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Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONEINTRODUCTION1.1 BackgroundThe ethical and performance challenges inherent to the current, turbulent work environment have called for a new approach to leadership (Avolio & Gardner, 2005). Authentic leadership is an old phenomenon that has recently sparked a new research interest in management and the human resource development literature (Peus, Wesche, Streicher, Braun, & Frey, 2012). In recent times the Ghanaian banking industry has been hit by shocks to the extent that some banks have run out of business. While some scholars have attributed the failure in the banking industry to failure in leadership, others suggest that the way forward could be having authentic leadership and authentic followership.It is worth noting that quite a number of scholars are making efforts to address the concept of authentic leadership (Northouse, 2010; Walumbwa et al., 2008). Scholarly interest in this new perspective of leadership stems from the positive effect of authentic leadership on employee and organizational performance (Hmieleski, Cole, & Baron, 2012; Walumbwa et al., 2008; Walumbwa et al., 2010; Walumbwa et al., 2011), and also authentic followership. Consideration of authentic followership is important to understand how authentic leadership fosters followers’ autonomous work motivation (Deci & Ryan, 2000). This study aims at examining the effects of authentic leadership and authentic followership and work-role performance of employees in Ghana’s banking industry. The study will specifically investigate if there is a relationship between authentic leadership and authentic followership on work role performance.According to Avolio et al. (2004), authentic leaders facilitate higher quality relationships leading to active engagement of employees in workplace activities, which results in greater job satisfaction and higher productivity and performance. Moreover, authentic leaders are able to achieve high levels of authenticity because they know who they are and understand their values which guide them in their work (Avolio et al., 2004). Authentic leadership is proposed as the root component of effective leadership that is needed to build healthy work environments to promote positive healthcare staff and patient outcomes (Avolio et al., 2004; Wong and Cummings, 2009a). A healthy work environment refers to a safe, empowering, and satisfying environment and a place that supports optimal health and safety of staff and patients (ANA, 2018).Recently, authentic leadership theory has gained empirical support in both management and nursing literature and can be considered a guide for researchers and leaders to identify the process by which leaders influence staff attitudes and behaviours. (Avolio et al., 2004: Laschinger et al., 2015). Authentic leaders are able to enhance the engagement, motivation, commitment, satisfaction, and involvement required from staff to constantly improve their work and performance outcomes through the development of personal identification with the leader and social identification with the work unit/organization (Kark and Shamir, 2002).Authentic followership is an integral component and consequence of authentic leadership development. Authentic followership development is largely modelled by the authentic leader to produce heightened levels of follower’s self-awareness and self-regulation leading to positive follower development and outcomes. Among the desirable follower outcomes posited to arise from authentic leadership and followership are heightened levels of trust, engagement, which is defined as “involvement and satisfaction with as well as enthusiasm for work”(Harter, Schmidt,& keyes, 2003), and well-being . Again this followership process is intended to be both an important part of and product of authentic leadership development.1.2 Statement of the Problem In these challenging and turbulent times, there is a growing recognition among scholars (Luthans & Avolio, 2003; Seligman, 2002) and practitioners (George, 2003) alike that a more authentic leadership development strategy becomes relevant and urgently needed for desirable outcomes.Authentic leadership in the workplace occurs when leaders enact their true selves and is manifest in behaviors such as being honest with oneself (e.g., admitting personal mistakes), being sincere with others (e.g., telling others the hard truth), and behaving in a way that reflects one’s personal values (Walumbwa, Avolio, Gardner, Wernsing, & Peterson, 2008). The nature of the banking industry in Ghana is such that it requires employees to give in their all to be able to achieve their targets. Some managers adopt various leadership styles to achieve targets required of their employees. However, much attention has not been given to authentic leadership style in the day to day running of these banks. Though some authors such as Petan and Bocarnea (2016) have argued that authentic leadership style influences followers to perform creditably well, most managers or leaders in the banking industry are yet to adopt authentic leadership as their leadership style. While discussing and making known how authentic leadership can affect work-role performance of employees, it is worth mentioning that little or no attention has been placed on authentic followership. For this reason, there is the need to undertake this study to fill in the gap in literature by placing emphasis on authentic leadership, authentic followership and work-role performance of employees in Ghana’s banking industry.1.3 Objectives of the studyThis main objective of the study is to examine the effect of authentic leadership and authentic followership on work-role performance of employees in Ghana’s banking industry. The specific objectives of the study include the following;To assess the effect of authentic leadership on work-role performance of employees in Ghana’s banking industry.To ascertain the effect of authentic followership on work-role performance of employees in Ghana’s banking industry.To examine the relationship between authentic leadership and authentic followership on work-role performance of employees in Ghana’s banking industry. 