THE INFLUENCE OF LEADERSHIP
ON EMPLOYEE WORK EFFORT, PERFORMANCE
AND SERVICE DELIVERY
IN THE CITY OF JOHANNESBURG METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY
by
P.F. SMIT
MINI-DISSERTATION
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
MASTERS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
at
REGENESYS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
Supervisor: Professor K. Govender
2015
ABSTRACTThe focus of this mini-dissertation is to examine the relationship between
empowering leadership, employee work effort, employee performance and service
delivery in the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (CJMM), Revenue
department, in South Africa. It is essential to understand how to improve service
delivery in the CJMM and to determine what interventions would be necessary to be
most beneficial in assisting the CJMM to curb the problem of empowering leadership
and demotivation in this area; and to understand the underlying issues behind the
problem, while creating awareness and giving innovative insight to those who are
already aware of this topic.
A quantitative research design is used as it embraces the fact that the findings are
objective, reliable, valid and reproducible (Curtis and Drennan, 2013: 133). The
questionnaires have been developed comprising of 45 questions based on the Likert
scale, divided into five sections. These questions are closed-ended questions to
provide the researcher with accurate, specific data and an overall view of factors
relating to the impact of empowering leadership on employee work effort and
employee performance, the impact of employee work effort on employee
performance, and if these elements have a positive influence on service delivery in
the Revenue department in the CJMM.
The findings reveal that empowering leadership strongly influences employee work
effort, performance and service delivery in a significant way. The findings further
provide fruitful implications to both practitioners and academicians. On the academic
side, this study makes a substantial contribution to the leadership and service
delivery literature by systematically exploring the impact of empowering leadership
on service delivery in South Africa. In particular, this study’s findings provide tentative
support that empowering leadership should be recognised as a significant
antecedent and instrument to employee work effort, performance and service
delivery in South Africa. On the practitioner’s side, the important mediating role of
employee work effort and employee performance in the empowering leadership –
service delivery relationship in South Africa’s public sector is highlighted.
KEY WORDS: Empowering leadership, employee work effort, employee performance and service delivery.
ii
29/09/15
DECLARATION OF ORIGINAL WORK
I, Petronella Frederika Smit declare that this research report is my own, unaided
work. It is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Masters
in Public Management at Regenesys School of Public Management, Sandton,
Johannesburg.
It has not been submitted before for any degree or examination at any other
university or educational institution.
………………………………… ……………………………………..
Petronella Frederika Smit Date (dd/mm/yy)
iii
Contents
ABSTRACT............................................................................................................ ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS....................................................................................vii
LIST OF TABLES..................................................................................................viii
LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................viii
LIST OF APPENDICES.......................................................................................... ix
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION............................................................................1
1.1 Introduction..................................................................................................1
1.2 Background.................................................................................................2
1.3 Problem Statement......................................................................................3
1.4 Research Objectives...................................................................................5
1.5 Research Questions....................................................................................5
1.6 Conceptual Model.......................................................................................6
1.7 Delimitations to the Study............................................................................7
1.8 Structure of the Mini-Dissertation................................................................7
1.9 Conclusion...................................................................................................8
CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE..........................................................10
2.1 Introduction................................................................................................10
2.2 The Research Context – The Revenue and Customer Relationship
Management Department.........................................................................10
2.3 Leadership.................................................................................................13
2.4 Empowerment...........................................................................................16
2.5 Transformational Leadership.....................................................................17
2.6 Employee Performance.............................................................................22
2.7 Employee Work Effort................................................................................24
2.8 Service Delivery........................................................................................26
iv
2.9 Hypothesis Development...........................................................................29
2.10 Chapter Summary.....................................................................................32
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY....................................................34
3.1 Introduction................................................................................................34
3.2 Research Design.......................................................................................35
3.3 Research Population.................................................................................39
3.4 Sampling...................................................................................................39
3.5 Research Instruments...............................................................................41
3.6 Data Collection Techniques.......................................................................43
3.7 Data Analysis............................................................................................44
3.8 Validity and Reliability...............................................................................46
3.9 Ethical Considerations...............................................................................47
3.10 Limitations.................................................................................................49
3.11 Conclusion.................................................................................................50
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS..............................................51
4.1 Introduction................................................................................................51
4.2 Data Screening..........................................................................................51
4.3 Data Analytical Procedures.......................................................................51
4.4 Conclusion.................................................................................................62
CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSIONS.............................................................................63
5.1 Introduction................................................................................................63
5.2 Overall Findings........................................................................................63
5.3 Conclusion.................................................................................................66
CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS, LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS....68
7.1 Introduction................................................................................................68
7.2 Major Findings...........................................................................................68
7.3 Academic and Managerial Implications.....................................................69
7.4 Limitations of the Study.............................................................................70
v
7.5 Recommendations for Future Research....................................................71
7.6 Conclusion.................................................................................................73
REFERENCES.....................................................................................................74
APPENDICES......................................................................................................87
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to extend my sincere gratitude and appreciation to:
i. The Lord for giving me the wisdom, strength, guidance and endurance in this
journey to complete my studies.
ii. My family, especially my husband, Deon, for your guidance, input, patience, love
and support that has inspired me to complete this study.
iii. My friends, Orpa Roberts and Neetha Dildar for your input and motivation to
continue and complete this study. My manager, Gavin Pringle, for his support
during my studies.
iv. My advisor, Prof. Krishna Govender, and my co-advisor, Prof. Richard
Chinomona, for your availability, encouragement, assistance and professional
guidance.
v. My research participants, without whom this research would not have been
possible. Thank you for your invaluable contributions which have assisted me to
accomplish this task.
vii
LIST OF TABLESTable 1: Summary of Hypothesis..............................................................................33
Table 2: Accuracy Analysis Statistics.......................................................................54
Table 3: Correlations between Constructs................................................................56
Table 4: Correlations between Constructs................................................................58
Table 5: Relationship between Empowering Leaders and Employee Performance 59
Table 6: Relationship between Work Effort and Service Delivery.............................59
Table 7: Years in the Organisation and Employee Performance..............................60
Table 8: Years in the Organisation and Work Effort..................................................60
Table 9: Years in the Organisation and Service Delivery..........................................61
Table 10: A Cross-Tabulation between Gender and their Ability to Meet Deadlines 62
Table 11: A Cross-Tabulation between Gender and How They Required Incentives
...................................................................................................................................62
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Conceptual Model........................................................................................6
Figure 2: A Schematic Representation of the Integrated Systems in the CJMM......11
Figure 3: A Schematic Representation of the Integrated Systems in the R&CRM
Value Chain...............................................................................................................13
Figure 4: The Links in the Service-Profit Chain........................................................28
Figure 5: Conceptual Model......................................................................................32
Figure 6: Defining the Data Type..............................................................................37
Figure 7: Measurement and Structural Model Result................................................57
viii
LIST OF APPENDICESAppendix 1: Questionnaire........................................................................................87
Appendix 2: Permission Letter to Conduct Research...............................................93
ix
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONSAVE Average Variance Extracted
CFA Confirmatory Factor Analysis
CJMM City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality
COJ City of Johannesburg
CR Composite Reliability
CRA Customer Relations Agent
EL Empowering Leadership
eNCA E-News Channel Africa
EP Employee Performance
EWE Employee Work Effort
GI Geographic Information
GIS Geographic Information System
ISD Improved Service Delivery
LI Land Information
LIS Land Information System
MLQ Multi-Factor Leadership Questionnaire
OB Organisational Behaviour
R&CR Revenue & Customer Relations Management
SAP Systems Application Programming System
SEM Structural Equation Modelling
SPC Service- Profit Chain
SPSS Statistical Package Smart PLS
x
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 INTRODUCTIONIt has become evident that it is critical to identify factors impacting on the living
standards and quality of life of communities, which are negatively affected due to the
absence, or poor quality services rendered by municipalities in South Africa.
The overall perception of local government in South Africa is that service delivery
levels are declining and that it does not only reflect poorly on the management of
these municipalities, but has a critical impact on the Government’s ability to ensure
that quality services are delivered in the country.
The poor quality of these services, or the lack thereof, results in obstructing growth
and development in business or industrial areas, which limits job opportunities for
residents and further has a negative impact on the health and living standards of the
residents.
These concerns have triggered the question as to what would change and improve
service delivery in the CJMM. The fact that leadership has the ability to reshape the
manner in which employees act - which will change the manner into which the
company acts - has raised the question as to what the effect of leadership is on
employee work effort, performance and service delivery.
This chapter provides the background and motivation for the research. It specifies the
scope of the research and defines the research problem and sub-problems. The
chapter commences with the background to the study and includes the research
problem statement, objectives, limitations of the study, literature review, and ethical
considerations, and concludes with the overview of chapters which make up the mini-
dissertation.
1
1.2 BACKGROUNDThe common vision of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (CJMM) is,
“to be a World Class African City of the Future - a vibrant, equitable African city,
strengthened through its diversity; a city that provides real quality of life; a city that
provides sustainability for all its residents; a resilient and adaptive society. (COJ -
Business Planning Department, 2012).
The underpinning values to achieve the City of Johannesburg’s (COJ) Vision and
Mission are to meet expectations by persistently contributing to the satisfaction and
well-being of customers, in a “passionate, courteous and knowledgeable manner; to
take pride in all the actions by providing the highest level of service; to consistently
act honorably and above reproach and keep promises made; and to maintain a high
regard for customers in daily engagements” (COJ - Marketing Department, 2013).
While some municipalities are very well managed, the overall current state of local
government in South Africa is precariously classified by its “increasing outstanding
debtors, the qualified audit reports, poor systems (internally and externally), poor
performance, poor long-term planning, huge service delivery backlogs and queries,
increasing salary bills, unfunded mandates, government debt, concerns about
sustainability, and greater demands and expectations by all stakeholders” (COJ -
Business Planning Department, 2012).
The services provided by municipalities have a direct impact on the living standards
and quality of life of the people in the community. For example, if a customer
relations agent (CRA), being the frontline employee, does not report a problem or
query correctly, or reports it late or not at all, and, the water is disconnected or refuse
is not collected regularly, it will create a contaminated, unhealthy and unsafe living
environment, and a highly dissatisfied resident and frustrated community. The poorly
serviced areas can place a damper on the growth and development of businesses or
industries which will limit job opportunities for residents (City of Johannesburg, 2013).
Whatever the challenges, the municipality must deliver on its mandate, which is
essentially to improve the quality of life for all South Africans. Residents of
Johannesburg indicated that they wanted the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) to ensure
that the municipality is efficient, effective and functional; is responsive to the needs of 2
its population; provides quality services and addresses basic service needs and
requirements; continues the schedule and need for transformation and change;
communicates and engages with residents on development plans and progress and
addresses service delivery backlogs (COJ - Marketing Department, 2013: 3).
The CJMM requires resources like finances, empowered managers, well-trained
employees and systems and equipment to deliver on its constitutional mandate (COJ
- Marketing Department, 2013: 3). One way to address the extent to which limited
resources affect the ability to deliver on its constitutional mandate, is to ensure that
service excellence is maintained, which affects query resolution, collections,
performance and accuracy of data. The CJMM can be seen as a vehicle with
interrelated, interdependent, and interacting parts that work together to deliver the
services required. Fitz-enz (2009: 8) stated that “humans are the only element with
inherent power to generate value as all other variables (cash, assets, material,
equipment and energy) add nothing until some individual leverage that potential to
add value by putting it into play.”
Based on the challenges impacting the delivery on the CJMM’s constitutional
mandate, and the fact that the value added by people impacts service delivery in the
CJMM, the researcher identified the need to explore the extent to which empowering
leadership impacts on employee work effort, employee performance and service
delivery, which affect the quality of life of the residents.
1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENTMunicipal service delivery levels have not kept pace with the expectations of the
customers in terms of the quality of services and query resolutions by the CJMM
(COJ - Business Planning Department, 2012: 11 - 12). As extracted in the Integrated
Development Plan of the CJMM (2012: 11 - 12), the CJMM indicated that “the
sustainability of service delivery remains critical.”
In South Africa, it is known that municipalities have “massive outstanding debts,
enormous backlogs of queries and bad reputations due to ineffective and inefficient
service delivery levels” (Financial and Fiscal Commission, 2011: 81). This suggests
that there may be underlying and hidden elements that should be explored to
3
understand their impact on employee work effort, employee performance and service
delivery.
The CJMM has been chosen for this study as it is one of the municipalities where
constant allegations of maladministration, incorrect billing and poor service delivery
are being publicised on various media platforms, such as in media releases
(Atkinson, 2012); on E-News Channel Africa (eNCA, 2013); consumer comments
(eNCA, 2013); in The Mail & Guardian (Bauer, 2012); on Radio 702 (Robbie, 2011)
and Carte Blanche (Bingwa, Phirippides and Christoforou, 2010). The Financial and
Fiscal Commission (2011: 13) has found that a direct impact of the 2008/2009
recession has been a decrease in services due to a decline in payment levels and a
decrease in the quality of existing services.
The above has prompted interest in this research in order to find out to what extent
(empowering) leadership influences employee work effort, performance and service
delivery in the CJMM. Service delivery usually depends on a multitude of factors,
with the efficiency and effectiveness of employees being a major factor. Prior studies
have shown that the contact centers, and Credit Management, Revenue and Billing
departments in the CJMM are high-pressure, stressful work environments. “They do
routine work, have little control over the work, there is intense performance
monitoring, pressure to meet performance targets, high staff turnover, and high
levels of absenteeism” (Kwok, 2005: 3).
In light of the challenges alluded to above, the present study strives to close this
knowledge gap and possibly demonstrate relations between empowering leadership,
employee work effort, performance and service delivery in the CJMM. By filling this
gap in academia, the study will further assist by contributing to the empirical
literature, and theory that may inspire further studies. Additionally, the study will
contribute in assisting other municipalities to apply the lessons learned throughout
the country, since the overall current state of municipalities in South Africa is
precariously characterised by “increasing debtor books, qualified audits, poor
performance in contact centres, poor systems, poor long-term planning, huge service
delivery backlogs, increasing salary bills, unfunded mandates, government debt,
concerns about sustainability, and greater demands and expectations by all
stakeholders” (Kumar, 2008).4
1.4 RESEARCH OBJECTIVESThe aim of this study is to investigate to what extent leadership impacts on work
effort, performance and service delivery in the CJMM.
1.4.1 Theoretical objectives
The following theoretical objectives were developed:
1.4.1.1 To review the literature on empowering leadership, employee work effort,
employee performance, and service delivery.
1.4.2 Empirical Objectives
The following empirical objectives were developed:
1.4.2.1 To explore the influence of empowering leadership on employee work effort;
1.4.2.2 To ascertain the effect of empowering leadership on employee performance;
1.4.2.3 To investigate the relationship between employee work effort and employee
performance;
1.4.2.4 To examine the influence of employee work effort on service delivery; and
1.4.2.5 To determine the influence of employee performance on service delivery.
1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONSThe research questions are as follows:
1.5.1 Does empowering leadership affect employee work effort?
1.5.2 Does empowering leadership affect employee performance?
1.5.3 How does employee work effort affect employee performance?
1.5.4 To what extent does employee work effort affect service delivery?
1.5.5 To what extent does employee performance affect service delivery?
5
1.6 CONCEPTUAL MODELDrawing from the literature, in particular the literature mentioned below, a research
model was conceptualised, and hypothesised relationships between the research
variables were developed. Figure 1 below illustrates the proposed conceptual model.
