, research objectives, and the importance of the study is presented. The empirical approach to this study, limitations and ethical considerations are also described and literature controlled in this chapter. The study comprises five chapters, which are described in the layout of the study section.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 INTRODUCTION

This literature review explores discussions of several subjects linked to the focus area of the study. The focus area of the study is broken down into broad areas of study, which cover leadership styles, organisational culture, gender policy and large organisations. Each broad area is broken down into sub-topics which are rendered for extensive and robust literature review discussions. The next section is a discussion on the broad area of leadership.

2.2 LEADERSHIP

The concept of leadership made its way into general literature over the last century and has gained increased interest. The term leadership has numerous definitions depending upon the setting within which it is applied by researchers. Leadership has been utilised in many unique ways across different fields (Asrar-ul-Haq and Anwar, 2018:180). Once in a while, it alludes to a situation inside an organisation. Leadership has likewise been used to depict a character trait (Saha et al, 2017:4). Northouse (2013:5) defines leadership as a mechanism by which an individual affects a group of people in their achievement of a common goal.

Furthermore, leadership is portrayed as an attribute or trademark that exists in a leader, but also as a Transactional event between the leader and followers (Manoj and Shilpa, 2013:310). Summerfield (2014:252) observed that leadership's core function is to “make things better”. Kane (2011:1) has weighed in and describes leadership as the craft to,”… get individuals to do things they never thought they could and which also involves taking people to places that they have never been before”. The three definitions of leadership indicated above differ in that Summerfield (2014:251) and Kane (2011:4) believe that leadership is not confined to influencing people towards a predetermined objective, but that it is also a trait to transform the status quo and to drive people to an unimagined state. Combined, the three definitions identify leadership as a trait to transform, break new ground and drive people towards a predetermined objective. The definitions also provide insight into several components central to the leadership phenomenon and have to do with leaders directing their energies towards people to transform them, encourage them to explore new areas and even inspire those who are attempting to accomplish something together. Most of these definitions

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express the concept of what leaders do and what leadership is - and also suggest a few common features of leadership.

Leadership is a personal relationship in which an individual conducts, plans and controls other people's activities in the execution of a shared task (Khan et al., 2015:87). According to Khumalo (2015:21), leadership is a social impact process, which ventures into influencing other individuals to achieve objectives in a group or organisation. Mohale (2018:3) argued that leadership has more to do with feeling than qualifications, vocation or a title on a business card: it is about creating movement and influence. Fuqua et al. (2016:3) suggest that leadership is an individual's place of power in a group. Secondly, leadership involves impacting employees. This position of power offers a leader the opportunity to take advantage of its social impact. This view suggests that the practicality of leaders in their positions depends on their personal impact on employees. Thirdly, leadership occurs when a group of people is present, and finally, leadership involves the accomplishment of predetermined objectives (Fuqua et al., 2016:3). In the context of this study, leadership is considered as a trait that shifts people from one state to another but also a trait that takes people to unimagined states as well as to shared goals or objectives (Johnson and Hackman, 2018:11). Implementing leadership processes is not limited to one approach; hence, the construct of leadership styles is topical amongst practitioners and academia. In the next chapter, leadership theories are discussed and are viewed and considered as giving birth to considerations of leadership styles.

2.3 THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP

It can be argued that leadership theories gave birth to the various leadership styles that have become topical in the extensive body of literature on leadership. Theories on what constitutes effective leadership evolved over time (Madanchian et al., 2016:198). It seems each theory proposed was a developmental reaction to the initial claims made about the concept of leadership. Good leadership is critical, and the execution of values, styles and theories drives good leadership in day-to-day work (Uzohue et al., 2016:18). The theories can, therefore, be placed on a timeline beginning with the Great Man theory right up to modern - more fluid -views of leadership.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, interest in leadership increased. In 1849, Thomas Carlyle proffered the theory known as the Great Man theory of leadership, predicated on the claim that leaders are born.

