UNIVERSITY OF GHANA A STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP, ENGAGED LEADERSHIP AND EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION ON CONTINUANCE COMMITMENT IN GHANAIAN BANKS BY ALBERT ANANE 10441680 A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ORGANISATION AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, UNIVERSITY OF GHANA BUSINESS SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF AN MPHIL IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT OPTION) DEGREE JUNE 2015 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh i DECLARATION I, Albert Anane, 10441680, do hereby declare that I am the author of this research paper and with the exception of references cited, which have been duly acknowledged, this paper is the outcome of my own research. I, therefore, accept the accountability for any inaccuracies and shortcomings. Signature: …………………………………. Date: 1 st June, 2015 Albert Anane - 10441680 MPhil Human Resource Management, 2014/2015 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ii CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that this thesis was supervised in accordance with procedures laid down by the University of Ghana. ………………………… …………………………………. (Supervisor) Date Professor Bill B. Puplampu University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iii DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my loving wife Mrs. Linda Anane and my children Nana Akosua, Nhyira and Jude as well as my good friend and a brother Rev Samuel Lartyoung whose support and encouragement has enabled me to complete this work. I also humbly dedicate this work to my supervisor, Professor Bill Buenar Puplampu for his encouragement, critic and supervision. This work could not have been possible without your keen monitoring and direction. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am ever grateful to God for seeing me through this academic journey. I wish to thank and acknowledge the management and staff of Ghana Commercial Bank, Unibank, HFC Bank and NIB all in Eastern Region (Koforidua) for your contribution in my data collection exercise. I am thankful to Potter’s House Assemblies of God leaders and members for your diverse support and encouragement. Finally, I wish to appreciate Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mrs. Comfort Afede and her husband DSP/Mr. Maxwell Antwi of Ghana Police Service whose support and friendship made me to complete this program. Madam, I am very much grateful to you. God richly bless you and your family. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ................................................................................................................. i CERTIFICATION .............................................................................................................. ii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. ix LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................ xi ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1 1.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background of the Study .............................................................................................. 3 1.2 Statement of the Problem .............................................................................................. 6 1.3 Research Objectives .................................................................................................... 11 1.4 Research Questions ..................................................................................................... 11 1.5 Research Hypotheses .................................................................................................. 12 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vi 1.6 Scope of the Study ...................................................................................................... 12 1.7 Significance of the study ............................................................................................. 13 1.8 Chapter disposition ..................................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER TWO ............................................................................................................ 16 LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................................. 16 2.0 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 16 2.1 DEFINITION OF TERMS ......................................................................................... 18 2.1.1 Organizational Commitment .................................................................................... 18 2.1.2 Leadership ................................................................................................................ 19 2.2 Theoretical and Contextual Argument ........................................................................ 21 2.2.1 Organizational Commitment .................................................................................... 21 2.2.1.1 Affective and Normative Commitment ................................................................ 22 2.2.1.2 Continuance Commitment .................................................................................... 23 2.2.1.2.1 Continuance Commitment Outcomes ................................................................ 25 2.2.2 Spiritual Leadership ................................................................................................. 26 2.2.2.1 Altruistic love and Membership............................................................................ 38 2.2.3 Engaged Leadership ................................................................................................. 46 2.2.3.1 The Concept of Engaged Leadership .................................................................... 49 2.2.4 Extrinsic Motivation ................................................................................................ 61 2.2.4.1 Monetary Incentive as Hygiene Motivation Factor .............................................. 71 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vii 2.3 Literature Review on Leadership and Motivation in Africa ....................................... 79 2.4 Conceptual Framework ............................................................................................... 88 CHAPTER THREE ........................................................................................................ 90 METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................... 90 3.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 90 3.1 Research Design.......................................................................................................... 90 3.2 Sampling Technique ................................................................................................... 91 3.3 Study Population and Sample Size ............................................................................. 91 3.4 Data Gathering Approach ........................................................................................... 92 3.5 Measurement Instruments ........................................................................................... 93 3.6 Ethical consideration ................................................................................................... 96 CHAPTER FOUR ........................................................................................................... 97 DATA ANALYSIS, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ............................................... 97 4.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 97 4.1 Preliminary Analysis ................................................................................................... 97 4.2 Hypotheses Testing ................................................................................................... 102 4.2.1 Hypothesis One ...................................................................................................... 102 4.2.2 Hypothesis Two ..................................................................................................... 104 4.2.3 Hypothesis Three ................................................................................................... 106 4.3 Additional Findings .................................................................................................. 107 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh viii 4.4 Summary of Findings ................................................................................................ 110 4.5 Discussion of Findings .............................................................................................. 111 4.5.1 The relationship between Spiritual Leadership and Continuance Commitment ... 111 4.5.2 The relationship between Engaged Leadership and Continuance Commitment ... 113 4.5.3 The relationship between Extrinsic Motivation and Continuance Commitment ... 114 4.5.4 The Mediation Effect of Extrinsic Motivation on Spiritual/Engaged Leadership and Continuance Commitment Relationship ......................................................................... 115 4.6 Conceptual Framework after the analysis ................................................................. 116 CHAPTER FIVE .......................................................................................................... 118 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION ........................................ 118 5.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 118 5.1 Summary of Findings ................................................................................................ 118 5.2 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 119 5.3 Practical and Theoretical Implications ...................................................................... 120 5.4 Recommendations for Practice and Future Research ............................................... 122 5.5 Limitations ................................................................................................................ 123 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 124 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................... 149 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ix LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1: Summary of Demographic characteristics of the sample (N=204) ................. 98 Table 4.2: Means, SD, Skewness, Kurtosis and Alpha Reliabilities of key study variables ......................................................................................................................................... 100 Table 4.3: Correlation Matrix for key study variables .................................................... 101 Table 4.4: Results of Multiple Regression Analysis for the relationship between dimensions of spiritual leadership and Continuance Commitment ................................ 103 Table 4.5: Results of Simple Regression Analysis for the relationship between Engaged Leadership and Continuance Commitment ..................................................................... 105 Table 4.6: Results of Simple Regression Analysis for the relationship between Extrinsic Motivation and Continuance Commitment ..................................................................... 106 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh x LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: Conceptual Framework before analysis ......................................................... 89 Figure 4.1: Conceptual Framework after analysis .......................................................... 