Thesis The Relationship Between Leadersh

Department of Social Sciences and Economics
The relationship between Leadership Styles, Organizational

Performance & Organizational Commitment
(The case study of ACU Curaçao)
Graduation Project Report ACU
Name of Student: Shandy Capella

Student ID Number: 1097121
Degree and Major: Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) of Business
Administration with a major in Human Resource Management & Communication
Studies (HRMCS)
Major Director: Mrs. Liza Chong
Date: 15th of April 2016
Internal Supervisor: Mrs. Liza Chong
The relationship between Leadership Styles, Organizational Performance & Organizational
Commitment
Submitted to the Faculty of Social Sciences and Economics

of the University of Curaçao Dr. Moises da Costa Gomez
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Bachelor of Applied Science in Business Administration
with a major in HRMCS
Student Name: Shandy Capella

Student ID#: 1097121
Date: 15th of April 2016
Graduation Project Committee
Committee Members Name and Title Signature
Graduation Project
Supervisor: Mrs. Liza Chong, Major Director |
First Internal Member: [Monique Emelina-Pieter, MBA] |
Second Internal
Member: [Angelo A. Davelaar] |
Table of Contents
Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................... 3
Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................... 1
Chapter 1 Introduction & Background ...................................................................................... 2
1.1 Introduction of the study ....................................................................................................... 2
1.2 Significance of the study....................................................................................................... 2
1.3 Background of the study ....................................................................................................... 3
1.4 Research objectives ............................................................................................................... 5
1.5 Assumptions & Limitations .................................................................................................. 5

1.5.1 Assumptions................................................................................................................... 5
1.5.2 Limitations ..................................................................................................................... 6
1.6 Chapter Outline ..................................................................................................................... 6
Chapter 2 Literature Review ....................................................................................................... 8
2.1 Introduction to Leadership .................................................................................................... 8

2.1.1 Different definitions of leadership behavior .................................................................. 8
2.1.2 Types of leadership behaviors ..................................................................................... 10
2.2 Introduction to Organizational Performance ...................................................................... 10

2.2.1 Different ways to measure organizational performance .............................................. 11
2.3 Organizational commitment................................................................................................ 12
2.4 The relationship between Leadership Styles, Organizational Commitment and

Organizational Performance ..................................................................................................... 13
2.4.1 The impact of Authoritarian/Autocratic Leadership style on organizational
performance and commitment .............................................................................................. 13
2.4.2 The impact of Democratic/Participative leadership style on organizational
performance and commitment .............................................................................................. 14
2.4.3 The impact of Laissez-faire leadership style on organizational performance and
commitment .......................................................................................................................... 15
2.4.4 The mediating effect of organizational commitment on leadership styles and
organizational performance .................................................................................................. 15
2.5 Conceptual Framework ....................................................................................................... 16
2.6 Research Question (RQ) & Sub-Questions (SQ) ................................................................ 17
Chapter 3 Methodology .............................................................................................................. 18
3.1 Participants .......................................................................................................................... 18

3.1.1 Target Population ......................................................................................................... 18
3.1.2 Sampling method ......................................................................................................... 18
3.2 Instruments .......................................................................................................................... 19

3.2.1 Measuring the demographics of ACU Curaçao ........................................................... 19
3.2.2 Measuring Organizational Commitment...................................................................... 19
3.2.3 Measuring Organizational Performance ...................................................................... 20
3.2.4 Measuring Leadership Styles ....................................................................................... 20
3.2.5 Questionnaire items ..................................................................................................... 20
3.3 Research Question & Sub-Questions Survey Variables ..................................................... 21
3.3 Procedures ........................................................................................................................... 23
3.4 Validity and Reliability ....................................................................................................... 25

3.4.1 Validity ........................................................................................................................ 25
3.4.2 Reliability..................................................................................................................... 25
3.4.3 Test reliability .............................................................................................................. 26
Chapter 4 Results & Discussion................................................................................................. 27
4.1 Demographics ..................................................................................................................... 27
4.2 The leadership style practiced at ACU Curaçao ................................................................. 29
4.3 The influence of the practiced Leadership Style on Organizational Performance ............. 30
4.4 The impact of Leadership Styles on Organizational Commitment ..................................... 34

4.5 How organizational commitment mediate the relationship between Leadership Styles and
Organizational Performance ..................................................................................................... 37
4.6 Analysis of the interview .................................................................................................... 39
Chapter 5 Conclusions & Recommendations ........................................................................... 41
5.1 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 41
5.2 Recommendations ............................................................................................................... 44
References .................................................................................................................................... 46
Appendices ................................................................................................................................... 50
Appendix 1: Demographics ...................................................................................................... 50
Appendix 2: Tables Sub-Question 1 ......................................................................................... 53
Appendix 6: Reliability Analysis .............................................................................................. 64
Appendix 7: Questionnaire for employees ............................................................................... 65
Appendix 8: Interview with HR Manager ................................................................................ 74
List of Figures
Figure 1: Organizational Structure of ACU Curaçao ..................................................................... 4

Figure 2: Organizational Performance Success ............................................................................ 11
Figure 3: Conceptual Framework ................................................................................................. 16
Figure 4: Employment working years........................................................................................... 28
List of Tables
Table 1: Organizational Structure of ACU Curaçao ..................................................................... 21

