The Influence of Employee Perception of the Leader’s Path-Goal Leadership Behaviors on Organizational Commitment: A Case Study of East African Breweries Limited (EABL)

A Project Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Master of Science in Organizational Development (MOD)The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of Path-Goal leadership behaviors on organizational commitment at East African Breweries (EABL). The study was guided by the following research questions: To what extent do employees’ perceptions of their immediate supervisor’s directive leadership behavior affect their organizational commitment? To what extent do employees’ perceptions of their immediate supervisor’s supportive leadership behavior affect their organizational commitment? To what extent do employees’ perceptions of their immediate supervisor’s participative leadership behavior affect their organizational commitment? Finally, to what extent do employees’ perceptions of their immediate supervisor’s achievement-oriented leadership behavior affect their organizational commitment? This study adopted a descriptive research design, that is, this research design involved the observation and description of the behavior of a subject without influencing the outcome of the respondent in any way. The target population was the 352 employees of EABL. The study used a simple random sampling technique and a sample size of 176 respondents was randomly selected. This technique was the most appropriate because it allowed the researcher to ensure that each case in the population had an equal chance of being incorporated in the sample. Both closed and open ended questions was used in the questionnaires to collect data. Effective and efficient data analysis process was ensured through the coding and sorting of the questionnaires and analysis was done using descriptive and inferential analysis in the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). For easy interpretations and understanding figures and tables was used for the presentation of the results and findings. Findings on the directive leadership behaviors and organizational commitment established that the majority of respondents agreed that directive leadership behavior leads to high organizational commitment in an organization. Many respondents were in agreement that their managers guided them to follow standard rules and regulations. The study established that there existed a statistical significant influence between directive leadership behavior and organizational commitment. On supportive leadership behavior and organizational commitment, many respondents were in agreement that managers maintained a friendly working environment. They also agreed that managers considered subordinates personal feelings and helped them to overcome task related problems. Majority of respondents agreed that supportive leadership behavior influences organizational commitment. The findings on the effect of participative leadership behaviors on organizational commitment also established that the majority of responses were positive that mangers listened to them. However a big number was neutral suggesting that not all respondents agreed they were listened to by their managers. Although a majority of respondents agreed that managers consulted with subordinates who were experiencing problems a big number was also neutral which could be suggestive that some employees were not helped by their managers when they had work related problems. On achievement related behaviors and organizational commitment, many respondents were neutral about having challenging goals. All the same, many agreed that managers encouraged continuous improvement. A big number of respondents were neutral about the managers’ belief in subordinates. Findings also showed that there was consistency in goal setting This study concludes that directive leadership behavior has a significant effect on organizational commitment of EABL, and that supportive, participative and achievement-oriented leadership behavior have no significant effect on organizational commitment. From the findings it is also reasonable to conclude that all the four types of leadership were applied by managers at EABL. The study recommends that directive leadership behavior should be practicedin the organization in order to achieve a high organizational commitment. The study also recommends against the use of supportive, participative, and achievement-oriented leadership behavior in pursuit of achieving high organizational commitment. The study recommends that further study be carried out effect of specific leadership behavior on organizational performance