An Investigation into Enhancing Leadership Effectiveness

Running head: DISSERTATION
An investigation into enhancing leadership effectiveness in Nature Landscapes
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Acknowledgement
Thank you to all of those who have helped listened and encouraged me throughout this study. I
am indebted to my supervisor ......................... whose guidance, advice and patience have
been immeasurable. My sincere thanks to all members of the............... [Mention your
university/college name], both staff and students, whose continuous support have made this
thesis possible.
I would like to thank all of the participants in the study: students, teachers and Local Education
Authorities, for the time and help given throughout. Without their participation, this research
would not have been possible. In this context, I am also thankful to them, whose research work
helped me to execute this paper well.
Finally, I thank my family, without whom this thesis would not have been started or completed!
Your encouragement and support have never faltered; thank you.

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Abstract
Investigating the impact of effective leadership is important as this will help in improving the
social factors, circumstantial factors, staff behavior, organizational behavior, decision-making
and viewpoint of the stakeholders. The overall success of the business organizations is highly
dependent on the social factors, circumstantial factors, staff behavior, organizational behavior,
decision-making and viewpoint of the stakeholders. Thus, it can be said that effective leadership
style provides an opportunity for the business organizations to achieve excellence both in terms
of the employees and firm. Effective leadership facilitates motivation, inspiration, dedication,
commitment and management within the business organizations thereby, influencing the social
factors, circumstantial factors, staff behavior, organizational behavior, decision-making and
viewpoint of the stakeholders. In addition to, the research is important because this will help in
identifying the potential gaps identified in Nature Landscape as well as provide suitable
recommendations for mitigating the leadership issues. This will help Nature Landscape to gain
competitive advantage and survive in the fierce and tough market of Singapore.
The researcher discusses the concept of leadership along with the ideologies that promote
leadership. In addition to, the researcher mentions and discusses the various determinants of
leadership. The various leadership styles along with their effectiveness and challenges are also
discussed along with the different leadership theories that provide a framework for the business
organizations to follow thereby, ensuring effective leadership.
The researcher has selected positivism philosophy, deductive approach and exploratory research
design along with the use of selected both survey and interview as the research strategy. The
researcher has used cluster probability sampling technique for selecting 50 leaders of middle

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management and 8 senior level leaders of Nature Landscape. Both primary and secondary data
collection technique has been used for the researcher thereby, allowing gathering data from both
primary and secondary resources and incorporating more data. As a result, both quantitative and
qualitative data analysis technique has been used by the researcher.
Upon completion of the above chapters, it can be concluded that effective leadership is important
for Nature Landscape. Leadership is crucial for the business organizations to survive. From the
data and information collected from the literature review, it can be concluded that the ability of
the leaders to visualize the need for the business organizations in the future is absolutely crucial.
Based on the aforementioned issues, the suitable recommendations that can be used by Nature
Landscape for improving the effectiveness of leadership understand the impact of situation of
people, understanding the feelings, thoughts and concerns of other individuals, understanding the
needs and goals of the followers, developing a clear vision and giving regular feedback to the
employees.

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................9
1.0 Overview...........................................................................................................................9
1.1 Problem statement...............................................................................................................10
1.2 Research aim........................................................................................................................11
1.3 Research objectives.............................................................................................................11
1.4 Research questions...............................................................................................................12
1.5 Research hypothesis.............................................................................................................12
1.6 Research rationale................................................................................................................13
1.7 Structure of the research......................................................................................................13
1.8 Summary..............................................................................................................................15
Chapter 2: Literature review..........................................................................................................16
2.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................16
2.1 Conceptual framework.........................................................................................................16
2.2 Understanding the commitments of leadership...................................................................17
2.3 Ideologies of leadership.......................................................................................................17
2.4 Factors affecting leadership.................................................................................................19
2.4.1 Organizational environment.........................................................................................19
2.4.2 Organizational resources..............................................................................................20

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2.4.3 Personality traits...........................................................................................................20
2.4.4 Technology...................................................................................................................21
2.4.5 Level of control.............................................................................................................22
2.4.6 Experience....................................................................................................................22
2.5 Leadership styles.................................................................................................................23
2.5.1 Autocratic leadership....................................................................................................23
2.5.2 Democratic leadership..................................................................................................23
2.5.3 Transformational leadership.........................................................................................24
2.5.4 Transactional leadership...............................................................................................26
2.5.5 Charismatic leadership..................................................................................................26
2.5.6 Bureaucratic leadership................................................................................................27
2.5.7 Servant leadership.........................................................................................................28
2.5.8 Laissez-faire leadership................................................................................................28
2.6 Theories of leadership..........................................................................................................29
2.6.1 The Great Man theory...................................................................................................29
2.6.2 Trait theory...................................................................................................................29
2.6.3 Fiedler’s contingency theory........................................................................................30
2.6.4 Hersey and Blanchard’s situational leadership theory..................................................30
2.7 Benefits of effective leadership...........................................................................................31
2.8 Challenges in ensuring effective leadership........................................................................31

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2.9 Summary..............................................................................................................................32
Chapter 3: Research methodology.................................................................................................33
3.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................33
3.1 Research outline...................................................................................................................33
3.2 Research philosophy............................................................................................................34
3.2.1 Giving reasons for favoring positivism philosophy......................................................34
3.3 Research approach...............................................................................................................34
3.3.1 Giving reasons for favoring deductive approach..........................................................35
3.4 Research design...................................................................................................................35
3.4.1 Giving reasons for favoring exploratory design...........................................................36
3.5 Research strategy.................................................................................................................36
3.5.1 Giving reasons for favoring survey and interview strategy..........................................36
3.6 Sampling technique and sampling size................................................................................37
3.6.1 Giving reasons for favoring cluster probability sampling technique............................37
3.7 Data collection process........................................................................................................37
3.7.1 Giving reasons for favoring primary and secondary data collection technique...........38
3.8 Data analysis technique.......................................................................................................38
3.8.1 Giving reasons for favoring qualitative and quantitative data analysis technique.......38
3.9 Ethical considerations..........................................................................................................39
3.10 Research limitations...........................................................................................................39

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3.11 Summary............................................................................................................................40
Chapter 4: Data Analysis...............................................................................................................41
4.0 Survey analysis....................................................................................................................41
4.1 Interview questions..............................................................................................................77
Chapter 5: Conclusion...................................................................................................................83
5.0 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................83
5.1 Linking with objectives.......................................................................................................85
Chapter 6: Recommendations........................................................................................................89
References......................................................................................................................................95
Appendices..................................................................................................................................103
Appendix 1...............................................................................................................................103
Survey questionnaire...........................................................................................................103
Appendix 2...............................................................................................................................109
Interview questionnaire.......................................................................................................109
Appendix 3...............................................................................................................................110
Reflective Log.....................................................................................................................110