Abstract:
Transformational visionary and inspirational leadership practices of departmental heads can determine levels of organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) of the academic faculty members in a public university setting. The organisation and management of public university activities depend on active involvement of academic faculty members because they play a vital role in the university's survival. This implies that university management is incomplete without notable participation of the academic faculty members, whose foundation is laid at the departmental level and the results have implication for the overall governance success of the university. Consequently, certain leadership styles have distinct bearing on the levels of obedience, loyalty and participation of employees, which subsequently influence organisational effectiveness. Based on this premise, this paper presents results obtained from a qualitative case study conducted among academic faculty members of one faculty in one of the public universities in Kenya. The purpose of this study was to determine how heads of departments’ leadership styles influence the degree of academic faculty members’ OCB within their departments — and by extension — the effectiveness of the university. Data was obtained through in-depth interviews and focus group discussion with a purposive sample of heads of departments and academic faculty members. The results obtained add empirical support to the assertions that indicators of organisational effectiveness are associated with employees’ willingness to go above and beyond their job requirements as indicated by the levels of OCB largely influenced by the leadership styles. Can this apply in academic oriented setting? If it can, OCB is an inevitable ingredient for effective organisation.