117 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CC: Continuance Commitment EL: Engaged leadership EM: Extrinsic motivation GC 100: Ghana Club 100 GDP: Gross domestic product OC: Organisational Commitment SL: Spiritual leadership ERP: Economic Recovery Programme UNCTAD: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh http://www.search.ask.com/web?apn_dtid=%5ETCH001%5EYY%5EZA&d=448-274&atb=sysid%3D448%3Aappid%3D274%3Auid%3De1188e3067538e61%3Auc2%3D692%3Atypekbn%3Dn16118%3Asrc%3Dffb%3Ao%3DAPN10648&shad=s_0042&p2=%5EAGI%5ETCH001%5EYY%5EZA&apn_ptnrs=%5EAGI&o=APN10648&apn_uid=2655107521294825&lang=en&gct=ds&tpr=5&q=United+Nations+Conference+on+Trade+and+Development&ots=1431693021847 xii ABSTRACT This study explored how spiritual leadership, engaged leadership and extrinsic motivation influence continuance commitment of employees in the banking industry in Ghana. The objectives of this study were to examine the relationship between spiritual leadership and continuance commitment, the relationship between engaged leadership and continuance commitment and the relationship between extrinsic motivations and continuance commitment in the banking industry in Ghana. The study adopted a quantitative method using questionnaire as the instrument to gather data from 204 respondents from four selected commercial banks in the Eastern part of Ghana listed on the Ghana Club 100 using the 2013 edition. Simple random purposive and convenience technique was used to select four (4) out of nine (9) banks for the study. Data from the survey was analyzed using multiple regression with the aid of statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS). The study found out that spiritual leadership (altruistic love and membership), engaged leadership and extrinsic motivation influence continuance commitment. The study also found out that extrinsic motivation mediates the relationship between the leadership styles (engaged/spiritual) and continuance commitment. The findings suggested that though benefits, compensations and organizational support and benefits enhance employee commitment, but to achieve employees’ continuance commitment, leaders ought to be considerate, selfless and engaging to their subordinates or staffs. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.0 INTRODUCTION Organisation greatest asset is its committed human resource. However, the Ghana Banking Survey report (2013) and the 2012 report on current trends in Ghana’s banking industry both report that on the important aspect of human capital, the Ghanaian banking industry is faced with serious challenge with regards to leadership/management effectiveness, employee retention and motivation despite the major capital injection into the sector. This therefore calls for new organisational and leadership approach in managing the human asset of the banking sector. This affirm why in recent times, attention has been turned to an emergent spiritual leadership (SL) (Fry, 2005 & 2003; Norudin et al, 2013; Vandenberghe, 2011), engaged leadership (EL) (Nkomo&Kriek, 2011; Puplampu, 2010; Tavanti, 2006) and extrinsic motivation or rewards (EM) (Islam & Ismail, 2008; Kuada, 1994; Manolopoulos, 2007; Puplampu, 2007) as the panacea for achieving continuance commitment (CC) among employees at the workplace resulting in greater corporate success. Contemporary, the goal of enterprises is to achieve sustained competitive advantage over their rivals and maximize financial returns; and this is a binding social and legal responsibility contract with their stakeholders. This is a continuous object of businesses and this objective has become more relevant and challenging as a result of the emergence of globalization and its impact on competition, issues of poaching, growth, survival University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2 strategies for businesses and the dynamics in the global business environment. This makes it imperative and a serious call for businesses and organisations to depend on their unique competences in achieving competitive advantage (Bokpin, 2013). Second to job satisfaction, organizational commitment continues to be the most studied subject area when it comes to work attitude in the area of organizational behavior, human resource management and organizational psychology (Allen & Meyer, 1990); because its outcome is multifaceted such as intention to leave, turnover, absenteeism, punctuality, organizational citizenship, and performance (Mansor et al., 2013). Puplampu (2007) opined that committed workforce is the greatest asset of any organization. It is in this direction that human resource practitioners and HR experts continue to consider organizational commitment as an important business construct for business success. The issues of keen competition, key employee retention and turnover intentions are a big headache to managers especially in high-demand industries as the banking industry. Supportive organizational actions influence employee commitment (Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002); and it requires appropriate leadership engagement approach as interconnected leadership dimensions and tools of self – awareness, vision, advice, mentoring, coaching, communication and support to arouse that sense and feeling for continuance commitment (Puplampu, 2010). The multidimensional three components of organizational commitment namely affective, continuance, and normative as theorized by Allen and Meyer (1990) continue to be a much studied HR construct because it is perceived to psychologically bond employees to an organization. This study provides University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3 further and deeper investigation into organizational continuance commitment and how it is influenced by spiritual leadership, engaged leadership and extrinsic motivation. 1.1 Background of the Study According to Bokpin (2013), the economy of Ghana was projected to grow by 8% in 2013 and 8.7% in 2014. The service and the financial sector are key indicators for such vibrant economic growth. According to information from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, the financial and services sector contributed 56.7 percent by way of total assets to the gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of January 2008 and this represented a significant growth from 31.9 percent at the end of December, 2005. In 2010, the service and financial sector accounted for approximately 50% of GDP and employed majority of Ghanaians. On sectorial performance, the services sector as at 2013 was the leading sector, accounting for 51% share of GDP of which the banking sector played a central role with the total assets of the banking sector as at February 2012 growing by 26.6% compared to 25.2% from the same period in 2011. The Ghanaian banking sector contributed over GH₵ 809 million in capital as at 2008 to the Ghanaian economy and bank capital representing a proportion of 7% of GDP as at 2007 (Bokpin, 2013). In April 2008, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Ghana report indicated that total assets of the banking industry grew by 46.2 percent to GH¢7.80 billion at the end of January 2008, compared with 46.9 percent (GH¢664.3 million) recorded in January 2007. The agricultural sector which formerly was the dominant sector now makes up 30.2% of the economy as at 2013. The industrial sector accounts for 18.6% (Doing Business in Ghana report, 2012 as sourced from Ghana News University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4 Agency 5 November 2010). Looking at the overview of the Ghanaian economy for 2013, on sectorial growths and contribution to GDP, the services sector led the growth with a share of 50.0% of GDP of which finance (banks) and insurance grew by 23.0% (Ghana Banking Survey report, 2013). According to the Bank of Ghana website (http://www.bog.gov.gh), there are 27 licensed commercial, development and merchant banks operating in Ghana as at May, 2014 with only seven of the twenty‐seven universal banks listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange. There are also 137 licensed rural banks of which 25 of them are located in the Ashanti region as the region with the highest number of rural banks in Ghana. The Banking sector in Ghana is governed by the Bank of Ghana: the government-owned central bank. The bank is the supervisory and regulatory authority in all matters relating to banking and non-banking financial business with the purpose to achieve a sound, efficient banking system in the Ghanaian economy as a whole. One sector that is highly regulated in the Ghanaian economy is the banking industry. Among the regulatory instruments include the Universal Banking License, introduced in 2003, which permitted banks with 70 billion cedis in capital to carry out any form of banking; the Banking Act 2004 (Act 673); the Foreign Exchange Act 2006 (Act 723); the Non-Banking Financial Institutions Act; 2008 (Act 774) and the Anti-money Laundering Act, 2008 (Act 749). The financial sector still remain profitable, liquid, and solvent (Bank of Ghana report, 2011) notwithstanding the fact that it is undergoing some critical developments in its structure which is vital for enabling critical opportunities for investment and economic University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh http://www.bog.gov.gh/ 5 growth in Ghana. According to Hinson, Owusu-Frimpong & Dasah (2009) the banking sector in Ghana is emerging from undue political influence, weak management, inadequate capital, backward information and accounting systems, poor internal controls, inefficiency, lack of competition and a large portfolio of non-performing loans which it has suffered over the years leading to the call for reforms. The reform within the banking industry is contributing positively to the Ghanaian economy. In recent times, the banking sector is experiencing inflows of international banks especially from Nigeria including United Bank for Africa which began operations in Ghana in January 2005, Zenith Bank, Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB), Intercontinental Bank and Amalgamated Bank of Ghana. This phenomenon may be the reason for the competition, poaching, product development and strategy to achieve market penetration among the various banks in the country. In their study on key motivations for bank patronage in Ghana, Hinson, Owusu-Frimpong & Dasah (2009) attributed this inflow of international banks to the Ghanaian economy to the financial sector reforms which were initiated in 1983 after the launching of the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) through to the present which aimed at rehabilitating the country’s financial system. The recapitalization policy of government has expanded hitherto some small banks. Hinson, Owusu-Frimpong & Dasah opined that the re‐capitalization policy provided a much‐needed boost to the economy with the near quadrupling of bank capitalization from GH¢445.8 million to about GH¢1.65 billion in the three years between December 2008 and December 2011. Banks’ reserves also doubled from GH¢666.9 million to GH¢1.38 billion over the same period (www.bog.gov.gh). In 2012, as a result of mergers and acquisitions adoption, the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh http://www.bog.gov.gh/ 6 financial sector witnessed some changes in the competitive environment. For example, Access Bank Ghana with a market share of 1.20% acquired Intercontinental Bank of Ghana which had a market share of 3.20%. In the same period, Ecobank Ghana with a market share of 9.00% acquired The Trust Bank Limited, which had a market share of 2.80%. Other reasons for the inflow of international banks into the country include the political stability compared to other countries within the West African sub region, consistency in implementing political and economic policies, stability of entire economy and the relatively lower minimum capital requirement of 70 billion cedis ($ 7.5million). The 2012 report on current trends in Ghana’s banking industry reports that the most important factors driving changes in the banking industry in Ghana include information technology (IT) advancement; the deregulation of financial services at the national and regional level and the effects of the globalization process fueled by intense competition for qualified and skilled employees. Following this overview, to sustain and improve the successes chalked in the banking industry, it is essential for the banks to have committed and motivated workforce coupled with high spirited and engaged leadership which seems to be missing in Africa; and this is the reason for this study. 