Table 2: Reliability of Organizational Commitment .................................................................... 26
Table 3: Gender and Age distribution........................................................................................... 27
Table 4: Employment status and Age distribution ........................................................................ 28
Table 6: Statistics of authoritarian, democratic & laissez-faire leadership style .......................... 29
Table 7: Statistics Organizational Performance High & Low mean Statements .......................... 31
Table 8: Organizational Performance Low & High values .......................................................... 32
Table 9: Statistics of overall Organizational Performance ........................................................... 32
Table 10: Symmetric measures of the influence of Democratic, Authoritarian & Laissez-faire
leadership style on Organizational Performance (correlation) ..................................................... 33
Table 13: Organizational Commitment's Highest and Lowest Mean ........................................... 34
Table 14:Organizational Commitment Low & High values & Actual Values ............................. 35
Table 15: Statistics of overall Organizational Commitment......................................................... 35
Leadership Style on Organizational Commitment (correlation) ................................................... 36
Table 19: Model Summary R-Square ........................................................................................... 38
Table 20: Anova table ................................................................................................................... 38
Executive Summary
This is a research study on the impact of leadership styles on organizational performance and
commitment at ACU Curaçao. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of
leadership styles (democratic, laissez-fair and autocratic) on organizational performance and to
find out whether there is an effect of organizational commitment as a mediator to improve
organizational performance in this organization. This research examines three independent
variables, which of the leadership styles, the dependent variable, which organizational
performance and the mediating variable, which organizational commitment.
The research methodology that was used is a survey using a combination of quantitative and
qualitative methods by using questionnaires for the employees and an interview with the HR
manager. A sampling size of 85 was chosen for this research, but only 75 questionnaires were
dispatched to ACU Curaçao, and 69 employees filled them in. Questionnaires were used as the
research instrument. The IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Statistics 23
was used to analyze and interpret the results to test reliability, the Pearson Correlation test and
linear regression.
The results of the research show that there is a slight significant relationship between the
leadership styles and organizational performance and organizational commitment. However, the
results show that there is a high degree of performance and commitment. Finally, the results also
show that organizational commitment does not mediate the relationship of between leadership
styles and organizational performance.
1
Chapter 1 Introduction & Background
1.1 Introduction of the study
Human resource (HR) is the heart of an organization; it has an important role in improving the
effectiveness and efficiency of an organization. Therefore, HR can be described as a driver of
competitive advantage that is incomparable. As a matter of fact, the success of an organization is
achieved through employee commitment by focusing on achieving the organization’s primary
goals. Furthermore, another important factor to measure an organization’s success is the
manager’s leadership style. The leadership style that is used by managers is the most common
factor that can influence an employee’s attitude and behavior which leads to an improved
organizational commitment and organizational performance. With that being said, managers are
able to influence their subordinates which leads to more committed and satisfied employees,
which in turn results into an increased productivity. In the past few years there has been a
revolutionary change in the ways the leadership and its attitudes are defined, moving from more
autocratic to a more participative approach. In the world of a global economy, people are
becoming more eloquent and more educated; they require a participative environment and more
inclusion in decision-making.
The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of leadership styles (democratic, laissez-faire
and autocratic) on organizational performance and to find out to find out if organizational
commitment functions as a mediator by emphasizing the above-mentioned factors that will
increase organizational performance. Commitment is a phenomenon that is an internal outflow
that varies with each individual; it drives each person to express at the moment. In other words, it
causes a person to become committed rather than create a circumstance in which the individual is
able to respond and show a positive attitude towards his/her job.
1.2 Significance of the study
The goal of any organization is not only to survive, but also to sustain its existence by improving
performance. In order to meet the needs of the highly competitive markets, organizations must
continually increase their performance. There have been many studies done about the role of
leadership and its influence on organizational commitment and job performance. As years pass
2
by, there have been many changes when it comes to human behavior. Thus, it is important to
investigate the influence of the leadership role and how organizational commitment can be the
mediator to enhance organizational performance. For this reason, the importance of this study is
to highlight the influence of leadership on organizational commitment and performance.
Furthermore, presenting an implementation plan to improve the relationship between leaders and
employees which will increase the commitment and result in high organizational performance.
This research study will be conducted at the ACU (Curaçao) company located at Scharloo with a
number of 113 employees who work either as part-time or full-time. ACU is a general credit
union company.
1.3 Background of the study
A general credit union company offers services such as; monetary, reserves and credit to their
members. A credit based company that works with a team with a shared vision, consists of
members that form a part of a particular group, belief, society or occupation.
The people that form part of a credit union company have the advantage to receive a great
amount of yields on reserves, low tariffs on credits. These associations globally provide more
than just monetary services. The company provides its partners an opportunity to build monetary
foundations in order to aid them to establish their own small business. Furthermost, each
member has the chance to be part of a decisions making process for the board directors
democratically.
ACU’s mission is to be a cooperative financial institution that is the property of members and
provides services to its employees. ACU is dedicated to promoting the welfare of its members by
providing a quality of financial related products and services that meet the needs of its members
and by offering permanent cooperative education and training in the broadest sense of the word.
Therefore, the company’s vision describes the future goals to be achieved. Based on the external
and internal analysis, the mission/vision is as follows: That ACU will become the biggest, the
best, the most customer driven company and innovative cooperative financial institution of the
region. The figure below shows the organizational structure of ACU Curaçao.
3
Figure 1: Organizational Structure of ACU Curaçao
Nowadays, organizational commitment is one of the most important factors a company should
obtain to achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, how to lead employees in ACU to improve the
organizational performance becomes an important issue for an organization. That is why this
research will investigate the problem more in depth which will later reveal what the measures are
that should be taken by the organization to improve the relationship between leaders and their
subordinates to result in high organizational performance.
To get a more in-depth view of the current situation the HR manager of ACU gave permission
for the employees to fill in the questionnaires during working hours that will be used for this
investigation. Also, the HR manager was willing to cooperate by answering a few questions via
an interview. This was possible in this company because the management was willing to provide
information from their HR database to be able to do this research. This research was possible to
conduct because of past experiences doing University projects, the HR manager has provided the
important HR forms and the Collective Labor Agreement (CAO) and the HR manager was also
very open when it came to in depth interviews.
4
1.4 Research objectives
Research objectives show the verifiable outcomes of a study. The research purpose provides an
exact, real, and attainable objective when doing an investigation. In order to have accurate
results, answer the research question and sub-questions, the research objectives are described as
follows:
1. To determine the impact of independent variables, dependent variables and mediating variable.
2. To determine the prominent leadership styles practiced.
3. To determine the influence of leadership styles on organizational performance.
4. To determine the influence of leadership styles on organizational commitment.
5. To determine the mediating effect of organizational commitment on leadership styles and
organizational performance.
1.5 Assumptions & Limitations
1.5.1 Assumptions
There are some assumptions concerning the main purpose of this research study. These
assumptions show the way to the conclusions of the results and recommendations for the
company.
The Research-Question (RQ) of this thesis was formulated as: “Is the leadership style practiced
at ACU having an impact on organizational commitment in such a way as to have a positive
result on job performance?” The assumption is that the leadership behavior practiced in the
company has a significant positive impact on organizational performance and organizational
commitment. It is also assumed that organizational commitment will mediate the relationship
between the leadership behavior practiced in the company and organizational performance.
While conducting this analysis of this research study the focus will be on the leadership behavior
practiced in so far as it enhances the organizational performance by measuring the degree of
commitment the employees have in order to mediate this relationship.
5
In the section on the methodology used, the empirical part of this research study incorporates
results of an interview and questionnaires. By dispatching questionnaires and administering an
interview with the HR manager, the assumption is that employees will express an accurate and
honest opinion concerning the company’s actual situation. In order to have accurate opinions of
the employees, the questions and statements are asked in a personal manner and also repeated in
another way to ensure consistency, reliability and validity when indicating the degree of
agreement or disagreement with the statements.
1.5.2 Limitations
The limitation of the consistency of this research is that many employees have different job
functions, which means that there will be a diversity of beliefs and opinions. Some of the
questionnaires had to be translated to Papiamentu upon request of the employees of ACU who do
not have a sufficient level of English. To participate in this research each individual must have
completed either a high school, or an MBO or a Bachelor’s degree level. Employees that were
excluded from this research study are the other 25 employees. This is because, out of 113
employees with a confidence level of 95%, a random sample size consisted of 88 employees. To
conclude, the limitation of this study is that only 69 employees filled in the questionnaires of the
75 that were handed out.
1.6 Chapter Outline
This paragraph provides a brief description of the further structure of this thesis.
Chapter 1: Introduction.
Chapter one is the introductory chapter which introduces the overall research project by
presenting the research background; explaining the problems which occurred in the current
context that prompted this research; setting research objectives to be achieved; and justifying the
significance of this research. This chapter provides an overview to readers to understand what
the research is all about.
6
Chapter 2: Literature review
Chapter two consists of a comprehensive review of information from secondary sources of data
are available on the topics of interest that are democratic, authoritarian, laissez-faire leadership
styles, organizational performance and organizational commitment. The secondary data refers to
other researchers ‘publications, such as thesis, academic articles and journals from online
databases. Information that is related to the research topic was studied and served as a reference
to formulate the conceptual framework, research question and sub-questions. The empirical
study of other researchers also demonstrates the relationship between related variables, which
was used to develop the research hypotheses.
Chapter 3: Methodology
Chapter 3 provides the following: Participants, procedures, instruments, validity and reliability.
This chapter is the guideline for the researcher to further accomplish this research. This chapter
clearly explains the methods and techniques that the researcher used for data collection and
analysis. The processes of research from the selection of samples, gathering of data and methods
to analyze data was based on the description of this chapter.
Chapter 4: Results & Discussion
Chapter four shows the results of the research and will discuss these results that were presented.
The discussion will include some statements by other researchers to support the results.
Chapter 5: Conclusions & Recommendations
Chapter five provides the conclusions and recommendations based on the results of the research
including recommendations for the company as to know how to become more effective and
suggestions to other researchers for further research on a similar topic.
7
Chapter 2 Literature Review
2.1 Introduction to Leadership
In the early twenties different theories of leadership were already existed and being used. Since
1900 different leadership theories were developed and are well-known as “Great Man” theories.
Concluding from that developed theory, leadership is an inner talent that an individual is born to
lead. Since then, these theories stated how leadership unfolds and develops in small and big
groups.
The purpose of the situational theory is to know which are the leadership behaviors that resulted
the best in specific situations. In 1980 the excellence was developed. This theory is about which
types of behaviors, ideal situations, group facilitation and traits are important for individuals to
lead an organization with excellence. There are more areas that have another influence in the
image of leadership. These are for example: historians, anthropologists and politics.
Leadership was defined as ‘imparting values and the purpose into a group of people,
organizations and society” by sociologists in 1957. Robert Greenleaf described leadership as:
“Great leaders serve the followers being led by them, therefore creating and maintaining an
environment that will encourage and support everyone in maximizing their potential”.
(Greenleaf, 1977)
2.1.1 Different definitions of leadership behavior
Leadership has different meanings and is difficult to find an “official definition “that suits best to
describe it. Leadership does not only describe a person, a group of people that are highly
positioned. Leadership is a practice where leaders involve themselves in various events with the
mindset to reach any attainable short-term and long-term goal. Leadership is about having the
attitude or behavior of a leader to assemble and lead followers/individuals towards achieving
objectives.
8
Leadership is a system of communication between a leader and an individual or a group of
people. Hence, the success of an organization is dependent on having a strong leader with the
right competencies that has an effectual leadership behavior. In all organizations leadership plays
a very important role.
There are multiple ways to define leadership from a different point of view.
a. Reach objectives through people: Many leaders do their outmost best to direct their teams or
groups to achieve goals successfully event though success is never possible without the work of
all teammates actively participating and working together. Therefore, it is important to find an
accurate description of leadership that includes a form of aid to others. Nowadays innovative
leaders have advanced towards other ways and turned it into investing in their people to earn
their trust, working with employees in a pleasant environment to attain objectives. In many
organizations people talk more about different types of management instead of leadership styles.
This type of leadership is mostly about leading out position and introducing the informal
leadership style. This means that a leader does not demand power in particular on individuals.
b. Having control on the capacity of leadership: This leadership style refers to the person who
excels in a team, club or group and has big influence in a team which automatically is considered
to be the team leader. In other words, this leadership style is described that a leader is dominant
over his people by obtaining a high position for an extended period. Therefore, it needs to be
clear that all people should have a common agreement to fulfill all regulations. For this
leadership style the relationship between the leader and his people and encouraging them is not
important.
c. An effective reshaping to achieve a more desirable: This leadership style is about confronting the
state of affairs to reach a more fitting world. A leader is someone that takes risks and that is
courageous to take a bold stand and make sure their voice is heard even though it may have a bad
outcome. Even if employees do not obtain the right competencies they also have the opportunity
and the right to develop themselves and become a bold leader and therefore have the power to
take responsibility.
9
2.1.2 Types of leadership behaviors
Leadership has multiple types of behaviors that are significant for an organization. The structure
implemented by (Hart & Quinn, 1993) which focuses on the roles of the manager is one that is
used by many organizations. This structure states that the managers of an organization have four
important functions that leads to enhancing performance in the organization. These four
functions are; setting goals and a vision, stimulator, supervisor and analyst.
Leadership is not only a natural born personality trait. There are many leadership styles. These
are the three leadership styles that will be used for this research
a. Autocratic leaders: These leaders are the types that translate their objectives by themselves
without including the opinions of their subordinates and afterwards require their subordinates to
carry out their appointed job duties unquestionably.
b. Democratic leaders: This leadership type simultaneously gets involved in setting the
organization’s goals with their subordinates but lets the subordinates make the final decision.
c. Laissez-faire leaders: These leaders are very free and easygoing. A laissez-faire leader gives his
subordinates the freedom to take any decisions that needs to be taken.
2.2 Introduction to Organizational Performance
The researcher (Chen, 2002), describes organizational performance as transforming inputs into
outputs that have positive results to accomplishing the organization’s objectives. Organizational
performance can be explained in many ways. However, in this report the results were concluded
based on the development of the organization and target results that has led ACU to an increase
of productivity.
For an organization to become successful, there are three important factors that lead to a good
organization performance. These are:
1. Effectiveness and authenticity procedures
2. HR and relationships
3. Modernization and adapting to surroundings. (Yukl G. , 2006)
10
Effectiveness
HR & Organizational
Relationships Performance
Modernization &
Adapting
Figure 2: Organizational Performance Success
Effectiveness is described as something that a company applies for its employees and all
resources to execute all main job activities with the goal to cut down company expenses. In order
to achieve reduced expenses that leads to enhancing the net operating margin and gain
competitive advantage, the capital and employees should be applied in a correct matter.
Relationships of Human Resource means being integrate, building trust, commitment to the
company, common and shared interests and goals among employees and teamwork according to
(Yukl, Bass, & Taber, 2002).
Innovation and adjustments means enhancing the sales volume in the market, customer growth
each year, reaching new targets and retain committed customers.
2.2.1 Different ways to measure organizational performance
The accomplishment of job functions is generally an examination of computing the variables of

subjective and measurable accomplishments of job functions that measures yields, expenses and
customers. The establishment of the applicable measurements that link to the organization’s
objectives based on their accomplishment of job duties is very significant for an organization.
Nowadays, executives realize the importance of using applicable measurements. This leads them
to set crucial work strength towards outlining the organization’s objectives, accomplishments of
job duties values’ to afterwards assess these measurements. Nonetheless, in practice, a study that
takes place without using an official research method has more advantage than using a
11
methodical method. To achieve progress, the first stage headed for a positive outcome during
research, is making the accessible data clear on executing values by showing the link between
them.
“Executives must stimulate innovation in the core strategy, Business, Model, processes, policies
and productivity”. (Hangstefer, 1997)
Therefore, to reach the company’s objectives, the framework should evolve in a way that it
sustains the expanse the right way. Even if it does not conform to the expanse of the company
this leads to a decrease of the company’s results.
2.3 Organizational commitment
(Becker, Randal, & Riegel, 1995) described organizational commitment in different ways. These
researchers described organizational commitment as, a fervent feeling to continue working in a
specific company combined with hard work and having the same values of the company to attain
the company’s goals. In other words, commitment is about being devoted to a company and
caring about the fate of the company and the accomplishments of the company are achieved by
the behaviors of the personnel.
(Mowday, Porter, & Steer, 1982) define organizational commitment as being devoted and have
emotional affection towards the company and invest a lot of energy to reach the company’s
objectives. However, (Salancik, 1977) has another point of view regarding organizational
commitment. He views loyalty as an attitude component because the manners of the personnel.
The personnel’s doings say a lot in the degree of their commitment towards the organization.
Three behavioral styles represent commitment. These are; taking initiative, the way results are
explained and the degree of flexibility and disposition for an individual to work for the company.
These behaviors become very important to achieve loyalty in a company.
(Mooday, 1982) states that being commitment does not necessarily mean that it will encourage a
co-worker to stay in a company regardless of the situations going on in the company.
Nonetheless it is also about the employees’ hard work. Past research has shown that
12
organizational commitment has a positive influence on organizational performance (Angle &
Perry, 1986).
Loyalty is not the same as inspiration. Inspiration is an element of loyalty, because maybe an
individual is unhappy with his/her job but has a high degree of loyalty towards the company. If
employees feel inspired and encouraged this shows a high a commitment towards the company
(Grant, Michael, & Hal, 2008).
Once job functions are accurately described and the personnel is doing exactly wat they are
chosen for, it will have motivated and content co-workers which in turn leads to organizational
commitment. According to (Akinboye, 2005), an optimistic attitude of supervisors stimulates
more commitment in their subordinates. If there is a good time management in a company
individuals become more stimulated and become more committed to their job (Webb, 2006).
2.4 The relationship between Leadership Styles, Organizational Commitment and