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Table 1: Theories of leadership timeline

Period Theory Description

1840 The Great Man theory

Thomas Carlyle

• Extraordinary individuals

• Unique attributes 1904 - 1948 Trait theory

Ralph Stogdill

• Evolved from Great Man theory

• Move away from hereditary qualities 1950 - 1970 Behavioural theory

Daniel Katz

• Focus on behaviour

• Leads into leadership styles 1967 - 1990 Contingency theory

Fred Fiedler

• Situational

• Leadership changes with the situation 1985 - 2010 Transformational theory

James Burns

• Interaction of leader-follower could be transactional or charismatic

• Concerned with emotions, value, ethics

Source: Adopted from (Harwood, 2013:2)

The theory of the Great Man portrays great leaders as noble, mystical and destined to lead if needed according to Van Wagner, (2009:1), assuming that great leaders of that time share similar features and characteristics (Kovach, 2018:2). The term ‘Great Man’ was used at the time when leadership was thought of as a predominantly male quality, particularly in terms of military leadership. The Great Man theory assumes that the aptitude for leadership is innate – that great leaders are born, not made (Ololube et al., 2015:8).

The implications of this early theory on this study are such that if leaders are born, then the implementation of gender policy in a large organisation should be viewed as being dependent on the ability of the organisation to identify natural leaders. Further to this, what factors inform the ability of the organisation in their identification of natural leaders? The theory has profound implications for the selection of human resources in order to build change management capabilities within a large organisation (Zafar et al., 2014:56).

On the other hand, if leaders are made, is the organisation sufficiently invested in making leaders? Either way, the successful implementation of gender policy in a large organisation would come against a multitude of factors which include the leadership styles adopted by the organisation. Behavioural theories of leadership believe that good leaders are made, not born (Uzohue et al., 2016:19). The philosophy of behavioural management is grounded in behaviourism, which focuses on members' behaviours, not on psychological or inner states. According to Newman (2016:8), with this theory, individuals can learn to become leaders through teaching and learning. In the

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context of behavioural theory, the implementation of gender policy in a large organisation is dependent upon the ability of the organisation to foster activities that produce good leaders. The behavioural theories were a prelude to the leadership styles. According to Zaker et al. (2016:1), many researchers and practitioners concluded that evolution of thought had resulted in the belief that the concept of leadership is dynamic and malleable, with research constantly adding to its understanding; but never rendering what had come before it, obsolete.

Comparative somehow to the Great Man theory, according to Levi (2017:227) the Trait theory is based on the belief that individuals inherit specific characteristics or attributes fit for leadership. Trait theories often detect certain shared personalities or behavioural characteristics by leaders. According to Zaker et al. (2016:2), the trait theory argued that a good leader is gifted with genetic traits (height, intelligence, self-confidence and attractiveness) and also traits acquired through learning and experience. In the context of the trait theory, the implementation of the gender policy in a large organisation would be a factor of learning, experience and some genetic traits. According to contingency theory, it could be argued that it was birthed out of the empirical failure to identify a list of shared traits amongst existing relatively successful leaders (Ayman and Korabik, 2010:165). According to Vidal et al. (2017:2), there is no single exact method to lead: according to the theory of contingency, the leader must adjust to the particular situation in the internal and external dimensions of the environment. In other words, this theory presents a wide range of ways for managers to respond to problems; it also gives them tremendous flexibility in making decisions on the implementation of gender policy in a large organisation.

2.4 LEADERSHIP STYLES

The phenomenon of leadership has been dissected in several ways, producing a pool of leadership styles with distinct descriptions. Hence leadership styles should be versatile and adaptable, treating people according to their own social inclinations (Al Khajeh, 2018:2). Many researchers have identified various leadership styles that most leaders adapt to (Ismail and Fathi, 2019:24). A leadership style can be characterised as a method or approach to direct, educate and encourage people (Zumitzavan and Michie, 2015:13). This literature review identified a few leadership styles, which leaders deliberately or automatically enact within a team.

