A qualitative study on leadership styles and organisational goals within the context of a South African state owned enterprise

M.A. (Industrial Sociology)Abstract: State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in South Africa are critical drivers of economic growth and development. These organisations not only provide services that are crucial for the functioning of the national economy, but are also mandated by government to engage in sustained transformation, job creation, training and development. Despite the pivotal role of SOEs in South Africa, many of these entities find themselves in a vulnerable position often characterised by poor performance, weak compliance with principles of corporate governance, mismanagement, corruption and leadership instability. Therefore, this study focused on how staff members in the Human Capital department of a subsidiary of a specific SOE experience the impact of leadership styles on the achievement of organisational goals. In a field dominated by quantitative studies that often fail to probe the reasons behind the actions and reactions of leaders and followers, a qualitative research methodology was used to explore the impact of leadership styles on the experience and loyalty of followers. This required an evaluation of leaders’ and followers’ understanding of the established organisational, subsidiary and departmental goals. The roles of leaders in the Human Capital department of the selected subsidiary were examined in relation to guiding followers to perform and achieve goals. Followers’ experiences of leadership styles were explored in light of its impact on goal achievement. In this bureaucratic organisation, this study found that goals were not explicitly understood by both leaders and followers. Nonetheless, there was a strong task focus embedded in their approach to goal achievement. Further, the organisation propagated inspirational leadership as its chosen leadership archetype for all leaders in the organisation. However, leaders in the Human Capital department were typically described as authoritarian. Their lack of understanding, both of the goals of the organisation and of their roles as leaders, was displayed and projected through instilling fear in their followers. Therefore, the idea of propagating one leadership style to be deployed by all leaders in the organisation was ineffective in practice. Followers’ experience of leadership as predominantly authoritarian, rather than inspiring, appeared to contribute to their lack of commitment both to their leaders and to the organisation. It is inferred that compliance without commitment limited optimal performance