Figure 1: Conceptual Model
Source: Researcher’s Conception
1.6.1 Hypotheses
The hypothesis of a research study is defined as a tentative statement that suggests
a probable reason to some phenomenon or event. It is further also referred to as a
testable statement, which may include a prediction (Answers.com Dictionary, 2008).
For this research study, based on the above conceptual model, the following
hypotheses are stated:
H1 Empowering leadership has a positive influence on employee work effort
in the CJMM;
H2 Empowering leadership has a positive influence on employee performance
in the CJMM;
H3 Employee work effort has a positive influence on employee performance in
the CJMM;
H4 Employee work effort has a positive influence on service delivery in the
CJMM; and
H5 Employee performance has a positive influence on service delivery in the
CJMM.
6
H5
H4
H3
H2
H1
Improved Service Delivery
Employee Work Effort
Empowering Leadership
Employee Performance
1.7 DELIMITATIONS TO THE STUDYMaree (2007: 42) stated that limitations of the research study indicate that there are
potential challenges that could affect the research such as time limits, availability and
access to participants and the manner in which the researcher plans to deal with
these issues. Alternatively, Withal and Jansen (1997: 35) stated that acknowledging
limitations of the research is important.
The researcher acknowledges that time constraints might have an impact on the
project completion. The researcher will try to use available time in an effective and
efficient way; planning the research processes and progress and adjusting when
necessary.
The researcher acknowledges that it is possible that the data collected is much
narrower and does not include data from external customers, other municipalities and
regions and may result in limited information as it will provide mathematical
descriptions, including less elaborate accounts of human perception. The researcher
utilises a purposeful selected population sample with ample experience to minimise
the effect of a narrow approach, which may have a negative effect on the data. The
researcher acknowledges that not all employees will complete the questionnaires.
1.8 STRUCTURE OF THE MINI-DISSERTATIONChapter 1 provides the introduction and background to the study, and includes,
among others, the problem statement, objectives of the study, the research
questions, and the conceptual model. It discusses the limitations of the study, and
gives an overview of the other chapters.
Chapter 2 comprises of the literature review on:
Leadership in general;
Transformational leadership theory;
Knowledge sharing;
Employee work effort;
Employee performance; and
Service delivery.
7
The literature review provides insight into local government operations not always
apparent from a superficial observation of what local government needs to do to
dispatch its constitutional mandate. It also provides an opportunity to unpack the
issues so that the interview process can be enriched. The literature review forms the
basis for analysis of the data feedback obtained through the study.
Chapter 3 describes the research methodology and design deployed. Information on
the design and formulation of the research questionnaire is described in detail. The
bases of selecting the sample is explained, together with the methodology to collect,
record, collate, analyse and present the data. Ethical aspects as well as limitations to
the study are addressed.
Chapter 4 provides a write-up on the findings. This chapter describes the
demographic profile of the sample, as well as the other results from the research.
Chapter 5 provides an in-depth discussion on the findings from the study by linking it
with relevant literature. It further highlights the factors that are important to the
CJMM’s vision.
Chapter 6 includes the final conclusion and recommendations chapter. It draws from
Chapters 4 and 5 for its content. This chapter highlights problems and make
recommendations in relation to factors identified to improve service delivery and
expedite query resolutions. It further pinpoints the limitations of this study as well as
areas where more research needs to be done in future.
1.9 CONCLUSIONThe aim of this study is to explore the impact of empowering leadership on
employees’ work effort, performance and service delivery in the CJMM. This chapter
introduced the research topic, by providing the background and rationale to the
research and described why service delivery is a problem that affects all residents.
This chapter also provided a framework to commence with the research in order to
understand the relationships between the variables and the impact thereof on service
delivery.
8
Chapter 2 covers relevant information about various theories, concepts and models
on service delivery, and other factors integrating the theory with the research
problems.
9
CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE
1
2
2.1 INTRODUCTIONAll research is grounded in literature, which explains theoretical concepts and
reviews previous studies relevant to the current study. The purpose of this study is to
identify challenges that affect effective service delivery of employees within the
Revenue department of the CJMM. The researcher discusses the following literature:
2.1.1 The research context, namely, the Revenue & Customer Relations
(R&CRM) department;
2.1.2 Leadership theory and empowering leaders;
2.1.3 Empowering;
2.1.4 Transformational leadership theory;
2.1.5 Employee performance; and
2.1.6 Service delivery.
2.2 THE RESEARCH CONTEXT – THE REVENUE AND CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT
The discussion regarding the R&CRM department’s value chain provides background
to the complexity of the CJMM’s integrated processes and procedures. These
integrated value-chain factors work in cohesion towards the main objective of the
CJMM, which is to provide quality service to the customers as stipulated in the vision
and mission. The objectives include providing excellence through constantly
contributing to the satisfaction and well-being of customers, in a passionate,
courteous and knowledgeable manner; to take pride in all the actions by providing
the highest level of service; to consistently act honourably and above reproach and
keep promises made; and to maintain a high regard for customers in daily
engagements (COJ - Marketing Department, 2013).
10
The CJMM's Geographic Information System (GIS) assists employees to interpret
vast amounts of complex information through simple visual maps or graphs. (GIS
Department, 2008). GIS is the basis of all billing and revenue within the CJMM
geographical area. Geographic Information (GI) consists of the basic land, including
roads, robots, parks, parking areas, street names, areas, regions, etc. and contains a
unique SG identity number, linked to each stand and is the foundation of the billing in
the CJMM. The Land Information System (LIS) is aligned “on top” of the GIS and
contains the basis for billing customers, and includes tariffs, usage and consent use,
which will inform the Systems Application Programming (SAP) system to bill the
rates, refuse, water, sewer and electricity. The LIS also contains the customer detail
and owner detail of the properties and this is where change of ownership is being
updated and captured. A push strategy from the Deeds Office to the CJMM informs
the LIS of change of ownership. Figure 2 is a schematic representation of the inter-
linked systems which flow into the billing system to raise income in the CJMM as
discussed in this paragraph.
Figure 2: A Schematic Representation of the Integrated Systems in the CJMM
Source: Van Wyk, R., (2013)
11
Figure 3 displays the various functions within the value chain of the R&CRM
department, which is a mere drop in the complete value chain of the CJMM. The
billing department is the source which initiates income generation and debtor
accounts, as invoices are raised through the input from meter readings and other
billing information, like sewer charges, rates and taxes charges and other sundry
charges. Billing is also responsible for statement distribution through e-mails,
postage, collections and delivery agents.
Account payments can be received, among others, through various channels, e.g.
banks, electronic transfers, debit orders, cashiers at CJMM pay points and third
parties (Pick n Pay or the Post Office). These payments are uploaded into the SAP
system utilising the Metro Cash Router System to allocate the payments - using
various payment allocation rules built into the system – to the customer accounts.
Queries, Front and Back Office are critical departments in recording the customer’s
concerns, and generating a relationship with customers. The front office receives
various requests from customers; copy statements, change of ownership, payments
not reflecting on accounts, incorrect billing, incorrect tariffs on accounts, potholes,
broken bins, address changes, water leakages and many more. These queries are
recorded and rooted to the correct department outside R&CRM and the back office
will resolve billing and statement queries and give feedback via the Customer
Interface department.
The Refunds, Payments and Clearances departments include statements and
property adjustments and updates. These updates will be rooted back to the Billing
department where the statements will be updated and distributed to the customers.
Non-payment or default payments result in credit management actions. The system
is linked with various integrated systems to cater for pre-termination notices
(warnings to cut services), termination notices, first cuts and final cuts. It further
includes actions from debt collectors and legal notices. Charges are raised and
routed back to the Billing department to send updated statements to customers.
The Finance, Data Management, and Reporting departments are responsible for
comprehensive and accurate analyses of financial reports and trends, as well as
ledger reconciliations and management reporting. These departments provide data
for decision-making purposes and improvements of data quality. The departments
12
work hand-in-hand with the Billing, Risk and Compliance, Audit Requirements and
Management Support departments. Critical issues are raised and highlighted in
reports which are figured at management meetings and recommendations
implemented. Performance reports are created and provided to management for
decision-making purposes.
Figure 3: A Schematic Representation of the Integrated Systems in the R&CRM Value Chain
Source: (City of Johannesburg, 2012)
The most critical factor within the value chain of the CJMM is that a cohesive and
holistic approach is required within the R&CRM department to ensure that all areas
are addressed to eliminate departments working in silos, initiating their own projects
and processes, overlooking concerns which impact on service delivery to manage or
eliminate challenges hampering service excellence. These departments within the
R&CRM are the final components to provide the customer with accurate bills,
timeous feedback and superior service. Failure of these conditions results in
increasing debtors, qualified audit reports, poor systems, poor performance, poor
long-term planning, service delivery backlogs and queries, increasing salary bills,
unfunded mandates, government debt, concerns about sustainability, and greater 13
demands and expectations by all stakeholders (COJ - Business Planning
Department, 2012).
2.3 LEADERSHIPRobbins and Judge (2013: 402) define leadership as the “ability to influence a group
in order to achieve a specific vision or set of goals”. Kotter (2007: 97) highlights the
“importance of leadership for driving successful change”. Bass (2008: 25) defines
leadership as a “link between two or more members of a group that often includes
structuring or restructuring of the situation and the perceptions and expectations of
the members”. The significance highlighted here is that effective leaders are agents
of change.
The task of leadership at all organisational levels seems to be getting more and more
difficult. Latham (2014: 11) commented that perhaps too much credit is given to
leaders for organisational success and failure, but also said that there is consensus
among academics and practitioners that it is important to give credit to leaders and
that it does make a difference. Latham (2014: 11) also found that recent knowledge
about leadership comprises of narrow definitions of leader efficiency and
effectiveness which are detached from their framework, thus making the application
in practice difficult.
Drawing from the above, Winston and Patterson (2006: 7) defined leadership as “an
individual who chooses, provides, and trains and influences followers who have
mixed gifts, abilities and skills”. The leader changes the focuses of followers to
support the organisation’s mission and objectives freely and eagerly, using spiritual,
emotional, and physical energy in a focused and coordinated manner. Winston and
Patterson (2006: 7) further state that the leader influences followers by humbly
communicating the vision clearly, which results into changing followers’ beliefs and
values so that they can comprehend and construe the future into present-time action
steps.
The leader makes use of critical thinking skills, vision, instinct, convincing rhetoric
and interactive communication methods, active listening and positive discourse
whereby s/he then facilitates and extracts the opinions and beliefs of followers,
motivating them to move towards understanding and clarity, accepting the future 14
state of the organisation as a desired condition worth pledging their commitment
toward goals and objectives. The leader accomplishes this through ethical conduct
and ensuring that followers are better off as a result of his/her leadership initiatives.
(Winston and Patterson, 2006: 7).
In order to bring about change in an organisation, strategic leadership plays a
fundamental role in shaping the organisation’s culture and style. Strategic leadership
relates to the aptitude to shape the organisation’s decisions, inspiring and managing
others in the organisation. Strategic leadership starts at the top, but is not only limited
to the top management in the organisation. (Lynch, 2012: 599 - 610).
Kotter (1996) conducted research on why efforts fail, and he found that leadership is
the “one most significant factor for failure” in an organisation. The role of a strategic
leader is to move the organisation from the current to the future state, creating
visions and opportunities for the organisation, inspiring and changing employees in
the organisation, instilling the required culture in the organisation and to mobilise and
focus resources to implement the strategy. (Buller, 1988: 50). This is why it is critical
that the leader has the ability and skills to fulfil this role.
The leader must be able to create and focus energy towards a vision, the ability to
communicate that vision, the ability to build trust, the capacity to build self-awareness
and the ability to create an atmosphere of empowerment and continual organisational
learning (Buller, 1988: 50).
Srivastava, Barton and Locke (2006: 1240) mentioned that empowerment was
initially conceptualised as a facet of a relation or power-sharing view. The theoretical
origins of the view of empowering leadership include the Ohio State leadership
studies (Fleishman, 1953) on consideration; work on supportive leadership (Bowers
and Seashore, 1966) and among others, the training, partaking and delegating
behaviours included in situational leadership theory (Hersey and Blanchard, Training
& Development Journal). The leader must use various tactics to be empowered:
delegation, professional mentorship, education, open door policy, integrity and
trustworthiness (Belcher, n.d.).
Randolph (2000: 94) stated that empowerment can work very well. He further said
that in order to achieve empowerment, the way that managers and employees
15
interact must be thoroughly analysed as very few managers and employees really
understand empowerment. This boils down to the need for massive change in people
and organisational systems. (Randolph, 2000: 94 - 95).
Randolph (2000: 95) described empowerment as a “process whereby managers
must embrace their inner power - knowledge, experience, and internal motivation –
and focus on ways to release the power within people to achieve amazing results” .
Roger Fritz (2002) said that “the greatest delight of real leaders is incubating new
ones”. The leader must thus use his/her abilities to grow new leaders for the future.
The main challenge for creating empowering workplaces might exist in in the role of
effective leadership. Managers create the conditions for employees' work by
determining the quality of support, information, and resources in work areas. When
employees notice that their leaders are authentic, open and honest, involving them in
decision-making, employees respond positively to their work, reporting increased
performance, trust and commitment to management. (Wong and Laschinger, 2012:
948).
It is evident from the above discussions that a leader influences the perception,
behaviour and performance of employees, ultimately impacting on the goals and
objectives of the organisation. The fact remains that managers and employees want
compatible results: outcomes linked with empowerment. This fact is fundamental to
generating new ideas and developing new opportunities through identifying and
aligning leadership to empowerment. This study will attempt to identify and focus on
ideas, concepts and gaps to change and empower leadership in the CJMM, using
literature theories as discussed to align and improve leadership in the CJMM.
2.4 EMPOWERMENTEmpowerment, as a theoretical model, applied as management tool, is defined by
scholars and experts in numerous ways. Bowen and Lawler (1992) in Cheung, Baum
and Wong (2010) stated that empowerment is a notion which comprises of “sharing
information, rewards, knowledge and power with frontline employees”. The
employees are called by Bateson and Hoffman (1999) in Cheung, Baum and Wong
(2010) “boundary-spanning workers”, acting as mediators between customers and
the organisation. These employees may make their own decisions and improve their 16
abilities and skills through development initiatives. Cheung, Baum and Wong (2010)
stated that “management researchers strive to expand the conceptualization of
empowerment further than only discretionary power and job autonomy”. For example,
Spreitzer (1995) in Cheung, Baum and Wong (2010) states that empowerment must
be “operationalized as a psychological construct” replicating an employee’s self-
control and self-efficacy; whereas Arnold, Arad, Rhoades and Drasgow (2000) claim
that empowerment should “seize the nature of the relationship between managers
and their subordinates” (Cheung, Baum and Wong (2010).
Apart from the above, severe uncertainty (for example, Baum 2006) has been
created on the “applicability of workplace empowerment, in its westernized form,
within cultures where managerial structures are, perhaps, more formal and power
distance is greater” (Cheung, Baum and Wong, 2010).
Cheung, Baum and Wong (2010) go further, stating that there are “several reasons
for managers hesitating to empower employees”. Among others, these contain
traditions, approach, decision-making and problem solving, fear of disorder and
chaos, personal uncertainty, lack of skills and job or promotion uncertainty. They go
on to say that even when empowerment is implemented, cultural perceptions can
also be an obstacle to empowerment. These perceptions include customs of
hierarchy; fear of revenge; failure to identify empowerment; mistrust and negativity
(Cheung, Baum and Wong, 2010). The fact is that the barriers to empowerment and
the effect of empowerment on the behaviour of individuals must be investigated and
thus were identified as a factor which influences employee work effort and
performance in this study.
