Tag Archives: Relationship

Learning Environment and Students

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AND SECONCARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN CHIKUN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF KADUNA STATE

ABSTRACT

This project work is design to investigate the “Relationship between Learning Environment and Academic Performance of Secondary School Students in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State”. On the basis of this, four research hypotheses were formulated and tested. A total of one hundred (100) copies of questionnaire were distributed to one hundred (100) sampled students from five (5) different schools to elicit their responses. The instrument used in the study was questionnaire, the Chi-Square statistics was used to analyze the data collected from respondents. The findings include the following; that there is a significant relationship between facilities in the learning environment and students’ academic performance in secondary school; That there is a significant relationship between teachers’ attitude to work and students’ academic performance in secondary schools; That there is a significant relationship between students’ attitude to learning and their academic performance in secondary schools; That there is a significant relationship between principals’ leadership styles and students’  academic performance in secondary schools. Moreover, in all findings; the table shows that there are relationships in all. Based on these, findings recommendations were made that the government should inject more funds into the educational system; parents should show active interest in their children’s education by providing them with rich instructional materials and also make the home environment conducive for learning by ensuring home work habit, parental support and guidance, intellectual stimulations etc

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background of the Study

Education is the bedrock of the development of any nation. This is the reason that a government invest heavily in the education of her citizens. Secondary education, a sub set of the educational level, is very necessary in human capital formation. It is the very supply base from which tertiary institutions draw their major (Clientele) students for admission into their different programmes. It therefore presupposes that the provision of qualitative education is the sine qua non for the attainment of the goals of secondary education. Nevertheless, to attain this goals the learning environment must take a proper outlook for the furtherance of the overall educational objectives.

Learning environment is one of the easiest to understand. The influence are obvious in nature and comprise such things as the lighting , flooring, furniture, architecture and can also encompass space accessibility and cleanliness, as well as interior colour schemes. The school physical learning environment can  convey non-verbal, by either welcoming or discouraging and valuing or disrespecting. (strange and Banning, 2001) Graetz and Goliber (2003), summarized research that links lighting to psychological arousal, overheated space to hostility, and density with low student achievement. Therefore, it is crucial to evaluate the usage of space to eliminate negative factor. The school learning environment should be well structured, organized, studied and well managed for the attainment of the secondary school education goals and to enhance students academic performance.

The issue of poor academic performance of students in Nigeria has been of much concern to the government, ministry of education, parents, teachers and even student themselves the quality of education not only depends on the teachers as reflected in the performance of their duties, but also in the effective co-ordination of the school learning environment. The physical characteristics of the school have a variety of effects on teachers, students and the learning process, poor highlight, noise, high level of carbondioxide in classroom, and inconsistent temperatures make teaching and learning difficult. It has been observed that poor maintenance and ineffective ventilation systems leads to poor health among students as well as teachers, which lead to poor performance and higher absentee.

These factors can adversely affect students behavior and lead to higher levels of frustration among teachers and poor learning attitude among student. For education in the secondary school to be effective the environment needs to be conducive for learning, allowing the student space and time to interact within the learning and teaching process. Creating and maintaining stimulating learning environment can be achieved through effective classroom organization, interactive and a whole display of climate of innovation.

The school learning environment is a well structured, organized and planned place or setting where teaching and learning occur. The place or setting can be in the classroom situation, library (school library and classroom library), school laboratory where experiment and practical works are carried out by students, technical workshop etc.

Thus, the school or learning environment remains an important area that should be studied and well managed. Consequently, Joseph (1998) outlines four (4) components that constitute meaningful learning in learning environment.

i. Curriculum that is Relevant:

Students must find relevance in the curriculum so that they can see how it connects with their lives. The relevance of the curriculum to student will help to stimulate their interest in the learning environment

ii. Instructional Strategies:

Students in the learning environment learn best when they have to think deeply about the subject under study

iii. Teacher Motivation:

A teacher’s attitude toward the learning greatly influence the student’s attitude towards the subject and learning.

iv. Class / Hall:

Setting up a classroom/Hall in environment that is pleasant, friendly and conducive to learning will certainly help promote learning.

