Parochial Analysis of Leadership Styles and the Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in Ondo State, Nigeria
Abstract
This study investigated the effect of leadership styles on the performance of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in Ondo State, Nigeria. The management of SMEs in Nigeria, particularly, in Ondo State, faces multifaceted challenges that may hinder their effectiveness and survival. The population of the study consisted of 1,026,770 SMEs in Ondo State out of which 400 was drawn as the sample size based on Taro Yamane sample size formula. The study was carried out on 400 respondents through a five point likert scale to analyse their responses on the questionnaire distributed. The sampling technique for this study was the simple random sampling technique. Chi-square (χ2) and Ordinary Least Square Regression analysis were adopted for the analysis. Findings revealed that democratic leadership style and laissez-faire leadership style had significant and positive effect on SMEs performance in Ondo state while autocratic leadership style has negative relationship on SMEs performance. The study concluded that democratic and laissez-faire leadership styles dominated the operations of most of the managers or owners of the SMEs in Ondo State, Nigeria. The study recommended that SMEs in Ondo state should adopt the democratic style of leadership and humane management practices in order to adequately commit the workforce to the work activities, particularly at this period of socio-economic and political instability of the economy.Keywords: Leadership, Leadership Styles, Democratic Leadership, Autocratic Leadership, Laissez-faire leadershipCopyright (c) 2021 Ebenezer A. ALO, Olukemi C. BODUNRIN, Charity O. NJOKU

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