1.2 Statement of the Problem This study investigates how spiritual leadership, engaged leadership and extrinsic motivation influence continuance commitment of employees in the banking industry in Ghana. A number of studies have been done on organizational commitment and it has University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 7 been found to be significantly related to job performance (Meyer et al., 2002), attendance and organizational citizenship behaviors (Meyer et al., 2002), networking behavior (Sturges et al., 2002), turnover intentions and withdrawal cognitions (Cooper-Hakim & Viswesvaran, 2005), employee turnover (Cooper-Hakim & Viswesvaran, 2005) and spiritual leadership (Mansor et al., 2013). However, research on spiritual leadership, engagement and extrinsic motivation has developed independent of each other with little knowledge or understanding of how they might be related to influence continuance commitment. In adding to concepts in organizational and managerial studies, this study responds to the call of Mansor et al. (2013) in another geographical context to examine the question of whether Human resource outcome variables of leadership spirituality at the workplace, leaders engagement (Puplampu, 2009) with employees and the factor of extrinsic motivation (Puplampu, 2005) constructs has any correlation with organizational continuance commitment in the Ghanaian banking industry. Bokpin (2013) stressed that the banking sector in Ghana has seen major capital injection partly which may be a reflection of the Ghana political stability, attainment of micro and macro-economic stability and the goal of government to make Ghana the “financial hub” of the West Africa Sub-region. However, on the important aspect of Human capital, the Ghanaian banking industry is faced with serious challenge with regards to employee retention and motivation. This is as a result of keen competition, poaching of talented staff and turnover intentions among the various banks in the country and essentially because of the inflows of foreign banks. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 8 Consequently, operational cost is increased in recruiting new talents with enhanced and enticing salaries and benefits in addition to providing them with better training. The object of this is to get employees motivated and committed to their work and the industry. The extent of loss of talented employees usually those with valuable years of rich experience and required skills, negatively impacts banks operations. Management are mostly left with no other choice than to embark on the cycled duty to search, recruit, retrain and develop their capacity to the required standard of the business. A gap is created within businesses especially when a key and talented staff leaves a business and it takes considerable number of years for these new recruits to match the loss of the experienced and skilled workers. In addressing this great challenge, management adopts the strategy of extrinsically motivating employees with more competitive salary schemes like raised pay and enhanced remuneration packages, as well as benefit schemes so lucrative that it would drive commitment to promote better retention, sense of organizational loyalty and higher productivity. The research on continuance commitment is somewhat less developed (Farndale et al. (2014). Despite extant work done on organizational commitment, the focus and the linkage of continuance commitment – a key component of commitment - to other variables has been narrow, individualistic and too simplistic (Iles, 2000). For example to the knowledge of McCallum, Forret, and Wolff (2014) only one study has examined the relationship between organizational commitment and networking behavior which was done by Sturges et al.( 2002). However, the study only examined the association between affective commitment and networking using a longitudinal survey approach to University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 9 study 212 early career recruits in the UK. According to Mansor et al, (2013), similar studies on association between organizational commitment and spiritual leadership conducted by researchers around the world have been sparse, inadequately examined and too generalized (Duchon& Plowman, 2005). Dent, Higgins and Wharf, (2005); Moore & Casper (2006) add that the concept is still in its beginning stages of serious research due to the fact that the implementation of such an approach is still at its infancy and the concept empirically rare (Rego, Cuhna & Souto, 2007). This generalization is problematic since many of these studies were done in the developed economies but with less concentration on emerging and developing economies. Not much is known about spiritual leadership and its relation with organizational commitment within Sub- Saharan Africa and more specifically in the banking industry in Ghana. This makes it challenging to simplify most of the research findings to cover other geographical locations. Again, culture for example can influence or impact the results differently; however, some scholars (Lok & Crawford, 2004; Hofstede, 1991) explained that leadership behavior such as engagement is culturally determined and differs from one culture to the next. This study therefore will enhance better generalization in the African sub-region. It will be inspiring to see the results of same researches carried out in Africa as advocated by Hermelo and Vassolo (2010) on their work on institutional development. Such a study will establish an appreciation and support to research carried out in the African region. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 10 Engaged leadership and employee engagement is a relatively new concept (Macey & Schneider, 2008) with a sparse and diverse theoretical and empirically demonstrated nomological net—the relationships among potential antecedents and consequences of engagement as well as the components of engagement have not been rigorously conceptualized, much less studied. Literature reveals that engagement impact on employee attitudes has correlation with organizational outcomes like commitment, turnover, retention and productivity. Schaufeli, Bakker and Salanova (2006) have called for giving further attention to development of the construct and its measurement. This is because empirical research on the construct reveals little consideration for rigorously testing the theory underlying the construct. Puplampu (2005; 2009; 2010) argues that there is limited research on corporate leadership in Africa which includes Ghana and these studies have limited theory tested and it is yet to receive consistent mainstream empirical attention in leveraging the overall state of health and functionality of organizations and national development aspirations. This revelation then underscores the importance of the call on leaders to engage their members especially in Africa where leadership is seen as the exercise of power, authority and control. Much of the literature reviewed also have a lot of concepts especially regarding spiritual leadership and leadership engagement. This may be probably because the study area of spiritual leadership and leadership engagement are not that old. To address this gap in the future, academic researchers can also build on this work by basing their research on linking established models and frameworks with concepts which have University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 11 little clearly defined theories backing them notwithstanding this study linkage with motivation which have lots of theories backing it. The study explores knowledge about the relationship between these developing construct of spiritual leadership, engaged leadership as well as extrinsic motivation and how they jointly interact to influence organizational continuance commitment which could result in positive changes and practices that could lead to a more efficient banking industry in developing countries and in particular the Ghanaian economy. 1.3 Research Objectives Specifically, the sought to:  Examine the relationship between spiritual leadership (altruistic love and membership) and continuance commitment in Ghanaian banks.  Examine the relationship between engaged leadership (vigor, dedication and absorption) and continuance commitment in Ghanaian banks.  Examine the relationship between extrinsic motivation (monetary incentive as a hygiene factor) and continuance commitment in Ghanaian banks. 1.4 Research Questions The following are questions that guided the study:  What is the relationship between spiritual leadership (altruistic love and membership) and continuance commitment in Ghanaian banks? University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 12  What is the relationship between engaged leadership (vigor, dedication and absorption) and continuance commitment in Ghanaian banks?  What is the relationship between extrinsic motivation (monetary incentive as a hygiene factor) and continuance commitment in Ghanaian banks? 1.5 Research Hypotheses In order to thoroughly explore the research questions, the following hypotheses were formulated and tested:  H1: Spiritual leadership as measured by altruistic love and membership is significantly related to organizational continuance commitment  H2: Engaged leadership as measured by vigor, dedication and absorption is significantly related to organizational continuance commitment  H3: Extrinsic motivation as measured by monetary incentive as a hygiene factor is significantly related to organizational continuance commitment 1.6 Scope of the Study The study adopted and followed Allen and Meyer (1990) theory on commitment to build a relation with spiritual leadership using the model propounded by Fry (1990; 1991; 2003) as was discussed by Mansor et al (2013). In the same vein, the study responded to the call of Puplampu (2009) to research into how leaders who are believed to be engaged and those who are perceived to have developed structures and systems actually went about doing so. The study further considered expectancy-based motivation theory (Vroom, 1964) as well as Herzberg’s two-factor theory with much discussion and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 13 analysis on extrinsic motivation to envision how these linked variables could impact on continuance commitment practices and its effectiveness in the organizational context in the banking industry in Ghana. The scope of this study covered the accessible Ghanaian both local/state owned and foreign/private based-owned commercial banks listed on the Ghana Club 100 (2013 edition). The Ghana Club 100 was launched in Ghana by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) in 1998 to an annually compile the top 100 companies in Ghana to give them due recognition to successful enterprise building and also encourage competition and as well as improvement of company products and services in the country. 