In the view of Akpojivi (2008), Academic performance mean the level of degree of statement, a student may perform poorly or excellently according to his ability, potential and interest. Academic performance is the outcome of education, the extent institution has achieved their educational goals.

Consequently, there are factors affecting student’s academic performance in learning environment. Danesy and Okediran (2002), learning environment that is not free of barriers or noise, gas, smoke, pollution and so on can constitute health hazard, which in turn  affect or reduce student’s concentration in learning environment where by affecting their academic performance . Markets and garages located near schools have always posed a threat to student’s academic performance. Noise and pollution from these sources have always endangered student life and concentration.

Other factors according to Danesy (2002), complementing environment and socio-economic factors to produce high academic achievement and performance include good teaching, counseling, good administration, good building. Dilapidating buildings, lack of mental stimulating facilities that is characterized with low or no sitting arrangement will also be destructive. Danesy, however, lamented that the innovation environment do stimulate head start learning and mental perception, not only that, it has also been proved that students that comes from stimulative environment with laboratory equipment or those that are taught with rich instructional aids, pictures and allowed to demonstrate using their functional peripheral nerves like eyes, hands and sense of taste performed better than those trained under theoretical and canopy of abstraction.

1.2      Statement of Problem

It has been observed by most undergraduate students during their teaching practice and practicum exercise that the learning environment in secondary schools are characterized with dilapidated classrooms, equipment and facilities which have effect on students’ academic performance. Some of the classrooms are over populated with students beyond the normal capacity of the classroom, in this case, the teachers find it difficult  to communicate to large population of students and move freely due to lack of space in the classroom.

Students have poor sitting arrangement due to over congested students in the sitting chair in the classroom. Moreover, the attitude, motivate, and interest exhibited by learners in learning environment has constituted a lot of problem, such as his readiness to learn, his entry behavior, is he/she interested in what he/she is expected to learn, motivation, general intelligence could have effect on students’ academic performance in the learning environment.

What then is the relationship between learning environment and secondary school students’ academic performance in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State

1.3     Research Questions

The  following research questions have been raised to guide the study;

  1. Is there any relationship between facilities in the learning environment and students’ academic performance in secondary school?
  2. Is there any relationship between teachers’ attitude to work and student academic performance in secondary school?
  3. What is the relationship between students’ attitude to learning and their academic performance in secondary school?
  4. Is there any relationship between principals’ leadership styles and students academic performance in secondary schools?

1.4     Research Hypotheses

  1. There is no significant relationship between facilities in the learning environment and students’ academic performance in secondary schools.
  2. There is no significant relationship between teachers’ attitude to work and students’ academic performance in secondary schools
  3. There is no significant relationship between students’ attitude to learning and their academic performance in secondary schools.
  4. There is no significant relationship between principals’ leadership styles and students’ academic performance in secondary schools.

1.5     Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of this study is to find out the relationship between learning environment of secondary school students’ academic performance in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State. However, the specific purpose of this study is stated as follows;

  1. To investigate the relationship between facilities in the learning environment has affected students’ academic performance.
  2. To find out how teachers’ attitude to work in the learning environment have affected students academic performance.
  3. To ascertain the relationship between the students’ attitude in the learning environment and their academic performance
  4. To what extent principals’ leadership styles in the learning environment have on students’ academic performance.

1.6      Significance of the Study

The result of this research will be beneficial to the following; parents, teachers, students, various tiers of government, curriculum planners and examination bodies.

To the parents who will see vividly the need to motivate  the students by providing them with rich instructional materials and also make the home environment conducive for learning by ensuring home work habit, parental support and guidance, intellectual stimulations. Parents motivation has the highest assessment while facilities provided has the least.

However, the teacher in education will see the need to change their attitude, mentality and instructional method used in teaching students, so as to enhance their academic performance. In the same vein, students will change their attitude, motive, and interest in the learning environment to a more positive and constructive attitude such as their entry behavior, readiness to learn, interest in what they are expected to learn, motivation, general intelligence which will in turn have effect in their academic performance.

