IMPACT OF PERSONALITY TRAITS AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS OF PRINCIPAL OFFICERS ON EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF A MULTI-CAMPUS TERTIARY INSTITUTION IN OGUN STATE NIGERIA
FEJOH JOHNSON (Ph.D)
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS STUDIES
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
OLABISI ONABANJO UNIVERSITY,
AG0-IWOYE, OGUN STATE
E-Mails: ;
Tel Nos: +234-8034028505; 8055280864
AND
OGUNDIPE, M. ADENIYI (Ph.D)
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT
TAI SOLARIN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION
IJAGUN, IJEBU-ODE, OGUN STATE
IMPACT OF PERSONALITY TRAITS AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS OF PRINCIPAL OFFICERS ON EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF A MULTI-CAMPUS TERTIARY INSTITUTION IN OGUN STATE NIGERIA
ABSTRACT
This study investigated relative impacts of personality traits and leadership skills ofprincipal officers on the effective management of a multi-campus tertiary institution in Ogun State, Nigeria.The descriptive survey research designwas adopted. Stratified and purposive sampling techniques were used to select 250 respondents (students, 125; academic staff, 50; and non-academic staff, 75).One research question was answered at 0.05 level of significance. Data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis.Personality traits and leadership skill variables made significant prediction in the following order:drive (β=0.16, p<0.05); initiative (β=0.11, p<0.05); persistence (β=0.11, p<0.05); authority and responsibility (β=0.10, p<0.05); intelligence (β=0.09, p<0.05); inter-personal relations skills (β=0.06, p<0.0); and self-confidence (β=0.06, p<0.05) contributed significantly to effective management of multi-campus tertiary institution.Personality traits and leadership skills of principal officers effectively enhanced the effective management of a multi-campus tertiary institution in Ogun State. Therefore, personality traits of managers of multi-campus tertiary should be taken into consideration when appointments are to be made for the achievement of institutional goals.
Key words: Personality traits, Leadership skills, Principal officers, Multi-campus tertiary institutions, Effective management.
Introduction
Past studies on multi-campus institution management are relatively few in the context of effective administration considering personality traits and leadership skills of managers and using different managerial styles. However, studies have focused on specific areas of management issues that relate to efficiency in funding and expenditure profiles, learning and teaching outcomes among others (Scott, Grebennikov and Johnston, 2007). In a study of Australian multi-campus universities with respect to the link between various measures of profiles and performance, Scott, et al, (2007) established that, the Australian multi-campus universities have different educational and funding profiles relative to other sectors in management of resources. Differences in cost profiles across multi-campus are reported to be more strongly associated with their age than with their campus structures. Besides, the study did not record any statistical significant differences in management performance related to learning and teaching between multi-campus and other universities.
The term traithas been the source of considerable ambiguity and confusion in the literature, referring sometimes and variously to personality, temperaments, dispositions and abilities as well as to any enduring qualities of the individual, including physical and demographic attributes. Early researches into leadership were basically referred to as searching for the great man. Personal characteristics of leaders were emphasized and the implicit idea was that leaders are born and not made. All leaders were supposed to have certain characteristics that made them into leaders. The focus was on identifying and measuring traits that distinguished leaders from non leaders, from effective to non effective leaders (Hollander and Offermann, 1990). From this perspective, Den Hartog and Koopman (2011) posited that a profile of an ideal leader could be derived which could serve as the basis for selection of future leaders.
According to Bryman (1992), three main categories of personal characteristics were included in the search for ‘great man’. First, physical features such as height, physique, appearance and age. Secondly, ability characteristics such as intelligence, knowledge, and fluency of speech. And third, personality traits such as dominance, emotional control and expressiveness, and introversion-extroversion. Previous researches have shown the effect of leaders traits on the management of organizations. In 1974, after reviewing 163 studies that had been reported between 1949 and 1970, Stogdill showed that contrary to what has been concluded form earlier reviews, several universal personal traits and skills (such as vigour and persistence in the pursuit of goals, self confidence and tolerance for uncertainty and frustration) were indeed associated with leadership (Bass, 1990). Other studies have also shown that traits or personal characteristics do play a more significant role in leadership than was concluded earlier (e.g Kirkpatrick and Locke, 1991; Lord, De Vader and Allinger, 1986).
