servant leadership and teachers’ job...

SERVANT LEADERSHIP AND TEACHERS’ JOB SATISFACTION: THE

MEDIATING ROLE OF TEACHERS’ EMPOWERMENT IN HIGHER

SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF SELECTED DISTRICTS OF AZAD JAMMU

& KASHMIR

By

ANEEQA AFAQ

(Regd. No. 99-GBAG-958)

A Thesis

submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

in

Management Sciences

Session 2011-2014

Department of Public Administration

Faculty of Administrative Sciences

University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, Pakistan.

ii

SERVANT LEADERSHIP AND TEACHERS’ JOB

SATISFACTION: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF TEACHERS’

EMPOWERMENT IN HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF

SELECTED DISTRICTS OF AZAD JAMMU & KASHMIR

By

ANEEQA AFAQ

(Regd. No. 99-GBAG-958)

Has been approved for the degree of PhD in Management Sciences

from


Faculty of Administrative Sciences Kotli

The University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Muzaffarabad,

Pakistan.

_________________________________________________________

External Examiner

_________________________________________________________

Supervisor

Prof. Dr. Mushtaq A. Sajid

iii

CERTIFICATION

Certified that the contents and form of thesis entitled “Servant leadership and

teachers’ job satisfaction: The mediating role of teachers’ empowerment”

submitted by Ms. Aneeqa Afaq have been satisfactory for the requirements of the

degree.