Khan et al. (2015:87) reported that a leadership style is roughly equivalent to the leader’s behaviour. There are several ways to lead, and every leader has their own style. Leadership theories

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gave birth to various leadership styles. The perception of leadership has been debated since the days of Socrates, some 2500 years ago. Furthermore, Khan et al., (2015:87) explain how Socrates held that leaders have non-transferable characteristics which they bring to a specific situation: hence, leadership is situational. Management experts have seen a change over several decades in how leadership is characterised and viewed. Leaders took the Autocratic style, which was deeply conservative, to a very imaginative and participative approach. Along the line, it was determined that not everything old was bad and not everything new was good. Slightly different styles were needed for different situations, and each leader needed to know when to exhibit a particular approach (Kaleem, 2016:1).

According to Nahavandi (2002) - as cited in Nanjundeswaras and Swamy (2014:57) - leadership styles influence organisational effectiveness and performance. Organisations today want efficient leaders who understand the intricacies of the ever-changing global environment (Thuijsman, 2015:2). Thuijsman (2015:2) also stated that management can utilise leadership styles to overcome employee resistance to change, which is vital to effective leadership. These styles of leadership can range from creating empathy towards what is new or altered which would more organically reduce reluctance to change, to enforcing change which might result in increased resistance or decreased participation.

According to Lang (2014:82), leadership has been dissected in terms of the level of input of the leader, into participative and non-participative leadership styles. These leadership styles include: Autocratic; Democratic: Laissez-faire: Transactional; Transformational, and Charismatic. In practical terms, all six leadership styles have an important place within the business space, and leadership development aims to allow the leader to choose the appropriate style for varying situations and to move between them while remaining trustworthy and aligned to certain values and expectations. Leadership styles are situational and have been seen to improve individual and organisational success in many ways. Leaders actively set the pace and provide guidelines for employees to follow (Levi 2017:242). Leadership styles, organisational culture and gender policy are amongst the factors that can give a positive impetus to organisational performance (Ncume, 2018:4). The six leadership styles that were referred to earlier, show fundamental links to organisational results and will be discussed in more detail in the following subsection.

Most leadership theories gave birth to leadership styles. The leadership theory proposed by Robert R Black and Jane Mouton in 1964 produced five leadership styles grouped according to activities of leaders concerning people and the task (Cai et al., 2019:1).

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Newman (2016:8) states that the leadership grid is a framework that can be utilised to group leaders into classes dependent on the strategies that they use concerning people and the task. While no organisational system will ever be flawlessly complete, this grid is a useful method to comprehend individual leadership styles and how they work. Dating back to the mid-1960s, this is a system that has been tested and remains relevant today. Figure 2.1 depicts the management styles.

Figure 2.1: The Blake Mouton Managerial Grid. Source: Blake and Mouton (1991)

The impoverished leadership style assumes, in the context of this study, that people are capable of adapting to the new gender policy without the intervention of leaders. Parallels can be drawn between the Impoverished leadership style and the Laissez-faire leadership style where people are left to work out the task on their own (Ekmekci & Tosunoglu, 2016:90). The Country Club leadership style entails avoiding conflict with people and the maintenance of an easy-going work atmosphere (Koc et al., 2013:97). The need to adopt gender policies in organisations is socially motivated and aligns with the approach of a Country Club leadership style, although performance or regard for the task may be low. Another leadership style emanating from the leadership grid theory is the Middle-of-The-Road leadership style, in which there is a balanced concern for people and production without any unique priorities afforded (Likert, 2015:3). The latter style concerns itself with resolving conflicts between people and production and may be synonymous with optimisation. The Produce or Perish leadership style is associated with a leader who adheres to company policies and whose narrow focus is on attaining results, at all costs (Koc et al., 2013:98). In the context of the study, adopting this style of leadership means adherence to gender policy and demanding compliance. The Team style entails prioritising both production and people (Newman, 2016:17),

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whereas the Middle-of-The-Road style does not prioritise any of the objectives of serving people and production.