Organizational Performance
Managers have the ability to have great impact organizational performance and commitment
Leaders will influence organizational commitment and organizational performance because they
are able do to guide their subordinates to accomplish targets. Managers can guide an individual
or teams to achieve the company’s objectives and cultivate committed employees (Bass &
Reyes, 2015).
2.4.1 The impact of Authoritarian/Autocratic Leadership style on organizational performance and

commitment
A leader that is authoritarian will lead to almost no success in a company. Practically, there
is no improvement, advancements or positive shifting in the company. Accomplishments,
teamwork and responsibilities are not guaranteed in an authoritarian leadership style. This
leadership style results into holding an organization back which leads to no growth nor
achieving the organization’s objectives. Also, these leaders do not believe in teamwork and
encourage their employees to reach their highest potential. In general, there is no inclusion,
13
employees are not able to share their ideas nor visions for the organization. In other words,
subordinates who work for autocratic leaders must obey orders unquestionably (Michael,
2010).
According to (Hayes, 2015), co-workers that had an authoritarian leader were a lot under
pressure. Employees are not included when making important decisions and received strict
guidance. Hence, there is a negative impact on organizational commitment and organizational
performance.
2.4.2 The impact of Democratic/Participative leadership style on organizational performance and

commitment
The participative leadership style was concluded to be the most successful one (Lewin, 2012).
However, (Smith & Peterson, 1988) discussed that the success of this leadership style is based
the principles that are applied to execute management. On the other hand, an authoritarian leader
leads to a more desirable organizational performance. Yet, the participative type is efficient
when it is viewed as reflecting ethics, positivism and a stable democratic style is effective if the
role is seen as maintaining good morale and a steady level of efforts. A participative manager
strives for teamwork and inclusion.
The main purpose is to achieve loyalty and taking decisions fairly by including everyone. A co-
worker that strives to perform well and has high expectancies acknowledges that there is one
way to achieve them is by having stable employees. The participative leadership style leads to a
high organizational performance continuously. Research in the past has shown that the
participative leadership style has an affirmative impact on organizational commitment and
performance (Raffert & Griffin, 2006). According to (Scholl, 1981), people that appreciate
commitment reflect more loyalty to companies.
Finally, the participative leadership style is more embraced and applied compared to
authoritarian and laissez-faire leadership styles. Nowadays, it has resulted in development and
growth. (Bennis & Slater, 1990)
14
2.4.3 The impact of Laissez-faire leadership style on organizational performance and
commitment
The laid back leadership style can be seen as an absenteeism in a company. Laissez-faire leaders
practice a little supervision but do not communicate directly with their employees. (Avolio,
Lado, & Rowe, 2011) A laissez-faire leader does not interact with nor builds relationships his/her
co-workers. This leads too little or no successful company, (McAleer & Shannon, 2002). This
leadership style can also be seen as “avoidance leadership” (Rubin, 2005).
(Chen, 2002) suggests that a manager should avoid practicing this leadership. This way it will
increase the degree of commitment of the company. From the research of (Beer & Eisenstat,
2000), they proposed that manager who practice laissez-faire leadership behaviors will lead to
little organizational commitment and a low organizational performance.
2.4.4 The mediating effect of organizational commitment on leadership styles and organizational
performance
Researcher (Chen, 2002) came to conclusion that organizational commitment can mediate the
relationship between democratic leadership style and organizational performance. (Yiing & Bin
Ahmad, 2009) proposed that leadership behaviors influence organizational commitment.
Thereby, organizational commitment will influence organizational performance and mediate the
relationship between leadership styles and organizational performance.
15
2.5 Conceptual Framework
According to explanations, purpose, objectives and literature reviews above mentioned, this
study used leadership style as the independent variable, organizational performance as the
dependent variable and organizational commitment as the mediating variable to explore the
impact of leadership style on the relationship with organizational commitment and organizational
performance. Figure 3 presents the conceptual framework of the research study.
Organizational
Commitment
Leadership Organizational
styles Performance
Figure 3: Conceptual Framework
This conceptual framework shows how the leadership style practiced at ACU (independent
variable) influences the organizational performance at ACU (dependent variable) in a negative or
a positive way. Further, it measures whether organizational commitment (mediating variable)
can mediate this relationship between the leadership practiced style at ACU and organizational
performance.
16
2.6 Research Question (RQ) & Sub-Questions (SQ)
The Research Question (RQ) of this research study is as follows: Is the leadership style practiced
at ACU Curaçao having an impact on organizational commitment in such a way as to have a
positive result on organizational performance?
The sub-questions (SQ) of this research study are the following:

SQ (1): What leadership styles are being practiced at ACU Curaçao?
SQ (2): How is the present leadership style practiced at ACU Curaçao having an influence on
organizational performance?
SQ (3): How is the present leadership style practiced at ACU Curaçao having an influence on
organizational commitment?
SQ (4): Does organizational commitment mediate the relationship between the leadership style
practiced and organizational performance at ACU Curaçao?
17
Chapter 3 Methodology
3.1 Participants
This report contains the theory to explain the relationships between leadership styles,
organizational commitment and organizational performance. A survey was conducted using
questionnaires and an interview to gain a deeper understanding of the topic. Afterwards
presenting the results of the survey conducted and recommendations to implement a better
approach to enhance the relationship between leadership styles and organizational performance
were presented.
3.1.1 Target Population
Population means an entire group of people, events, or things of interest that the researcher
wants to investigate. The sample size for this research study consists of the 88 employees of the
113 employees who work at ACU. The number 88 is calculated based on a margin error of 5%, a
confidence level of 95% and a response distribution of 50% by using the (Sample Size
Calculator, 2004) from Raosoft. This research uses the random sampling method as the research
method so the sample can be an unbiased representation of a group.
3.1.2 Sampling method
The study used random sampling to collect data from employees of the credit union company
namely ACU and applied IBM SPSS Statistics 23 to perform data analysis. The reason for
choosing a random sampling method, is because each participant in the entire target population
has an equal chance of being selected. Eighty-eight questionnaires were dispatched in total. The
data collected for the investigation come from a combination of questionnaires to be filled in by
the employees, combined with an interview with the HR manager. Finally, 69 employees filled
in the questionnaires.
18
3.2 Instruments
The data were collected through the standardized questionnaire composed of two parts. The first
part measures the demographics, which includes age, gender, education and employment years in
the organization. The second part measures both the independent and dependent variables which
includes the three dimensions, which are organizational commitments, organizational
performance and leadership styles.
3.2.1 Measuring the demographics of ACU Curaçao
To measure the demographics of ACU Curaçao the nominal scale and ordinal scale has
been applied. Nominal scale is seen as the easiest type of measurement scale in which the
numbers or letters are allocated to object represent as labels for identification purpose. The
categories are mutually exclusive of all possibilities. There is a total of four demographics
in which some of the questions are formed in nominal scale and ordinal scale. There are two
questions which were designed by using nominal scale, these questions are 1 and 3, which
are the gender and employment status of the employees. The nominal, ordinal scale was
designed by psychologist (Stevens, 1946)
The ordinal scale is a measurement type for which the relative values of data are defined
exclusively in terms of being lesser or greater as compared with other data on the ordinal scale.
These may arise from categorical rating scales, or from converting interval scale data to become
ranked data. The ordinal scale questions were questions 2 and 4, which are age and working
years of the employees. And the rest of the questionnaire from questions 5 through 52, which
consisted of the organizational commitment, organizational performance and leadership styles
questionnaires.
3.2.2 Measuring Organizational Commitment
In the organizational commitment questionnaire, the questions are designed for the measurement
of the overall organizational commitment, as designed by (Porter & Smith, 1970) The
organizational commitment questionnaire consists of 15 items, of which 6 are negatively poled,
and will be reversed. A 7-point Likert scale was used (1 = strongly disagree/ 7=strongly agree) in
19
order to obtain the respondents’ opinion based on attitude measurement. This questionnaire was
used because it is reliable, as it has a score of 0.7. (See Table 2)
3.2.3 Measuring Organizational Performance
Furthermore, for the organizational performance, a standardized questionnaire consisting of 15

questions as designed by (Karamat, 2013) used a 3-point Likert (yes, sometimes, never) to
express the respondent’s agreement or disagreement with a series of statements that
characterized the factors organization performance. This questionnaire was used, as it is reliable
because it has a score of 0.7. (See Table 2)
3.2.4 Measuring Leadership Styles
In the leadership styles questionnaires, the questions are designed to measure democratic,
authoritarian and laissez-faire leadership styles. The questionnaire consists of 18 statements is
divided to three groups. This is a standardized questionnaire used from a project that was
measured the person-organization-fit in a company. This research measures laissez-faire,
democratic and authoritarian leadership styles. There were six statements for each leadership
style. A five-point Likert-scale (1=strongly disagree/5=strongly agree) was used to obtain the
respondents’ opinion based on leadership behavior measurement. This questionnaire was used
because the statistics that calculated the reliability show a score of 0.8, which is higher than 0.7.
(See Table 2)
3.2.5 Questionnaire items

The survey consisted of closed-ended questions in which all of the questions had a different
ranking order in the different categories. The questions were formulated as simply as possible to
be understandable and to prevent confusion when filling in the survey. Furthermore, the survey
contained 52 questions, with each question involving one or more variables. The demographical
part consisted of four questions regarding gender, age, employment status and employment labor
years. The organizational commitment questionnaire consisted of 15 questions, the
organizational performance part consisted of 15 questions and the leadership styles part consisted
of 18 questions. Because the survey was anonymous, this allowed the respondents to feel more
20
comfortable to participate. Nine questions were asked to the HR manager as an in-depth
interview. The employees had a deadline to fill in the survey of one day. To fill in the survey, the
duration could be approximately 20 minutes. Finally, the interview with HR manager lasted for
18 minutes.
3.3 Research Question & Sub-Questions Survey Variables
The Research Question (RQ) of this research study is as follows: Is the leadership style
practiced at ACU having an impact on organizational commitment in such a way as to
have a positive result on job performance?
SQ (1) What leadership styles are being Interview questions: SQ (1) 1, 2, 3
practiced at ACU? Survey questions: Leadership styles questionnaire
SQ (1): 35, 38, 41, 44, 47, 50 (Authoritarian
Leadership Style)
SQ (1): 36, 39, 42, 45, 48, 51 (Democratic Leadership
Style)
SQ (1): 37, 40 43, 46, 49, 52 (Laissez-faire
Leadership Style)
SQ (2) How is the present leadership Interview questions: SQ (1) 1, 2, 3 & SQ (2) 4, 5, 6, 7
style practiced at ACU having an Survey questions: Organizational Performance &
Leadership Styles Questionnaire
influence on organizational SQ (1): 36, 39, 42, 45, 48, 51 (Democratic Leadership
performance? Style)
SQ (2): 20, 24, 25, 28, 33, 34
SQ (3) How is the present leadership Interview questions: SQ (1) 1, 2, 3, & SQ (3) 8, 9
Survey questions: Organizational Commitment &
style practiced at ACU having an Leadership Styles Questionnaire
influence on organizational Style)
SQ (3): 7, 11, 13, 15, 16, 19 (reverse) + 5, 6, 8 ,9, 10,
commitment? 12, 14, 17, 18 (sum of all values)
SQ (4) Does organizational Interview Questions SQ (1) 1, 2, 3; SQ (2) 4, 5,6,7 &