Cheung, Baum and Wong (2010) found that empowerment is perceived to involve
trust from management as it permits employees to make decisions, deal with difficult
problems and increase their productivity and performance. Empowerment further
enables employees to be flexible and to solve problems instantly, which results in
higher job satisfaction and thus increased performance. Empowerment further
assists employees to appreciate and understand their full potential and assists
managers with solutions in the organisation (Cheung, Baum and Wong, 2010)
17
It is evident from the research done by Cheung, Baum and Wong (2010) and other
academics that empowerment can have a negative effect on an individual and the
CJMM should implement strategies to manage and improve the skills and confidence
of the managers to empower their subordinates.
2.5 TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP The transformational leadership theory will provide a framework to examine the
relationships of managers and peers leadership within individual and team outcomes
among R&CRM employees in the CJMM. Limited research has been done to
examine mechanisms that link empowering leadership and team performance
(Srivastava, Bartol and Locke, 2006: 1239). Results obtained in research done by
Srivastava, et al. (2006) showed that empowering leadership was positively linked to
both knowledge sharing and team efficiency and effectiveness, which, in turn, were
both positively related to performance. Srivastava, et al. (2006: 1240) stated that
several scholars reviewed empowerment as an aspect of the relational or power
sharing view.
Avolio and Yammarino (2013: 11) stated that “leaders should in principal first display
transformational behaviour often, thereafter contingent reward leadership, then
management-by-exception active, then management-by-passive and maybe laissez-
faire leadership thereafter”. What is transformational leadership? Leadership is
multidimensional and contains transactional, transformational and laissez-faire
behaviours which include the absence of leadership (Price and Weiss, 2013: 266).
Transformational leadership is more positively associated with the effectiveness of
the organisation and the satisfaction of the customer (Avolio and Yammarino, 2013:
12).
James MacGregor Burns (2012) discusses the concept of transformational
leadership in his book Leadership and describes it not as a set of specific
behaviours, but rather a continuous process by which " leaders and followers raise
one another to higher levels of morality and motivation". Transformational leaders
increase expectations by raising the bar, appealing to higher standards and values of
followers. By doing this, they model the values and use charismatic methods to draw
people to mirror the values and to follow the leader. The leader offers a purpose that
18
surpasses short-term goals and concentrates on higher order fundamental needs
(MacGregor Burns , 2012: 20).
The transformational leadership theory is built on Mazlow’s Hierarchy of Needs which
recognises that people have a range of needs. The extent to which they will perform
efficiently and effectively in the workplace will be influenced by the extent to which
their needs are satisfied. Transformational leadership fits into the higher levels, as it
requires a high level of self-esteem and self-actualisation to successfully be a
genuine transformational leader (Koltko-Rivera, 2006: 302). Transformational
leadership theory highlights the leader-follower relationship, making it relevant to the
study of employee performance in the R&CRM department (Price and Weiss, 2013:
266). Transformational leaders encourage and motivate followers to surpass
performance expectations by influencing followers’ beliefs and attitudes.
Transformational behaviours contain: “inspirational motivation (e.g., creating a
vision), idealized influence (e.g., modeling behaviors or values), individualized
consideration (e.g., considering followers’ individual needs), and intellectual
stimulation (e.g., encouraging follower creativity)” (Price and Weiss, 2013: 266).
Transactional leadership on the other hand comprises of behaviours like contingent
reward, management-by-exception active and management-by-exception passive.
Contingent reward is an exchange process between leaders and followers –
rewarding employees for meeting objectives. Management-by-exception comprises
of two forms which discuss the remedial action a leader will implement based on the
employees’ transactions. According to Price and Weiss, (2013: 266) Bass’ (1985)
model reflects that often transformational and transactional behaviours and
occasionally laissez-faire leadership reflect an optimal leadership profile (Price and
Weiss, 2013: 266).
Transformational leadership has shown encouraging and positive effects on
followers’ motivation, commitment, satisfaction, efficiency, performance and other
outcomes; and can be applied to many domains, including municipal environments.
Thus, managers and leaders who engage in transformational leadership behaviours
can make a positive contribution and impact on individual outcomes, such as
perceived competence, emotional responses, intrinsic motivation and team cohesion,
goals and objectives (Price and Weiss, 2013: 266).
19
Leaders offer Inspirational Motivation when they exhibit enthusiasm,
encouragement and reliability in their communication of high standards and an
alluring, attractive vision of the future. As a companion to charm and charisma, the
inspirational leader stimulates and transforms employees to a mentality and mind-set
believing in greatness. While Idealised Influence discusses motivating individuals,
Inspirational Leadership speaks to motivating an entire organisation through
communicating high goals and expectations and increasing team spirit, eagerness
and enthusiasm (Saxe, 2011: 25).
Further, apart from strengthening a trusting and inspiring relationship with followers,
transformational leaders also provide Intellectual Stimulation for the values and big
ideas of others. Through this stimulation, values and norms of operations are
frequently reviewed and questioned to stimulate innovative and creative approaches
through which the mission can be accomplished. Followers are thus empowered to
design and propose new, innovative and even controversial ideas without fear of
ridicule (Saxe, 2011: 25).
The fourth dimension, Individualised Consideration, involves considering each
person’s individual abilities, needs and ambitions. The transformational leader who
utilises Individualised Consideration listens, directs, guides, teaches and coaches to
ensure further development of the followers. People are treated with respect,
differently and individually based on their talents, knowledge and experience. The
individual considerate leader considers needs for growth and achievement through
personalised interactions, encouraging two-way communication, delegation, shared
leadership and recognising potentials in each individual, regardless of cultural
differences (Saxe, 2011: 25 - 26).
This section discussed the dimensions of transformational leadership as outlined by
Bass (2008) in his model of leadership. In order to effectively measure the
components of transactional, transformational leadership, and laissez-faire
leadership in the R&CRM department, the Multi-factor Leadership Questionnaire
(MLQ) developed by Bass (2008) will be applied in the questionnaires and discussed
in more detail in chapter 3.
20
The MLQ will assist with identifying how managers measure up in their own eyes and
in the eyes of those with whom they work (Price and Weiss, 2013: 268). The
proposed research questions will include facets such as ideal influence, inspiring
motivation, logical stimulation, contingent reward, management-by-exception active,
and management-by-exception passive behaviours and behaviours such as avoiding
decisions or being absent when needed.
There are various studies proposing that Transformational Leadership is totally
suitable and required in government settings, for example, Paarlberg and Lavigna,
(2010) promote the benefits of pro-social incentives and how they affect employee
behaviour in the public sector. Paarlberg and Lavigna, (2010) in McLean (2013: 13)
stated that employees in the public sector are more receptive to Transformational
Leadership behaviours, as municipal employees are characteristically motivated to
adhere to a set of values and to assist to improve the lives of others. The incentives
are entrenched in the Transformational Leadership model. In comparison,
Transactional Leadership models have self-interest at their basis, which is not like
the psychological model of most municipal employees. Transactional Leadership
models are not suitable to adapt to the fast changing work environments to which
municipal employees are exposed to.
Studies of Transformational Leadership have shown improvements in total
organisational performance. A study relating to bank managers (Barling, Weber and
Kelloway, 1996) has shown substantial positive effects of Transformational
Leadership training, which included improved employee commitment to the
organisation, as well as improved financial performance. The same study proposed
that training managers resulted in improved Transformational Leadership behaviour
as perceived by their subordinates.
A study done by Howell and Avolio (1993) regarding managers in a large Canadian
financial institution specified that Transformational Leadership behaviours were
directly interrelated to enhancements in the business unit performance (Howell and
Avolio, 1993).
Trottier, Van Wart and Wang (2008) used data from a 2002 study of more than 100
000 federal government employees in the U.S. in order to determine the apparent 21
importance of Transformational Leadership, as opposed to Transactional Leadership
capabilities. They grouped the attributes of inspirational motivation, idealised
influence and intellectual stimulation together to have a more condensed theory of
Transformational Leadership. Management by exception and contingent reward
methods were combined with individual consideration to give a contrasting
Transactional Leadership regime. The study revealed that government managers are
largely more capable and competent transactional leaders, especially in the area of
individual consideration. Government managers are weakest in inspirational
motivation. Leadership styles have considerable effects on follower satisfaction and
the Transformational Leadership competency is alleged to be a more effective
leadership style than Transactional Leadership (McLean, 2013: 15 - 16).
Generally, government organisations that hire managers who are also credible
leaders are perceived to be more successful, more adaptive and more effective
(McLean, 2013: 19).
Avolio and Yammarino (2013: 27) concluded that they have evidence that
transformational leaders are linked to organisational success, efficiency and
effectiveness, customer satisfaction and improved performance, which prompted the
interest for this research in discovering facets within the leadership of the R&CRM
department to change leaders to transformational leaders.
2.6 EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE Performance is defined as the achievement of a specified task measured against
predetermined known standards of accurateness, comprehensiveness, cost and
swiftness (Business Dictionary, 2013). Dudley, (2010) describes performance as
factors, like culture, vision, mission, work-flow, goals and objectives, the environment
and knowledge and skills. Dudley (2010) further explains that all these factors work
together to produce value for the consumer, thus performance is all about outputs
and results. The levels of performance consist of organisational, process, and
individual performance (Dudley, 2010). The above definitions highlight the fact that
there should be objective methods to quantify and measure how these objectives are
met. It goes further to indicate that various factors influence performance. In this
research the objective is to understand factors influencing individual performance.
22
The Municipal Structures Act (Act No. 117) of 1998 determines that councillors must
establish methods and/or mechanisms for delivering services and developing criteria
for evaluating performance in service delivery (Mathibane, 2010: 13). This raises the
question regarding the input or role that employees play towards accomplishing
service excellence in the CJMM.
The enormity and variety of challenges which the R&CRM department faces in the
CJMM can include, among others, poor productivity, high levels of absenteeism,
diversity management, poor leadership, corruption, unhappy staff, and lack of
transformation, and they inform the construction, classification and comprehending of
applicable principal organisational behavioural concepts. Some of these major
challenges and uncertainties facing local government could be implicitly resolved
only if management in the municipal environment comprised of people with proper
qualifications and experience, excellent personal skills, general ability and the right
attitude for the job (Opperman, 2007: 69).
Though it is essential to address performance problems, several factors can
dissuade managers and supervisors from confronting poor performing employees.
Perkins (2013: 1) suggests that managers and supervisors elude performance
discussions with poor performers as they do not want to have confrontations or
create negative work environments. Perkins (2013) even believed that confronting
problem employees will result in a negative reputation. Some managers and
supervisors fear that employees will raise complaints or formal grievances against
them. Perkins (2013: 1) further states that managers feel that employment laws
protect municipal employees and that the performance management process is time-
consuming and complicated (Perkins, 2013: 1).
Mc Lean (2013: 5) cites Abels (1996) who said that while municipal employees are
focused on establishing policy to benefit the community in the long-term, local
government representatives are preoccupied with satisfying the short-term demands
of a negative minority. Abels (1996) continues by stating that “progressively, the
reward and motivation for service as a local government elected legislator is power
or ego gratification and not the satisfaction attained by assisting to construct a
greater community” and “the new designated local official views their role as
representing people who express a dominant view regarding an issue and to protect
23
the minority interests from the oppression of arbitrary and seemingly foolish
government rule” (McLean, 2013: 5).
Based on these challenges, it will be mandatory for municipalities to increase
performance and identify new and innovative ways to solve challenging problems.
Should this happen, managers need to have essential skills to inspire and motivate
high performance and innovation among employees. Managers will need to be
champions and change agents, inspiring employees towards adaptability to ensure
success. Managers must also create and construct cooperative and non-
dysfunctional relationships with executive levels such as group heads, municipal
councils and chief administrative officers (McLean, 2013: 5 - 6). This creates
awareness that managers must be cognisant of methods to motivate and inspire
employees to improve their performance in the CJMM by establishing factors that
affect their performances which will be investigated in this research.
Liao and Chuang, (2004: 41) stated that it is critical to understand what forecasts
employee service performance. Their study was based on developing and testing a
multilevel framework, examining employee service performance as a combined
function of employee individual characteristics and service environment
characteristics. They found that previous works on service performance focused on
either organisation- or individual-level analysis. Organisational factors had a common
theme, being that if an organisation values service and forms practices to enable and
reward excellent service, a "climate for service" is likely to emerge. This culture will
stimulate service performance and improve customer satisfaction (Liao and Chuang,
2004: 41).
Rogelberg, Barnes-Farrell and Creamer (1999) examined individual differences and
related factors which indicated that personality traits are not related to employee
customer service behaviour once job responsibilities are outlined. Liao and Chaung
(2004: 42) recognised that organisations do not "perform" and that it is individuals in
an organisation who perform and achieve desirable outcomes (Liao and Chuang,
2004: 42).
Liao and Chuang, (2004: 53) also found that training and incentives were not related
to service performance. Their explanation was that although service-related themes
24
are included in training, employees do not necessarily learn them, transfer them to
their jobs appropriately or maintain them over time. The aforementioned researchers
proposed that future research should directly measure training effectiveness and the
transmission of the learning to the workplace to examine the impact of training on
performance (Liao and Chuang, 2004: 53). This could be a potential threat in the
CJMM work environment and this research will include training and the transfer of
training in the workplace to measure the impact on performance.
The impact of monetary incentives, promotion opportunities, and intrinsic factors
such as informal recognition and appreciation in motivating service performance
should also be included in the research questions.
2.7 EMPLOYEE WORK EFFORTEffort is seen as one of most significant concepts in motivation theory and is defined
as the quantity or costs of energy put into a behaviour series of behaviours (Iqbal,
2013: 5 - 6). It is expected that work effort positively influences job satisfaction. Iqbal
(2013: 6) cites Brown and Peterson (1994), who stated that expenditure of effort has
a habit to increase employees’ assessments of objects, outcomes, and feeling states
by means of their efforts. The apparent exertion of effort in the work permits
individuals to fulfil their intrinsic needs to be competent, efficient, effective, and self-
determining, and thus contributes to job satisfaction.
Iqbal (2013: 6) also cites Cherrington, (1980) who stated that “grounded on the
terminal value perspective of work, it is more likely to have affective consequences
effortful engagement in work, as it results in a sense of dignity, self-respect, and
satisfaction”.
Brown and Peterson (1994) and Walker et al. (1977) as cited by Iqbal (2013: 6) said
that effort is considered as a mediator between motivation and performance, or as a
tool to change motivation into accomplished work and found a strong, positive
influence of work effort on job satisfaction (Iqbal, 2013: 6).
Leibenstein (1966) was among the first economists to highlight the fact that work
effort is optional and emphasied the importance of employee motivation in work
25
effort. He further stated that the role of supervising and relationships in the workplace
influence work effort and motivation.
Traditionally, money rewards have been seen as a motivator for work effort.
However, recognition has been extended to factors like employee attitudes and work
environment factors. These factors further include intensity of monitoring by
supervisors, gift exchanges, cost of job loss, reciprocity and fair wages (Morris, 2009:
20 - 25).
Based on the above discussions, the author realises that work effort has a large
impact on motivation and performance, which ultimately influence service delivery.