Again, various tiers of governments which include the federal, state and Local government will be more motivated to create an enabling and conducive learning environment in the secondary institution by building new classrooms, halls, laboratories as well as rehabilitation of the old dilapidated ones. Also by motivating the  teachers by prompt payment of their salaries, giving of incentives, remunerations, award scholarship to students so as to tackle the problem of socio-economic factor.

Lastly, the secondary school curriculum planner and examination bodies will see the need to reconstruct most subjects of study in the secondary school programme or curriculum so that it will be relevant to the students.

1.7     Scope/Delimitation

The scope of this study focuses on the relationship between learning environment and secondary school students’ academic performance in some selected schools in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The study is limited to five (5) secondary schools in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

1.8     Operational Definition of Terms

  1. Relationship: The way in which two or more people or things are connected or state of being connected
  2. Learning Environment: It refers to the diverse physical locations, context, and cultures in which physical locations, context and cultures in which students learn. In this context, is the school environment where teaching and learning occurs.
  3. Secondary School Students: It refers to the learner’s in the secondary schools usually between the age s of 12 and 18 years.
  4. Academic Performance: The level of attainment of a student in his subject of study. The grade or score in their respective subject of study.
  5. Local Government Area: It is the third tier of government, Created to make the people feel the impact of the government.

 

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The IMPACT OF PARENT CHILD RELATIONSHIP AND PARENTING STYLES ON ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT OF ADOLESCENCE

The IMPACT OF PARENT CHILD RELATIONSHIP AND PARENTING STYLES ON ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT OF ADOLESCENCE

ABSTRACT

This study examined impact parent-child relationship (warmth) and parenting styles on academic engagement among adolescence in Enugu East local government area of Enugu state using 475 participants from four randomly selected secondary schools in Enugu East local government of Enugu state (2 single sex schools- St. Patrick College, Emene and Trans-Ekulu Girls Secondary School; and 2 mixed sex schools- Model Ideal College Abakpa and Godfrey Okoye Secondary School, Thinkers’ Corner). A total of one hundred and fifty (150) copies of the instrument were administered to systematically randomly selected SS 1 & 2 students of each of the four schools the participants (191 Males and 284 Females) were aged between 13 years and 21 years with a mean age of 15.93 years and a standard deviation of 1.22. Parenting Style Inventory II (PSI-II); Parental Warmth Scale and Student Engagement Scale (SES) were used to collect data for the study.  Multiple Regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses via the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS v23).The result of this study does not support the null hypothesis since parent-child relationship (warmth) made a statistically significant positive contribution in predicting academic engagement .The result of this study support the null hypothesis because responsiveness did not make statistically significant contribution in predicting academic engagement. The result of this study support the null hypothesis for the reason that autonomy did not make statistically significant contribution in predicting academic engagement .The result of this study does not support the null hypothesis since demandingness made a statistically significant positive contribution in predicting academic engagement. Among the three dimensions of parenting styles, only demandingness made a statistically significant positive contribution in predicting academic engagement.

