MS-HRM RESEARCH PROPOSAL LEADERSHIP STYLES AND THEIR IMPACT ON MOTIVATION, PERFORMANCE AND JOB SATISFACTION OF MIDDLE LEVEL

MANAGEMENT A PAKISTANI PERSPECTIVE By: Muhammad Nadeem Baig Introduction/Background

The effects of leadership on organizational performance have been a hot debate of multitude of researches for the past few decades. One possible reason for this interest is the widespread belief that the performance of organizations is a function of leadership and the dynamics involved the styles of leadership. The adopted styles of leadership, considered by some researchers, carry significance in goal-oriented achievement-motivation and performance among subordinates within an organisational structure. Several reasons indicate that there are strong interconnections between leadership and performance. While in Pakistan the work on this subject is unfortunately very limited in its scope. Plethora of bottlenecks has to be cleared and various aspects be needed a deep perusal into the research framework to understand the relationship between the leadership styles and other organisational variables. Leadership can affect many work related behaviors like, employees attitude, motivation and performance all of which can affect the levels of organizational commitment (Bass 1985 and Stogdill 1963). Bass (1985) and Stogdills (1963) proposed that there are two main styles of leadership i.e. transformational and transactional. The excellent leader not only inspires subordinates potential to enhance efficiency and also meets their requirements in the process of achieving organizational goals. Stogdill (1957) defined leadership as the individual behavior to guide a group to achieve the common target. In latter days, Richards & Engle (1986) defined leadership as about establishment of vision, value and creation of environment so that the objective can be accomplished.
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A transformational leadership is rich blend of four leadership traits, i.e. idealized influence, individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation and inspirational motivation. Various researchers have found relationship of these traits with commitment. Transformational leadership in its all behaviors is positively and significantly related to continuance commitment, normative commitment and affective commitment (Tseng and Kang 2008). Leadership and motivation are like brother and sister. It is difficult to think of a leader who does not motivate others. But leadership embraces more than motivation. (Donald H McGannon). Motivation is predicated upon the nuts and bolts of macro-theoretical framework proposed by socio-psychologists like Maslow and Herzberg. They took a psychological resource perspective in their approach to develop motivation theories. Their work stood in sharp contrast to the theory of Protestant Ethics and Capitalism by Max Weber. The assumptions that managers nourish about the concept of motivation are likely to affect how they are able to employ it to motivate and reward their employees in their respective sphere of activities. Daft distinguishes four perspectives on employee motivation. These are the traditional approach, human relations approach, human resource approach and the contemporary approach. Leaders who motivate their subordinates got satisfied results in term of performance. Motivation is a big tool to yield high performance from the employees. At middle level management the employees (Mid-level managers) really needs motivation from leaders, they took bold and positive decisions for the betterment of the organisation. Job satisfaction is a positive feeling an individual has towards his or her job, (Daft, 2003). An employee who is satisfied feels comfort and solaced in his organization setting, thus propelling him/her a desire for greater reward. The role of leader in developing a sense of satisfaction and security of job taps a great degree of latent talent out of the middle level management. Job satisfaction in tandem with conducive milieu begotten by leadership is a big tool to enhance the overall companys performance.