Supervisor: ____________________________

Member: ______________________________

External Examiner: _____________________

Chairman


Dean Director

Faculty of Management Sciences Advanced Studies & Research

iv

Plagiarism Report

v

CONTENTS

Title Page

Approval Sheet………………………………………………………………....ii

Certification………………………………………………………………….…iii

Plagiarism Report………………………………………………………………iv

Table of contents………………………………………………………………..v

List of tables……………………………………………………………………xi

List of figures………………………………………………………………….xiii

List of abbreviations…………………………………………………………. xiv

Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………… xv

Abstract………………………………………………………………………..xvi

1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………1

1.1 Background of the Study……………………………………………...3

1.2 Educational System in Azad Kashmir………………………………...5

1.3 Problem identification…………………………………………………9

1.4 Problem Statement…………………………………………………...11

1.5 Research Objectives………………………………………………….12

1.6 Significance of the Study…………………………………………… 12

1.6.1 Theoretical Significance……………………………………………13

1.6.2 Practical Significance………………………………………………14

2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ………………………………………...15

2.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………..15

2.2 Overview of Educational Leadership………………………………..15

2.3 Leadership……………………………………………………………21

2.4 Leadership Theories………………………………………………….22

2.4.1Trait Theory………………………………………………………...23

2.4.2 The Behavioral Approach………………………………………….24

2.4.3 Contingency Theories of Leadership………………………………26

2.4.4 Emergence of New Theories of Leadership………………………..31

2.4.4.1 Transactional Leadership………………………………………...32

2.4.4.2 Transformational Leadership……………………………………33

vi

Title Page

2.4.4.3 Authentic Leadership………………………………………….35

2.4.4.4 Servant Leadership…………………………………………....36

2.5 Emergence of Servant Leadership Concept………………………37

2.6 Defining Servant Leadership Concept……………………………41

2.7 Characteristics of Servant Leadership…………………………….43

2.7.1 Empowerment…………………………………………………...47

2.7.2 Standing back…………………………………………………...48

2.7.3 Accountability…………………………………………………...48

2.7.4 Forgiveness……………………………………………………..48

2.7.5 Courage………………………………………………………....49

2.7.6 Authenticity……………………………………………………..49

2.7.7 Humility………………………………………………………...49

2.7.8 Stewardship…………………………………………………….50

2.8 Job Satisfaction………………………………………………….. 50

2.9 Theories of Job Satisfaction……………………………………....53

2.10 Content Theories………………………………………………...54

2.10.1 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory……………………….. 54

2.10.2 Alderfer’s ERG Theory………………………………………..55

2.10.3 Herzberg Two Factor Theory………………………………….56

2.10.4 Theory X and Theory Y……………………………………….58

2.10.5 McClelland’s Needs Theory…………………………………..59

2.11 Process Theories………………………………………………...59

2.11.1 Expectancy Theory……………………………………………60

2.11.2 The Equity Theory…………………………………………….60

2.11.3 Goal Setting Theory…………………………………………...61

2.11.4 Porter and Lawler Model……………………………………...62

2.12 Factors Affecting Teachers’ Job Satisfaction……………………62

vii

Title Page

2.13 Explanation of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors……………………65

2.13.1 Satisfying or Intrinsic Motivating Factors………………………65

2.13.1.1 Responsibility…………………………………………………66

2.13.1.2 The work itself……………………………………………......66

2.13.1.3 Opportunity for advancement…………………………………67

2.13.1.4 Recognition……………………………………………………67

2.13.2 Dissatisfying or Hygienic Factors………………………………67

2.13.2.1 Supervision……………………………………………………67

2.13.2.2 Colleagues……………………………………………………..68

2.13.2.3 Working conditions……………………………………………68

2.13.2.4 Salary………………………………………………………….69

2.13.2.5 Job security…………………………………………………....69

2.14 Teachers’ Empowerment………………………………………….69

2.15Theories of Empowerment………………………………………....74

2.15.1 Structural Empowerment Theory……………………………….74

2.15.2 Psychological Empowerment Theory…………………………...76

2.15.3 Spreitzer Empowerment Model…………………………………78

2.16 Aspects of Psychological Empowerment in………………………79

Educational Institutions

2.16.1 Decision Making………………………………………………..79

2.16.2 Professional Growth…………………………………………….81

2.16.3 Status……………………………………………………………82

2.16.4 Self Efficacy……………………………………………………..82

2.16.5 Autonomy……………………………………………………….83

2.16.6 Impact……………………………………………………………83

2.17 Post- modern Theories of Empowerment………………………....84

2.18 Integrative Perspective on Empowerment…………………………84

viii

Title Page

2.18.1 Laschinger Empowerment Model…………………………...85

Summary……………………………………………………..86

3. MATERIALS AND METHODS……………………………………..88

3.1 Introduction………………………………………………………….88

3.2 Nature of Study……………………………………………………..88

3.3 Conceptual Framework……………………………………………..90

3.3.1 Servant Leadership and Teachers’ Job Satisfaction………………91

3.3.2 Servant Leadership and Teachers’ Empowerment………………. 94

3.3.3 Teachers’ Empowerment and Teachers’ Job Satisfaction………...95

3.3.4 Mediating Role of Teachers’ Empowerment……………………...97

3.4 Research Design…………………………………………………...103

3.5 Population of Study………………………………………………..104

3.6 Demographic Information………………………………………….105

3.7Sampling Design……………………………………………………105

3.8 Sampling Technique………………………………………………..109

3.9 Questionnaire……………………………………………………….111

3.10 Measurement of Study Constructs………………………………..112

3.10.1 Servant Leadership……………………………………………...112

3.10.2 Teachers’ Empowerment………………………………………..115

3.10.3 Teachers’ Job Satisfaction………………………………………116

3.11 Data Collection Method…………………………………………..120

3.12 Data Collection Technique………………………………………..120

3.12 Data Analysis Technique………………………………………….121

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION……………………………………...122

4.1 Introduction………………………………………………………...122

4.2 Questionnaire’s Response Rate……………………………………122

ix

Title Page

4.3 Sample Description……………………………………………....123

4.4 Descriptive Statistics of Study Construct………………………..125

4.5 Reliability Analysis……………………………………………...127

4.6 Research Variables and Measurement Scale…………………….129

4.7 Correlation Analysis……………………………………………..132

4.8 Structural Model…………………………………………………133

4.9 Main Effect Hypotheses…………………………………………133

4.10 Mediating Effect Hypotheses…………………………………..134

4.11 Mediation Analysis……………………………………………..135

4.12 Impact of Empowerment on Teachers’…………………………136

Job Satisfaction through Teachers’ Empowerment

4.13 Impact of Standing Back on Teachers’…………………………..140


4.14 Impact of Accountability on Teachers’………………………….144


4.15 Impact of Forgiveness on Teachers’……………………………..148


4.16 Impact of Courage on Teachers’…………………………………151


4.17 Impact of Authenticity on Teachers’…………………………….155


4.18 Impact of Humility on Teachers’………………………………...159


4.19 Impact of Stewardship on Teachers’……………………………..163


4.20 Hypotheses Testing……………………………………………….167

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Title Page

4.20.1 Servant Leadership Dimensions and…………………………..167

Teachers’ Job Satisfaction

4.20.2 Servant Leadership Dimensions and……………………….....172

Teachers’ Empowerment

4.20.3 Teachers’ Empowerment and…………………………………..177

Teachers’ Job Satisfaction

4.20.4 Mediation Hypotheses Testing……………………………........180

Summary of Findings………………………………………....184

4.21 Discussion on Findings………………………………………..188

4.21.1 Direct Effects of Servant Leadership Dimensions………….....189

on Teachers’ Job Satisfaction

4.21.2 Direct Effects of Servant Leadership Dimensions……………193

on Teachers’ Empowerment

4.21.3 Direct Effects of Teachers’ Empowerment…………………..198

on Teachers’ Job Satisfaction

4.21.4 Mediating Effects of Teachers’ Empowerment………………199

4.21.4.1 Significant mediating effects………………………………...199

4.21.4.2 Non significant mediation effects……………………………202

5. SUMMARY………………………………………………………….204

Conclusion and Theoretical Implications……………………………...207

Limitations and Future Research Directions of the Study……………210

6. LITERATURE CITED…………………………………………......214

7. APPENDICES……………………………………………………......256

xi

List of Tables

Table No. Page

1. Sample size of the study……………………………………………….... 109

2. Instrument distribution and response rate……………………………..…123

3. Description of sample characteristics…………………………………….124

4. Descriptive analysis of study variables…………………………………..126

5. Reliability analysis of servant leadership instrument…………………….128

6. Reliability analysis of teachers’ empowerment instrument……………....128

7. Reliability analysis of teachers’ job satisfaction instrument……………..128

8. Analysis of data type……………………………………………………..130

9. Correlation analysis……………………………………………………...132

10. Empowerment/ Teachers’ job satisfaction (Total effect model)………...136

11. Empowerment/ Teachers’ empowerment………………………………..137

12. Empowerment, Teachers’ empowerment / Teachers’ job satisfaction…..137

13. Standing back/ Teachers’ job satisfaction (Total effect model)…………140

14. Standing back/ Teachers’ empowerment………………………………...140

15. Standing back, Teachers’ empowerment / Teachers’ job satisfaction…...141

16. Accountability/ Teachers’ job satisfaction (Total effect model)………...144

17. Accountability/ Teachers’ empowerment………………………………..144

18. Accountability, Teachers’ empowerment / Teachers’ job satisfaction…..145

19. Forgiveness/ Teachers’ job satisfaction (Total effect model)……………148

20. Forgiveness/ Teachers’ empowerment…………………………………..148

21. Forgiveness, Teachers’ empowerment / Teachers’ job satisfaction……..149

22. Courage/ Teachers’ job satisfaction (Total effect model)…………….....151

23. Courage/ Teachers’ empowerment………………………………………151

24. Courage, Teachers’ empowerment / Teachers’ job satisfaction…………152

25. Authenticity/ Teachers’ job satisfaction (Total effect model)…………...155

26. Authenticity/ Teachers’ empowerment…………………………………..155

27. Authenticity, Teachers’ empowerment / Teachers’ job satisfaction……..156

28. Humility/ Teachers’ job satisfaction (Total effect model)……………….159

xii

Table No. Page

29. Humility/ Teachers’ empowerment………………………………………159

30. Humility, Teachers’ empowerment / Teachers’ job satisfaction…………160

31. Stewardship/ Teachers’ job satisfaction (Total effect model)……………163

32. Stewardship/ Teachers’ empowerment…………………………………...163

33. Stewardship, Teachers’ empowerment / Teachers’ job satisfaction……...164

34. Effects of servant leadership on teachers’ job satisfaction……………….168

35. Effects of servant leadership dimensions on teachers’ empowerment……173

36. Effects of teachers’ empowerment on teachers’ job satisfaction…………178

37. Mediation results for teachers’ empowerment……………………………180

38. Effect size and confidence intervals for the indirect effects ……………..182

39. Summary of hypotheses testing…………………………………………..186

xiii

List of Figures

Figure No. Page

1. Theoretical model of the study…………………………………………… 90

2. Hypothesized relationship of servant leadership and…………………….. 99

teachers’ job satisfaction

3. Hypothesized relationship of servant leadership and………………….....100

teachers’ empowerment

4. Hypothesized relationship Teachers’ empowerment and…………………101


5. Hypothesized mediating role teachers’ empowerment……………………102

6. Direct effect of servant leadership on teachers’ job satisfaction………….171

7. Direct effect of servant leadership on teachers’ empowerment…………..175

8. Direct effect of teachers’ empowerment on………………………………179


9. Indirect effects of servant leadership dimensions on……………………..183

teachers’ job satisfaction.

xiv

List of Abbreviations

Acc Accountability

Au Authenticity

AJ & K Azad Jammu & Kashmir

B Ca CL Bias Corrected and Accelerated Confidence Interval

Co Courage

Coeff Coefficient

DM Decision making

Emp Empowerment

ERG Existence, Relatedness and Growth

For Forgiveness

Hu Humility

IMP Impact

LLCI Lower Limit of Confidence Interval

LMX Leader Member Exchange

PG Professional growth

SE Standard Error

Se Self efficacy

SET Social Exchange Theory

SLS Servant Leadership Survey

SL Servant Leadership

SPSS Statistical Package for Social Sciences

Stb Standing Back

Ste Stewardship

Super Supervision

TE Teachers’ Empowerment

TJS Teachers’ Job Satisfaction

TSS Teaching Satisfaction Scale

UK United Kingdom

ULCI Upper Limit of Confidence Interval

xv

Acknowledgements

First of all I wish to thank Almighty ALLAH The Most Merciful and

the Most Beneficent, who enabled me to realize my PhD dream. I like to express

my gratitude to all those people who helped me in the successful completion of

PhD programme. In this regard, I would like to thank my supervisor, Prof. Dr.

Mushtaq A. Sajid for his guidance and help in making the completion of my

dissertation a success. My special thanks go to Dr. Muhammad Khalique and Dr.

