Master’s Thesis

An Evaluation of leadership Styles and its effects on

employees attitude to work;

A Case Study of Etisalat Nigeria

By

Fajumo Babatunde David

Dissertation submitted to the faculty of Management

Science as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
Degree of MBA (Master of Business Administration) Lagos
state University, Lagos

April 2011
Supervisor

Dr LADOJA
 CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background information of the study

From time immemorial, the role of leaders in ensuring excellent

organizational performance cannot be over emphasized. The need for
adequate motivation, suitable working environment, compensation and
efficient communication between employers and employees are important to
promoting excellent organization performance. Therefore, it was important
to evaluate leadership Style and its effects on employee at Etisalat, Nigeria.
Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services (EMTS), trading as Etisalat,
is a Nigerian company duly incorporated under the laws of Nigeria in
partnership with Mubadala Development Company and Etisalat of the United
Arab Emirates. Incorporated in Nigeria as a private company, it acquired the
Unified Access License from the Federal Government in January 2007. The
license includes a mobile license and spectrum in the GSM 1800 and 900
MHz bands at a price of $400million (Four Hundred Million U.S. Dollars).
Etisalat acquired a 40% stake in EMTS and is now the operator of the Unified
Access License. The evaluation was done through use of online survey
questionnaires with questions tailored towards determining: the relationship
between leadership and organizational performance, pattern of leadership
and the extent it has affected organizational performance, the factors
responsible for worker’s low performance and how leadership style has
affected labor management study area. After analyzing the result, it was
concluded that to attain the objectives of the company, it was necessary that
leadership recognizes the needs of the workers, employ appropriate
motivational tool such as promotion of staff based on merit and skills,
provide suitable working environment and provide an appropriate leadership
style that will encourage free flow of information among employer, superior
officers and other employees.

Leadership is a hot topic and of critical importance in today’s economy. Bennis

(1988) suggests that leaders learn best from leading in through adversity. They are
create the climate of the organization and are responsible for bringing about change
within the organization. Leaders should “challenge the process” in order to achieve
extra ordinary results (Kouzes and Posner, 2002) and improve employees’
perceived organizational support. Leaders should not confirm to the status quo in
our current environment but most be innovative, willing to take risks, and challenge
assumptions about the way things have always been done which involves
“challenging the process”. Leadership is not just about the individual leader but it
also involves others. It is a relationship between the leader and follower (Kouzes &
Posner, 2002) and is based on the follower’s perceptions. Leaders must encourage
initiative in employees (Kouzes & Posner, 2002). Followers attribute the behaviors
of leaders to the organization and perceive whether or not the organization
supports or cares about them known as perceived organizational support. This
paper will discuss whether or not the leadership practice of “challenging the
process” will influence an employee’s perceived organizational support starting with
the literature review.. However, this idea has also enabled that personalities
come more and more to the foreground, acknowledging each others as
complex beings incorporating numerous roles in life and displace the modern
image of the individual who is at best alike (Maffesoli, 1996). They also seek
this notion of meaningfulness in their working places, laying much emphasis
on feelings, intuition, fun, personal growth and a sense in life. Since people
are not sustainably motivated by money (Pink, 2009), nor strongly bound to
companies by contracts anymore, a special kind of organizational culture has
to be created in order to attract, hold and drive them, I suppose. In order to
enable such an atmosphere of excellence where the employee's potential can
flourish, another approach of leadership is needed, I argue.
Researchers have been explaining over the years how hard the environment
was playing on companies worldwide, and I arrived to the same statement
through my observation of the world economic crisis, the analysis of this
phenomenon by media and business researchers but also, through my
personal professional experiences. As environment, I mean everything
external to organizations which affect them in some ways, including
customers, suppliers and community (Lawimore, 2004).
Since the world economic crisis, leaders are “captives” of the demand and in
order to survive they try to adjust the company’s strategy according to the
market. Through my studies, I came to understand that an organisation
success in the current competitive environment depends on its ability to
undertake transformational change, whilst at the same time ensuring
continuity in core organizational processes (Applebaum, St-Pierre and
Glavas, 1998).
Nevertheless, having a good transformational leader in an organization is not
enough for the success of change implement, since it should be combined
with processes models which will ensure real guidance for future
transformation rather than being temporary solutions In summary, looking
back at my experiences and in the light of the of Carter, Ulrich and
Goldsmith’s book (2005), I have realized the ways in which transformational
leaders behave towards the need of employing the required competencies
within this fast changing environment. Organizational change requires
competent transformational leaders and change processes business model to
be successful and sustained over time. These ideas were the basis of my
research question formulation and they will be more elaborated further on.
1.2 Reason for embarking on the topic