Thus, the researcher will attempt to identify factors influencing work effort, specifically
looking at satisfaction levels regarding responsibilities, the influence of positive
feedback from a manager, team members’ influence on work effort, the perception
that employees have of their employer, the community and non-monetary influences.
2.8 SERVICE DELIVERYService quality has been defined as a form of attitude, associated, but not equal to
satisfaction, that results from the comparison of expectations with performance
(Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman, 1988).
Poor, insufficient or a complete lack of service delivery remains an important
challenge in South Africa. There have been many violent service delivery protests in
municipal areas, including the CJMM, which are a cause for concern. These protests
might have resulted from both the lack of service, or from poor quality services
rendered (Mathibane, 2010).
Lately there has been a rise in community-level protests against municipalities due to
them not delivering essential services and opportunities, being corrupt and acting
against the spirit of the constitution by victimising those too poor to pay for municipal
services (Pieterse et al., 2008: 51-52).These protests are an indication that service
delivery is not in line with the expectations of the community.
26
The aim of service delivery must be primarily to provide satisfaction as an objective.
Customers must be pleased and satisfied with the quality of the services that they
receive. To guarantee this status quo, the CJMM must inspire customers to
participate in the processes that lead to service delivery. Fox and Meyer (1996), in
Minnie (2000: 89), argued that service quality, satisfaction and value can be seen as
indicators of levels of the service delivery.
Nealer (2007: 148) defined service delivery as a provision for public activities,
benefits or satisfaction. Fox and Meyer (1996: 118), in Mathibane (2010: 10), argued
that services relate to the provision of both intangible goods and tangible services.
Mathibane (2010: 10) further stated that service delivery is theorised as the
implementation of exact policy objectives in the public sector with numerous grades
of success. Furthermore, that public service is related with government and it is
expected that government should be the provider of the public services (Mathibane,
2010: 10).
Municipalities are faced with numerous challenges. The White Paper on Local
Government indicates that due to the amalgamation of the earlier divided jurisdiction
the residents which municipalities must attend to have increased, without an
equivalent increase in the tax base (Republic of South Africa, 2001). Resource
challenges like capital and human resources play a vital role in service provision.
With regard to the issue of financial resources shortages, the White Paper on Local
Government states that a combination of service backlogs, weakening
infrastructures, deteriorating creditworthiness and borrowing capacity, municipalities
also experience financial stress and, in some instances, crisis’. The CJMM, for
example, can improve its services by shortening operational processes to serve more
customers in less time, through initiating a change project or process re-engineering.
Municipalities are also experiencing upward pressure on salaries and loss of
experienced personnel (Republic of South Africa, 1998b). The White Paper on Local
Government also comments that some municipalities have insufficient financial
management capacity due to weak budget and accounting controls, a deficiency in
credit control and financial reporting systems. The budget practices are often not
aligned to the municipal business plans, nor open to public participation (Republic of27
South Africa, 1998b). These risks contribute to the deterioration of service delivery in
the municipality.
Cloete (2002: 287), in Parnell, Pieterse, Swilling, Wooldridge (2002), identified
general challenges faced by local government in South Africa which include:
• Inexperienced, unfaithful and/or uncommitted officials;
• Vested interests and a work culture not favourable to the new goals and
objectives;
• Municipal structures, processes and technologies not aligned to the business
model;
• A deficiency in funding and resources; and
• A lack of capability to change in line with new policy requirements.
Service delivery within municipalities consists of a complex set of relationships
among all three spheres of government, business and the community and calls for
new, original and innovative methods to enhance service delivery. Alternate service
delivery involves a quest to identify and implement new, appropriate organisational
forms and arrangements, as well as partnerships with the other levels of government
and non-governmental sectors (Mathibane, 2010: 21).
The Service Profit Chain (SPC) (Heskett et al., 1994: 166) as illustrated in Figure 4
below, establishes relationships between profitability, customer loyalty, employee
satisfaction and productivity. The SPC illustrates that customer loyalty drives
profitability and growth; customer satisfaction drives customer loyalty; value drives
customer satisfaction; employee productivity drives value; employee loyalty drives
productivity; internal quality drives employee satisfaction and leadership is a critical
factor to the chain’s success (Heskett et al., 1994: 165 - 168).
As illustrated in the SPC, the researcher will explore the effects of leadership, internal
quality, employee loyalty and productivity through research questions.
Figure 4: The Links in the Service-Profit Chain
28
Source: The Service-Profit Chain (Heskett et al., 1994: 166)
Further to the above, the lack of service delivery has a large impact on the brand of
the CJMM and the researcher will attempt to identify some factors impacting on
service delivery. The factors measured will comprise of corruption, financial
resources, the loss of skills and salary demands in the workplace.
2.9 HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT
2.9.1 Empowering Leadership and Employee Work EffortEmpowering leadership is defined as the leader’s empowering style of behaviour, as
well as the process of implementing conditions that increase employees’ feelings of
self-efficacy and control, leaving an employee with a feeling of power and motivation,
which will result in increased work effort and performance (Ching, 2012: 8).
Effort is understood to be one of most important notions in the motivation theory and
is defined as the quantity or costs of energy put into a behaviour series of behaviours
(Iqbal, 2013: 5 - 6). It is expected that work effort positively influences job satisfaction
and thus, performance.
Zhang and Bartol (2010) tested a theoretical model to link empowering leadership to
employee work effort and proved that empowering leadership does not only positively
29
affect employee work effort, but also has a positive influence on employee motivation
and creativity in the workplace. They further proved that an empowerment role
identity moderates the link between empowering leadership and psychological
empowerment, whereby the leader stimulated creativity, work effort, motivation and
performance. The behaviour of the leader may have a positive or negative influence
on employee motivation, work effort and performance, affecting the objectives of the
organisation (Zhang and Bartol, 2010).
Ching (2012: 6) cited Ahearne, Mathieu and Rapp (2005), Rau and Robert (2010)
and Cogner and Kanungo (1998), stating that people are more likely to be motivated
in their work by elements of empowering leadership behaviours. Ching (2012: 6)
went further to say that it has been proven that empowering leadership has an
influence on employee work effort and employee motivation. He concluded that
management has the ability to apply empowering leadership behaviour uniformly to
all employees or differentially across employees, to teams, or to individual employees
(Ching, 2012: 6).
Thus, based on the literature and empirical evidence in the various research papers,
this study therefore hypothesises that:
H1: There is a positive relationship between empowering leadership and employee
work effort in the CJMM.
2.9.2 Empowering Leadership and Employee PerformanceThe literature as discussed in the research of Ching (2012) and Zhang and Bartol
(2010) does not only confirm that empowering leadership has a positive effect on
work effort, but further substantiates the fact that empowering leadership has a
positive impact on employee motivation and performance.
Ahearne, Mathieu and Rapp (2005) focused on the effect of empowering leadership
on employee performance, which confirmed a close link between these factors.
Spreitzer (1995: 1442) defines psycological empowerment as the increased instrint
task incentive grounded in four cognitions – meaning, competence, self-
determination and impact - reflecting an individual’s positioning and alignment in
30
their work role. Psychological empowerment is thus seen as a powerful motivator to
increase employee performance.
Ahearne, Mathieu and Rapp (2005) showed that empowering leadership behaviour
positively influences employee performance. They further proved that increased self-
efficacy motivates employees to increase their work effort, increasing performance
and thus increasing departmental and organisational performance. Hence, the
following hypothesis is formulated:
H2: There is a positive relationship between empowering leadership and employee
performance in the CJMM.
2.9.3 Employee Work Effort and Employee PerformanceLooking at the literature discussed in points 2.8.1 and 2.8.2, the author highlights the
fact that employee work effort and employee performance are interrelated elements
which both affect performance in the organisation and are driven by empowering
leadership and motivation as discussed in the studies of Ching (2012) and Zhang
and Bartol (Zhang and Bartol, 2010).
Based on this literature and empirical evidence as discussed in the above points
2.8.1 and 2.8.2, the study therefore hypothesises that:
H3: There is a positive relationship between employee work effort and employee
performance in the CJMM.
2.9.4 Employee Work Effort and Service DeliveryDefining service delivery at first requires a common definition of service, which is
seen as a product or activity that meets the needs of a user or which can be applied
by a consumer. To be effective, services should be available, timely, dependable,
reliable, usable, useful, credible, authentic, responsive, flexible, sustainable and
expandable. Service delivery is defined as a continuous, cyclic process for
developing and delivering consumer focused services. Through incorporating the role
of employees in the day-to-day operations, customers are more likely to receive
excellent services that meet their needs. Improvements in service delivery are thus a
31
natural consequence of using empowering leadership management tools (The World
Meteorological Organization, 2012: 2 - 3).
In the studies of Ching (2012) he concluded that empowering leadership has a
positive effect of employee work effort, motivation and performance which rolled out
to the organisation in a ripple effect, as illustrated in the Regenesys Integrated
Management Model (Regenesys Business School, 2013: 3). Thus, the performance
and effort of employees have a positive effect on organisational performance, goals
and objectives.
Therefore, based on the literature and empirical evidence as discussed above, the
study therefore hypothesises that:
H4: There is a positive relationship between employee work effort and service
delivery in the CJMM, and
H5: There is a positive relationship between employee performance and service
delivery in the CJMM.
Drawing from the literature, in particular the literature mentioned above in points 2.3
to 2.7, a research model was conceptualised, and hypothesised relationships
between the research variables were developed. Figure 5 below illustrates the
proposed conceptual model.
Figure 5: Conceptual Model
Source: Researcher’s Conception
32
H5
H4
H3
H2
H1
Improved Service Delivery
Employee Work Effort
Empowering Leadership
Employee Performance
2.10 CHAPTER SUMMARYThe literature review provided an insight into the CJMM’s operations that are not
always apparent from a superficial observation of what the municipality needs to do
in order to meet its constitutional mandate.
The study also concentrated on the correlation between the variables and how they
influence each other. Table 1 below provides a summary of hypotheses for the study
that constitutes this thesis.
Table 1: Summary of Hypothesis
Hypothesis Number
Hypothesis Statement Hypothesised Relationship
H1 Empowering leadership has a positive influence on
employee work effort in the CJMM;
Empowering leadership →
Employee work effort (+)
H2 Empowering leadership has a positive influence on
employee performance in the CJMM;
Empowering leadership →
Employee performance (+)
H3 Employee work effort has a positive influence on
employee performance in the CJMM;
Employee work effort →
Employee performance (+)
H4 Employee work effort has a positive influence on Employee work effort →
33
service delivery in the CJMM. Service delivery (+)
H5 Employee performance has a positive influence on
service delivery in the CJMM.
Employee performance →
Service delivery (+)
The literature further provided an opportunity to unpack issues to enrich and enhance
the interview process. This literature review forms the basis of the analysis of the
feedback obtained through the interview process, which is described in Chapter 3
hereof.
34
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
323
3
3.1 INTRODUCTIONThis chapter discusses the research method applied to accomplish the objectives of
the study.
The primary objective of this study is to explore research questions that examines if
empowering leadership has a positive influence on employee work effort and
employee performance, and if employee work effort has a positive influence on
employee performance, and if employee work effort has a positive influence on
service delivery, and if employee performance has a positive influence on service
delivery in the Revenue department in the CJMM.
The research questions guiding this study are as follows:
(1) To what extent does empowering leadership affect employee work effort?
(2) To what extent does empowering leadership affect employee
performance?
(3) To what extent does employee work effort affect employee performance?
(4) To what extent does employee work effort affect service delivery?
(5) To what extent does employee performance affect service delivery?
This chapter further deals with the bases of data collected, tools used as a means of
collecting data, as well as the sampling and selection procedure, data collection and
methodology of analysis and a description of the quantitative analysis procedures
employed to analyse the data and the conclusion to the chapter.
35
It is assumed, for the purpose of this study, that when the CJMM experiences certain
challenges in service delivery levels, other municipalities within South Africa are likely
to experience similar challenges.
Therefore, a secondary objective of this study is to document the detail of challenges
experienced by the Revenue department so that they may serve as lessons or
guidelines to other municipalities to ensure service delivery can be maximised in their
own environments.
3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN
3.2.1 Research ApproachResearch is defined as a careful study and investigation, especially in order to
discover new facts or information (Nouri, 2012: 3). A quantitative research design will
be applied as it embraces the fact that the findings are objective, reliable, valid and
reproducible (Curtis and Drennan, 2013: 133). The researcher explored factors in the
Revenue department that affect service delivery with the intention to propose
different tools, policies, processes or methods to improve service delivery.
A quantitative approach is well-suited to research scenarios in which the research
concepts and phenomena of interest are well-defined and the relationships between
the variables are established. It is particularly applicable where the research can be
embedded in existing theory in order to identify an analytical model and/or
hypotheses a priori and tested through the research. Quantitative methods are
further suitable to develop and empirically test quantifiable measures of new
variables (Morris, 2009: 88 - 90).
The different levels of numerical measurements prescribe the range of techniques
available for the presentation, summary and analysis of the data. Quantitative data
can be divided into two distinct groups: categorical and numerical. Categorical data
being data where values cannot be measured numerically, but can be either
categorised into groups according to the features that identify or describe the
variable, or it can be placed in rank order (Saunders et al., 2007: 417).
36
Quantitative data can further be sub-divided into descriptive and ranked categories
where descriptive data or nominal data cannot be defined numerically, or cannot
be ranked. Thus the occurrences will simply be counted in each category of a
variable (Saunders et al., 2007: 417 - 418).
For almost all studies the variables have been unambiguous and discrete and have
one distinct feature. Though this data is purely descriptive, it can be counted to
establish which category is the greatest and whether cases are spread evenly
between categories (Saunders et al., 2007: 418).
Numerical or quantifiable data is the data where the values are measured or totalled
statistically as quantities, which relate to more precise results than categorical, as
each data value can be assigned to a position on a numerical scale. Further, the
researcher can utilise a far wider range of statistics (Saunders et al., 2007: 418).
There are two techniques of sub-dividing numerical data:
Interval data where the researcher can differentiate between, or state an interval
between any two data values for a specific variable, but the relative difference
cannot be calculated. This means that the values on an interval scale can
meaningfully be added and subtracted, but not multiplied and divided.
Ratio data where the researcher can also calculate the relative difference or ratio
between any two data values for a variable (Saunders et al., 2007: 418 - 419).
Continuous data can theoretically take any value (sometimes within a limited range),
provided that it can be measured accurately enough. Whereas discrete data can, by
contrast, be measured precisely. Each case takes one of a restricted number of
values from a scale that measures changes in discrete units. The data often consists
of whole numbers (integers). Figure 6 is a schematic presentation of the mapping of
methodologies to identify research methodologies (Saunders et al., 2007: 417).
37
Figure 6: Defining the Data Type
Source: (Saunders et al., 2007: 417)
Quantitative approaches are thus more structured, formal, objective and
scientifically-based than qualitative methods (Malhotra, Shaw and Crisp, 1996).
The samples in quantitative research are usually larger and more representative
than those samples in qualitative research. The data gathered were subjected to
quantitative analysis from which conclusions were made regarding the population.
Thus, the research outcomes are typically conclusive in nature (Morris, 2009: 89 -
90). The quantitative research method was done in a natural environment where the
researcher acted as the instrument in the collection and analysis of the data.