SQ (3) 8, 9
commitment mediate the relationship Survey questions: Organizational Commitment,
Leadership Styles & Organizational Performance
between the leadership style practiced Questionnaire
and organizational performance at Style)
ACU?
SQ (2): 20, 24, 25, 28, 33, 34
SQ (3): 7, 11, 13, 15,16, 19 (reverse) + 5, 6, 8 ,9, 10,

12, 14, 17, 18 (sum of all values)
Table 1: Organizational Structure of ACU Curaçao
21
The structure of the interview and survey tools is described in table 1. For each research sub-
question the corresponding interview questions and survey questions are presented.
22
3.3 Procedures
This research study applied two methods, quantitative and qualitative research methods using a
combination of these two methods in order to have the empirical findings. The questions for
both, interviews and surveys were based on the sub questions of this research.
Quantitative research typically incorporates numbers and statistics. It consists of methodologies

that produce computable results. The measurable collected information can be used to determine
averages, highs and lows, and the rankings of an item when compared numerically with another
one.
The Qualitative analysis is an exploratory research. It is applied to have a better perception of

core motives, ideas, and causes. It shows understandings into the issue and helps to develop ideas
or hypotheses for a possible quantitative research that will follow.
This research was fundamentally conducted through primary data and secondary data by sending
out the questionnaires in hard copy to employees of ACU to fill in and conducting an interview
with the HR manager of ACU. The study used both the quantitative and qualitative research
methods. Many investigators apply diverse procedures specifically designed for the aim of the
research and the key deliverables that is needed.
Qualitative and Quantitative methodologies should be used by all these requirements and
procedures. The qualitative method is also used in this research study because it makes it
possible to answer to the questions of why, how and in what way. Furthermore, this applies
because an interview is conducted with the HR manager. This interview is necessary to go more
in-depth within the research. Therefore, the qualitative approach is equally important as
questionnaires because a researcher needs to collect the statistical or quantifiable data in order to
get a better view of the of the main purpose for the research.
The coding method for the quantitative analysis that was used is for example: Q1_Age (What is
your age? Q_2 Sex (Male, Female,) Q3_Needs (Employment status). Another example is when
23
using the Likert-scale from scale 1=Strongly Disagree to 7= Strongly Agree, the questions were
coded as 1= Strongly Agree, 2=Moderately agree. Some questions that are negative statements
were used to be reversed. Further, also the coding method of scale 1= yes, 2=sometimes and
3=never.
The demographics gives a view of how the company structure looks like. The answers to SQ (1)
the leadership styles questionnaire categorizes the questions that are part of authoritarian,
democratic and laissez-faire leadership styles. Afterwards, the three leadership styles were
summed up, a frequency table was created, with the statistics showing the mean, median and the
mode to see which leadership style is mostly practiced at ACU Curaçao. This becomes clearer to
by looking at the highest mean.
To answer SQ (2), the overall organizational performance was calculated by reversing all the
questions and thereby showing statistics of the mean, mode and the median. Then, the questions
with the highest mean and the lowest mean were shown. Finally, a cross tabulation with
correlations will be made in order to see if leadership styles/(autocratic, democratic and laissez-
faire) have a significant impact on organizational performance. These results are shown with
symmetric measures tables.
To answer SQ (3), the average of the overall organizational commitment needs to be known.
Organizational commitment was calculated by reversing six statements and summing them up
with the rest of the nine questions. This sum is presented in a statistics table showing the mean,
mode and median. Afterwards, the questions will with the highest mean and the lowest mean are
shown. At the end, a cross tabulation with correlations was made to see the influence of each
leadership style on organizational commitment. These results are shown with symmetric
measures tables.
To answer SQ (4), the independent variable (leadership style), dependent variable

(organizational performance) and mediating variable (organizational commitment), were
measured by creating an Anova table and a Model Summary table, to see whether there is a
24
mediating effect on the relationship between the leadership style practiced at ACU and
organizational performance.
The results of the qualitative analysis were summarized. Afterwards the conclusions are drawn
from these results.
3.4 Validity and Reliability
3.4.1 Validity
Validity means the research has the correct methods to be able to obtain the exact certainty. If the
research concluded that they are useable, it means that what was supposed to be measured has
been measured accurately. Validity is important when a researcher chooses to conduct studies
more thoroughly on people, small units or state of affairs. If an investigator concludes that
his/her research is useable, then it is assured that the results will be accurate and truthful.
Therefore, if a research does not have validity, it can be concluded that there was no accuracy in
the results during the investigation. (Churton & Brown, 2009)
The validity of this research study was estimated by sending a questionnaire to the employees of
the research company ACU. The HR manager was interviewed orally in her office. The required
results to conclude the research were found through the interview and the responses of the
employees. The study included a hard copy questionnaire handed out to employees. The
company as 113 employees and 69 filled in the questionnaires; therefore, the study is concluded
to be valid.
3.4.2 Reliability
Reliability refers to measuring the consistency in generating related results on different but
similar occasions or affairs. If a research states that it is reliable, that means that if it is repeated,
it will show matching or related findings. This will reinforce the results and confirm that the
population will accept the hypothesis or the intended research objectives. (Churton & Brown,
2009)
25
3.4.3 Test reliability
To test reliability, the Cronbach's Alpha was used in SPSS. Cronbach's Alpha is a sort of
measure of reliability. It is commonly used when you have multiple Likert questions in a
survey/questionnaire that form a scale to determine whether the scale is reliable. See table 2 to
view the statistical reliability of organizational commitment, organizational performance and
leadership styles.
Construct Cronbach's Alpha Cronbach's Alpha Nr of Items

Based on
Standardized Items
Organizational 15
.653 .656
Commitment
Organizational 15
.781 .800
Performance
Leadership Styles .668 .675 18
Table 2: Reliability of Organizational Commitment
The reliability of the research concludes that this can be proven if the researcher pre-tests the
questionnaire because the results of the constructs are higher than 0.7 To make the research more
reliable the experimental study is combined with hypothetical study. The research ensures
consistency because the results found were as expected because the organizational commitment
questionnaire showed a reliability factor of 0.7. The organizational performance questionnaire
shows a 0.8 reliability factor, and leadership styles shows a reliability factor of 0.7. These results
are higher than 0.7. Furthermore, more than 50 percent of the employees of the company
responded to the survey. Thus, it is concluded that the research reliable. (Cronbach's Alpha using
SPSS Statistics, 2013)
26
Chapter 4 Results & Discussion
4.1 Demographics
Conducting this survey, it was noteworthy that a total of the sample interviewed, 39% of the
population was between 22-34 years old. Moreover, 36. % of the employees interviewed are
between 35-44 years old. 10.% that filled in the survey are between 45-54 years old and 9%
between 55-64 years. Furthermore, the smallest age group was 21 years and under which
consisted 1% of males and 4% of females from the 69 employees. And. So this concludes that
the company has a big group of young professionals. Finally, of the 69 employees interviewed,
75.% were females and 25% were males. (See table 3 below)
Gender * Age
Count < 21 22 - 34 35 - 44 45 - 54 55 - 64 Total
Gender Male 1 7 5 1 3 17
Female 3 20 20 6 3 52
Total 4 27 25 7 6 69
Total Frequency % 5.79 39.1 36.23 10.14 8.69 100
Frequency: Male 1.44 10.14 7.24 1.44 4.35 24.6
Frequency: Female 4.35 28.98 28.98 8.69 4.35 75.3
Table 3: Gender and Age distribution
Of the 69 employees that were interviewed 87% work full-time and 9% work part-time. Of the
age range 22-34, 35% of the employees work full-time and 4% work part-time. Finally, of the
age 21 and under 1% employees work full-time and 4% work part-time. The age range of 22-34
are the ages of the new generation. This explains the above average of high performance and
commitment ACU Curaçao has. Hiring younger people means having energetic and innovative
employees, which leads to company growth. (See table 4 below)
27
Employment Status * Age Total
Count
< 21 22 - 34 35 - 44 45 - 54 55 - 64
Employment Full-time 1 24 23 7 5 60
Status Part-time 3 3 2 0 1 9
Total 4 27 25 7 6 69
Frequency Full-time 1.44 34.78 33.33 10.14 7.24 86.95

