Effect of Leadership Styles on Organization Competitive Advantage A Case of Amica Savings and Credit Co-Operative Society Limited in Murang’a County

Abstract

Leadership style has an immense impact on employee performance and organization leadership has a duty to adopt the right styles and deploy it for the attainment of competitive advantage. This study examined the leadership styles practiced and their effect on competitive advantage in the Amica Saving and Credit LTD. Its objectives were to identify leadership styles used in the running of Amica Savings and Credit, determine the major leadership challenges affecting the growth of Amica Savings and Credit, identify the sources of competitive advantage at Amica Savings and Credit, and examine the effect of leadership styles on competitive advantage at Amica Savings and Credit. The study adopted the descriptive research design and its target population included board of governors, departmental heads, and the branch managers and their assistants at the Sacco. A census approach was used to select 62 respondents and questionnaires were used in data collection. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 23 was used in data analysis. The study found that these four leadership styles were employed in the running of the Sacco: transformational at (30%), transactional at (28.4%), democratic at (24.6%), and situational at (16.9%). The research also revealed that the Sacco was affected by a number of challenges in managing competition including the challenge of innovation, management of change and uncertainty, meeting the demand of the various stakeholders and financial strains. The study concluded that the leadership styles had significant effect on competitive advantage of the Sacco. The study recommended that the Sacco leadership should explore and adopt other leadership style that might be more effective.