Shujat Ali for their assistance on several occasions during analysis of data. I

would like to express my appreciation to all the faculty members of university of

management sciences and information technology for their support. Especially, the

efforts of Dr. Faheem Ghazanfar and Dr. Iftikhar Hussain are hereby appreciated. I

would also like to thank academic staff of higher secondary schools who took time

out of their busy schedule to complete the survey questionnaire. Also, I must

acknowledge the financial support of Higher Education Commission throughout

the completion of PhD programme.

Finally, I am deeply indebted to my family and friends for their

moral support, encouragement and prayers. It was not possible to complete this

research project without their support and encouragement. At the end, I feel that

the completion of this research project is not an end but it is a beginning to

illuminate this topic from a new perspective.

xvi

Abstract

The present study aims to analyze the determinants of teachers’ job

satisfaction in the higher secondary schools of selected divisions of Azad Jammu &

Kashmir. Primarily, the aim of this study is to investigate the mediating role of

teachers’ empowerment (TE) in the relationship between different dimensions of

servant leadership (i.e. empowerment, standing back, accountability, forgiveness,

courage, authenticity, humility and stewardship) and teachers’ job satisfaction

(TJS). The hypotheses of the study were examined by the PROCESS procedure

and bootstrap technique. Majority of the hypothesized relationships of the study

were supported by the results. Results of this study indicate that all the dimensions

of servant leadership are significantly and positively related to teachers’ job

satisfaction (TJS). Additionally, different dimensions of servant leadership (except

forgiveness) are significantly and positively related to teachers’ empowerment

(TE). Furthermore, the mediation results reveal that seven out of the eight

hypotheses are significant. Thus, significant positive effects of different

dimensions of servant leadership (except forgiveness) reveal that servant leadership

is important in raising the level of job satisfaction of teachers. Therefore,

educational administrators should be motivated to practice servant leadership in

their daily routine activities to raise the level of job satisfaction of teachers. It

ultimately results in increasing the overall effectiveness of the teachers in the

educational institution. Limitations and implications of the study are discussed.

Keywords: Servant Leadership, teachers’ empowerment, teachers’ job satisfaction,

educational institutions, educational administrators, behavioral dimensions,

effectiveness.

1

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Educational institutions have a major contribution in the development of

human capital. These institutions enable the human beings to learn and acquire

skills for playing a meaningful role in the society. Effective leadership is required

in these institutions in order to provide best possible education to the learners. As

the world is becoming a global village with the passage of time, so the countries in

all over the world are realizing that their main assets are human beings and they

can only be able to compete in this global era when they have competitive, well

equipped and skilled workforce. Such a competitive workforce can be primed

through well-equipped and exceptional educational programs. It is indispensable to

design the educational programs in such a way that individuals can acquire

adequate experiences in international and intercultural interactions. It should make

them realize that they are now an inseparable part of the whole world community.

The success of these educational programs largely depends upon the role of

teachers. With the passage of time, the role of teachers has been changing in the

society but they are still very important for it. Nowadays, the role of teachers from

the perspective of management has also changed. They are viewed as individuals

who are capable enough to meet the challenges of changing world of schools by

taking quick decisions. They are open for innovations, improve themselves on the

basis of changes and developments, have technological aptitude and possess

participative learning approach.

2

At the same time, these competent, committed, well equipped and trained

teachers require the leadership of highly effective principals (Bush, T. 2008;

Plessis, D. P. 2013). The research on 200 elementary educational institutions over a

period of 4 years revealed that changes in school leadership has a considerable

influence on educational institutions improvement capacity which in turn

positively affect the level of student achievement and learning (Heck and

Hallinger, 2009, 2010, 2010; Hallinger and Heck, 2010). In this way leadership

play a vital role in educational institutions improvement not only by initiating

change but also by shaping a consistent focus on learning in educational

institutions. Both the support and stability of principals for collaborative

leadership play an important role in maintaining change process in high performing

educational institutions (Hallinger and Heck, 2011).

Several research studies also revealed that school improvement and best

learning outcomes can be achieved through high quality leadership such as Huber

(2004) investigated that schools which are categorized as successful ones have

skilled and proficient leadership whereas the ineptitude to achieve school goals and

objectives is related to incompetent leadership of school. According to Leithwood

et al. (2006), school leadership has a significant influence on pupil learning after

the classroom teaching. It is not possible for school to successfully accomplish its

pupil achievement without competent leadership. However, significant evidences

from the literature support the interpretation that effective schools are developed by

efficient and competent leadership and management (Department of Education,

3

1996; Christie, 2001, 2010; Roberts & Roach, 2006; Bush, et al., 2010; Plessis, D.

P. 2013). Keeping in view the crucial role of leadership in managing schools, there

is an increasing global tendency to provide particular leadership training for

contemporary educational administrators (Van der Westhuizen and Van Vuuren,

2007; Bush, T. et al., 2011; Lumby, et al., 2008). The international research on

educational leadership reveals that new heads of educational institutions face

difficulty in adopting their roles as educational administrators. It is so because they

feel uncomfortable due to the process of professional and organizational

socialization to assume the requirements of the new post. Systematic preparation is

required for effective leading by developing appropriate skills, knowledge and

attributes. Growing body of literature reveals that the quality of leadership and

pupil as well as school outcomes are influenced by systematic and effective

preparation (Lumby, et al., 2008; Bush, T. 2008).

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Teachers play a substantial and remarkable role in society. The influence of

teacher on society is more profound than any other personality. Additionally,

teacher is expected to acquire professionalism and ethics while developing a sense

of commitment to confidentiality in the whole society. It is a fundamental

responsibility of teachers to take decision concerning what is important to them and

their society. The role of teachers is rapidly changing in this era of globalization.

Now the traditional ways of working as a teacher become outdated. These

challenges in the role of teacher have been identified internationally. The work of

teacher exceeds beyond the limits of classroom teaching to designing new learning

environments, cooperation, mentoring and socializing with colleagues.

4

In this era of globalization educational institutions are shifting towards

more collaborative, collegial and service approach in the whole learning society.

According to Murphy and Seashore Louis (1999) and Litz (2011), these changes

involve important educational leadership modifications in responsibilities and

roles, change in the conventional models of relationships, the authority becomes

less hierarchical as compared to past 80 years, more flexibility becomes visible in

role definitions, the whole concept of leadership has focused largely upon the

competence and cooperative work of human element instead of formal position

independence and isolation. Now the educational institutions are placing much

more emphasis on the development of democratic environment for learning within

the organization.

Similarly, Fullan (2003) identified that only top level management is not

responsible for bringing improvement in educational institutions. The top level of

management can only define mission, incentives, methods of interaction,

collaboration and controlling mechanism but this vision can only be achieved when

there is a lateral development of giving and receiving help across educational

institution.

Furthermore, Nohria and Khurana (2010) mentioned that there is still a dire

need to provide satisfactory answer to many leadership issues despite of having

fifty years research history on various aspects of leadership. The field of

educational leadership also passes through the similar trend. Campbell (1999)

revealed that a transformation of educational management to educational leadership

is seen in the era of late 1990s. It is so because various researchers like Ball (1990)

and Kydd (1997) criticized on the ‘managerialism’ in education and proved its

5

unsuitability for educational organizations. Thus, it becomes essential to investigate

this model transformation in leadership from authority/power-based approach

towards empowerment in educational leadership field. In this regard, servant

leadership approach is assumed to be the best one which points out a significant

change towards the delegation of power in the study of educational leadership. It is

supposed that this type of leadership is one of the most fundamental components

among the school effectiveness strategies which increase the level of job

satisfaction of teachers thereby enabling them to meet the requirements of this era

of globalization.

