A Study Of The Impact Of Leadership Styles On Performance In Zimbabwe State-owned Enterprises: The Case Of Air Zimbabwe And The National Railways Of Zimbabwe (Between 2000-2010)

The purpose of this paper was to examine the impact of leadership style on organisational performance of State-Owned Enterprises in Zimbabwe. The Descriptive and Explanatory study was conducted with a population of 300 selected from all the participating State-Owned Enterprises. Purposive, random and convenience sampling techniques were adopted in selecting respondents for the study, while relevant data was gathered with the aid of a structured questionnaire and interviews. The Descriptive and Explanatory research method was adopted. The research analysed various leadership styles and theories and their impact on performance of organisations. The relationship between the independent and the dependent variables was analysed and tested via Pearson Chi Square Tests with the aid of SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 20.0). The findings of this study pointed out that a close relationship exists between leadership style and performance of the organisation. The following recommendations were made. There should be training of managers and employees on the principles that are very important for effective performance. And also those employees should be effectively motivated. Management should also create enabling environment and rules for both leaders and subordinates to carry out activities together as this will give all employee sense of a belonging. Based on the findings of this study, it is concluded that leadership style has both positive and negative effect on organizational performance. The study found that transactional and transformational democratic leadership styles, in which employees are allowed to have sense of belonging, carry out higher responsibility with little supervision, and followers are helped to achieve their visions and needs enhance organizational efficiency.