1.7 Significance of the study The study made the following contributions to both academic research and practice: Firstly, the study added to extant literature by carrying out an original work which addressed the relationship and the influence of spiritual leadership, engaged leadership and extrinsic motivation on continuance commitment. This was important as the work was done in a developing country context with focus on the Ghanaian Banking Industry. Again, the study affords policy makers (i.e. leaders and mangers) the opportunity to consider retention strategies that seek to reduce inter poaching of skilled personnel in the industry as advocated by (Mansor et. al, 2013). The knowledge acquired in this research should assist organizations and practitioners in developing countries like Ghana and other University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 14 jurisdictions with similar socio-economic characteristics to improve their organizational, employee commitment and leadership competences. Also, the study addressed the challenge of struggle for supremacy rather than collaboration within organizations, an argument which is also in consonance with Lips- Wiersma et al. (2009). The study addressed leadership issues that impact on practices among banks by affording them the opportunity to adopt leadership and managerial behaviors and practices which was found to extrinsically influence their employees’ commitment thereby reducing turnover intention as posited by Vance (2006). 1.8 Chapter disposition The first chapter is the introduction of the study. This comprises background of the study, statement of problem, research objectives, research questions, hypotheses, significance of the study, and scope of the study and chapter disposition. Also, the second chapter focuses on the review of literature. It contains literature on the concept of spiritual leadership, engaged leadership, organizational commitment and extrinsic motivation. Also, it examines the relationships that exist between leadership style (i.e. spiritual and engaged) and continuance commitment. Finally, this chapter explains the relationship between extrinsic motivation and continuance commitment, and has a conceptual framework. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 15 Chapter three consists of the methodological approaches for the study. Methodology takes into consideration items such as the research design, study population and sampling size procedure, research instrument, data collection procedure, data processing, mode of analysis and ethical consideration. The next is chapter four which takes a critical look at the data analyses, presentation and interpretation of data, discussions of findings of the study. Lastly, chapter five looks at the summary of key findings, conclusions, practical and theoretical implications, recommendations for practice and future research and limitations of the study. Chapter six is followed by references and appendices. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 16 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 INTRODUCTION Committed workforce is the greatest asset of any institution. Organizational commitment largely influences performance both at the organizational and individual level and invariably, the performance will largely be dependent on the continuance commitment of the workforce to both remain and maintain membership with the organization. Organizational commitment in time past and present, continues to be studied domestically and globally as well as privately and publicly to measure behavior intensions and attitudes as well as performance outcomes; it has a strong link with organizational behavior. Three decades ago, Batemen and Strasser (1984, p. 95-96) reasoned that organizational commitment is correlated with employee behavior and performance effectiveness; attitudinal, affective, and cognitive constructs such as job satisfaction; characteristics of the employee’s job and role, such as responsibility and as well as personal characteristics of the employee such as age, job tenure. Extant work has been done on the relationship of organizational commitment with job satisfaction, job involvement or perceived organizational support. In spite of this, it seems little or no work has been done on spiritual leadership, engaged leadership and extrinsic motivation as a joint construct with organizational commitment. There is therefore the need for more research to be conducted in this direction. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 17 Organizational commitment has power to critically and urgently influence the employees’ behavior and performance; yet it was described as a somewhat elusive attitude in workplaces and organizations by Natarajan (2011). Natarajan (2011) noted the significance of organizational commitment and emphasized that it enhances and increases productivity, performance, job satisfaction and above all, decreases employee absenteeism. In this regard, organizations with high committed workforce, are certain to cut low the cost of administrative and operations expenditure such as on training and development, the recruitment process and lost productivity (Padala, 2011; Pfeffer, 1998). Aladwan, Bhanugopan and Fish (2013) in analyzing the multidimensional perspective of organizational commitment in Jordan, captured succinctly, the importance of commitment of employees to an organization and posited that organizations now recognize employee commitment as a valuable and strategic advantage in retaining knowledge and expertise and thus supporting a competitive advantage for the organization. In this direction and understanding, there should be a good fit of relationship between the employers and the employees; the leaders and their followers; the managers and their subordinates; the employees and the organization values and the environment. This calls for leadership style and practices that effectively engages others and also taps into the inner person of staffs to arouse a deeper sense of loyalty and membership. In doing so, it behooves on management to adopt implementation of practices and policies that outwardly rewards employees enough and challenges them to be effective, efficient and committed. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 18 2.1 DEFINITION OF TERMS 2.1.1 Organizational Commitment Various definitions have been given by various scholars about organizational commitment. To Bateman and Strasser (1984), organizational commitment is multidimensional in nature, involving an employee’s loyalty to the organization, willingness to exert effort on behalf of the organization, degree of goal and value congruency with the organization, and desire to maintain membership. This definition is not so much different from that of Hunt and Morgan (1994) who define organizational commitment as an employee’s strong belief in and acceptance of an organization’s goal and values, effort on behalf of the organization to reach these goals and strong desire to maintain membership in the organization. Swailes (2002) on the other hand, refers to organizational commitment as the employee’s emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in the organization and assessing the congruence between an individual’s own values and beliefs and those of the organization in question. In reviewing literature, it is obvious that, most scholars consider commitment in organizational or business settings as a bond between the employee and the employer. The employee is referred to the individual worker as a member of an organization and the organization referred to as the corporate body. This bond is contractual in nature and has three components: a strong belief in and acceptance of the organization’s goals, a willingness to exert considerable effort on behalf of the organization, and a definite desire to maintain membership with the organization. Expanding the discourse on organizational commitment, a number of theoretical and conceptual discussions have been done. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 19 2.1.2 Leadership Leadership, be it transformational, charismatic, servant, spiritual or engaged, is considered essentially as open-ended in nature, enabling organizations not only to cope with change, but also to be proactive in shaping their future and guided by ethical principles. According to Zaccaro et al., (2004) leadership is a complex phenomenon, a combination of multiple individual attributes which together promote effective leadership. It is therefore important that leaders possess soft leadership attributes and competencies not only cognitive in nature but that which is within and less seen that serves as an enforcement instrument for both individual and organizational performance. In their study on the relevance of leadership and organizational culture in public sector organizations in Ghana, Dartey-Baah, Amponsah-Tawiah and Sekyere-Abankwa (2011) echoed Sternberg’s (1985) definition on leadership as a process by which a person influences others (usually followers) to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. This requires leaders to be effective. Effective leadership therefore involves creative, inventive and innovational processes of differences. At the same time, it involve producing purpose-driven unities, bounded by the limits imposed by criteria of accountability (Kuepers, 2011). It must be emphasized that leadership is more relational in nature; it is a two-way event. It is a leader – follower relationship and each side contributes in a unique way to make the organization unique. The leadership relationship must be interactive, dynamic and reciprocal. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 20 Leadership still remains fundamental and foremost to corporate efficiency and effectiveness; yet corporate leadership is an under-researched concept in African countries like Ghana (Puplampu, 2009). The researcher continued that few leadership studies done on corporate organizations like the banking institutions in Africa and for that matter Ghana, lack consistency and connection with the broader theoretical and conceptual discourse. This according to Puplampu and do not surface grounded conceptualizations. In the view of Willcocks (2012), there is little agreement on the exact nature of leadership and the effectiveness of particular approach. This is because according to Willcocks, the leadership literature is diverse and lacking consensus. Leadership is the centre and the driving force upon which an organization moves. The rise or fall of any organization largely depends on its leaders. Kollee, Giessner & Knippenberg (2013) argued that the successes and failures of organizations and teams are largely dependent on leaders. In his work, Ugwuegbu (2001) situates the underdevelopment of organizations in many African countries under problems of leadership. Much research has been conducted into leadership theories. Those that have attracted the attention of many researchers for a number of years are transformational leadership theory especially in the area of inquiry in the organizational science, transactional leadership, authentic leadership, servant leadership, charismatic leadership, soft leadership (Rao, 2013) and lately, spiritual leadership (Fry, 2003; Vandenberghe, 2011; Mansor et al., 2013 ) as well as engagement leadership (Puplampu, 2010). These theories were categorized into four main themes by Bolden and Kirk (2009): Essentialist theories University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 21 such as trait and behavioral approaches, which suggest that there is an objectively verifiable set of capacities and functions of leadership; Relational theories such as leader- member exchange which deal with the exchanges between leaders and followers; Critical theories such as those that questions the very existence of the concept and; Constructionist theories which consider leadership as a social construction. There are many studies which also discuss leadership (see Fry, 1990, 1993, 2000; Yukl, 1994; Puplampu, 2010; Usman& Danish, 2010; Vandenberghe, 2011; Mansor et al., 2013 etc.). This study reviews literature on two emerging leadership constructs: spiritual and engaged leadership in relation to organizational commitment. 