DEANS’ ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP STYLES AND ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF LAGOS STATE-OWNED UNIVERSITIES, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between Deans’ administrative leadership style and organizational performance of Lagos state-owned universities, Nigeria. The study was anchored on transformational leadership theory. The correlational design was adopted and population of the study comprised of 1,650 academic staff of three Lagos State-owned universities, Nigeria. Taro Yamane was used to determine sample size of 322 academic staff selected through simple random sampling. Three research questions were raised and three null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Two research instruments titled: ‘Deans’ Administrative Leadership Style Questionnaire’ (DALSQ) and Organisational Performance Questionnaire’ (OPQ) were used for data collection. The validity of the instruments was determined by test expert and the reliability subjected to Cronbach alpha at 0.72 and 0.74. The data collected were analysed using Pearson Product Moment correlation to test hypotheses formulated through Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 26.0. The findings of hypotheses 1, 2 and 3 showed that: a significant relationship existed between Deans’ transformational leadership style and organizational performance of Lagos state-owned universities, Nigeria (r=.621; N=322; p<0.05); a significant relationship existed between deans’ situational leadership style and organizational performance of Lagos state-owned universities, Nigeria (r =.642; N=322; p<0.05); and a significant relationship existed between deans’ administrative leadership style and organizational performance of Lagos state-owned universities, Nigeria (r = .681; N=322; p<0.05). Based on the findings, the study concluded that transformational and situational leadership styles significantly contributed to the administrative leadership style of faculty deans and improve organizational performance in Lagos State-owned universities. Therefore, it was recommended amongst others that management of Lagos State universities should design a continuous leadership training programs to enhance deans’ competencies in transformational, situational, and administrative leadership.