Development of the leadership behavioural scale

[摘要] ENGLISH SUMMARY : In South Africa, the concept of effective leadership is constantly highlighted. South African organisations depend on good leadership to ensure that the overall performance and outcomes lead to optimal effectiveness of the organisation. Several leadership scales exist, measuring relationship-, task-, change-, and value-based-orientated behaviours. However, while each of these leadership scales measures an aspect of leadership behaviour, none of these scales measures the holistic concept of leadership behaviour. In addition, most of these measures have been developed outside of South Africa, which created an opportunity for the development of leadership measures within the South African culture.The primary focus of this study was to develop a new leadership scale, the Leadership Behaviour Scale (LBS), which would be a holistic measure of leadership behaviour within the South African context. The development of this scale was based on a thorough analysis that was done on leadership behaviours inherent to relationship-, task-, change-, value-based-, team- and strategic-orientated leadership. These concepts were used to identify the most critical leadership behaviours. Dimensions which measured leadership behaviour were formulated and identified, as well as items whereby the leadership behaviour could be measured. The LBS's dimensions and items were depicted in a conceptual measurement model.The second focus of the study was to contextualise the concept of leadership behaviour within a nomological network of antecedents and outcomes. For the overall concept of leadership behaviour to be valid and effective, it was important to explore the positive effect that it might have on the working environment. Thus, the effect of organisational leadership on trust in the leader, and leader effectiveness was explored. Based on the literature study, a structural model was developed, which illustrated the relationship between these constructs, and various hypotheses were formulated.The data used in this quantitative study was collected through an electronic questionnaire, and 210 completed questionnaires were returned. The final questionnaire to collect the data consisted of three scales: Leadership Behaviour Scale (LBS), Leader Trust Scale (LTS) and Leader Effectiveness Questionnaire (LEQ). Empirical testing of the theorised models and hypotheses was conducted in two phases by using different statistical methods. First, the reliability of the LBS was tested where after an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were utilised to test the construct validity of the measurement model. After the analysis of the model, it was identified that the reliability of the LBS dimensions was very high. The CFA revealed that reasonable good fit was obtained for the overall measurement model of the LBS.Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to determine the overall fit of the structural model, which included the variables of organisational leadership, trust in the leader, and leader effectiveness. The results indicated acceptable fit of the overall data, as well as that organisational leadership behaviour had a positive effect on leader effectiveness and trust in the leader. The latter again, had a positive effect on leader effectiveness.The study contributes towards the literature, because of the new leadership scale that was developed within a South African context. In addition, the study showed acceptable results when focusing on the initial reliability and validity. The study also provided some insight into the effect of organisational leadership on trust in the leader and leader effectiveness. These insights can therefore be used within South Africa to select leaders and to improve leader behaviour within organisations. The limitations and recommendations of the study provide useful guidelines for future research.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University