2.2 Theoretical and Contextual Argument 2.2.1 Organizational Commitment Organizational commitment is a widely discussed subject with theories backing it. In discussing the impact of perceived corporate culture on organizational commitment, Ortega, Sastre & Castillo (2013) made reference to the exchange theory as a theory which explains a certain “norm of reciprocity” – explaining that employees who feel well treated by managers and their organizations experience a sense of reciprocal obligation. In this vein, such feelings compel them to remain obligated in their loyalty to the business. The researchers also echoed Porter et al.’s. (1974) assumptions on commitment as characterized by three factors: accepted assumptions made up of a strong belief and acceptance of the values and goals of the organization; a willingness to undertake substantial efforts on behalf of the organization; and a strong desire to remain in the organization. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 22 Two popular opinions about organizational commitment are revealed in literature. The first one is behavioral situation which explains the identification and involvement of an employee with his/her organization. The second is action-oriented with investments which explain employees’ strong desire to remain a member of the organization (Allen & Meyer, 1990). One conceptual model which has widely been received, discussed by researchers and invariably become the cornerstone of organizational commitment discourse was propounded by Allen and Meyer (1990 & 1991). The researcher modeled three components of organizational commitment: affective, continuance and normative. 2.2.1.1 Affective and Normative Commitment Briefly, affective variable is normally and greatly associated with employees with in- depth desire and emotional and psychological attachment to stay with the organization. It makes employees identify and engage with the organization. A strong and effective motivational strategy at various levels of the organization is a requirement tool for employees’ satisfaction and commitment to jobs. Normative variable on the other hand is normally and greatly associated with employees with obligation to stay with the organization for the purpose of continued employment. Normative commitment is associated with a sense of duty by the employee to continue work. Evidently, research suggests that strong affective and normative commitment is positively related (Çelik, 2012; Cohen, 1996). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 23 2.2.1.2 Continuance Commitment Organizational continuance commitment describes the strong maintenance of individual membership in an organization, exerting strong effort in ensuring the organizational welfare as well as having a strong confidence and acceptance of organizational values and objectives. Generally, organizational commitment can be defined as the emotional responses which an employee has towards his organization. While commitment can fundamentally be explained as an individual’s power of involving and identifying oneself with an organization, continuance commitment is about peoples’ readiness to contribute to organizational objectives. Continuance commitment variable is normally and greatly associated with employees feeling the need to remain or leave the organization due to certain important considerations associated with some level of investment made which includes retirement and relationships with others. Reichers (1985) refer to these investments as “nontransferable” investments. It is nontransferable in the sense that it is inherent and individualized effort inclined. Reichers continued that these investments also include other factors such as years spent working for the organization, accrued benefits to the employee or things that are unique to the organization which the individual enjoys or appreciates. The concept of continuance commitment apart from the fact that it is based on social exchange theory is also a ‘psychological contract’ relationship within an organization and may be either a neither unwritten nor unspoken promise. Employees are likely to remain with organizations when there is certainty and opportunity for individual growth and development, and these results in greater commitment. Factors that make it University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 24 difficult for employee to leave an organization are usually linked to continuance commitment. The factors that make it difficult for employees to leave an organization can be linked to external constraints and economic factors based on the perceived costs and alternative opportunities of leaving the organization such as employment opportunities. Investments and alternatives are two antecedents of continuance commitment. Investments look at issues like time, money or effort while alternatives look at the employee’s ability to have options within or without the organization. Sectorial studies have revealed that employees with higher continuance commitment are government employees (Meyer & Allen, 1997) because such public employees are perceived to have strong ethics and job security (Perry, 1997). This finding cannot be far from the truth with the upsurge of present world socio-economic difficult times where unemployment and underemployment challenges continue to confront society and governments. It is a matter of “common sense” to remain with an employer who provides relatively secure job environment. Çelik (2012) and Cohen (1996) adds that employees with strong emotional attachment to their work and career exhibit strong continuance and normative commitments. Allen & Meyer (1993) posits that functions of individual characteristics such as age, experience, tenure, seniority and education or qualification with variable factors such as climate, job satisfaction and organizational characteristics are considered organizational commitment. Evidence suggests that there is a positive relationship between an employee’s age and time with the organization and their level of commitment (Allen & Meyer, 1993) which is associated with expected and perceived University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 25 outcomes. There is need for further examination to ascertain how continuance commitment as a component of commitment influences outcomes. 2.2.1.2.1 Continuance Commitment Outcomes Commitment outcomes such as organizational citizenship, employee retention, attendance, and job performance have been well discussed in literature as suggested by Gellatlly (1995). In discussing individual and group determinants of employee absenteeism and testing of a causal model for example, Gellatlly (1995) found continuance commitment to be related with how often employees absent themselves from work. In a similar study, Somers (1995) found out for example that nurses who had lower levels of commitment had higher levels of absences. There is also a correlation between turnover intention, performance and commitment. Meyer et al. (1993) found that employees with high commitment level also had high performance rate and are better performers. In discussing continuance organizational commitment, it is important to raise the importance of management and leadership style as key issue to be mindful of by mangers and leaders of organizations. A happy employee is a committed employee and higher performer. In their study, Meyer and Allen (1997) found that employees who have a good working relationship with their supervisors and mates have higher commitment level. Again, Nierhoff et al. (1990, p. 344) also concluded that organizations management culture and style strongly correlate the degree of employee commitment. It cannot be underestimated that employees who feel uncared for are likely to exhibit strong commitment to their organizations. Employee involvement, delegation of responsibilities and roles brings out the creativity and innovative powers of employees which in a nut University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 26 shell, positively affect outcomes at the workplace. It is therefore crucial that managers take into account the intangible part - spirituality – of their employees and themselves as leaders in the formulation and implementation of policies and practices if greater commitment is to be achieved. 2.2.2 Spiritual Leadership In the contemporary business environment, a multifaceted approaches and abstract concepts are been applied to retain employees and at the same time ensure employee are committed to the aspirations of an organization and work. In view of this, intangible concepts such as emotionality, emotional intelligence, emotional capital, intellectuality, intellectual assets, intellectual properties, religiosity, religious capital, spirituality, spiritual intelligence, spiritual resources and spiritual leadership are now been incorporated into business management and relationships at the work place. Spirituality made manifest is the essence of leadership. The critical measure of leadership excellence is argued by Sankar (2003) to depend on a leader’s character based on integrity, trust and human dignity influencing a leader’s vision, ethics and behaviors rather than charisma. The elements of integrity, trust, human dignity, vision and ethics all find their root in spirituality. The study looks at altruistic love as the foremost dimension of spiritual leadership and argues that it will be positively related to continuance commitment. The debate on the definition of spirituality as a concept is still raging. There is no clear and an accepted conceptual definition of the concept. Various authors have attempted to define the concept based on their philosophies and experiences. According to Fry (2003) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 27 spiritual leadership is basically leadership according to God’s calling which require following God’s will by obeying divine or higher laws (values). Dehler & Welsh (1994) for example define spirituality as: ... a subconscious feeling that energizes individual action in relation to a specific task [...] an animating life force, an energy that inspires one toward certain ends or purposes that go beyond self (p. 19). Giacalone &Jurkiewicz (2003) also define the concept as ‘a framework of organizational values evidenced in the culture that promotes employees’ experience of transcendence through the work process, facilitating their sense of being connected in a way that provides feelings of wholeness, compassion and joy’. This definition integrates the essential elements of the sense of calling and membership as depicted in spiritual leadership model by Fry (2003). Bregman &Thierman (1995) considers spirituality as living meaningfully with an ultimate being. Mitroff & Denton (1999) defined spirituality as the feeling of being connected to oneself, to others and to the environment whiles