The multi-campus university system in Nigeria owes its evolution to the impact of astronomical increase in candidates’ base or student enrolment. Previous facilities no longer capable of sustaining the system as education witnessed a sharp increase in staff needs, students’ needs, instructional structures and equipment. The limitation of land space available for expansion of the existing and conventional single campus system compounds the situation (Fejoh, 2010).
There is also the fact of programmes diversification dictated by changing career and labour market trends. Time there was when graduates of liberal arts held sway in public section employments and constituted themselves, into the catalysts of societal development. Today.things have changed, as direction of development is now dictated by scientific and technological encumbrances which, oftentimes, are out of the local control of individual constituents but marshaled by the idiosyncrasies of the comity of nations.
Affecting the programmes diversification will be identification of areas or regions providing the most efficient and benevolent modus operandi of implementation. Hence, the need, mutatis mutandis, to locate programmes in areas or regions with optimum resources (like the case of OlabisiOnabanjo University locating its college of agricultural science in Ayetoro where there is very large fertile land space) that will assure easy operationalization and promote fulfillment of aspiration – both of government or sponsors, the public(s) and the direct beneficiaries (the students).
The Joint Campuses Coordination Committee may be the group name for arrangements whereby the system, therefore, is subjected to central Governing Council Matters, Central Graduation, and Central Establishment rules and regulations.The lower Unit Level/Local Guiding Committee relates to the individual Campus’s Management Board/Academic Board, Fund Allocation Committee, Appointments/Promotions and Staff Development Committee, et cetera.
Ewers (2000), while working on multi-campus universities in Australia confirms that there had not been enough of studies of multi-campus universities before year 2000, although universities work in ever more locations. He contends that analysis of geographically dispersed organizations will help identify mechanisms required to assure quality in more than one location and associated issues. He further identifies four distinct models and characteristic issues and ways to address them. The issues of multi-campus institutions may include fragmentation, duplication, inconsistency and in equitability over a range of areas of activity. These problems are similar to those attributed to autonomous or devolved structures. They are exacerbated by the forces of geography. The levels of inconsistency give rise to this four-fold categorization referred to as models.
Shoemaker et al (2000) describe five objectives to guide selection of a model for a multi-campus university around program quality, student service, efficiency and cost, and then the model should also strive to weaken the bureaucratic silos that often are a part of the academic world. Reducing barriers or deconstructing silos is a challenge for all universities, but for multi-campus universities it is probably a greater challenge. Barriers inherent in academic environments due to the long history of organization by discipline also result from physical distance (sometimes within a single campus) or structures or practices that create a real or perceived sense of isolation. They can arise from different institutional origins of a merged university and funding models. How well university management systems deal with them influences success in achieving corporate goals. It is therefore imperative to have it at the back of ones mind that several factors are likely to have direct and relative impact of the management of such multi-campus tertiary institutions. In the case of this study, personality traits and leadership skills of the managers are given consideration.
The study by Scott et al (2007) concluded its findings by noting that multi-campus universities are achieving similar performance outcomes with fewer resources and that an objective measure of extent of multi-campus university operation should be recognized and used in government funding allocation formulae. Meanwhile, Adigun (1995) concluded a study on a contingency approach to effective management of a multi-campus institution of higher technical education. He established that the application of contingency approach to effective management has merits of being one of the management styles of higher technical education. The study also established that communication skill is a very essential quality of a manager of such institution while significant relationship existed between the ability of the manager to motivate the workers and organizational goals achievement of multi-campus tertiary institution of technical education. Adigun (1995) concluded in his findings that the contingency approach to management is more effective than the system approach to managing a multi-campus institution of technical education.