I consider this thesis as a good way of enhancing my own learning about this
specific area of Strategic leadership. Moreover, it is a first step in the
specialization process in preparation for my future career. Leadership style
and complexity are current issues in today’s business research area so I
found it interesting to put those two concepts in relation and confront it to a
real business example. The MBA thesis seems an excellent opportunity to
assess in depth of this issue on leadership in complexity. With my thesis
work I aimed at deepening my understanding of the phenomenon of
leadership. As I have contemplated leadership thoroughly two years at
university now and moreover having concerned myself with Business
Administration and management already a number of years before, this gave
me a huge variety of insights of theories and different concepts about
leadership and management.
I consider this academic background as highly valuable, however, this
project was the possibility for me to enrich as well as challenge my mainly
theoretically shaped understanding through practical insights. In this sense,
the thesis was a great opportunity to gain deeper understanding of
leadership, from a different perspective. I suppose that this has contributed
to a more holistic view on leadership and thus might be helpful for my
aspirations of becoming a leader. Anyway, I am sure that conceptualizing,
researching, interpreting and writing this thesis has already been beneficial
for my personal developments, as student and as human.
However, besides from the influences the thesis project had on me, it has a
purpose for people outside my sphere as well, I assume. Although I am
aware that I create subjective knowledge here, I think that it is also of value
for others, as I want to share my understanding with the reader. With this
work I want to contribute to the existing perception of leadership by adding
a different notion to prevailing literature and discourse in this field. My aim
in this regard was to contemplate leadership from an alternative angle, since
I suppose that the understanding of leadership has to be reinterpreted in
order to fit to the contemporary Western context. In this sense, I see my
thesis all and foremost as an awareness medium, meant to increase
consciousness about the importance of certain complex and difficult to grasp
concepts, in connection with leadership and people in general. In brief, I aim
at enhancing awareness about aspects of leadership that have not been
addressed a lot so far. Therefore, I chose a title for my thesis which is rather
unconventional in business discourse, as I see it. Thus I want to challenge
the reader’s view and inspire her or him to think right from the first contact
with my paper
1.3 Research questions

The research questions are formulated as follows:

1. Which kind of leadership style exist in Etisalat Nigeria

2. Does this leadership style affect the employees’ attitude to work in

Etisalat Nigeria?

3. What is the importance of innovative Leadership approach in Etisalat?

4. Why is change needed for organizations like Etisalat?

1.4 Specific objective of the study

During my studies, I have realized the required leadership skills and

techniques to achieve the objectives of a group or a company. The focus on
leadership during the change process in my thesis creates a lot of interest
for the fact that transformational leadership is a current subject in the
management research area and because we are all going to be faced to it
during our professional career. This study would be interesting for broad
audience because as the world is becoming more and more complex,
leadership must be adapted to be effective in such a business environment.

Leadership styles have evolved throughout the time and today, leaders
cannot implement change in the current business context exclusively
through imposing their decisions without considering the importance of the
environment and the impact on people within organizations.

The world economic crisis has been a breakthrough and has changed many
ways of considering doing business responsibly. Thus, the new environment
is constantly evolving on a non-linear basis due to many different factors
such as technology, versatile consumers, world markets... For that matter, I
am optimistic in thinking that highlighting how leaders proceed in the
implementation of change, would be of great use for future research. In
addition to all the above, I would be glad if this thesis research would
contribute as an added value to the business world fellow researchers,
practitioners, future managers, etc…

1.5 hypothesis of the study

The following hypotheses were posited to guide me in reaching the research

objectives.
1. Ho: leadership function and pattern in Etisalat Nigeria does not
significantly affect the overall performance of the business outfit
(organization)
H1: leadership function and pattern in Etisalat, Nigeria significantly
affect the overall performance of the business outfit

2. Ho: Existence of a favorable working environment does not enhance

employees’ high input to their organization in Etisalat, Nigeria.
H2: Existence of a conducive working environment enhances
employees’ high input to their organization in Etisalat, Nigeria

3. Ho: Positive response of the leaders to high performance variables

does not promote maximization of the objectives of the organization in
the selected area of study Etisalat, Nigeria.
H3: Positive responses of the leaders to high performance variable
promote maximization of the objectives of the organization in the selected
area of study in Etisalat, Nigeria.
4. Ho: staff promotion based on merit and skill will not motivate staff to
higher organizational performance in this area of study.
H4: staff promotion based on merit and skill will motivate staff to higher
organizational performance in this area of study.