Benefiel (2005) describe spirituality as an individual’s relationship with a higher being. Spirituality as concept or term hold a nonreligious meaning but there is that temptation to link it to religion. Religion is about holding or accepting a certain strong belief system or being in some nonphysical force. Spirituality rather is about sense of belonging and connection to workplace community where there is feeling of partnership, socialization and interconnectedness among members of the community. Experiencing inner life, meaningful work, and community are identified in literature also as three components of spirituality. Milliman et al. (2003), further explains that employees wants to experience self-fulfillment, enjoy their work and the environment they work in as well as feel University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 28 essence of community is that it involves a deeper sense of connection members of the community which includes support, freedom of expression and genuine caring. The existing literature on workplace spirituality according to Giacalone et al. (2005) has been mainly influenced by developments in the fields of religious studies and psychology. Spirituality is both an inherent and in born characteristic of all human beings which cuts across race, language, tribe or skin. It is nondenominational and sacred to all humans because it is the godlike factor in every person. Spirituality is embedded in relationship with divinity. The concept of spirituality is more about people’s beliefs and values and involves questioning one’s own life and existence. Additionally, a more involving and encompassing definition of spirituality was given by Marques (2005). The researcher defined spirituality as an experience of interconnectedness and trust among those involved in a work process, engendered by individual goodwill; leading to the collective creation of a motivational organizational culture, epitomized by reciprocity and solidarity; and resulting in enhanced overall performance, which is ultimately translated in lasting organizational excellence. This definition is more involving because it encompassed important attributes such as trust among team members at the work place, individual goodwill, organizational culture and commonality which end results to achieve improved organizational performance and excellence. The theory of spiritual leadership looks at love, care, concern and appreciation as a means of promoting wholeness, community harmony and well-being of members (Fry, 2003). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 29 The end result is loyalty and commitment of members to both the leaders and the organization. Literature has shown that leaders with altruistic love as a dimension of spirituality greatly influence followers and leads to low workers’ continuance commitment (Ahiazu & Asawo, 2009). In work environments where workers feel loved and cared for they see their work as a calling and mission other than as a job and responsibility. Employees will bring their entire self (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual) to the organization. Spiritual leadership is seen as a system of social interaction between leaders and followers (Yukl, 2009) and leadership is drifting from the notion that the phenomenon is driven solely from rational, cognitive processes but to leaders’ ability in managing people and the work environment spiritually. In the opinion of Mansor et al. (2013), spiritual leadership is about ensuring that the workplace is truly community centered and made up of people with shared traditions, values, and beliefs. Spiritual leadership is an emerging concept on leadership focusing on finding true meaning at the workplace; it has become the focus of research in management in recent times. In reviewing the work of Fry ( 2003; 2005), it is revealing to identify that the object of spiritual leadership is to meet the fundamental needs of leaders as well as their followers for their spiritual survival or well- being by means of calling, membership, creation of vision and value congruence across the following levels: individual, empowered team, and organization with the fundamental objective to foster higher levels of psychological well-being, positive human health as well as organizational commitment and productivity. The pursuit for true meaning at the workplace has given rise to the concept of spiritual leadership leading to University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 30 organizational commitment. The essence of spiritual leadership is echoing the relevance of employers discovering meaning in their work and demonstrating a genuine concern for the total person, not just the employee. The theory of spiritual leadership focuses greatly on individual persons by encouraging people-organizational partnership, transformation, diversity, collaboration, and inspiration and less on power and organizational position, conformity and controlling. It is placing premium on the work environment where there is an association of friendship, socialization, sense of membership, meaningful work and fulfillment fitting into peoples’ lives. Believers in workplace spirituality such as Mansor et al. (2013) argues that individual employees join organizations not only with the unique skills and competencies they possess but they come along also with their individual spirits to the workplace. It is therefore suggested that the individual needs to feed their spiritual desires and hunger to experience a sense of transcendence and community at the workplace. To produce a more motivated, committed and productive workforce, management needs to incorporate in organizational designs, programs and activities that motivate and inspire people through a transcendent vision and a culture of spiritual values. Spiritual leadership looks at the aspects of both an organization and individual employee which are intangible but so critical and essential for improved performance. It is the vital, energizing force or principle in the individual. It has consequential effects on employee’s identity, values, memories, and senses as today’s employee searches for meaning which encompasses both community and transcendence. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 31 The dimensionality of causal theory of spiritual leadership based on vision, altruistic love, hope/faith, calling/meaning and membership was developed by Fry (2003) with the view to assess individually in correlation with organizational commitment. Fry & Coen (2009, p. 266) in advancing the model situated the theory within the internal (intrinsic) motivation model. According to Fry and Matherly (2006), spiritual leadership theory is a causal leadership theory for organizational transformation designed to create an intrinsically motivated, learning organization. These scholars opined that the theory of spiritual leadership was developed within an intrinsic motivation model that incorporates vision, hope/faith, and altruistic love, theories of workplace spirituality, and spiritual survival/wellbeing; yet its impact is extrinsic in nature. Based on this, the researchers defined spiritual leadership as the values, attitudes, and behaviors that are necessary to extrinsically and intrinsically motivate one’s self and others so they have a sense of spiritual survival or well-being through calling and membership. Spiritual leadership involves three important variables: recognition of employees' inner life, meaningfulness of work, and membership (community). However, in the study by Sendjaya (2007), spiritual leadership was conceptualized and categorized into four primary dimensions, made up of religiousness, interconnectedness, sense of mission, and wholeness. In another study, in discussing spirituality at the workplace, Pfeffer (2010) also argues that there are four fundamental dimensions to the concept which also promote transcendence. The four dimensions of spirituality enumerated by the researcher are interesting work that permits individuals to learn, develop, and have a sense of competence and mastery; meaningful work that provides University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 32 some feeling of purpose; a sense of connection and positive social relations with coworkers; and the ability to live an integrated life, so that work roles and other roles are not inherently in conflict. The nature of current leadership approaches focuses on personal values and meaning, a way of understanding self and the world and is a means of personal and group integration. It is in this vein that spiritual leadership has a place in our work lives. Spiritual leadership focuses on creation of shared meaning; it may encourage persuasion and discourage coercion or force. Building on traditional theories, Sanders et al. (2003) explains dimensionalities of spirituality in leadership using the proposed three dimensions of spirituality model. These dimensions are made up of consciousness, moral character and faith. In discussing spiritual dimension in leadership, Fernando, Beale and Geroy (2009) add to the view of Sanders et al. (2003) to incorporate transactional, transformational and transcendental leadership style models as traditional theories connected through three continua namely locus of control, spirituality and effectiveness. Consciousness covers locus of control of which as the latter explains shows that individuals differ in terms of their beliefs about how people control the outcomes in their lives whether internal or external. Hoffi- Hofstetter and Mannheim (1999) argue that internal locus of control is positively related to corporate citizenship and the self-esteem of managers whiles Graffeo & Silvestri (2006) also argues that internal locus of control is positively related to better physical and psychological health, high academic performance and achievement. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 33 Externally, literature suggests that locus control is related to managers’ feelings of powerlessness and workplace bullying, withdrawal from corporate citizenship activities in times of crisis and poor health outcomes. Spirituality continuum also covers morality and character. Bass (1995) opined that leaders require mature moral development (p. 474); leadership spirituality demands strong morality and ethical conduct. Leaders’ internal and external moral values and spirituality must deepen and be progressive. Fernando, Beale and Geroy (2009) stressed: “As leaders’ internal moral values and spirituality deepen, they progress from transactional to transformational leadership”. Faith covers leaders’ effectiveness. The combination of higher locus of control and higher spirituality then makes leaders effective more especially as they progress in their activities and responsibilities. Fernando, Beale and Geroy (2009) assert that effectiveness is the dependent variable of locus of control and spirituality. Contextually, considering the present turbulent socio-economic environment where organizations are compelled to employ all manner of strategies to remain relevant and competitive, leadership that focuses on leaders themselves as well as the development of followers (employees) is very critical and essential. In this regard, transformational leadership has been a foremost recent model discussed in literature when it comes to leadership (Nguni, Sleegers & Denessen, 2007; Xiao-Hua & Howell, 2012). This is due to the claim that it has greater direct effects on the employee attitude, motivation and commitment leading to significant employee effort, in-role performance and desired organizational change. Despite the welcomed positive effects