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION

The Adolescence is a fascinating stage of development full of many physical, cognitive, social, and emotional changes. To Blackwell, Trzesniewski, Kali and Dweck (2007), this stage or period is sensitive and a critical time with important implications for school achievement. Also, the increase in academic demands and the complexity of the school structure make the task of academic success for adolescents even more difficult (Patrikakou, 2004).
Achievement is almost the most important issue for adolescents in education in any country and this is why many key people ranging from educators to psychologists and to sociologists have focused research attention and efforts towards identifying the reasons why some students perform well academically while others fail and drop out. Recently, nations such as Canada, has noted an increase in children with risk factors that may compromise their present achievement and future success, and approximately 27.6% or 1 in 4 students is considered to be at risk for school failure (Jordan, 2006). Belfield (2007) also found out that across the 21.9 million adults in California, 2.19 million males and 1.96 million females (20% of the students) were dropouts. Ghasemi (2010) in a study found that 22% of the students in Iran suffer from low academic achievement due to family problems and personal factors.
Besides factors such as parental, school, teacher and environmental factors; personal factors such as self-efficacy, engagement in academic work and personality also have significant positive relationships with adolescent’s academic achievement (Multon, Brown, & Lent, 1991; Fredrik, Blumenfield, & Paris, 2004). Among these personal factors is the main variable of consideration in this study which is academic engagement which is really emphatic among the contributing personal factors to academic achievement and personal development of adolescent students in schools. Such engagement can be described as the level of commitment and involvement or the amount of time, energy and effort that students put into their educational learning activities (Stewart, 2007).
Researchers have recently used the term engagement to refer to the extent to which students identifywith and value schooling outcomes, and participate in academic and non-academic school activities (Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), 2003). The definition of engagement usually comprises a psychological component pertaining to students’ sense of belonging at school and acceptance of school values, and a behavioural component pertaining to participation in school activities (Finn, 1993; Finn & Rock, 1997; Goodenow, 1993; Goodenow & Grady, 1993; Wehlage, Rutter, Smith, Lesko, & Fernandez, 1989). The psychological component emphasizes students’ sense of belonging or attachment to school, which has to do with feelings of being accepted and valued by their peers, and by others at their school (OECD, 2003). Another aspect of the psychological component concerns whether or not students value school success – whether they believe that education will benefit them personally and economically (Johnson et al., 2001). Students who do not feel they belong at school, or reject school values, are often referred to as alienated or disaffected. The participation component of engagement is characterised by factors such as school and class attendance, being prepared for class, completing homework, attending lessons, and being involved in extra-curricular sports or hobby clubs (OECD, 2003).
Academic engagement in the words of Willms (2003) entail investing quality time and energy by students in educationally purposeful activities and being persistent in the pursuitof academic success; it is an indicator that combine academic identification (getting along with teachers, having an interest in the subject matter and related behaviours and attitudes) and academic participation (students work effort both inside and outside of school including hours spent on homework, meeting deadlines and not skipping classes). Taylor & Lundy (2016) refers to academic engagement as the degree of attention, curiosity, interest, optimism and passion that students show when they are learning or being taught, which extends to their level of motivation and progress in education.Svanum and Biggatti (2009) points out that a student is academically engaged when the said student takes advantage of learning opportunities provided by their institution both inside and outside the classroom and involves course related activities such as class attendance and completion of assignment. In line with the foregoing, Horstmanshoff and Zimitat (2011)defined academic engagement in terms of university students as a measure of student’s involvement with university studies.
Academic engagement involves cognitive functions and self-regulatory strategies to pursue learning task (Butler, 2011); therefore, it involves all actions students undertake to enhance their learning. It emphasizes students various pattern of motivation, cognition and behaviour (Baron &Corbin, 2012). It is therefore, a behavioral, emotional and attitudinal involvement in learning and is concerned with concentration, effort and persistency in academic related activities.
Academic engagement improves students’ inquisitiveness, level of motivation and consequently progress in academic endeavors, (Stephens, 2015) and to a great extent may determineoutcomes such as graduation. It aims at increasing successful student achievement levels and in understanding students’ positive development (Appleton, Christenson & furlong, 2008). Hence, it has grown in popularity recently probably as a result of increased understanding of the role it plays in learning process and social development (Fredrick et al, 2004). The concept typically arises when educators discuss educational strategies and teaching techniques that address developmental, intellectual, emotional, behavioural, physical and social factors that either enhance or undermine learning for students (Parsons, 2011).Educators may hold different views on students’ academic engagement for instance, observable behaviours such as attending class, listening attentively, participating in discussions, turning in work on time and following rules and directions may be perceived as forms of academic engagement by some educators while others relate academic engagement to internal states such as enthusiasm, motivation or interest.
