Leadership style as a predictor of employee commitment in university libraries in South-West, Nigeria

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of leadership style (LS) on employee commitment (EC) in university libraries in South-West, Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a survey research design. The population of the study consisted of 684 librarians from 43 universities in the six states of South-West, Nigeria. A validated questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings Findings showed that the level of EC in university libraries in South-West, Nigeria was fairly high (M=2.64 on a four-point scale). LS had a significant influence on EC in university libraries in South-West, Nigeria (β=0.245, R2=0.276, p<0.05). However, transformational LS (β=0.383, p<0.05) relatively contributed more to EC than transactional LS (β=0.183, p<0.05). Research limitations/implications A limitation of the study was that the study was done in all the university libraries in South-Western region of Nigeria which may affect the inference of the study results to other university libraries outside this region. Practical implications The findings of the study will be of benefit to academic institutions, library management and librarians on planning and decision making regarding personnel management. Originality/value The study therefore recommends that administrators, library managers should adopt transformational LS.

Leadership styles, organisational rewards and employees’ commitment in academic libraries

“…Libraries operate effectively when their employees are committed to the principles, ethics and objectives of the library (Mayowa-Adebara and Opeke, 2019). Conversely, the performance of a library is diminished when the level of commitment of its employees is low and, as a result, the employees simply put in the minimum performance needed to maintain their employment (Akinyemi and Ifijeh, 2013).…”

“…Absorbing these pressures requires a high level of employee commitment. Employee commitment is among the main work attitudes investigated by scholars in librarianship in the contemporary era, in which the demand for quality services from libraries is increasing perpetually (Banji, 2020; Mayowa-Adebara, 2018). The literature has revealed that employee commitment is a key determinant of the success or failure of a library (Ogunbanjo, 2021).…”

“…The existing literature fails to juxtapose the extent of the leadership styles of heads of libraries with the extent of organisational rewards and commitment of library staff from the views of heads of libraries and subordinate staff. Also, some of the existing studies seem to disagree with regard to the effect of a number of types of leadership styles and organisational rewards on some of the elements of employee commitment (Mayowa-Adebara, 2018; Mayowa-Adebara and Opeke, 2019). This study wishes to establish in the literature how different kinds of leadership styles and organisational rewards determine employees’ commitment in academic libraries in Nigeria.…”

Modelling the effect of perceived organisational policies on knowledge management in libraries: Focus on the moderating role of transformational leadership and professional commitment

“…These include examining the consequences of TL, such as developing a shared organisational vision, developing models for implementing goals, collaboration, emotional motivation or assessing its effect on the staff's performance. Several previous studies in LIS have also examined the role of TL in the librarians' performance [66][67][68][69]. Few studies have also addressed assessing the effect of this type of leadership on KM in libraries [9].…”

“…LIS researchers in the field of Human Resource Management believe that committed librarians have a strong belief in the goals of their profession. They consciously strive to develop their professional standards to promote the profession by accepting the organisational goals [69,77]. These librarians are highly enthusiastic to enhance their skills and specialised knowledge by attending in-service training courses and scientific meetings related to the profession.…”