1.2 EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IN AZAD KASHMIR

The state of Azad Jammu and Kashmir is basically a disputed territory

between the countries of Pakistan and India. This region belongs to Pakistan which

is situated in the west of Indian occupied Kashmir and north-east of Pakistan. The

estimated population of this region is 4.09 million which resides an area of 5, 134

square miles i.e. 13297 square kilometers (Government of Azad Jammu & Kashmir

2014; Malik, S. I., 2002). The nature of government in this region is parliamentary

with its particular official flag. The state of Azad Jammu and Kashmir has assorted

range of natural beauty with speedy flowing rivers and tributaries, magnificent

valleys and mountainous ranges.

Moreover, the state of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan has identical

educational set up which is categorized into five different levels i.e. primary level,

middle level, secondary level, higher secondary level and university level.

6

More elaborately, the educational framework of Azad Jammu and Kashmir

closely resembles with Pakistani one in social and cultural context. In public sector,

centralized decision making approach is used to take decisions in schools through

top-down bureaucratic model.

According to Shamsi et al. (2010), this whole region has been ruled by

military dictatorship for several years which results in evolving the concepts of

autocracy in all domains of life. Educational leadership has gone through identical

change process. The reflection of this autocratic style is still observed in education

sector to some extent. Though, some policies have been formulated with the

passage of time to make this system more decentralize one. Consequently, some

measures have been introduced to handover duties from provincial to district level

(Shah, 2003). In this regard, some new vacancies have been established at the

district level. Moreover, educational development and policy formulation is the

responsibility of Executive District Officer (Education) at this level. Some powers

have been delegated to them in particular districts. Under these circumstances,

more effective and efficient educational leadership is required at diverse levels in

Azad Kashmir which can play an effective role towards school improvement.

Geographically this region is a mountainous region and the educational

institutions are far away from each other. District education officers have to

supervise about thirteen higher secondary schools in every district so it is quite

difficult for them to directly supervise the administration in daily routine matters.

Consequently, the role of principals becomes more viable under these

circumstances for the better functioning of these institutions. Therefore, it becomes

7

necessary to empower individuals in these institutions, so that they can perform

their duties more efficiently and effectively. Moreover the cultural norms of this

region are based on empathy so it is not possible to exercise negative reinforcement

techniques in this region. Principals have to concentrate on ways of positive

reinforcement in the form of delegation of authority and empowerment.

Therefore, it is essential to examine the behavior of principals who are the

most fundamental elements of the educational institution, directly supervises the

teachers and well informed about the environment of educational institution. In

this regard, the findings of Salfi, et al (2014) revealed that mostly authoritative

leadership styles are exercised by the head teachers of secondary schools in

Pakistan. However, female head teachers show more democratic attitude as

compared to male ones. Likewise, urbane head teachers are more democratic in

nature than the rural ones.

Keeping in view the requirements of present scenario, servant leadership

style is found to be most appropriate for the principals of educational institutions in

Azad Kashmir which believes in the delegation of authority to lower levels and

help the followers to perform job functions more efficiently and effectively. It also

focuses on followers’ development by increasing their aptitude to exercise

ingenious tactics and taking more responsibilities at job (Stone and Petterson,

2005).

Education system of Pakistan is found to be far behind from top performing

education systems of world like Finland and Singapore in terms of teachers’

professional development and student performance. It is very difficult to replicate

8

tested models of teachers’ professional development in Pakistan due to limited

financial resources (Khan and Afridi, 2017). Furthermore, in the region of Azad

Jammu and Kashmir, teachers’ training facilities are inadequate and even not on

continual basis. Teachers are less motivated towards the achievement of goals and

are also underpaid (Farooq and Kai, 2016). Keeping in view all these observations,

it was necessary to conduct research on various aspects of teachers and educational

administrators in this specific region.

The focal point of this study was the education sector more specifically the

higher secondary schools of Azad Jammu & Kashmir. The education sector of

Azad Jammu & Kashmir was selected for this study because this sector was far

behind in the field of research. Very rare research studies have been conducted in

this sector up till now. That’s why; this research study was intended to conduct a

research on the administration of this sector. Moreover, higher secondary schools

were selected for this study because these schools represent a definite and apparent

picture of professional teachers working at different levels i.e. primary, secondary,

senior teachers and lecturers. Furthermore, higher secondary schools of two

specific divisions namely, Mirpur Division (involving districts of Bhimber, Kotli,

and Mirpur) and Poonch Division (involving districts of Poonch, Haveli, Bagh and

Sudhnoti) were selected due to limited time constraint and financial resources. All

the teachers of higher secondary schools were taken as population of study in these

selected divisions.

9

1.3 PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

The advent of the concept of servant leadership points out a vibrant change

towards the delegation of power in the study of educational leadership. This

concept points out a sort of model transformation from authority/ power-based

approach towards empowerment in the field of leadership (Dambe and Moorad,

2008). Empowerment is a process which enables individuals to become successful

leaders at different levels in organization (Dennis and Bocarnea, 2005).

Furthermore, Rafiq & Ahmed (1998) stated that employee behaviors are positively

influenced by the factor of empowerment. According to Mohanty (2010),

empowerment is having confidence over the abilities, skills and veracity of the

teachers. It is a feeling that teachers can perform their duties efficiently and

effectively without any supervision. Similarly, Mohanty and Baruah (2012) argued

that teachers’ empowerment is one of the significant and most fundamental

components among the school effectiveness strategies. It results in developing

skills among teachers so that they can be able to develop themselves by solving

problems in different circumstances. Similarly, Yusof et al., (2013) investigated

that teachers’ burn out is negatively correlated to the factor of empowerment,

perceived inequality and internal service quality.

Bogler (2001) argued that when educational leaders believe on the

delegation of authority, information sharing and act as a channel of communication

then it will result in greater satisfaction of teachers. However, Hill Valari (2013)

investigated that ineffectiveness of school leaders is caused by their inability to

delegate duties to others. They remain busy in doing those tasks which should be

delegated to others. Therefore, there is a dire need to investigate the element of

10

empowerment in the education sector along with its relationship to servant

leadership and ultimately to the teachers’ job satisfaction.

Even though the research on teachers’ job satisfaction is well acknowledged

(Rossmiller, 1992; Reyes and Shin 1995) but very rare research studies are

conducted to investigate the ways through which employee satisfaction is promoted

through organizational processes. Therefore, it is essential to study the factors

which exert strong influence on teachers’ job satisfaction (Perie et al., 1997). It will

help to strengthen the knowledge base which is necessary for the development of

successful education system. Hence, the aim of this research study is to elaborate

mechanisms which are responsible for teachers’ job satisfaction.

In accordance to Miears (2004) and Bogler, (2001), appropriate leadership

style is considered to be a prominent factor which positively affects job

satisfaction. In this regard, the impact of various leadership approaches on job

satisfaction has been observed (Akdogan, 2002; Stockard and Lehman, 2004

Griffith, 2004). Servant leadership is considered to be a fundamental one among

these approaches which has considerable influence on teachers’ job satisfaction.