1.4 Research QuestionsHow does authentic leadership affect work-role performance of employees in Ghana’s banking industry?How does authentic followership affect work-role performance of employees in Ghana’s banking industry?Is there a significant relationship between authentic leadership and authentic followership on work-role performance of employees in Ghana’s banking industry?Justification of the ResearchOne of the main aspects of authentic leadership consists of the emphasis it places on the development of both the leader and follower. When followers internalize the values portrayed by the leader, they also develop and changes over time (Petan, & Bocarnea, 2016). Authentic followers are more likely to be proficient because they feel personally responsible for the behavior. Furthermore, because authentic followers are active but nondefensive individuals, they are more likely to internalize external role demands and display proactive and adaptive behaviors. Both the practitioner (George, Sims, McLean, & Mayer, 2007) and academic (Avolio, Gardner, Walumbwa, Luthans, & May, 2004) literatures have highlighted the importance of authentic leadership or the degree to which leaders remain “true to the self.”Avolio and Gardner (2005) posited that these authentic leader behaviors lead to follower performance outcomes that are sustainable in the current, unstable work environment. Previous research has confirmed that authentic leadership is related to follower performance and organizational citizenship behaviors (Walumbwa et al., 2008) through the mechanisms of follower identification with the supervisor or organization and follower feelings of empowerment (Leroy, Palanski, & Simons, 2012; Walumbwa, Wang, Wang, Schaubroeck, & Avolio, 2010). Garnder et al, (2005), argues that followership is the most important component of leadership and the followers always expect that leader’s authenticity must be developed with the passage of time. As a result, by keeping the positive role of leaders, authentic leadership serves as an important component for the improvement of authentic followers.The findings of this study will contribute to the existing body of knowledge on authentic leadership, authentic followership and work-role performance of employees. Researchers and students interested in similar studies may find this study as a useful guide for further studies. It is based on this reasons that this study ought to be undertaken.Scope of the ResearchThe study focused on examining the effects of authentic leadership and authentic followership on work-role performance of employees in Ghana’s banking industry with a cursory look at Access Bank. Data collection was executed by administering questionnaires to staff of Access Bank as collecting data from other major banks have been noticed to be a complex process.Summary of MethodologyThe study will adopt a quantitative research method approach as most studies related to authentic leadership and employee performance in contemporary times used quantitative method in collecting data for the study. Furthermore, the study will make use of primary data and would be collected through administration of questionnaires. Questionnaires will be administered to 250 Access Bank employees. The questionnaires will be administered to employees by making use of the random sampling. Data gathered would be subject to reliability test to ensure the data is reliable for further analysis. The data will be analysed with the Stata software as it has been found to be efficient in undertaking quantitative analysis. Limitations of the StudyThe major constraints to the study were the difficulty in having access to respondents. Some respondents that were contacted for information were not forthcoming with relevant information that will facilitate the conduct of this study. Some questionnaires distributed to respondents were not made available at the time of collection. The study only considered staff of Access Bank which operates in Ghana’s Banking sector.1.9 Organization of the StudyThe study is organized into five chapters. Chapter one is the introduction and is made up of the background of the study, statement of the problem, objectives if the study, significance of the study and its scope. Chapter two covers the literature review encompassing the theoretical framework and conceptual review and framework as well as review of empirical literature on organizational competence and corporate image. The chapter three of the study also highlights the methodological framework adopted in conducting the study. The results from the analysis of data collected are presented, analyzed and discussed in chapter four. The chapter five covers a summary of the main findings conclusions and recommendations.REFERENCESAvolio, B. J., & Gardner, W. L. 2005. Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 16: 315-338.Avolio, B. J., Luthans, F., & Walumba, F. O. (2004). Authentic leadership: Theory building for veritable sustained performance. Working paper: Gallup Leadership Institute, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. 2000. The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11: 227-268.Kark, R., & Shamir, B. (2002). The dual effect of transformational leadership: Priming relational and collective selves and further effects on followers. In B. J. Avolio, & F. J. Yammarino (Eds.), Transformational and charismatic leadership: The road ahead (pp. 62–91). Oxford, UK7 Elsevier Science.Laschinger, Heather K., Wong, Carol A., Grau, A., 2012. The influence of authentic leadershipon newly graduated nurses’ experiences of workplace bullying, burnout and retention outcomes: a cross-sectional study. Int. J. Nurs. Stud. 49 (10), 1266–1276.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2012.05.012.Leroy, H., Anseel, F., William L., Gardner, L.W., Sels, L. (2012). Authentic Leadership, Authentic Followership, Basic Need Satisfaction, and Work Role Performance: A Cross-Level Study. Journal of Management, doi: 10.1177/0149206312457822.Petan, L and Bocarnea, M. (2016). Follower Perceptions of Authentic Leadership: A Comparison between Respondents from Romania and the United States.Walumbwa, F.O., Avolio, B.J., Gardner, W.L., Wernsing, T.S., Peterson, S.J., 2008. Authentic leadership: development and validation of a theory- based measure. J. Manag. 34, 89–126.Wong, C.A., Cummings, G.G., 2009a. Authentic leadership: a new theory for nursing or back to basics? J. Health Organ. Manag. 23 (5), 522–538. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ 14777260910984014.