University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh UNIVERSITY OF GHANA LEADERSHIP STYLES, PERCEIVED ORGANISATIONAL POLITICS AND EMPLOYEES’ WORK ENGAGEMENT: EVIDENCE FROM INDIGENOUS GHANAIAN BANKS. BY REXFORD EDEM AGBOZO 10370168 THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MPHIL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT DEGREE MAY, 2018 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DECLARATION I do hereby declare is that this work is a result of my own research and has not been presented by anyone for any academic award in this or any other university. All references used in the work have been fully acknowledged. I therefore bear sole responsibility for any shortcomings. ………………………………. …………………………. REXFORD EDEM AGBOZO DATE (10370168) i University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that this dissertation was supervised in accordance with procedures laid down by the University. …………………………………. ……………………… DR. KWASI DARTEY-BAAH DATE (SUPERVISOR) ii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my family and Ms. Agnes Ayin. iii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I am grateful to the Almighty God for his grace and favor. I am also sincerely grateful to my supervisor, Dr. Kwasi Dartey-Baah for his guidance, assistance and insightful suggestions throughout this study. I would also wish to say a big thank you to the management and staff of the Fidelity Bank, Unibank, GCB Bank and Prudential Bank for their immeasurable support in the period of the data collection. Profound appreciation goes to my parents and siblings, especially my mother and stepmother for their immense support and prayers. Also, I would like to express my special gratitude to Ms. Agnes Ayin for her unyielding support and assistance during the entire period of the study. Lastly, I am very grateful to my friend, Theophilus Tagoe and colleagues in the MPhil Class of 2016-2018, OHRM Department, UGBS, as well as my all my friends for their encouragement and support in various ways throughout this study. God bless you all! iv University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION........................................................................................................... i CERTIFICATION ...................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION............................................................................................................ iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................ v LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................... x ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. xi CHAPTER ONE .......................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................ 1 1.0 Background to the Study ...................................................................................... 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem ..................................................................................... 7 1.3 Research Objectives ............................................................................................. 9 1.4 Research Questions ............................................................................................ 10 1.6 Research Hypotheses ......................................................................................... 10 1.7 Significance of the Study ................................................................................... 11 1.8 Scope of the Study ............................................................................................. 12 1.9 Chapter Disposition ........................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER TWO ....................................................................................................... 14 LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................... 14 2.0 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 14 2.1 Concept of Leadership .................................................................................... 14 v University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2.1.1 Theories of Leaderships .............................................................................. 17 2.2 Transformational and Transactional Leadership Styles ..................................... 22 2.2.1 Transformational Leadership ...................................................................... 22 2.2.2 Transactional Leadership ............................................................................ 27 2.3 Employee Work Engagement ............................................................................ 30 2.4 Perceived Organisational Politics ...................................................................... 34 2.5 Theoretical Framework ...................................................................................... 37 2.5.1 Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory ................................................. 37 2.5.2 The Social Exchange Theory and the Norm of Reciprocity ....................... 41 2.6 Empirical Review............................................................................................... 45 2.6.1 Leadership and Engagement ....................................................................... 45 2.6.2 POPS and Employee Work Engagement .................................................... 48 2.6.3 POPS as a potential moderator between leadership styles and employee work engagement ................................................................................................. 49 2.6.4 POPS among Public and Private-owned Organisations.............................. 51 2.7 Conceptual Framework ...................................................................................... 51 CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................... 53 METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................... 53 3.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 53 3.1 Research Philosophy and Paradigm ................................................................... 53 3.2 Research Design and Strategy ........................................................................... 58 3.3 Population .......................................................................................................... 59 3.4 Sample and Sampling Technique....................................................................... 60 3.5 Source of Data.................................................................................................... 61 3.6 Data Collection Instruments .............................................................................. 62 vi University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3.7 Validity and Reliability ...................................................................................... 64 3.7.1 Pilot Study ................................................................................................... 65 3.8 Data Collection Procedure ................................................................................. 66 3.9 Data Analysis ..................................................................................................... 67 3.10 Ethical Considerations ..................................................................................... 69 CHAPTER FOUR ...................................................................................................... 71 DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS PRESENTATION ....................................... 71 4.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 71 4.1 Demographic Details of Respondents ................................................................ 71 4.1.1 Gender Distribution of Respondents ........................................................... 73 4.1.2 Age Distribution of Respondents ................................................................ 73 4.1.3 Educational Qualification of Respondents.................................................. 73 4.1.4 Marital Status of Respondents .................................................................... 74 4.1.5 Organisation distribution of Respondents ................................................... 74 4.1.6 Type of Employment of Respondents......................................................... 75 4.1.7 Years of Service of Respondents ................................................................ 75 4.2 Preliminary Analysis .......................................................................................... 76 4.3 SEM Analysis .................................................................................................... 79 4.3.1 Measurement model .................................................................................... 79 4.3.1.1 Model Fit Indices for the CFA Model ..................................................... 82 4.3.1.2 Validity and Reliability ............................................................................ 84 4.3.2 Bivariate Correlation Analysis .................................................................... 86 4.3.3 The Structural Models................................................................................. 87 4.3.3.1 Model Fit Indices for the Structural Models ............................................ 89 vii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.3.3.2 Summary of Results ................................................................................. 90 4.3.9 Hypotheses Testing ..................................................................................... 91 CHAPTER FIVE ....................................................................................................... 94 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS .................................................................................. 94 5.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 94 5.1 Demographic Details ......................................................................................... 94 5.2 Findings.............................................................................................................. 97 5.2.1 Transformational Leadership and Employees’ Work Engagement ............ 97 5.2.2 Transactional Leadership and Employees’ Work Engagement ................ 100 5.2.3 Perceived Organisational Politics and Work Engagement ....................... 103 5.2.4 Perceived Organisational Politics as a Moderator between Leadership Styles and Employees’ Work Engagement ........................................................ 105 CHAPTER SIX ........................................................................................................ 112 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................... 112 6.0 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 112 6.1 Summary .......................................................................................................... 112 6.3 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 115 6.4 Recommendations ............................................................................................ 116 6.4.1 Recommendations for Practice ................................................................. 116 6.3.2 Recommendations for Future Studies ....................................................... 118 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... 119 APPENDIX A ........................................................................................................... 148 APPENDIX B ........................................................................................................... 153 viii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Reliability of Study Variables using Cronbach’s Alpha .............................. 66 Table 4.1 Demographic Details of Respondents.......................................................... 72 Table 4.2 Test for Normality ....................................................................................... 79 Table 4.3 Fit Indices for the Measurement Model ....................................................... 83 Table 4.4 Assessment of Reliability and Validity of Retained Items .......................... 85 Table 4.5 Summary of Bivariate Correlation Analysis ................................................ 86 Table 4.6 Model Fit Indices for Structural Models...................................................... 90 Table 4.7 Summary of Results ..................................................................................... 90 Table 4.8 The difference in POPS among employees of Indigenous Ghanaian banks. ...................................................................................................................................... 93 ix University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Proposed Relationships among Transformational leadership, Transactional leadership, Employees’ work engagement and POPS………………………….……52 Figure 4.1 The Initial CFA (Measurement) Model with Unstandardised Loadings .... 81 Figure 4.2 The Final CFA (Measurement) Model with Standardised Loadings ......... 82 Figure 4.3 Final Structural Model (Direct hypothesised relationships) ....................... 88 Figure 4.4 Final Structural Model with Moderation .................................................... 89 x University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of transformational and transactional leadership styles on employees’ work engagement and the moderating effect of perceived organisational politics (POPS) among employees of some selected indigenous Banks in Ghana. The study employed the cross-sectional design and the quantitative method approach, where data was gathered with the use of standardised survey questionnaires. Structural equation modeling was used in analysing the survey data from 430 usable responses. The study found that transformational leadership influenced employees’ work engagement while transactional leadership did not have any significant impact on employee’s work engagement. Furthermore, POPS failed to moderate the relationship between both transformational and transactional leadership styles and employees’ work engagement. Finally, the study found no difference in employees’ perception of politics among the private and public banks sampled. The analysis revealed power-distance hypothesis, uncertainty avoidance, socio-economic realities and the general nature of politicking in the banking sector as some reasons why POPS failed to moderate the relationships. Again, factors such as the importance of coaching and mentoring in the organisation and the bureaucratic structure of the organisation were revealed to be reasons why varying results were found for the relationship between the two leadership styles and work engagement of employees of the sampled banks. It was thus recommended that the leaders be empowered and trained adequately to exhibit more transformational leadership attributes and behaviours in order to enhance employees’ level of engagement to their work as well as their perceptions of their organisation’s political environment. xi University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.0 Background to the Study Over the past two decades, organisations globally have been witnessing a paradigm shift in their respective industries, where for instance, the emphasis of organisations has changed from spending resources on just bringing in new machinery and expanding facilities to investing massively in their workforce. Batista-Taran, Shuck, Guitierrez and Baralt (2013) maintain that due to globalisation, companies are changing their structure and competing in a bigger arena, where hitherto, most of these organisations used to think of capital simply as shares, cash, investments, or some sort of wealth. As a result, organisations are beginning to appreciate the importance of promoting employees’ adaptation to unanticipated external changes, thus constantly creating strategies for managing their workforce whiles boosting innovation (Ababneh, 2015). It therefore stands to reason that human resources professionals have come under immense pressure from management to develop consequential and effective approaches and techniques that guarantees that their organisations at all times identify, recruit and retain the most competent, adequate, and talented individuals (Purcell, 2014; Shuck and Wollard, 2010). According to Abor (2017), the revolutionary changes in the global banking industry demanded that in 2004, the Ghana government introduced a new Banking Act. The Banking Act, which was ratified by Ghana’s parliament, mandated all banks to maintain a minimum capital requirement ratio of ten percent. The net effect, according to Abor (2017), has been a reduction in the number of banks as well as an increase in the level of competition in the banking industry. 1 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh It is however, note worthy that the level of competition instituted through the Banking Act (Act 930) in the Ghanaian banking sector has had a rippling effect on the level of efficiency and the level of service delivery of banks in the country and has thrown a huge challenge to leaders and managers of the operating banks. For instance, managers of locally owned banks are under immerse pressure to find innovative ways of keeping their employees engaged in order for them to help the banks meet their bottom-line and remain competitive in an industry. According to Ababneh (2015) top organisations are constantly on the look-out for employees that are energetic, proactive, persistent and adaptive to changes during challenges and it is due to these qualities that the construct of work and employee engagement has become popular among 21st century organisations and researchers. Engagement has received widespread attention from human resource practitioners and academics who have described the construct as an important behavioural element that plays a vital role in improving job and task performance, organisational citizenship behaviours, discretionary effort, productivity, employee commitment, psychological climate and customer satisfaction (see Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004; Popli & Rizvi, 2016; Kim, Farmer & Porter 2013; Bhattacharya, Doty & Garavan 2014; Kuntz and Roberts, 2014; Zhang 2016; Hewitt, 2014; Signgh and Krishnana, 2014, Christian, Garza & Slaughter, 2011; Rich, LePine & Crawford, 2010; inter alia). Berry (2010; p.1) adds that “The challenge facing organisations today is not just retaining talented people, but fully engaging them, capturing their minds and hearts at each stage of their work lives”. Though there is still no consensus on a definition of 2 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh employee engagement among either scholars or practitioners (Fearon, McLaughlin, and Morris, 2013; Maslach, 2011; Purcell, 2014). Work engagement has been defined as a cognitive, emotional, and behavioural self-employment during task performance (Czarnowsky, 2008; Kahn, 1990; Saks, 2006; Shuck and Wollard, 2010). Others interpret the concept as work passion (Zigarmi, Nimon, Houson, Witt, and Diehl, 2009), and “characterized by vigour, dedication, and absorption” (Schaufeli, Salanova, Gonzalez-Roma, and Bakker, 2002, p.74). A close analysis of the antecedents or drivers of work engagement indicates that conceptually, leadership plays an essential role in fostering work engagement (Attridge 2009; Bakker, Hakanen, Demerouti and Xanthopoulou 2007; Xu and Thomas, 2011; Sorenson, 2013; Hewitt, 2014). Support for this assertion is seen in the studies of Wang and Walumbwa (2007) and Macey and Schneider (2008) that cite leadership as one of the single biggest factors affecting employee perceptions in the workplace and workforce engagement. Attridge (2009) furthered added that leadership style, applying to leader–follower interactions, is critical for promoting employee engagement. The concept of leadership and its impact on employees’ work engagement is fast gaining prominence in organisational development literature (Macey & Schneider, 2008). Leadership, as defined by Omolayo (2007) is a social influential process in which a leader seeks the voluntary participation of subordinates in an effort to reach organisational goals. This definition brings up two salient points. Firstly, the author Conceptualises a leader as someone who is capable of bringing people together and facilitates them to help achieve a common goal or objective. Secondly, leaders influence the behaviour of their followers through the use of different styles, or approaches. Thus a leader has to provide followers with what is needed to keep them 3 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh productive and proceed towards the shared vision. According to Yukl and Chavez (2002) leadership is the process by which shared objectives can be achieved through facilitating individual and collective efforts. It is also a process of what and how things can be done effectively by influencing others. Leadership is generally defined as the relationship between an individual and a group built around some common interest where the group behaves in a manner directed or determined by the leader (Shastri, Shashi & Sinha, 2010). Attridge (2009) posits that leadership style in the context of leader–follower interactions, is critical for promoting employee engagement. Following from this, Wellins, Smith and Erker (2009) maintain that organisations create an engaged workforce by proactively leveraging three sources of influence (employees, leaders and organisational systems and strategies). Khan’s (1990) seminar work on work engagement noted that leadership has the greatest potential to affect employees’ outlooks of their psychological attachment. This is because leaders are responsible for providing the kind of environment that is supportive and engender engagement to task. Additionally, Wellins et al. (2009) adds that leadership behaviours can have a real and significant impact on employee engagement. According to Hewitt (2014), leadership style has significant influence on overall organisational outcomes as well as employee attitudes, behaviours and various employee outcomes. The problem however has been whether transformational or transactional leadership style better predict engagement among employees (Hayati, Charkhabi & Naami, 2014; Macey & Schneider, 2008; Walumbwa & Hartnell, 2011; Popli & Rizvi, 2016; Xu & Thomas 2011; inter alia). 4 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Indeed there has been a plethora of literature that has investigated the transactional- transactional leadership styles and employee engagement (See Zhang 2010; Yasin Ghadi Fernando & Caputi, 2013; Hayati et al., 2014; Popli & Rizvi, 2016). Whiles all these studies have further stressed the predictive power that leadership styles has on employee’s work engagement levels, literature on leadership and work engagement seem to favor transformational leadership styles over transactional leadership. Consequently, Shuck and Herd (2012) have suggested that studies on leadership style-work engagement should also examine transactional leadership styles dimension of leadership style because it may significantly contribute to employee work engagement literature. According to Bodla, Afza, and Danish, (2014), organisational politics is an important ingredient of the life of organisations. Organisational politics, both perceptual and actual politics in organisations, have received growing recognition and scholarly attention because of the consequences it has been shown to have on the behavioural outcomes of employees such as performance, commitment, motivation and engagement, as well as consequences on the organisation as a whole (Vigoda-Gadot & Beeri, 2011). Atnic, Darrat, Fuller, Bryan & Parker (2010) have however argued that individuals may respond to their perception of reality and not necessarily to reality itself. Thus, perceived reality has been found to be the most important factor in determining workers' attitudes and behaviour. Consequently, Gallagher and Laird (2008) defined perceived organisational politics as an individual’s view which is normally characterised by colleagues and supervisors demonstrating behaviours that are self-serving. Kacmar and Carlson (1997) who pioneered the concept of Perceived 5 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Organisational Politics (POPS) divided the construct into three (3) dimensions. They include General Political Behaviour, which represents the behaviours of individuals (employees) who act in self-serving ways in order to obtain valued consequences; Go Along to Get Ahead, which is the lack of action by individuals (employees) (e.g., remaining silent) in order to secure valued outcomes; and Pay and Promotion Policies which involves the organisation behaving politically through the policies it enacts. A review of extant literature paints a picture of two different conceptualisations of the perception of organisational politics at the workplace. Whiles some (See Vigoda- Gadot, 2011; Jam, Khan, Zaidi & Muzaffar, 2011, inter alia) conceptualise it in a negative sense; thus viewing organisational politics as negative phenomenon that actively hinders the effective and normal running of organisational processes like decision making, promotion as well as reward systems. Other scholars (See Martin & Brawley, 2001; Jam et al., 2011) on the other hand have conceptualise organisational politics from a positive viewpoint as it is viewed as an inevitable part of the need for individuals and groups to function in a collective setting. Perceived Organisational politics has been found to be an antecedent of work engagement and leadership style an antecedent of work engagement (Bodla, Hussain, & Chen, 2014; Atta & Khan, 2015; Atnic et al., 2010). This is because both leaders’ leadership styles and employees positive perception of organisational politics not only increases their success in certain roles but also encourages them to give out their best for the organisation. A more critical examination of the relationship between managers’ leadership styles, employees’ work engagement and employees’ perception of organisational politics is thus important, hence the need for this study. 6 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1.2 Statement of the Problem The recent takeover and subsequent liquidation of UT and Capital Banks by the Ghana Commercial Bank, two indigenous Ghanaian banks, has had many banking and finance experts proffering varied reasons for the sudden collapse of two banks that hitherto, were considered to be doing exceptionally well. According to the Bank of Ghana, the sudden collapse of these two banks was caused mainly by bad corporate governance and huge non-performing loans (BOG, 2017). Inarguably, the unguided corporate governance practice in these two banks, arising from relatively ineffective leadership styles, ineffective management teams with inadequate knowledge, skills and attributes, negative organisational politicking, lack of effective communication within the ranks and file, etc. can be enumerated as some of the major reasons for the collapse of these banks (Sissy, Amidu & Abor, 2017; BoG, 2017, Bokpin, Aboagye & Osei, 2010). Consequently the issue of the leadership and management styles of the directors and managers of indigenous banks and the internal political environments within which these banks operate has therefore come as an important issues that needs to be studied. While numerous studies have been conducted on leadership styles among managers in Ghanaian organisations (Puni, Ofei & Okoe, 2014; Dartey-Baah, Amponsah-Tawiah & Sekyere-Abankwa, 2011; Gyensare, Anku-Tsede, Sanda, Okpoti, 2016; Abugre, 2012; Sanda & Sraha, 2011), in the banking and financial sector (Dartey-Baah & Ampofo, 2015; Mekpor & Dartey-Baah, 2017; Obuobisa- Darko, & Obuobisa-Darko, 2015; Acheampong, 2013), and other sectors; studies that specifically examined the influence of transformational leadership and transactional leadership on employee engagement in Ghana, in general, and among indigenous Ghanaian banks, are virtually non-existent and need to be studied (Dartey-Baah & Addo, 2018) . 7 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Again, studies reviewed on engagement revealed leadership styles of managers as one of the strongest antecedent of employee work engagement (Shastri, Shashi & Sinha, 2010; Ghadi et al., 2013; Hayati et al., 2014; Balaji & Krishnan, 2014, Popli & Rizvi, 2016) indicating that leadership has real implications and importance for the engagement levels of an organisation’s employees (Wellins et al. 2009; Singh & Krishnan, 2014; Xu & Thomas 2011; Zhang 2010, inter alia). However, Omolayo (2000) and Newman et al., (2011) have argued that, at best, the understanding of the real contribution of managers’ leadership styles to employee engagement can only be considered elementary. Popli and Rizvi (2016) further postulate that there exists very minimal consensus on which leadership style has the most impact on employees work engagement in the current leadership literature, with some of the findings revealing overlaps between transformational and transactional leadership styles. Additionally, while majority of the leadership literature have examined the influence of transformational and transactional leadership styles on employee engagement (Witemeyer, 2013; Hewitt, 2014; Hay, 2002; Attridge, 2009; Zhang 2010; Ghadi et al., 2013; Gardner, Avolio, Luthans, May & Walumbwa, 2005; Xu & Thomas 2011; Krishnan 2012; Popli & Rizvi, 2015; Carasco-Saul, Kim & Kim, 2014), none of the above-mentioned studies examined the moderating effect of perceived organisational politics (POPS) on the relationships between the two leadership styles and employees’ work engagement, following from the fact that POPS has been found to have an influence on leaders’ leadership styles (Gallagher and Laird, 2008 Atnic et al., 2010; Bodla et al., 2014). 8 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Again, there have been calls, in recent times, for more studies to examine the various ways in which POPS influences employee engagement and other job-related attitudes in organisations (Bashir, Nasir, Saeed, & Ahmed 2011; Atta & Khan, 2015). Also, empirical literature on the relationship between transformational and transactional leadership styles and POPS is very scanty, if not unavailable. In the light of the above, this study seeks to provide a deeper insight into the relationship between the two leadership styles (transformational and transactional) and employee work engagement, and the effect perceived organisational politics has on that relationship among indigenous banks in Ghana. 1.3 Research Objectives This study generally investigates the relationships that exist between managers’ leadership styles (transformational & transactional), employees’ work engagement and perceived organisational politics. Specifically, this study seeks: 1. To investigate the influence of transformational leadership and transactional leadership on employees’ work engagement among indigenous Ghanaian banks. 2. To investigate the extent to which perceived organisational politics predicts employees’ work engagement among indigenous Ghanaian banks. 3. To determine whether perceived organisational politics moderates the relationship between the leadership styles (transformational and transactional) and employees’ work engagement among indigenous Ghanaian banks. 4. To determine the difference in the level of perceived organisational politics 9 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh among private and public indigenous banks in Ghana. 1.4 Research Questions In light of the research objectives, the study poses the following research question. 1. To what extent do leadership styles (transformational and transactional) influence employees’ work engagement among indigenous Ghanaian banks? 2. To what extent does perceived organisational politics predict employees’ work engagement among indigenous Ghanaian banks? 3. Will perceived organisational politics moderate the relationship between the leadership styles (transformational and transactional) and employees’ work engagement? 4. Is there a significant difference in the perception of organisational politics among employees of public and private indigenous banks in Ghana? 