3.2.2 Research Methodology
Frankfort-Nachmias and Nachmias (1997: 201) define research methodology as a
method with clear rules and techniques upon which research is constructed and
38
against which claims for knowledge are appraised. Robson, (2011: 152) defines
research methodology as hypothetical, rational and supporting sets to social
research and the implications in the manner of the research and the application of
certain research methods. Denzin and Lincoln (2000: 20) conclude that research
methodologies are a system of investigation and analysis that gives direction to a set
of processes.
Likewise, Petty, Thomson and Stew (2012: 144) proclaim that research methodology
refers to a method that is utilised for the purpose to acquire and evaluate data in
order to create new knowledge. Research methodologies have definite influence on
the rationality, validity and broad view of a study and play a critical role in knowledge
development (McGrath and Bringberg, 1983: 32).
Comprehending and applying a relevant research methodology into the study is vital
in order to pinpoint the unit of analysis and use compatible methods that will provide
the intended results.
The research methodology comprises of the following distinct phases:
3.2.2.1 Internalising the research questions: a literature study accentuated the
research paradigm and frame of reference, and enhanced the
researcher’s understanding of the field of study and the findings of other
researchers on the topic (Mouton and Marais, 1992: 24). This, in
conjunction with the research objectives, assisted the researcher to
compile questionnaires that would test what the literature review
uncovered.
3.2.2.2 Collection of data from the questionnaires of the target population
(Revenue department employees) was set to collect the relevant data (De
Vos, 2005: 346). The questionnaires provided descriptions and
explanations of situational influences and factors on the issue under
investigation. It further supplied the researcher with access to the
viewpoints of Revenue employees and also provided a holistic
understanding of their view when exploring the challenges of service levels
in the Revenue department within the CJMM (Scheurich, 1997: 61).
39
3.2.2.3 The questionnaires were distributed to the selected sample of Revenue
employees, exploring challenges that employees are faced with daily.
These employees are located in the Revenue department, situated in
Thuso House, Braamfontein, Johannesburg. These questionnaires have
been developed comprising of closed-end questions and provided the
researcher with accurate, specific data and an overall view of factors
relating to the impact of empowering leadership on employee work effort
and employee performance, the impact of employee work effort on
employee performance, and if these elements have a positive influence on
service delivery in the Revenue department in the CJMM.
3.3 RESEARCH POPULATIONPopulation refers to all individuals that meet the sample criteria for inclusion in the
study, whereby sample refers to a split of the population that is selected for the study
(Burns, Grove and Gray, 2013: 776, 779). Officials working within the Revenue
department of the CJMM formed the main body of the population for this research
study. Convenience sampling was used to guarantee that specific elements were
included in the sample. Participants, in different sections within the Revenue
department, who were able to provide a diversity of viewpoints were chosen and
were engaged. More specifically, the following criteria for selection were used:
(a) They are employed within the Revenue department of the CJMM;
(b) They have ample knowledge of their environment within the Revenue department;
or
(c) They had the necessary experience to add value to the study and for purposes of
this study, experience refers to “the accumulation of knowledge or skill that
results from direct participation in events or activities” (Collins Concise
Dictionary, 2013).
The population of this study was identified, based on the above criteria and
comprised of employees employed in the Revenue department of the CJMM.
3.4 SAMPLINGA sample is a subset, part or measurement of the total population. Due to the large
population within Revenue, the researcher’s target population was unmanageable,
40
and thus a sample was selected to study and understand the target population. Thus,
sampling can be seen as a rational method of making statements regarding the total
population, based on the findings about a smaller population (Regenesys Business
School, 2013: 39 - 42).
A sampling frame is a complete list in which each unit of analysis is mentioned only
once (Welman, Kruger and Mitchell, 2005: 57). It is impossible to judge the
representativeness of the sampling frame if a complete listing of the population is not
available, and therefore the researcher has requested an extraction of all Revenue
employees from the Human Resources department.
3.4.1 Sampling Methodology
As time and resource constraints were a factor in deciding which employees to use
for the questionnaires, the researcher opted to target employees utilising a non-
probability sampling method. The researcher applied a convenience sampling
methodology, ensuring that a diversity of employees in different units were included
in the sample (Saunders et al., 2007: 213). This was based on those employees in
the Revenue department that were easily accessible, until the sample reached a
desirable size.
3.4.2 Sample Size
The Revenue department consists of 1,823 employees confirmed by Human
Resources through an e-mail received 22 January 2015. The R&CRM department
consists of the Finance department with a staff complement 228 of employees,
Marketing department with 12 employees, Customer Relations Management
department with 848 employees, Credit Management department with 224
employees, Billing department with 376 employees, Management Support with 49
employees and IT Support with 66 employees.
This staff complement consists of various levels within the R&CRM department, top
management 6 employees, 66 senior managers, 148 middle manager 404 skilled
and junior management, 180 semi-skilled employees and 19 unskilled employees.
Most employees have been employed for periods in excess of five years as the
CJMM applies various instruments to retain employees “such as flexible working
hours, training and development initiatives, funded education, fair and transparent 41
human resources policies and employee representation (COJ - Business Planning
Department, 2012: 45) .
The researcher selected a sample of 200 employees in the Revenue department
across various sections and distributed, based on a percentage target per
department the questionnaires in each department. The employee database were
allocated a percentage per level, per department to the total staff complement and
thereafter the researcher applied the total sample to the percentages in order to
calculated the distribution of the questionnaires.
The questionnaires distributed in the various departments were calculated as follows:
Due to the fact that Marketing department employees are part of the R&CRM
department and are well informed about the service delivery issues in the CJMM,
they were included in the sample selection.
Unskilled workers are permanent employees in the R&CRM department and are
constantly in touch with customers and other departments. Although they are
unskilled, they pose ample experience and knowledge to complete the questionnaire
and contribute valuable knowledge to the study.
The researcher ensured that the process was fair and unbiased by distributing
questionnaires based on a percentage of the total number of employees in each unit
versus the total sampling size of the Revenue department.
3.5 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTSThe researcher developed structured questionnaires to have control and guidance for
answers. These closed-end questions consisted of a list of predetermined answers
42
from which participants could choose (Nouri, 2012: 23-24). These questionnaires
were given to Revenue department employees.
The questionnaires distributed to candidates contained the same questions which
they had to complete in the same order (Sappsford and Japp, 2006: 97). The
questionnaires comprised of a list of questions that formed the basis for the research
objectives.
Appendix 1, the Employee Questionnaire, was used to gather data for this study. This
questionnaire starts with Section A, requesting background information to compare
responses of different culture groups in the Revenue department. The items for this
section were adopted from Wood, Van R., Bhuian, S. and Kieker, P. (2000).
Section B comprises of questions based on the Likert scale, divided into five sections
with a total of 45 questions for respondents to answer. The questions were
formulated in such a manner that different scenarios with respect to possible answers
were given, from which the respondents could reply by marking an “X” in the tick
boxes provided. There were options ranging from one extreme to another extreme of
response (namely rating criteria, strongly agree, moderately agree, agree slightly
more than disagree, disagree slightly more than agree, moderately disagree, and
strongly disagree) and they were provided on each question to allow respondents to
complete all the research questions. The sections are structured as follows:
3
3.3
3.4
3.5.1 Section one (items 1.1 to 1.15) comprises of 15 questions regarding
empowering leadership with the choice on a scale of 1- 5, choosing if
respondents strongly agree or disagree with the statements given. These
questions are based on the research done by Zhang and Bartol (2010:
107 - 128) in their journal article “Linking Empowering Leadership and
Employee Creativity: The Influence of Psychological Empowerment,
Instrinct Motivation, and Creative Process Engagement”.
43
3.5.2 In Section two (items 2.1 to 2.10) respondents were also asked to rate their
level of agreement or disagreement regarding employee performance.
These questions were self-generated.
3.5.3 In section three (3.1 to 3.10) respondents were requested to choose on a
scale from 1- 5 how wrong or right the statements regarding work effort are
in their opinion. These questions were formulated based on the work done
by Morris (2009: 350).
3.5.4 In section four (items 4.1 to 4.10) respondents were asked to rate service
delivery on a scale comprising of excellent, good, average, poor and non-
existing. These questions were self-generated.
The researcher was present at all times during which employees responded to the
questionnaires to ensure that the necessary questionnaires were completed,
problems resolved and inputs submitted for recording.
3.6 DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUESTypically, the researcher chose a data collection technique considering its overall
suitability to the research, along with other useful factors, such as the expected
quality of the collected data, the estimated costs, the predicted non-response rate,
the expected level of errors and the length of the data collection period (Biemer et al.,
1991).
All methods for data collection require some degree of structure and the evaluation is
between highly- and less-structured methods. Highly-structured methods, where
questions are involved, require a careful methodology in order to retain the interest
and attention of the candidate (Sappsford and Japp, 2006: 57, 93-97). The primary
data was collected for the research from the actual sites of occurrence of the events,
being the questionnaires distributed among Revenue department employees.
The researcher has, after receiving the completed questionnaires, investigated
possible correlations between performance, leadership, change and work effort
which impact on service delivery in line with the objectives of the research proposal.
44
It is crucial for the researcher to understand the organisational culture in the Revenue
department, which is heavily informed by the organisational structure of the CJMM
and heavily influenced by political decisions. The culture can have an impact on
motivation, performance and service delivery levels in the Revenue department.
Additionally, there are many different operational functions and systems within
Revenue which confuse employees and can impact on individual, team and
organisational behaviour (OB). The processes are part of, and link directly into the
value chain of the CJMM and are a key factor in service delivery.
3.7 DATA ANALYSISData analysis is considered a very serious task that needs to be performed with
perfection, in order to obtain high scoring, accurate research work. Statistical
analysis comprises of a means to reduce huge sets of data into more manageable
and comprehensible sets, making it easier to interpret.
Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to identify and excerpt concepts from
Revenue department employees’ responses to the survey. This procedure aided in a
data reduction method that delivers a practical applied basis to decrease a huge set
of variables into a few factors. This is done by combining correlated variables.
Once the variables were identified through factor analysis, the Pearson correlation
analysis was utilised in answer to the research questions by investigating the
relationships between the variables in this research study. According to Bordens
and Abbott (1991) this analytical technique yields a Pearson correlation coefficient
(Pearson r), which is an “index of the direction and degree of linear relationship
between two variables” (Bordens and Abbott, 1991: 341). The value of r ranges
from +1 through zero to -1. The closer the coefficient is to one of the limits (-1 to 1),
the stronger the relationship between the two variables is. Further inspection relating
to the strengths of the relationships between the variables was achieved by the
calculation R square (r2), or the coefficient of determination. Pearson r2 is a
measure of the amount of variance joined by two variables, and represents the
degree to which the variability in the dependent variable can be explained by the
variability of the independent variable (Malgady and Krebs, 1986: 110). Pearson r2
values range from zero to one and the nearer the r2 value is to one, the greater the
proportion of variance that is explainable.
45
The researcher will apply, based on the questionnaires and the research objectives,
the following methods to analyse the data:
(a) Simple regression analysis to calculate the correlation between the responses
and the query resolution rates;
(b) Constructing a frequency and percentage distributions table where necessary;
and;
(c) Descriptive statistical measures which refer to calculations that are used to
describe the data set and consist of the:
i. Mean - the numerical average of scores for a specific variable;
ii. Minimum and maximum values - the highest and lowest value for a
specific variable, and the
iii. Median - the mathematical middle point or score that divides the
distribution in half for a specific variable.
Creswell (2003: 142-165) believes that the process of data analysis and
interpretation may best be presented as a spiral image - a data analysis spiral: “the
researcher participates in a process of moving in analytical circles rather than using a
fixed linear approach. The researcher enters the spiral with the data of text or images
… and exits with an account or a narrative” (Creswell, 2003: 142). The researcher
will apply Creswell’s Data Analysis Spiral (2003: 142) which outlines the
researcher’s methods in analytical circles rather than using a fixed linear approach.
The Creswell data analysis spiral (2003: 142) consists of the following steps:
In relation to data collection Creswell (2003) indicates that the researcher should plan
a methodical recording of the data in a way that will enable analysis even before the
data collection commences. The researcher formulated the questions into categories
in line with the literature review, to simplify the analysis of the interviews.
In terms of managing the data, Creswell (2003) recommends that managing data
should be the first step in data analysis and as it is the first loop in the spiral, it
initiates the process. The researcher will at an early stage organise the data into file
46
folders on the computer. For this study, interviews will be transcribed and organised
into files. In addition, responses from questionnaires will be recorded and stored on
the researcher’s computer.
Cresswell (2003) explains that reading and memoing is the stage where the
researcher must continue analysis by reading transcripts several times to get a sense
of the interview as a whole before breaking up the interview into segments. This
process will ensure that large data will be more manageable and easier to
summarise. The researcher will extract responses to the interview questions and
tabulate it to ensure that the data will be more manageable.
Creswell (2003) further said that describing, classifying and interpreting the data is at
the core of the whole data analysis process and include segmenting the qualitative
data in an attempt to find categories, themes or dimensions of information. In this
study, major themes have been identified in the manner in which the interview
schedule was designed.
In closing, Creswell (2003) advises that the final stage in the spiral comprises of the
presentation of the researcher’s data by packaging it in presentable forms. In this
study, answers will be presented in various forms, e.g. tabular, graphically or in text
to explain the research results.
3.8 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITYThe identifying element of good research is the reliability and validity of the data.
Irrespective of the research approach, the purpose of validity is to examine the
quality of the data and the outcome or results (Thompson, 2010: 54 - 55). In
quantitative research this proposes that the researcher can draw meaningful
conclusions from the results to a population, while reliability means that participant
scores are reliable and constant. Thompson (2010: 54) further states that reliability is
an investigation of the stability between a set of independent observations that are
interchangeable and can be defined as “the degree to which test scores are free from
errors of measurement”, where measurement errors reduce reliability and thus the
generalisation of the results obtained for a researcher from a distinct measurement.
This research used two tests to assess reliability, namely composite reliability (CR),
and average variance extracted (AVE). Since data analysis entailed structural
47
equation modelling (SEM) for purposes of confirming reliability (Hair (Jnr) et al.,
2009) it is suggested to use CR. CR calculates internal consistency at an item level,
using factor loadings from individual items produced from a structural model (Kline,
1998). It is thus computed after the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) model is
developed, using the formula: CRη = (Σλyi)2 / [(Σλyi)2 + (Σεi)], where (Σλyi)2 is the
square of the sum of the factor loadings, and (Σεi) the sum of error variances. CR
ranges from 0 to 1, with coefficients closer to 1 indicating more internal consistency.
Although Nunnally and Bernstein (1994) recommended a threshold of 0.7, a
coefficient of 0.6 is also seen as marginally acceptable.
Validity refers to the suitability, relevance and practicality of evidence that is used to
back interpretations. Decisions made and actions taken based on the assessment
scores also contributes to validity. Thus, establishing validity for a survey testing
concentrates on the use to which the instrument is put and not on the study itself
(Thompson, 2010: 54). Authenticating and validating the research includes gathering
evidence for conclusions regarding the influence of leadership on employee work
effort, performance and service delivery in the Revenue department.