According to Wheaton (1999), it has the ability to bring improvement in entire

school environment where teachers are provided with an opportunity to educate

students.

Moreover, Hallinger and Heck (1996) revealed that teachers and principals

are the major factors which have profound impact on educational quality.

Especially those teachers largely affect student achievement levels that spend more

time with students in carrying out various educational activities (Rowan, et al.,

11

2002). Later on, Nguni et al. (2006) investigated that satisfied teachers are likely to

be more effective and efficient in educating students by spending more time and

energy. Therefore, teachers’ job satisfaction is considered to be of vital importance

in relation to school effectiveness and is perceived to be a major factor in

improving performance of the school (Sargent and Hannum, 2005; Thompson, et

al., 1997; Tek Beth-Ann, 2014).

1.4 PROBLEM STATEMENT

The influence of servant leadership on teachers’ job satisfaction is

investigated rarely by research scholars (like Laub 1999; Girard, 2000; Hebert,

2003, Thompson, 2003; Irving, 2005; Drury, 2004; Miears, 2004; Yusuf Cerit,

2009). Moreover, this facet of servant leadership is not examined in the context of

Azad Jammu and Kashmir up till now. Thus, the intention of this study is to

investigate the effect of servant leadership on teachers’ job satisfaction by studying

the mediation effect of teachers’ empowerment in the region of Azad Jammu &

Kashmir.

Although previous studies investigated the connection between employee

job satisfaction and servant leadership and confirms its interrelatedness (Yusuf

cerit, 2009), however this relationship has not been investigated by taking into

consideration the mediation effect of empowerment on these variables. Therefore,

this study aims to conduct research on this aspect of servant leadership by

examining its potential impact on teachers’ job satisfaction, while keeping in view

the mediating influence of teachers’ perceived empowerment.

12

1.5 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The proposed quantitative research study intended to achieve the following

research objectives:

• To analyze the connection between servant leadership and teachers’ job

satisfaction.

• To analyze the association between servant leadership and teachers’

empowerment.

• To analyze the connection between teachers’ empowerment and teachers’

job satisfaction.

• To analyze the mediating effects of teachers’ empowerment on the

relationship between teachers’ empowerment and teachers’ job satisfaction.

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

With the passage of time the need for efficient leadership becomes more

viable, the degree of such provision differs significantly across different regions.

Now the global era of rapid change recommend that systematic preparation for the

effective leadership should develop such leaders who are capable enough to

involve all shareholders in the institution’s improvement process for the advantage

of both learner and whole society. Therefore, such educational programs need to be

developed which are capable enough to raise higher order cognitive abilities in the

leaders for facing the challenges of educational leadership in the 21st century

(Oplatka and Arar, 2017; Adams, et.al. 2017; Brundrett,et al. 2006).

13

1.6.1 Theoretical Significance

Although significant numbers of research studies are witnessed in the field

of educational leadership but more investigation is still needed in this regard. As

Hallinger and Chen (2015) investigated that research in this field is still at initial

stage of development in the Asian region. More specifically, the Pakistani

universities had published only three papers in the leading educational journals

during the period of 12 years (Hallinger and Bryant, 2013). Although the recent

growth in the mass of knowledge production is seen in the region of South Asia but

even then the overall volume of research is relatively low.

Therefore, this research study is an endeavour to add considerably in the

growing body of literature in educational leadership field. It will potentially

contribute significant empirical data about the connection between servant

leadership, teachers’ empowerment and job satisfaction giving assistance both in

theoretical discussions and practical application of these concepts.

There are relatively small numbers of studies which investigate the notion

of servant leadership in educational sector (Crippen, 2005; Yenming et al. 2012).

Therefore, this study attempts to propose a servant leadership model for increasing

teachers’ job satisfaction through the concept of empowerment at higher secondary

schools level. The current study is a first attempt to add in existing body of

literature revealing the mediating effect of teachers’ empowerment in the

connection between servant leadership and teachers’ job satisfaction. It is also a

first study which is conducted on the notion of servant leadership in the cultural

framework of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Therefore, this study will make a major

14

contribution in existing knowledge by investigating the ultimate influence of

servant leadership on teachers’ job satisfaction in a different context.

1.6.2 Practical Significance

This empirical data can provide a proper guideline to researchers who

attempt to develop cost effective training programs for leadership. This research

study develop a base for designing a proper course work which offers guideline to

practically implement the notion of servant leadership in the education sector.

Additionally, it can be used to design an agenda for teaching different dimensions

of servant leadership to those individuals who aspire to become successful leaders

in future. It can provide additional insights into the impact of practical

implementation of concept of servant leadership on the variables of empowerment

and job satisfaction.

Moreover, school administrators and teachers are the direct beneficiaries of

this research study. It will be helpful for the school administrators who can bring a

positive change in their behavior on the basis of different dimensions of servant

leadership which ultimately leads to greater job satisfaction. Ultimately, the

performance of whole institution is improved with the better performance of

teachers.

15

Chapter 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1 INTRODUCTION

In this chapter the relevant literature about the basic constructs of the study

i.e. servant leadership, teachers’ empowerment and job satisfaction is discussed.

Basically it attempts to conceptualize the basic aspects of the study for the

formulation of research hypothesis.

2.2 OVERVIEW OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Educational leadership is an applied field of study aims at framing strategy

and practice in educational institutions. During the mid-twentieth century, it arose

as a proper field of investigation in United States (Griffiths, 1959, 1979; Boyan,

1981). Selected researchers in 1960s (like Campbell and Faber, 1961; Briner and

Cambell, 1964; Erickson, 1967) firstly reviewed the theoretical and empirical

research in this field and then referred it exclusively as the fi eld of ‘educational

administration’. The researchers of this era were largely influenced by this

emerging theory of educational administration (Griffiths, 1959, 1979; Campbell

and Faber, 1961).

Researchers in 1960s and 1970s sought to create a vision of ‘science of

educational administration’ (Kiley, 1973; Moore, 1974; Griffiths, 1979; Campbell,

1979). However, scholars greatly felt that they were unable to achieve the goal of

developing a science of educational administration. Leading scholars who are

previously associated with the movement also conducted critical reviews on this

16

movement (Griffiths, 1979; Campbell, 1979; Haller, 1979; Boyan, 1981; Bridges,

1982). In the era of 1990s research in this field was focused on school leadership

and pupil learning (Hallinger and Leithwood, 1994; Hallinger and Heck 1996,

1998).While, in the first decade of 21st century the field of educational leadership

revealed the verifiable research findings with relevance to practice (Adams et al.

2017). Now, the scholars from all over the world became actively involved in

conducting empirical research in this field (Hallinger, 2014). Similarly, Asian

universities are also trying to increase their research base in the field of

educational management (Knight, 1997., Kehm & Stansaker, 2009., Hien, 2010.,

Ng & Tan, 2010., Mok & Cheung, 2011., Gopinathan & Lee, 2011., Hallinger,

2011., Gooch, 2012., Hallinger & Bryant, 2013a, 2013b).