1.6 Research Hypotheses Based on the research objectives and questions, the study proposed to test the following hypotheses. The formulated hypothesis stern from a review of empirical literature on the relationship between all the variables done in page 45-51. H1a Transformational leadership style will predict employees’ work engagement positively and significantly. H1b Transactional leadership style will predict employees’ work engagement 10 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh negatively and significantly. H2 Perceived organisational politics will significantly predict employees’ work engagement. H3 Perceived organisational politics will moderate the relationship between transformational leadership style and employees’ wok engagement. H4 Perceived organisational politics will moderate the relationship between transactional leadership style and employees’ work engagement. H5 Employees of publicly-owned indigenous banks will demonstrate a greater level of perceived organisational politics than employees of indigenous banks that are privately-owned. 1.7 Significance of the Study This study contributes to research, practice and policy. With regard to research, the findings of this study add to the existing global and local literature on leadership and work engagement, as it further examines the role of perceived organisational politics on this relationship. Furthermore, as regards the context of this study, the findings provide fresh, critical and deeper insights into leadership and work engagement in Ghana, particularly focusing on wholly-owned public and private Ghanaian Banks. On this study’s practical significance, the study and its findings are reliable and dependable sources of information not just for the respective banks under study, but all other institutions within and without the banking and financial sector in Ghana, 11 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh especially in the light of the recent take-over and subsequent liquidation of UT and Capital banks. Leaders and managers in organisations will be informed on the influence of leadership on employees’ work engagement so as to guide them in their daily supervisory duties. This study further reinforces the importance of organisations maintaining positive political climates within their working environment and providing the needed support needed by their employees to exhibit positive job attributes like engagement. More importantly, senior management in institutions can fall on the results of this study in making informed policy decisions towards promoting good leadership and organisational policies and practices, as this has been indicated in literature as not just imperative for organisations growth and development, but also helps create an environment of uniformity, fairness and justice. Lastly, this study serves as guide for future studies to be conducted on leadership and engagement. 1.8 Scope of the Study This study focuses on the influence of transformational leadership and transactional leadership styles of managers on the work engagement of employees working in indigenous banks in Ghana and the mediating effect of organisational politics (whether positive or negative), as perceived by employees, on the leadership style and work engagement relations. More specifically, the study focuses on the employees working at the headquarters of the following indigenous banks in Ghana, namely; GCB bank, Fidelity bank, Prudential bank, Unibank Ghana. 12 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1.9 Chapter Disposition This study is organised into six (6) chapters to enhance understanding. Chapter One which is the introduction to the study comprises of the background to the study, the statement of the problem, objectives, significance of the study and the scope of the study among others. The second chapter contains the review of theoretical and empirical literature that are of relevance to the topic and the objectives of this study. The chapter ends with a conceptual framework to illustrate the interrelationships of the study variables. Chapter Three which contains the methodology focuses on the paradigm selected for the study, design of the study, the population, sample and sampling techniques, as well as the methods for collecting and analysing data, among others. Chapter Four comprises of the data analysis and results presentation. It also captures the demographic details of the respondents, and the testing of hypotheses as outlined in the first chapter. Chapter Five discusses of the research findings. Here, the findings presented are discussed in the light of relevant literature. The last chapter, chapter six, presents a summary of the whole study, gives an adequate conclusion, and ends of with recommendations for practice and for future research. 13 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 Introduction This chapter contains the literature review. It comprises a review of various literature related to the constructs (i.e. leadership styles, employees’ work engagement and perceived organisational politics) under study. It focused on elaborating on the concept of leadership (styles) and employee engagement. The chapter also discusses the theoretical underpinnings and empirical literature, which throws light on the constructs and explains the relationship that exist among them. Finally, the chapter ends with a proposed conceptual framework that depicts these relationships. 2.1 Concept of Leadership The concept of leadership remains one of the most prominent aspects of management (Weihrich, Cannice, & Koontz, 2008) because of its impact on the wellbeing of employees and the organisation as a whole. According to Dartey-Baah (2016), leadership is imperative for determining the path for the pursuit of goals or providing a guide to goal attainment on every progressive 21st century organisation. The concept however remains one of the most contested concepts in the social sciences (Dartey- Baah & Addo, 2018; Avolio, Sosik, Jung, & Berson, 2003); hence making it very difficult to define (Dartey-Baah, 2015). While some definitions of the concept focus on what leaders do, others emphasise on the characteristics of leaders. Similarly, Hard (2006) mentioned that recent researchers have had the opinion that leadership is a learned behaviour though the traditional concept sees people with leadership skills as a hereditary advantage. This notwithstanding, the definition of leadership from various researchers remains ambiguous and according to Bass (1990) as cited in 14 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Mohammed, Silong, and Hassan (2009), there have been many scholars who have defined leadership in several ways. Bennis and Nanus (1985) and Burns (1978) (as cited in Gowal and Chowdhury, 2014) explained leadership as a relationship which tends to impact positively on their followers leading to the accomplishment of goals. Bass (1990) also postulates that leadership can be conceptualised along two strands; as a process, and as a property. As a process, leadership places emphasis on what leaders actually do. Leaders employ persuasive means to define goals of a group or organisation, they influence activities towards the achievement of the defined goals, and they also act as agents for developing the culture of the group of the organisation. As a property, leadership is the set of characteristic and features attributed to individuals who are perceived to be leaders. In the same vein, Weihrich, et al (2008) also defined leadership as influencing a group of people to achieve a certain goal(s). Therefore, a leader is anyone who can influence other people. A study by Bass (1990), as cited in Givens (2008), stated that a leader is any one capable of encouraging others to work far above expectation. The motivation according to Givens (2008) could be acquired by creating awareness on the benefits of accomplishing a certain goal. This normally inspires followers to work far beyond self-interest for the betterment of the organisation. For Yukl (2008), leadership is “the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives” (p. 8). Shastri et al., (2010) also defined leadership as the relationship that exists between an individual and a group that revolves around shared interests or goals, in a way that the individual 15 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh influences the behaviour and attitudes of the group. In the organisational sense, for an individual to be known as an effective leader that person should have identified certain cultures that are pertinent to leaders and one such culture is the concept of change (Ouchi, 1981, as cited in Eppard, 2004). A leader should have the qualities of adapting to change when necessary. Even though there seem to be varying definitions and conceptualisations to the concept of leadership, it is noteworthy from all the definitions that the concept is underlined by some common themes. The first common characteristic of the above- listed definitions is that leadership is a group phenomenon – thus, it comprises an interaction between the leader and follower(s); Secondly, leadership occurs in a context – either within a community, organisation or group; Thirdly, leadership involves influence. This means that leaders are able to affect the thinking and actions of others towards a particular direction; also, leadership involves accomplishment of goals – thus fundamental preoccupation of a leader is to be able to lead followers towards goals attainment. Again, leadership can be conceptualised as a process, in that it is not a one-off event, but rather a systematic modification of individuals and an organisation from a current state to a more desired state. Finally, a leader must be a ‘driver of change’. Following from the above, this study conceptualises leadership as a systemic continuous process of interaction between a leader and followers in a way that inspires the individual or group to channel their physical, emotional and psychological attributes towards the attainment of commonly desired goals. 16 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2.1.1 Theories of Leaderships As with the varying definitions of leadership, theories of leadership abound in extant literature. According to Dartey-Baah (2015), these theories can be categorised under four main headings namely; the early leadership theories (e.g. Great Man theory, trait theory, the environmental theory); the interactive theories (e.g. contingency and situational theories and the interaction-expectation theory); the organisational theories (e.g. the humanist theory and the task-related theory) and the modern leadership theories or the behavioural theories (e.g. transformational, transactional, autocratic, laissez-faire leadership styles). It is however important to stress that the organisational theories and the modern theories of leadership find their root in the early leadership theories. For the purpose of this study, the Great man theory, trait theory, contingency and situational theory, the humanist theory as well as the transactional, transformational and laissez-faire leadership styles will be discussed in the subsequent paragraphs. The Great Man theory The fundamental predisposition of the Great Man theory is that leaders are born with extraordinary potentials which distinguishes them from their subordinates. This follows from Galton’s (1870) work cited in Burgoyne & James (2003) which was very popular in the 19th and 20th centuries, where Galton suggested that prominent leaders’ ability to lead are innate and are not learned. In another vein, this theory asserts people are born to be leaders but leaders cannot be made. Again, Wood (1913) cited in James (2011) argues that the state of affairs of a leader’s tenure was connected directly to their ability for them to be ‘present’. In other words, a leader who is tough could be associated with successful time period, whereas a leader who is 17 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh feeble is usually blamed for uncomfortable eras. He thus ended that the nation is shaped or governed based on the leader’s innately acquired characteristics or strengths. This theory is thus based on the belief that leaders are people who are exceptional and they are born to lead with certain inherent qualities. It is perhaps this underlying belief that Dowd (1936) cited in James (2011) claimed that leaders are always more intelligent, energetic, and superior than their followers. The Trait Theory The concern of this leadership theory is about the physical and intellectual features that an individual possesses that predisposes that individual to be a great leader (Green, 1994; Robbins & Judge, 2013). Thus the trait theory argues that personality traits such as ambition and intelligence differentiate a leader from a non-leader. The underlining assumption of this theory is the belief that individuals posses certain unique traits that are vital for leadership; thus, effective leaders must possess combinations of some these ‘leadership-oriented’ traits. However this theory has come under massive criticism from varied quarters of academia (Schedlitzki, & Edwards, 2017; Chandan & Devi, 2014; Sendjaya, 2016). One of the reasons for such criticism is hinged on the fact that proponents of the theory failed to emphasise the particular set of traits or qualities that are suited to leadership. Others also criticise the theory as being inconsistent, in that, the personal qualities and characteristics possessed by some of the greatest leaders are not the same and thus differ from person to person. Last but not the least, Dartey-Baah (2014) and Schedlitzki, and Edwards (2017) maintained that the Trait theory like the Great Man theory is riddled by numerous shortcomings as they solely focused on the leader to the neglect of the 18 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh importance of the subordinates as well as the little significance given to leader- follower relationship in effectively pursuing shared goals. The Contingency Theory Following from the weaknesses discovered in trait theory, Fiedler (1967) developed the Contingency Theory of Leadership Effectiveness. This concept was aimed at integrating the situational parameters into the leadership equation (Chemers, 2014). Under this theory, Fiedler argues that a leader’s effectiveness is influenced to a great extent by the style of the leader and the situational characteristics that lead to three situations (i.e. Very favourable, unfavourable, and Intermediate favourableness). Based on this, Fiedler outlined three assumptions to be considered when determining situational leadership. These are;  Leader-member relations or the degree of trust and support which exists between followers and leaders.  Task structure, which is the extent to which the goals and procedures for accomplishing the group’s task are defined.  Position power, the degree to which the leader has authority to reward and punish followers. Using this assumptions as foundation, Fiedler went on to proposes two leadership styles namely; task–oriented (TO) and relationship-oriented (RO) (Bertocci, 2009) and concluded that task-oriented leaders tend to be more effective than relationship- oriented leaders in highly favourable and unfavourable situations whiles relationship- oriented leaders tend to be more effective than task-oriented leaders in situations of intermediate favourableness (Peretomode, 2012). 19 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh As noted by Hersey and Blanchard (1969) cited in Dartey-Baah and Ampofo (2016), task-oriented leaders give subordinates detailed roles and instructions and provide smooth two-way communication channels between themselves and their subordinates. Relation-oriented leaders on the other hand, immerse themselves in the lives of their subordinates by showing utmost care; seek cordial relations, ensure even participation and exhibit high levels of emotional intelligence in managing the emotions of their subordinates, all in the bid to gain the trust and loyalty of their subordinates (Gulati, Mayo & Nohria, 2013: Bass, 2008). The contingency theory was however criticized on the grounds of some glaring weaknesses in its consistency, continuity, and conformity (Nicholls, 1985). Likewise Bass (2008) and McCleskey, (2014) agreed to these criticisms highlighting ambiguity and contradictions in the concept. Humanistic Theories The Humanistic theory of leadership is focused on the influence a leader has on the enhancement of an organisational efficiency. It suggests that it is the leader’s responsibility to ensure that an organisation is molded in a way that the team members recognize their ability and add up to the team’s objectives. The theory is based on the work of McGregor (1960, 1966), who came up with two sets of suppositions that affect the style of leadership. The results were represented using his Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X is based on the supposition that individuals are reactive and try to go contrary to the desires of the organisation. It is thus the responsibility of leaders using the Theory X to guide and encourage individuals to achieve the desires of the organisation. Leaders operating under Theory Y believe that individuals possess the ability to motivate themselves and a succeeding leader is only required to sort institutional setting out to permit the people to accomplish their own 20 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh needs at the same time as meeting organisational targets and aims (Adams, 2005; Sluss & van Dick, 2011; Memon, 2014). Furthermore, Hatch (2018) also argues that there is a major discrepancy existing between the organisation and individual conceptualisation of leadership stressing that the needs of individuals and organisations are always incongruent. It is therefore imperative that the leader helps individuals within the organisation to achieve personal goals whiles at the same time making an input to the success of the organisation (Dartey-Baah, 2014). Behavioural theory The behaviour leaders exhibit in the accomplishment of their targets lead to the different leadership styles. Achua and Lussier (2010) define leadership styles as the combination of traits, skills and behaviours used by leaders when interacting with their followers. Unlike the Great Man and trait theories, Teshome (2013) suggests that leadership capability can be learned. The theory argues that leaders can be made and leadership can be learned, therefore effective leadership involves behaviours that are defined and can be learned. Similarly, Northouse (2008) describes leadership styles as what leaders do and their behaviour in action. A leadership style most often describes the behaviour of the leader in any situation. It shows how leaders inspire their followers in partaking in certain activities (Lewin, Lippitt & White, 1939, as cited in Bosiok, Sad, Serbia, 2013). Consequently, research has delved into different forms of leadership styles ranging from transformational leadership, transactional leadership, autocratic leadership, democratic leadership, laissez faire, among others. And all these forms of leadership styles tend to give a meaning to the kind of leader a person is. 21 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2.2 Leadership Styles These theories of leadership was first introduced by Burns (1978) as a pair of leadership styles based on his qualitative analysis of political leaders, which was later developed by Bass (1985). 2.2.1 Transformational Leadership The concept of transformational leadership was initiated by James Macgregor Burns in 1978. This concept came about during his descriptive research on political leaders. Consequently, there has now been a wide use of this concept especially in organisations (Jung & Sosik, 2002). Transformational leaders tend to instigate motivation, morale and positive action of followers using various techniques. For instance, these leaders interact with their followers and gain information about their identity, their strengths and weaknesses and other relevant issues. Bass (1985) further posits that the transformational leader motivates followers through creating perceptions of the importance of specific organisational goals. Similarly, Odumeru and Ifeanyi (2013) stated that transformational leaders give much attention to their followers by assisting them to have a different perception in some peculiar ways. They also mentioned that transformational leaders tend to stir and inspire their followers to give off their best in order to achieve some specific goals. As iterated by Northhouse (2004) and Judge & Piccolo (2004), transformational leaders provide followers with a purpose that goes beyond short term interests, stressing intrinsic needs that are often of higher value, and in doing so inspires and transforms the egoistic interests of the follower to what is collectively considered as a 22 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh greater organisational interest. According to Bass (1990) as cited in Gopal and Chowdhury (2014), transformational leaders provide a vision and a sense of mission, instigates pride, and gain respect and trust through charisma, as opposed to a simple exchange and agreement. Similarly, Warrilow (2012) mentioned that the concept of transformational leadership is about creating a positive perception in the minds of followers by having an interest in the manner in which they act. Dartey-Baah, Amponsah-Tawiah and Sekyere-Abankwa (2011) further argue that one integral principle of transformational leadership is the desire and ability to elevate subordinates to a point where they can achieve tasks adequately and advance organisational goals with very little interference from the leader. Evidently, transformational leadership requires a strong conviction from leaders towards a cognitive and behavioural change of followers/subordinates. The development of this theory over the years has produced four dimensions under this style of leadership (Avolio et al., 1999; Bass, 1985; Bass & Avolio, 2003), namely; idealised influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualised consideration (Warrilow, 2012). Idealised influence Bass and Riggio (2006) explain that idealised influence, also known as charisma, refers to the extent to which the leader is highly loved, trusted and well regarded by their employees. In other words, this deals with the extent to which leaders exhibit admirable behaviours that are considered exemplary and identified with by the followers (Judge & Piccolo, 2004; Prasad & Junni, 2016). Charismatic/transformational leaders exhibit strong convictions while appealing to 23 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh subordinates on an emotional level and by values that they spell out clearly (Warrilow, 2012). An integral aspect of this concept is the ability of the leader to enunciate a clear vision and set tasks that aims and motivates subordinates to perform above capacity to obtain general objectives (Dionne, Yammarino, Atwater & Spangler, 2004). Prasad and Junni (2016) further assert that the transformational leaders projects themselves as role models, displaying attitudes that are exemplary for and expected of followers. Inspirational motivation This refers to the extent to which the leader speaks clearly about a vision and motivates the followers with optimism about future goals, offering meaning for the current tasks in hand. Givens (2008) also mentioned that transformational leaders inspire their followers to achieve more by concentrating on the followers values and helping the them align their values with the values of the organisation. According to Prasad and Junni (2016), leaders who display inspirational motivation stimulate optimism and excitement about organisational goals, give meaning to the followers tasks, and also motivate them to produce optimal performance. Similarly, Bass, Avolio, Jung and Berson (2003) assert that leaders exhibit this dimension when they give meaning to their followers’ works, while whipping up enthusiasm in producing innovative organisational future goals. Leaders who practice this dimension cultivate solid group spirit as a way of directing the group to attaining expected objectives (Bass & Riggio, 2006). 24 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Intellectual stimulation This refers to the extent to which the leader challenges expectations, stimulates and encourages creativity in the followers by providing an outline for followers to identify the relationship they have with their leaders, the organisation and the goal and also find out how they can handle problems in the organisation. Bass (1997) further asserts that transformational leaders are able to challenge the status quo, that is, the existing values, traditions and culture in general so as to engender new and better ways of tackling problems and carrying out tasks. This dimension thus concerns the ability of leaders to encourage followers to assess the status quo and take risks when undertaking assigned tasks (Prasad & Junni, 2016). Intellectual stimulation provides an avenue for leaders to stimulate followers’ creativity in overcoming challenges (Warrilow, 2012). Individualised consideration This dimension of transformational leadership deals with leaders and followers on individual basis. Individualised consideration can be described as the level at which the leader deals with each member’s concerns; thus leaders serve as mentors and tutors to their followers (Bass & Riggio, 2006; Nicholason, 2007). According to Bass et al. (2003) and Modassir and Singh (2008), this is the ability of leaders to coach followers and at the same time pay particular attention to followers’ need for achievement and progress whiles rewarding effort. Prasad and Junni (2016) similarly assert that individualised consideration also involves creating the learning atmosphere for followers, and coaching or mentoring followers in order to stimulate their development. 25 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh It is important to stress that with the transformational leadership, the problem of motivation which was paramount in early leadership theories is solved. The model offers a conducive working environment for employees and increases the level of creativity in the organisation (Nemaei, 2012). Also, Hickman (1997) as cited in Givens (2008) state that transformational leaders give out a lot of effort to bring about change both for their followers and the organisation as a whole. Such leaders implement organisational policies and structures that add up to the ability of individuals, groups, and the organisation to “practice its values and serve its purpose”. Another noticeable advantage is the potential of transformational leadership style to create future leaders from followers (Nemaei, 2012). Transformational leaders are farsighted and encouraging in approach. They tend to communicate a clear and acceptable vision and goals, with which employees can identify and cause intense emotion in their followers (Eppard, 2004). Also, Krishnan (2005) mentions that the main quality of a transformational leader is the ability to motivate his or her followers to achieve more than what was intended to be accomplished. However, Hall, Johnson, Wysocki and Kepner (2002) identified that the weakness associated with this form of leadership is the fact that this leadership is treated more as a personal trait than a learned behaviour. Another problem associated with this form of leadership is the fact that it does not take suggestions from followers unlike the democratic leadership because the followers still have to go by their leader’s goal (Nemaei, 2012). Therefore followers will have to go by their leader’s decisions whether or not the behaviour is a morally 26 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh acceptable one or not. Consequently, Homrig (2001) mentioned that transformational leadership has both bad and good sides. 2.2.2 Transactional Leadership According to Riaz, and Haider (2010), the transactional style is an exchange method of leadership between leaders and their followers. Burns (1978) posits that transactional leaders appeal to followers’ parochial interests. Dartey-Baah and Ampofo (2016) iterate that transaction means an exchange between parties. The concept of this leadership style is all about an exchange relationship between leaders and subordinates (Bass, 1999). This leadership style relies on “exchanges” between a leader and subordinates, where the leader specifies and provides rewards in exchange for subordinates’ performance (Trottier, Van Wart & Wang, 2008; Hargis, Wyatt & Piotrousski (2011). These leaders therefore view their style as an exchange process where the followers are given directions as to what and how to go about an issue by their leaders and after the accomplishment of the said goal, there is either reward or punishment. (Eppard, 2004) also stated that leaders get their work done by offering threatening punishments for non-compliance and rewards for compliance. Consequently, Nemaei (2012) mentioned that transactional leaders need to identify the needs of their followers and manage their internal and external environment to create an impact on followers with the use of rewards, punishment and agreement systems. Similarly, transactional leaders are held liable for rewards systems, monitoring, identifying problems and taking preventive actions for the organisation (Doyle and Smith, 2001). Contrary to transformational leadership however, Northouse (2004) iterates that transactional leaders do not consider the individual 27 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh needs and development of their subordinates. Thus, this leadership style does not move beyond the task versus reward relationship between leaders and followers. Bass (1990) cited in Eppard (2004) developed provides (3) dimensions of transactional leadership, namely; Contingent reward, Management-by-exception (Active), and Management-by-exception (Passive). Contingent reward Prasad & Junni, (2016) maintain that this dimension of transactional leadership involves the degree to which the leader sets up constructive transactions or exchanges with followers; the leader clarifies expectations and establishes the rewards for meeting these expectations. These expectations according to Popli and Rizvi (2016) usually are short-term and measurable (Dartey-Baah & Ampofo, 2016), to allow for effective transactions. Bass (1985) asserts that performance and commitment can be gotten from employees through the specification of rewards for achievement of goals. Management-by-exception (Active) Odumeru and Ifeanyi (2013) noted that management-by-exception generally focuses on maintaining established routines and procedures (status quo) and existing beliefs and traditions. This dimension of transactional leadership implies monitoring employees closely so as to check for deviations and errors in order to correct them quickly before they lead to greater difficulties (Cherry 2013; Obiwuru et al., 2011; Nikezić, Purić and Purić 2012). 28 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Management-by-exception (Passive) Just like active leaders, passive leaders also intervene when problems arise and need to be addressed; however, they do not set standards of performance for followers (Mullins & Weeks, 2006; Omolayo, 2007), hence making it largely reactive (Cherry (2013); Lai, 2011). In summary, the main difference however as explained by Tarski, Kassim and Nasharudin (2014), between active and passive management-by- exceptions is that the former involves monitoring employees closely so as to check for deviations and errors in order to correct them quickly before they lead to greater problems but passive leaders wait until problems arise before addressing them. Mester, Visser and Roodt (2003) mentioned that transactional leadership is based on the traditional and bureaucratic authority where followers are given certain goals to achieve according to the leader’s command. Therefore, transactional leaders place their efforts on the completion of tasks and also rely on organisational goals to influence employee performance. The followers of leaders who practice transactional leadership styles do not have the freedom to take any initiative other than the directive given. Nikezić et al., (2012) mentioned that their followers are more likely to be coerced into accomplishing goals but then work is effectively achieved. Nemaei (2012) indicated that organisations that practice the transactional leadership have a high tendency of experiencing absenteeism and work related problems from employees. In that, the transactional leadership style focuses only on the basic needs of the employees whilst employees would want to achieve their self-actualization need which prevents employees from growing. 