This researcher determined discriminant validity, which is grounded on the notion
that, as each construct is measuring one variable, the items should thus be more
highly correlated with each other than with items from other constructs (Lucas, et al.,
1996). Through applying an inter-construct correlation matrix, the analysis has
depicted the degree to which the constructs are discriminant from one another and
are not evaluating the same variable (Lucas, et al., 1996). This encompassed plotting
constructs next to one another to examine the strength of their relations with one
another. The correlation coefficients run from negative infinity to positive 1, with
lesser absolute values indicating a lesser degree of correlation and therefore more
discriminant construct validity (Krommenhoek & Galpin, 2013). Negative coefficients
show negative correlations, while positive coefficients indicate positive correlations
between constructs. The recommended upper limit is 0.7 (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988; Lucas,
Diener, & Suh, 1996) as coefficients closer to 1 suggest that the correlated
constructs may be measuring the same variable. In this research, discriminant
validity is assessed for the constructs using an inter-construct correlation matrix.
3.9 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
48
In collecting the data to achieve the objectives of this study, it will be important to
place emphasis on ethics.
The research will be guided by the principles of:
(a) The right to freedom of choice, expression and access to information;
(b) The right to privacy, confidentiality and anonymity of the interviewees;
(c) Informed consent by population;
(d) Striving to achieve and maintain a professional level of competence at all times;
(e) Being responsible and acting with integrity;
(f) Being authentic, honest and true;
(g) Avoiding conflicts of interest at all times and handling conflict situations
constructively (Cummings and Worley, 2009: 70-72).
The researcher will ensure that the target population is informed and that consent is
obtained to distribute and complete questionnaires for the research project.
Participants will be briefed on the process to protect their confidentiality and privacy
by issuing a cover letter and thereafter verbally during the interview processes. The
right to freedom of choice, expression and access to information will be guaranteed
through voluntary participant involvement; with a choice to withdraw or terminate their
participation in the research at any time without fear of prejudice. The target
population will further have access to research findings when requested and will be
advised of this option before starting the interview. Confidentiality is the treatment of
information in a confidential manner. Data and information obtained will be treated as
confidential and only individuals directly involved with the gathering and analysing of
data will have the privilege to access to the information.
The researcher highlights the fact that ethics in research refer to acceptable
behaviour or rules commencing from the onset in the way the researcher formulates
and ask questions. In interviewing people, the researcher has to acknowledge the
respondents’ privacy, upholding an agreement of confidentiality of data, preserving
the anonymity of respondents as well as using the information gained for research
purposes only.
49
In line with the code of ethics in the CJMM, the researcher will be honest,
transparent, professional, efficient and effective at all times during the process to
gather and report the information (Johannesburg Risk and Assurance Department,
2010). The researcher will communicate and explain the research process and
objectives to the target population to ensure clarity and understanding of questions
and interviews to avoid conflict situations.
In terms of this research study, ethical issues will be considered and adhered to, to
ensure the success on achieving the overall objectives of the study. It is further
important - as far as this study is concerned - to ensure that:
(a) No harm comes to participants – referring particularly to data obtained from
employees who will be interviewed and complete questionnaires. In the
research study employees had the right to not complete questionnaires and
even those to be interviewed had a right to refuse to divulge certain information.
(b) No harm will be done to the data- data will be utilised for research purposes
only. Participants will be assured that no third party would have access to
interview data, as well as the data obtained through questionnaires. Where
necessary, confidentiality will be maintained and respect will be shown to those
involved.
(c) Preserving anonymity in the study is critical and the names of participants will
not be used. The researcher will identify by other means, such as numbers.
(d) The researcher will also ensure that no physical harm will come to any
participants of the study.
(e) Data extracted from the systems will reflect the true and actual situations and
outcomes to reflect accurate relationships.
3.10 LIMITATIONSThe nature of this study, as well as the timeframe required for completion and the
extent of the sample size to be studied, posed a limitation. The study was limited to
the Revenue department in the CJMM. Further, the number of subjects required to
50
participate in the study was limited to the availability of Revenue department
employees who agreed to participate voluntarily. Revenue department employees
felt threatened and were not willing to participate in this study.
To overcome this problem, the researcher assured respondents of their guaranteed
confidentiality and met with them to clarify the purpose of the research. As required,
the researcher provided information to the participants, assuring them of the
authenticity and value of the research.
3.11 CONCLUSIONThis chapter provided a detailed description of the study’s research methodology. A
quantitative methodology will be employed to explore whether empowering
leadership has a positive influence on employee work effort and employee
performance, and if employee work effort has a positive influence on employee
performance, and if employee work effort has a positive influence on service delivery,
and if employee performance has a positive influence on service delivery in the
Revenue department in the CJMM.
A description of the research design and method was provided. After identifying the
target group, non-probability, convenience sampling techniques were used in
selecting the respondents to the study; then structured questionnaires were
distributed. In addition, before gathering data, respondents’ permission was obtained.
The researcher ensured that the anonymity, confidentiality and dignity of the
respondents were carefully protected.
The data collection procedures employed were intended to yield complete, consistent
and unbiased results regarding findings about the relationships between independent
and dependent variables in the study.
In the next chapter, a comprehensive, accurate and meticulous exercise to analyse
and interpret the data is revealed using the methods mentioned in this chapter.
51
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
44.1 INTRODUCTION4The researcher discusses the methods that were used to acquire the results that will
be presented in this chapter. This chapter commences by explaining the data
screening process; thereafter deliberates the data analytical processes, and presents
and discusses the results obtained through the data analysis, including the
assessment of the research model fit.
In order to analyse the data, the Statistical Package Smart PLS (SPSS) was utilised.
The hypothesis testing part, using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), will also be
presented and the results discussed.
4.2 DATA SCREENING2344.1Subsequent to data collection, the next phase is the data screening process as
recommended by Malhotra, Peterson and Kleiser (1999: 183) and Churchill (1991:
250). Data screening process is included to verify that data collected is cleaned
before any further statistical analyses are performed. Screening data is the first task
towards obtaining some interpretation into the characteristics of the data. It is further
a vital facet to verify the accuracy of the data and assessment of outliers before
continuing to analyse the summary statistics for the questionnaires’ collected
responses (Schumacker and Lomax, 2004: 32).
Vital analytical tasks included in the data screening process are checking, editing,
coding, and tabulation of the data. The responses were carefully coded with an
52
identification number that is related to a specific SME. Using the SPSS software,
each data field was tested for the mean and standard deviation to detect any
typographical errors and possible outliers. The data was cleaned after any identified
errors in the data entries were corrected.
4.3 DATA ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES5678The data analytical process of analysis commences by capturing data, screening for
errors and irregularities, which are commonly referred to as data cleaning (Burns and
Bush, 2006). The analysis process consists of running data through several empirical
and statistical procedures and tests, all for the purpose of conscripting conclusions
about the hypotheses postulated previously in the research. Due to this research
utilising a scientific approach, data analysis is a vital measure of the research
process as new knowledge will be generated through the research based on
empirical and statistical analyses of the observations.
In order to analyse the empirical data, various relevant statistical techniques were
used. First, the Smart PLS software for Structural Equation Modelling (SEM)
technique was used to assess the measurement instruments.
Smart PLS is a regression-based technique that has emerged as a powerful
approach to test causal relationships among variables (Chinimino and Moloi, 2014:
309; Wong, 2013: 1), even under conditions of non-normality. In addition to that,
Smart PLS is an excellent software tool for partial least squares structural equation
modelling (PLS-SEM) and can handle complex predictive models in small-to-medium
sample sizes. Therefore it befits the purpose of this study since the current study
sample size is relatively small (150).
When data analysis includes structural equation modelling (SEM), for the purpose of
confirming reliability, Hair et al (2006) propose using the Cronbach’s alpha as well as
Composite Reliability (CR), as Cronbach’s coefficient has a tendency to understate
reliability. CR calculates internal consistency at an item level, using factor loadings 53
from each individual item generated from a structural model (Kline, 1998). It is
therefore calculated after the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) model is
developed. It is computed using the formula CRη = (Σλyi)2 / [(Σλyi)2 + (Σεi)], where
(Σλyi)2 is the square of the total sum of the factor loadings, and (Σεi) is the sum of
error variances. Similar to Cronbach’s alpha, CR ranges from 0 to 1, with coefficients
closer to 1 representing higher internal consistency. Although the suggested
threshold for CR is 0.7 (Nunnally and Bernstein, 1994), a coefficient of 0.6 is also
seen as marginally adequate.
The Average Variance Extracted (AVE) is an indicator of the total variation accounted
for by the construct, matched with variance due to measurement error (Segars,
1997). Similar to CR, it is calculated at an item level applying the factor loadings in
the CFA model, and is calculated using the formula Vη = Σλyi2 / (Σλyi2 + Σεi), where
Σλyi2 is the total of the squared of the factor loadings, and Σεi is the sum of error
variances. AVE ranges from 0 to 1, where values nearer to 1 indicate greater
variances due to the construct. Fornell and Larcker (1981) suggested that the desired
outcome for the AVE should range to be equal to or greater than 0.5, as this
proposes that the variance attributable to the construct is greater than the variance
due to measurement error. However AVE values exceeding 0.4 are considered to be
marginally acceptable.
SEM being a valued statistical method to test theory in numerous areas of knowledge
(Nusair and Hua, 2010) was used to study and examine assumed relationships in the
research model (Liao and Hsieh, 2013). SEM is defined as a multivariate statistical
process mainly used for studying relationships between hidden and observed
variables to establish a model. (Qureshi and Kang , 2015). He et al. (2012) stated the
SEM is considered to be analogous to regression analysis, but is more predominant
as it measures causal relationships among concepts and considers measurement
error at the same time.
Table 2 - provided below – show the measurement reliability, validity, mean values
and the item loadings of the variables.
Thereafter a cross-tabulation analysis - also known as contingency table analysis -
was applied to analyse the categorical or nominal scale date. Being a two- 54
dimensional table, it records the number (frequency) of the respondents that have a
specific characteristic as described in the cells of the table. Cross-tabulation tables
further provide a wealth of information about the relationships between the variables.
The results of the cross tabulation can be seen in table 9 and 10. The Chi-Square
statistics is primarily used for testing the statistical significance of the cross-tabulation
table and test whether or not the variables are independent (Williams, 2015).
4.3.1 Measurement ModelConvergent validity was checked by assessing the values of items loaded on their
respective variables. The item loadings are expected to reach a threshold of equal to,
or greater than 0.6 to be acceptable. Discriminant validity was checked by ensuring
that there were no significant inter-research variables cross-loadings (Chin, 1998).
As can be seen (Table 2), all items have loadings greater than 0.6 (i.e. ranging from
0.997 to 0.999, with cross-loadings greater than 0.897), while t-statistics derived from
bootstrapping (100 resamples) suggest all loadings are significant at pb0.001. As
such, this confirms that all the measurement items converged well on their respective
constructs and therefore are acceptable measures.
Table 2: Accuracy Analysis Statistics
Research Construct
Mean Value
R-Squared Value
Cronbach’s value
C.R. Value
AVE Value
Factor Loading
EL
EL1
0.999 0.999 0.997
0.999
EL2 0.999
EL3 0.999
EL4 0.998
EL5 0.998
EL6 0.999
EL7 0.998
EL8 0.998
EL9 0.999
EL10 0.999
EWE1 0.999
EWE2 0.998
55
EWE 0.993 0.999 0.999 0.997
EWE3 0.998
EWE4 0.999
EWE5 0.997
EWE6 0.999
EWE7 0.999
EWE8 0.998
EWE9 0.999
EWE10 0.998
EP
EP1
0.998 0.999 0.999 0.997
0.999
EP2 0.999
EP3 0.999
EP4 0.999
EP5 0.999
EP6 0.997
EP7 0.999
EP8 0.999
EP9 0.998
EP10 0.998
ISD
ISD1
0.997 0.999 0.999 0.997
0.999
ISD2 0.998
ISD3 0.998
ISD4 0.999
ISD5 0.998
ISD6 0.999
ISD7 0.999
ISD8 0.999
ISD9 0.999
ISD10 0.999
56
Note: EL = Empowering Leadership; EWE = Employee Work Effort; EP = Employee
Performance; ISD = Improved Service Delivery
According to Chin (1998), research variables should have an average variance
extracted (AVE) of more than 0.5 and a composite reliability of more than 0.7
(convergent validity), and inter-construct correlations should be less than the square-
root of the AVE (discriminant validity). As can be seen (Table 2), all constructs
exceed these criteria, with AVE and CR generally equal to or greater than 0.6 and
0.9, respectively. However, as indicated in Table 3, some of the inter-construct
correlation coefficients are above the recommended 0.850 (Chin, 1998), and
therefore do not indicate the existence of discriminant validity. Since the least
Average Variance Extracted (AVE) value is 0.997; all in all, these results confirm the
existence of discriminant validity of the measurement used in this study.
57
Table 3: Correlations between Constructs
RESEARCH CONSTRUCTS EL EWE EP ISD
EL 1.000
EWE 0.899 1.000
EP 0.897 0.898 1.000
ISD 0.899 0.898 0.897 1.000
Note: EL = Empowering Leadership; EWE = Employee Work Effort; EP = Employee
Performance; ISD = Improved Service Delivery
Tables 2 and 3 present the results of the PLS analysis of the structural model along
with the path estimates and t-values. Support for the hypotheses, which are labelled
on their corresponding paths in Figure 7, could be ascertained by examining the
directionality (positive or negative) of the path coefficients and the significance of the
t-values. The t-statistics are expected to be at least 0.2 (Chin, 1998). The results
provide support for the proposed positive relationships between the five relationships
(i.e. H1, H2, H3, H4 and H5). Moreover, the t-statistics of all the relationships indicate
the hypothesised relationships are exceedingly significant (H1 – H5 t-statistics =
3.824; 2.563; 8.945; 3.065; 2.789 respectively).
4.3.2 Path ModelPLS also generates the path coefficients for the relationships modelled among the
constructs. The significance of these coefficients was assessed using the bootstrap
procedure (with 100 sub-samples) that provided the t-values for each path estimate.
Figure 6 and Table 4.3 present the results of the PLS analysis on the structural
model along with the path estimates and t-values. Support for the study hypotheses,
which are labelled on their corresponding paths in Figure 7, could be ascertained by
examining the directionality (positive or negative) of the path coefficients and the
significance of the t-values. The t-statistics are expected to be at least 0.2 (Chin,
1998).
58
Figure 7: Measurement and Structural Model Result
Note: EL = Empowering Leadership; EWE = Employee Work Effort; EP = Employee
Performance; ISD = Improved Service Delivery
The results provide support for the proposed positive relationships between the
five relationships (i.e. H1, H2, H3, H4 and H5). Moreover, the t-statistics of all the
relationships indicate the hypothesised relationships are exceedingly significant (H1
– H5 t-statistics = 3.824; 2.563; 8.945; 3.065; 2.789 respectively). Figure 7 and Table
4 provide the path coefficients for H1, H2, H3, H4 and H5 (i.e. 0.997, 0.147, 0.851,
0.676 and 0.323 respectively).
59
H5
H3
H2
H4H1
Table 4: Correlations between Constructs
Proposed Hypothesis Relationship
HypothesisPath Coefficients
T-StatisticsRejected / Supported
EL à EWE H1 0.997 3.824 Supported
EL à EP H2 0.149 2.563 Supported
EWE à EP H3 0.851 8.945 Supported
EWE à ISD H4 0.676 3.065 Supported
EPà ISD H5 0.323 2.789 Supported
Note: EL = Empowering Leadership; EWE = Employee Work Effort; EP =
Employee Performance; ISD = Improved Service Delivery
Overall, R² for EWE, EP, ISD (0.993; 0.998; 0.997 respectively) in Figure 6, indicates
that the research model explains more than 92% of the variance in the endogenous
variables. Following formulae provided by (Tenenhaus et al., 2005), the global
goodness-of-fit (GoF) statistic for the research model was calculated using the
equation:
GoF = √AVE * R²
The calculated global goodness of fit (GoF) is 0.89, which exceeds the threshold of
GoF>0.36 suggested by Wetzels, Odekerken-Schroder and Van Oppen (2009).