Frequency Part-time 4.35 4.35 2.89 0 1.44 13.04
Table 4: Employment status and Age distribution
Of the 69 employees, 44% employees have been working between 1 – 5 years. (See table 5
below). This is an indication of growth of the company by hiring new employees. This means
new ideas, more young people and a new generation which leads to a high performance
commitment.
Total
4% 2%1%
4% 16%
Less than 1 yr
13% 1-5
6 - 10
11 - 15
16 - 20
16% 21 - 25
44% 26 - 30
30 +
Figure 4: Employment working years
28
4.2 The leadership style practiced at ACU Curaçao
As mentioned before, the three leadership behaviors that were analyzed in this research study are
authoritarian, democratic and laissez-faire leadership behavior. To have an impression of which
leadership styles are more prominent in the organization, the variables were calculated based on
the mean, mode and the median. Furthermore, the analysis also presents the correlations between
the three leadership styles and the age groups, most importantly the relationship of the most
practiced leadership style and age groups. Finally, it shows which statement was the most
favorable for all the employees.
Sub-Question 1 is as follows: “What leadership styles are being practiced at ACU Curaçao?”
After analyzing the frequency table of the leadership styles, the results show that democratic
leadership style has an average of 22.2%. The statistics in table 6 show a mean of 20.4% for the
authoritarian leadership style. Furthermore, the average of the laissez-faire leadership style is
18.9%. The democratic leadership style has the highest mean. According to (Hart & Quinn,
1993) democratic leaders involve themselves in setting the organization’s goals with their
subordinates but, they let the subordinates make the final decisions.
Statistics
Autocratic Democratic Laissez-
faire
N Valid 69 69 67
Missing 0 0 2
Mean 20.41 22.23 18.90
Median 20.00 22.00 19.00
Mode 21 22 16
Table 5: Statistics of authoritarian, democratic & laissez-faire leadership style
According to the statistics in table 6, SQ (1) Q42 had the highest mean and SQ (1) Q45 had the
lowest mean.
29
Out of the 69 employees that were interviewed, in the leadership styles questionnaire the
statement SQ (1) Q42 that says “in my opinion, a leader should have frequent and supportive
communication with his employees”, the frequency analysis shows that 49.3% strongly agree on
this statement, while only 1.4% strongly disagree with this statement. This statement’s average
was prominent among the other statements. (See appendix 1, table 2.3)
SQ (1) Q45 refers to the statement “The leaders in this organization help their employees accept
responsibility for completing their work”. This statement has the lowest average of all the
statements regarding the democratic leadership styles. The frequency analysis shows that 37.7%
of the employees have a neutral opinion about this statement and 8.7% strongly disagree with
this statement. (See appendix 2, table 2.4)
Compared to research done in the past according to Lewin (1939) a democratic leader is more
efficient. On the other hand, an authoritarian leader leads to a more desirable organizational
performance. Yet, the participative type is efficient when it is viewed as reflecting ethics,
positivism and a stable democratic style is effective if the role is seen as maintaining good
morale and a steady level of efforts. A participative manager strives for teamwork and inclusion.
From the research of (Beer & Eisenstat, 2000), they concluded that manager who practice
laissez-faire leadership behaviors will lead to little organizational commitment and a low
organizational performance. From the results it shows that the democratic leadership style is the
most practiced at ACU Curaçao. Past research supports this result
4.3 The influence of the practiced Leadership Style on Organizational Performance
After analyzing data to know which leadership behavior is prominent, the next step is to analyze
whether there is a significant influence of the democratic leadership behavior on organizational
performance. Also, the frequency in which the statistics of with the highest and lowest mean are
shown. In other words, the most frequent statements that were positively or negatively answered
by the respondent with the highest and lowest average are shown. Moreover, it is important to
know the influence of authoritarian and laissez-faire leadership behavior to know to make a
comparison as to which leadership behavior is more prominent.
30
Sub-Question 2 is leads as follows: “What is the influence of the practiced leadership style on
Organizational Performance?”
Statistics Q33 Q21 Q24 Q25 Q20
N
69 69 69 69 69
Valid
Mean 2.01 1.43 1.43 1.43 1.43
Table 6: Statistics Organizational Performance High & Low mean Statements
The statistics in table 7 shows that SQ (2) question 33 has the highest mean. The question is
described as follows: “do you get rewards for your performance?” has a mean of 2.01. Of the 69
employees that filled in the survey, 30 responded that they “sometimes” receive rewards for their
performance. This is a total of 71% of the respondents. This result explains the above average
performance rate of the company, because the employees are rewarded for their performance.
The SQ (2) questions 20, 21, 24 and 25 all together have a mean of 1.43. These are the questions
with the lowest average among all the fifteen questions.
SQ (2) Question 20 is described as “Are you exactly doing the task what you are chosen for?”,
whereas 47 of the employees from 69 responded positively that they are doing the right task they
are chosen for. This is a total of 68.1%. (See appendix 3, table 3.2)
SQ (2) Question 21 is formulated as “Are you encouraged to use the standard procedures?”.
From the 69 employees 62.3% responded with a “yes” that they are being encouraged to apply
the company’s standard procedures. (See appendix, table 3.3).
SQ (2) Question 24 is formulated as follows; “Are you pushed for improved quality?”. The
frequency table shows that 45 employees responded with a “yes” that they are being encouraged
for an improved quality. This is a total of 65.2% of the 69 employees interviewed. (See appendix
3, table 3.4)
Even though these statements have the lowest mean, this is positive for ACU Curaçao because
more than half of the employees interviewed are doing the tasks they are chosen for, are being
encouraged to use standard procedures and are pushed for improved quality, and this leads to a
high performance.
31
SQ (2) Question 25, is described as “Are you motived towards accomplishing a goal or a task?”.
The frequency table shows that 58% of the employees are being motivated to accomplish a goal
or a task. (See appendix 3, table 3.5)
The organizational performance questionnaire consisted of fifteen questions. All these questions
were statements were reversed and summed together. The scale is a 3 Point-Likert scale. In order
to indicate if there is a low or high organizational performance, the minimum (lowest)
performance value is 15 and the maximum (highest) performance is 45. This calculation is based
on 15 (questions) x 3 (likert-scale) = 45.
The lowest performance rate is between less than < 15, an average performance is between 15
and 30. Finally, a high performance rate is more than 31 to 45. Table 7 shows the performance
rates intervals and actual rates intervals from the results.
Performance Value (score) Actual Value Frequency
Results
Minimum (Low) < 15 and under NA NA
Medium (Average) 15 - 30 21 - 30 18.8%
Maximum (High) 31 > and higher 30 - 35 44.9%
45
Table 7: Organizational Performance Low & High values
The statistics in table 7 above shows that the of the overall organizational performance of ACU
Curaçao has a mean is 35,28 and the median is 36, this concludes that the organization has a high
performance. Moreover, the lowest value is 21. Moreover, the frequency row indicates that the
medium performance of the company is 18.8% between values 21 and 30. The medium-to-high-
performance is 44.9%, rating from a minimum value of 30 to 35.
Statistics
Mean 35.28
Median 36.00
Mode 34
Table 8: Statistics of overall Organizational Performance
32
A cross tabulation was made in order to measure the influence of democratic, leadership
behavior on organizational performance. Table 9 also shows the influence of the authoritarian
and laissez-faire leadership behavior on organizational performance. The symmetric measures
show that the value is 0.2. This means there is very little influence of the democratic leadership
behavior on organizational performance.
Symmetric Measures: Value Value Value
(Democratic) (Autocratic) (Laissez-
faire)
Interval by Interval Pearson's R .110 .061 .300
Ordinal by Ordinal Spearman .153 .109 .286
Correlation
N of Valid Cases 69 69 67
leadership style on Organizational Performance (correlation)
The symmetric measures in table 9 show a value rate of 0.1 of the authoritarian leadership style
on organizational performance. It can be concluded that there is no influence of the authoritarian
leadership style on organizational performance. Furthermore, as shown in table 9, the symmetric
measures analysis show that the influence of laissez-faire leadership has value is 0.3. Compared
to the democratic and authoritarian leadership style, laissez-faire leadership style has more
influence on the organizational performance of ACU Curaçao.
The participative leadership style was concluded to be the most successful one according to
Lewin (1939). However, Smith and Peterson (1988) discussed that the success of this leadership
style is based the principles that are applied to execute management. On the other hand, an
authoritarian leader leads to a more desirable organizational performance. Practically, no
personal or organizational change, growth and development are involved. Yet, the participative
type is efficient when it is viewed as reflecting ethics and positivism, and a stable democratic
style is effective if the role is seen as maintaining good morale and a steady level of effort.
Cheng (2003) suggests that a manager should avoid practicing laissez-faire leadership style. This
way it will increase the degree of commitment of the company. From the research of (Beer &
33
Eisenstat, 2000), proposed that managers who practice laissez-faire leadership behaviors will
achieve little organizational commitment and a low organizational performance.
4.4 The impact of Leadership Styles on Organizational Commitment
The research study continues with analyzing the impact of democratic leadership style on
organizational commitment at ACU. To analyze this sub-question, the results present a frequency
table which shows the statistics of the fifteen questions showing the average of each question. In
this part, the highest and the lowest mean are presented. Organizational Commitment was
measured by reversing out of the fifteen questions, six negative questions and totaling the
reversed ones up with the nine questions. The steps on how the value of the organizational
commitment is measured are explained as follows.
Sub-Question (3) is formulated as follows: “How is the present leadership style practiced at ACU
Curaçao having an influence on organizational commitment?”
Statistics Q5 Q11
N
Valid 69 69
Mean 6.38 3.49
Table 10: Organizational Commitment's Highest and Lowest Mean

The statistics in table 13 shows, that SQ (3) question 5 has the highest mean and SQ (3) question
11 has the lowest mean. (See appendix 4, table 4.1) Question 5 is “I am willing to put in a great
deal of effort beyond that normally expected in order to help this organization be successful” has
a mean at 6.38%. Therefore, 44.9% moderately agree with this statement. (See appendix 4, table
4.2)
Therefore, SQ (3) Question 11 has the lowest mean at 3.49%. The question is formulated as
follows: “I could just as well be working for a different organization as long as the type of work
was similar”. Therefore, 72.5% Neither disagree/ nor Agree with this statement. (See appendix
4, table 4.3) These results show that there is an average degree of commitment even though
employees still feel neutral if they would at another organization if the type of work is similar.
34
This mane that either the employees would want another challenge if they are working at another
organization or that they prefer a similar job at another organization.
The scale of the statements of the organizational commitment questions was a 7 Point-Likert
scale. Thereby, in order to measure whether there is a high or low organizational commitment at
ACU, the minimum (lowest) performance value is 15 and the maximum (highest) performance is
105. This calculation is based on 15 (questions) x 7 (likert-scale) = 105. The lowest performance
is indicated as a value of less than < 30, an average performance is between 31 and 60, and a
high performance is more than 61>. See table 14 below to view the performance rates intervals
indicated to determine the performance of the company and also the actual interval rates from the
research.

Results
Minimum (low) < 30 and under NA NA
Medium (average) 31 - 60 51-60 10.6%
Maximum (high) 61 > and higher 105 61- 76 51.5%
Table 11:Organizational Commitment Low & High values & Actual Values
The statistics in table 14 on page 34, indicate that the overall organizational commitment of ACU
Curaçao has a mean is 75.9%, the median is 76% and the mode is 73%. The frequency row
shows the total organizational commitment measurements and shows that the degree of a
medium commitment is 10.6% which are the values between 51 and 60. The medium-to-high-
performance is 51.5%, rating from a maximum value of 62 to 76.
Statistics
Mean 75.95
Median 76.00
Mode 73
Table 12: Statistics of overall Organizational Commitment
35
The values of cross tabulations can be between 0 and 1; the lowest is 0 and the highest is 1.
Therefore, the symmetric measures in table 16 show a value of 0.1. That concludes that there is
little influence of democratic leadership style on organizational commitment.
The correlations of authoritarian leadership style and organizational commitment show
symmetric measurements of a value of -0.2. This means there is a negative relationship.
Finally, the symmetric measurements of the influence of laissez-faire leadership style on
organizational commitment have a value of 0.1
Symmetric Measures Value Value Value

(Democratic) (Autocratic) (Laissez-
faire)
Interval by Interval Pearson's R .110 -.117 .068
Ordinal by Ordinal Spearman .153 -.212 .113
Correlation
N of Valid Cases 69 66 64
Leadership Style on Organizational Commitment (correlation)
To conclude, there is little influence of the democratic, authoritarian and laissez-faire leadership
styles on the commitment of the employees of ACU Curaçao. Compared to other research
studies done in the past, according to researchers Rafferty and Griffin (2006) there is a positive
association between democratic leadership and organizational commitment. Besides, Scholl
(1981) states that individuals that value loyalty show greater commitment to the organization.
On the other hand, when leaders practice authoritarian leadership styles, commitment, creativity
and innovation. Cooperation, achievement and commitment are restrained, according to (Hayers,
2000). Therefore, there is negative impact on employee commitment. Most individuals are
familiar with this kind of leadership because such leaders are prevalent even today. The
authoritarian leadership style is generally not considered one of the best methods of leadership.
(Beer & Eisenstat, 2000; Chen et al., 2005), recommend that supervisors not consider practicing
the laissez-faire leadership style because the end results will be an ineffective organizational
commitment.
36
4.5 How organizational commitment mediate the relationship between Leadership
Styles and Organizational Performance
The method of calculating a mediator is by having one or two predictor(s) variables that affects
an outcome. For instance, “Does X, predict M which in turn predicts Y”?
In this case, sub-question (4) is formulated as follows: “Does organizational commitment

mediate the relationship between the leadership style practiced and organizational performance
at ACU Curaçao?” The mediator is based on a linear regression scatter plot by adding a third
variable.
In this research, the model is presented as follows:

