Literature Review: A Review On Leadership Theories And Styles

2.1 Introduction

The chapter two presents a review of literature on leadership theories and styles, with special emphasis on democratic leadership. The review brings to bear the various dimensions of democratic leadership, including its effectiveness. The review serves as a framework that guides the analysis of the research findings.

2.2 The Concept of Leadership

It is important to examine the concept of leadership as well as relevant theories pertaining to leadership. Prior to 1980, “Leadership and Management” were used synonymously. They were regarded as being the same or as extensively overlapping. When leadership was taught or studied, it was regarded as a small sub-set of management and the focus was on influencing the small groups. Then

According to Mat (2008), this is the result of several factors. A factor identified by Mat (2008) is “scholars attempt at simplifying the definition of leadership to enable people to understand the concept easily and to make it less complicated and more practical in daily business”. The general understanding of leadership however, is the relationship through which one person influences the behaviour or actions of other people. According to Mat (2008) “there is therefore the human factor that binds a group together and motivates it towards goals transforming the groups potentials into

According to Boswell (1973) some studies have shown that “effective managers stress the need for supportive people; while others did not produce clearly defined results on this” (p.11). According to Boswell (1973), “some have however showed reverse relationship to the following: size of the firm, the nature of the production process, personalities of subordinates, the feelings of the subordinates and the manager’s power in the organization”.

The implication is that no leadership style may suit all situations. Thus, there has to be modifications. Agboli and Chikwendu (2006) indicated that “different work situations need different styles if the staff members of that particular organisation are to perform optimally”. Often, the manager’s skills could be said to be diagnostic. The important factors are assessed by manager.Boswell (1973) points out however that “diagnosis may not always be followed by proper behaviour because managers could find it difficult to change their