29 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2.3 Employee Work Engagement Schaufeli (2013) maintains that it is not entirely clear when the term “engagement” was first used in relation to work, but generally the Gallup Organisation is credited for coining the term somewhere in the 1990s. Schaufeli (2013) further asserts that the emergence of engagement at the beginning of the 21st century has to do with two converging developments: the growing importance of human capital and psychological involvement of employees in business; and the increased scientific interest in positive psychological states. The former means that, more than ever, employees need psychological capabilities in order to thrive and to make organisations survive while the latter refers to the scientific study of optimal human functioning that aims to discover and promote the factors that allow individuals, organisations, and communities to thrive (Schaufeli, 2013). Many researchers have reported that employee engagement is a multidimensional concept (Jones & Harter, 2005); with cognitive (or rational), emotional (or affective), and behavioural components (Konrad, 2006 as cited in Berry, 2010). Kahn (1990) defines employee engagement as “the harnessing of organisation members’ selves to their work roles; in engagement, people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally during role performances” (p. 694, as cited in Kular, Gatenby, Rees, Soane & Truss, 2008). The cognitive aspect of employee engagement concerns employees’ beliefs about the organisation, its leaders and working conditions; the emotional aspect concerns how employees feel about each of those three factors and whether they have positive or negative attitudes toward the organisation and its leaders; the physical aspect of employee engagement concerns the physical energies exerted by individuals to accomplish their roles (Kular et al., 2008). 30 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Saks (2006) defined employee engagement as “a distinct and unique construct consisting of cognitive, emotional, and behavioural components that are associated with individual role performance” (p. 602). Schaufeli (2013), states that this definition is quite similar to that of Kahn (1990) because it also focuses on role performance at work. The innovative aspect is that Saks (2006) distinguishes between “job engagement” (performing the work role) and “organisational engagement” (performing the role as a member of the organisation) (Schaufeli, 2013). According to Harter et al. (2002), the term engagement refers to an “individual’s involvement and satisfaction with as well as enthusiasm for work” (p. 269, as cited in Batista-Taran et al., 2009). Schaufeli and Bakker’s (2004) definition of engagement differed somewhat, for according to them, engagement is “a positive, fulfilling, work- related state of mind that is characterized by vigour, dedication, and absorption” (p. 295, as cited in Berry, 2010). Schaufeli and Bakker (2004) further defined vigour, dedication, and absorption. They defined vigour as characterized by high levels of energy and mental resilience while working, the willingness to invest effort in one’s work, and persistence also in the face of difficulties; dedication as characterized by a sense of significance, enthusiasm, inspiration, pride, and challenge; absorption as characterized by being fully concentrated and happily engrossed in one’s work, whereby time passes quickly and one has difficulties with detaching oneself from work (as cited in Berry, 2010). However, comparing and contrasting Khan’s definition with that of Schaufeli and Bakker, it is possible to draw some conclusions on the definition of engagement. 31 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Firstly, engagement involves physical commitment whereby a worker exerts great energy in getting a job done. Secondly, engagement requires a good deal of mental concentration on one’s work. Lastly, engagement means that a worker is content and proud with the duty, executes it to the best of his/her ability and capabilities, sees problems as challenges that must be overcome, and always looks for avenues to improve upon the work. Other studies have posited that employee engagement contributes significantly to organisational performance and effectiveness (See Macey et al., 2008; Shuck, Rocco, and Albornoz, 2011). However, it has also been reported that the level of engagement has declined. For example, it is estimated that about 30% of workers are partially engaged and there is worldwide decline of engagement (Chalofsky, 2010; Gebauer and Lowman 2008). The Gallup organisation has also recently reported, in their studies on 100 million American full-time employees, that only 30% of employees are actively engaged, 50% are neutral, and 20% are actively disengaged (Gallup, 2013). In spite of the scholarly arguments that emphasise the positive outcomes of having a fully engaged workforce, contradictions, ambiguity and knowledge gaps can be found in the employee engagement literature. One gap revolves around the definition of employee engagement, whether it is a unique construct or a repackaging of traditional well-known constructs. Indeed, there is no general agreement on a definition of employee engagement among either scholars or practitioners (Fearon, McLaughlin, and Morris, 2013; Maslach, 2011; Purcell, 2014). In addition, the concept was linked to well-established perceptual constructs such as involvement, satisfaction, and 32 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh organisational commitment (Christian et al., 2011; Harter et al., 2002; Newman and Harrison, 2008; Newman, Joseph, Sparkman, and Carpenter; 2011). Further, it was stated that engagement is promoted by several forms of efficacy and levels of organisational interactions (Fearon et al., 2013) or as a multidimensional construct consisting of three separate but related constructs: trait, state, and behaviour (Macey and Schneider, 2008). These contradictions within the definitions of employee engagement call for scholars to conduct empirical studies, based on solid theoretical grounds, to provide a clear definition of the construct, models, and applications that meet practitioners and consultants’ expectations. Again, due to the variety of definitions, there is also little agreement as to the key predictors of engagement. For example, Kahn (1990) found that the psychological conditions of meaningfulness, safety, and availability significantly affect employee engagement. Maslach and Leiter (2008) considered the six areas of work life (workload, control, reward, community, fairness, and values) as the major antecedents of engagement and burnout. Job demands, job resources, and job characteristics have received wide attention and were found to be factors influencing employees’ decisions to engage (Bakker, Demerouti, and Sanz-Vergel, 2014; Ram and Prabhakar, 2011). Organisational culture and climate were also found to be associated with employee engagement (Shuck and Reio, 2014; Suharti and Suliyanto, 2012; Timms, Brough, O’Driscoll, Kalliath, Siu, Sit, and Lo, 2015). However the effect of perceived organisational politics on work engagement has seen very little research. 33 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Another issue found in the engagement literature concerns the reliability and validity of the existing measures of employee engagement. It can be argued that any measure of the construct would be more accurate and valid if it provides common items linked to a clear and agreed definition (Macey and Schneider, 2008; Newman et al., 2011, Truss, Delbridge, Alfes, Shantz, and Soane, 2014). Thus, it is important to have a construct Conceptualised first so the instruments designed to measure it will validly assess the construct as whole, rather than partial aspects of the construct or other related constructs. 2.4 Perceived Organisational Politics The concept of organisational politics has been considered to be a very important construct not only for organisational life but also for employee lives Stergiopoulou (2014). This is mainly because the concept is grounded in the theory of power dependence (Vigoda & Talmud 2010; Rao & Kenny, 2008) and social interaction approaches (Meriac & Villanova, 2006; Fedor & Maslyn, 2002). Overall, researchers have made progress in conceptualising the construct. For instance, Ferris and Kacmar (1992) and Vigoda- Gadot (2007) emphasised that organisational politics to a large extent demonstrate self-seeking and self-serving behaviours primarily aimed at achieving self-interests, advantages, and benefits at the expense of others and contrary to entire organisations. Again, Aryee, Chen and Budhwar (2004) posit that organisational politics consists of informal actions or behaviours not authorized by the organisation that are performed with the intention of promoting an individual’s goal. These self-interests according to Atta and Kahn (2015) might be short-term or long- term and might be consistent or contrary to the interests of others in the organisations. 34 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Mostly, when organisational politics is viewed from the side of employees, it often takes a negative form and has been found to be a negative phenomenon at the workplace (Atta & Kahn, 2015). According to Andrews and Kacmar (2001), organisational politics can take the forms of bypassing the chain of command to gain approval, going through improper channels to obtain special equipment, and lobbying high-level managers just prior to promotion decisions among others. It has been argued that organisational politics is not a reality and thus cannot be perceived similarly by every individual in the organisation; rather, it is differently perceived by everyone. Therefore, it is better to call it “perceived organisational politics” rather than “organisational politics” (Feris, Russ and Frandt (1989) cited in Atta and Kahn, 2015). It is important to emphasise that majority of the definitions sampled seem to suggest that the focus in perception has mainly been on the negative side of organisational politics. However, some studies have viewed organisational politics in some positive forms including persuasion, development of coalitions and networking to the extent these behaviours coincide with primary organisational objectives (Stergiopoulou 2014) whiles a few others have adopted a more middle-of-the road perspective (Fedor et al., 2008; Kurchner-Hawkins and Miller, 2006) where organisational politics is not perceived as negative-where it leads to dysfunctional organisations- on the one hand, or positive, where employees will consciously and voluntarily engage in. The most accepted classification of POPS among the researchers and theorists is the three-factor classification scheme proposed by Kacmar and Ferris (1991). The factors are made up of pay and promotion policies (PPP), go-along-to-get-ahead (GATGA), 35 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh and general political behaviour (GPB). PPP examines whether the pay increment and promotions of the employees are done on the basis of merit and the reward structure of the organisation or are influenced by political factors. For example, pay increment, or other fringe benefits that come with a job may be decided on the bases of favoritism or some other political reasons (Rosen, 2006). GATGA on the other hand involves those acts of politics where an individual remains quiet and takes no action in order to save valued relationships and outcomes (Atta & Kahn, 2015). It again intimates that non-hostile silent individuals are rewarded because they do not interfere with the acts of powerful others (Kacmar & Ferris, 1991); GPB involves general acts of politics. This includes but not limited to taking credit for others work, blaming someone else at work for the mistakes, and associating with a group who is powerful in the organisation (Kacmar & Carlson, 1997; Kacmar & Ferris, 1991; Rosen et al., 2009). These acts are the result of uncertainty where no actual rules are available and are often manifested when the actor wants to approach scarce resources. POPS has been found to have an effect on a lot of organisational outcomes; job performance (Ferris et al., 2002); turnover intentions (Chang et al., 2012); OCB and Work Engagement (Judge & Kammeyer-Mueller, 2012). This Stergiopoulou (2014) intimates is due to the fact POPS involves the exchange of resources at the organisational level. The perception of employees therefore is about how the resources that are distributed will inadvertently affect the type of workplace behaviours they are likely to exhibit. Thus individuals who perceived fairness and justice in the allocation of resources and interrelations between superiors and colleagues are more likely to exhibit positive work outcomes. 36 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2.5 Theoretical Framework In this study, the Leader-Member Exchange Theory and Social Exchange Theory was be employed to explain the relationship that exist between the constructs under study (i.e. transformational leadership, transactional leadership, work engagement and perceived organisational politics). It was important to integrate these theories as none of the above-mentioned theories could sufficiently explain the all the three variables in the study. Furthermore, the theories were carefully linked with the study variables to explain how the variables are linked with each other. 2.5.1 Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory As noted by Altunoğlua & Gürel (2015) and Dansereau, Graen and Haga, (1975), the Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory is a theory of leadership largely centered around the relationship that exist between leaders and their subordinates. It was first introduced in the work of Dansereau et al. (1975) as “Vertical Dyad Linkage” and was premised on the assumption that vertical dyadic relationships exist between leaders and subordinates. Scandura, Graen and Novak (1986) cited in Addo (2017, p 44) defined LMX as “a system of components and their relationships; involving both members of a dyad; involving interdependent patterns of behaviour and; sharing mutual outcome instrumentalities and producing conceptions of environments, cause maps, and value” (p. 580). The theory also postulates that relationships between leaders and followers are not always initiated by only leaders, but rather based on as process of dyadic interactions between leaders and their subordinates (Osman and Nahar, 2015); where mature relationships are formed and shaped based on three (3) factors, namely; mutual respect for others’ capabilities, mutual trust, and mutual obligation (Liden & Maslyn, 1998). 37 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Though the dyadic relationships proposed by Dansereau et al. (1975) differ in terms of their quality and are defined as either high quality or low quality relationships, two groups of followers are formed, that is, the “in-group” and the “out-group” (Dockery & Steiner, 1990). The formation of these two groups are primarily based on four factors identified in literature as the working relationships between leader and followers, the personalities of the leader and the followers, the assumed roles and responsibilities of followers, and the competencies and accomplishments of followers (Osman & Nahar, 2015). Linden and Maslyn (1998) also maintain that high quality dyads are characterized by regular exchange of valued resources and engagement in activities that transcend formal prescriptions, whereas low quality dyads rely more on the formal employment relationship. The in-group members have an established dyadic relationship with the leaders usually characterised by high quality exchange relationships, citizenship behaviours, eagerness and enthusiasm to complete tasks, and absolute loyalty to the leader. The leader, in turn, provides the in-group members the needed support, resources and responsibilities, higher autonomy and influence in decision-making, and better reward considerations. The out-group followers on the other hand do not have an established relationship with the leader. Their relationship with the leaders is characterised by high levels of formality, low quality exchange relationship where subordinates exhibit less citizenship behaviours and perform to meet minimum requirements of their jobs. In exchange, the leader provides them limited access to resources, minimal support and trust and less considerations for rewards (Graen & Scandura, 1987; Dockery & Steiner, 1990; Rüschoff, 2008). 38 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Extant literature has proven that the LMX theory is significantly associated with the Social Exchange Theory and the principle of reciprocity, where leaders and followers engage in an exchange relationship based on the dimensions of mutual respect, mutual trust and mutual obligation from both parties (Rüschoff, 2008; Stergiopoulou, 2014; Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995). In discussion the relationship between LMX theory and the Social Exchange theory, Uhl-Bien, Graen and Scandura (2000) explained that mutual respect and trust exists when both parties (leaders and subordinates) hold each other’s capabilities in highly and believes that the other party will not be manipulative. Again, Graen et al., (2000) argued that mutual obligation is also seen between both parties as they trade favours outside formal applications. To further elucidate this theory, Graen and Scandura (1987) noted three (3) stages in building the leader-follower relationship. The first stage involves role taking, where subordinates are offered avenues to display their competencies and abilities to be assessed by the leader. The next stage involves role making; where informal negotiations are held between leader and his subordinates after capabilities are assessed and promises of rewards for loyalty are understood. This stage is usually characterized by mutual trust, which in extension allows for the grouping of subordinates into the classifications of in-groups and out-groups. The final stage is referred to as routinization; where in-group subordinates are clearly distinguished from out-group subordinates through a constant social exchange relationship between leaders and their subordinates. The LMX theory has been used in studies that have examined organisational concepts such as employees work engagement (Atta & Khan, 2015; Ghandi et al., 2010; Tims 39 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh et al., 2011) and other leadership theories such as transformational and transactional leadership (Burns, 1978; Bass, 1985; Wang, Law, Hackett, Wang, & Chen, 2005). For instance, both Stergiopoulou (2014) and Altunoğlua and Gürel (2015) assert that LMX assesses the quality of relationship between followers and their leaders, thus explains the extent to which the leaders action and inactions affect how employees feel valued and translates into the type of vigour, dedication and absorption subordinates exhibit in the performance of their duties. Some researchers (Dartey-Baah & Ampofo 2016; Dartey-Baah & Addo, 2018; Wang et al., 2005) have argued that LMX is related to both transformational and transactional leadership styles. According to Graen & Uhl-Bien, (1995) high-quality LMX is characterised by high levels of trust and support, concern and encouragement from leaders, which is seen among transformational leaders while low-quality is characterised with formal exchanges and less trust, which is also akin to transactional leadership. Contrarily, other researchers (Anand, Hu, Liden, & Vidyarthi, 2011; Lord, Brown, & Freiberg, 1999) strongly maintain the LMX is distinct from the transformational leadership theory, arguing that LMX explains subordinates’ personal growth and personal identities while transformational leadership is more skewed towards subordinates’ collective identity. Some empirical study results however show evidence of direct relationships between LMX and transformational and transactional leadership styles (Rüschoff, 2008; Epitropaki & Martin, 2013; Dartey-Baah & Ampofo, 2016). 40 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2.5.2 The Social Exchange Theory and the Norm of Reciprocity Considered one of the oldest theories that explain human behaviour, The Social Exchange Theory (SET), has been widely used in the literature of social science research (Nunkoo, 2016). Homans’ (1958) work on social behaviour in the exchange process; Thibaut and Kelley’s (1959) work on how actors place value on the benefits in an exchange relationship; Emerson’s (1962) work on role of power between actors in an exchange relationship and Blau’s (1964) work emphasizing social interaction as an exchange process are all seen as notable studies that have contributed to the development and growth of the theory. Going by the assertion of Homans (1961 as cited in Nunkoo, 2016), SET is primarily based on the assumption that social interaction between actors is an exchange of activities, both tangible and intangible, particularly of rewards and costs. Apropos, Nunkoo (2016) asserts that in an exchange process, actors or parties depend on one another for valuable benefits and highlight exchanges as the foundation of all human behaviour (Homans, 1961). More importantly, the theory maintains that individuals’ decision to engage in an exchange process is purely based on the subjective cost benefit analysis of the social engagement and the comparison of alternatives and thus individuals decide only to engage in the exchange relationship once they are convinced that they can maximize benefits and minimize costs (Nunkoo, 2016). Social exchanges, however, according to Nunkoo (2016), are different from economic exchanges; in that, the benefits received in social exchanges are largely discretionary and can be intangible as opposed to tangible benefits received in an economic exchange (Aryee et al., 2002). Furthermore, Blau (1964) posits that economic exchanges involve benefits that are formal and often contractual, but benefits in social 41 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh exchanges are mostly not negotiated; are largely uncertain (Whitener, Brodt, Korsgaard, & Werner, 1998); and even though there exists some form of expectation from parties in a social exchange, the reciprocation of benefits is not assured (Nunkoo, 2016). The norm of reciprocity, as put forward by Gouldner (1960), postulates that when one party receives treatment of any kind from another party, that party is obligated to return that treatment to the other party. In other words, when a party receives good treatment from another, that party is supposed to give good treatment to the other party in return, and if a party should receive bad treatment, that party is obliged to return the treatment in like manner (Huang et al., 2016). In proverbial terms, the principle of reciprocity can be construed as “one good turn deserves another” and “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth” (Addo, 2017, p 40). Consequently, social exchange is said to involve unspecified obligations in which there are “favors that create diffuse future obligations, not precisely defined ones, and the nature of the return cannot be bargained about but must be left to the discretion of the one who makes it” (Blau, 1964, p.93 as cited in Wikhamn & Hall, 2012). The resources the parties exchange is ambiguous and can be impersonal such as financial, or socio-emotional such as care, respect and loyalty (Aselage & Eisenberger, 2003). The social exchange relationship is built on the tenets of the norm of reciprocity (Gouldner, 1960 as cited Wikhamn & Hall, 2012). According to Coyle-Shapiro and Shore (2007), this relationship starts when one party offers the other a benefit; from there if the recipient reciprocates, and consequently a series of beneficial exchanges occur, feelings of mutual obligation between both parties are forged. The notion of reciprocity encompasses a feeling of an obligation to repay a favorable treatment (Wikhamn & Hall, 2012). The exchange with regards to the social relationships tends 42 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh to be stronger when both parties involved are willing to provide resources that are of value to the other (Aselage & Eisenberger, 2003). In the organisational setting, the employees value beneficial treatment whereas employers tend to cherish loyalty and dedication to duty (Wikhamn & Hall, 2012; Coyle-Shapiro & Shore, 2007). In the context of organisational relationships, studies (Kim et al., 2004; Bodla et al., 2014; Atta & Khan, 2015; Bozeman et al, 2000; Atnic et al., 2010), in support of this theory, have shown that employees are highly likely to move beyond their requirements to demonstrate voluntary or extra-role behaviours when they feel supported and valued by their organisations and their leaders. According to Atta and Khan (2015), employees’ perceptions of support and investments from organisations and leaders will warrant some form of obligation from these employees to treat their organisations and leaders in a positive manner to the extent of engaging and performing tasks outside and beyond their jobs specifications in order to support their leaders and help their organisations succeed. In a similar vein, when employees perceive less inspiration and motivation from their leaders and organisations, these employees will in turn disengage from their work and appear distant from their leaders and organisations. Juxtaposing the theory to transformational and transactional leadership styles, Transformational leadership develops subordinates to a level where they can successfully accomplish organisational goals and tasks without the direct intervention of the leader (Dartey-Baah et al., 2011); inspires followers to transcend subordinates’ self-interests for the good of the organisation and is capable of having a profound and extra ordinary effect on the subordinates’ concern (Takala & Kemppainen, 2007). As a dimension of this leadership style, transformational leaders exhibit individualised 43 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh consideration (Bass, 1985), where individual needs of subordinates are given due attention to by leaders, while showing compassion, appreciation, and praising followers for achievements (Modassir & Singh, 2008). Transactional leadership style on the other hand, is geared towards monitoring and rewarding performance of employees (Reid et al., 2008); based more on “exchanges” between the leader and follower, in which followers are rewarded for meeting specific goals or performance criteria (Bass et al., 2003; Trottier et al., 2008). Contingent reward, a dimension of transactional leadership style explains the exchange of extrinsic rewards by leaders for attainment of desired performance and tasks from followers (Dartey-Baah, 2015). It is evident from both of these leadership styles, leaders tend to offer support and rewards (tangible and intangible) to subordinates. By inference, leaders who exhibit transformational or transactional leadership style, inadvertently initiate some form of exchange relationships with employee characterised by the offering of motivation, inspiration, compassion, attention to needs, tangible rewards (for instance money) and intangible rewards (for instance praise and recognition). Employees as a result of this are tacitly obligated to reciprocate such actions with behaviours that are favourable and impressive to their leaders, including high levels of engagement to their work. In the same vein, Organisational politics researchers have attempted to explain the relationships between POPS and employees work engagement according to the types of organisational resources that are exchanged between employees and their organisations and how employees perceive the resources. Shore et al. (2006) argues that exchanges at work incorporate organisational economic exchange resources (e.g., pay for the performance) and organisational social exchanges (e.g., socio-emotional 44 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh resources such as emotional attachment to the workplace). Employees may decide to disengage from their work by not investing their personal resources (knowledge, skills and abilities) when they perceive that the organisation does not recognize their hard work. It therefore stands to note that when employees perceive excessive and negative organisational politicking, they are likely to reciprocate with reduced levels of engagement to their work. On the other hand, when politicks in the organisation is perceived as positive and fair, employees are likely to be highly engaged to their work and work tirelessly towards the achievement of personal and collective organisational objectives. 2.6 Empirical Review 2.6.1 Leadership and Engagement It is estimated that only 30% of the global workforce is engaged (Harter et al., 2002; Saks, 2006; Wagner & Harter, 2006); unfortunately, employee engagement seems to be on a continued decline (Shuck & Wollard, 2008) cited in Batista-Taran et al. (2009). In Australia, figures show that disengaged employees have increased to reach more than 82% (Sorenson 2013 as cited in Ghandi et al., 2010). According to The Ken Blanchard Companies (2008), despite the low numbers of engaged employees, organisational leaders rate employee engagement among the top priorities of their organisations (Batista-Taran et al., 2009). An employee who receives support, inspiration and quality coaching from the supervisor, is likely to experience work as more challenging, involving and satisfying, and consequently, to become highly engaged with their work (Tims et al., 2011). It has been found that employees' 45 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh feelings of involvement, cohesiveness, commitment, potency, and performance are enhanced by the transformational leadership style (Shamir, House & Arthur, 1993 as cited in Tims et al., 2011). Employees’ levels of engagement increase when there is a positive relationship between employees and their direct supervisors (Bakker & Schaufeli, 2008; May, Gilson & Harter, 2004). Attridge (2009) asserted that leadership styles are crucial for encouraging employee engagement; while Sanchez and McCauley (2006) maintain that knowing the employee engagement levels could help leaders optimize the employee-employer relationship and facilitate employees moving to the next engagement level. Khoung and Yen (2014) conducted a study on the effect of leadership styles on employee engagement as well as the effect of employee sociability on employee engagement in Binh Duong City, Vietnam. Using a sample size of 269 office employees, they found that higher levels of ethical and visionary leadership (greatly associated with transformational style) had a positive relationship with higher levels of employee engagement. Also, they found that transactional leadership had a negative relationship with employee engagement. Zhang (2010) conducted a study on the relationship between perceived leadership style and employee engagement in Sidney, Australia. Using a sample size of 439 sales assistants, Zhang found that employee engagement is associated with an employees’ perception of the leadership style of their direct supervisor; negatively when classical or transactional leadership style is perceived and positively in the case of visionary or organic leadership. Datche and Mukulu (2015) conducted a study on the effect of transformational leadership style on employee engagement in the Kenyan civil service 46 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh and found that transformational leadership in general related positively with employee engagement. However, they found that intellectual stimulation and individualised consideration had a moderate relationship with engagement while inspirational motivation and idealised influence had weak and negative relationships with employee engagement respectively. Tims, Bakker and Xanthopoulou (2011) conducted a study to find out whether transformational leaders enhance their followers’ daily work engagement. They collected data from questionnaires filled by forty-two employees alongside a survey conducted in five consecutive working days and found out that transformational leadership related positively to employee engagement. Cartwright and Holmes (2006) found that leaders who focus on relationship building and trust development increase engagement levels. Breevaart, Bakker, Hetland, Demerouti, Olsen and Espevik (2014) conducted a study to examine the daily influence of transformational leadership, contingent reward and active management-by-exception (MBE active) on followers’ daily work engagement among 61 naval cadets and found that cadets were more engaged on days that their leader showed more transformational leadership and provided contingent reward while active management-by-exception was not related to followers’ work engagement. Based on this, the study hypothesised that; H1a: Transformational leadership style will predict employees’ work engagement positively and significantly. H1b: Transactional leadership style will predict employees’ work engagement negatively and significantly. 