Purpose of the study

The main purpose of this study is to examine the leadership styles and their impact on motivation, performance and job satisfaction of middle level management employees and its ultimate impact on overall organisational performance currently operative in Pakistan. Leadership was found to affect organizational performance both directly (Howell & Avolio,
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1993) and indirectly through its effects on subordinates satisfaction with their leader (Hater & Bass, 1988). A majority of leadership researches has been done on top and executive management and has embraced a narrow definition of leadership (Ayman, Chemers, & Fiedler, 1995). The researchers paid less heed to middle level management thats why I am focusing on middle level management. With the changing behavior of organizational structure, culture and politics with the onslaught of globalization in Pakistan, the overall organizational variables such as leadership styles, motivation factors and the relevant performance measurement tools to examine the performance of employees are in a constant state of flux. Employee performance depends on how the leader influences the subordinates and how it is related to the motivation under the highly changing organisational environment. Motivation factor from the upper side automatically leads towards the job satisfaction and ultimately the job satisfaction enhances the employee performance. Multiple researches have been conducted to understand the relationship between the leadership styles and employee performance. As the middle level management has the key role in organizational culture and politics, the flow of information in the organization and to keep the momentum of the organizational working environment so my proposition is to identify the practicing leadership styles in Pakistan and their impact on the job outcomes of middle level management. Job Satisfaction and Motivation needs are pivotal in the work place particularly in the twenty-first century as workers have become more cognizant of their rights, responsibilities, their judicio-legal access via mass education and media. According to Fredrick Hertzberg's Job Satisfaction model, there are factors within and outside an organisation that affects the extent to which employees of an organisation are satisfied. These include the structure of the organisation, the organisational culture and the internal politics that pertains in the organisation (Mullins, 2005). My proposition is to explore the hitherto latent impacts of leadership styles on performance of middle level management in the Pakistani business environment through socio-business lens. 1. To evaluate Leader -Employee relationship and its importance within an organisation. 2. To identify the problems associated with leader-employees relationship in the business environment. 3. To investigate what factors really motivate middle level managers in Pakistan.
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4. To study causal connection between job satisfaction and job performance. 5. To have the clear understanding that the motivation, performance and the job satisfaction of middle level managers really affect the overall organisational performance in Pakistan.

Theoretical Framework
The anticipated model assumes that leadership styles consequence the organizational performance. The model indicates that the leadership styles directly reflected the employee performance through motivation and the change in attitude of employee towards job. Job satisfaction which leads the employee towards better performance can only be attained through the positive attitude towards job and the motivation from leaders. Organisational performance and the employee motivation are inter-dependant on each other and both variables have effect by the leadership styles. The following model explains the relationship between each variable those are involve in the process of the impact of leadership styles on the performance, motivation and job satisfaction of middle level managers.

Theoretical Model

Review of the relevant literature

The literature review is being examined in five steps. First of all the relationship between leadership styles and employee motivation is discussed. In second step the link between the
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motivation and its impact on employee attitude towards job is examined while keeping the middle level management in view. In third step leadership style and employee performance is discussed and similarly in fourth step the effect of employee performance on job satisfaction is being examined. In fifth step the impact of ultimate job satisfaction on overall organisational performance is being discussed.

Leadership styles and employee motivation

Recent studies on leadership stood in sharp contrast to the transactional leadership with that of transformational leadership. Transactional leaders are by and large instrumental and, frequently, zero in on exchange relationship with their underlings. In contrast, transformational leaders are argued to be visionary and enthusiastic, with an inherent ability to motive subordinates (Bass, 1985).

People are prone to develop mosaic of leadership styles from the environment that they live in and the culture in which they get socialized. These styles are derivative of certain motivational urges affect humans in their thinking, actions and behaviour towards job in a complex way. There are three drivers that preponderate leadership styles. These impulses are achievementmotivation, affiliation-motivation and power-motivation. No single style is effective in all situations, but rather the situation determines the style that will most likely be effective (Fiedler, as cited Stoner et al 1997). Different leaders have different motivational methods. In the first method, achievement, goal setting and success are very important to these leaders. Affiliation motivation is a drive to relate people on a social basis. Leaders who are high on affiliation motivation work harder when they are complemented for their friendly attitude and co-operation with their team. Power motivation is a modus operandi that compels people to hold sway over other people, take control and charge and change situations. People who are high on power motivation are leaders by their innate endowments. They carry within themselves certain traits of charisma. These people are willing to take risks to achieve certain changes