Based on the above hypothesis, the following objectives will be reached:

1. To analyze the relationship between leadership and organizational
performance in Etisalat Nigeria.
2. To determine the pattern of leadership and the extent it has affected
organizational performance in the Etisalat Nigeria.
3. To identify the factors that is responsible for worker’s low performance in
the selected area of study
4. To find out how leadership style has affected labor management relations
and productivity in the selected area of study
1.51 Independent and dependent

The dependent variables in this study, namely work-related values, locus

of control and leadership behavior are very important when studying
value and leadership related research.
Based on the literature study,8 independent variables have been selected to
explore the relationships between the dependent variables, namely the six
work value dimensions of the survey of work values (Wollack et
all,1971),the four value dimensions of Hosfede (1980), internal, and
leadership styles. The main variables which may influence the dependent
variables are gender, age, home language, religion, level of education,
occupational level, ethnicity and years of work experience.
It is expected that the independent variables referred to above, may all have
an important bearing on work values expressed by different group in Etisalat
work environment as well as on leadership and follower behavior in general.
The concept of ‘Nuisance Variable’ will also be discussed as well as the
control thereof.
MAIN INDEPENDENT VARIABLES

GENDER

Women are now considered to have the right to compete with their male
counterparts on an even basis and many companies already show a much
more representative workforce in terms of gender, also in the senior
managerial and leadership ranks. The process also enjoyed considerable
attention in Etisalat Nigeria.
Men and women are reported to be equal in terms of memory, learning
ability, creativity, reasoning ability, and intelligence (Ragins, Townsend and
Mattis, 1998: 28-42), but because men and women are treated
differently, gender differences might impact on social and value related
studies. Due to the impact of religion and culture on gender role
stereotypes (i.e. men are breadwinners and women take care of the
household) researchers may also be biased in terms of assumptions,
stereotyping and prejudice concerning gender groups Gibson, Ivancevich &
Donnely (2000) confirm that there is no evidence that men are better job
performers than women or vice versa. However, this does not mean that
the two groups are equal in terms of worldviews and value orientation
and still need to be respected and valued for their differences in this
regard. This study focuses on those variables influencing effective
Leadership behavior and, if differences in work-related value orientation do
exist between gender groups, these differences may also have an impact on
the way leaders prefer to influence follower behavior. Differences as such
are not what are important for this study - the researcher is rather
interested in how these differences influence the effectiveness of follower
performance and satisfaction.
The question as to whether gender differences do account for differences
in
leadership styles and behaviours has occupied the attention of
many
researchers over the past few decades (Hennig & Jardin, 1977; Sargent,

1981; Nieva & Gutek, 1981; Hall, 1984; Eagly, 1987; Eagly & Johnson,
2000).
Leadership findings generated in experimental settings established
leadership
styles to be gender stereotypic (Eagly et al, 2000:56). These findings concur

with the generalizations that male and female leaders often differ
in
experimental settings (Brown, 1979; Hollander, 1985). Women’s
leadership
styles were found to be more democratic than those of men, even
in
organizational settings. Eagle et al (2000: 56) ascribe these differences
to
underlying differences in female and male personalities or skills or
other
subtle differences in the status of men and women who occupy
similar
organizational roles.
Leadership-based research (Bass et al, 1994) has firmly established the fact
that leadership styles differ in terms of follower effectiveness. These
researchers indicate that higher levels of participation and both leader
and follower involvement lead to higher levels of follower performance,
satisfaction with the style, and extra effort. The opposite was found to be
true for those leaders following a transactional and autocratic approach. This
can easily lead to a belief that women, being more democratic than men, are
more effective in influencing the performance of followers. However,
whether men or women are more effective leaders as a consequence of
their differing styles is a
complex question. Even though in recent years many behavioral consultants
and theorists have criticized traditional management practices for being
overly
hierarchical and bureaucratic (Peters & Waterman, 1982; Bass, 1990;
Handy,
1991), Eagle et al (2000) remain unwilling to argue that women’s
relatively
democratic and participative style is either an advantage or
disadvantage.
This unwillingness stems mainly from the numerous barriers being faced

when doing leadership investigations, i.e. the fact that the environments
in
which managers carry out their roles are diverse, even within the
same
organisation. Kent & Moss (2000: 45) argue that, while past research
has
consistently shown that men more often emerge as leaders than
women,
some of the barriers in terms of social acceptance that prevented women
from
emerging as leaders are indeed coming down. In fact, the results from the

study of Kent et al (2000) show those women are slightly more likely to
emerge as leaders than men. Whether men or women who do emerge as
leaders are more effective in terms of follower behavior remains an issue
for further debate and research.

AGE
Leader behavior is shaped and formed, amongst other forces, through
learning from firstly, the resultant behavior of followers, secondly, formal
leadership development and thirdly, observing the behavior of other
significant leaders. This process takes place over time, implying that
age could be regarded as another independent variable which may
have an influence on leadership research results. There seems to be a
firmly held expectation that leadership experience leads to more
effective leadership (Fiedler, 2000: 147).

Similarly, time (and therefore age) seems to have the same influence on the
forming of values and organizational culture. Hofstede (1980: 345) found
that differences in values among respondents of different ages may be
due to what he refers to as “maturation” and “zeitgeist”. Maturation refers
to the fact that respondents’ values shift as they grow older. Certain shifts
are due only to the aging of respondents. Zeitgeist effects occur when
drastic changes in conditions cause everyone’s values to shift, regardless of
age. “Generation” is also used as a term indicating that certain values are
fixed in the youth and then stay with their age cohort over its lifetime
(Hofstede, 1980: 345).