47 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2.6.2 POPS and Employee Work Engagement There is empirical evidence that suggest that POPS is related with these employee work engagement (Atta & Kahn, 2015; Bashir, Nasir, Saeed, and Ahmed, 2011; Vigoda-Godat, 2007; Ying-Ni, Chih-Long, and Hung, 2012). Indeed, a plethora of studies have found that when employees perceive the politics in their organisation to be unfavorable to them, they turn to have low levels of engagement with their work. POPS has often been seen to hinder the improvement process of organisations by increasing the likelihood of negative work attitudes and behaviours (Atta and Kahn, 2015). For instance Vigoda-Godat (2007), and Ahmad (2010) in different studies in Paskistan found a strong relationship between POPS and work engagement in a sense that an increase in POPS led to a decrease in work engagement. Bashir, et al., (2011) also conducted a study using a Pakistani sample and found that that high levels of POPS are associated with the perception of psychological contract being broken which invariably leads to the perception of organisation as lacking integrity, truthfulness and equality, hence causing employees to lower their engagement levels. This is a result of the fact that the negative perception of politics reduces the strength of the emotional bond with which the employees are tied to the organisation and their work. Adams et al. (2002) in another study also found that in response to negative POPS, employee withdrew from the organisation with increased absenteeism, whereas positive POPS increased the likelihood that employees will become more involved in the organisation. Again, Atta and Kahn (2015) found that POPS results in a negative relationship with job involvement suggesting that when employees perceive high politics in the organisation, they tend to be less involved in their jobs. The finding of Ying-Ni et al., (2012) also confirmed that POP is negatively associated with work engagement, therefore, thus corroborating the findings of the 48 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh other studies that POPS results in a decreased level of work engagement. However, a study by Delle (2013) revealed that when employees perceive organisational politics as unfair, they become more involved in the job and hence escape themselves in the lap of politics itself. It is as a result of this that this study hypothesised that; H2: Perceived organisational politics will significantly predict employees’ work engagement. 2.6.3 POPS as a potential moderator between leadership styles and employee work engagement There is so far study that has looked at the moderating influence of POPS on the relationship between leadership styles (transformational and transactional). However, studies have independently access the relationship between the constructs under study. Harris & Kacmar, (2005) and Rosen, Levy, and Hall, (2006) in their respective studies found that job autonomy, feedback, increased opportunities and good interaction with others, which are specific job situations attributed to leadership styles have an impact on employees perception of politics in the organisation. It therefore emphasises the point that, for instance, limited opportunities from managers at work may cause employees to construe the situation as the product of organisational politics and is expected to increase the perception of politics. Again, the lack of sufficient and balanced feedback from direct supervisors may encourage employees may cause them to develop other channels (eg. by-passing, absenteeism) to get their concerns heard. 49 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Fuller, Maeler and Hester (2006) argued that the leader’s behaviour affects employee job perceptions of organisational politics, which then affect employee attitudes towards their work. Therefore, employees who perceived organisational politics may engage in workplace incivility against perpetrators or beneficiaries of such political behaviours as a pay-back (Ferguson & Beaver, 2009). Hu (2013) examined the moderating effect of job security on the relationship between organisational politics and work engagement and established a significant negative relationship between perceived organisational politics and the three dimensions of work engagement. Fashola, Akanni and Ajila (2016) also found a joint significant relationship between leadership styles, POPS and employee work engagement. This follows from Burke (2003) assertion that the basic determinants of organisational commitment among employees are leadership behaviour and perceived politics. POPS can therefore be seen an antecedent of leadership styles and employee engagement an outcome of leaderships styles and POPS and thus POPS may be a potential moderator of the relationship between leadership style and employee work engagement. It is however unclear whether the moderating relationship will buffer, enhance or change this relationship. As result of this, this study hypothesised that; H3: Perceived organisational politics will moderate the relationship between transformational leadership style and employees’ wok engagement. H4: Perceived organisational politics will moderate the relationship between transactional leadership style and employees’ work engagement. 50 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2.6.4 POPS among Public and Private-owned Organisations Fashola et al., (2016) conducted a study on predictive roles of leadership styles and perceived organisational politics on organisational commitment among from two occupational groups of workers in Osun State, Nigeria. They found that there was no significant difference in respect to POPS of both groups of workers. It was however reported that workers of publicly owned organisations had slightly higher POPS scores than scores than those who worked with privately owned firms. Another study conducted by Vigoda-Gadot and Kapun (2005) examining the perception of politics and perceived performance among public and private organisations revealed that there is higher levels of POPS among public sector organisations than private sector organisations hugely because public sector organisations run huge bureaucracies and are susceptible to more external influence in decision-making as compared to private firms. It is based on this that this study hypothesised that; H5: Employees of publicly-owned indigenous banks will demonstrate a greater level of perceived organisational politics than employees of banks privately-owned. 2.7 Conceptual Framework Figure 2.1 below provides the conceptual framework that depicts the relationships that exist among the constructs in the study. The framework is informed by the both theoretical and empirical literature reviewed as well as the hypothesised relationship between the various constructs under study. From the diagram, it is seen that transformational leadership and transactional leadership are directly related to, and influence employees’ work engagement. Also, it can be seen that perceived organisational politics (POPS) has a relationship with the employees’ work 51 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh engagement. Furthermore, POPS is expected to plays a moderating role in the relationship between the two leadership styles and employees’ work engagement. This is indicative of the fact that POPS is expected to play one of three (buffering, enhancing or antagonistic) roles in the relationship between transformational and transactional leadership styles and employees’ work engagement. Figure 2.1 Proposed Relationships among Transformational leadership, Transactional leadership, Employees’ work engagement and POPS TFL H3 ENG TSL H4 POPS Source: Author’s construct (2018) 52 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 3.0 Introduction This chapter presents the methodology employed in this study. It is made up of the research paradigm of the study, the design and approach employed, the population and sample size used and the sampling technique(s) employed. It also contains information on the data gathering instruments and procedure for data analysis, as well as the ethical issues that bother on the data gathering process. The chapter additionally presents a brief overview of the organisation under study. 3.1 Research Philosophy and Paradigm According to Johnson and Durbeley (2000), a research paradigm encompasses the basic belief surrounding a researcher’s world; and the way a research should be conducted, thus providing a unique means of understanding the way a phenomenon would be examined. This according to Silverman, (2013) is also known as the research philosophy. Myers and Avison (2002) assert that a research paradigm is the philosophical suppositions comprising the set of beliefs, values and techniques that validate a research and specifies the appropriate methods to be applied in any research. Similarly, Collins and Hussey (2003) postulate that a research paradigm defines the range of possible relationships in a researcher’s world, which consequently affects the entire process of their research. Hence, a paradigm is viewed by scholars as a viewpoint; a set of assumptions that can be applied to data to help the researcher identify relationships between context and process (Corbin & Strauss, 2008 cited in Amponsah, 2015). Consequently, a research paradigm or philosophy can therefore be conceptualised as a set of beliefs and values of the world that are held by 53 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh a researcher, which influences the way a phenomenon or problem is investigated. The basic belief that underlies a researcher’s philosophy or paradigm can be better understood by first and foremost, understanding the ontology, epistemology and methodology undergirding the various research positions. Duberley, Johnson and Cassell (2012) describe the ontology of a paradigm as “the essence of the phenomenon and the nature of its existence” (p.17). This follows from the point that the ontological approach concerns the basic assumption a researcher has about the nature of reality (Easterby-Smith, Thrope & Jackson, 2012). Thus, it primarily involves discovering whether the phenomenon under study really exists independently of the researchers knowledge and perception (Symon & Cassell, 2012). Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2009) iterate that epistemology of research concerns knowledge and what is regarded and acceptable as knowledge in any field of study whilst methodology is concerned with the approaches used in conducting a research within a particular paradigm (Saunders et al., 2009). In summary, whiles ontology concerns the reality of that knowledge, epistemology focuses on what can be considered as knowledge; and methodology details on how the knowledge is acquired. The literature in the social sciences present two primary ontological positions applied in social science research; namely objectivism and constructionism (Saunders et al., 2009; Bryman & Bell, 2011; Symon & Cassell, 2012). According to Saunder et al., (2009), Objectivism is premised on the assumption that “social entities exist independently from social actors” (p.110). Therefore suggesting that a social phenomenon’s existence and influences go beyond the influence of social actors. 54 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Constructionism on the other hand is premised on the assumption that social phenomena do not only occur as a result of social interaction, but are constantly being revised (Bryman & Bell, 2011). In another vein, the common epistemological philosophies found in social science literature include positivism, interpretivism, critical realism and pragmatism, among others (Cobin & Strauss, 2008; Kim, 2003; Saunders et al., 2009; Myers & Avison, 2002). These paradigms are briefly discussed, and the chosen paradigm is indicated and justified. According to Bryman (2011) and Saunders et al., (2009), positivism as a research paradigm sees research to be subject to measurement, observation and verification, and therefore researchers of the positivism paradigm maintain a stance that is independent and objectives of the research. Subsequently this paradigm postulates that, research must be as free as possible from the influence and biases of the researcher. The epistemology under this paradigm suggests that knowledge can be measured objectively and independently; thus the focus should rather be placed on ensuring the reliability and validity of the measurement tools. The ontology of this paradigm maintains that there is a single reality. With regard to the methodological assumption of this paradigm, positivism adopts mainly experimental or survey approach; and is usually quantitative in nature by employing the use of hypotheses, measurement scales, and statistical analysis (Crowther & Lancaster, 2008; Collis & Hussey, 2003). Critical realism paradigm on the other hand, though similar to the positivism paradigm focuses more on external reality defined and interpreted differently through 55 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh sensory experience (Bryman, 2008; Bryman & Bell, 2011; Saunders et al., 2009). Saunders et al., (2009) for instance, explains that for critical realist, reality is to be defined by their senses, meaning that the objective reality can be interpreted in different ways. Thus, this paradigm argues that human sensory experiences define reality, and as a result, a true reflection of the real world may not be perceived. The epistemological position of this paradigm is that, there is the need for triangulation of knowledge (Collins & Hussey, 2011); whiles the ontological position of this paradigm dictates that reality is independent of beliefs and knowledge, however several other realities are socially constructed are grounded on the experience of social actors and social conditioning. The methodology for this paradigm is ideological review and critical discourse through interviews, focus groups, observations and questionnaires (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2012). Thirdly, the interpretivism paradigm maintains that the researchers have an overwhelming influence on their research, and scientific laws do not adequately explain the nature of the social world due to the complex nature of the world, (Bryman & Bell, 2011). Therefore indicating that, it is practically impossible for research to be independent and free of the influence of the researcher, the time or the context. The epistemology of this paradigm maintains that knowledge is subject to interpretations if a better understanding of social phenomena is to be arrived at; the ontology of this paradigm indicates that there is no single reality, but multiple ones, subject to interpretations and experiences of social actors. Like the critical realists, the methodological position of this paradigm is mainly qualitative through observations, interviews, use of questionnaires, among others (Saunders et al., 2012). 56 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Finally, the pragmatism paradigm argues that the world can be interpreted in diverse ways through varying means of research; hence a single point of view cannot provide an adequate picture of a social phenomenon (Van de Ven & Poole, 2005). This paradigm adopts multiple epistemological positions where both objective and subjective research can provide knowledge before the best method(s) is which solves problems is adopted. The ontological position is that multiple realities exist and are constantly undergoing interpretation to ascertain their relevance in solving social problems. The methodological position of this paradigm relies mainly on the use of mixed-methods and action research; a combination of both qualitative and quantitative methods in order to obtain knowledge from diverse viewpoints and sources (Saunders et al., 2009). This study sits adopts the positivism paradigm mainly because the researcher is of the view that the causes of a social phenomenon understudy is likely to determine the outcomes and/or effects. Again, this study is not aimed at understanding perspectives or nuances surrounding the phenomenon under study but rather to explain the relationship between the dependent variable (work engagement) and independent variables (leaderships styles and perceived organisational politics) hence the need for objective sources of knowledge. Moreover, the positivist paradigm was adopted because of the quantitative method approach employed by the current study in collecting and analysing data. By assigning numeric qualities to the various constructs, it would be easier to understand the relationship(s) existing between the variables objectively without the influence or biases of the researcher. Additionally, (Creswell, 2003) iterate that the use of the quantitative methods ensures the simplification of idea into a small, distinct set of ideas that examines research 57 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh questions and testable hypothesis, whiles significantly reducing researcher influence on the results and outcomes. Therefore, the researcher considered the pragmatism paradigm appropriate for the present study. 3.2 Research Design and Strategy A research design specifies the methods and procedures for acquiring the information needed to structure and solve the research problem and stipulates what information is to be collected, from what sources, and by what procedures (Reddy & Acharyulu, 2008). A good research design ensures that the information obtained is relevant to the research problem, and that it is collected by objective and economical procedures (Smith & Gerald, 2010). There is no single best research design. Instead, different designs offer an array of choices, each with certain advantages and disadvantages. This study adopted an explanatory, cross-sectional research design. According to Saunders and Lewis (2012) cited in Addo (2017, p 21) the purposes of all researches can be categorised into three; “exploratory research (which seeks new insights and clarify the understanding of a problem), descriptive research (which describes phenomena that exist and to obtain information on attributes of a problem), or explanatory research (which aims to understand the phenomena by establishing causal relationships between the variables)”. This study is explanatory because it sought to understand the relationships that exist between leadership styles, perceived organisational politics and work engagement among employees of indigenous Ghanaian banks. Again, According to Babbie (2008), a cross-sectional survey research provides a quantitative or a numeric description of trends, attitudes, or 58 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh opinions of a population by studying a sample of that population. Again, a cross- sectional survey allows the researcher to study small or large populations at one point in time by selecting a sample from the desired population so as to discover relative incidence, distribution and interrelations (Neuman, 2011). The researcher deemed this design to be the most suitable because the study sought to learn about a large population by surveying a sample from the study population at one point in time due to the fact that it is highly impractical to study the entire population of interest and also because of time and resource constraints. Furthermore, this study adopted the quantitative approach for the purpose of fulfilling the objectives of the study and ensuring the replicability and reliability of the study. According to Aliaga and Gunderson (2000) a research design can be considered to be quantitative if numerically assigned data are collected and analysed to draw inferences in an attempt to explain a certain phenomenon. The use of the quantitative design also makes it possible to use suitable statistical tools to test hypothesis, which informed the researcher whether to reject or accept a hypothesis. Dudwick et al., (2006) also posit that findings from the use of quantitative research designs are more accurate in predictions, hence can be used to make meaningful generalisations for the target population. Smith (2007) also suggests that the ability to project findings for a sample for an entire population helps strengthen the external validity of the study. 3.3 Population Cooper and Schindler (2003) define population of a study as the total collection of elements or participants, which is of interest to the researcher and wishes to make 59 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh inferences about. With respect to this study, the population of interest comprised employees of four indigenous Ghanaian banks namely; GCB Bank, Fidelity Bank PLC, Prudential Bank Ltd and Unibank Ghana. This population was chosen because of the spotlight that Ghanaian banks have come under in recent time, particularly relating to issues of leadership and politics and how the current phenomenon could affect the level of engagement of employees working in the sector. Again, the specific banks mentioned are thought to be ideal for the study because their respective headquaters house a relatively larger workforce and there is an advantage of easy accessibility to the respondents due to their proximity to the researcher. The total number of this population was estimated to be about eight hundred and ninety-two (892) employees comprising of GCB Bank (285); Fidelity Bank (170); Prudential Bank (274) and Unibank (163). 3.4 Sample and Sampling Technique Brewerton and Millward (2002) asserted that in research it is impractical to this population of interest. The sample size for this study was 571 employees from the four banks selected; based on the sample size proportion formula by Miller and Brewer (2003) given as; 𝑁 𝑛 = ; Where n=sample size, N= Target population, and α=error term. 1+𝑁(𝛼2) As a result of this, the proportionate sample for each of the Banks was determined using the formula and later summed up to get the total sample needed for the study. thus, GCB= n= 285 2 = 166; hence 166 employees were sampled form GCB 1+285(0.05 ) Bank; 60 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Fidelity Bank= n= 170 = 127; hence 127 employees were sampled form 1+170(0.052) Fidelity Bank; Prudential Bank= n= 274 = 162; hence 162 employees were sampled form 1+274(0.052) Prudential Bank; Unibank= n= 163 2 = 116 hence 116 employees were sampled form UniBank. 1+163(0.05 ) Therefore total sampled population= GCB (166)+ Fidelity (127)+ Prudential (162)+ Unibank (163)= 571 These employees were conveniently sampled. Creswell (2009) defined convenience sampling as a technique where subjects are selected due to their accessibility and proximity to the researcher. The above-mentioned sampling technique also called accidental or haphazardsampling; a non-probability sampling technique which involves sampling participants who are readily available and agree to participate in a study (Boateng, 2014; Latham, 2007). Creswell (2009) also opined that the sampling in question is very easy to be carried out as there are only few rules governing how the sample should be selected. The choice for this sampling technique was because the headquarters of these banks are usually busy places with employees that run of very strict schedules, thus researcher decided to use readily available employees who were willing to partake in the study. 3.5 Source of Data The study made use of just primary data for its analysis despite the fact that secondary data was used to provide support and theoretical underpinning for the study. Primary data is the data that is gathered from the questionnaires that were distributed to the 61 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh respondents to gather their views on the variables of interest. In this case, primary data was gathered from 400 employees of GCB Bank, Fidelity Bank, Prudential Bank and Unibank Ghana. 3.6 Data Collection Instruments A structured questionnaire was the primary research instrument utilized in gathering the information (data) for the purpose of this study. The questionnaire was structured into four (main) sections; sections A, B, C and D. Section A is made of questions that sought the demographic details of participants. This information helped the research to have vivid picture of the dynamics in the population under study. Examples of the demographic characteristics examined include the age of respondents, gender, level of education, marital status, name and type of organisation and work experience. Section B consisted of questions concerning leadership styles of supervisors measured using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) Short Form-5X. The MLQ (5X) is a 31item scale developed by Avolio, Bass and Jung (1999) based on the original scale by Bass and Avolio (1990). The first nineteen (19) items measure transformational leadership behaviours with a cronbach’s alpha coefficient (α=.92). The transformational leadership includes five subscales, namely Idealised Influence (attributed and behavioural), Inspirational Motivation, Intellectual Stimulation and Individualised Consideration. A sample of the items is: “[My manager] goes beyond self-interest for the good of the group”. Each behaviour was rated on a 5-point scale ranging from “Not at all” (1) to “Frequently, if not always” (5). The last twelve (12) items measure transactional leadership behaviours also with a cronbach’s alpha coefficient (α=.70). The transactional leadership scale encompasses three subscales, 62 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh namely; Contingent reward and Management by exception (Active and Passive). A sample of the items is: “Discusses in specific terms who is responsible for achieving performance targets”. Each behaviour was rated on a 5-point scale ranging from “Not at all” (1) to “Frequently, if not always” (5). Section C of the questionnaire comprised of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale developed by Schaufeli and Baker (2004) which was used to measure employee work engagement. The scale contains three subscales that assess dedication, absorption and vigour that employees bring to their work. It features questions like “At my work, I feel bursting with energy” and “I am immersed in my work”. It is a 9-item scale with a Cronbach’s alpha ranging from .89 to .97. Responses are obtained on a 5-point Likert scale where (1) = strongly disagree and (5) = strongly agree. The total score on the scale ranges from 7 to 35 with higher scores indicating higher level of work engagement. The last section, Section D, measured perceived organisational politics by using perception of organisational politics scale (POPS) developed by Kacmar & Carlson (1997). The instrument is made up of 15-items, with responses to each scale on a five point likert format ranging from “strongly disagree” (1) to strongly agree, (5). The scale was validated with consistent factor analysis (CFA) and it reported structural and factorial validation of comparative fit index (CFI = .90), goodness of fit index (GFI = .88) and root mean square errors of approximation (RMSEA = <.05). Kacmar & Carlson reported internal consistency reliability of Cronbach alpha of 0.88. Ladebo (2005) reported a cronbach’s Alpha of .79 and Ogungbamila (2013) also reported a cronbach’s Alpha of .81. The instrument comprised of questions like “when it comes 63 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh to pay raises and promotion decisions, policies are irrelevant in my organisation”; “Sometimes it is easier to remain quiet than to fight the system” and “Rewards such as pay raises do not go to those who work hard”. 3.7 Validity and Reliability According to Babbie (2008), the validity of an instrument refers to the extent to which a scale or measurement sufficiently measures or captures what it is intended for. Though there are various ways of measuring the validity of an instrument, this study assessed the validity of the quantitative data instruments by ensuring the instruments valid in terms of the face validity, content validity and the construct validity. In terms of ensuring face validity, the study employed expert opinion, by way of discussions with the supervisor of the study in order to ensure that the questions on the questionnaire were easy to read, understandable, and appropriate in measuring the various constructs. In ensuring construct validity, confirmatory factor analysis was done in order to assess the items on the instruments that loaded well unto their respective constructs. Construct validity was thus assessed based on the convergent validity. Additionally, both Hensler (2012) and Hair, Sarstedt, Hopkins and Kuppelwieser (2014) posit that convergent validity is supported when items on the instrument loads above 0.70, and when model fit indices such as Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index (AGFI) and Goodness of Fit (GFI) are above ideal thresholds and the chi- square (χ2) is insignificant (Gefen, Straub & Boudreau, 2000 cited in Addo, 2017). Reliability on the other hand refers to the extent to which instrument measurements are consistent when applied in a different context. This can be measured either through Cronbach’s alpha values or through the composite reliability. Hair et al. 64 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh (2014) maintains that composite reliability is a better measure of internal consistency than Cronbach’s alpha because the latter does not assume that all individual item loadings are equal throughout the population; and secondly because it is not as dependent on the number of items as the former. However, it is generally acceptable to assess the reliability of the instruments by using the internal consistency value of a scale, conventionally measured using the Cronbach’s alpha value of the scale (Pallant, 2001) which is a measure of how items on a scale are interrelated. Traditionally, a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.70 or above is deemed acceptable a confirmatory research (Sekeran, 2003). Consequently, both the Cronbach’s alpha values, assessed during the pre-testing, as well as the composite reliability, assessed by the confirmatory factor analysis, were used in assessing internal consistency. Hair, Anderson, Tatham and Black (1998) indicate that the acceptable composite reliability coefficient must be 0.70 or above. 