Transactional theories focus on the roles of supervision, organisation, and group performance. This theory centres leadership on a system of reward and punishment and is often utilised in the organisation (Al Khajeh, 2018:4). A leader is known as a Transactional leader if they are continually ready to reciprocate: this can include various things like promotion, an increase in salary, surveys and new duties (Aydin, 2018:268). The primary issue with this kind of leadership is the expectation. Transactional leadership can be characterised by the trading of targets and rewards between management and the employees (Abood and Thabet, 2017:4). According to Salami (2016:29), Transactional leadership centres around the role of supervision, organisation and group performance, in which the leader supports the compliance of subordinates through both rewards and punishments. If employees excel, they are compensated, but they are reprimanded and disciplined if they fail (Zaker et al., 2016:3). In the context of the Transactional leadership style, leaders discourage employees’ resistance to change by the use of rewards and punishment. The integration of gender policy adherence as a measure in the performance appraisal system of an organisation is a typical approach of a Transactional leadership style in reaching change management objectives.

According to Ololube et al. (2015:8), Transformational theories focus on the networks formed amongst leaders and followers. Often considered as a standout amid the most popular leadership styles, it is about creating a thriving work culture through compelling communication in a group. Such leaders empower and motivate people to see what the importance and the higher good of the tasks are and consequently, to exceed expectations (Asrar-ul-Haq and Kuchinke, 2016:56). Transformational leaders concentrate on organisational and group members' successes, but also want each individual to reach their full potential (Tafvelin, 2013:1). These leaders often have high ethical and moral standards. Transformational leadership styles demand a particular level of strategic vision, and intellectual stimulation initiating change in oneself and others in an organisation and focuses on achieving goals with rigorous timelines and operating as a team to reach those expectations on schedule. In this respect, transformation leaders set themselves - and the group - testing deadlines to achieve outstanding results (Odumeru & Ifeanyi, 2013:356).

Thuijsman (2015:3) claims that the Autocratic leadership style is a solid one-dimensional leadership style that gives full power or authority to the leader/supervisor/manager. In this style, all decisions are made by the leader with no counsel with juniors or co-workers. The leader makes all the critical calls which are then imparted to colleagues and they, in turn, are relied upon to take a shot at the

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instructions right away. Autocratic leaders are less innovative and only promote one-sided conversation (Nawoseing & Roussel, 2017:88). Autocratic leaders pressure subordinates to follow suit and narrow-track the delivery of programs and policies. Hasan agrees that they are less imaginative and tend to facilitate only one-sided conversations (Hasan et al., 2018:5). The renowned US corporate executive Albert J Dunlap particularly favoured this leadership style, as does US President Donald Trump.

Unlike the Autocratic leadership style, the Democratic leadership style is increasingly participative: the leader is more consultative and includes colleagues in critical decision-making (Mohammed et

al., 2014:2). It works well for an organisation with highly talented and experienced co-workers. The

best part of this type of leadership is dynamic upward communication. Often called ‘participatory leadership’, the leader needs to be smart, creative, polite and skilled (Johnson & Hackman, 2018:68). Alghazo and Al-anazi (2016:39) affirm that employees are involved in the decision-making process and by that the employees feel included and that their feelings are respected. The Democratic leadership style stresses the involvement of organisations and leaders in policy-making (Kalu & Okpokwasili, 2018:234).

The leaders who use this style of leadership are naturally personable, or instead shrewdly charm plenty of individuals, with their appeal and charisma. Their character traits include self-motivation; they are inspirational to their followers, energy, and confidence (Schmitz, 2012:62). Leadership styles like this can be utilised to build formidable standing in the marketplace and enjoy a colossal fan-following, utilising their healthy mental self-image. Johnson and Hackman (2018:125) state that charismatic leaders are the superstars of the organisation, those who have a significant impact on the lives of others and can be found on all levels in the organisation, not only senior levels. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Steve Jobs and Nelson Mandela are believed to be of the most charismatic leaders worldwide.

Laissez-faire in French means 'leave them to do' that is interpreted in English as 'let it be' (Gans et

al., 2014:161). Leaders assign responsibilities to subordinates and encourage them to deal with

limited or no challenges on their own (Ekmekci & Tosunoglu, 2016:90). Laissez-faire leadership style gives the most significant extension for creativity and adaptability. It works best for inventive groups comprising self-motivated and experienced people, who do not require a high level of supervision and invigilation (Abood & Thabet, 2017:5). Asrar-ul-Haq and Kuchinke (2016:57) argued that Laissez-faire-style leaders abstain from interacting with subordinates whenever they can, postpone decisions, give little feedback, and make no effort to encourage employees to achieve

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organisational objectives. Mohandas Mahatma Gandhi, a pioneer of Laissez-faire leadership, felt that people work best without being asked what they have to do but urged to work on their own.