Theron (1992) regards employment stability as a function of the average

ages of its incumbents - the older the more stable. Despite this view,
Etisalat focuses on establishing a younger, healthier and fitter
organisation through the implementation of various shorter-term
employment options.

LANGUAGE
Arguably the most important element of effective leadership behavior is the
ability to verbally communicate with those being led. Most evidence
suggests that leadership in essence is a relationship that exists between
two or more people in a social setting (Stogdill, 2000: 30). Through
communication, amongst other factors, the leader influences the behavior
(performance) of followers. Transformational leadership requires leaders
to continuously interact with and inspire followers to higher levels of
performance.

RELIGION

The important role of religion in shaping cultural values, and

therefore individual and group can never be over emphasized.
Investigating the differences between Western and African religion will
contribute much to understanding the huge array of clear, non-
ignorable cultural differences underlying human behavior in Etisalat
organizations. Man’s religion and life perspective determine cultural views,
values and behavior (van der Walt, 1997: 4). Man’s culture cannot be
separated or isolated from religion - religion forms an inherent facet of
cultural differences.
Religious diversity has for many years been part of Nigerian
history especially on the socio-political scene. Theron (1992:302) notes
that religion has played a decisive role in Nigeria in the mobilization for
ethnicity.
 Van der Walt (1997: 83-122) offers empirical evidence that
both the new socio-economic-political situation and the deeply rooted
religious life-viewing factors are busy influencing and determining the
cultural identity of young Nigerians, Nigeria today have to start defining
themselves again and determine who they want to be. He warns that, in
this process, people should realize that cultural differences are not
only found up to skin depth, but that the being under the skin (also the
deeper spiritual being) should be recognized and appreciated. It should also
be kept in mind that Christianity is not a Western religion per se and that
everyone has the freedom to choose his own religion. However, the way in
which religion (i.e. Christianity) is practiced differs from one culture to the
next. A relationship with God offers a good example. Based on the over-
emphasizing of the community, Africans see a relationship with God as
a common or communal relationship. In the case of Western people the
opposite is found: based on the emphasis on the individual, a relationship
with God is viewed as individual and personal, it presupposes an individual
choice. Cultural values therefore, also determine how a certain religion is
practiced.

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

Theron (1992) refers to the close relationship between

educational level and years of schooling and points out that data about
education levels may be less accurate than data about years of schooling,
as education systems vary from one country to another and also from one
ethnic group to another. Similar to many other areas of racial separation in
Etisalat, They regarded this education system as first, before knowing
your skills which in most cases acted as the point of entry of any
Manager couple with years of experience.

OCCUPATIONAL LEVEL (RANK)

Noticeable differences with regard to occupational level still

exist in Etisalat. It was noticed that 41% of top management were black
and that only a handful of blacks had managed to establish themselves
in managerial and executive positions. It is clear that whites still
dominate many professional, managerial and other skilled positions. Blacks
still form the bulk of semi skilled and unskilled labor. This
unrepresentative situation is slowly being addressed and changed through
correcting measures such as affirmative action, bridging training and fast
tracking.

Hofstede (1980: 345) points out that seniority and age effects are not easy
to separate. His research results indicate that seniority and age are
correlated across individuals between .52 and .76 with a median of .61. The
values of both senior and older people were found to be more stable than
those of junior and younger employees.

POPULATION GROUP

In Africa, social research studies could easily be biased in

favour of the perspectives of white male researchers who have done most
of the research up to date. Conducting social research should never fail to
take into account the unique perspectives of various racial and ethnic groups
In discussions about human differences, the terms race and
ethnicity are both used when referring to characteristics of groups of
people (Mark, 1996:58). Confusion exists regarding the differences between
race and ethnicity, but it is clear that they do in fact refer to different
things.
Ethnicity also refers to characteristics of human groups. While race refers to

biographical characteristics, ethnicity refers to culturally acquired

differences
such as language, religion and a sense of common historical heritage. An

ethnic group is then defined as “…a large number of people who, as a result
of their shared cultural traits and high level of mutual interaction, come
to
regard themselves, and to be regarded, as a cultural unity” (Robertson,
1981:282).
When doing culture-sensitive research one should always recognize the fact
that it is not always possible to study certain ethnic issues objectively as
different cultures represent different conflicts in values. Sohng (1994)
proposes four principles for conducting culture sensitive research:

 There is no single explanation that will adequately account for

the
situation of all cultural groups. Researchers should therefore
rather search for more explanations reflecting the divergent
perspectives of all the people involved.