Motivation and employee attitude towards job

Managers are controller of diversity to explode into disoriented organizational environment. When it comes to job satisfaction and commitment, they should need to fathom the reality that individuals differ from one another. This would definitely allow them to gauge the imprints of individual cleavages on the feelings, thoughts, and behaviors of each employee. Healthy relationship between employees and leaders invariably helps to fulfill the organizations mission and vision extending from short to long term goals through vertical and horizontal smoothness. Managers learn what motivates each employee, and once this is identified, it should be embraced immediately in the best interests of an organization and its creative potential. Attitudes and emotions affect our behavior. When we are motivated, we are in emotional state. This state of mind directly inclines our behavior towards our job. Job satisfaction is defined as a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of ones job (Lock, 1976). Job satisfaction is an employees general attitude toward the job. There are five major components of job satisfaction: attitude toward the work group, general working conditions,
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attitude toward the company, monetary benefits, and attitude toward management. Job satisfaction has a positive impact on turnover. A wide range of internal and external factors affect an employees level of satisfaction. Employees who are satisfied with their jobs tend to be committed to the organization.

Leadership and employee performance (Middle Level Management)

To ameliorate employee performance and increase productivity, managers should evaluate their leadership skills. Though there's room for individual style, certain approaches consistently work. Effective leaders who exhibit strong performances from their workers are motors of motivation who respect and acknowledge their employees' humanity at large. Additionally, they encourage workers to feel they are a part of a grand scheme of their organization: the company mission. So rather than "boss people around," they direct people toward clear goals and show appreciation for worker efforts to inspire their willingness to productively work to meet company goals. Each of the leadership styles has profound impact on developing, forming, reforming and spawning companys cultural ethos. There are many short and long-term effects of each style. For instance, the authoritarian tactics may lead to gigantic results, but only for short span of time. However, freedom entails greater productivity with long-term prospects. People either get tedious and become victims of mechanical nature of their work lacking creativity and innovation. Bass attempted to close the gap between the work of social and organisational psychologist, whose focus had been on small groups and institutional settings, and that of political scientists and psycho-historians, who done most of the important studies of world class leaders (Bass, (1985) cover page). A number of researchers theorize that transformational leadership is linked to organisational performance (Bycio et al, 1995; Howell and Avolio, 1993 as cited by Ogbonna and Harris, 2000). Conceptually it is argued that the visionary and inspirational skills of transformational leaders motivate followers to deliver superior performance.

Employee performance and job satisfaction

There have been more than 3,300 scholarly articles which has been published on the topic of job satisfaction in Lockes 1976 review of job satisfaction literature. Another 7,855 articles published on the topic between 1976 and 2000, according to Harter, Schmidt and Hayes
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research. The increase in the research studies suggests that job satisfaction might be positively connected with performance outcomes (Cole, Larry E and Cole, Michael S). Job satisfaction according to Locke is a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of ones job or job experience ((Judge, Timothy A. And Saari, Lise M.). Over the years research has indicated that there are dispositional and cultural influences on job satisfaction. One of the most important areas of the work situation to influence job satisfaction- the work itself- is often overlooked by practioners when addressing job satisfaction (Judge, Timothy A. and Saari, Lise M.). Character and critical self-reflexivity are proportional to the job satisfaction. Self perception of job is another major cause. Satisfaction is directly proportional to performance, which, in turn, brings better working environment as a windfall. Working conditions matter in relation to job satisfaction and organizational impact. These are prerequisites for yielding a productive employee base and robust performance. Researchers began to take a critical look at the happy worker is a productive worker idea.

Employee job satisfaction and ultimate organisational performance

Ostroff (1992), studying a sample of 364 schools, investigated the relationship between employees attitudes and organizational performance. Job satisfaction inculcates a sort of imperceptible comfort and motivation to the employees. An environment that gives workers a sense of pride as well as social standing in what they do is called motivation environment. Engaged and motivated employees provide fresh blood in the veins of organization in these rapidly changing times marked by globalization of organizational patterns throughout the world. Fran Tarkenton said to find what motivates people, "you have to find what turns people on." This is the most important factor in the PRIDE process. Senior leaders have the responsibility for setting the culture and climate of their organization. A positive work environment requires leaders are in touch with their workforce. Generally, job satisfaction includes elements that evoke feelings of response within employees in areas such as: Nature of work, Remuneration, Relations with co-workers and Growth path. If an employee gets well in these above-listed variables, he/she will be much satisfied and will work to

the hilt for the improvement, uplifting and upgrading of the organisation at local, national, regional and global levels.