of transformational leadership on corporate leaders and organizations, it is appropriate to discuss leadership University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 34 in the context of culture and location specifics. For example it is a general knowledge that the African man or woman is an “un-repented religious being”. In this direction, corporate leaders and managers would have to be “spiritually inclined” to make themselves and their followers committed and better performers. Despite this, literature on the level of influence of spirituality in the workplace in Africa corporate bodies has been seemingly absent and this study addresses this gap. Workplace spirituality and spiritual leadership is gaining grounds and receiving much attention within both leadership and management study and practice for over two or more decades. This has come about because evidence suggest that workplace spirituality benefits both the employee and organizations as it leads to personal outcomes such as increased positive human health and psychological wellbeing, improved employee commitment on individual employee level on one hand and increased productivity, reduced absenteeism and turnover for organizations on the other hand (Giacalone & Jurkiewicz, 2003). Again, workplace spirituality and spiritual leadership is gaining grounds and receiving much attention in literature in that the concept contains values and traits which are very essential for leadership and corporate success. Spiritual leaders possess values that are also spiritual in nature. This is because the concept of spirituality is more about people’s beliefs and values and finding one’s own life meaning and existence. Reave (2005) identified nine key elements of spiritual values also referred to leaders personal qualities which leads to leadership success. The values are namely integrity, honesty, humility, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 35 treating others with respect, fair treatment, expressing caring and concern, listening responsively, appreciating others and personal reflective practices. The researcher found all the variables to strong correlation and quantifiable positive relationship with both organizational and individual performances and success. Leadership spiritual values begin with the leader’s integrity, which is reflective of ethical behavior. Hendricks and Hendricks (2003) after many years of research came to the conclusion that when leaders operate from integrity, their personal and professional well- being are tremendously accelerated as cited in Reave (2005) with latter emphasizing that character and behavior require integration else the authenticity of the leader is lost. Integrity promotes consistency between leadership image and identity which then and leads to trust as well as reliability of employees in their leaders. A lapse in a leader’s integrity can easily spread like wide fire to destroy the leader and his/her organization. This assertion is in consonance with the study of Morgan (1993) when the researcher surveyed 385 managers and 1965 raters and found that perceptions of ethical behaviors are correlated with perceptions of leadership. Leadership failure has been found to have relationship with lack of leadership integrity among organizations. A study by Harden Fritz (2002) which studied troublesome bosses found that half of the respondents asserted that their bosses engaged in taking credit that should have gone to others, lying about task accomplishments and violate rules and regulations at the work place which are all considered as unethical conducts. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 36 Following integrity is honesty with oneself and others. It is about being consistent and truthful in all leadership endeavors. Honesty as spiritual values is critical especially during restructuring process such as downsizing. Bates (2002) made reference to Center for Creative Leadership where the center for example surveyed 77 managers to measure honest leadership in crisis period and found that communicating the truth about the reasons for organizational change and sensitively listening to employee responses have positive relationship with honesty. The leader’s level of humility is connected to his/her success and effectiveness. The test of a leader’s humility is the ability to receive and welcome negative feedback, or negative criticism. Power and absolute power may easily corrupt; humility as a spiritual value is important quality for leaders in that it may address the temptation of personal vanity and pride which can cause the fall of leaders. Humble leaders may not be charismatic, colorful or flamboyant in nature but effective and likable by followers. Humble leaders are usually quick to promote and announce the achievement of others instead of theirs even when they found themselves in the same organization. This assertion was confirmed by a study of extraordinary performance achievements in good-to-great companies conducted by Collins (2001). The researcher found two fascinating elements namely the triumph of humility and fierce resolve as the distinguishing factor of the leaders in good- to-great companies. Ironically, the study also found egoism and pride as the cause of decline or continued mediocrity of the companies. Humility and respect for others are two virtues that cannot be decoupled. Respect for others involves a high sense of listening sensitively to the needs and responses of followers. It is a value that makes the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 37 leader to focus attention on the welfare of others with a sense of treating them fairly, compassion, justice and honor. Reave (2005) captured it succinctly that “leadership that respects the values of followers creates empowerment rather than dependency, sustainability rather than short-term success”. In recent times, leadership and spirituality has been intertwined and become inseparable. In reviewing literature on spirituality, Ayranci & Semercioz (2011) identified three different approaches to connections between leadership and spirituality. The first approach addresses injection of spirituality into leadership which came out with servant leadership as a type of leadership. Servant leadership adopts spiritual values to serve other people. It promotes altruism and trust in others, organization and the community as whole. The servant type of leaders was referred by Covey (1991) as the principle- centered leader. These types of leaders are motivated by serving others and at the same time obeying rules and principles. These leaders are characterized by bring out the talents, gifts and creativity in others as well as being positive by maintaining inner (spiritual) balance in their lives which is referred to emotional intelligence. The second approach addresses spirituality and leadership as distinct concepts. Leadership effectiveness is influenced by spirituality (Peters & Waterman, 1982); spirituality affects the leader him/herself as well as his/her organization and the workforce. The call for their separation is also facilitated by easy research and analysis of the two individual concepts differently. The third approach addresses the formation of spiritual leadership and the evaluation of the connections between the two concepts. Hicks (2003) posit that spiritual leadership as a leadership type uses spirituality as a means to increase efficiency and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 38 profitability in a business as well as leading others towards integrated organizational mission and vision. Ayranci & Semercioz (2011) study on spirituality revealed that there is a statistically significant relationship between spiritual leadership and factors of spirituality (immateriality and spiritual awareness) even though the relationships are very weak. In this regard, the study found the second approach more favorable due to the separation of the two concepts as distinct. Spiritual leadership has dimensions. The study look at two of these dimensions namely altruistic love and membership found in literature to relate well to continuance commitment. 2.2.2.1 Altruistic love and Membership Milliman et al. (2003) in attempt to address the specific elements of altruistic love as it relates to organizational commitment with dependence primarily on correlational designs identified minimal empirical studies that exist in the study of spiritual leadership a gap that needs to be filled through research. Altruistic love comes from the concept of altruism which is explained by Mansor et al. (2013) as the principle or practice of concern for the welfare of others; behaviors done for the benefit of others voluntarily without payment of rewards in return. Crosbie and Oliner (1999) as cited by Mansor et al. defined altruistic love as sacrificing or giving of very important interests including individual life as way of expressing love. Altruistic love as a dimension of spiritual leadership which showed the strongest correlation in this study of Mansor et al. (2013) supported the study conducted by Ahiazu and Asawo (2009). The study indicated that leaders’ selflessness and self- University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 39 sacrificial traits enhanced employee commitment to work and the organization. Usman and Danish (2010) studied leadership spirituality in banking professionals and its impact on organizational commitment by using a convenience sampling technique to record the responses of the 121 bank branch managers, area managers and regional managers of various banks. The study found a strong and positive correlation between aspects of spirituality and organizational commitment. The study posed five hypotheses namely intrapersonal aspect of spirituality of bank managers is positively and significantly correlated with organizational commitment; the interpersonal aspect of spirituality of bank managers is positively and significantly correlated with organizational commitment; super personal aspect of spirituality of bank managers is positively and significantly correlated with organizational commitment; ideopraxis aspect of spirituality of bank managers is positively and significantly correlated with organizational commitment and finally spirituality has a significant and positive impact on organizational commitment. The study found that all the hypotheses were positively and significantly correlated to have significant impact on organizational commitment. The study also found that greater number of the respondents have strong inner connection with their organizations with high commitment level. As a result of this the respondents were noted to be productive and remained loyal to their organizations. Fry (2005) also found there is a positive relationship between wisdom and altruism as factors or dimensions of spiritual leadership and the issues of spirituality. Both the wisdom and altruism of the leader have positive and significant relationships with spirituality and religiosity. The study found altruism has the strongest relationship to the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 40 extent that the more top managers of industries in Turkey were more willing to transfer their own benefits to others, the more committed that person is to religiosity, immateriality and spiritual awareness. Also, Ahiazu & Asawo (2010) studied workplace spirituality and altruistic love as dimension of spiritual leadership in African and surveyed 235 middle and senior level organizational manager employees’ commitment in the manufacturing industry in the Nigerian a country located in West Africa. The study found that a culture of altruistic