Leadership comes with a number of tasks and challenges as every leader has a distinctive style of leadership (Abbas & Asghar, 2010:26). The most significant point is to what extent the leadership style, the culture and the objectives of an organisation accord with one another. In light of this study, most organisations - depending upon the important activities to be performed and departmental demands - provide a few leadership styles within the organisation (Trevisani, 2016:36).

In this study, the different definitions of leadership and leadership styles are noticed, and the clear influence they have on one another. Leaders lead and influence subordinates to follow them to achieve a common goal. Scholars have studied leadership skills, styles and capabilities for several years, and after conducting this research, it is clear that leadership styles play an essential role in the implementation of gender policies in organisations. The type of leadership style imposed in an organisation determines the performance of employees and how individual performance will contribute to the vision of the organisation. Leadership styles, organisational culture and gender policy, are among the factors that can give a positive impetus to organisational performance.

2.5 THE IMPACT OF LEADERSHIP STYLES ON GENDER DIVERSITY

Francoeur et al. (2008:2) found that firms operating in complex environments do generate positive and significant abnormal returns if they have a high proposition of women officers. The findings, according to Francoeur et al. (2008), support the implementation of gender policies in organisations which fosters the advancement of women in business. Faizan et al. (2018:79) argued that organisations value gender diversity owing to the different leadership styles and higher commitment and productivity levels of female employees. Francoeur et al. (2008) and Faizan et al. (2018) associate gender diversity with organisational performance, employee commitment and the adoption of leadership styles that support these outcomes. On the other hand, Chaluvadi (2015:6) found that literature also shows that there are no assessable differences in leadership styles between male and female leaders, but that leadership styles in their roles are highly situational. This argument debates that neither of the genders is better at employing a leadership style but that the effectiveness is conditional upon various internal and external environments of the group. Leadership culture will be discussed in the next section.

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2.6 LEADERSHIP CULTURE

According to Meyer (2014:2), leadership culture implies the repeated way leaders of a company execute the business strategy. This definition limits leadership culture to leaders whose responsibility in companies is to execute business strategy. Business strategy addresses how an organisation should compete and accordingly, this definition is narrow, as the relevant work done in a company transcends competitive decisions Nickols (2016:4). A more comprehensive explanation is offered in Wilhelm (2016:4), which argues that management culture is a norm and ideology that every member within the organisation accepts and they behave accordingly as a shared value. Further to this, Greaves (2012:100) defines leadership culture as that body of cultural understandings, by which leaders and citizens develop the necessary trust to govern effectively; and which also influences the expectations of behaviour and attitudes on both ends of the leadership spectrum. Palus (2014:3) also defined leadership culture as the body of shared beliefs and practices in a collective that shapes what leadership means both implicitly and explicitly and therefore determines how leadership is recognised, practised and developed.

The definitions of leadership culture can be classified into exclusive definitions and inclusive definitions. Exclusive definitions refer to the level of seniority or of strategy, such as leaders at corporate strategy levels. On the other hand, inclusive definitions apply to organisation-wide members irrespective of seniority and business strategy levels (Thompson, 2017:2). The intricacy of an organisation’s strategic work is interrelated to the abilities of its leadership cultures (Horth et al., 2018:6). Accordingly, the inclusive definitions are more relevant to defining leadership culture in this study because every employee has leadership responsibility; although the responsibility may vary with the level of seniority and organisational strategy.

Leadership culture, therefore, refers to the self-strengthening network of views, practices, patterns, and behaviours present in a society, visibly and invisibly incorporated into the working world of an organisation, which ultimately support the functions in - and of - an organisation and how the organisation performs. Mcguire and Rhodes (2009:212) and (Palus, 2014:2) also noted that leadership cultures produce leaders and just as culture evolves, leadership cultures also evolve and can be intentionally shaped to higher levels of collective awareness, efficacy, and moral action. According to Parry (2010:3), leadership culture is defined as that amalgam of primary purpose, critical behaviours and essential personal values, identified and agreed by the leaders as authentic and functional for their organisation culture (whole or part), which the leaders (formal and emergent) role model through their everyday communications and actions.

