A Study on leadership and performance of khalifa company

Introduction

All businesses need leadership as an important function needed for raising the company's performance to achieve business success and organizational goals. Leadership provides the business with a vision for directing employees towards achieving competitive advantage needed for the business promotion. The current paper is discussing leadership and performance in Khalife company.

Research Objective

To reach a conclusion about the relation of leadership and performance of Khalifa company.

Literature Review

Karamat, (2013)discussed leadership as tool helps the company improve its organizational performance through skilled leaders who are able to use the company's resources, develop them and employ them to satisfy certain organizational needs involved within main goals. Sustainable competitive advantage can be reached through many leadership practices and then performance can be evaluated by leaders through performance indicators such as the company's net profit, clients' satisfaction, market reputation and costs.

According to Carter and Greer, (2013)Strategic leadership is a type of leadership followed by leaders in order to set a strategy for raising the level of performance within the organization. Strategies include certain symbolic activities  assigned to each employee by leaders to recognize best individual performance. Strategic leadership requires high efficient leaders who are characterized with having good behaviors that can influence others' performance as good behaviors reflect leaders values.

Timothy et al, (2011) discussed the styles of leadership and how choosing the appropriate style for the organization can affect the individual and organizational performance. There are many leadership styles such as the transformational and transactional leadership styles. Customer satisfaction is highly affected with the style of leadership followed by an organization as it controls the business relationships through the functions of leaders and the way they are performed with. 

According to Yun and Mulhern, (2009)a good leadership usually puts human elements at top of its priorities as employees should be understood by leaders, their wishes, desires and ambitions should be considered as this raises their morale and encourages them to work better and feel that they belong to the work which improves their performance. Customers also should be cared for within leadership plans regarding their needs, interests and inspirations.

As to Popa, (2012) change is very important for leaders as change management is a basic practice of leadership. Change is a step towards improving a company performance as it replaces old practices with new ones suitable to the new technologies and the new needs of the environment inside and outside the organization. Innovation and creativity are major requirements of change and leadership has to apply them on all its practices.

Research Philosophy

Acheampong and Mkansi, (2012) reported that research philosophy is the development of information, knowledge, background and ideas relevant to the research. Interpretivism is a research philosophy that requires the researcher to make interpretations for the study elements in order to put personal views of the researchers and implement them on the study according to the interpretation process. The researcher who uses interpretivism uses diverse approaches of criticism in order to reach reality.

Research Approach

Thomas and Bergold, (2012) referred to research approach as a group of certain steps and procedures that form a plan for a research as being based upon data gathered through research methods and analysis for this data. The plan set by the researcher identifies the approach of research. Inductive approach was chosen because it depends on observation and explanations developed by the researcher through discussing theories related to the research according to certain hypothesis to be applied at the end of the research.

Research Strategy

Jebreen, (2012) referred to a research strategy as some procedures the researcher has planned for in order to be followed to conduct the research. The inductive approach includes a research strategy that depends on surveys, questionnaires or ethnographies in order to conduct the research according to a specific methodology.

Ethical implications in this research

The current research is following research ethics such as confidentiality, reliability and privacy on high dependence on keeping all data relevant to the participants secured and not to be revealed within the research or to anyone else, participants were gently asked to do the questionnaire according to their consent and after consent. The research methodology depends on respecting the participants and their desires of hiding names and personal information from being revealed within the research. The questionnaire doesn't include any inconvenient content to the participants or any information that bears harm to the environment, laws or general morals.

Research Methodology

Research Design

Degu and Yigzaw,  (2006) asserted that the research design discusses the type of the research which could be descriptive, experimental, meta analytic or review and the research sub type such as the descriptive or the case study. The research design function is to focus on evidence from data gathered to be evaluated. Descriptive analysis is going to be used in this research. Descriptive analysis depends on statistics gathered using research methodology as data is analyzed according to the used variables. Number of cases which are valid should be known in order to provide a correct measuring.

Sampling

Samples were gathered from Alkhalifa company in Oman as the questionnaire was delivered to 23 employees in the company from different departments and in different job ranks. The questionnaire depends on questions  for four questions answered with strongly agree, agree, disagree and strongly disagree and the fourth question was an open one expressing personal opinions of the participants.

Analysis and Findings

Chart 1-4

 Answers for the first question were 15 answers strongly agree, 6 agree, 1 disagree and 1 strongly disagree with percentages 65%, 26%, 4,4% and 4,4% respectively which asserts what Karamat, (2013) confirmed about the effect of leaders on employees performance as it is clear that leaders in Khalifa company have great effect on the employees there and this is confirmed by the percentage of answers with strongly agree and agree as they both represent 91,2% from the whole answers and this doesn't mean that all employees think so as there are two answers as one strongly disagreed and another one who disagreed that leaders in Khalifa company affect employees performance.

Chart (2-4)

 The second question dealt with the degree of employees' satisfaction with the changes leaders are implementing within the company as Chart 2 shows that most participants agreed strongly that they are satisfied with leaders change as 19 person agreed strongly representing 82,6% and 6 persons agreed representing 17,4% and no one either disagreed or strongly disagreed representing zero percentages each. This confirms what Carter and Greer, (2013) stated about the strategic leadership that considers change one of its responsibilities as it is clear that leaders in Khalifa company are considering change an important part of their strategy because all employees see this.

Chart(3-4)

Chart(3-4) represents answers of participants on the third question that deals with the relationships between employees and leaders in Khalifa company as it shows that most participants agreed strongly that there are good relationships between leaders and employees in Khalifa company as 20 persons strongly agreed on that and 3 persons agreed representing 86,9% and 13,1% each respectively. This refers to what Popa, (2012) discussed regarding the relationship between leaders and employees and that it depends on deep understanding and cooperation just as leaders of Khalifa company.

Chart(4-4)

Chart(4-4) present percentages of question 4 answers which showed how leaders in Khalifa company encourage employees to do better as answers showed that they really encourage employees to do better as 18 persons strongly agreed and 5 agreed with percentages of 78,2% and 21,8% respectively. According to Yun, (2009) the employees need high encouragement from their leaders as this raises their performance and make them more enthusiastic to do better. 

Question 5

All answers affirmed that the company is following a transformational leadership style that depends on deep understanding for employees' needs and tends to achieve organizational changes which are tended to enhance employees performance as according to Sahgal and Pathak, (2007) transformational leadership affects the employees performance towards changes that are developed on the long run.

Validity and Reliability

This research was conducted on a valid sample from Khalifa company in order to measure how far they are satisfied with their leaders and the changes they are implemented to perform changes and the nature of the relationship between them and their leaders. Participants showed great responsibility in dealing with the questionnaire and they were so cooperative.

The current research depends on real questions and real answers from an organization that follows transformational leadership style and is applying changes according to the company's needs.