Independent Variable = Leadership Styles
Mediator Variable = Organizational Commitment
Dependent Variable = Organizational Performanc
The purpose of correlations:
A correlation is a statistic that explains whether there is a relationship or association between any
two variables. In this case, a correlation consists of two dimensions which is by measuring the
strength and direction.
1. Strength: To know how strong or weak the relationship between two variables. The
correlation is from 0 and 1. A correlation of 0.01 means a weak relationship and a
correlation of 0.09 means a strong relationship between the two variables.
2. Coefficient direction: Whenever presenting a graph of two variables that move in the
same direction, it indicates a positive correlation. A positive correlation means that both
variables move in the same direction - as one goes up, the other goes up, or vice versa.
This is called a positive correlation because when the equation is done to come up with
the correlation coefficient, the result is going to be a positive number. In other words, if
the variable x increases and the y increases, there is a positive relationship. A negative
correlation means that the two variables move in the opposite direction from each other
as one goes up, the other goes down.
37
Model R R Square (R2)
1 .110a .012
a. Predictors: (Constant), Average Democratic Leadership Style
b. Dependent Variable: Average Organizational Performance
Table 14: Model Summary R-Square
The model summary in table 17 above shows the R and R2 values. The R value represents the
simple correlation, which shows the relationship of the leadership style and organizational
performance, which is 0.110 (the "R" Column), which indicates that the two variables are a little
bit related to each other, but not much. The R2 value (the "R Square" column) indicates how
much of the total variation is in the dependent variable (organizational performance) by the
predictor variable (democratic leadership style). The R2 is 0,01. (See table 18)
ANOVAa
Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
1 Regression .090 1 .090 .826 .367b
Residual 7.331 67 .109
Total 7.421 68
a: Dependent Variable: Organizational Performance
b: Predictors: (Constant) Democratic Leadership style
Table 15: Anova table
This table shows that the regression model, which predicts the dependent variable significantly
well. To understand this better, the "Significance" column indicates the statistical significance of
the regression model. When the significance (sig) is less than 0.05 this means that the regression
model statistically predicts the outcome variable which is the dependent variable (organizational
performance).
The anova table shows a significance of 0.367 and so this concludes that it does not predict the
dependent variable. This means that organizational commitment does not mediate the
relationship between the leadership style practiced which is democratic and organizational
performance.
38
To conclude, even though in the past some research studies have shown that organizational
commitment can mediate the relationship between leadership styles and organizational
performance, according to Chen (2004).
4.6 Analysis of the interview
An oral interview was held with the HR manager of ACU Curaçao, Ms. Trivia Spencer. This
interview was based on what kind of leadership styles the HR manager is using and the methods
used to motivate the employees and enhance organizational performance.
The management of ACU is not using a specific method to motivate their employees at the
moment. The only time is when there are appraisal interviews where the managers decide if an
employee can receive incentives based on their performance. Furthermore, the employees may
also be rewarded when it is their birthday, on Mother’s Day or Father’s day for example.
The manager helps the employees to achieve targets by setting the targets at the beginning of the
year, then every month the employees are supervised to see if they are performing their tasks to
achieve their targets. And by filling in the performance appraisal forms, the manager has a better
view of which things the employees need to work on to enhance their performance.
To accomplish goals, the employees are able to follow workshops or courses in order to develop
their competencies. If for a certain job function the employee still lacks some competencies the
manager is also able to send the employee to take courses and attend to workshops and trainings
to develop more skills so, he/she is then able to achieve targets.
The company grew a lot more than in a short period of time, because there was another CEO and
the company and he had a more innovative vision. Also, the company received more exposure in
a short time, which led to hiring more employees which led to more growth.
What the management tries to do is to structure all tasks as much as possible. However, they do
not have an organizational structure in the sense of all the functions of each employee.
39
The company does not have a specific tool to measure the organizational performance of the
company, the only tool that is used is, is through appraisal review performance.
The company does not use methods to obtain organizational commitment, perhaps once in a
while when there are job satisfaction questionnaires for example done by other companies, ACU
makes use of these to know the degree of job satisfaction and commitment of the employees.
40
Chapter 5 Conclusions & Recommendations
5.1 Conclusions
The main purpose of this study is to determine the impact of leadership styles (democratic,
laissez-faire & autocratic) on organizational performance and to find out if organizational
commitment is a mediator to enhance organizational performance. The company in the research
was ACU Curaçao. There are 113 employees working at ACU, of whom 69 filled in the
questionnaires followed by an oral interview with the HR Manager.
This research was conducted to investigate by what means the company towards success and
reaches objectives, and the degree of commitment of the employees with the support of
leadership styles. Different leadership styles were discussed.
Sub-Question 1 SQ (1) was formulated as follows: “What leadership styles are being
practiced at ACU Curaçao?”
It can be concluded, as that the democratic leadership style has a mean of 22.2%, that it is the
prominent leadership style practiced. This result indeed relates to the mission ACU stands for be
a cooperative financial institution that is the property of its members and provides services to its
employees and that its associates take decisions democratically. However, it seems like the
company almost practices a combination of both authoritarian and democratic leadership style
seeing that they have close average, the authoritarian leadership style has a mean of 20.4%.
Furthermore, it is concluded that a majority of the employees, which are 49.3%, find it is
important that a leader has frequent and supportive communication with their employees.
Finally, all the three leadership styles have a strong influence on the ages between 22-34. This
age group strongly agree with the most prominent statements of each leadership style practiced.
41
Sub-Question 2 SQ (2) was described as follows “What is the influence of the practiced
leadership style on Organizational Performance?”
It can be concluded from the statistics show that 71.0% of the employees are sometimes
rewarded for their performance.
Therefore, the company’s overall performance is a high performance because the statistics show
a rate of 35.38%, the highest rate is 45%.
From the symmetric measures it can be concluded that there is little influence of the democratic
leadership style on organizational performance seeing that the value is 0.2 The values can be
between 0 and 1. The result is close to 0.
Furthermore, it can also be concluded that authoritarian leadership style has no influence on
organizational performance seeing that the result is 0.1there is also very little influence on
organizational performance. The value of the laissez-faire leadership style is 0.3.
Sub-Question 3 SQ (3) Was formulated as follows “How is the present leadership style
practiced at ACU Curaçao having an influence on organizational commitment?”
From the results it can be concluded that the employees of ACU Curaçao are willing willing to
put in a great deal of effort beyond that normally expected in order to help the organization be
successful, seeing that this statement had the highest mean in the statistics table.
The overall commitment of the company is high, because the result shows a rate of 75.9% which
is between the high-performance rate that is 60 and 105%.
Finally, to conclude the democratic and laissez-faire leadership style have both the same amount
of influence on organizational commitment, which is a value of 0.1. And, the authoritarian
leadership style has no influence at all because it has a value of -0.2, which is below 0. The
values must be between 0 and 1.
42
Sub-Question 4 SQ (4) is formulated as follows: “Does organizational commitment mediate
the relationship between the practiced leadership style and organizational performance at
ACU Curaçao?”
From the results it can be concluded that organizational commitment does not function as a
mediator for the relationship between leadership style and organizational performance. The
reason for this is because the R-square is 0.012 which is very low and close to 0%.
From the interview it is concluded that the HR manager practices a combination of authoritarian
leadership style and laissez-faire. Because the manager sets a working structure and it is the
employees’ task to fulfill the targets that are set by the manager. Meaning, employees should just
to their job and they are being appraised every two or three months.
Decisions are not made democratically. There is little focus on building relationships between
employees.
On the other side, the manager does not monitor the employees regularly, but they are being
appraised only during the appraisal interviews mostly. So this explains a little back of a laid back
leader.
The Research-Question (RQ) was formulated as follows: “Is the leadership style practiced
at ACU Curaçao having an impact on organizational commitment in such a way to have a
positive result on job performance?”
Concluding from the results, ACU Curaçao has a high organizational performance and
commitment. However, there is little impact of the practiced (democratic) leadership style which
is the democratic way. So the positive results are not achieved based on the leadership style
practiced but it is based on the employees’ efforts.
43
5.2 Recommendations
This research shows that leaders can have a big impact on organizational commitment and
organizational performance because leaders are able to guide subordinates to accomplishing
targets. The research further describes various leadership styles and the influence of each style
on the firms’ organizational performance and organizational commitment. During conducting
this study, it is important to define if there are statistically relationships between leadership
styles, organizational performance and organizational commitment.
Therefore, one can utilize these concepts for the future research particularly for managers
working in the related field, mostly organizations that focus on assisting clients and reaching
targets. Further research should also be done on topics such as job satisfaction and ethical
climate, which is important to measure the moral atmosphere of the work environment and the
level of ethics practiced within a company. Finally, this research gives a view how to enhance
the company outcome, increase organizational commitment and encouraging subordinates to
achieve their objectives.
For this reason, it is recommended for the company to hire a consultant in order to train the
management to develop their competencies more in the democratic leadership style, since that is
the leadership style that is mostly practiced even though it has little impact on the performance
and commitment of the organization. Therefore, a democratic leader according to (Ittner C,
2002) & (Milgron, 1991) generally is seen as an advantage for many organizations. This
leadership behaviors’ purpose is that the leaders give direction and helps their group and sectors
whereas being considerate and receiving feedback or ideas from the employees individually.
Leaders that practice a democratic leadership style do not practice authority only when setting
target. Nonetheless, these leaders involve themselves into guiding their subordinates.
Furthermore, it is important that a leader practices “emotional Intelligence”. Emotional

intelligence is about sharing the leaders’ vision, creating solid relationships with the employees
and help them accomplish their objectives. Giving the leaders a training will empower them to
enhance their leadership skills and this in return will help them to empower their employees to
even greater organizational performance and commitment and to keep it consistent. Also, to
44
organize a democratic dialogue for the employees where they are able to express their opinions
on how to empower the leadership. Fact is the company is growing due to more clients and
therefore it is imperative that the performance, commitment and service remain the same. How to
keep this consistent, is by giving training to leaders and to the employees. This will ensure that
the current employees can refresh their knowledge, and share their experience while the new
employees gather, get to know the work ethics of ACU Curacao and personal growth.
45
References
Akinboye, J. (2005). Executive behaviour battery. Ibadan: Stirling-Horden Publishers.
Angle, H. L., & Perry, J. L. (1986). Dual Commitment and Labor-Management Relationship
Climates. The Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 29, No. 1, 31-50.
Avolio, B., Lado, A., & Rowe, W. (2011). Effects of Leadership Style on Organizational
Performance. Retrieved from Australian Journal of Business and Management Research:
http://www.ajbmr.com/articlepdf/ajbmr_17_16i1n7a11.pdf
Bass, B., & Stogdill, R. (2013). Bass & Stogdill's Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research &
Managerial Applications.
Bass, J., & Reyes, S. (2015). The effect of leadership in achieving high performance workforce
that exceeds organizational expectations. Global Business and Management Research:
An International Journal Vol.7 No. (2), 88-94.
Becker, T., Randal, D., & Riegel, C. (1995). The multidimensional view of commitment and
theory of reasoned action. Journal of Management 21 (4), 617– 638.
Bennis, W., & Slater, P. (1990). The Temporary Society. Oxford Journals: Social Forces, 358-
359.
Chen, Z. (2002). Loyalty to supervisor vs. organizational commitment. Retrieved from