3.7.1 Pilot Study As recommended by Kothari (2004), the measuring instruments was pre-tested on a small sample of (15) parallel respondents of GN Bank to measure the reliability (internal consistencies) of the scales and also to identify the tailbacks that may cause pertinent challenges during the data collection as well as to ensure that all mistakes and errors in the questionnaires are corrected before the main survey. The participants in the pilot study were thus excluded from the main survey. The reliability analyses of the measuring scales, checked using Cronbach’s alpha values, showed that all the variables had Cronbach’s alpha values of above .70, which according to Sekeran (2003) are acceptable. The pilot study also revealed little errors in the questionnaires 65 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh which were duly dealt with before the main survey. Table 3.1 presents the Cronbach’s alpha values for each variable obtained in the pilot study. Table 3.1 Reliability of Study Variables using Cronbach’s Alpha Variables Original Values Current Values Items Valid Cases TR .92 .91 19 15 TS .70 .72 12 15 ENG .97 .92 9 15 POPS .88 .90 15 15 Note: TR- transformational leadership, TS- transactional leadership, ENG- employee work engagement, POPS- perceived organisational politics Source: Field Data (2018) 3.8 Data Collection Procedure The researcher took an introductory letter from the Department of Organisation and Human Resource Management of the University of Ghana and sent it to the management of the three respective banks (GCB Bank, Fidelity Bank, Prudential Bank and Unibank Ghana) to seek institutional approval for the study. Upon gaining the approval to use the employees of these banks for the study, the researcher proceeded with the data gathering process itself. Prior to that the researcher briefed the management and the prospective respondents about the study and what it entails. The researcher afterward sought the informed consent of the respondents. The participants were conveniently selected and given a self-report questionnaire to complete. The researcher assured respondents of their confidential and asked them not to state their name on the questionnaire. The questionnaires were left with the respondents for two weeks after which the researcher went back to collect the completed questionnaires. Based on the sample size for the study, 571 questionnaires 66 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh were administered, out of which 485 were retrieved indicating a response rate of 84.9 %. However, after initial checks, only 430 were deemed appropriate for the analysis. Upon the collection of the answered questionnaires, the researcher expressed gratitude to the respondents who answered the questionnaire. 3.9 Data Analysis The data gathered using questionnaires were coded and analysed with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 and AMOS version 22.0. Demographic data obtained was analysed using simple frequencies. Furthermore, the hypotheses were tested using Covariance-Based Structural Equation Modelling (CB- SEM). Babin, Hair and Boles (2008) indicate that SEM has become popular as a result of its ability to measure latent variables and test relationships between several latent variables simultaneously. As a second generational statistical tool, SEM deals with two main models; the structural model which entails the proposed relationships between the independent (exogenous) and the dependent (endogenous) latent variables also known as constructs; and secondly, the measurement model which comprises the loadings of the items on their respective constructs (Gefen, et al., 2000). Thus, combining these two models allows errors of the observed variables as well as factors analysis to be included simultaneously in testing the entire model for proposed hypothesised relationships between constructs (Gefen et al., 2000). It is this ability that makes SEM a better tool for analysis (Bollen, 1989) than tools such as regression which only tests a layer of relationships between dependent and independent variables separately (Gefen et al., 2000). Hence the choice of SEM to analyse the quantitative data in this study. 67 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The CB-SEM is the older and more popular type of SEM whose overall objective is to test how well a proposed model fits a multivariate data; thus, the model must be developed from and well-grounded in theory (Gefen et al., 2000; Hair et al., 2014). The CB-SEM first deals with the validation of the models. Thus, the models are estimated to check the fitness of the model based on indices such as Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index (AGFI), the ratio of the chi-square (χ2) to the degrees of freedom (df), the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) and the Comparative Fit Index (CFI), all measured against preferred thresholds (Hair et al., 1998). The estimation of the structural model also allows the testing of the directions and significance of proposed relationships between the latent constructs using the coefficients and the t-values of each individual path (Gefen et al., 2000). The CB-SEM was used in testing for both the directional and the moderation hypotheses. Thus, it was used to test for the significance and directions of relationships between transformational leadership, transactional leadership, perceived organisational politics and work engagement. However, in testing the moderation effect of perceived organisational politics on the relationships between the two leadership styles and employees’ work engagement, the study employed Baron and Kenny’s (1986) four-step approach in testing for moderation. In this approach, testing for moderation effects requires four steps. First, there is a need to center or standardise both the predictor & the moderator. Where centering is a linear transformation method which eliminates problems associated with multi-collinearity. It is achieved by subtracting the mean value for a variable from each score for that variable (Aiken & West, 1991; Lingard & Francis, 2006). After, the interaction term (i.e. predictor X moderator) is calculated using the standardized values. Thirdly, the 68 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh outcome variable is regressed the on the predictor and the moderator. That is, in the hierarchical regression analysis, the predictor should be entered in the first block, the moderator(s) in the second block and the interaction terms in the third block. Finally, if the interaction effect is significant (i.e. if β of predictor X moderator is significant), then there is a moderation effect. However, if the interaction term is not significant, there is apparently no moderation. The four-step approach by Baron and Kenny (1986) has come under criticisms over the years with regard to the fact that the approach does not test the significance of the indirect effects; and also because the approach may overlook some moderation effects (Kenny, 2009). Critics of this approach maintain that these shortcomings can be mitigated by calculating the moderation effect and testing it for significance after using the approach by Baron and Kenny. Notably, SEM has been deemed to have the ability of testing complicated relationships such as moderation in a single test, and further goes on to test the significance of indirect effects using methods such as bootstrapping. Additionally, SEM is able to remove measurement errors which can be problematic in moderation as well as fitting the hypothesised moderational relationships to the data (Baron & Kenny, 1986). Thus, SEM is preferred to regression in testing for moderational effects, hence the choice of SEM to test the moderation effect of perceived organisational politics on the relationships between leadership styles and employees’ work engagement in this study. 3.10 Ethical Considerations Like any properly conducted research, this study did not ignore the ethical standards of research. The essence and purpose of the study was explained to the respondents to 69 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh make them understand that their role in the data collection activity is to enable the researcher find answers to the research questions. The confidentiality of the information collected from respondents was maintained by ensuring that their names and other information that could bring out their identities were not disclosed in the data collected. Permission and consent were also sought from the interviewees before recording their responses. Furthermore, all other research ethics such as respondents’ voluntary participation were upheld and taken into due consideration in this study. 70 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER FOUR DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS PRESENTATION 4.0 Introduction This chapter presents the analysis of the data gathered from the study respondents. The results presentation begins with the demographic details of the respondents. The chapter then continues with the preliminary analysis of the data obtained and the testing of stated hypotheses. The covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB- SEM) was employed and was done with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 and the IBM AMOS version 22. 4.1 Demographic Details of Respondents In all, 571 questionnaires were distributed to the staff at the headquarters of selected banks (GCB Bank, Fidelity Bank, Unibank and Prudential Bank). Out of this number, 485 questionnaires were returned, yielding a response rate of 84.9%. After the preliminary analysis, 430 questionnaires were used for the analysis. The demographic details of the respondents consisting of the gender distribution, age distribution, education qualifications, marital status, employment type and the respondents’ years of service were first analysed and the results are presented in Table 4.1 and interpreted subsequently. 71 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 4.1 Demographic Details of Respondents Profile Variable Frequency (n) Percentage(%) Male 247 57.4 Gen der Female 183 42.6 Total 430 100.0 Under 21 4 0.9 21-30 215 50.0 Age (y ears) 31-40 177 41.2 41-50 26 6.0 51-60 7 1.6 60+ 1 0.3 Total 430 100.0 First degree 286 66.5 Master 79 18.4 Educ ation Doctorate 7 1.6 Professional Cert. 22 5.1 Others 36 8.4 Total 430 100.0 Single 258 60 Married 162 37.7 Divorced 5 1.2 Marital Status Widowed 2 0.5 Separated 3 0.7 Total 430 100 GCB 92 21.4 Fidelity 108 25.1 Organisation Prudential 133 30.9 distribution Unibank 97 22.6 Total 430 100.0 Permanent Staff 265 61.6 Temporary Staff 56 13.0 Employment type Contract Staff 109 25.3 Total 430 100.0 Less than 1yr 86 20.0 1-3 164 38.1 4-7 125 29.1 Years of Service 8-10 37 8.6 14+ 18 4.2 Total 430 100.0 Source: Field Data (2018) 72 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.1.1 Gender Distribution of Respondents From Table 4.1, it can be seen that though majority of the respondents were male (247, representing 57. 4%) and females (182, representing 42.6%), the ratio of male to female respondents in the sampled banks are not so wide apart. This distribution is not too surprising considering the context of this study and the profession of the respondents. In Ghana, the banking industry like many of the industries under the service sector attracts a lot of females due to the nature of the jobs. Thus the close nature of the variation in the gender distribution of respondents is reflective of the general gender distribution in indigenous Ghanaian banks, particularly among the banks under study. 4.1.2 Age Distribution of Respondents From Table 4.1, it is seen majority of the respondents fell within the age range of 21- 30 (215, representing 50%) followed by those between 31 and 40 years (117, representing 41.2%) and those between 41 and 50 years (26, representing 6%). 7 respondents, representing 1.6% were between 51 and 60 years old whiles 4 respondents (0.9%) reported to be under 21 years. The least number of respondents however fell within the range of 60 years and above (1, representing 0.2%). This distribution is indicative of a sample that is largely youthful and in the middle stages of their careers. This appear to suggest that the indigenous Ghanaian banking industry is dominated by a very youthful and exuberant population working. 4.1.3 Educational Qualification of Respondents Table 4.1 shows that majority of the respondents had obtained first degrees (286, representing 66.5%) followed by those that had acquired a master’s degree (79, 73 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh representing 18.4%). Also, 38 respondents representing 8.4%) reported to have “Other” degrees whiles 22 respondents (5.1%) were recorded to have Professional certificates. Only 7 respondents representing 1.6% had a Doctorate. This distribution demonstrates that all the respondents were literate enough to read, understand and respond appropriately to the issues in this study. Also it paints the picture of happenings within the Ghanaian banking sector with regard to minimum qualifications needed for entry-level positions in Ghanaian banks. 4.1.4 Marital Status of Respondents Table 4.1 again shows the results of the marital status distribution of the respondents. The results from the table shows that majority of respondents (258, representing 60%) are single whiles 162 respondents representing 37.7% of the sample are married. 5 respondents (1.2%) are divorced whiles 3 respondents (0.7%) are separated from their spouses. Finally, the results indicated that 2 respondents (0.5%) are widowed. 4.1.5 Organisation distribution of Respondents Table 4.1 above further provides the distribution of respondents in terms of the organisation they were sampled from. The table shows that most of the respondents sampled (133, representing 30.9%) worked with Prudential Bank. Fidelity Bank followed this with a frequency of 108 and percentage of 25.1%. Unibank also recorded 92 respondents representing 22.6% of the sampled population whiles GCB Bank followed with 92 respondents representing 21.2% of the sampled population. It must however be stated that even though GCB Bank recorded the lowest number of respondents, it had the greatest amount of respondents selected for the study through 74 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the proportionate sampling technique adopted for identifying the sample size needed from the respective banks understudy. However, majority of the questionnaires excluded from the analysis due to errors identified were received from GCB Bank thus leading to the low frequency recorded during the analysis. 4.1.6 Type of Employment of Respondents Table 4.1 shows that majority of the respondents work with their respective banks as Permanent staff (265, representing 61.6%) followed by those under employment as Contract Staff (109, representing 25.3%). This distribution demonstrates that all the indigenous Ghanaian banks employees are made up of a mix of permanent, temporary and contracted employees necessary for the achievement of their objectives. 4.1.7 Years of Service of Respondents From Table 4.1, it can be seen that majority of the respondents had worked with their respective banks for periods ranging between 1 to 3 years (164, representing 38.1%) followed by those who had worked with the organisation between 4 and 7 years (125, representing 29.1%) whiles those who had worked for less than one year reported a frequency of 86, representing 20% of the sampled population. Respondents who have worked in their respective organisations for 8 to 10 years recorded a frequency of 37 representing 8.6% whiles the least number of respondents, 18, representing 4.2% had obtained experience with their organisation for over 14 years. This is reflective of the age distribution seen earlier where majority of the respondents were youthful and in their mid-career stage. It is thus not surprising that more than half of the respondents had not worked with their respective banks for more than 14 years. 75 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.2 Preliminary Analysis Before the various hypotheses formulated for the study were tested with the help of the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), preliminary analysis was done to ensure that the data collected conforms to all the fundamental assumptions necessary for such an analysis. Consequently, missing data, outliers and normality of the data were checked and dealt with since SEM requires data to be normally distributed with no missing data. Missing Data According to Graham (2009), missing data is usually common in all studies and can influence the conclusions drawn from the data. Kang (2013) define missing data as “the data value that is not stored for a variable in the observation of interest” (p. 402). The notable categories of missing data that must be been identified and dealt with are those missing completely at random (MCAR), those missing at random (MAR) and those missing not at random (MNAR). According to Little and Rubin (1987) and Kang (2013), missing data is referred to as MCAR when the missing data is not related to the specific value understudy or the set of observed responses. MAR on the other hand occurs when most of the missing data is not entirely at random and the missing values are unrelated to the variable understudy, but are however related to other variables in the data. MNAR is explained as those missing values that are related to the variables under which they are missing. Due to the problems that MNAR data are likely to pose to the study, Hair, Black, Babin, Anderson and Tatham (2006) maintain that it is essential to deal with them. 76 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Combrinck, Scherman, Maree and Howie (2018) and Kang (2013) maintains that there are several techniques in controlling missing values which include listwise/case deletion, pairwise deletion, mean substitution, expectation-maximization (EM) and others. Schreiber, Nora, Stage, Barlow, & King (2006) suggest that missing values can be deleted or estimated and that common deletion methods usually do not suffice whiles the listwise deletion may only suffice for MAR data. The EM method however has been noted to be the most suitable technique as it adequately estimates missing values even in cases of non-normal data unlike the other methods that produce lopsided estimates and usually miscalculate the standard errors (Gold & Bentler, 2000; Moss, 2016). Also, the EM method is regarded as well-suited to the maximum likelihood estimation (ML) employed in this study under SEM which specifically deals producing an accurate fit of the hypothesised model to a covariance matrix in a data obtained (Crisci, 2012). Hence, the EM technique was deemed most appropriate in estimating the missing values in the data set. As a result of this, frequencies were used to check for any missing values in the data set, which led to the discovery of some missing values under some observed variables. In determining the specific category under which these missing values fell, Little’s MCAR test was conducted in SPSS. It was discovered that missing values were insignificant for each construct, indicating that the missing values were missing not at random (MNAR). Thus, the missing values for each latent construct for each of the latent constructs in the study; namely transformational and transactional leadership, work engagement and perceived organisational politics were estimated 77 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh using the EM method, which eventually dealt with the missing data set and rendered the data set fit for further analysis. Outliers An outlier is referred to as any observation point that is abnormal of other observation and is noted to adversely influence the normality of the data, hence the conclusions from the data. It is therefore imperative that the data set is considerably free from outliers. In this study, histogram and steam leaf diagrams were used to check for outliers for each observed variables under every latent construct. With the help of SPSS, some outliers were identified for some observed variables. These identified outliers; especially those that occurred for more than two observed variables were dealt with by deleting their entire responses from the data set. This ultimately led to a reduction in the usable responses for the data analysis to test the hypotheses. Normality According to Lei and Lomax (2005) and Silverman (2018) it is prerequisite to SEM that the data collected must be normally distributed in order to avoid instances of bloated figures of model fit measures and ensure that the accuracy and reliability of conclusions drawn from the data are not compromised. Again, for statistical procedures such SEM, there is an underlying assumption that data obtained follows a normal distribution. For this study, the normality of the data was determined using skewness and kurtosis test for each of the latent variables (Oztuna, Elhan, & Tuccar, 2006). According to Tabachnick and Fidell (1996), a data is normally distributed if 78 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the absolute values of the skewness and kurtosis of the various latent constructs are between -2 and +2. This analysis was performed in SPSS and the results are presented in Table 4.2 below. Table 4.2 Test for Normality Variable Mean Std Dev. Skewness Kurtosis Transformational 23.97 4.63 -.426 -.544 Transactional 13.62 6.32 -.460 -.320 Work Engagement 33.07 9.73 -.428 -.377 POPS 14.84 4.62 .083 -.507 Source: Field Data (2018) Going by the assertion of Tabachnick and Fidell (1996), the results on Table 4.2 reveal that the skewness and kurtosis values obtained for the various latent constructs fell between -2 and +2 indicating a normal distribution in the data set. 4.3 SEM Analysis In furthering the analysis, the SEM analysis technique was adopted to analyze and assess the two components of latent constructs, which are the measurement model – which relates to indicator loadings; and the structural model – which relates to path coefficient measures. 4.3.1 Measurement model Hair, Hollingsworth, Randolph, and Chong, (2017) postulate that the assessment of the measurement model is important for the determination of how well the various 79 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh indicators load on the theoretically defined constructs. In doing this, the research model was estimated with a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). According to Schreiber et al., (2006), CFA is also a confirmatory tool for theories; and is essential for removing all errors when estimating the factor structure of constructs (Hsu, 2010). The initial CFA model for this study was developed using the latent constructs of the study, namely: Transformational and transactional leadership, employee work engagement and perceived organisational politics. The various constructs listed were represented as seen in Figure 4.1 as TFL, TSL, ENG and POPS, respectively. Going by the recommendation of Kenny (2016), at least two observed variables were retained for each of the unobserved variables after some of them were deleted (i.e. those with estimates below 0.6) in order to boost the fit indices. This method as explained by Hair et al., (2010) is the easiest way to handle errors to the model fit. This follows from the fact that the initial CFA model fit measures were relatively unacceptable. Figures 4.1 and 4.2 present the initial CFA model and the final CFA model after some unobserved variables with low estimates were deleted, respectively. 80 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 4.1 The Initial CFA (Measurement) Model with Unstandardised Loadings Source: Field data (2018) 81 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 4.2 The Final CFA (Measurement) Model with Standardised Loadings Source: Field data (2018) 4.3.1.1 Model Fit Indices for the CFA Model It is important to emphasis that in SEM analysis, the importance of model fit indices for both measurement and structural model is reflective in the number of fit indices (Schreiber et al. 2006). Although a number of fit indices can be used to determine the fit of a proposed model, this study adopted the recommendation of Kline (2011), by using a combination of some of these indices to determine the fitness of the model, provided they are meet the acceptable benchmarks. As a result, fit indices reported in 82 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh this study included the ratio of the Chi-square to the Degree of freedom (CMIN/DF; χ2/df), the Goodness of Fit (GFI), the Comparative Fit Index (CFI), the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA), and the Standardised Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR). Again, although Brown, (2006) suggested that the model fit indices are considerably influenced by many factors, including the sample size, type of data, estimation method, model complexity, normality of data, amount and type of misspecification, other studies have also pointed out some universally established guidelines for what constitutes acceptable model fit. As a result, the study adopted Hu and Bentler (1999) proposed guidelines, which have been widely accepted and empirically supported, based on simulations. The figures for the adopted fit indices, together with their respective acceptable benchmarks presented on Table 4.3 below. Based on the figures in Table 4.3 below, the values for CMIN/DF (χ2/df), CFI, GFI, SRMR and RMSEA were recorded as excellent per Hu and Bentler’s (1999) criteria. Table 4.3 Fit Indices for the Measurement Model Goodness-of-Fit Thresholds Author(s) Final CFA Indices Model CMIN/DF (χ2/df) ≤3, excellent; <5, Hu and Bentler 0.806 acceptable (1999) GFI >.95, excellent; Hu and Bentler 0.968 >.90, acceptable (1999) CFI >.95, excellent; Hu and Bentler 1.000 >.90, acceptable (1999) RMSEA <.06, excellent; Hu and Bentler 0.000 .06-.10, moderate (1999) SRMR <.08, excellent; .08- Hu and Bentler 0.037 .10, acceptable (1999) Note: The boldened values are the fit results for the study’s final CFA model Source: Field Data (2018) 83 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.3.1.2 Validity and Reliability Validity Apart from the use of face and content validity, this study also ascertained the validity of constructs using convergent and discriminant. Convergent validity explains how well the observed items relate with their observed variables or constructs whiles discriminant validity focuses on a construct and its observed variables in relation to other constructs, thus how different one construct and its items are from other constructs in the model (Hair et al. 2014; Bryne, 2010). The Average Variance Extracted (AVE) was used to check convergent validity of the constructs, and as recommended, the AVE must be at least 0.50 indicating that at least half of the variance in the items is explained by their construct. Malhotra and Dash (2011) however maintained that the AVE is too strict and thus may be difficult to obtain the recommended threshold of 0.50 for some constructs. Also, the Fornell-Lacker procedure was used to check for the discriminant validity; where discriminant validity is accepted when the square root of the AVEs are greater than the squared correlation coefficients between the constructs (Fornell & Lacker, 1981). Following the recommendation of Gaskin and Lim (2016), the Master Validity Tool generated from an AMOS plugin in SPSS was used to assess the convergent and divergent validity of the constructs and the results presented in Table 4.4. Reliability With respect to the reliability; which deals with the replicability and consistency of the variables, this study adopted composite reliability (CR) values over the traditional and more common Cronbach’s alpha values. The decision to use the CR over Cronbach’s alpha hinges on two main reasons. Per Hair et al. (2014) assertion, first, 84 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the CR does not consider the number of items being assessed and secondly, it does not assume the same loadings for different items in a sample. It is as a result of this that the study assessed the composite reliability to ascertain the reliability of the constructs using the retained observed items after the CFA model. Hair et al. (2010) recommended a composite reliability of at least 0.70 is enough to establish reliability. This is even more important when AVE values are not more than 0.50 as a result of the strictness of the AVE (Malhotra & Dash, 2011). The results for CR and that of the convergent and discriminant validity are presented in Table 4.4 below. Table 4.4 Assessment of Reliability and Validity of Retained Items Variable CR AVE POPS ENG TFL TSL POPS 0.843 0.518 0.702 ENG 0.915 0.608 -0.200 0.780 TFL 0.877 0.504 -0.195 0.481 0.710 TSL 0.818 0.530 -0.167 0.439 -0.923 0.728 Note: CR – Composite Reliability, AVE – Average Variance Extracted. (Boldened values are the square roots of the AVEs). Source: Survey Data, (2018) It can be seen from Table 4.4 that all the variables had CR of at least 0.70 thus ascertaining their reliabilities. Notwithstanding the assertion of Malhotra and Dash (2011) (i.e. strictness of the AVE), it can be seen that the square roots of the AVEs (boldened) for all the variables were all greater than the squared correlation coefficients between the constructs thus ascertaining discriminant validity for all the constructs, as recommended by Fornell and Lacker (1981). 85 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.3.2 Bivariate Correlation Analysis To establish the relationship between the various variables, the Pearson r correlation was computed in SPSS using the retained items (observed variables) after the CFA as well as the demographic variables. Table 4.5 presents the zero-order correlation coefficients among all the variables in the study. Table 4.5 Summary of Bivariate Correlation Analysis Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. Gender 1 2. Age -.07 1 3. Education -.04 .07 1 4. Tenure .01 .54** .07 1 5. Marital St. -.01 .52** .07 .46** 1 6. TypeOrg .02 -.03 .04 -.01 .01 1 7. TFL -.05 -.05 -.04 -.04 -.08 -.01 1 8. TSL -.05 -.04 -.07 -.02 -.07 -.02 .80** 1 9. ENG -.08 .06 .00 -.07 .04 -.02 .47** .39** 1 10. POPS .07 -.08 .01 .02 -.04 -.04 -.17** -.15** -.17** 1 ** significant at 1%, *significant at 5%; Where TFL- transformational leadership, TSL- transactional leadership, ENG- Employee work engagement, POPS-Perceived Organisational Politics, TypeOrg- Type of organisation. Source: Survey Data, (2018) Based on the results from Table 4.5 above is evident, that there exist significant correlations between the dependent variable (work engagement) and all the independent variables (i.e. transformational leadership, transactional leadership style and perceived organisational politics). More specifically, transformational leadership style had a significant positive relationship with employee work engagement (r = -.47, 86 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh p < 0.00); transactional leadership style had positive significant relationship with employee work engagement (r = .39, p < 0.00). With respect to the perceived organisational politics, the results show that POPS negatively and significantly correlated with transformational leadership (r = -.17, p < 0.00) and transactional leadership style (r = -.15, p < 0.02), as well as employee work engagement (r = -.17, p < 0.01). With regard to the two leadership styles, a positive relationship is also seen and the correlation coefficient (r) of .80. This implies that there is a relatively low multicollinearity between the two independent variables. 4.3.3 The Structural Models The maximum likelihood estimation procedures were adopted to examine the various hypothesised relationship among the computed latent variables by using the retained items from final measurement model (Fig. 4.2). Consequently, two models were developed to test the hypotheses between the latent constructs; the first model consisted of the direct hypothesised relationships and the second model involves both the direct and the moderation-hypothesised relationships. Transformational and transactional leadership were the predictors, employee work engagement was the outcome variable, whiles perceived organisational politics was the moderating variable. Thus, the latent constructs were represented in the models as TFL, TSL, ENG and POPS, respectively. The Age and Gender of respondents were used as control variables because in order to obtain good fit measures, because of their perceived effects on the variables. Figure 4.3 and Figure 4.4 below present the first and second structural models respectively. 87 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 4.3 Final Structural Model (Direct hypothesised relationships) Source: Field data (2018) 88 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 4.4 Final Structural Model with Moderation Source: Field data (2018) 4.3.3.1 Model Fit Indices for the Structural Models Both structural models (Figure 4.4 and Figure 4.5) were also validated using the same fit indices used for validating the CFA model namely; the ratio of the Chi-square to the Degree of freedom (CMIN/DF; χ2/df), the Goodness of Fit (GFI), the Comparative Fit Index (CFI), the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA), and the Standardised Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR). The outputs for these fit measures together with their acceptable benchmarks and corresponding researchers are presented in Table 4.6 for both the direct relationships model and the moderation relationships model. The boldened figures for all the fit indices were excellent for both models as presented in the table. 