 When studying the behaviour of particular ethnic and racial

groups, researchers should also investigate how the behaviour
fits into the rest of society. The influence of societal institutions
and values on different ethnic groups should be recognized.
  Researchers should value the diversity and richness of social
problems and life situations found in different ethnic cultures.

 Researchers should use “ethnic reasoning”. The term refers to the

use of questions such as “whose point of view does this

research
favour?”

NUISANCE VARIABLES

Variables are defined as characteristics of persons, objects, groups

or events to which qualitative and quantitative values can be assigned.
These values can also be categorical (Mason & Bramble, 1989: 68). The
definition of De la Rey (1978: 11) is more comprehensive: “…any
psychological attribute, quality, characteristic or feature, or norm of
judgement on which people tends to differ”. Variables must have the ability
to differentiate between people. Research can only be successful if observed
changes in behaviour can be attributed to what is called the Independent
Variable. When the nature of one variable (say, Y) depends on the value of
another (X), X is referred to as the independent variable and Y the
dependent variable.

It is often found that, due to practical considerations, it is not

possible for a psychologist to control all factors that may negatively
influence the results of the research. Variables that may have such an effect
on research findings are referred to as nuisance variables and De la Rey
(1978: 12) warns that it would be unwise to ascribe perceived behavioural
changes only to the influence of the independent variable. Nuisance
variables (also known as covariates) may intervene between independent
and dependent variables by affecting the direct relationship between them.
In these situations psychologists try to control the variables which
may contaminate and obscure the research results. If the control of
these nuisance variables is impossible during the planning phase of the
research, the intervening variables can be controlled statistically by means
of analysis of covariance (Theron, 1992: 300).

Psychologists try to control the effects of nuisance variables

in order to minimize the contamination of the relationship between the
independent and dependent variables (Mason et al, 1989: 68). In a
trivariate analysis the influence of the independent variable on the
dependent variable is examined under each condition of the third
(nuisance) variable. Tabachnick and Fidell (1983: 14) refer to this analysis
as an analysis of variance where one or more nuisance (or extraneous)
variables are included in addition to the independent variables and a single
dependent variable to statistically test the effect of covariates as a source
of variance in the dependent variable.

In the research design the researcher will ensure the control

of possible nuisance variables in order to ascertain a true result of the
relationship between dependent and independent variables.

CONCLUSION

The independent variables applicable to this study were discussed in

this chapter. In terms of biographic diversity. Etisalat Nigeria seems to
be a very special case. Major changes in the composition of the
Telecommunication work force have occurred over the past years, also
with regard to the emergence of senior black leadership in many
organizations. Much evidence of a country having been successful in
overcoming a history of stereotyping people in all spheres of society can be
found. The chapter provided a brief overview of the multitude of differences
underlying human behaviour in Telecomunication organizations.

As stated earlier, when analyzing the nature of leadership behaviors and the
factors influencing these behaviors in a Telecommunication context, one
continuously has to bear in mind that “Etisalat” is not just different to
“Western Telecommunication company”, but that the term in itself
represents a huge variety of cultural groups. In addition, the fact that the
Nigerian population also includes a significant Western element cannot
merely be ignored. It is widely accepted that the country should
continuously seek to move towards a society characterized by ethno
relativism where the potential and value in terms of organizational
performance of all groups and cultures are regarded as inherently equal.
1.52 justification of the study
I consider this thesis as a good way of enhancing my own learning about this
specific area of Strategic leadership. Moreover, it is a first step in the
specialization process in preparation for my future career. Leadership style
and complexity are current issues in today’s business research area so I
found it interesting to put those two concepts in relation and confront it to a
real business example. The MBA thesis seems an excellent opportunity to
assess in depth of this issue on leadership in complexity. With my thesis
work I aimed at deepening my understanding of the phenomenon of
leadership. As I have contemplated leadership thoroughly two years at
university now and moreover having concerned myself with Business
Administration and management already a number of years before, this gave
me a huge variety of insights of theories and different concepts about
leadership and management.
I consider this academic background as highly valuable, however, this
project was the possibility for me to enrich as well as challenge my mainly
theoretically shaped understanding through practical insights. In this sense,
the thesis was a great opportunity to gain deeper understanding of
leadership, from a different perspective. I suppose that this has contributed
to a more holistic view on leadership and thus might be helpful for my
aspirations of becoming a leader. Anyway, I am sure that conceptualizing,
researching, interpreting and writing this thesis has already been beneficial
for my personal developments, as student and as human.
However, besides from the influences the thesis project had on me, it has a
purpose for people outside my sphere as well, I assume. Although I am
aware that I create subjective knowledge here, I think that it is also of value
for others, as I want to share my understanding with the reader. With this
work I want to contribute to the existing perception of leadership by adding
a different notion to prevailing literature and discourse in this field. My aim
in this regard was to contemplate leadership from an alternative angle, since
I suppose that the understanding of leadership has to be reinterpreted in
order to fit to the contemporary Western context. In this sense, I see my
thesis all and foremost as an awareness medium, meant to increase
consciousness about the importance of certain complex and difficult to grasp
concepts, in connection with leadership and people in general. In brief, I aim
at enhancing awareness about aspects of leadership that have not been
addressed a lot so far. Therefore, I chose a title for my thesis which is rather
unconventional in business discourse, as I see it. Thus I want to challenge
the reader’s view and inspire her or him to think right from the first contact
with my paper