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To understand leadership cultures, one also needs to explore and understand the social cultures that influence how the organisation is structured. These may include, amongst others, cultural understandings of personhood, reputation, wealth, family hospitality, religion, politics, and dealing with deviance and or adversaries (Greaves, 2012:103). A leader's personal conscious and unconscious philosophies drive decisions and behaviours. As a result, repetitive actions convert to leadership practices. Ayman and Korabik (2010:160) state that an emic approach is used when it comes to the study of gender and leadership, as well as culture and leadership, as leadership and leadership culture would encompass the specific contextual way in which things are understood; the way people interact and the way things are done.

When we extend our outlook to incorporate leadership not only as a task of the individual, but as the joined activities created by all of the organisation's employees to guarantee perfect bearing, arrangement, and duty, we are starting to make a much-needed move. Holding this far-reaching perspective on leadership requires an intentional way to deal with organisational culture: first in understanding it, and after that in advancing the way of life, so it turns into the prime switch for corporate achievement (Palus, 2014:4). The types of leadership culture will be discussed in the next section.

2.7 TYPES OF LEADERSHIP CULTURE

Several leadership cultures have been identified in the literature (Meyer, 2014; Wilhelm, 2016; Greaves, 2012). According to Palus (2014:5), leadership culture is a particularly extreme power under which individual leaders or practices which repudiate the prevailing culture, are regularly bound to disappointment: but be that as it may, leadership cultures can develop. Leadership cultures can be comprehensively portrayed as dependent, independent or interdependent, as illustrated in Figure 2.2 below (Palus, 2014:5)

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Figure 2.2: Types of leadership cultures. Source: Adopted from (Palus, 2014:6)

Dependent leadership culture subscribes to the notion that only individuals in places of power bear the responsibility for leadership (Palus, 2014:5). This belief may result in an organisation which insists on hierarchical respect, through their top-down method of enforcing compliance. These cultures may be considered conformist in nature. Further characteristics that are said to be associated with these conformist and dependent cultures are: the majority of decisions being made by a few senior managers; status being culturally assigned to position levels, cautious attitude to change; a focus on streamlined processes and a proclivity for covering up mishaps (Mcguire & Palus, 2015:9).

Independent leadership culture is described by the presumption that leadership develops as required, from an assortment of people dependent on knowledge and expertise (Palus, 2014:6). This suspicion may prompt distributed decision-making; high interest for individual responsibility; robust dependence on professionals and skill and rivalry among professionals. As a rule, independent cultures can be thought of as ‘achiever’ cultures (Horth et al., 2018:8). Different attributes related to separate cultures include individual performance as an essential basis of accomplishment and rank; an accentuation on going out on a limb; wide disparity and independent doings inside functions or workgroups.

Interdependent leadership culture is comprehensively described by the suspicion that leadership is a joint movement that requires common request and learning (Palus, 2014:6). This supposition may prompt the far-reaching utilisation of discourse; collaboration; parallel systems; esteeming of contrasts and an emphasis on education. As a rule, interdependent cultures are thought of as collaborative cultures. Different attributes related to interdependent culture include the capacity to

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work adequately crosswise over organisational limits, receptiveness and genuineness, multifaceted models of achievement and co-operative energies being sought over the entire endeavour (Horth et

al., 2018:8).

Furthermore, Mcguire and Rhodes (2009:219) also characterise leadership culture as dependent, independent and interdependent. From their perspective, the dependent can be described as conformer logic: a culture of coordination. Inside the senior leadership group and throughout a progressively planned structure, order and control is the organisational personality and is set in this culture. Authority exudes from the top, and honouring the code of beliefs is desired more than adaptive learning, which can either expand or compromise existing conditions. Knowledge is likewise held at the top since it is controlled (Mcguire and Rhodes, 2009:219).

Independent leadership culture is also known as achiever logic. The culture is supportive. In an Independent-achiever organisation, authority and control are distributed well, down through the positions of individual managers. The general mindset is tied in with being effective in a changing world and adjusting faster and in a superior manner to the competition (Mcguire and Rhodes, 2009:220).