89 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 4.6 Model Fit Indices for Structural Models Goodness-of- Thresholds Author(s) Structural Structural Fit Indices (Direct) (Moderation) CMIN/DF ≤3, excellent; Hu and Bentler .806 1.418 (χ2/df) <5, acceptable (1999) GFI >.95, excellent; Hu and Bentler 0.996 0.991 >.90, acceptable (1999) CFI >.95, excellent; Hu and Bentler 1.000 0.996 >.90, acceptable (1999) RMSEA < .06, excellent; Hu and Bentler .000 0.031 .06-.10, (1999) moderate SRMR <.08, excellent; Hu and Bentler 0.026 0.032 .08-.10, (1999) acceptable Source: Survey Data, (2018) 4.3.3.2 Summary of Results To test for the various hypotheses, the summary results for the both the direct and moderation hypothesised relationships (i.e. the path results) are presented in Table 4.7 below. Table 4.7 Summary of Results Model 1 (Direct) Estimate C.R S.E TFL ---> ENG .580** 5.267 .110 TSL ---> ENG .232 1.238 .187 Age ---> ENG .979 1.675 .585 Gender ---> ENG -1.086 -1.301 .835 90 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Model 2 (Moderation) Estimate C.R S.E TFL ---> ENG .556** -.232 .110 TSL ---> ENG .249 1.328 .581 Age ---> ENG .832 1.430 .533 Gender ---> ENG -1.053 -0.830 -1.268 POPS_x_TFL ---> ENG -.334 -0.453 .739 POPs_x_TSL ---> ENG .051 -.070 .722 POPS ---> ENG -.157 -1.268 0.092 Source: Survey Data, (2018) 4.3.9 Hypotheses Testing H1a: Transformational leadership style will predict employees’ work engagement positively and significantly. The first hypothesis tested transformational leadership as a predictor of employees’ work engagement. The analysis from the path analysis revealed that transformational leadership significantly and positively predicted employees’ work engagement in indigenous Ghanaian banks (β = .580, t = 5.267, p = 0.00) Thus, hypothesis 1a was accepted. H1b: Transactional leadership style will predict employees’ work engagement negatively and significantly. The second hypothesis examined transactional leadership as a predictor of employees’ work engagement. It was revealed that transactional leadership had no statistically significant influence on the work engagement (β = .232, t = .1.238, p > 0.05). Thus, hypothesis 1b was rejected. 91 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh H2: H2 Perceived organisational politics will significantly predict employees’ work engagement. The third hypothesis sought to test the influence of perceived organisational politics on employees’ work engagement. The analysis revealed that perceived organisational politics did not predict the work engagement of employees significantly (β = -.157, t= -1.701, p > 0.05). Hypothesis third was similarly rejected. H3: Perceived organisational politics will moderate the relationship between transformational leadership style and employees’ wok engagement. The fourth hypothesis tested the moderating effect of perceived organisational politics on the influence that transformational leadership styles has on the employees’ work engagement. The results indicated that perceived organisational politics had no significant effect on the relationship between transformational leadership style and work engagement of the employees (β = -.334, t = -.453, p > 0.05). Thus, the fourth hypothesis was rejected. H4: Perceived organisational politics will moderate the relationship between transactional leadership style and employees’ wok engagement. The fifth hypothesis tested the moderating effect of perceived organisational politics has on the relationship between transactional leadership styles and employees’ work engagement. The results showed that perceived organisational politics had no significant effect on the relationship between transactional leadership style and work engagement of the employees (β = 051, t = -.070, p > 0.05). Thus, the fifth hypothesis was rejected. 92 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh H5: Employees of publicly-owned indigenous banks will demonstrate a significantly greater level of perceived organisational politics than employees of indigenous banks that are privately-owned. Table 4.8 The difference in POPS among employees of Indigenous Ghanaian banks. Variable Mean S.D. N df t p Public 15.12 4.72 90 424 .603 .547 Private 14.78 4.62 336 Source: Field Data, 2018 Again, the independent t test used to analyze the difference in POPS among employees of publicly-owned and privately owned indigenous banks and the results are present on table 4.8 above. The results showed that employees of publicly-owned banks had a slightly higher level of POPS (M = 15.12, S.D. = 4.72) as compared to their counterparts in the privately-owned indigenous Ghanaian banks with a mean score of M = 14.78 and a standard deviation score of S.D. = 14.78. However, the inferential statistics analysis revealed that there is no significant difference POPS between employees of publicly-owned indigenous banks and those of privately- owned banks (t(424 ) =.603 , p > 0.05). The result does not support the fifth hypothesis. 93 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER FIVE DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS 5.0 Introduction This chapter presents the summary of findings of the analysis and the discussion of the results as presented in the previous chapter of this study. Thus, the findings are discussed in the light of the related literature that was reviewed earlier. Also reasons and explanations are adduced to support the findings. 5.1 Demographic Details For the purpose of getting a better understanding of the respondents and to make a strong case, the study gathered data on the demographic details of the respondents in the survey that was conducted. This specifically included information on the gender of the respondents, age of the respondents, their educational qualifications, the organisations and the organisation type as well as the number of years they had worked in the organisation. In terms of the gender distribution, it was revealed that the indigenous banking industry in Ghana has a fairly distributed workforce, even though male respondents were seen to be in the majority with 57%. This result to a large extent though inconsistent with previous studies (Acheampong, 2013; Obuobisa-Darko & Obuobisa-Darko, 2015), reflects the decreasing gap between male and female employment in the Ghanaian banking sector, which hitherto was greatly dominated by the females. Again, in Ghana, the banking industry like many of the industries under the service sector attracts a lot of females because the nature of the jobs perceive female employees are better in prospecting and keeping both new and old clientele base that is largely male dominated. In corroborating this finding, Mekpor and Dartey-Baah (2017) iterated that the gap between male and female 94 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh employees in Ghana’s financial sector shows a continuous decline over the years. According to them, the seemingly increasing number of male enrollment into high school and tertiary institutions to read business and banking related programs coupled with the nature of the clientele base of many financial institutions in Ghana seem to have caused many organisations to employ more males especially as tellers and relationship officers thus the relatively close gender distribution in this study should not come as a surprise. With regard to the age distribution, it was discovered that majority of employees in the indigenous banking space in Ghana are youthful; with most of them falling between the ages of 21 and 40 (91%). This is indicative of an industry that is largely made up of employees in the early to middle stages of their careers. This is perhaps a result of the fact that majority of jobs in the banking industry in general are lower to middle management level jobs and thus banks usually go out for young and exuberant who can put in a lot of physical effort and energy, and hence would require workers who are young, vibrant and energetic. With respect to the educational qualifications, it was shown that majority of the respondents had obtained a first degree, with some of them going further to acquire a master’s degree. This is not surprising as some of the banking jobs required a first degree while others required minimum of some level of formal education and/or professional certificates to demonstrate one is able to work in the industry. Also, owing to the fact that the industry being a formal institution where the level of one’s educational qualification(s) determines remuneration and promotions to some extent, 95 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh it is not surprising that majority of them had acquired first degrees as this is crucial for progressing in the organisation. Furthermore, the results shows that majority of the respondents were single. Again, this finding is not surprising especially when it is viewed in the general context of the demographics of the respondents (age distribution of respondents and perhaps the educational level of majority of the respondents). This follows from the fact that, some studies on educational levels and relationship status (Abosede & Akintola, 2016; Mullis, Rathge, Mullis, 2003; Magnuson, & Shager, (2010) have generally found that the longer people stay in school, the more likely they are to stay single as against their counterparts with lower level of education; whiles majority of females with higher education are likely to pursue career goals at their younger ages since they may see marriage and raising children as stressful. With respect with male respondents, it can be argued that the Ghanaian cultural disposition does not put pressure on men to get married at early ages. Indeed men are expected to be financially stable to be able to marry and take care of a family hence many male employees prefer to spend their younger ages accumulating enough financial resources to be able to take care of the home, hence many of the men in the working class turn to get married at the later stages of their prime. The results further revealed that majority of respondents were full-time employees of their respective organisations even though there seem to be a rich mix of contractual and temporary staff under employment. Acheampong (2013) explained that the Ghanaian banking industry as a means of cutting cost prefer to employ people as contract staff and temporary staff. These category of employees, he noted are 96 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh normally made of mobile tellers and sales and marketing teams who are appraised based on the number of clients or revenue they bring to the banks and remunerated on commission basis. Thus the result is largely reflective of the wider picture within the Ghanaian banking industry. Lastly, with regard to the number of years, the results show that majority of the respondents had worked with their respective organisations for less than 10 years. Considering the other demographics of the respondents sampled, this result cannot be said to be surprising as majority of the respondents were found to be largely youthful. Also, the banking profession in Ghana seems to be characterised by considerable number of employees of young energetic people who have just started their careers after completing their first degrees. 5.2 Findings 5.2.1 Transformational Leadership and Employees’ Work Engagement In testing the hypothesis and answering the research objectives, the first finding of the study revealed that transformational leadership had a positive impact on employees’ work engagement among the indigenous banks sampled. Thus, as leaders of the various departments and functional levels exhibit more of the transformational leadership style, engagement levels of the workers increase; meaning that workers are more involved in what they do at their respective banks in terms of the vigour, dedication and absorption that characterises their work. This finding is line with that of Tims et al. (2011) who found in their study that transformational leadership related positively to engagement. This finding also agrees to that of Khoung and Yen (2014) who found that higher levels of ethical and visionary leadership (greatly associated 97 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh with transformational style) had a positive relationship with higher levels of employee engagement. Furthermore, this finding is also in line with that of Zhang (2010) who found that employee engagement is associated with an employee’s perception of leadership style in his or her direct supervisor; positively in the case of visionary or organic leadership. In addition, Popli & Rizvi, (2015) maintained that leaders who focus on relationship building and trust development increase engagement levels of subordinates. Similarly, Carasco-Saul et al., (2014) found that aspects of transformational leadership, motivation and concern, related positively to work engagement. Furthermore, findings from other studies such as those of Ghadi et al., (2013); Cartwright and Holmes (2006); Bakker & Schaufeli (2008) similarly indicated that transformational leadership predicted work engagement positively. On the other hand, this finding is partially in contrast to that of Datche and Mukulu (2015) who found that even though transformational leadership in general related positively with employee engagement, attributes of transformational leadership style such as inspirational motivation and idealised influence had weak and negative relationships with employee engagement respectively. Carrasco-Saul et al. (2014) explained that transformational leaders, due to their ability to espouse particular dimensions of idealised influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualised consideration, have a greater predisposition to influence engagement positively, especially with respect to the vigour and dedication employees bring to their work. This is because transformational leaders are able to inspire and motivate subordinates to go beyond task requirements and exhibit optimal levels of positive work outcomes. Perhaps this is what accounted for the reason why employees in the indigenous banks sampled believe that the 98 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh transformational leadership styles exhibited by their managers and supervisors is accounting for their level of engagement to work in this study. Contextualizing this finding around the leaders-member exchange theory, Osman and Nahar, (2015) postulate that a high-quality leadership is one that involves support, trust, respect and encouragement between the leaders and his/her subordinates which is similar to dimension of transformational leadership where trust is built based on motivation, inspiration, mentoring and coaching. These high-quality relationships as explained by Dansereau et al., (1975) encourages employees to exhibit high levels of energy and mental resilience while working; the willingness to invest effort in their work whiles persisting even in the face of difficulties; they also exhibit a sense of significance, enthusiasm, inspiration, pride, and readiness for new challenges. For many other subordinates, the quality of the relationship they have with their leaders pushes them to be fully concentrated and happily engrossed in their work to the extent that they remain commited to both the manager and the organisation and have an eagerness to undertake tasks voluntarily and successfully (Berry, 2010). It is therefore not surprising that the transformational leadership style impacts on the work engagement of the employees of the indigenous banks sampled and the underlying reasons are the importance of coaching, guidance ad mentorship as well as the need to improve employees performance through such high-quality interactions between the subordinates and their supervisors. Again, juxtaposing this finding against the social exchange theory (Blau, 1964) and the principle of reciprocity, it is worth noting that the support that transformational leaders offer their subordinates in the form of motivation, mentoring and 99 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh acknowledgment as well as the genuine show of concern can catalyse an exchange relationship that encourages subordinates to reciprocate by stimulating them to exhibit high levels of vigour, dedication and adsorption on their jobs; thus it is not surprising that employees of indigenous Ghanaian banks were influenced by coaching and mentoring and guidance exhibited by their supervisors with regard to how engaged they are with their work and their respective organisations. Moreover, considering that majority of employees working in indigenous Ghanaian banks were found to be youthful and presumable in the early and mid-way stages of their careers, it is very likely behaviours such as inspiration, coaching, and mentorship akin to transformational leadership style is having a significant influence on their work engagement seeing that this style of leadership empowers individuals psychologically (Gardner et al., 2005; Clarke, 2013). Therefore, being as youthful as they are, this style of leadership can influence them to engage better in their work. The quality of relationship and the level of social and economic exchange between managers and supervisors and employees within indigenous can be said to be the reason for positive impact that transformational leadership styles exhibited by managers seem to have on employees engagement to their work. 5.2.2 Transactional Leadership and Employees’ Work Engagement The second finding indicated that transactional leadership did not have any significant influence on employees’ work engagement among indigenous Ghanaian banks. This implies that when managers and supervisors in indigenous Ghanaian banks exhibit transactional leadership behaviours, usually characterised by specified rewards in exchange for performance, employees’ are likely to be less engaged with their work and the organisation. This finding is consistent with that of Breevaart, et al., (2014) 100 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh and Nikezić et al., (2012) who both found no relationship between transactional leadership and employees’ work engagement. Nemaei (2012) also found that passive leadership, which is a dimension of transactional leadership style, had no significant correlation with work engagement. This finding however is in contrast with that of Datche and Mukulu (2015) who found that transactional leadership had a significant relationship with engagement, albeit negative. Another study by Tims et al., (2011) also revealed that Management-by-exception (active), an aspect of transactional leadership, correlated positively with work engagement. Furthermore, studies by Prasad and Junni, (2016) and Dartey-Baah and Ampofo (2016) revealed that contingent management, a major dimension under transactional leadership, had significant relationships with work outcomes. This finding is however not surprising considering the context of the study. For instance, the bureaucratic nature of the banking sector where rewards given to employees are from the organisation and not their direct managers and supervisors as well as the temporary effect that rewards would have on employees’ engagement levels are perhaps the factors contributing to this result. This follows from the point that in highly bureaucratic organisation like banks rewards and punishments mainly came from the boardroom and are usually ‘cast in stone’ with little or no room for influence by managers and supervisors. Consequently, managers and supervisors are not empowered to specify rewards or punishments in exchange for performance. Again, it could be that employees in the organisations sampled expect their managers and supervisors to be less passive. Thus, when leaders exhibit a passive and corrective form of leadership, captured under transactional leadership, they do not exert any considerable influence on their subordinates to engage with their work. Using the 101 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh social exchange theory and the principle of reciprocity as a point of departure, an exchange relationship is considered to have been started when a leader provides support in any form, with the view of eliciting some form of desired behaviours, attitudes or performance from the subordinates in return. However, since managers and supervisors within indigenous banks and banks in general are not empowered to specify rewards for performance, no exchange relationship is initiated directly between the employees and their immediate leaders, and therefore employees are under no compulsion to reciprocate any reward from their leaders with any kind of desired behaviour. In the context of this study, it is suggestive that with regard to rewards, the employees in the banks sampled perceive an exchange relationship with the organisation and not with their managers and thus their managers are only seen as a conduit through which the exchange happens and not the initiators of the exchange relationship. The LMX theory also offers some explanations to this finding. The theory in explaining the interactions between leaders and subordinates result in in-groups and out-groups of followers, indicate that out-group followers do not have any established relationship with the leader, and their relationship with the leaders is more formal, characterised by low quality exchange relationship with less citizenship behaviour with both the leader and followers performing to meet the minimum requirements of their employment contracts. This form of relationship is akin to transactional leader and his/her followers, where studies of Hoye, (2006), Rüschoff, (2008) and Graen et al. (2000) indicated that transactional leaders grant followers in the out-groups limited access to resources, minimal support and trust and less considerations for rewards. Consequently, these followers do not feel any obligation to achieve optimum nor do 102 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh they go the extra mile when engaging with their work. This summarizes the interactional effects between transactional leaders and their subordinates; and lends credence to the finding of this study. 5.2.3 Perceived Organisational Politics and Work Engagement The third finding from the analysis indicated that perceived organisational politics (POPS) had no significant influences on employees’ work engagement in indigenous Ghanaian Banks. This means that POPS had no significant effect on the vigour, absorption or dedication with which employees in the sampled indigenous banks went about their task in the organisation. It is important to stress however that the relationship between POPS and work engagement was found to be negative, even though statistically insignificant to make any useful generalisation. Interestingly, the perception of politics within the banks sampled was found to be normal; meaning that employees in the sampled banks did not find politics within their respective organisations to be either favourable or unfavourable. The findings are in contrast with those found in extant literature (i.e. Bashir, et al., 2011; Atta and Kahn, 2015; Vigoda-Godat 2007, inter alia) which all found that it was only when employees perceived that the politics in their organisation was unfavorable to them that they turn to suffer lower levels of engagement with their work. As noted by Atta and Kahn (2015), a negative perception of POPS among employees have often turns to hinder the growth process of organisation since there is a higher likelihood of employees exhibiting negative work attitudes and behaviours. Ahmad (2010) however found that a normal political environment could lead to a decrease in employees’ work engagement if employees perceive a breach in the 103 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh psychological contract they have with their organisation. However, since the result was not significant, it could be a case that employees are lowering their engagement levels because of factors that have little to do with the political climate within which they work. A search in literature on employee work engagement especially within the banking industry, provide few suggestions as to why this is the case for employees sampled in this study. For instance issues of lack of job resources necessary for employees to effectively go about their task has been found to be a major cause of reduction in the engagement levels of employees. According to OneWire (2013), most of the employers in the banking industry expect their employees to deliver at their usual output level in the absence of adequate resources, thus there is high demand on them to meet their targets. In the absence of these resources employees will find it strenuous going about their tasks with vigour and dedication difficult and most times leave employees disengaged from their work. Juxtaposing this against the context of the current study, perhaps one reason why POPS, though normal, does not seem to have any significant effect on employees work engagement is because of the lack of resources to do their jobs effectively and not because of how fairly or unfairly these resources are allocated to employees as suggested in POPS literature. Again, due to economic rationalization and the quest to remain competitive in this current banking environment in Ghana, coupled with increasing pressures on local banks to meet the minimum capital requirements by the Bank of Ghana, many indigenous banks have resorted to measures such as job restructuring and the provision of greater workload to employees without any 104 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh commensurate increase in benefits and other resources needed by employees. As espoused by the social exchange theory and the norm of reciprocity, the increased workload coupled with inadequate resources from the organisations to meet these demands may leave employees stressed and lead to a negative impact on their level of engagement with their work. These increased workload and the uncertainty of keeping ones job is perhaps the major contributing factor influencing employees’ work engagement in the sampled banks. This situation could be a plausible reason why the study found POPS not to have any significant effect on employee’s engagement levels. This implies that employees are most probably preoccupied with more pressing matters of keeping their job by helping their respective banks meet the current central bank capital requirements by finding ways of meeting targets set for them than they are concerned with the political climate (i.e. issues of pay and promotion and the general political environment) within the organisation. 5.2.4 Perceived Organisational Politics as a Moderator between Leadership Styles and Employees’ Work Engagement The fourth and fifth findings (hypothesis 3 & 4) from the analysis indicated that perceived organisational politics did not moderate the relationships between transformational leadership and employees’ engagement, as well as the relationships between transactional leadership and employees’ work engagement. This meant that the perception held by employees in the indigenous Ghanaian bank about the politics in their organisations did not affect the impact that their manager/supervisors leadership style had on their engagement to work. 105 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh These findings are in contrast with those found in similar studies by Fashola et al., (2016); Harris and Kacmar (2005); Rosen et al., (2006); Hu (2013); Fuller et al., (2006) who all found some form of significant impact of POPS on leadership styles and employees work engagement. Fuller et al., (2006) argued that the leader’s behaviour affects employee job perceptions of organisational politics, which then affect employee attitudes towards their work. Therefore, employees who perceived organisational politics may engage in workplace incivility against perpetrators or beneficiaries of such political behaviours as a pay-back instead of concentrating on their individual task. In other studies by Harris & Kacmar, (2005) and Rosen et al., (2006) job autonomy, feedback, increased opportunities and good interaction with others, which are specific job situations attributed to leadership styles significantly influenced employees perception of politics in the organisation. Thus emphasising the point that, for instance, limited opportunities from managers at work may cause employees to construe the situation as the product of organisational politics and is expected to increase the perception of politics. Again, the lack of sufficient and balanced feedback from direct supervisors may encourage employees to develop other channels (eg. by-passing, absenteeism) to get their concerns heard. Also Hu (2013) examined the moderating effect of job security on the relationship between organisational politics and work engagement and established a significant negative relationship between perceived organisational politics and the three dimensions of work engagement whiles by Fashola et al., (2016) found a joint significant relationship between leadership styles, POPS and employee work engagement. Following from the fact that both leadership styles were found to have been positively related to work engagement (though insignificant for transactional leadership style); 106 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh meaning the sampled employees receive adequate supports from their supervisors in terms of coaching, mentoring, inspiration, and recommendations for rewards; which should cause them to be more engaged with their work; as well as cause them to develop greater positive perceptions about politics in the organisation. It would have been expected that POPS would potentially enhance the relationship between leaders’ leadership style and employees’ work engagement and in turn causes them to vigour, dedication and absorption at work. A variety of reasons can be attributed for POPS’ inability to moderate the relationship between leadership styles and work engagement in this study. In particular, if the findings are to be viewed within the context of Ghana’s political, organisational, economic and social realities, especially noting that employee behaviour is significantly influenced by factors inside and outside of the specific organisational sphere. Three important reasons have been identified to be plausible causes for the findings in this study. First and foremost, drawing on issues of cultural distance hypothesis, specifically the national culture within which the indigenous banks operate. Nazarin, Arkinson and Greaves (2014) and Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) argue that national norms and values define individual and the general organisation behaviour of employees and form the primary pillar of organisational socialisation. Thus culture issues found in the organisation mirror the larger picture of what is happening in the country. The dimensions of national culture that provide plausible reasons for this study include issues of power distance, uncertainty avoidance and the collectivist posture of Ghanaians in general. This study argues that Ghanaian’s being general noted as respectful people who hardly question the authority of their superiors are likely to accept the authority and decisions of their leaders even though they may hold certain 107 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh reservations. Applying this to this study, it could be that though some employees in the indigenous banks sampled may fall into the out-group members of their leaders and may be affected negatively by some decisions and actions of their manager/supervisors, they are unlikely to exhibit certain negative work outcomes (i.e. disengagement with their work) for fear of being viewed as disrespectful and insubordinate. Again, though the economic and social exchange relationship between employees and their leaders may not be favourable, they are likely not to make it affect how they engage with their work with the hope that their improved performances even with inadequate resources would endear them to their leaders and help them enjoy improved benefits. With respect to uncertainty avoidance, Mekpor and Dartey-Baah (2017), Abugre, (2012) and Ampofo and Dartey-Baah (2015) suggest that due to the relatively inadequate number of respectable and well-paying jobs in Ghana, formal sector employees usually stay in their jobs due to the uncertainty of not getting equally paying or even better jobs. This is against the backdrop that the banking sector in Ghana is noted to be one of the most prestigious and well-paying sectors in Ghana and thus employees (especially permanent staff) turn to go the extra-mile to keep their jobs in the bank. It is perhaps because of their anxiousness about the unknown if they leave the organisation and the social and economic consequences of being not finding equally prestigious jobs that employees sampled in this study seem to have found a way to not make the nature of politics within their organisation affect the impact that their managers leadership style affect their work engagement. Again, the demographic result indicated that majority of employees are young people who have only been working in their respective banks for less than five (5) years and single. To many such 108 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh employees, they are unlikely to be affected by biased promotion decisions but rather on meeting their basic needs and gaining the trust and appreciation of their managers; and thus such political decisions are unlikely to affect the way their leaders stimulate them to engage with their work since they know their leaders are not directly responsible for such decisions. The second plausible reason for the findings of this study is the sector of the Ghanaian economy in which the banking sector operates. According to Ofei and Okoe, (2014) and Bokpin et al., (2010), the banking sector like many of the financial sector organisations are considered to be highly centralized and bureaucratic with little or no room for autonomy and initiative from middle level to lower level employees. This is because the sector is a sensitive sector and thus highly regulated and formalized. As a result of this, issues of pay and promotion are usually predetermined and do not factor much in organisational politicking. Again, management decisions on procedures and processes are based on predetermined templates issued from the regulator (i.e. Bank of Ghana) and therefore these decisions are largely not viewed in the context of organisational politics. This is probably why employees sampled in this study perceived politics in their respective organisations to be normal and why POPS was found not to have any significant impact on how employees viewed the impact of their leader’s leadership style on their level of engagement with work. Finally, this study argues that politicking within formal organisations like banks is usually seen in the boardroom and not at the operational units (e.g. banking halls) where most of the employees were sampled from and thus such they are unlikely to be significantly affected by the nature of politics happening at the higher levels of the organisation. This argument is premised on the fact that, recent bank collapses have been widely 109 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh blamed on corporate governance and boardroom dealings (BOG, 2018) and not on operational problems of lower units within which majority of the respondents in this study were sampled from. This clearly shows that the effects of organisational politics in the organisation is not really felt at the lower level and this could possibly be the reason why POPS does not moderate the relationship between leadership styles and employees’ work engagement. 