1.53 definitions of terms

Leadership: the word leadership does not have a single definition because
the meaning could often be affected by what it intends to cover. Taffinder
(2006) gave the following as definitions of leadership:“a simple meaning: “a
simple meaning: leadership is getting people to do things they have never
thought of doing, do not believe are possible or that they do not want to do”.
With reference to an organization, he defined leadership as “the action of
committing employees to contribute their best to the purpose of the
organization”. While on a complex and more accurate view, he explains that
you only know leadership by its consequences – from the fact that
individuals or a group of people start to behave in a particular way as a
result of the actions of someone else”

Employer: an employer can be defined as a person or institution that hires

people.

Employee: this refers to the person being hired (supplier of labor).

Management: this can be defined as an act of controlling and directing

people so as to coordinate and harmonize the group thereby accomplishing
goal(s) within and beyond the capacity of people being directed (Dubrin,
2007).

Corporate image: as explained by Croft and Dalton (2003) corporate

image shows or depicts the attributes people give to an organization. In
other words it could mean the identity of the organization

Motivation: Efklides HW_ DO__ (2001) defined motivation as a conscious

act aimed at spurring better results from individuals who may ordinarily not
ready to go beyond their capacity.

Organizational environment: Dubrin (2007) explained that organizational

behavior refers to the microenvironment affecting the performance of an
organization. This includes suppliers, customers, small-scale industries and
the public.

Organizational performance: this was explained by Stankard (2002) not

to mean the performance of the single parts or units of the organization but
the product of all interactions taking place in the organization.

Statement of the Problem

 The study intends to investigate the benefits of Intranets within an organization,

particularly in Mosscare Housing LTD. Specifically, the study seeks to:

 1.                                          Describe the characteristics of the employees

in terms of age and departmental affiliation.

2.                                          Identify the challenges and opportunities

institution face as a result of Intranet technology.

3.                                          Assess the behavior and attitudes of the

employees regarding the use of Intranet within the

organizations.

4.                                          Recognize the adaptation method of MC to

Intranets.

5.                                          Identify the factors affecting intranet usage.

Chapter 3
3.0 Research Methodology
In studies of this nature, coherent and logical arrangement of materials is
very vital. This chapter handles how data is collected for this study.
To buttress the initial statement, this chapter deals with the description of
procedure adopted in carrying out the study. It describes the research
design, source of data, instruments for data collection, establishment of
research questions, population for the study, sampling and sampling
technique, sample size and technique of data analysis.
The research design embodies the blue print for the collection, measurement
and analysis of data related to the research questions. Thus, the
methodology used for the collection of data is mainly survey method based
on secondary and primary sources of data collection

Source of Data
The data used for this study was obtained from different sources. This
ranged from questionnaires, personal interviews, observations and library
search. However, field study involves use of questionnaires and schedules of
interviews were applied in obtaining, reinforcing and cross checking obtained
data this report. The data generated for the study comprise of secondary
(desk survey) and primary sources (field survey).

Primary data are those obtained directly from the originators or main
source. The aim of collecting them is to obtain first hand information about
the industries being studied and their business. The bulk of the primary data
were obtained through interviews and questionnaires designed via use of
information generated from secondary survey (desk survey) after taking due
cognizance of the purpose and objectives of the study.

I. Questionnaires: This formed the major source of primary data used

in the study. The date collected from this source was obtained through use
of questionnaires constructed by the researchers and the approved by the
supervisor. The data required for this study were collected through actual
visits to the selected industries and face-to-face distribution and
administration of questionnaires to the sixty-nine (100) respondents from
the three selected offices and friendship centres. A copy of the questionnaire
is attached as appendix one.

II. Face-to-face Interview: Apart from use of questionnaires, a

structured interview was conducted for Manager or Dept Head directly in
charge of IT, marketing and administrative departments of Etisalat Nigeria.
For instance in a situation where the question administered through the
questionnaire requires to be clarified or elaborated upon, oral interviews
were conducted. Face-to-face interview was also conducted to solicit issues
not in the questionnaire but could be of immense assistance in this study.
For example, rate at which employees resign from work due to lack of job
satisfaction

Secondary data is based on past research work on this area of study.

They are data collected from Internet, textbooks, government publications,
unpublished research work and journals. Also, acknowledge authorities
within the area of studies provided valuable materials for this study.