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1348/096317902320369749/pdf
Churton, M., & Brown, A. (2009). Theory & Method. Retrieved from he.palgrave.com:
https://he.palgrave.com/page/detail/?sf1=barcode&st1=9780230217812
Cronbach's Alpha using SPSS Statistics. (2013). Retrieved from Aerd Statistics:
https://statistics.laerd.com/spss-tutorials/cronbachs-alpha-using-spss-statistics.php
Grant, A. M., Michael, M., & Hal, R. G. (2008). Relational Job Design and the Motivation to
Make a Prosocial Difference. Academy of Management Review 32 (2), 393-417.
Greenleaf, R. (1977). The Servant as a Leader.
Hangstefer, J. (1997). Creating and Sustaining Company Growth: An Entrepreneurial

Perspective for Established Companies. Retrieved from https://publications.theseus.fi
46
Hart & Quinn. (1993). Human Relations. Roles Executives Play: CEOs, Behavioral Complexity,
and Firm Performance.
Hayes, A. (2015). Diabolical dictators or capable commanders? An investigation of the

differential effects of autocratic leadership on team performance. The Leadership
Quarterly: Volume 26, Issue 5, 687-701.
Ittner C. (2002). Determinants of performance measure choice in work incentive plans.

Retrieved from Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review:
http://www.omicsonline.com/open-access/effect-of-leadership-style-on-employee-
performance-2223-5833-1000146.php?aid=58917
Karamat, A. U. (2013). Bachelor Thesis: Impact of Leadership on Organizational Performance.

Retrieved from Academia: http://www.academia.edu
Lado, A. (2000). A Competency-based Model of Sustainable Competitive. Retrieved from Sage

open: http://www.sgo.sagepub.com/
Lewin, K. (2012). The Impact of Autocratic and Democratic Leadership Style on Job
Performance. International Business Research: Volum 5, No. 2, 193-201.
McAleer, J., & Shannon, M. (2002). Human Resource Management: organizational succes.
Journal of Information Systems Applied Research (JISAR) , 23-56.
Michael, A. (2010). Leadership style and organizational impact. Retrieved from The American
Library Association-Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA): http://www.ala-
apa.org
Milgron, P. (1991). Incentive contracts, asset ownership and job design. Retrieved from Arabian
Journal of Business and Management Review: http://www.omicsonline.com/open-
access/effect-of-leadership-style-on-employee-performance-2223-5833-
1000146.php?aid=58917
Mooday, R. (1982). Commitment and Perceived Organizational Support. National Forum of

applied educational research volume 12, nr 3, 1-13.
Mowday, R., Porter, L., & Steer, R. (1982). Employees organization linkages. New
York:Academic Press. Organisation Behaviour. London: Prentice-Hall.
47
Raffert, A., & Griffin, M. (2006). Dimensions of transformational leadership: Conceptual and
empirical extensions. . The Leadership Quarterly, 15, 329-354.
Research Data Management Toolkit: Research Lifecycle. (2015). Retrieved from University
Library Guides: http://guides.is.uwa.edu.au/c.php?g=325196&p=2178558
Rowe, W. G. (2001). Creating Wealth in Organizations: The Role of Strategic Leadership.

Retrieved from Australian Journal of Business and Management Research:
http://www.ajbmr.com
Rubin, R. (2005). Leading from within: the effects of emotion, recognition and personality on
leadership behavior. Academy of Management Journal: Vol. 48, No. 5, 845–858.
Salancik, G. (1977). Commitment and the control or organizational behaviour and belief.
Chicago: St Clair Press , 1-59.
Sample Size Calculator. (2004). Retrieved from Raosoft:

http://www.raosoft.com/samplesize.html
Scholl, R. (1981). Differentiating organizational commitment from expectancy as a motivating

force. Academy of Management Review, 6., 589-599.
Smith, P., & Peterson, M. (1988). Leadership, organizations and culture. Journal of
Organizational Behavior: Vol 11, issue 1, 6-195.
Stevens, S. S. (1946). On the theory of scales management. American Journal of Psychology.
Webb, N. (2006). Evaluating executive performance in the service sector. . International Public
Management Review, 7(2) , 98-117.
Yiing, L. H., & Bin Ahmad, K. Z. (2009). The moderating effects of organizational culture on
the relationships between leadership behavior and organizational commitment and
between organizational commitment and job satisfaction and performance. . Leadership
& Organization Development Journal, 30 (1) , 53-86.
Yukl, G. (2006). Leadership in Organizations. Retrieved from sagepub.com:

http://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/33554_Chapter1.pdf
48
Yukl, G., Bass, B., & Taber, T. (2002). How leaders influence organizational effectiveness.
Retrieved from researchgate.net:
https://www.researchgate.net/file.PostFileLoader.html?id
49
Appendices
Appendix 1: Demographics
Figure 1.1 Gender
Gender Percent
25%
Male
Female
75%
Figure 1.2 Age Categories
Age Categories Percent

9% 6%
10%
21 and under
22 - 34
39% 35 - 44
45 - 54
55 - 64
36%
50
Figure 1.3 Employment Status
EMPLOYMENT STATUS
Part-time
Total
Full-time
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Figure 1.4 Employment Years
Total
4% 2%1%
4% 16%
Less than 1 yr
13% 1-5
6 - 10
11 - 15
16 - 20
16% 21 - 25
44% 26 - 30
30 +
51
Table 1.5 Gender & Age
Gender * Age Crosstabulation
Count
Age
21 and under 22 - 34 35 - 44 45 - 54 55 - 64 Total
Gender Male 1 7 5 1 3 17
Female 3 20 20 6 3 52
Total 4 27 25 7 6 69
Table 1.6 Employment Status & Age
Employment Status * Age Crosstabulation

Count
Age
21 and under 22 - 34 35 - 44 45 - 54 55 - 64 Total
Employment Status Full-time 1 24 23 7 5 60
Part-time 3 3 2 0 1 9
Total 4 27 25 7 6 69
52
Appendix 2: Tables Sub-Question 1
Table 2.1 Statistics of Authoritarian, Democratic & Laissez-faire Leadership Styles

Statistics
AuthoritarianLea DemocraticLead
dSum Sum LaissezfaireSum
N Valid 69 69 67
Missing 0 0 2
Mean 20.41 22.23 18.90
Median 20.00 22.00 19.00
Mode 21 22 16a
a. Multiple modes exist. The smallest value is shown
Table 2.2 Highest Mean & Lowest Mean Organizational Commitment Questions
Statistics Q42 Q45

N Valid 69 69
Mean 4.36 3.17
Table 2.3 Question 42

Frequent and supportive communication
Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Strongly Disagree 1 1.4 1.4 1.4
Neutral 6 8.7 8.7 10.1
Agree 28 40.6 40.6 50.7
Strongly Agree 34 49.3 49.3 100.0
Total 69 100.0 100.0
53
Employees get responsibility to complete their work
Cumulative
Valid Strongly Disagree 6 8.7 8.7 8.7
Disagree 10 14.5 14.5 23.2
Neutral 26 37.7 37.7 60.9
Agree 20 29.0 29.0 89.9
Strongly Agree 7 10.1 10.1 100.0
Total 69 100.0 100.0
Table 2.5 Democratic leadership style & Age group (question 42)
Age * Frequent and supportive communication Crosstabulation

Count
Frequent and supportive communication
Strongly
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree Total
Age 21 and under 0 0 1 3 4
22 - 34 0 1 10 16 27
35 - 44 1 3 9 12 25
45 - 54 0 1 5 1 7
55 - 64 0 1 3 2 6
Total 1 6 28 34 69
54
Table 3.1 Statistics Organizational Performance High & Low mean Statements
Statistics Q20 Q21 Q24 Q25 Q33

N
69 69 69 69 69
Valid
Mean 1.43 1.43 1.43 1.43 2.01

Right task for which you're chosen
Cumulative
Valid Yes 47 68.1 68.1 68.1
Sometimes 18 26.1 26.1 94.2
Never 3 4.3 4.3 98.6
7 1 1.4 1.4 100.0
Total 69 100.0 100.0

Encouraged to use standard procedures
Cumulative
Valid Yes 43 62.3 62.3 62.3
Sometimes 22 31.9 31.9 94.2
Never 4 5.8 5.8 100.0

Total 69 100.0 100.0

Pushed for improved quality
Cumulative
Valid Yes 45 65.2 65.2 65.2
Sometimes 18 26.1 26.1 91.3
Never 6 8.7 8.7 100.0

Total 69 100.0 100.0
55
Motived towards accomplishing goals/task
Cumulative
Valid Yes 40 58.0 58.0 58.0
Sometimes 28 40.6 40.6 98.6
Never 1 1.4 1.4 100.0
Total 69 100.0 100.0

Rewarded for performance
Cumulative
Valid Yes 19 27.5 27.5 27.5
Sometimes 30 43.5 43.5 71.0
Never 20 29.0 29.0 100.0
Total 69 100.0 100.0
56
Table 3.7 Statistics of Total Reversed Organizational Performance
Statistics
TotalRevOrgPer
N Valid 69
Missing 0
Mean 35.28
Median 36.00
Mode 34
Table 3.8 Overall Organizational Performance Interval Rate and Actual Organizational
Performance rate

Results
Minimum (Low) < 15 and under NA NA
Medium (Average) 15 - 30 21 - 30 18.8%
Maximum (High) 31 > and higher 30 - 35 44.9%
45
Table 3.8 Symmetric measures of the influence of Democratic leadership style on Organizational
Performance (correlation)
Symmetric Measures
Value
Interval by Interval Pearson's R .110

Ordinal by Ordinal Spearman Correlation .153
N of Valid Cases 69
57
Table 3.9 Symmetric measures of the influence of Authoritarian leadership style on
Organizational Performance (correlation)
Symmetric Measures
Value

N of Valid Cases 69
Table 3.10 Symmetric measures of the influence of Laissez-faire leadership style on

Organizational Performance (correlation)
Symmetric Measures
Value

N of Valid Cases 67
58
Table 4.1 Statistics Organizational Commitment High & Low mean Statements
Statistics Q5 Q11
N
Valid 69 69
Mean 6.38 3.64

I am willing to put in a great deal of effort beyond that normally expected in order to help this
organization be successful.
Cumulative
Valid Slightly Disagree 1 1.4 1.4 1.4
Neither Disagree/nor Agree 2 2.9 2.9 4.3
Slightly Agree 5 7.2 7.2 11.6
Moderately Agree 23 33.3 33.3 44.9
Strongly Agree 38 55.1 55.1 100.0
Total 69 100.0 100.0
Table 4.3 Question 11 reversed
OrgComQ11r
Cumulative
Valid 1 8 11.6 11.6 11.6
2 12 17.4 17.4 29.0
3 14 20.3 20.3 49.3
4 16 23.2 23.2 72.5
5 6 8.7 8.7 81.2
6 8 11.6 11.6 92.8
7 5 7.2 7.2 100.0