5.2.6: Employee Perception of Organisation Politics between employees in Publicly-owned indigenous banks and Privately-owned indigenous banks. Lastly, the study found that both employees of publicly-owned and privately-owned indigenous banks sampled experience a relatively normal POPS. Again, the study found that the employees of publicly-owned indigenous banks experienced higher levels of POPS compared to counterparts in privately-owned indigenous banks; nonetheless, the difference in POPS between both groups of employees was found to be statistically insignificant. This finding is similar to the findings of Fashola et al.,’s (2016) study on predictive roles of leadership styles and perceived organisational politics on organisational commitment among from two occupational groups (public and private) of workers in Osun State, Nigeria. They found that there was no significant difference in respect to POPS of both groups of workers. It was however reported that workers of publicly owned organisations had slightly higher POPS scores than scores than those who worked with privately owned firms. However, another study conducted by Vigoda-Gadot and Kapun (2005) examining the perception of politics and perceived performance among public and private organisations revealed that there is higher levels of POPS among public sector organisations than private sector organisations hugely because public sector 110 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh organisations run huge bureaucracies and are susceptible to more external influence in decision-making as compared to private firms. This finding is particularly not surprising as it has been established that the banking sector is a high-strain sector and thus it could be that both employees in publicly- owned and privately-owned indigenous banks are affected by the same high demands from the management and with the inadequate resource to tackle them. It is evident in the day-to-day activities of the banking staff that the employees work for long hours. This normally takes the form of strict and inflexible working schedules, badly designed shift systems and so on. This is affirmed by the findings of Leka et al. (2003). Employees of both public and privately-owned indigenous banks engage in this long working hours, hence they are likely to experience similar levels of strain due to the workload and the incommensurate resources at their disposal to meet targets. This implies that how employees of both categories of organisations perceive their work environment is similar hence why POPS was insignificant. Also in both cases, issues of pay and promotions, organisational decisions are predetermined at the boardroom level thus they both experience similar levels of POPS hence the finding. 111 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER SIX SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 6.0 Introduction This is the last chapter of this study. It begins with a summary of the whole study and its findings, and continues with an adequate conclusion that ties all the issues together. Additionally, recommendations are made for practice as well as for future studies. 6.1 Summary The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships that exist between managers’ leadership styles (transformational & transactional), employees’ work engagement among indigenous Ghanaian banks; and subsequently examine the moderating influence of perceived organisational politics (POPS) on this relationship. The objectives of the study were: to investigate the influence of transformational and transactional leadership styles on employees’ work engagement; to investigate the extent to which perceived organisational politics predicts employees’ work engagement; to determine whether perceived organisational politics moderates the relationship between the leadership styles (transformational and transactional) and employees’ work engagement; and lastly, to determine the difference in the level of perceived organisational politics among private and public indigenous banks in Ghana The study adopted the positivism paradigm as a philosophical framework; and employed the quantitative study approach. Specifically, quantitative data was gathered through a survey and analysed using covariance-based structural equation modeling and independent t test. The population of the study consisted of employees of selected indigenous banks listed among the top 100 most successful organisations 112 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh in Ghana between the period of 2015 and 2016. The study sampled 430 respondents proportionately from the four selected banks based on the total population of employees working at the respective headquarters of the banks. Thus, a structured questionnaire was the main data collection instrument, and only primary source of data was used. Regarding the demographic details of the respondents in the survey, it was seen that though male respondents made up majority of the sample, the difference between male and female respondents was not much. With respect to the age distribution, it was seen that majority of the respondents were youthful; where most of them fell between the ages of 21 and 40. Furthermore, concerning the educational qualifications, it was noted that majority of the respondents had obtained at least first degree in their respective academic fields, with some haven gone further to acquire a master’s degree. It was also discovered that majority of respondents were permanent staff of their respective organisations and many of respondents were single. Lastly, with respect to the number of years, it is seen that majority of the respondents had worked for less than 10 years with their respective banks. With regard to the quantitative analysis and results, it was found that transformational leadership influenced employees’ work engagement positively, thus confirming H1a; transactional leadership however was found to have no statistically significant influence on the employees’ work engagement, thus H1b was rejected. Furthermore, perceived organisational politics (POPS) was seen to have negative influences on employees’ work engagement, however, the influence was not statistically significant thus rejecting H2. Additionally, the moderation analysis revealed that perceived 113 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh organisational politics (POPS) did not moderate the relationships between both leadership styles (transformational and transactional leadership) and employees’ work engagement. Therefore, rejecting both H3 and H4. Finally, it was revealed that though the perception of politics was higher among employees of publicly-owned indigenous banks, the difference was not statistically significant, thus H5 was also rejected. The discussion of results with the help of extant literature and apt contextualization of the findings revealed the positive impact leaders exhibiting of transformational leadership behaviours, namely; coaching, trust, mentoring and support were the plausible reasons for the positive impact that transformational leadership styles had on employees’ level of engagement to their work. With regard to the no significant influence of transactional leadership on employees’ work engagement finding, the seemingly formalized and bureaucratic structure of the banking sector where rewards and punishments were decisions of the organisations and not the direct leaders; the transient nature of rewards; and employee expectations of leaders were found to be the plausible reasons for this finding. Furthermore, it emerged that the reason why POPS had an insignificant impact on employees’ work engagement was because employees’ of indigenous Ghanaian banks were preoccupied in meeting targets in order to save their respective banks and their careers from collapse and thus were not so concerned about boardroom and top management politicking. Additionally, issues relating to the national culture within indigenous banks operate, nature of the current banking and financial sector, and the fact that typical organisation politicking in the banking sector happened mostly at the top management level were considered the plausible reasons why POPS did not moderate the relationship between the two leaderships styles and employees’ work engagement. Finally, with regard to the 114 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh insignificant difference in the perception of organisational politics between publicly and privately-owned banks; it was suggested that the fact that most of the indigenous banks, whether private or public are putting pressure on their employees to deliver increased performance because of the risk of not meeting the central banks regulatory requirements was a plausible reason why though POPS was higher in publicly-owned banks, there difference was statistically significant. 6.2 Research Limitations This study, like all others, is not devoid of limitations. First, the focus on only the indigenous banks and their respective headquarters only, as well as the sample size chosen poses challenges to the generalisability of the findings of this study to the banking and financial sector, other institutions and industries in Ghana. Furthermore, with regard to the fact that institutions in the banking sector in Ghana have come under a lot of pressure in the past few months on issues of corporate governance and organisational politicking, respondents may not be forthcoming with responses to questions on their leaders and their organisation as there is the tendency for them to be withhold relevant information. Nonetheless, this study is credible and its relevance to research and practice is not reduced in any way by these limitations. 6.3 Conclusion The importance of having a highly engaged workforce, as indicated in extant literature, cannot be overemphasised for every organisation that seeks to be successful. More importantly, the influence of leaders on the engagement level of employees at work has been demonstrated in extant literature and confirmed in this 115 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh study. This is due to the fact that leadership deals greatly with influence, and this influence permeates all aspects of organisational life including employees’ engagement to their task and to the organisation. Thus, it is imperative that leaders in organisations are educated and empowered on their needed influence in ensuring they can inspire their subordinates to exhibit stronger attachment to work and the organisation’s success. Additionally, inasmuch as leaders need to be empowered, the organisation must also endeavour to support the employees with adequate resources and the conducive environment in order to enhance the employees’ perceptions about the organisation’s concern for their long-term welfare and not just about the organisation’s continuous existence, as this is likely to get employees to reciprocate with increased vigour, dedication and absorption to playing their roles to ensure the continuous success and growth of the organisation. To add to the above, the interrelatedness of leader’s leadership styles, the perception of the political climate existing in the organisation and employee’s work engagement has been amply demonstrated in this study, lending credence to the fact that ensuring a highly motivated and engaged workforce for organisational performance is a responsibility for all members in an organisation, and failure to recognise and deal with factors that can potentially inhibit the organisation’s ability to develop highly engaged employees can be detrimental to any organisation and its members. 6.4 Recommendations 6.4.1 Recommendations for Practice Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations are made: 1. First, seeing that transformational leadership styles which is characterised by coaching, trust, mentoring and support predicted employees’ work 116 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh engagement, it is important that leaders are educated on the considerable influence that they can have on their subordinates’ engagement levels if they exhibited more transformational leadership styles. Leaders should also be encouraged to do more coaching and mentoring as well as inspire subordinates because it will motivate them to go the extra mile in ensuring that the organisation’s objectives are met. 2. Secondly, it was discovered that leaders were not seen as direct representatives of the organisations (indigenous banks), with the power to guarantee any social or economic exchanges on behalf of the organisation. It is thus important that indigenous banks empower their leaders by giving them some level of discretion and autonomy to make decisions on decide rewards and punishment since it will enhance the influence that they have on employees, especially when they are directly responsible for the performance of the employees of the organisation. Also, this can go a long way to significantly improve the image of the organisation in the eyes of the employees. 3. Lastly, it has been indicated in literature that transformational and transactional leadership have good complementarities; therefore, the organisation should consider rewarding employees through their supervisors and encourage its combination with motivation, coaching, mentoring and inspiration in order to bring the best out of their employees, especially when the behaviour of managers/supervisors could affect the perception employees develop about the nature of politics in the organisation. 117 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6.3.2 Recommendations for Future Studies Future studies should replicate this study for multinational and foreign banks operating in Ghana as well as conduct a comparative study between indigenous and foreign banks. This study could also be replicated in other sectors considering that the dynamics may differ from one sector to another. Also, future studies could employ a different strategy preferably, the mixed-method approach in order to ascertain empirical reasons why POPS doesn’t seem to influence the relationship between managers’ leadership and enhance the understanding of the interplay of these concepts in organisational life. 118 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh REFERENCES Ababneh, O. M. A. (2015). Conceptualising and measuring employee engagement, and examining the antecedents of leadership styles and personality attributes (Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Auckland University of Technology). Abor, J. Y. (2017). The Financial Environment and Small Businesses. In Entrepreneurial Finance for MSMEs (pp. 69-85). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. Acheampong, N. K. (2013). The effects of foreign bank entry on financial performance of domestic-owned banks in Ghana. Achua, C., & Lussier, R. N. (2010). Leadership: Theory, Application, & Skill Development. Singapore: Cengage Learning. Adams, J. D. (Ed.). (2005). Transforming leadership. Cosimo, Inc.. Altunoğlu, A. E., & Gürel, E. B. B. (2015). Effects of Leader–Member Exchange and Perceived Organisational Support on Organisational Innovation: The Case of Denizli Techno park. Procedia - Social and Behavioural Sciences, 207, 175- 181. Anand, S., Hu, J., Liden, R., & Vidyarthi, P. (2011). Leader–Member Exchange: Recent research findings and prospects for the future. In A. Bryman (Ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Leadership. SAGE. Andrews, M. C., & Kacmar, K. M. (2001). Discriminating among organisational politics, justice, and support. Journal of organisational behaviour, 22(4), 347- 366. 119 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Armstrong, M. (2010). A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. 4th edition. London: Kogan Page. Aryee, S., Chen, Z. X., & Budhwar, P. S. (2004). Exchange fairness and employee performance: An examination of the relationship between organisational politics and procedural justice. Organisational behaviour and human decision processes, 94(1), 1-14. Aselage, J., & Eisenberger, R. (2003). Perceived organisational support and psychological contracts: A theoretical integration. Journal of organisational behaviour, 24(5), 491-509. Atinc, G., Darrat, M., Fuller, B., & Parker, B. W. (2010). Perceptions of organisational politics: A meta-analysis of theoretical antecedents. Journal of Managerial Issues, 494-513. Atta, M., & Khan, M. J. (2015). Leadership Styles as Determinants of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour among Public Sector University Teachers. Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences (PJSS), 35(1). Attridge, Mark. "Measuring and managing employee work engagement: A review of the research and business literature." Journal of Workplace Behavioural Health 24, no. 4 (2009): 383-398. Avolio, B. J., Bass, B. M., & Jung, D. I. (1999). Re‐examining the components of transformational and transactional leadership using the Multifactor Leadership. Journal of occupational and organisational psychology, 72(4), 441- 462. 120 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Avolio, B. J., Sosik, J. J., Jung, D. I., & Berson, Y. (2003). Leadership models, methods, and applications. Handbook of psychology. Baba Abugre, J. (2012). How managerial interactions affect employees' work output in Ghanaian organisations. African journal of economic and management studies, 3(2), 204-226. Babbie, E. (2008). The basics of social research. Canada: Thomson Wadsworth Babin, B. J., Hair, J. F., & Boles, J. S. (2008). Publishing research in marketing journals using structural equations modeling. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 16(4), 279-285. Bakker, A. B., Demerouti, E., & Sanz-Vergel, A. I. (2014). Burnout and work engagement: The JD–R approach. Annu. Rev. Organ. Psychol. Organ. Behav., 1(1), 389-411. Bakker, A. B., Hakanen, J. J., Demerouti, E., & Xanthopoulou, D. (2007). Job resources boost work engagement, particularly when job demands are high. Journal of educational psychology, 99(2), 274. Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182. Bartlett, M. S. (1954). A note on the multiplying factors for various chi square approximations. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 16 (Series B), 296-8. Bashir, S., Nasir, Z. M., Saeed, S., & Ahmed, M. (2011). Breach of psychological contract, perception of politics and organisational cynicism: Evidence from Pakistan. African Journal of Business Management, 5(3), 884. 121 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Bass, B. (2008). Bass & Stogdill's Handbook on Leadership: Theory, Research & Managerial Applications, (4thed). New York, NY: The Free Press. 50 Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations. New York, NY: The Free Press. Bass, B. M. (1990). From transactional to transformational leadership: Learning to share the vision. Organisational dynamics, 18(3), 19-31. Bass, B. M., & Riggio, R. E. (2006). Transformational leadership. Psychology Press. Bass, B. M., Avolio, B. J., & Jung, D. I. (2003). Predicting unit performance by assessing transformational and transactional leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88,207–218. Bass, B. M., Avolio, B. J., Jung, D. I., & Berson, Y. (2003). Predicting unit performance by assessing transformational and transactional leadership. Journal of applied psychology, 88(2), 207. Batista-Taran, L. C., Shuck, M. B., Gutierrez, C. C., & Baralt, S. (2009). The Role of Leadership Style in Employee Engagement. In Plakhotnik, M. S., Nielsen, S. M., & Pane, D. M. (Eds.), Proceedings of the Eighth Annual College of Education & GSN Research Conference, pp. 15-20. Miami: Florida International University, Available at http://coeweb.fiu.edu/research_conference. Bennis, W., & Nanus, B. (1985). The strategies for taking charge. Leaders, New York: Harper. Row. Berry, M. L. (2010). Predicting Turnover Intent: Examining the Effects of Employee Engagement, Compensation Fairness, Job Satisfaction, and Age. 122 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Bertocci, David I. Leadership in organisations: There is a difference between leaders and managers. University Press of America, 2009. Bhattacharya, M., Harold Doty, D., & Garavan, T. (2014). The organisational context and performance implications of human capital investment variability. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 25(1), 87-113. Blau, P.M. (1964). Exchange and power in social life. New York: Wiley. Boateng, R. (2014). Research Made Easy. Accra, Ghana: PearlRichards Foundation. Bodla, A. A., Hussain, M., & Chen, C. (2014). Determinants of Job Satisfaction in Academic Professionals of Pakistan. Sukkur Institute of Business Administration, 1, 20-39. Bokpin, G. A., Aboagye, A. Q., & Osei, K. A. (2010). Risk exposure and corporate financial policy on the Ghana Stock Exchange. The Journal of Risk Finance, 11(3), 323-332. Bosiok, D., & Sad, N. Serbia,(2013). Leadership styles and creativity. Online Journal of Applied Knowledge Management, 1(2), 64-77. Brad Shuck, M., Rocco, T. S., & Albornoz, C. A. (2011). Exploring employee engagement from the employee perspective: Implications for HRD. Journal of European Industrial Training, 35(4), 300-325. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101. doi: 10.1191/1478088706qp063oo Bryman, A. (2011). Research methods in the study of leadership. The SAGE handbook of leadership, 15-28. 123 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Burgoyne, J., & James, K. (2003). Towards Best Or Better Practice in Corporate Leadership Development: Issues in Mode 2 Research, Lancaster University Management School. Working Paper 2003/083. Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper & Row. Cartwright, S., & Holmes, N. (2006). The meaning of work: The challenge of regaining employee engagement and reducing cynicism. Human Resource Management Review, 16(2), 199-208. Chalofsky, N. E. (2010). Meaningful workplaces: Reframing how and where we work. John Wiley & Sons. Chandan, C. L., & Devi, R. (2014). A literature review on leadership styles. Journal of Management, 2(2), 2347-8217. Chang, C. H., Rosen, C. C., Siemieniec, G. M., & Johnson, R. E. (2012). Perceptions of organisational politics and employee citizenship behaviours: Conscientiousness and self-monitoring as moderators. Journal of Business and Psychology, 27(4), 395-406. Chemers, M. (2014). An integrative theory of leadership. Psychology Press. Christian, M. S., Garza, A. S., & Slaughter, J. E. (2011). Work engagement: A quantitative review and test of its relations with task and contextual performance. Personnel psychology, 64(1), 89-136. Collins, J., & Hussey, R. (2003). Business research. Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. 124 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Corbin, J. M., & Strauss, A. L. (2008). Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Coyle-Shapiro, J. A., & Shore, L. M. (2007). The employee–organisation relationship: Where do we go from here?. Human resource management review, 17(2), 166-179. Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (2nd ed.). Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, California. Creswell, J. W., & Miller, D. L. (2000). Determining Validity in Qualitative Inquiry. Theory into Practice, 39(3), 124-131. Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2007). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Crisci, A. (2012). Estimation methods for the structural equation models: maximum likelihood, partial least squares, generalized maximum entropy. Journal of Applied Quantitative Methods, 7, 3–17. Cronbach, L .J., & Meehl, P. E. (1955). Construct validity in psychological tests. Psychological Bulletin, 52, 281–302. Cronbach, L. J. (1971). Test validation. In R. L. Thorndike (Ed.). Educational measurement (2nd ed.). Washington, D. C.: American Council on Education. Cropanzano R., & Mitchell, M. S. (2005). Social exchange theory: An interdisciplinary review. Journal of Management, 31, 874-900. Crowther, D., & Lancaster, G. (2008). Research Methods: A Concise Introduction to Research in Management and Business Consultancy. Butterworth: Heinemann. 125 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Czarnowsky, M. (2008). Learning’s role in employee engagement: An ASTD research study. Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training and Development. Dansereau, F., Graen, G. B. & Haga, W. J. (1975). A vertical dyad linkage approach to leadership within formal organisations: A longitudinal investigation of the role-making process. Organisational Behaviour and Human Performance, 13, 46-78. Dartey-Baah, K. (2014). Effective leadership and sustainable development in Africa: is there “really” a link?. Journal of Global Responsibility, 5(2), 203-218. Dartey-Baah, K. (2015). Resilient leadership: A transformational-transactional leadership mix. Journal of Global Responsibility, 6(1), 99-112. Dartey-Baah, K. (2016). Goal integration through transformational leadership: A panacea to Ghana’s public sector corruption menace. Journal of Global Responsibility, 7(1), 4-25. Dartey-Baah, K., & Addo, S. A. (2018). Charismatic and corrective leadership dimensions as antecedents of employee safety behaviours: A structural model. Leadership & Organisation Development Journal, 39(2), 186-201. Dartey-Baah, K., & Ampofo, E. Y. (2015). Examining the influence of transformational and transactional leadership styles on perceived job stress among Ghanaian banking employees. International Journal of Business and Management, 10(8), 161. 126 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Dartey-Baah, K., Amponsah-Tawiah, K., & Sekyere-Abankwa, V. (2011). Leadership and organisational culture: Relevance in public sector organisations in Ghana. Business and Management Review, 1(4), 59-65. Dartey-Baah, K., Amponsah-Tawiah, K., & Sekyere-Abankwa, V. (2011). Leadership and organisational culture: Relevance in public sector organisations in Ghana. Business and Management Review, 1(4), 59-65. Datche, A. E., & Mukulu, E. (2015). The effects of transformational leadership on employee engagement: A survey of civil service in Kenya. Issues in Business Management and Economics, 3(1), 9-16. Dionne, S. D., Yammarino, F. J., Atwater, L. E., & Spangler, W. D. (2004). Transformational leadership and team performance. Journal of organisational change management, 17(2), 177-193. Dockery, T. M., & Steiner, D.D. (1990). The role of the initial interaction in leader member exchange. Group & Organisation Studies, 15, 395-413. Doyle, M. E., & Smith, M. K. (2001). Classical leadership. The encyclopedia of informal education, 5(1), 3-15. Duberley, J., Johnson, P., & Cassell, C. (2012). Philosophies underpinning qualitative research. Qualitative organisational research: Core methods and current challenges, 15. Easterby-Smith, M., Thorpe, R., & Jackson, P. R. (2012). Management research. Sage. Emerson, R. M. (1962). Power-dependence relations. American Journal of Sociological Review, 27 (February), 31-41. 127 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Epitropaki, O., & Martin, R. (2013). Transformational–transactional leadership and upward influence: The role of relative leader–member exchanges (RLMX) and perceived organisational support (POS). The Leadership Quarterly, 24(2), 299- 315. Eppard, R. G. (2004). A qualitative study of leadership styles and organisational culture. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Virginia Polytech Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia. Fashola, A. K., Akanni, A. A., & Ajila, C. O. (2016). Leadership style and perceived organisational politics as predictors of organisational commitment among civil servants in Osun State. Journal of Asian Development, 2(2), 33-47. Fearon, C., McLaughlin, H., & Morris, L. (2013). Conceptualising work engagement: An individual, collective and organisational efficacy perspective. European Journal of Training and Development, 37(3), 244-256. Fedor, D. B., & Maslyn, J. M. (2002). Politics and political behaviour: where else do we go from here?. In The many faces of multi-level issues (pp. 271-285). Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Ferris, G. R., & Kacmar, K. M. (1992). Perceptions of organisational politics. Journal of management, 18(1), 93-116. Ferris, G. R., Adams, G., Kolodinsky, R. W., Hochwarter, W. A., & Ammeter, A. P. (2002). Perceptions of organisational politics: Theory and research directions. In The many faces of multi-level issues (pp. 179-254). Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Fiedler, F.E. (1967). A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness. New York: McGraw Hill. 128 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating Structural Equation Models with Unobservable Variables and Measurement Error. JMR, Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39. Frazier, C. B., Ludwig, T. D., Whitaker, B., & Roberts, S. D. (2013). A hierarchical factor analysis of a safety culture survey. Journal of Safety Research, 45, 15–28. Gallagher, V. C., & Laird, M. D. (2008). The combined effect of political skill and political decision making on job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 38(9), 2336-2360. Galton, F. (1870). Hereditary Genius. New York: Appleton. Gebauer, J., Lowman, D., & Gordon, J. (2008). Closing the engagement gap: How great companies unlock employee potential for superior results. Penguin. Gefen, D., Straub, D. W., & Boudreau, M. (2000). Structural Equation Modeling Techniques and Regression: Guidelines For Research Practice. Communications of Association for Information Systems, 4(7), 1-77. Givens, R. J. (2008). Transformational leadership: The impact on organisational and personal outcomes. Emerging Leadership Journeys, 1(1), 4-24. Gold, M. S., & Bentler, P. M. (2000). Treatments of missing data: A Monte Carlo comparison of RBHDI, iterative stochastic regression imputation, and expectation-maximization. Structural Equation Modeling, 7(3), 319-355. Gouldner, A. W. (1960). The norm of reciprocity: a preliminary statement. American Sociological Review, 25, 161-178. Graen, G. B., & Scandura, T. A. (1987). Towards a psychology of dyadic organisaing. Research in Organisational Behaviour, 9, 175-208. 