Location of data
The following locations were made use of in this study: libraries, archives,
Head office of Etisalat, Regional office and Internet.
3.1 area of study

3.2 population of the study

The research population for this study is made up of 100 employees of
Etisalat, Nigeria. Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services (EMTS),
trading as Etisalat, is a Nigerian company duly incorporated under the laws
of Nigeria in partnership with Mubadala Development Company and Etisalat
of the United Arab Emirates. Incorporated in Nigeria as a private company, it
acquired the Unified Access License from the Federal Government in January
2007. The license includes a mobile license and spectrum in the GSM 1800
and 900 MHz bands at a price of $400million (Four Hundred Million U.S.
Dollars). Etisalat acquired a 40% stake in EMTS and is now the operator of
the Unified Access License).

3.3 sample technique and sample size

Sample and sampling Technique

The sampling criteria included the following:

I. The company is a Telecommunication organization
II. The operations involved the employment of a minimum of 300 Workers.
The operations must be using power and equipment in its operation
IV. The company must be Etisalat Nigeria
V. The company must be using locally sourced raw materials as its major
input. The sampling technique involved the stratified random sampling
method employed to select respondents: 23 each from the selected
population stratification for the study. This is done to ensure adequate and
equal chances of respondents.

Determination of Sample size

Simple random sampling method was used in this study, because it is

considered the simplest, most convenient and bias free selection method.
Sample formula =

Where
n = desired sample size
N= size of the population
e= Limit of error tolerance which was assured to be 5% (0.05);
confidence limit
Computing with the above formula, the number of questionnaires to be
administered was obtained
Therefore in order to arrive at a statistically valid conclusion, we
administered at least 69 questionnaires

The questionnaires were administered via online questionnaire software

known as “questionpro”, where by these questions were sent to email
address of virtually all Etisalat staff

3.4 data collection instrument

Instruments for Data Collection
The main data collection instrument employed in this study was a 25-
item questionnaire. The design included multiple-choice questions; fill
in questions and questions that require ranking of answers. The
questions were clearly simplified and structured in a manner void of
any ambiguity and technical details. Thus, most of the questions
simply required respondents to tick (x) against the appropriate
response, answer yes or no and rank on a scale of 20-100%. The
questionnaire was drawn to elicit information/data on general
management, production, research and development and general
information on the industries under study.

3.5 validity and reliability of my data

When establishing the quality standards of a case study research four
commonly used tests are suggested. These tests are construct validity,
internal validity, external validity, and reliability (Yin, 1994).

Construct validity
Construct validity is when establishing correct operational measures for the
concepts being studied. There are three ways to increase construct validity;
to use multiple sources of evidence, establish a chain of evidence, and to
have key informants review the draft case study report (Yin, 1994). In the
research, the authors have used documents and interviews as sources of
evidence. A total of 20 interviews were conducted within the case study for
data collection which has increased the construct validity. Efforts were made
to find the most suitable and knowledgeable respondents for the interviews
and the persons chosen had relevant knowledge and experience in
Leadership styles in Telecommunication Environment. The interviewees were
contacted in advance about the matters that were going to be discussed to
assure that they qualified for the interviews. The interviews were conducted
in English, which includes the risk of Zero translating errors. In an attempt
to correct possible misunderstandings the data presentation was sent to the
respondents at each location for approval before analyzing it. After receiving
the respondents’ comments some minor corrections were made.
To establish a chain of evidence the authors have throughout the study
made references to all the sources from which evidence was collected. The
draft report has also been draft reviewed by the supervisor as well as by the
respondents from the companies.

3.51 Internal validity

Internal validity is when establishing causal relationships between two

variables (Yin, 1994).
Internal validity is used for explanatory studies only and not for descriptive
or explorative studies. Hence, this is not relevant for the report since it is a
descriptive single case study in which the authors will not do pattern
matching or explanation building between two subjects.

3.52 External validity

External validity is when establishing the domain to which a study‘s findings
can be generalized.
Theories must then be tested through replication of the findings in similar
surroundings and come up with the same result (Yin, 1994). In view of the
fact that I gathered my empirical data from five locations with different
background operating in different area (Call Cenre, Engineering, Marketting,
Role Out and Provisioning) with same business procedures, it is most
unlikely that the authors would have got the exact same information if five
other department would have been asked the same questions.
Therefore, replication testing is not an appropriate tool in this research and
has not been used.