As established by various studies, effectiveness in organizational management is contingent to environment where the manager operates (Adigun, 1995; Akintayo, 2003; Holland, 2004; Clifford, 2004).
For the reason of the desire to understand and improve leadership effectiveness and abilities and the vast amount of alternative devoted to the subject, leadership in organizations and leadership performance have been defined in several ways (Bass & Stodgill,1990). In most cases, leadership is defined as a process of non-coercive social influence whereby a leader guides the activities of members of a group toward shared objectives and goal in an organization (Bryman, 1992, Hemphill & Coons, 1957, Jago, 1982, Stodgill 1950)
There have been various methods by which leadership effectiveness can be measured .In the early twentieth century to the early 1950’s, researches on leadership were concentrated primarily on the personality character of the individuals (Gibb.1947; Jenkin, 1947; Stodgill,1948). Meanwhile, leadership researches in the 1960’s focused on the behaviors of leaders with an emphasis on the most effective leadership style (HalpinWiner, 1957; Kahn & Katz, 1953, Katz, Maccoby & Morse, 1950). However, in the late 1960s through the latter half of 1970s a more theory based approached was utilized with an emphasis on the exchange between leaders and followers as well as contingency approaches to leadership analyzing the effects of situation variables (Fiedler, 1965; House & Mitchell, 1974; Graen & Cashman,1975 & Soyode, 2001)
Contemporary approaches to leadership research have concentrated on a blend of variables to explain effectiveness and commitments. These approaches emphasize the cognitive effect of leaders on their followers and in addition, take into consideration the influence of both the leaders on their followers on the organization itself through structural, cultural and performance measures (Conger & Kanungo, 1988; Sashkin, 1988).
Statement of the Problem
Past studies have shown that traits or personal characteristics do play a significant role in managing organization. It is instructive to note that a multi-campus tertiary institution is not just that simple formal organization because of its complex nature. It has complex tasks and certain goals orientation. As an institution, it operates a definite structure and has specialized, delimited objectives often emanating from outside the structure. Therefore, the degree of effectiveness with which its tasks are carried out and its goals are achieved is dependent upon quality of leadership, effective management vis -a-vis personality traits and leadership skills of the managers.
Against the foregoing, the study sought to examine the impact of personality traits and skills of principal officers as managers on the effective management of multi-campus tertiary institution for educational service delivery in Ogun State, Nigeria.
Objectives of the Study
The objective of the study was to determine the impact of personality traitsand skills of the principal officers on effective operation of a multi-campus tertiary institution in Ogun State;
Research Question
This study was guided by one main research question.
RQ Do personality traitsand leadership skills of principal officers of the institution have any impact on effective management of a multi-campus tertiary institution in Ogun State?
Methodology
The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study consisted of the workers and students in OlabisiOnabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye and its three other campuses. Members of academic staff, non-academic staff and students of the University participated in the study.
The multi-stage sampling technique was adopted for the study. This was on account of the different categories of participants that constituted the population of this study .The stratified and purposive sampling techniques were finally adopted to select 125 staff and 125 students. The main instruments used for data collection were set of questionnaires tagged “Management Effectiveness Scale” (MES) and “Institutional Management Effectiveness Scale” (IMES). The data collected were analyzed, using Multiple Regression Analysis at 0.05 alpha level.
Results of Analysis
Multiple regression analysis (MRA) provided the information needed to answer the question. The relative effects of the independent variables (self confidence, persistence, inter-personal skills, initiative, intelligence, drive and authority/responsibility) on dependent variable (effective operation of a multi-campus tertiary institution) were obtained by regressing the dependent variable on the independent variables. The table belowpresents the results.