Interdependent culture is also known as the collaborator logic: a collaborative culture. The ‘co’ in collaborate is exactly what interdependent-collaborator reason and culture are about. Such cultures share authority and control throughout the organisation in a manner that augments the vital fitness of the entirety. Collaborative cultures promote leadership as joint work that benefits the entire organisation, in endlessly accomplishing the set results (Marshall and Rode, 2018:7). Leaders are found among individuals without the management titles, and this cultivates persuasive reasoning when managing unpredictability (Mcguire and Rhodes, 2009:222). Table 2 below illustrates the different types of leadership cultures.

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Table 2: Types of Leadership cultures

Source: Adopted from Rooke & Torbert (2005)

Organisations develop along a pathway of mainly dependent, to mostly independent to interdependent (Fadiran & Sarr, 2016:4). Each one of these types rises above - and incorporates - the convictions of the earlier culture as rare cases inside the new request. This way has much assortment and numerous exemptions. A few organisations are a blend of these structures: some relapse. According to Baltaci and Balci (2017:30), it can be understood that interdependent perspectives have been rising in organisations lately, comparable with the ascent of globalisation and data systems, and conditions are ending up increasingly amenable to growth and development. Leadership culture can be concrete dividers with steel roofs that are dependable, or leadership culture can create unity which is compelling for a promising and innovative future (Mcguire & Rhodes, 2009:6). The next section will explore organisational culture to find the link between leadership culture and organisational culture.

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2.8 ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE

A hallmark of our time is the proliferation, fractionation, and growth of diverse cultures. Definitions of culture cover a broad range of perceptions. Usually, these words and phrases describe culture: food, religion, language, music, region or geography, ethnicity and clothes. According to Schmitz (2012:31), culture consists of the shared beliefs, values, and assumptions of a group of people who learn from one another and teach others that their behaviours, attitudes, and perspectives are the correct ways to think, act, and feel. Henslin (2017:38), defines culture as the language, beliefs, values, norms, behaviours, and even material objects that characterise a group and are passed from one generation to the next. Although the facets of culture may vary from one group to another, culture itself is universal. These definitions clearly define culture as well as the characteristics it encompasses. It can be safely stated that culture is uniquely human and shared with other people.

Leadership styles influence organisational culture, and consequently, leadership styles affect organisational performance (Nanjundeswaras and Swamy, 2014:57). Parallel to leadership, there is no single definition for organisational culture. Each organisation has something novel in its functioning. It is such exclusivity – when it is positive in nature - that each organisation flaunts as a sign of distinction in portraying themselves as an entity. How an organisation operates as regards its extraordinary convictions, qualities, and assumptions is what hypothesises as organisational culture (Aggarwal, 2018:88). Organisational culture is a necessary instance that works in each organisation. However, generally undetectable to the employees of the organisation or external environment, the performance of the workers is predominantly determined by the culture of the organisation (Tanase, 2015:850). Tanase (2015:851) further argued that it makes an operational situation in which each employee works towards accomplishing company goals. More often than not, the culture that exists in an organisation is profoundly established, which means that it is a challenging process to change it. According to Owoyemi and Ekwoaba (2014:168), organisational culture is one of the critical components that can cause the organisation to progress or to fall flat. Since organisational culture is characterised in numerous forms, it implies that it likewise has many qualities.

Edgar Schein as cited in Luthans, (2010:71), who is likely the most closely connected with the research of organisational culture, defines the organisational culture as a sequence of underlying assumptions that a given team invents, discusses and evolves in order to deal with its external adaptation and internal integration issues. It served very well to be considered trustworthy and thus to teach new leaders how to understand, think and feel these challenges correctly. Serpa (2019:51) perceives organisational culture as a common technique of being, thinking and acting in a collective

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and synchronising people with mutual expectations. Maseko (2017:1) viewed organisational culture as a company's orientation towards its internal stakeholders, which forms the basic rules that guide employees' behaviours, developed and shared within an organisation. Organisational culture, according to Agwu (2014:1), is the set of shared values, beliefs and norms that influences the way employees think, feel and behave in the workplace. Even though there is no clear understanding in the literature concerning organisational culture, one expert Sokro (2012:3) contended that there is only one consensus and that is the fact that organisational culture has both tangible and non-tangible aspects.