3.53 Reliability

Reliability refers to stability and consistency of the results derived from the
research. That is when the following researcher can repeat the exact same
procedure and research and arrive at the same findings and conclusions over
again. Hence, reliability is concerned with consistency, accuracy, and
predictability of specific research findings (Yin, 1994).
Throughout the report I have tried to explain the procedures of the research
in a consistent and unbiased way. I have further organized the report in a
way so that any reader can retrieve any desired material or sources of
information. Moreover, there is a risk that personal biases might have been
present in the interview. Therefore the results can to some extent be
questioned due to the influence from the respondents as well as my own
attitudes and experiences. There is also a possibility that over the years the
objectives and business procedures might be changed or improved which
means that the results of future studies with the same nature as this
research might take another turn.
The information thus far regarding the methods illustrates that a qualitative
approach using grounded theory was selected. Due to this study touching on
multi-disciplinary themes, this study has an intricate nature that creates a
slight difficultly when selecting the appropriate methodology. Mikkelsen
(2005) writes, “The complexity and the purpose of specific development
studies generally warrant tailor-made research designs that cannot be
defined a priori even for studies on similar themes” (p. 141). The following
section will assess the validity of this study based on the methods described
above.
There are several areas in which the validity of this study is questioned. The
validity of any qualitative study is often debated due to the inability for it to
be replicated, as well as the lack of experimental nature. A discussion of
some of the potential problem areas with this study seems important so that
the reader is aware of specific problems with the methods. The
Research Methods Knowledge Base (2006) presents a structured way to
evaluate validity in a qualitative study by looking at the four categories of
credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. The
validity of this study will be evaluated below by using these suggestions as a
guiding framework.
Credibility entails whether or not the participants confirm the results of the
thesis.
Although none of the participants have evaluated the final work of this
thesis, grounded theory calls for a rigorous approach in which the results
may not stray far from the data, thus assisting in maintaining the credibility
of the study. In addition to this though, it is relevant to state that there are
always issues regarding data analysis and translation that may lead to the
participants not agreeing with the results.
Transferability refers to whether the results found can be transferred to
other settings and situations. This concretely refers to whether the results
can be transferred to other places in Telecommunication company in Nigeria,
as well as to other countries overall. First, looking at the transferability
within
Nigeria, it is seen that due to the somewhat specific background of the
participants interviewed, the transferability is questioned. All the leaders
interviewed were leaders in the headquarters of Etisalat Nigeria, meaning
that there is a potential characteristic that binds them together causing their
responses to be similar. In addition to this, all of the participants classified
themselves as Christians with the exception of two. As stated before, the
Nigerian population is 50% Muslim and 40% Christian (Uwazie, 1999), and
the bias in the participants’ religion may mean that the findings, especially
those dealing with religion, may not be transferred to other non-Christian
Nigerians. Lastly, the participants are mostly from the Yoruba tribe, making
it difficult to say whether the results can be transferred to populations
outside of this ethnic makeup. Overall, the lack of a more diverse population
is an issue, and future studies could benefit from interviewing a more varied
group of leaders. On the other hand, it will be shown later that some of the
results coincided with other studies’ findings, which may mean some results
are transferable.
It is also relevant to address the transferability of the findings to other
Telecommunication firm outside of Nigeria. Hofstede’s (2001) study
reviewed earlier places Nigeria in a region with Ghana and Sierra Leone,
arguing that they have enough similarities to refer to them as a region
instead of as individual countries. It can be argued that the results of this
study might partly be transferred to these African countries, keeping in mind
the makeup of the participants and its impact on transferability. Although it
is never possible to say that the results are 100% transferable, it still could
be beneficial to take this study as a case of reference to apply to other
developing countries to perhaps formulate their own study, as it is not the
objective of the study to say that all members of developing countries think
this way about their leaders. The third category of dependability considers
the potentially changing context occurring during the time of the study.
According to this section, it is relevant to note that the dynamic nature of
developing countries means they are unstable, and the possibility of
something impacting the participants’ feelings does exist. There were no
major events found by the researcher linked to political leaders six months
prior to this study nor during this study that may have impacted the
participants’ responses to the questions asked though.
Lastly, confirmability deals with how the researchers’ background and
perspectives influence the study. The assistance of the thesis’ academic
advisor improves confirmability, as using her guidance and editing
throughout the study helps to eliminate opinion or unfounded conclusions. In
addition to this, Charmaz (2006) argues, “The subjectivity of the observer
provides a way of viewing. Instead of arresting analysis at the coding stage,
researchers can raise their main categories to concepts… We (researchers)
choose to raise certain categories to concepts because of their theoretical
reach” (p. 139). It is obvious that subjectivity is involved, but with grounded
theory, it is limited through the continual cross comparisons and way in
which the analysis is performed.
These four categories provide an organized manner to look at the validity of
this study. It is relevant to note that although the analysis method followed
through grounded theory is supposed to reduce subjectivity, this being the
researcher’s first study with grounded theory, this was a challenging task to
accomplish. It seems that despite using only data provided by the
participants, it was hard to avoid coding or organization bias due the
researcher’s frame of reference. Although often the situation in research, it
 must be stated that the results and discussion presented may not be the
only ways to interpret the data