The Relationship between Leadership style, Productive Organisational energy and Job Satisfaction: The context of HEIs in Saudi Arabia

Transcription

1 UFHRD Conference 2016 The Relationship between Leadership style, Productive Organisational energy and Job Satisfaction: The context of HEIs in Saudi Arabia Zeyad Abualhamael, Linda Alker 1, Rosane Pagano 2 and Ben Lupton 3. Department of Management, Business School- Manchester Metropolitan University, All Saints Campus, Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6BH. 1,3 Department of Management, Business School, Manchester Metropolitan University, All Saints Campus, Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6BH. 2 Department of Marketing, Operations and Digital Business, Business School, Manchester Metropolitan University, All Saints Campus, Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6BH. z.abualhamael@mmu.ac.uk, l.alker@mmu.ac.uk, r.pagano@mmu.ac.uk, b.lupton@mmu.ac.uk Paper type Working paper

2 Abstract Purpose This paper reports the research analysis and findings of a study in examining the relationship between Leadership style, Productive Organizational Energy and Job satisfaction in the context of HEIs in Saudi Arabia. Research Aim and Objectives The primary aim of the research study being carried out here is to examine and evaluate the relationship between leadership style, productive organizational energy and academics and administrative staff job satisfaction in public and private universities of Saudi Arabia. Ø The aim as presented above has been further broken down into three key objectives that need to be accomplished with the research or study. The key objectives of the research are: Ø To assess the level of productive organizational energy as observed in the HEIs in Saudi Arabia. Ø To identify and measure the leadership styles those exist in the HEIs in Saudi Arabia. Ø To examine and evaluate the relationship between the productive organizational energy, leadership style and job satisfaction in HEIs in Saudi Arabia. This paper takes a concept paper approach as it presents the data analysis and empirical findings of the author s study, by providing the main aim, presenting the theoretical framework, SPSS analysis and a summary of the research findings. Theoretical Background Education is one of the sectors, which has significantly developed and grown in Saudi Arabia (KSA). The overall education policy of Saudi Arabia was based on the Islamic foundation and laws and had been established with the purpose of make the students understand the concept of Islam (Elyas and Picard, 2013). The government of Saudi Arabia allocates certain sum of money in its budget every year for the development and 2 P age

3 facilitation of education in the country. In the 2015 budget of the country, education was allocated around 25% of the total government expenditures, leading to a spending budget of around 37bn (UK Government, 2015). The budget of 37bn in 2015 has been allocated for a number of developments and activities, which include the refurbishment of the existing universities, construction of new universities as well as the improvements in different schools as well as sports centers that exist in the country (UK Government, 2015). However, it has been found that the overall management and leadership style of the universities are still extremely old school. Bolden et al (2009) highlight that the concept of leadership refers to the construct or practice of enhancing and improving human potential and hence is extremely important and crucial for the academic institutions. Marion and Gonzales (2014), who explains that the concept of teaching leadership, which refers to the practice of adopting leadership practices and approaches for adopting better teaching practices. Another perspective presented by Gosling et al (2009), who explain that leadership in the context of educational and academic institutions refers to the adoption of leadership principles by the head or the principal so that the teachers and administrative staff can leverage on the resources available in the universities in order to achieve organizational goals and objectives while teaching the young minds. On the other hand, the impact that is being studied is the impact of the leadership style on the productive organizational energy of employees in an organization. The study carried out by Louw et al (2012) highlights that the productive organizational energy of the employees in an organization is the result and outcome of the overall well-being of the employees, which in turn is affected by the leadership style adopted by the managers in the organization. According to Atwater and Carmeli (2009), the leadership style tends to have a strong influence on both these aspects of productive organizational energy, thus leading to the final performance outcomes of the employees. In fact, Atwater and Carmeli (2009) discuss that the effective leadership style is the approach that can lead to the conversion of a corrosive organizational environment into positive energy and outcome. Discussing the transactional and transformational styles of leadership, Kunze and Bruch (2010) have confirmed and concluded that the organizational energy among employees 3 P age

4 tends to get affected and enhanced by the adoption of transformational style of leadership. Hence, the chosen Saudi universities are suitable sample for the research because they have just undergone changes and have inclined towards modernization and would hence help in obtaining a comprehensive understanding of leadership and Productive organizational energy. Originality While several studies (Kunze and Bruch, 2010; Drummond and Al- Anazi, 1997) have established that there exists strong correlation between leadership and productive organizational energy, the literature lacks in such studies carried out in the field of education. As far as the author s knowledge, there are no such studies that have been carried out for that examined the universities. As organizational energy is relatively a new concept in the field of organizational studies, it has not been studied or evaluated in the context of Saudi Arabia as well. Rhoades and Sporn (2002) stated that various universities in Saudi Arabia are undergoing major reforms and adopting the modern organizational practices and concepts. The research focuses on the subject of modern leadership styles, and Productive organisational energy, and shows their relevance to the Saudi educational institutions and business environment. Hence, it would be beneficial to study the correlation in the context of these Saudi Arabian universities. As a quantitative study the analysis of more than 500 questionnaires presenting 2 public universities and one private university using SPSS would offers significance not just practical purposes but also theoretical contribution, as it can benefit organizations in identifying their need of specific leadership style order to boost their employees energy (Cole et al. 2012). Organizations can understand the significance of Productive organizational energy, which will lead to higher Job satisfaction of employee s in different corporations. Keywords Leadership Style, Job Satisfaction, Productive Organisational Energy, Saudi Arabia, Higher Education Institutions Paper type Working paper 4 P age

5 References Atwater, L. and Carmeli, A.(2009), Leader member exchange, feelings of energy, and involvement in creative work, The Leadership Quarterly, 20(3), Bolden, R., Petrov, G. and Gosling, J.(2009), Distributed Leadership in Higher Education, Educational Management Administration Leadership, 37(2), Drummond, H. and Al- Anazi, F.B. (1997) "Leadership Styles in Saudi- Arabia: Public and Private Sector Organisations Compared", Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, Vol. 4 Iss: 4, pp.3 8. Elyas, T. and Picard, M.(2013), Critiquing of higher education policy in Saudi Arabia: towards a new neoliberalism, Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, Vol. 6 Iss: 1, pp Gosling, J., Bolden, R. and Petrov, G.(2009), Distributed Leadership in Higher Education: What Does It Accomplish?, Leadership, 5(3), Kunze, F. and Bruch, H.(2010), Age-Based Faultlines and Perceived Productive Energy: The Moderation of Transformational Leadership, Small Group Research, 41(5), Louw, K., Sutherland, M. and Hofmeyr, K.(2012), Enabling and inhibiting factors of productive organisational energy, South African Journal of Labour Relations, 36(2), 9-29 Marion, R. and Gonzales, L.D.(2014), Leadership in Education: Organizational Theory for the Practitioner, Second Edition, Waveland Press Inc. Rhoades, G., & Sporn, B. (2002). New models of management and shifting modes and costs of production: Europe and the United States. Tertiary Education and Management, 8, UK Government (2015), Saudi Arabia - record budget for 2015 [online] at 5 P age