Thus, this study concludes that the research model has a good overall fit.
This study reveals that the empowering leadership has stronger effects on employee
work effort (0.997) than on their performance (0.149). However, employee work effort
has a robust influence on employee performance (0.851). The results also indicate
that employee work effort has a stronger impact on improved service delivery (0.676)
than their performance (0.323).
By implication, these results indicate that empowering leadership has a strong
influence on service delivery via employee work effort. Perhaps this could be due to
the fact that the employee’s performance is also determined to a large extent by the
employee’s work effort. Therefore, when the employees increase their work effort,
both their performance and service delivery are likely to improve.
60
Table 5: Relationship between Empowering Leaders and Employee Performance
CorrelationsEL EP
EL Pearson Correlation 1 .205*
Sig. (2-tailed) .045N 96 96
EP Pearson Correlation .205* 1Sig. (2-tailed) .045N 96 96
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
The relationship between empowering leaders and employee performance was
measured by using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Preliminary analysis was
performed to ensure no violation of the assumptions of normality, linearity and
homoscedasticity. There was a relationship between leaders’ empowerment and
employee performance. It explains that employees in the organisation perform better
when they are empowered by their leaders as shown in the table above, with the
significant level at the Sig (2-tailed) value with 0.45, which is less than the accepted
probability value of p, which must always be less than 0.05 to determine its
significance level. This is further explained as: r = .205, n = 426, p = 0.45 < .05.
Table 6: Relationship between Work Effort and Service Delivery
CorrelationsISD EWE
ISD Pearson Correlation 1 .207*
Sig. (2-tailed) .043N 96 96
EWE Pearson Correlation .207* 1Sig. (2-tailed) .043N 96 96
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
The relationship between work effort and service delivery was also measured by
using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Preliminary analysis was performed to ensure
no violation of the assumptions of normality, linearity and homoscedasticity. There
was a relationship between the effort by the employees and the service that is
delivered by them. It demonstrates that the effort put in by management to ensure
61
that work is done in the organisation has an influence on the employees' service
delivery. This is explained in the interpretation: r = .207, n = 96, p = .043 < .05.
Table 7: Year in the Organisation and Employee Performance
Chi-Square Tests
Value DfAsymp. Sig. (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 1.256E2a 96 .023Likelihood Ratio 91.652 96 .607Linear-by-Linear Association 1.444 1 .230N of Valid Cases 96125 cells (100.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .02.
A chi-square test for independence indicated a significant association between years
in the organisation and employee performance; the result explains that the longer
employees stay in the organisation, the more experienced they become and they are
then enabled to perform as shown in the interpretation above: x2 (1,n = 96), p = 0.23
< 0.05. In the table above the Pearson Chi - square value that corresponds with the
Asymp. Sig (2-sided) value is used for the determination of it being significant or not.
The P value .023 was less than 0.05, which shows that there was a relationship
between the two variables.
Table 8: Years in the Organisation and Work Effort
Chi-Square Tests
Value dfAsymp. Sig. (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 1.256E2a 96 .023Likelihood Ratio 91.652 96 .607Linear-by-Linear Association 1.444 1 .230N of Valid Cases 96125 cells (100.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .02.
A chi-square test for independence also indicated a significant association between
years in the organisation and work effort, such that the longer employees stay in the
organisation, the more effort they put into their work to perform as shown in the
interpretation above: x2 (1,n = 96), p = 0.23 < 0.05.
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Table 9: Years in the Organisation and Service Delivery
Chi-Square Tests
Value dfAsymp. Sig. (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 1.265E2a 112 .164Likelihood Ratio 106.966 112 .617Linear-by-Linear Association .286 1 .593N of Valid Cases 96145 cells (100.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .02.
A chi-square test for independence indicated no significant association between
years in the organisation and employee delivery of service, such that the longer
employees stay in the organisation, the more they are not able to deliver service to
their clients. This is shown in the interpretation as: x2 (1,n = 96), p = 0.23 < 0.05.
In the above table, the P value .164 was greater than the acceptable probability value
of 0.05, which means that there was no association between the number of years
one has been in the organisation and efficient nature of his service delivery to clients.
4.3.3 Descriptive StatisticsDescriptive statistics provide condensed characteristic information regarding the
sample and form the basis of quantitative data analysis (Burns and Bush, 2006). It
supports inferential statistics used to make assumptions about the sample by
reducing the risk of constructing conclusions with regard to the research purely on
probabilistic indicators (Kumar, 2005). This is imperative as it assists understanding
the sample, and contributes to the conclusions and recommendations regarding the
relevance to the characteristics of the sample (Vogt, 2007; Mukher and Albon, 2010).
Table 10 represents a cross-tabulation between gender and their ability to meet
deadlines, whereas table 11 represents a cross-tabulation between gender and how
they required incentives.
63
Table 10: A cross-tabulation between gender and their ability to meet deadlines
Ability to meet deadlinesTotal
1 2 3 4 5
Gender Male 17 21 3 0 1 42Female 19 30 2 1 2 54
Total 36 51 5 1 3 96
The above results have shown that more females are able to meet deadlines in the
organisation than males – with female recording 54%, while male recorded 42%.
Table 11: A cross-tabulation between gender and how they required incentives
Require Incentives Total1 2 3 4 5
Gender Male 20 6 7 5 4 42Female 20 14 4 13 3 54
Total 40 20 11 18 7 96
From the table above, it is evident that females require more incentives to work than
males. 54% of the females attested to the need for incentive to be given in the
organisation, while 42% of males also responded in that regard.
4.4 CONCLUSIONThis chapter commenced with an introduction, followed by a discussion on data
screening and data analytical processes. The research variables results then
followed and a discussion on reliability tests was then undertaken followed by
hypothesis testing. Descriptive analysis results were then provided. The next chapter
presents the discussions of the findings referring to the literature reviewed.
64
CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSIONS
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
55.1 INTRODUCTIONThe main empirical findings were summarised in chapter four. This chapter will
synthesise the empirical findings to answer the research questions and discuss the
results by referring to the literature reviewed. The aim of this research is firstly to
understand and describe the effect of empowering leadership on employee work
effort, performance and service delivery.
The purpose of this study is to determine the influence of empowering leadership on
employee work effort, performance, and service delivery in South Africa. To test the
proposed hypotheses, data was collected from 96 respondents in South Africa. The
following discussions are based on the results of the hypothesis testing in the path
65
analysis which were reported in the previous chapter (4.3.2). The discussion below
moves from an overall to a more specific discussion.
This dissertation combines leadership theories, (e.g., Winston and Patterson, 2006;
Lynch, 2012; Srivastava, Bartol and Locke, 2006), empowerment theories (e.g.,
Randolph, 2000; Cheung, Baum and Wong, 2010; Zhang and Gheibi, 2015), work
effort theories (e.g., Iqbal, 2013; Morris, 2009; Mehrabani and Shajari, 2013), and
performance theories (e.g., Dudley, 2010; Opperman, 2007; Perkins, 2013; McLean,
2013) to examine how empowering leadership influence employee work effort and
performance and service delivery in the CJMM.
The theoretical model was tested in the CJMM environment using data collected from
the selected sample.
5.2 OVERALL FINDINGS It became evident, after measuring the relationships between the various
hypotheses’ by using Pearson’s correlation coefficient that there is a positive
relationship between empowering leaders, work effort and employee performance,
which confirms that employees in the CJMM will perform better when they are
empowered by their leaders.
Firstly, this study revealed that empowering leadership has a stronger effect on
employee work effort, than on employee performance. This study builds on work by
Ahearne, Mathieu and Rapp (2005) who also indicated that empowering leadership
positively influences employee work effort.
The results support the research from Zhang and Bartol (2010) where they tested a
theoretical model to link empowering leadership to employee work effort. They found
that empowering leadership does not only positively affect employee work effort, but
also has a positive influence on employee motivation and creativity in the workplace.
This theoretical model relates directly to this study which affirms that there is a strong
correlation between the construct of empowerment and work effort. This study
supports the theory that empowering leadership has a positive influence on
employee work effort.
66
In Cheung, Baum and Wong (2010), Bowen and Lawler (1992) indicated that
empowerment is “a way to share information, rewards, knowledge and power with
employees and this creates threats to the managers by means of a tradition of not
sharing, approach or limiting the growth of subordinates, limited decision-making and
problem-solving, fear of losing control, disorder and chaos, personal uncertainty, lack
of knowledge, skills and job or promotion uncertainty” (Cheung, Baum and Wong,
2010). The results of this study revealed a positive correlation between the construct
of empowerment, work effort and performance. It is important to note as indicated by
Cheung, Baum and Wong, (2010) that these constructs can be negatively influenced
by the tradition of “managers feeling threatened to share”. This research supports
the concept that empowerment positively influences work effort.
Mehrabani and Shajari, (2013: 61) said that “empowering others will lead followers to
do a better job”, which will lead to increased work effort as supported by the results of
this study.
The results of the post-hoc analysis in the study of Mehrabani and Shajari, (2013: 66)
illustrated that “inspiring a vision amongst employees will show the advantages of
empowerment”. They go further stating that the goals of empowerment assist in
changing the vision of employees to yield more employee effectiveness and effort
from the employees. It is thus noted, from this statement, that empowerment is an
effective tool to increase work effort which has been confirmed through the results
yielded in this study.
Secondly, Srivastava, et al., (2006) stated that limited research has been done to
examine mechanisms that link empowering leadership and performance and results
obtained revealed that empowering leadership is positively linked to both knowledge
sharing and team efficiency and effectiveness, which, in turn, were both positively
related to performance. Mehrabani and Shajari, (2013: 65) also noted that are
numerous studies that support the positive effect of empowerment on employee
performance (Kirkman and Rosen, 1999; Spreitzer, 1995; Spreitzer et al., 1997), but
mentioned that there is limited research literature available in the public sector.
67
The results yielded in this study thus contributed to the gap identified by Mehrabani
and Shajari, (2013: 65) and produced a positive contribution in that empowering
leadership positively influences employee performance.
Empowered employees are willing to do additional work of a higher level and quality,
with increased responsibilities, feeling more committed to their tasks and to their
organisation, which will improve performance (Zhang and Gheibi, 2015: 367). Zhang
and Gheibi (2015: 368) went further, stating that “the higher empowering leadership,
the higher work engagement and, the higher performance”. The results of this study
are reinforced by the findings in Zhang and Gheibi, (2015) which support the notion
that empowering leadership positively influence performance.
Thirdly, Iqbal (2013: 6) noted that work effort is considered as a mediator between
motivation and performance, or as a tool to change motivation into accomplished
work and found a strong, positive influence of work effort on job satisfaction which
supports the findings of this study. The researcher highlights the fact that work effort
has a large impact on employee performance as the results of this study support the
view of Iqbal (2013: 6), revealing that employee work effort has a robust influence on
employee performance. This result positively contributes to knowledge creation in
view of the limited research done in the field of employee work effort.
Fourthly, it became apparent that there is a gap between empowering leadership,
employee work effort, employee motivation and service delivery in the CJMM as it
was found that in South Africa, the norm became the insufficient or complete lack of
service delivery. The violent service delivery protests in the CJMM resulted from both
the lack of service and poor quality services rendered (Mathinabe, 2010). This study
has yielded positive correlations between empowering leadership, employee work
effort, performance and service delivery in the CJMM, which relates to the notion that
if empowering leadership is increased, an increment will be experienced in the other
constructs included in this research study.
The findings indicate that empowering leadership strongly influences service delivery
via employee work effort, which might be due to the fact that the employee’s
performance is also determined, to a large extent, by the employee’s work effort,
which supports the findings in the research of Cheung, Baum and Wong, (2010). It 68
has been found that when the employees increase their work effort, both their
performance and service delivery are likely to improve. Employee work effort and
employee performance are interrelated elements which equally affect performance in
an organisation and are driven by empowering leadership and motivation, as
discussed in the studies of Ching (2012) and Zhang and Bartol (2010).
In this study PLS was used to demonstrate the path coefficients for the relationships
modelled among the constructs. The results provided support for the proposed
positive relationships between the five relationships and moreover, the t-statistics of
all the relationships indicate the hypothesised relationships are exceptionally
significant. These findings support the studies of Ching (2012) and Zhang and Bartol
(2010).
5.3 CONCLUSIONIn spite of what is often reported about service delivery in the CJMM, the benefits of
empowering leadership, the effects thereof on employee motivation and work effort
can drive the CJMM to new heights to deliver excellent service.
Market positioning relies on management’s professional ethics for the improvement
of services offered to consumers (Wood, Bhuian and Kieker, 2000), and the ability to
provide better services through creativity is fostered within empowering leadership
which has been identified in this study (Stevenson, 2000; Department of Trade and
Industry, 2005). This positive correlation between the different hypothesis elements
drives employees to perform better, thus improving service delivery.
As performance is an indicator of adequate use of resources (Kotler and Keller,
2012), this research identifies that the CJMM, through empowering leadership,
manages to mobilise human and other resources to bring new value to their
customers and improve service delivery.
The next chapter will discuss the conclusions, limitations, implications and
recommendations.
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CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS, LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
6.1 INTRODUCTIONThe purpose of this study is to determine the influence of (empowering) leadership
on employee work effort, performance and service delivery in South Africa. This
study further sets out to explore the extent to which leadership impacts employee
work effort, performance and service delivery, which in turn affect the well-being and
quality of life of the residents. This study also seeks to determine whether
empowering leadership can result in an improvement in employee work effort,
motivation and service delivery in the CJMM.
The study seeks to answer these questions:
(1) Does empowering leadership affect employee work effort?
(2) Does empowering leadership affect employee performance?
(3) How does employee work effort affect employee performance?
(4) To what extent does employee work effort affect service delivery?
(5) To what extent does employee performance affect service delivery?
This chapter further includes discussions on proposed suggestions for future
research, taking into consideration the limitations of this study. Lastly, an overall
conclusion and contribution of this mini-dissertation to academics will be presented,
followed by a summary of this chapter.
6.2 MAJOR FINDINGSThe results of this study provide support for the proposed positive relationships
between the five relationships, and moreover, the t-statistics of all the relationships
indicate the hypothesised relationships are exceptionally significant.
This study further reveals that empowering leadership has stronger effects on
employee work effort than on employee performance. Employee work effort though
has a strong influence on employee performance. The results also indicate that
employee work effort has a stronger impact on service delivery than on employee 70
performance. Consequently, these results show that empowering leadership has a
strong influence on service delivery via employee work effort.
6.3 ACADEMIC AND MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONSThe findings provide fruitful implications to both practitioners and academicians. On
the academic side, this study makes a significant contribution to the leadership and
service delivery literature by systematically exploring the impact of empowering
leadership on service delivery in South Africa. In particular, the current study findings
provide tentative support to the proposition that empowering leadership should be
recognised as a significant antecedent and tool to employee work effort, performance
and service delivery in South Africa. On the practitioner’s side, the important
mediating role of employee work effort and employee performance in the
empowering leadership – service delivery relationship in South Africa’s public sector
is highlighted.