129 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Graen, G. B., & Uhl-Bien, M. (1995). Relationship-based approach to leadership: Development of leader–member exchange (LMX) theory of leadership over 25 years: Applying a multi-level multi-domain perspective. The Leadership Quarterly, 6, 219–247. Gulati, R., Mayo, A. J., & Nohria, N. (2016). Management: An integrated approach. Cengage Learning. Gyensare, M. A., Anku-Tsede, O., Sanda, M. A., & Okpoti, C. A. (2016). Transformational leadership and employee turnover intention: The mediating role of affective commitment. World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, 12(3), 243-266. Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., Anderson, R. E., & Tatham, R. L. (2006). Multivariate data analysis. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Hair, J. F., Jr., Anderson, R. E., Tatham, R. L., & Black, W. C. (1998). Multivariate Data Analysis with Readings (5th ed). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Hair, J. F., Sarstedt, M., Hopkins, L., & Kuppelwieser, V. G. (2014). Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM): An emerging tool in business research. European Business Review, 26(2), 106-121. Hair, J., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Upper saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education International. Hair, Jr., J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., Anderson, R. E., & Tatham, R. L. (2006). Multivariate data analysis (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson-Prentice Hall. 130 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Hall, J., Johnson, S., Wysocki, A., & Kepner, K. (2002). Transformational leadership: The transformation of managers and associates. University of Florida IFAS Extension. Hard, L. (2006). Horizontal violence in early childhood education and care: Implications for leadership enactment. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 31(3), 40-49. Harter, J. K., Schmidt, F. L., & Hayes, T. L. (2002). Business-unit-level relationship between employee satisfaction, employee engagement, and business outcomes: a meta-analysis. Journal of applied psychology, 87(2), 268. Hatch, M. J. (2018). Organisation theory: Modern, symbolic, and postmodern perspectives. Oxford university press. Hayati, D., Charkhabi, M., & Naami, A. (2014). The relationship between transformational leadership and work engagement in governmental hospitals nurses: a survey study. Springerplus, 3(1), 25. Hersey, P., & Blanchard, K. H. (1969). Life cycle theory of leadership. Training & Development Journal. Hewitt, A. (2014). 2012 Trends in global employee Engagement. Aon Corporation. Hickman, C. B. (1997). The devil and the one drop rule: Racial categories, African Americans, and the US census. Michigan Law Review, 95(5), 1161-1265. Homans, G. C. (1958). Social behaviour as exchange. American Journal of Sociology, 63 (May), 597-606. Homans, G. C. (1961). Social behaviour. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World. 131 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Homrig, M. A. (2001). Transformational leadership. Retrieved December, 5, 2008. Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1-55. Huang, Y., Lee, J., McFadden, A. C., Murphy, L. A., Robertson, M. M., Cheung, J. H., & Zohar, D. (2016). Beyond safety outcomes: An investigation of the impact of safety climate on job satisfaction, employee engagement and turnover using social exchange theory as the theoretical framework. Applied Ergonomics, 55, 248-257. Jam, F. A., Khan, T. I., Zaidi, B. H., & Muzaffar, S. M. (2011). Political skills moderates the relationship between perception of organisational politics and job outcomes. Journal of Educational and Social Research, 1(4), 57-70. James, K. T. (2011). Leadership in context lessons from new leadership theory and current leadership development practice. Commission on leadership and management in the NHS. The King’s Fund. Johnson, P., & Duberley, J. (2000). Understanding management research: An introduction to epistemology. Sage. Jones, J. R., & Harter, J. K. (2005). Race effects on the employee engagement- turnover intention relationship. Journal of Leadership & Organisational Studies, 11(2), 78-88. Judge, T. A., & Kammeyer-Mueller, J. D. (2012). Job attitudes. Annual review of psychology, 63, 341-367. 132 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Judge, T. A., & Piccolo, R. F. (2004). Transformational and transactional leadership: a meta-analytic test of their relative validity. Journal of applied psychology, 89(5), 755. Jung, D. I., & Sosik, J. J. (2002). Transformational leadership in work groups: The role of empowerment, cohesiveness, and collective-efficacy on perceived group performance. Small group research, 33(3), 313-336. Kacmar, K. M., & Carlson, D. S. (1997). Further validation of the perceptions of politics scale (POPS): A multiple sample investigation. Journal of management, 23(5), 627-658. Kacmar, K. M., & Ferris, G. R. (1991). Perceptions of organisational politics scale (POPS): Development and construct validation. Educational and Psychological measurement, 51(1), 193-205. Kahn, W. A. (1990). Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work. Academy of management journal, 33(4), 692-724. Kenny, A. D. (2016). Multiple latent variable models: Confirmatory factor analysis. Retrieved on March, 12, 2018 from http://davidakenny.net/cm/mfactor.htm Khuong, M. N., & Yen, N. H. (2014). The effects of leadership styles and sociability trait emotional intelligence on employee engagement. A study in Binh Duong City, Vietnam. International Journal of Current Research and Academic Review, 2(1), 121-136. Kim, J. Y., Farmer, P., & Porter, M. E. (2013). Redefining global health-care delivery. The Lancet, 382(9897), 1060-1069. 133 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Kim, S. (2003). Research Paradigms in Organisational Learning and Performance: Competing Modes of Inquiry. Information Technology Learning and Performance Journal, 21(1), 9-18. Konrad, A. M., & Kramer, V. W. (2006). How many women do boards need. Harvard business review, 84(12), 22. Kothari, R.C (2004). Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques. (2nd ed.). New Age International Publishers. Krejcie, R. V., & Morgan, D. W. (1970). Determining Sample Size for Research Activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30(3), 607-610 Krishnan, V. R. (2005). Transformational leadership and outcomes: Role of relationship duration. Leadership & Organisation Development Journal, 26(6), 442-457. Kuntz, J., & Roberts, A. (2014). Engagement and identification: an investigation of social and organisational predictors in an HR offshoring context. Strategic Outsourcing: An International Journal, 7(3), 253-274. Kurchner-Hawkins, R., & Miller, R. (2006). Organisational politics: Building positive political strategies in turbulent times. Handbook of organisational politics, 1, 328-351. Lai, A. (2011). Transformational-transactional leadership theory. AHS Capstone Projects. Paper, 17. Lewin, K., Lippitt, R., & White, R. K. (1939). Patterns of aggressive behaviour in experimentally created “social climates”. The Journal of social psychology, 10(2), 269-299. 134 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Liden, R. C., & Maslyn, J. M. (1998). Multidimensionafity of leader-member exchange: An empirical assessment through scale development. Journal of management, 24(1), 43-72. Little, R. J. A., & Rubin, D. B. (1987). Statistical Analysis with Missing Data. John Wiley and Sons, New York. Lord, R. G., Brown, D. J., & Freiberg, S. J. (1999). Understanding the dynamics of leadership: The role of follower self-concepts in the leader–follower relationship. Organisational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, 78, 167–203. Macey, W. H., & Schneider, B. (2008). The meaning of employee engagement. Industrial and organisational Psychology, 1(1), 3-30. Malhotra, N. K., & Dash, S. (2011). Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation. London: Pearson. Maslach, C. (2011). Engagement research: Some thoughts from a burnout perspective. European Journal of Work and Organisational Psychology, 20(1), 47-52. Maslach, C. (2011). Engagement research: Some thoughts from a burnout perspective. European Journal of Work and Organisational Psychology, 20(1), 47-52. May, D. R., Gilson, R. L., & Harter, L. M. (2004). The psychological conditions of meaningfulness, safety and availability and the engagement of the human spirit at work. Journal of occupational and organisational psychology, 77(1), 11-37. 135 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh McCleskey, J. A. (2014). Situational, transformational, and transactional leadership and leadership development. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 5(4), 117. McGregor, D. (1960). The human side of enterprise. New York: McGraw-Hill. McGregor, D. (1966). Leadership and motivation. Cambridge, Ma: MIT Press. Mekpor, B., & Dartey-Baah, K. (2017). Leadership styles and employees’ voluntary work behaviours in the Ghanaian banking sector. Leadership & Organisation Development Journal, 38(1), 74-88. Memon, K. R. (2014). Effects of leadership styles on employee performance: Integrating the mediating role of culture, gender and moderating role of communication. Meriac, J. P., & Villanova, P. D. (2006). 2 Agreeableness and extraversion as moderators of the political influence compatibility–work outcomes relationship. Handbook of organisational politics, 16. Mester, C., Visser, D., Roodt, G., & Kellerman, R. (2003). Leadership style and its relation to employee attitudes and behaviour. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 29(2), 72-82. Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook, (2nd ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Miller, R. L., & Brewer, J. D (2003). The A-Z of Social Research- A dictionary of key social science research concepts. London: Sage. Modassir, A., & Singh, T. (2008). Relationship of emotional intelligence with transformational leadership and organisational citizenship behaviour. International journal of leadership studies, 4(1), 3-21. 136 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Mohamad, M., Silong, A. D., & Hassan, Z. (2009). Participative and effective community leadership practice in Malaysia. Journal of Human Resource and Adult Learning, 5(1), 139-147. Myers, M. D., & Avison, D. (Eds.). (2002). Qualitative research in information systems: a reader. Sage. Nemaei, B. (2012). The Impact of participative leadership on employee's motivation, job satisfaction and innovation(Doctoral dissertation, The British University in Dubai (BUiD)). Newman, D. A., & Harrison, D. A. (2008). Been there, bottled that: Are state and behavioural work engagement new and useful construct “wines”?. Industrial and Organisational Psychology, 1(1), 31-35. Newman, D. A., Joseph, D. L., Sparkman, T. E., & Carpenter, N. C. (2011). Invited reaction: The work cognition inventory: Initial evidence of construct validity. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 22(1), 37-47. Nicholls, J. R. (1985). A new approach to situational leadership. Leadership & Organisation Development Journal, 6(4), 2-7. Nikezic, S., Puric, S., & Puric, J. (2012). Transactional and transformational leadership: Development through changes. International Journal for Quality Research, 6(3), 285-296. Northouse, P. G. (2004). Leadership theory and practice (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications. 137 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Nunkoo, R. (2016). Toward a More Comprehensive Use of Social Exchange Theory to Study Residents’ Attitudes to Tourism. Procedia Economics and Finance, 39, 588–596. Obiwuru, T. C., Okwu, A. T., Akpa, V. O., & Nwankwere, I. A. (2011). Effects of leadership style on organisational performance: A survey of selected small scale enterprises in Ikosi-Ketu council development area of Lagos State, Nigeria. Australian journal of business and management research, 1(7), 100. Obuobisa-Darko, E., & Obuobisa-Darko, T. (2015). Leadership and Employee Satisfaction in the Ghanaian Banking Sector. Leadership, 7(8). Odumeru, J. A., & Ogbonna, I. G. (2013). Transformational vs. transactional leadership theories: Evidence in literature. International Review of Management and Business Research, 2(2), 355. Omolayo, B. (2007). Effect of leadership style on job-related tension and psychological sense of community in work organisations: A case study of four organisations in Lagos State, Nigeria. Bangladesh e-Journal of Sociology, 4(2), 30-37. Osman, M. N. H., & Nahara, H. S. (2015). Understanding and Assessing Governance Agents’ Relationships: The Contribution of Leader-Member Exchange Theory. Procedia Economics and Finance, 31, 746–758. Ouchi, W. G. (1981). The Z organisation. Classics of organisation theory, 451-460. Peretomode, O. (2012). Situational and contingency theories of leadership: Are they the Same. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 4(3), 13-17. 138 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Popli, S., & Rizvi, I. A. (2016). Drivers of employee engagement: The role of leadership style. Global Business Review, 17(4), 965-979. Prasad, B., & Junni, P. (2016). CEO transformational and transactional leadership and organisational innovation: The moderating role of environmental dynamism. Management Decision, 54(7), 1542-1568. Puni, A., Ofei, S. B., & Okoe, A. (2014). The effect of leadership styles on firm performance in Ghana. International Journal of Marketing Studies, 6(1), 177. Purcell, J. (2014). Disengaging from engagement. Human Resource Management Journal, 24(3), 241-254. Ram, P., & Prabhakar, G. V. (2011). The role of employee engagement in work- related outcomes. Interdisciplinary Journal of Research in Business, 1(3), 47- 61. Rao, H., & Kenney, M. (2008). New forms as settlements. The Sage handbook of organisational institutionalism, 352-370. Reddy, P. N., & Acharyulu, G. V. (2008). Marketing Research. New Delhi: Excel Books Reid, H., Flin, R., & Mearns, K. (2008). Influence from the Top: Senior Managers and Safety Leadership. 2008 SPE International Conference on Health, Safety, and Environment in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production. SPE, Huston, USA, pp. 1–5. Rich, B. L., Lepine, J. A., & Crawford, E. R. (2010). Job engagement: Antecedents and effects on job performance. Academy of management journal, 53(3), 617- 635. 139 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Rosen, C. C. (2006). Politics, stress, and exchange perceptions: A dual process model relating organisational politics to employee outcomes (Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron). Rosen, C. C., Chang, C. H., Johnson, R. E., & Levy, P. E. (2009). Perceptions of the organisational context and psychological contract breach: Assessing competing perspectives. Organisational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, 108(2), 202-217. Rüschoff, B. (2008). Uncovering individual potential: An integrative approach to LMX and transformational leadership(Bachelor's thesis, University of Twente). Saks, A. M. (2006). Antecedents and consequences of employee engagement. Journal of managerial psychology, 21(7), 600-619. Sanchez, P., & McCauley, D. (2006). Measuring and managing engagement in a cross‐cultural workforce: new insights for global companies. Global Business and Organisational Excellence, 26(1), 41-50. Sanda, M. A., & Sraha, Y. (2011). Leadership in influencing and managing change in Ghanaian non-bank firms. International Journal of Business Administration, 2(2), 3. Saunders, M. L., & Lewis, P. (2009). P. & Thornhill, A.(2009). Research methods for business students, 4. Saunders, M. N., & Lewis, P. (2012). Doing research in business & management: An essential guide to planning your project. Pearson. Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2012). Research Methods for business students, 6th ed. London: Pearson education. 140 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Scandura, T. A., Graen, G. B., & Novak, M. A. (1986). When managers decide not to decide autocratically: An investigation of leader-member exchange and decision influence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71, 579-584. Schaufeli, W. B. (2013). What is engagement. Employee engagement in theory and practice, 15, 321. Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2004). Job demands, job resources, and their relationship with burnout and engagement: A multi‐sample study. Journal of organisational Behaviour, 25(3), 293-315. Schaufeli, W. B., Salanova, M., González-Romá, V., & Bakker, A. B. (2002). The measurement of engagement and burnout: A two sample confirmatory factor analytic approach. Journal of Happiness studies, 3(1), 71-92. Schedlitzki, D., & Edwards, G. (2017). Studying leadership: traditional and critical approaches. Sage. Schreiber, J. B., Nora, A., Stage, F. K., Barlow, E. A., & King, J. (2006). Reporting Structural Equation Modeling and Confirmatory Factor Analysis Results: A Review. The Journal of Educational Research, 99(6), 323-337. Sekaran, U. (2000). Research Method for Business: A Skill-Building Approach (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Sekaran, U. (2003). Research Methods for Business (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Sendjaya, S. (2016). Personal and organisational excellence through servant leadership. Springer International Pu. 141 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Shastri, R. K., Mishra, K. S., & Sinha, A. (2010). Charismatic leadership and organisational commitment: An Indian perspective. African journal of business management, 4(10), 1946. Shuck, B., & Herd, A. M. (2012). Employee engagement and leadership: Exploring the convergence of two frameworks and implications for leadership development in HRD. Human resource development review, 11(2), 156-181. Shuck, B., & Reio Jr, T. G. (2014). Employee engagement and well-being: A moderation model and implications for practice. Journal of Leadership & Organisational Studies, 21(1), 43-58. Shuck, B., & Wollard, K. (2010). Employee engagement and HRD: A seminal review of the foundations. Human Resource Development Review, 9(1), 89-110. Silverman, D. (2013). Doing qualitative research: A practical handbook. SAGE Publications Limited. Simon, M. K. (2011). Dissertation and Scholarly Research: Recipes for Success. Seattle, WA: Dissertation Success, LLC. Sissy, A. M., Amidu, M., & Abor, J. Y. (2017). The effects of revenue diversification and cross border banking on risk and return of banks in Africa. Research in International Business and Finance, 40, 1-18. Sluss, D. M., van Dick, R., & Thompson, B. S. (2011). Role theory in organisations: A relational perspective. APA handbook of industrial and organisational psychology, 1, 505-534. Sorenson, S. (2013). How employee engagement drives growth. Gallup business journal, 1, 1-4. 142 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Stergiopoulou, E. (2014). Examining a model of antecedents and consequences of perceptions of organisational politics (POPS) (Doctoral dissertation, Durham University). Symon, G., & Cassell, C. (Eds.). (2012). Qualitative organisational research: core methods and current challenges. Sage. Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (1996). Using Multivariate Statistics (3rd ed.). New York: Harper Collins. Takala, T., & Kemppainen, K. (2007). “Great Finns”- Perspectives on Greatness, Charisma and Good Leadership. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 5(1), 115-129. Tarsik, N. F., Kassim, N. A., & Nasharudin, N. (2014). Transformational, Transactional or Laissez-Faire: What Styles do University Librarians Practice?. Journal of Organisational Management Studies, 2014, 1. Teshome, T. (2013). The relationship between leadership styles and employee commitment in private higher education institutions at Addis Ababa City. Thibaut, J. W., & Kelley, H. H. (1959). The Social Psychology of Groups. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Timms, C., Brough, P., O'Driscoll, M., Kalliath, T., Siu, O. L., Sit, C., & Lo, D. (2015). Flexible work arrangements, work engagement, turnover intentions and psychological health. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 53(1), 83-103. Tims, M., Bakker, A. B., & Xanthopoulou, D. (2011). Do transformational leaders enhance their followers' daily work engagement?. The Leadership Quarterly, 22(1), 121-131. 143 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Trottier, T., Van Wart, M., & Wang, X. (2008). Examining the nature and significance of leadership in government organisations. Public administration review, 68(2), 319-333. Truss, C., Delbridge, R., & Alfes, K. S. A. and Soane, E.(2014). Introduction. Employee engagement in theory and practice, 1-11. Uhl-Bien, M., & Maslyn, J. (2003). Reciprocity in manager-subordinate relationships: components, configurations, and outcomes. Journal of Management, 29, 511- 532. Uhl-Bien, M., Graen, G. B. & Scandura, T.A. (2000). Implications of leader-member exchange (LMX) for strategic human resource management systems: Relationships as social capital for competitive advantage. Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management, 18, 137-185. Van de Ven, A. H., & Poole, M. S. (2005). Alternative approaches for studying organisational change. Organisation studies, 26(9), 1377-1404. Vigoda-Gadot, E. (2007). Leadership style, organisational politics, and employees' performance: An empirical examination of two competing models. Personnel Review, 36(5), 661-683. Vigoda-Gadot, E., & Beeri, I. (2011). Change-oriented organisational citizenship behaviour in public administration: The power of leadership and the cost of organisational politics. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 22(3), 573-596. 144 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Vigoda-Gadot, E., & Kapun, D. (2005). Perceptions of politics and perceived performance in public and private organisations: a test of one model across two sectors. Policy & Politics, 33(2), 251-276. Vigoda‐Gadot, E., & Talmud, I. (2010). Organisational politics and job outcomes: The moderating effect of trust and social support. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 40(11), 2829-2861. Wagner, R., & Harter, J. K. (2006). 12: The great elements of managing. Walumbwa, F. O., & Hartnell, C. A. (2011). Understanding transformational leadership–employee performance links: The role of relational identification and self‐efficacy. Journal of occupational and organisational psychology, 84(1), 153-172. Wang, H., Law, K. S., Hackett, R. D., Wang, D., & Chen, Z. X. (2005). Leader- member exchange as a mediator of the relationship between transformational leadership and followers' performance and organisational citizenship behaviour. Academy of management Journal, 48(3), 420-432. Wang, P., & Walumbwa, F. O. (2007). Family‐friendly programs, organisational commitment, and work withdrawal: the moderating role of transformational leadership. Personnel Psychology, 60(2), 397-427. Weihrich, H., Cannice, M. V., & Koontz, H. (2008). Management-globalization and entrepreneurship perspectives. Wellins, R. S., Smith, A. B., & Erker, S. (2009). Nine best practices for effective talent management. Development dimensions international, 1-14. 145 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Whitener, E. M., Brodt, S. E., Korsgaard, M. A., & Werner, J. M. (1998). Managers as initiators of trust: An exchange relationship framework for understanding managerial trustworthy behaviour. The Academy of Management Review, 23(3), 513-530. Woods, F. A. (1913). The Influence of Monarchs. New York: Macmillan. Wu, T. C., Chen, C. H., & Li, C. C. (2007). Correlation among safety leadership, safety climate and safety performance. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 6(3), 261-272. Xu, J., & Cooper Thomas, H. (2011). How can leaders achieve high employee engagement?. Leadership & Organisation Development Journal, 32(4), 399- 416. Yasin Ghadi, M., Fernando, M., & Caputi, P. (2013). Transformational leadership and work engagement: The mediating effect of meaning in work. Leadership & Organisation Development Journal, 34(6), 532-550. Yukl, G. (2008). How leaders influence organisational effectiveness. The leadership quarterly, 19(6), 708-722. Zhang, J. (2010). The relationship between perceived leadership styles and employee engagement: the mediating role of employee characteristics. International Journal of Research Publications, 4(6), 321-332. Zhang, Y. (2016). A review of employee turnover influence factor and countermeasure. Journal of Human Resource and Sustainability Studies, 4(02), 85. 146 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Zigarmi, D., Nimon, K., Houson, D., Witt, D., & Diehl, J. (2009). Beyond engagement: Toward a framework and operational definition for employee work passion. Human Resource Development Review, 8(3), 300-326. 147 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDIX A Questionnaire Dear Respondent, Thank you in advance for completing this question for my research. I am a student of University of Ghana currently conducting a study on “Leadership styles, Perceived Organisational Politics and Employees’ Work Engagement”. The study is meant for academic purpose only, therefore, any information provided would be treated with utmost confidentiality. It is against these backdrops, therefore, that your input is very important to make this study a success. Thank you very much. SECTION A: DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION Please answer by ticking “√” in the box beside your choice Please answer by ticking “√” in the box beside your choice 1. Gender: Male Female 2. Age: Under 21 ; 21-30; 31-40; 41-50; 51-60 60+ 3. Educational Qualification: First Degree Masters Doctorate Professional Certificate Other please state…………………….. 4. Number of years worked in the organisation: Less than 1yr 1-3years 4-7years 8-10 years 11-13years 14+ 5. Marital Status: Single Married Divorced Widowed Separated 6. Employment type: Permanent Staff Temporary Staff Contract Staff 7. Type of Organisation: Public Private 148 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh SECTION B: ORGANISATIONAL LEADERSHIP QUESTIONNAIRE The following statements illustrate the extent to which your supervisor is likely or unlikely to engage you at work. Please respond to each statement by ticking in the boxes the appropriate alternatives below the scales that best describes your supervisor. Use the following scale: 1= Not at all, 2= Once in a while, 3= Sometimes, 4= Fairly often, 5= Frequently, if not always. My Supervisor: 1 2 3 4 5 1. Instills pride in me for being associated with him/her 2. Goes beyond self-interest for the good of the group 3. Acts in ways that build my respect 4. Displays a sense of power and confidence 5. Talks about his/her most important values and beliefs 6. Specifies the importance of having a strong sense of decisions 7. Emphasizes the importance of having a collective sense of mission 8. Talks optimistically about the future 9. Talks enthusiastically about what needs to be accomplished 10. Expresses a compelling vision of the Future 11. Expresses confidence that goals will be achieved 12. Re-examines critical assumptions to questions whether they are appropriate or not 13. Seeks differing perspectives when solving problems 14. Gets me to look at problems from many different angles 15. Suggests new ways of looking at how to complete assignments 16. Spends time teaching and coaching 17. Treats me as individual rather than just a member of team 18. Considers me as having different needs, abilities and aspirations from others 19. Helps me to develop strengths 20. Provides me with assistance in exchange for my efforts 149 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 21. Discusses in specific terms who is responsible for achieving performance targets 22. Makes clear what I can expect to receive when performance goals are achieved 23. Expresses satisfaction when I meet expectations 24. Focuses attention on irregularities, mistakes, exceptions and deviations from standards 25. Concentrates his/her full attention on dealing with mistakes, complaints 26. Keeps track of all mistakes 27. Directs my attention toward failures to meet Standards 28. Fails to interfere until problems become serious 29. Waits for things to go wrong before taking action 30. Shows that he/she is a firm believer in “if it will not break, don’t fix it” 3“1if. iDt ewmilol nsottr abtreesa tkh,a dt opnr’otb fliexm its” m ust become chronic before taking action become chronic before taking action SECTION B: PERCIEVED ORGANISATIONAL POLITICS The following statements illustrate the extent to which you perceive politics in your organisation. Please respond to each statement by ticking in the boxes the appropriate alternatives below the scales that best describes your supervisor. Use the following scale: 1= Strongly disagree, 2= Disagree, 3= Neither disagree or agree, 4= Agree, 5= Strongly agree 1 2 3 4 5 32. When it comes to pay raises and promotion decisions, policies are irrelevant 33. Agreeing with powerful others is the best alternative in this organisation 34. Promotions around here are not valued much because how they are determined is so political 35. Displays a sense of power and confidence 36. I have seen changes made here that only serve the purpose of a few individuals, not the whole work unit or department 37. Sometimes it is easier to remain quiet than to fight the system 38. Favoritism, rather than merit, determines who gets good raises and promotions around here 39. 150 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 40. Telling others what they want to hear is sometimes better than telling the 
 truth. 10. It is safer to think what you are told than to make up your o4w1n. mind. 42. Inconsistent with organizational policies, promotions in 1. t his organization generally do not go to top performers. 43. None of the raises I have received are consistent with the policies on how raises should be determined. 13. This organisation is not known for its fair pay and p4r4o.m otion policy 45. Rewards such as pay raises do not go to those who work hard 46. The stated pay and promotion policies have nothing to do with how pay raises and promotions are determined SECTION D: WORK ENGAGEMENT Please indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with each statement by checking or ticking the box under your response option. Use the following scale: 1= Strongly disagree, 2= Disagree, 3 = Moderately disagree, 4 = Neutral, 5 = Moderately agree, 6 = Agree, 7= Strongly agree. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 47 At my work, I feel bursting with energy. 48 At my job, I feel strong and vigorous. 49 I am enthusiastic about my job. 50 My job inspires me. 51 When I get up in the morning, I feel like going to work. 52 I feel happy when I am working intensely. 52 I am proud on the work that I do. 151 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 54 I am immersed in my work. 55 I get carried away when I’m working. 152 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDIX B TEST OF NORMALITY OF DATA Tests of Normality Kolmogorov-Smirnova Shapiro-Wilk Statistic df Sig. Statistic df Sig. TFL .091 430 .000 .971 430 .000 TSL .115 430 .000 .967 430 .000 WE .082 430 .000 .971 430 .000 POPS .085 430 .000 .986 430 .000 a. Lilliefors Significance Correction Transformational Leadership style 153 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Transactional Leadership styles 154 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Work Engagement 155 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh POPS 156 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 157