All of the analyses above regarding organisational culture can be agreed upon as the beliefs and qualities that distinguish the character of an organisation, impact the behaviour of people, and which are conveyed through different channels in the organisation. It is also clear that each organisation has a unique culture. Nevertheless, organisational culture is not a distinct, autonomous entity, but part of a whole. We now turn to explore the role of organisational culture in organisations.

2.9 THE ROLE OF ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE

The role of organisational culture in hierarchical performance is a topic that has also received widespread attention in literature; albeit from diverse perspectives and with different conclusions as to its significance. Influential organisational culture would undoubtedly influence performance, and the way employees behave within the organisation (Maseko, 2017:3). Matsa and Miller (2011:635) expressed that in the mid-1900s, there was little proof of the effect of an organisation's culture on its execution. Cheung and Halpern (2010:182) found around that corresponding time that organisations in dynamic industries shared beneficial qualities that added to prolonged immovability. By the late 2000s, however, a connection between organisational culture and performance had been recognised, albeit fundamentally for the short term (Alvesson & Willmott, 2012:245). Bellou (2010:12) proves that organisations with participative cultures were enjoying superior performance to those cultures that were not. This theory is in line with Matsa and Miller (2011) who hold that a component of cultural significance for an organisation's accomplishment is the degree to which the workforces engage. After this underlying period of curiosity around the character of culture in execution, other researchers - based on the establishment laid by any semblance before 2000 through empirical research (Shore et al., 2011:2). Rashid et al. (2004:1) - found from studying organisational culture literature that there is a reasonable connection between culture and organisational execution. However, Bellou (2010:5), concludes the research by expressing that behaviour is the only thing

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that can straightforwardly influence an organisation's performance. Bellou (2010:6) further points out that while behaviour might be one encapsulation of culture, culture is not by any means the only determinant of behaviour. According to Kien (2014:12), organisational culture causes the employees to acquire a clear view of the organisation's objectives. In fact, an influential culture creates excellent relations between workers as they constantly exchange knowledge and intrigue. It improves the office experience, making it relaxed and pleasant. In the process of building a healthy culture, an organisation makes the workers committed to the business, which makes the people happier with the organisation as well as with their employment.

From the above, it is clear that the organisational culture in execution has become more intriguing and progressively acknowledged throughout the years. Albeit such a relationship is attempting to demonstrate, a portion of the researchers as referenced above, have discovered distinctive degrees of connection. The examination will address the links thoroughly. Culture influences the actions of members in its society. So a robust organisational culture would impact how workers carry on in the organisation (Maseko, 2017:3). In other words, the organisational culture may produce focused preferences for the organisation by upgrading workers' performance and participation with one another. Other than that, a stable culture reduces the controversy within the organisation, to dispatch, govern and motivate employees’ performance and guarantees organisational profitability (Owoyemi & Ekwoaba, 2014:170). Initially, stable organisational culture affixes the connection between employees and aids them to share the basic comprehension for an issue and evaluate, pick and situate their activity in a similar introduction. At the point when there is a danger of contention in the organisation, the mutual standards and qualities are the components to join individuals, help them to assess the circumstance accurately and act acceptably.

With the blend of the above impacts, organisational culture can emphatically impact the organisation's performance; creating its disparities in the market. That is a competitive advantage for the organisation. The types of organisational culture will be discussed in the next section.

2.10 TYPES OF ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE

Organisational culture is vital to the survival and growth of a company. It is a set of beliefs, principles and traditions- and how employees work, and it affects the way the employees act (Suwibawa et al., 2018:20997). According to Antonova et al. (2010:4), in the Competitive Values Framework (CVF) model of Cameron and Quinn (1999), there are four predominant organisational culture types, namely Clan, Market, Adhocracy and Hierarchy, as shown in Figure 2.3 below.

The influence of leadership styles and organisational culture on the implementation of gender policy in a large orginisation