“Empowering leadership offers both positive and negative outcomes towards work
performance” (Zhang and Gheibi, 2015: 375), and therefore the study accentuates
the processes to implement empowering leadership and highlight the fact that the
manner in which empowerment is implemented and driven should be monitored
closely to yield positive results from this initiative.
The findings support the recommendation that managers need to drastically change
their approach to motivating growth, innovation, performance enhancement and work
effort in the workplace. Being able to draw a workforce together, having consensus to
obtain the same goals and objectives will flow from empowering leadership. This will
result in a ripple effect flowing from the leader, outwards to the employee, improving
the service delivery in the City of Johannesburg. Service organisations consist of
people, technology, information sharing, customer inputs and strong leaders to
enhance employee and organisational performance. These leaders will apply
knowledge, processes and management skills to empower employees in order for
the organisation to benefit from their initiatives and achieve goals and objectives.
Ample evidence exists for a positive relationship between empowering leadership
and employee performance, but the work effort relationship is an important finding.
Regardless of the significance of employee performance, which affects
71
organisational efficiency and effectiveness, to the best of the researcher’s
knowledge, limited prior research has assessed this relationship in the public sector.
The theoretical cases relating to the effect of empowering leadership on employee
work effort, performance and service delivery therefore need to be revisited in order
to further understand the livelihood dynamics of the leadership and how to effectively
empower employees to improve service delivery.
This research for this mini-dissertation suggests the importance of identifying
underlying factors of motivation behind empowering leadership, which affect
employee work effort, performance and service delivery. As managers and leaders
have a crucial role to play in the empowerment process, it is essential to comprehend
the manner in which empowering leadership will drive employees to perform better
and increase their work effort to deliver superior service.
The research also further accentuates that an important benefit of empowering
leadership is to ensure that employees’ performance and work efforts increase
through empowerment, which will contribute to improved service delivery by the
CJMM. The evidence of a strong relationship between empowering leadership,
employee work effort, performance and service delivery has been identified in this
study, which raises an opportunity for management and leaders in the CJMM, when
changing their vision, to include empowering initiatives, will increase service delivery
in line with the CJMM’s objectives and mandate.
As limited research was found on the effects of motivation on work effort, the
researcher highlights that the impact of employee motivation on work has not been
explored much and is thus a field for future research.
6.4 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDYThe study has offered an evaluative angle on the relationship between empowering
leadership and service delivery in the CJMM. Empowering leadership was shown to
have a definite impact on employee performance and work effort, which affect the
service delivery in the CJMM. As a direct consequence of this methodology, the
study faced a number of limitations, which need to be considered. Only employees
from the Revenue department were identified as participants and convenience
72
sampling method was used. The number of subjects that participated in the study
was limited to the Revenue department employees who agreed to participate
voluntarily. The research can be extended to the CJMM in totality for a complete
global view of all employees’ input.
6.5 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCHAlthough this study extended the scope of empowering leadership research to the
effect thereof on employee performance, effort and service delivery, it is important for
future research to study other factors affecting service delivery (e.g., environmental
factors, unions, management styles, political influences and culture) to further test
the generalisability of the effects of empowering leadership on employee
performance, employee work effort, and service delivery. It is also important to
explore the effect of motivation on work effort to understand factors affecting
performance and deliverables of employees. As skills and the fear of losing control
by managers may be a threat to change in the CJMM, it creates an opportunity for
further research identifying the effect of leadership skills and abilities on empowering
leadership.
Management’s participation in research and workshops for empowering skills is
crucial for the CJMM. As Winston and Patterson (2006: 7) defined leadership as “an
individual who chooses, provides, trains and influences followers who have mixed
gifts, abilities and skills,” the results from this research align with this definition as
they highlight the fact that empowering leadership has a direct influence on and
correlation with performance, work effort and service delivery. From the results
yielded in this study, the researcher points out that the leader can change the
focuses of followers to support the organisation’s mission and objectives freely and
eagerly, using spiritual, emotional, and physical energy in a focused and coordinated
manner (Winston and Patterson, 2006: 7)
The study also highlights the importance of examining both motivation and work
effort in one model in order to be more theoretically inclusive, and to obtain more
meaningful results regarding factors that can influence service delivery. It is also
important that future research includes processes and innovative settings and uses
arduous psychometric methods to test the discriminant validity and incremental
effects of each category of variables.73
The CJMM, among other municipalities, has huge outstanding debts, huge backlogs
of queries and a bad reputation due to ineffective and inefficient service delivery
levels (Financial and Fiscal Commission, 2011: 81). The positive correlation identified
between employee effort, performance and service delivery is illustrated and aligned
to the Service Profit Chain (SPC), as it demonstrates how employee satisfaction
drives value, productivity, customer satisfaction and ultimately revenue growth and
profitability (Heskett et al., 1994: 165 - 168). It is thus crucial that employees are
empowered to drive the CJMM to higher levels of performance, work effort and
increased service delivery in line with their mandate. This study further accentuates
the fact that public sector managers should pay attention to aspects that influence
the employees’ work efforts such as empowering them, because it will strongly
influence the employees’ performance at the work place as well as eventually leading
to service delivery to the public.
A process of re-engineering should be implemented in the CJMM in that
management should be upgrading their skills in sharing, innovation, creativity,
delegation, co-creating value for employees and customers that will result in a trust
relationship between employees and management. In practice, managers need a
radically different approach to reignite the growth and innovation capabilities of their
employees. Service systems involve customer input, human resources, technology
and the application of competences to benefit from it. It is thus critical to optimise
human capital to ensure that organisational goals and objectives are achieved
(Tung, 2008).
The results if this study also indicate that to improve service delivery, the dominance
of service excellence, improved work effort and increased employee performance,
the manager should push for empowering the employees, driving the team with a
strong sense of change, creativity and innovation, facing the challenges of emerging
service science, management and engineering in the public sector.
A further aim for researchers and practitioners would be to consider investigating the
impact of empowering leadership in private companies and other business types
globally. Some prospective research questions to address may include the following:
“Does empowering leadership change employee work effort in private companies? 74
How does the performance of women influence service delivery in the municipal
sector? What are the drivers to change management that will empower employees?”
The researcher feels that is also important, for future research, to find ways on how
to improve the power and responsibility of leaders to their followers.
Therefore, future research may investigate various alternate methods to improve
service delivery, but, human input is the key driver towards excellence and thus
should be empowered to perform and deliver goals in line with organisational
objectives.
6.6 CONCLUSIONWhile this study has yielded highly relevant and important conclusions relevant to the
CJMM, it further showed that the phenomenon of work effort and the impact thereof
on service delivery has not yet been fully explored, particularly in the local
government area, and therefore it remains as an opportunity to create exhilarating
and pioneering research.
75
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no. 1, January, p. 293 0 298.
Zeithaml, V.A., Berry, L.L. and Parasuraman, A. (1988) 'Communication and control
processes in the delivery of service quality', The Journal of Marketing (1988): 35-48.,
vol. 52, April, pp. 35 - 48.
Zhang, X. and Bartol, K.M. (2010) 'Linking Empowering Leadership and Employee
Creativity: The Influence of Psychological Empowerment, Instrinct Motivation, and
Creative Process Engagement', Academy of Management Journal USA, vol. 53, no.
1, pp. 107 - 128.
Zhang, P. and Gheibi, S. (2015) 'The Impact of Empowering Leadershop on Work
Performance and Work Family Conflict: The Role of Gender', European Scientific
Journal, vol. 11, no. 11, April, pp. 367 - 379.
88
APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Questionnaire
Employees’ responses to the extent that empowering leadership affects
employee work effort, performance and improved service delivery in the City of
Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality
CONFIDENTIALITY AND CONSENT
Before you continue, please confirm that you consent to the use of data you
provide in this research project.
I consent to use of the information collected in this questionnaire in your academic study. I know my information will be kept confidential, and destroyed three to five years after the completion of this project. I know that I don’t have to answer all the questions and can decide to stop answering this questionnaire at any time. Please mark with an “x”.
Yes
I want to thank you in advance for your input - you’ll be making a really valuable
contribution to expanding the knowledge in this area of study!
Petra [email protected]
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SECTION A: RESPONDENTS SOCIAL DEMOGRAPHICSKindly tick with an X where required
iGENDER
MALE FEMALE
ii AGE
20 - 25 26 - 30 31 - 35 36 - 40 41 - 45 46 and older
iii MARITAL STATUS
SINGLEMARRIE
D WIDDOWED DIVORCED SEPARATED
iv JOB TITLE
vCULTURE
BLACK WHITE INDIAN COLOURED OTHER (SPECIFY)
viYEARS AT THE ORGANISATION
0 - 3 3 - 5 5 - 10 10 - 20 20 and above
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SECTION B: EMPOWERING LEADERS 1
On a scale of 1- 5, tick in the appropriate box on how you strongly agree or disagree with the statements given.
Stro
ngly
agre
Agr
ee
Not
su
re
Dis
agr
ee
Stro
ngly
D
isag
ree
Promoting participation in decision-making1.1 My manager makes decisions together with me. 1 2 3 4 5
1.2 My manager consults with me regarding strategic decisions. 1 2 3 4 5
1.3 My manager asks my opinion on decisions that may affect my work.
1 2 3 4 5
Providing autonomy from bureaucratic constraints1.4 My manager allows me to be innovative and perform my job
my way.1 2 3 4 5
1.5 My manager keeps rules and regulations simple which simplifies my job.
1 2 3 4 5
1.6 My manager permits me to make important decisions quick to satisfy customer needs.
1 2 3 4 5
Enhancing the meaningfulness of work1.7 My manager helps me to understand how my goals relate to
those of Revenue.1 2 3 4 5
1.8 My manager helps me to realise the importance of my work to the overall efficiency of Revenue.
1 2 3 4 5
1.9 My manager ensures that I understand how my job fits into the overall picture.
1 2 3 4 5
Expressing confidence in high performance1.10 My manager has faith in my abilities to handle demanding
tasks.1 2 3 4 5
1.11 My manager trusts that I can always improve, even when I make mistakes.
1 2 3 4 5
1.12 My manager has confidence in my ability to perform exceptionally.
1 2 3 4 5
Expressing confidence in innovation and creativity1.13 My manager trusts my capability to suggest new ways to
increase quality.1 2 3 4 5
1.14 My manager gives me the opportunity to be innovative and change the way we work.
1 2 3 4 5
1.15 My manager creates an atmosphere of change and creativity. 1 2 3 4 5
1 These questions are based on a Journal of the Academy of Management, USA, volume 53, issue 1, pages 107-128, by Zhang, X. and Bartol, K.M., (2010), Linking Empowering Leadership and Employee Creativity: The Influence of Psychological Empowerment, Intrinsic Motivation and Creative Process Engagement.
91
SECTION B: EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE2
On a scale of 1 - 5, tick in the appropriate box on how strongly you agree or disagree with the
statements given.
Stro
ngly
agre
e
Agr
ee
Not
su
re Dis
agr
ee
Stro
ngly
D
isag
ree
2.1 You always complete your tasks within or
before the due date.1 2 3 4 5
2.2 You work harder than the average worker
in your department.1 2 3 4 5
2.3 You take on additional work without being
told to do so.1 2 3 4 5
2.4 You do more work than expected. 1 2 3 4 5
2.5 You work with energy, motivating others to
perform well. 1 2 3 4 5
2.6 You complete your duties without
supervision.1 2 3 4 5
2.7 You work harder when you are rewarded. 1 2 3 4 5
2.8 You like learning new ways and means to
improve your performance, keeping in mind
that you’ll grow in knowledge and have a
more prosperous career.
1 2 3 4 5
2.9 You always attend work 100% (not
pretending to be ill). 1 2 3 4 5
2.10 You assist other employees when they are
behind with their work. 1 2 3 4 5
2 These questions were based on research done by Peerbhai, R. (2006: 135) in her dissertation on Job Satisfaction at IT SMEs in Durban.
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SECTION B: WORK EFFORT3
Statements Stro
ngl
y
Agr
ee
Not
su
re Dis
agr
eeSt
ron
gly
Dis
agre
e
3.1 I strive as hard as I can to be successful in my work. 1 2 3 4 5
3.2 I usually start work early and leave late. 1 2 3 4 5
3.3 When there’s a job to be done, I devote all my
energy to getting it done.1 2 3 4 5
3.4 Few of my co-workers put in more hours working
each week than I do.1 2 3 4 5
3.5 When I work, I do so with intensity. 1 2 3 4 5
3.6 I work at my full capacity in all of my job duties. 1 2 3 4 5
3.7 I spend long hours doing my work. 1 2 3 4 5
3.8 When I work, I really exert myself to the fullest. 1 2 3 4 5
3.9 Among my co-workers, I am usually first to arrive or
last to leave work.1 2 3 4 5
3.10 I put more hours into my job throughout the year
than most people in my work area.1 2 3 4 5
3 These questions were constructed based on the research done by Morris R.J. (2009: 350) in his Dissertation on Employee Work Motivation and Discretionary Work Effort.
93
The scale below represents the level of work effort that you could achieve in your job. Looking
at your job, your responsibilities and the Revenue department, kindly indicate how strongly you
agree or disagree with the statements by circling the number which best describes your view.
SECTION B: SERVICE DELIVERY4
On a scale of 1 - 5, tick in the appropriate box on how you would rate the service delivery in the Revenue department.
Scale Exce
llent
Goo
d
Ave
rage
Poor
Non
Ex
istin
g
4.1 Customers always receive accurate bills. 1 2 3 4 5
4.2 Employees are equipped with the correct tools to assist customers.
1 2 3 4 5
4.3 Employees are well trained and competent to execute their daily tasks.
1 2 3 4 5
4.4 Management manages the department efficiently. 1 2 3 4 5
4.5 Employees go the extra mile to ensure queries are resolved.
1 2 3 4 5
4.6 The systems are reliable and supportive in order to perform well.
1 2 3 4 5
4.7 Customers understand the processes in Revenue. 1 2 3 4 5
4.8 The CJMM is always trying to improve its service delivery to ensure service excellence.
1 2 3 4 5
4.9 Daily tasks are completed efficiently and recognition or rewards given to employees where management identified excellent performance.
1 2 3 4 5
4.10 The environment is exciting, although demanding. 1 2 3 4 5
Appendix 2: Permission Letter to Conduct Research4 These questions were constructed based on research done by Darren Mclean (2013: 45 - 52) in his
dissertation on The Relationship of Transformational Leadership to Organizational Outcomes in Municipal Government Settings in Nova Scotia.
94
City of Johannesburg R &: CRM
Thuso House3'd Floor61 Jorissen StreetBraamfonteinTel +27(0) 11 628 4002
9 July 2013
Regenesys Business SchoolPostnet Suite #71Private Bag X9976SANDTON CITY
Attention: Research Committee
PERMISSION LETTER TO CONDUCT RESEARCH IN THE REVENUE DEPARTMENT OF THE CITY OF JOHANNESBURG METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY (CJMM).
On behalf of the CJMM, I am informing you formally that we are aware of the proposed research concerning an investigation into the extent that empowering leadership impacts on employee work effort, employee performance and improved service delivery in the CJMM done by Petra Smit, a student at Regenesys Business School.
We are aware that Mrs. Smit intends to conduct her research through administering questionnaires to Revenue department employees.
Regards
GAVIN PRINGLE Director: FinanceCity of JohannesburgRevenue & CRM DepartmentTel: 082 414 7565E-mail: [email protected]
95