Hallinger and Bryant (2013) analyzed the patterns of research conducted

in the region of Asia in the field of educational leadership which were published in

eight fundamental educational leadership journals (Educational Administration

Quarterly (EAQ), School Effectiveness and Improvement (SESI), International

Journal of Leadership in Education( IJLE), Leadership and policy in

schools(LPS) , Journal of Educational Administration (JEA), International Journal

of Educational Management (IJEM), School Leadership and Management (SLAM),

and Educational Management Administration and Leadership (EMAL)) from 2000

to 2011. They revealed that Central Asian Societies have no contribution in

knowledge production in these leading journals in the era of 2000 to 2011. They

found research studies which are linked with nine societies in West Asia (Saudi

Arabia, Kuwait, Israel, Turkey, Iran, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon , Jordan and

Qatar) , three countries in South Asia ( Pakistan, Nepal and India), and 13 countries

17

in East Asia (The Philippines, Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Macau,

Taiwan, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, China, Japan, Papua New

Guinea). Among these societies, Hong Kong and Israel are identified as the

significant regional knowledge contributors in educational leadership discipline in

the region of Asia (Hallinger and Bryant, 2013). In the terms of institutional

contribution in this field it is interesting to note that only ten educational

institutions published five or more articles in this era. Many universities published

only a single article over the entire period of 12 years (Hallinger and Bryant, 2013).

In the region of East Asia, three Hong Kong institutions (namely Chinese

University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong institute of Education, and Hong Kong

University) and National Institute of Education in Singapore remained the most

prominent research production centers in this field. The next most productive

institute in this regard was Mahidol University in Thailand, Beijing Normal

University, and Shenyang Normal University China (Hallinger and Bryant, 2013).

However in the region of West Asia, all the major knowledge producers’

institutions (namely Ben Gurion University, University of Haifa, Tel Aviv

University, Hebrew University, Bar Ilan University) in this field were situated in

Israel (Hallinger and Bryant, 2013).

However, no active research centers were found in this field in South Asia.

In Pakistan the University of Education published only three papers in these

journals during the period of 12 years (Hallinger and Bryant, 2013). Hence, it is

essential to carry out research in this field especially in the region of South Asia.

18

Educational leaders are the demand of 21st century rather than the

professional teachers for the rapid growth of the education sector (Luqman et al.,

2012). Educational leaders have to meet the challenge of managing the diversity of

researchers, students, teaching staff in this era of rapid change and globalization.

Hargrove and Prasad (2010) identified the situation of school education in 21st

century as:

“Twenty-first century classrooms are likely to be quite different from those

many teachers experienced themselves. For example, they are more diverse in a

variety of ways. Diversity is a reality, making it another reality that schools must

be committed to becoming places where children from 3 to 17 have the opportunity

to learn. In order to do this, teachers cannot tech as they were taught; they must

update their current practices in regard to changing school populations, increasing

technology, and new ideas about how children learn” (Hargrove, & Prasad, 2010,

p.5 ).

These alterations in turn result in increasing pressure on educational

leaders, especially on administrators for getting results across different situations.

Therefore, the 21st century leaders should develop democratic habits which will

enable them to respect others’ feelings and performance as whole (Reimers, 2006).

The challenges of 21st century can be tackled by adopting the practices of

servant leadership in daily routine activities (Luqman et al., 2012). This notion of

Servant Leadership was proposed by Robert Greenleaf in 1970s. The idea of this

concept is ‘To lead is to serve’. After having the characteristic of servant

leadership, educational leader should serve as self-leader who is capable enough to

19

have knowledge of different situations in external and internal environment. Then

these self-leaders rise above to become ‘super leader’ as a leader of team of self-

leaders. Thus, in this way all the great leaders and teams of self-leaders work

together for the achievement of global goals of educational sector in 21st century.

This will lead to the development of global citizens who are capable enough to

fulfill their responsibilities in this era of globalization.

Moreover, a principal can act as a servant leader by developing self-

efficacy in followers which can be done through three major forms of influences

i.e. vicarious experiences, mastery experiences and oral persuasion (Bandura

1997). A servant leader can practice the mastery experiences by establishing a

vision of the teachers’ role in the school environment (Patterson 2003),

empowerment of teacher and by showing trust in the teacher or providing an

opportunity to teacher for earning trust in the school (Farling et al., 1999). In the

view of Nixson (2005), a servant leader will also make use of vicarious practices

(modelling) which in turn helps in increasing teacher self-efficacy. In servant

leadership, modelling is important because it emphasizes the leader’s verbal

obligation to serve the follower in the organization (Russell, 2001). When rewards

and appropriate behavior of principal are contingent on performance then it will

result in higher teacher self-efficacy (Lee et al., 1991). As servant leadership

enhances collaboration between servant and leader that’s why the principal as a

servant leader also make certain participation of teachers in decision making which

has main impact in their work lives (Laub 1999). As a result teachers who thought

that they had a stronger participation in decision making process in turn had a

greater self-efficacy (Moore & Esselman, 1992).

20

The concept of servant leadership brings many improvements in school

when it is embraced by school principals. According to Spears & Lawrence

(2002), the idea of servant leadership helps the principals to achieve organizational

targets more efficiently and effectively. Successful principals as servant leaders

create a collaborative culture in schools and they are capable enough to predict

vital issues before they begin to arise in the institution.

Anderson (2006) depicted the influence of servant leader on school in the

Midwest. This study revealed that the leader selected for the study exhibit servant

leader’s characteristics and servant leadership behaviors exert considerable

influence on other individuals in the school.

Sergiovanni (1994) and Hardin (2003) investigated that servant leadership

places major emphasis on school development rather than on the other needs within

the organization. Successful functioning of educational institutions require such

organizational setting in which individuals posed their efforts towards the

accomplishment of desired educational issues rather than such atmosphere in

which egoism is accepted. In such an environment both students and teachers are

better able to develop their potential fully.

Thus, servant leadership approach meets the present day demands by

seeking humanity within both leader and follower and also provides real-world

solutions on the basis of virtuous and moral strengths (Van Dierendonck and

Patterson K, 2015). It is viewed as a theory which has major influence on

individuals and it emphasizes on caring the individuals beyond their egoism, needs

and wants (Taylor et al., 2007). Therefore, it can be viewed that the key function of

21

servant leadership is to develop people in the organization which enables this

leadership approach to manage educational institutions (Taylor et al., 2007).

More elaborately, it is vital to throw light on diverse aspects of leadership

in order to highlight the importance of this emerging leadership theory.

2.3 LEADERSHIP

In this global era, the success of organization depends upon motivation and

creative performance of human resources (Van de Ven, 1986; Pfeffer & Veiga,

1999; Bruch and Ghoshal, 2003; Lawler, 2003; Cross et al., 2003). Thus, it

becomes essential to exploit the potential of individuals for the accomplishment of

organizational objectives. In this regard, leadership is one of the most fundamental

factors which have considerable contribution in the success of organization

(Northouse, 1997; Yukl, 2002).

Organizational effectiveness can be determined by the leader of the

organization (Greenberg and Baron, 1997; Daft, 2008). Thus, this important

phenomenon of the leadership is defined in different ways by different scholars. In

the words of Burns (1978), leadership is a procedure in which one individual

encourages other individuals to achieve specific goals and objectives by motivating

them. Whereas, Yukl (1998) viewed leader as a person who guides the activities of

his/her followers towards the achievement of goals and objectives by using power

and influence. Thus, every individual who has the capability to direct the activities

of other individuals towards the achievement of goals and possess the power to

change their minds is considered to exhibit the characteristics of leadership (Johns

and Moser, 2001; Cherrington, 1994; Kreiner and Kinicki, 2008).