Relative impact of Personality traits and skills of Principal Officers of the Institution on Effective Operation of a Multi-Campus Tertiary Institution
Factors / B / Std. Error / Beta / T / Sig.(Constant) / 90.236 / 8.886 / - / 10.154 / .000
Self-Confidence / 2.628 / .576 / .060 / 2.826 / .005
Persistence / 2.142 / .433 / .112 / 4.986 / .000
Inter-Personal Skills / 2.127 / .698 / .065 / 3.067 / .002
Initiative / 2.985 / .549 / .116 / 5.438 / .000
Intelligence / 2.734 / .557 / .094 / 4.905 / .012
Drive / 3.537 / .435 / .163 / 8.135 / .000
Authority/Responsibility / 3.517 / .626 / .109 / 5.618 / .000
*Significant at P <0.05
Interpretation
Above table is explained by writing the regression equation as shown below.
Y = 90.23 + 2.6X1 + 2.1X2 + 2.1X3 + 2.9X4 + 2.7X5 + 3.5X6 + 3.5X7
Where Y = Effective operation of multi-campus tertiary institution (dependent variable)
X1 = Self-confidence.
X2 = Persistence.
X3 = Inter-personal skills.
X4 = Initiative.
X5 = Intelligence.
X6 = Drive.
X7 = Authority/Responsibility.
There are seven principal officers’ personality traits and leadership skills measured and all the seven factors had significant impact on effective operation of a multi-campus tertiary institution. It is evident from the table that, following a rank order, principal officers personality traits of drive (Beta = .163; P <0.05), initiative (Beta = .116; P <0.05), persistence (Beta = .112; P <0.05), authority and responsibility (Beta = .109; P <0.05), intelligence (Beta = .094; P <0.05), inter-personal relations skills (Beta = .065; P <0.05) and self-confidence (Beta = .060; P <0.05) contributed significantly to effective management of multi-campus tertiary institution.
Discussions
From the above, it becomes evident that, personality traits and leadership skills of principal officers of the institution are capable of determining the effectiveness of operation of multi-campus tertiary institution such as the OlabisiOnabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State.
It is therefore obvious that all the personality traits and leadership skill variables of (drive, initiative, persistence, authority and responsibility, intelligence, inter-personal relations skills and self-confidence) of principal officers have significantly impacted on the effective operation of a multi-campus tertiary institution in Ogun State.
It could be noted that association between principal officers’ personality traits vis a vis leadership skills and effective operation of an organization according to Johns (1988) is contingent upon the extent to which the situation is favourable to the exertion of influence by the leaders in the organization. For example, self-confidence, persistence, intelligence, inter-personal skill, drive, initiative, authority/responsibility, leader’s concept of how to achieve organizational goals all depends on the ability of the leader to elicit appropriate response in the followers to achieve organizational goals. The finding also agrees with Koontz (2000) concept of leadership which he defined as influencing people so that they will strive willingly towards the achievement of organizational goals. This study further reinforces the work of Stogdill who showed that contrary to what has been concluded form earlier reviews, several universal personal traits and skills (such as vigour and persistence in the pursuit of goals, self confidence and tolerance for uncertainty and frustration) were indeed associated with leadership (Bass, 1990). Other studies have also shown that traits or personal characteristics do play a more significant role in leadership than was concluded earlier (e.g Kirkpatrick and Locke, 1991; Lord, De Vader and Allinger, 1986).
Summary and Conclusion
From the above major results, it becomes obvious that personality traitsand leadership skills of principal officers were found to have predicted significantly on effective management of OlabisiOnabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria..
In conclusion, management as it has been variously conceptualized and contextualized is a dynamic process. Very essential to the functioning of the process are people and the degree of discretion they have in the running of such institution. However, the extent to which effectiveness is achieved in management is also a function of the personality traits of managers as well as the situation or environment in which an organization exists. It is against this backdrop that management depicts the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals, working together in groups, efficiently accomplished selected aims. Thus, different individual must work in groups by designing methods or techniques which align with environment so maintained for the achievement of the selected aims or goals. (Wierhich & Koontz, 2005)
Recommendations
Arising from the above, it is therefore recommended that leadership of the University and its campuses should be selected on the basis of personality traits and leadership skills of the managers and not on political consideration only. In order to create room for effectiveness and thus ensure commitment to the realization of the objectives of the University, leadership must be balanced and all embracing.