love from the leaders leads to high workers’ affective and normative commitment, as well as low workers’ continuance commitment in the Nigerian manufacturing industry. The study posits that there is strong significant and positive correlation between altruistic love and affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment. Membership on the other hand, looks at the work environment where employees are understood and appreciated both culturally and socially. This suggests an understanding between the management and employees matters. Membership promotes affiliation, socialization and belongings. The African and the Ghanaian community is collectivist in nature and any practice or policy that alienates this basic social and cultural antecedent will likely fail. In the Ghanaian environment, people want to belong to a community and get connected. Discussing spirituality, Pfeffer (2003) for example identified four dimensions of people’s expectations in the workplace. According to the author, employees look for interesting and meaningful work that permits them the opportunity to learn, develop, and have a sense of competence and mastery; that provides some feeling of purpose; a sense of connection and positive social relations with their co-workers and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 41 lastly, the ability to live an integrated life, thus roles and work role should be harmonized individual aspirations as a human being. In other conclusions, Mansor et al. (2013) found that each of the dimensions of spiritual leadership which were identified by Fry (2003) namely vision, altruistic love, calling/meaning, membership have a significant relationship with organizational commitment. The study also shows that the element of altruistic love followed by membership and vision appears to have the strongest correlations compared to the other elements of spiritual leadership. Ashforth and Pratt (2010) in their study has also come up with three dimensions of spirituality at work and named them as transcendence of self, holism and harmony, and growth. Transcendence of self involves linking people to divine existence. The integration of the various aspects of individual self is what is referred to as holism Harmony looks at the integration and synergizing employee behaviors. Self- development and self-actualization and the realization of employee’s aspirations and potential are referred to as growth. Ashforth and Pratt (2010) points out that transcendence leads to connection, and holism and harmony to coherence and growth leads to completeness. Spirituality at the workplace is about the promotion of feeling of satisfaction through transcendence that empowers inner sense of wholeness. Recent scholars have affirmed an increasing awareness that spirituality at the workplace plays a critical role in organization and leadership (Vandenberghe, 2011; Usman & Danish, 2010 & Mansor et al., 2013); and thus are calling for a new area for scholarly research in this field, freeing the assumption that only the traditional and mechanistic University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 42 leadership approach inspires human behavior, employee satisfaction and commitment at the work place. The key roles that spirituality plays in leadership processes and organizational outcomes such as commitment and job satisfaction for both leaders and their followers have surged the interest of researchers and practitioners (Fry, et al., 2005 & Zachary, 2013). For example, Zachary (2013) in his work, examined the spiritual leadership: investigating the effects of altruistic love on organizational commitment, Fry's (2003) examination of leadership as a mechanism for facilitating workplace spirituality and Vandenberghe’s (2011) study on workplace spirituality and organizational commitment: an integrative model. Some scholars have found this construct as an important area to improve employee welfare and organizational performance (Jurkiewicz & Giacalone, 2004). Some scholars like Mitroff & Denton (1999) suggested that building and developing spiritual values leads to higher performance and greater commitment and could result to organizations becoming more profitable. Rego et al. (2008), Fry and Cohen (2009) also argued that the negative consequences of extended work hours, cultures and other aspects of bad management can be overcome by organizations in the workplace through spirituality by providing employees with a sense of purpose and meaningfulness and perspectives of self-actualization. Spiritual leadership has become more crucial, and more importantly as a result of globalization and current rising interest in changing work conditions and complexity of modern employees and work conditions. Believers in Spiritual leadership stress that it enhances greater creativity, greater appreciation and commitment to work, greater work satisfaction and greater source of competitive advantage. Again, the recent restructuring University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 43 of the banking industry in Ghana has led to downsizing, reorganization, frequent job changes and designs, stressful work conditions, as well as the promoted diversified workforce in the various banks. The resultant effects are demand to enjoy satisfying work and working conditions as well as employee and employers stakeholder partnership which calls for spiritual leadership approach at the workplace. Polley, Vora & SubbaNarasimha (2005) for example, emphasized the necessity of spiritual leadership as being ethical. In the work of Fairholm (1996), almost 85 per cent of the survey respondents found a significant connection between their leader’s disposition to spirituality and his or her impact on their work. Extant literature have provided evidence to the effect that spiritual leadership is associated with higher work unit performance (Duchon & Plowman, 2005) which is based on improved work attitudes. Evidently, spiritual leadership is strongly and positively associated with such attitudes as organizational commitment, extrinsic work satisfaction, and job involvement (Vandenberghe, 2008). Some studies on spiritual leadership suggest that organizations may become more profitable by building on employees’ need for spirituality and developing their spiritual values. This assertion is supported by Mitroff and Denton (1999) study of senior executives, where it was opined that spiritual organizations were able to get the best of their employees by allowing them to bring their wholeness including their creative and intellectual potential to work. Scholars like Rego et al. (2008); Fry and Cohen (2009) also affirm the role of spirituality in that providing employees with a sense of purpose, meaningfulness and perspectives, which helps organizations to overcome the negative consequences of extended work University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 44 hour’s cultures and other aspects of bad management of self-actualization and can also elicit work productivity (Garcia-Zamor, 2003). While it is pleasing to note the positive effects of spiritual leadership on individual and organizational performance, some scholars also offer some cautions. Bell and Taylor (2004) argue that spiritual management development tends to place responsibility for changing organizations on individuals’ engaging with their inner selves. In the same vein, Vandenberghe (2011) discussing workplace spirituality and organizational commitment, emphasized that spiritual leadership practices may compel employees to observe among themselves the meaning that would inspire their action which will likely isolate them from the structures of the organization . This challenge may lead to the struggle for supremacy rather than collaboration within organizations. This argument is also in consonance with Lips-Wiersma et al. (2009) study which affirmed that spirituality effects varied along two dimensions, i.e. the degree of control exercised by the organization over individuals’ behavior and the extent to which employees are instrumental to the achievement of the organization’s goals, with resultant manipulative effects when control is low and instrumentality is high. In the work of Giacalone and Jurkiewicz (2003b) the researchers also identify four major weaknesses that must be addressed if this newly emerging paradigm regarding spirituality at the workplace is to be accepted in the scientific management community: First, the lack of an accepted conceptual definition of the concept; Second, inadequate measurement tools; third, limited theoretical development; and fourth, legal concerns. To address these weaknesses, Giacalone and Jurkiewicz (2003) and Fry (2005) came out with three critical solution factors: conceptual University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 45 analysis; conceptual distinctions and measurement foci; and clarification of the relationship between criterion variables. It is an undisputable fact that quite a number of discussions have been done on spirituality and organizational commitment yet there is still a gap. The reason being that the focus and similar work linking commitment and spiritual leadership is too generalized, sparsely and inadequately examined (Duchon & Plowman, (2005); Mansor et al. (2013). Additionally, the concept of spiritual leadership is still in its foundational stage of serious research and implementation in approach (Dent, Higgins & Wharf, 2005; Moore & Casper, 2006) and the concept empirically rare (Rego, Cuhna & Souto, 2007). Hunt (1999) adds that workplace spirituality and spiritual leadership research is in the initial concept and elaboration stage of development. Giacalone and Jurkiewicz (2003b) opined the lack of an accepted conceptual definition of the concept, inadequate measurement tools, and limited theoretical development as gaps to the study of spiritual leadership. It is therefore needful to carry out more research to add to existing literature and improve organizational practice in an attempt to link altruistic love as dimension of spiritual leadership to the specific subject area of continuance commitment. On the bases of this reviewed literature, the following hypothesis is proposed: Altruistic love and membership as dimensions of spiritual leadership will be significantly related to continuance commitment. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 46 2.2.3 Engaged Leadership Engagement is a hot topic in contemporary leadership and management studies (Tavanti, 2006). In recent times organizations are paying much attention to the importance of engagement both at corporate and individual level which entails involvement, commitment and enthusiasm. The importance of engagement is crucial. For example, in survey conducted by the USA Society for Human Resource Management on workplace productivity in 2005 found that nearly 58 percent Americans sampled pointed to poor leadership/management as the biggest obstacle to productivity. Some work have been done on employee and organizational engagement (Schaufeli et al., 2002; Saks 2006; Kahn, 1990) but leadership engagement is yet to receive the much needed attention more especially in Africa (Puplampu, 2010). Review of studies on leadership engagement reveals many issues yet to be fully addressed despite the advances in understanding how best to conceptualize, measure and manage engagement. First and foremost, the definition and meaning of engagement has been problematic and lacking consensus and often tends to overlap with organizational outcome constructs such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior in cases where it is defined in practitioner literature (Saks 2006). Albrecht