Leadership Styles and Operational Performance of Domestic Tour and Travel Firms in Kenya
Abstract
Leadership styles shape institutional strategies towards realization of organizational
objectives. Through different leadership styles, organization management influences the
way employees execute tasks. This study sought to establish the different leadership
styles used and their effect on operational efficiency among domestic tour and travel
firms in Kenya. The study used a descriptive research design and targeted 141 travel
agencies. The study collected primary data using a structured close-ended questionnaire
which was input into Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0
software where percentages, means, standard deviation and frequencies of the responses
were obtained. The study established that manager involves them in decision making,
were more concerned with the performance of tasks, always shares with them the vision
for the company, motivates them to come up with new ways of doing work, managers
recognizes achievement through remuneration, makes unilateral decision on key
functions in the company and leadership style adopted in the organization had an impact
on timely delivery of services, the level of customer satisfaction, level of accuracy in
production and cost efficiency. The study concludes that managers were helping their
staff develop themselves, guides their staff on how to do their work in order to be
rewarded, managers being satisfied with their staff if they meet the agreed upon targets,
staff receive recognition and rewards for performance and that good leadership styles and
right adoptions are necessary for provision of teamwork and ensuring everyone
understands their roles. Staff who were properly motivate and guided by the management
to work to achieve the desired results leads to increased efficiency, reduction of costs and
improved performance. The study concludes that managers were helping their staff
develop themselves, guides their staff on how to do their work in order to be rewarded,
managers being satisfied with their staff if they meet the agreed upon targets, staff
receive recognition and rewards for performance, setting the standards of working to their
staff members and managers not asking for more information than what is essentially
required. The study also concludes that good leadership styles and right adoptions are
necessary for provision of teamwork and ensuring everyone understands their roles.
Managers should help others develop themselves, be satisfied when others meet agreedupon
standards, provide recognition or rewards, communicate with clarity on the vision,
mission and objectives of an organization so that their subordinates can focus their
energies towards realizing them. The study also recommends that managers strife to
motivate their subordinates by drafting and implementing appropriate policies for
effective reward and recognition. Managerial policies formulated should serve as
motivational factors to promote greater employee productivity
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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