22

Hogan and Kaiser (2005) revealed that leadership is such a significant

phenomenon which is probably considered to be the most essential one in the field

of human sciences. It is concerned with the functioning of groups, teams and

organizations. Effective performance is the result of good leadership which

ultimately helps in improving the well-being of the followers whereas bad

leadership is responsible for mortifying the quality of life for all those who are

linked with it. Similarly, Yukl (2006) defined leadership as a process of achieving

the shared objectives by influencing others in order to understand the issues and

find solutions to solve those issues. While, Northouse (2007) defined leadership as

the process in which one person exert influences on others for the accomplishment

of common objectives and goals.

Different leadership definitions suggest some components that are

important in the phenomenon of leadership such as (a) Leadership is termed as a

process (b) It is an art of exerting influence on others (Barker, 2002; Cummings et

al., 2010) (c) Leadership takes place within a team; it involves the interaction of

leaders with subordinates (d) It is concerned with the achievement of common

goals. A leader is involved in setting goals, developing strategy and coordinating

the activities of others towards the achievement of goals (Greenberg and Baron,

1997).

2.4 LEADERSHIP THEORIES

In this section different dimensions of earlier leadership theories are

discussed. It also focuses on neo-charismatic ideal behavioral theories that became

23

important in the era of 1970s. In the neo-charismatic theories, it especially focuses

on different aspects of servant leadership theory.

2.4.1 Trait Theory

The scientific investigation in the field of leadership started in the era of

twentieth century that identified the role of individuals’ attributes in classifying

them as leaders or non-leaders (Novikova, 2013). Early leadership studies were

conducted mostly in the era of 1930s and 1950s. The findings of these studies

revealed that leader effectiveness is correlated with traits of leader (House and

Aditya, 1997). Whereas, leadership studies conducted in different cultural settings

revealed the absence of universal traits in individuals that are linked with effective

leadership. This issue arises due to limitations in early traits studies such as: (a)

Inadequate theory for investigation of leadership traits (b) lack of proper

measurement tools which result in different context of even common traits (c)

inadequate knowledge about the trait’s psychometric properties (d) Using samples

of lower level managers, youth, and supervisors instead of important leadership

position holders (House and Aditya, 1997).

However, leadership trait became focal point of researchers in early 1970s

because of its significant influence on leader’s effectiveness and behavior. Many

empirical studies were conducted for the trait propositions. This leads to the

emergence of new empirically supported traits such as five personality traits,

integrity, self-confidence, cognitive ability, motivation, emotional intelligence

(House and Aditya, 1997; Kirkpatrick and Locke, 1991; Robbins and Judge, 2007).

24

2.4.2 The Behavioural Approach

With the passage of time, traits theories became a source of dissatisfaction

for scholars because of the weaknesses of these theories. Consequently, the

scholars emphasized the psychology in general and behavioral approach in

leadership (Stogdill, 1975; Fiedler and Chemers, 1984; House and Aditya, 1997).

Researchers already emphasized the behavioral approach in leadership instead of

trait theories in the mid-twentieth century. They observed leaders behavior either

directly in laboratory site or through survey questionnaire for about a period of 30

years (i.e. from 1940s to 1970s). Through survey questionnaires, the subordinated

were asked to evaluate the behavior of their leaders. Then, these evaluations were

measured against the already set standards of leadership effectiveness. Research

conducted in such scenario is termed as “behavioral school of leadership” (Robbins

and Judge, 2007; House and Aditya, 1997). During this period, the leadership

approach was greatly influenced by three major school of thoughts namely, Ohio

State University group (Stogdill, 1975), Blake and Mouton (1966), the University

of Michigan group (Likert, 1979). Major findings of this period are:

Firstly, Blake and Mouton (1966) developed managerial grid for leadership

position in which two aspects of leadership behavior namely concern for

production and concern for people were demonstrated graphically. Concern for

production is the behavior dimension of leader in which leader emphasizes

productivity goals and objectives while deciding the way to perform job activities.

This dimension moves along the x-axis of the managerial grid. Whereas, concern

for people is that behavioral aspect of leader in which leader is more concerned

about the needs of people while deciding the way to perform job activities (Griffin

25

and Ricky, 2010). This dimension moves along the y-axis of the managerial grid.

Thus, the two dimensions of the leadership behavior are depicted on ‘x’ and ‘y’

axis of the grid. Both axis ranges from low (1) to high (9) which in turn result in

establishing 81 different leadership position where the leader’s style may exist.

Secondly, Ohio State University group classified leader behaviors into two

broad groups which are person oriented behavior and task oriented behavior

(Stogdill, 1975). In person oriented behavioral style of leadership, a leader put

fundamental emphasis on the welfare of followers. While in task-oriented

leadership style, a leader put fundamental emphasis on the tasks that are necessary

to be performed for the achievement of selected goals and objectives.

Thirdly, leadership styles were classified into two broad categories of

initiating structure and consideration by University of Michigan group (Likert,

1979). In the initiating structure type of leadership style, a leader is concerned with

desired performance and role expectations directing towards the tasks of

subordinates (Bass, 1990; Fleishman, 1973). While in the consideration type of

leadership style, a leader is more concerned with the general well-being of his/ her

subordinates (Bass, 1990).

Likewise trait theories, behavioral approach of leadership also remained

unsuccessful in giving proper consideration to the leader’s expected role,

personality differences among the leaders or followers, or the contextual situations

for leader operations (DeRue, et al., 2011).

26

2.4.3 Contingency Theories of Leadership

Contingency approach of leadership was developed to minimize the

negative influence of previous theories in between 1960s and 1970s (Trivers,

2009). According to this theory, a variety of situational factors such as the attitudes

and capabilities of subordinates, the leadership style etc. are responsible for the

leader’s effectiveness. It is not possible to devise a single best mode of leading. A

leadership style that is suitable for any situation may not be essentially appropriate

for any other situation. In other words, leadership effectiveness (for group

performance) is dependent on the interface of different aspects of the situation and

leader’s motivation.

Contingency approach gave rise to numerous theories. Most important

among them are: (a) leader-member exchange (Dienesch and Liden,, 1986;

Dansereau, et al., 1973) (b) Fiedler’s contingency model (Fiedler, 1967; Fiedler,

1971) (c) leader- participation model (Vroom and Yetton, 1973) (d) path-goal

theory (House, 1996; House, 1971) (e) Hersey and Blanchard’s life cycle theory

(1982).

Fiedler’s contingency model (Fiedler, 1967; Fiedler, 1971) depicted the first

effort that is intended to explain theoretically the interaction and influence of

situational variables on leader’s attitude and personality. According to this theory,

effective performance is dependent on the ultimate fit between leadership style and

the existing situation’s span to provide power for control. By situational control,

the leader becomes capable enough to exert influence and control the whole

process of organization or group. Fiedler categorized situational control into eight

27

conditions. Then, hypotheses are developed to explain the moderating effects of

these conditions on the link of leader effectiveness and motivation. In contrast to

Vroom and Yetton’s (1973) theory that reveals that leaders should and could

exhibit the capability to adjust their leadership style in accordance to situation,

Fiedler’s theory suggests that leadership styles are very hard to change according to

situation because it is a stable personality characteristic by nature (Fiedler and

Chemers, 1984).

