The nature of the relationship between leadership behaviour and organisational culture in a South African context

Abstract

In South Africa change at the workplace is taking place against a backdrop of radical political and social reform. South Africa is home to a wide variety of languages, cultures and races. To prepare leaders for challenges associated with change and culture in their workplace, the relationship between leadership behaviour and organisational culture requires further examination, and more so in the South African context. Most studies about leadership and its effect on organisational culture focus on the leadership behaviour of leaders at the higher echelons of management. It appears that middle and senior management are considered not to have a meaningful impact on the culture of the business unit reporting to them. Yet, middle and senior management are often closer to the operation than top management, and as such, have the potential to create sub-cultures by leading through certain leadership behaviours. Hence, the relationship between leadership behaviour and organisational culture within smaller business units forms the central focus of this study. A two-pronged questionnaire was completed by 51 respondents, measuring their perceptions of organisational culture in their department through the Organisational Culture Profile (OCP) and leadership behaviour of their senior manager through the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire Form XII (LBDQ XII). The results indicate significant COffelations between leadership behaviour and organisational sub-culture on senior management level.