Research Questions
The main question to conduct the research work is Does leadership styles impact on organisational performance through motivation of middle level management and employee individual performance which might results in job satisfaction?. 1. Does leadership style influence employees performance? 2. Do leadership styles affect the employee behavior towards job? 3. Does motivation and employee behavior towards job power the job satisfaction? 4. What leadership style could be adopted to improve middle level managers performance in Pakistan?

Significance of the research

The study is aimed at exploring the relationship between leadership styles and their impact on motivation, employee performance, job satisfaction and their effect on overall organizational performance. Moreover the purpose of this study is to reveal the effectiveness of different leadership styles in Pakistan. In last few years many business sectors like Financial Institutions, Telecom and other Service Providing Industries comparatively boost up Pakistans economy. Hence the study along with being a useful addition in literature of leadership not only but also will provide an insight to the middle managers at their workplaces to better understand the influence of leadership on employee behaviors in more depth. Moreover, the relationship between employee performance and job satisfaction has also been focused.

Research Methodology Sample and Procedures

Primary data will be collected from organizations by using self reported responses as self reporting is considered more appropriate. The data comprise of 200 respondents will be collected from different major private and public institutions of Pakistan. Leaders at the top and middle level managers will be selected as the respondents of the study. Field survey will be conducted
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for collecting data from respondents by using convenient sampling technique due to time and cost constraints. The data will be collected via a questionnaires made up of multiple questions. The questions will contain quantitative measure of Psychological empowerment, intrinsic motivation, job satisfaction, job involvement and Turnover intention. This primary data will then be analyzed and interpreted.

Data Analysis
Descriptive statistics, for all variables, including means, standard deviations and variance will be used for sample descriptions. Inferential statistics will be used for correlation analysis to find inter-correlations among study variables and multiple linear regression analysis will be conducted to test the dependencies. Mediated multiple regression will be used in order to find out mediation of intrinsic motivation in between the relationship of psychological empowerment and job outcomes. SPSS software package will be used for analysis of the data collected.

References
Bass, Bernard M. (1985) Leadership and Performance beyond Expectations. The Free Press, New York Bycio, P., Hackett, R.D. and Allen, J.S. (1995) Further Assessment of Basss (1985) Conceptualization of Transformational and Transactional Leadership, Journal of Applied Psychology, 80(4): 468-78 Cole, Larry E and Cole, Michael S. Employee Satisfaction and Organizational Performance: A summary of Key Findings from Applied Psychology. Daft, R.L. (2003) Management (6th Ed.).Thomson Learning. Hater, J. J., & Bass, B. M. (1988). Superiors evaluations and subordinates perceptions of transformational and transactional leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 73, 695-702. Judge, Timothy A. and Saari, Lise M. Employee Attitudes and Job Satisfaction. MULLINS, L. J. (2005) Management and Organisational Behaviour (7th Ed.) FT Prentice Hall.

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Ostroff, C. (1992). The relationship between satisfaction, attitudes, and performance: An organizational Level Analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 77, 963-974. Stogdill, R. M. (1963) Manual for the leader Behavior Description Questionnaire Form XII, Bureau of Business Research, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH Stogdill, R.M.& Coons, A.E. 1957. Leader behavior its description and measurement, Ohio Bureau of Business Research, The Ohio State University, 88, 1-27. Tseng H-C, Kang L-M, (2008) How Does Regulatory Focus Affect Organizational Commitment? Transformational Leadership as a Mediator, AIMS International Conference on Management.

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