Another contingency theory namely, leader-participation model was

proposed by Vroom and Yetton (1973) which was again re-proposed by Vroom

and Jago (1988). This theory reveals that leader should exhibit the capacity to

modify behavior to imitate the existing task structure. If the acceptance of solutions

by subordinates plays a key role in effective policy implementation then this theory

is most suitable to implement in such situation. Therefore, this theory is helpful for

leaders to find out such solution of problems which are of economic quality, highly

technical and acceptable for subordinates. It is a normative model because it gives

a series of rules for the decision-making process to achieve the quality and quantity

of participation (Thai, 2014). In the original theory, Vroom and Yetton (1973)

devised seven methods of decision making which range from autocratic to

democratic decision processes. These methods give different results under

different circumstances. Later on, Vroom and Jago (1988) improved and revised

this theory by adding different types of problem along with retaining the original

five styles. In this manner, contingency variables were expanded to 12. Both the

old and revised models have not been able to give encouraging research findings,

yet the effectiveness of revised model was higher (Field and Andrews, 1998).

28

Additionally, this model was criticized because of its complexity (House and

Aditya, 1997).

Another important theoretical contribution in the field of leadership

effectiveness is the situational theory proposed by Hersey and Blanchard (1982).

This theory proposed that the level of follower’s readiness defines the effective

leadership. Hersey and Blanchard (1982) divided leadership styles into four

different categories namely, selling, delegating, telling and participating and

recommended that these different styles are suitable for specific circumstances

depending upon the maturity level of subordinates which is expressed as the level

of achievement motivation, related task education and job experience, capability

and readiness to fulfill obligations. In other words, the proposed leadership style of

Hersey and Blanchard (1982) depends on the maturity level of follower.

Therefore, this theory symbolizes a kind of life-cycle model which is similar to

parent-child relationship where parents abandon their control with the growth and

maturity of child. House and Aditya (1997) argued that this model has been proved

to exhibit a high grade of face validity and a foundation for commercial

management training program.

Leader-member exchange theory is also an important addition in leader-

situational theories. According to this theory, leaders tend to develop different

forms of exchange interactions with followers and some of the important behaviors

of leaders and followers are affected by the quality of these exchange relationships

(Dansereau, et al., 1973). These exchange relationships give rise to such situations

where employees feel to exhibit high-quality and low–quality exchange

interactions with their supervisors. Usually, the employees who belong to an inner

29

circle have high-quality exchange relationship with their supervisor while the

employees who feel that they belong to outcast circle have low-quality exchange

relationship with their supervisor. Additionally, preferential treatment is given to

inner circle employees including involvement, high confidence level and

autonomy.

Empirical research findings consistently provided support to leader-member

exchange theory. Research findings revealed that followers are clearly

differentiated by their leaders and those who belong to inner circle have lower

turnover intentions, benefit of higher performance ratings, job satisfaction and

greater organizational citizenship behavior level (Ilies, et al., 2007; Gerstner and

Day, 1997; Gomez and Rosen, 2001).

Another significant situational theory is path-goal theory which reveals the

influence of leader on the follower’s motivation, performance and ultimately on

satisfaction. It is among those first theories which propose that the leadership

effectiveness is moderately influenced by the situation (Podsakoff et al., 1996). The

motivational function of a leader is defined by House (1971) as “increasing

personal payoffs to subordinates for work-goal attainment and making the path to

these payoffs easier to travel by clarifying it, reducing roadblocks and pitfalls, and

increasing the opportunities for personal satisfaction in route” (House, 1971, p.

324). Later on, the positive effects of the leader (such as facilitator of subordinates,

development of subordinates and relationship building) were also introduced in the

path-goal theory (House, 1996).

30

Revised path-goal theory argued that the leader’s ability to perform

facilitator role in a best way depends upon the adoption of one of the following

leadership styles according to the situation. (a) First one is the “directive

leadership style” in which individuals are provided with specific instructions and

rules for their guidance, (b) Second one is the “supportive leadership style” in

which leaders put more emphasis on the needs of subordinates by building good

relations with them. (c) Third one is the “participative leadership style” which is

based upon group decision making where information flows freely among group

members. (d) Lastly, achievement-oriented leadership style which deals with

building up the confidence in group’s ability, defining the challenging goals and

objectives for subordinates and promoting the high performance in organization

(Robbins and Judge, 2007).

According to Wofford and Liska (1993), it has been very difficult to

empirically prove path-goal theory regardless of its theoretical sensibility. The role

of a leader as a facilitator in effective leadership was not supported by empirical

research finding. Later on, House (1996) argued that path-goal theory is focused on

only leader-follower interactions because of its dyadic nature. Therefore, it ignores

the impact of leader on work units or groups. This limitation of path-goal theory is

ordinary to any dyadic leadership theory, which focuses only on the dyadic leader-

follower relationship instead of the organizational processes. Conversely, this

limitation was leveled by some scholars on the whole field of leadership (Zacarro

& Horn, 2003; Yukl, 1999).

Regardless of these limitations, path-goal theory also exerts considerable

effect on succeeding leadership theories. The emergence of the concept of

31

“substitutes for leadership” was the indirect consequence of one of the limitations

of path-goal theory i.e. neglecting group interactions in leadership (House, 1996).

Despite of the detected limitations of path-goal theory, it is observed to

impose strong influence on succeeding theories of leadership. The emergence of

the notion of “substitutes for leadership” is the indirect result of one of the path-

goal theory’s limitation i.e. neglecting the group interaction in leadership (House,

1996). Similarly, the origin of charismatic leadership having direct influence on

new leadership theories like transformational leadership is also the result of path-

goal theory. Mostly, new leadership theories are based upon the idea that different

characteristics such as stewardship, personal attention and authentic consideration

exert indirect influence on the effective leadership through positively affecting

quality of leader-member exchange relationship.

2.4.4 Emergence of New Theories of Leadership

In the past, Weber (1947) proposed charismatic theory of leadership in

which extraordinary charismatic traits were attributed to the leaders by followers.

This theory was generally supported by sociologists and political scientists.

However, different scholars also propose additional theories related to the concept

of charismatic leadership in recent times like theory of transformational leadership

proposed by Burns (1978), theory of authentic leadership (George et al., 2007;

George, 2003) and theory of servant leadership (Graham, 1991; Greenleaf, 1978).

These newly emerged theories become very important subject of empirical research

and are placed in neo-charismatic paradigms of leadership (Fiol et al., 1999;

Graham, 1991, Robbins & Judge, 2007).

32

The old theories of leadership put major emphasis on logical processes

whereas the new theories of leadership give prominence to the function of values

and emotions. The new theories of leadership play a vital role in describing the

impact of leadership on followers to make them more efficient and committed

towards the achievement of stated goals.

2.4.4.1 Transactional leadership

Transactional leadership is a behavior - reward paradigm in which the

leader motivates subordinates’ behavior towards performance through rewards and

praises, and corrects their behavior by taking disciplinary actions, giving negative

feedback, threats etc. Therefore, this type of leadership involves a sort of

transaction between the leader and followers in which leader reacts on followers’

behavior regarding to the fulfillment of duties assigned them by the leader.

According to Bass (1985), transactional leadership is based upon two

aspects which are contingent reward and management by exception. In contingent

reward, the subordinates are only rewarded when the assignments are completed as

“transacted”. While, management by exception involves the proactive intervention

of leader when it

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