Total 69 100.0 100.0
59
Table 4.4 Statistics of Total Organizational Commitment
Statistics
TotalOrgCom
N Valid 66
Missing 3
Mean 75.95
Median 76.00
Mode 73a
Table 4.5 Overall Organizational Commitment Interval Rate and Actual Organizational
Commitment rate
Results
Minimum (low) < 30 and under NA NA
Medium (average) 31 - 60 51-60 10.6%
Maximum (high) 61 > and higher 105 61- 96 51.5%
Table 4.6 Symmetric measures of the influence of Democratic Leadership Style on

Organizational Commitment (correlation)
Symmetric Measures
Value

N of Valid Cases 69
60
Table 4.8 The influence of Authoritarian Leadership Style on Organizational Commitment
(correlation)
Symmetric Measures
Value
Interval by Interval Pearson's R -.117

Ordinal by Ordinal Spearman Correlation -.212
N of Valid Cases 66
Table 4.11 The influence of Laissez-faire Leadership Style on Organizational Commitment

(correlation)
Symmetric Measures
Value

N of Valid Cases 64
61
Table 5.1 Model Summary R-squares

Model Summaryb
Adjusted R Std. Error of the

Model R R Square Square Estimate Durbin-Watson
1 .110a .012 -.003 .331 1.881
a. Predictors: (Constant), AverageDemLead

b. Dependent Variable: AverageOrgPer
Table 5.2 Anova table
ANOVAa
Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
1 Regression .090 1 .090 .826 .367b
Residual 7.331 67 .109
Total 7.421 68
a. Dependent Variable: AverageOrgPer

b. Predictors: (Constant), AverageDemLead
62
Figure 5.3
63
Appendix 6: Reliability Analysis
Table 6.1 Organizational Commitment Reliability
Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's Alpha
Based on
Cronbach's Standardized
Alpha Items N of Items
.653 .656 15
Table 6.2 Organizational Performance Reliability
Cronbach's Alpha
Based on
.781 .800 15
Table 6.3 Leadership Styles Reliability
Cronbach's Alpha
Based on
.668 .675 18
64
Appendix 7: Questionnaire for employees
For my final graduation project, I am conducting a research concerning the influence of

Leadership styles on Organizational Commitment and Organizational Performance.
Part 1: Demographics
1. Gender
o Male
o Female
2. What is your age?

a) 21 and under
b) 22 – 34
c) 35 – 44
d) 45 – 54
e) 55 – 64
f) 65 +
3. What is your employment status?

o Full-time
o Part-time
4. How long have you been working for this organization?

a) Less than 1 year
b) 1–5
c) 6 – 10
d) 11 – 15
e) 16 – 20
f) 21 – 25
g) 26 – 30
h) 30 +
65
Part 2: Organizational Commitment
Instructions:
Listed below are a series of statements that represent possible opinions might have about the
company or organization for which they work. With respect to your own opinion about your own
organization, please indicate the degree of your agreement or disagreement with each statement
by circling one of the seven alternatives below each statement.
5. I am willing to put in a great deal of effort beyond that normally expected in order to help this
organization be successful.
Strongly Moderately Slightly Neither Disagree/ Slightly Moderatel Strongly
Disagree Disagree Disagree nor Agree Agree y Agree Agree
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
6. I talk up this organization to my friends as a great organization to work for.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
7. I feel very little loyalty to this organization.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8. I would accept almost any type of job assignment in order to keep working for this organization
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
9. I find that my values and the organization's values are very similar.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
10. I am proud to tell others that I am part of this organization.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
66
11. I could just as well be working for a different organization as long as the type of work was
similar.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
12. This organization really inspires the very best in me in the way of job performance.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
13. It would take very little change in my present circumstances to cause me to leave this
organization.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
14. I am extremely glad that I chose this organization to work for over others I was considering at
the time I joined.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
15. There is not too much to be gained by sticking with this organization indefinitely.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
16. Often, I find it difficult to agree with this organization's policies on important matters relating to
its employees.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
17. I really care about the fate of this organization.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
67
18. For me this is the best of all possible organizations for which to work.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
19. Deciding to work for this organization was a definite mistake on my part.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
68
Part 3: Organizational Performance
Instructions:
Listed below are a series of statements that represent possible opinions that individuals might
have about the company or organization for which they work regarding their performance. With
respect to your own opinion about your own organization, please indicate the degree of your
agreement or disagreement with each statement by circling one of the alternatives below each
statement.
20. Are you exactly doing the task what you are chosen for?
□ Yes □ Sometimes □Never
21. Are you encouraged to use the standard procedures?

□ Yes □ Sometimes □ Never
22. Do you have freedom of action?

23. Are you satisfied with the settlement of the conflicts that happen?
24. Are you pushed for improved quality?

25. Are you motived towards accomplishing a goal or a task?
69
26. Are you allowed to have your own judgment in solving problems?
27. Do you get support for building a team?

28. Do you get strong backup to beat previous targets?
29. Do you get complete freedom in your work?

30. Do you have opportunity to work in the way you think is best?
31. Do you get a high degree of initiative?

32. Are you permitted to set your own pace for change?
33. Do you get rewards for your performances?

34. Do you think the HR manager helps you in all the best possible ways to lead you towards
success?
70
Part 3: Leadership Styles
Purpose
1. To identify the style of leadership in your organization / department
2. To examine how this leadership style relates to other styles of leadership
Directions
1. For each of the statements below, circle the number that indicates the degree to which you
agree or disagree.
2. Give your immediate impressions. There are no right or wrong answers.
Strongly Strongly
Statements disagree Disagree Neutral Agree agree
35. It is a supervisor's task to supervise
the employees closely. 1 2 3 4 5
36. The supervisor should let the
employees be a part of the decision-
making process. 1 2 3 4 5
37. In complex situations, leaders
should let subordinates work
problems out on their own. 1 2 3 4 5
38. Generally speaking, our supervisors
are of the opinion that most
employees are lazy. 1 2 3 4 5
39. A good leader should provide
guidance without pressure. 1 2 3 4 5
40. Our leaders give us free reign when
we are doing our jobs. 1 2 3 4 5
41. It is a leader's task to give rewards
or punishment to motivate
employees to achieve organizational 1 2 3 4 5
71
objectives.
42. In my opinion, a leader should have

frequent and supportive
communication with his employees. 1 2 3 4 5
43. In my opinion a leader should allow
his employees to appraise their own
work. 1 2 3 4 5
44. In my opinion most employees feel
insecure about their work and need
direction. 1 2 3 4 5
45. The leaders in this organization help
their employees accept
responsibility for completing their
work. 1 2 3 4 5
Strongly Strongly
Statements disagree Disagree Neutral Agree agree
46. The leaders in this organization give
their subordinates complete
freedom to solve problems on their
own. 1 2 3 4 5
47. The leader in this organization are
the chief judge of the achievements
of the members of the group. 1 2 3 4 5
48. It is the leader’s job to help
subordinates find their "passion". 1 2 3 4 5
72
49. In this organization in most
situations, employees prefer little
input from the leader. 1 2 3 4 5
50. Effective leaders give orders and
clarify procedures. 1 2 3 4 5
51. People are basically competent and
if given a task will do a good job. 1 2 3 4 5
52. In general, it is best for leaders in
this organization to leave
subordinates alone. 1 2 3 4 5
Thank you for your cooperation!
73
Appendix 8: Interview with HR Manager
1. What methods do you use motivate your employees?
2. How do you reward your employees?
3. How do you help in achieving targets?
4. How do you help in accomplishing goals?
5. How did the company grow in a short period of time?
6. How does leadership behavior help in business growth of the organization?
7. How do you measure the performance of the organization and employees?
8. How do you measure commitment?
9. What methods have you used to gain commitment from your team?
74

Thesis The Relationship Between Leadersh

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Thesis The Relationship Between Leadersh

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Thesis The Relationship Between Leadersh

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Department of Social Sciences and Economics

The relationship between Leadership Styles, Organizational

Graduation Project Report ACU

Name of Student: Shandy Capella

Submitted to the Faculty of Social Sciences and Economics

Student Name: Shandy Capella

Graduation Project Committee

Committee Members Name and Title Signature

First Internal Member: [Monique Emelina-Pieter, MBA] |

Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................... 3

Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................... 1

Chapter 1 Introduction & Background ...................................................................................... 2

1.1 Introduction of the study ....................................................................................................... 2

1.2 Significance of the study....................................................................................................... 2

1.3 Background of the study ....................................................................................................... 3

1.4 Research objectives ............................................................................................................... 5

1.5 Assumptions & Limitations .................................................................................................. 5

1.6 Chapter Outline ..................................................................................................................... 6

Chapter 2 Literature Review ....................................................................................................... 8

2.1 Introduction to Leadership .................................................................................................... 8

2.2 Introduction to Organizational Performance ...................................................................... 10

2.3 Organizational commitment................................................................................................ 12

2.4 The relationship between Leadership Styles, Organizational Commitment and

2.5 Conceptual Framework ....................................................................................................... 16

2.6 Research Question (RQ) & Sub-Questions (SQ) ................................................................ 17

Chapter 3 Methodology .............................................................................................................. 18

3.1 Participants .......................................................................................................................... 18

3.2 Instruments .......................................................................................................................... 19

3.3 Research Question & Sub-Questions Survey Variables ..................................................... 21

3.3 Procedures ........................................................................................................................... 23

3.4 Validity and Reliability ....................................................................................................... 25

Chapter 4 Results & Discussion................................................................................................. 27

4.1 Demographics ..................................................................................................................... 27

4.2 The leadership style practiced at ACU Curaçao ................................................................. 29

4.4 The impact of Leadership Styles on Organizational Commitment ..................................... 34

4.6 Analysis of the interview .................................................................................................... 39

Chapter 5 Conclusions & Recommendations ........................................................................... 41

5.1 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 41

5.2 Recommendations ............................................................................................................... 44

Appendix 1: Demographics ...................................................................................................... 50

Appendix 2: Tables Sub-Question 1 ......................................................................................... 53

Appendix 3: Tables Sub-Question 2 ......................................................................................... 55

Appendix 4: Tables Sub-Question 3 ......................................................................................... 59

Appendix 5: Tables Sub-Question 4 ......................................................................................... 62

Appendix 6: Reliability Analysis .............................................................................................. 64

Appendix 7: Questionnaire for employees ............................................................................... 65

Appendix 8: Interview with HR Manager ................................................................................ 74

Figure 1: Organizational Structure of ACU Curaçao ..................................................................... 4

Table 1: Organizational Structure of ACU Curaçao ..................................................................... 21

1.2 Significance of the study

1.3 Background of the study

1.5 Assumptions & Limitations

1.6 Chapter Outline

Chapter 4: Results & Discussion

Chapter 5: Conclusions & Recommendations

2.1.1 Different definitions of leadership behavior

2.2 Introduction to Organizational Performance

Figure 2: Organizational Performance Success