Academic engagement is predicated on the belief that learning improves when students are inquisitive, interested or inspired and that learning tends to suffer when students are bored, dispassionate or otherwise “disengaged”, (Fredrick et al, 2004). Hence, it seems to play positively significant role in undergraduates’ ability to benefit from academic experiences and consequently achieve academic success. Among identified factors that are related to academic engagement are gender, race/ethnicity, students’ major, parental involvement, educational institution and contact with different people (Jonson, Crosnoe & Elder 2001; Taylor & Francis 2010; Pasquae & Murphy 2005).
The present study examined the impactof parent-child relationship and parenting style on academic engagement of adolescents in Enugu east local government of Enugu state. Research have shown that children of involved parents who participate in their children’s education, have higher standardized test scores and more academic aspirations (Bondioli, 2000; Hill, Castellino, Lansford, Nowlin, Dodge, Bates, & Pettit, 2004).
Consequent upon the large body of work demonstrating a connection between parenting practices/styles and school achievement, studies are accumulating which suggest that one pathway through which parenting has an impact on children’s school performance is by shaping children’s classroom engagement, intrinsic motivation, preference for challenge, valuing and commitment to school, and enthusiasm, enjoyment, and interest in schoolwork (Epstein & Sanders, 2002; Jeynes, 2007; Pomerantz, Grolnick, & Price, 2005).
Darling & Steinberg (1993) define parenting style as “a constellation of attitudes toward the child that are communicated to the child and that, taken together, create an emotional climate in which the parents’ behaviors are expressed”. One of the most studied approaches to understanding parental influences on human development is concept of parenting style (Baumrind, 1967). Baumrind proposed parenting styles as correlates to socialization of the children (Shyny, 2017). Afterwards, many researches recognized the importance of researching role of parenting style in child development (Kordi, 2010; Schaffer, Clark & Jeglic, 2009; Lim & Lim, 2003). Many of the studies followed three parenting styles originally proposed by Baumrind namely authoritative parenting, authoritarian parenting and permissive parenting, though in 1971, Baumrind added negligent parenting (Shyny, 2017). Baumrind grouped parents to three (or four) parenting styles according to their child rearing patterns, on the basis of her interviews with parents and children.
Shyny (2017) opined that “there is a growing interest in the role of parenting in a person’s affective and social characteristics. The attention of educational researchers on the parenting styles and their effects on school relevant developmental outcomes are also on the rise. Several studies found that parenting style or parental behaviour has statistically significant relation with developmental outcomes like performance, achievement strategies, self-regulated learning, achievement goals, self-efficacy and wellbeing of students”. Academic or school engagement no doubt fall as component part of these factors, hence, a connection of parenting styles and students’ academic/school engagement.
Furrer and Skinner (2003) have in the past examined sense of relatedness (i.e., patterns of relationships with certain social partners such as parents, peers etc.) for its role in student engagement and subsequent academic performance. In this study, they specifically examined the following relationships: (a) the association between relatedness and classroom engagement and performance; (b) the role of parents, teachers, and peers on engagement; (c) the influence of age and gender on the relation between relatedness and engagement; and (d) the level of engagement associated with different relatedness profiles (i.e., patterns of relationships with certain social partners). Results suggested that student- and teacher-reported levels of student behavioral and emotional engagement each mediated the relationship between aggregated relatedness (across parents, teachers, and peers) and student grades. Moreover, student-reported relatedness to parents, peers, and teachers significantly predicted both student- and teacher-reported student engagement beyond student-reported perceived control at one point in time and also across the school year from fall to spring (Furrer & Skinner, 2003). Student feelings of relatedness overlapped moderately across partners (parents, peers, and teachers), yet relatedness with each partner was uniquely important in predicting engagement.
MacDonald (1992) considers warmth as a main component of an adaptive parent-child relationship, and refers to emotional nurturance and affectionate care giving expressed from a parental figure to the child. MacDonald also concluded that warmth and affection in the family evolved as an independent system of motivation, which was distinct from the process of attachment that prevents harm or loss. Thus rather than simply a behavioural contingency system at play, warmth, then, provides positive social reward that drives parent and child behaviour over the course of their relationship (MacDonald, 1992).

Statement of Problem
According to OECD(2003), school is central to the daily life of many youths in that they view schooling as essential to their long-term wellbeing, and this attitude is reflected in their participation in academic and non-academic pursuits; and they tend to have good relations with school staff and with other students – they feel that they belong at school. However, some youths do not share this sense of belonging, and do not believe that academicsuccess will have a strong bearing on their future. These feelings and attitudes may result in their becomingdisaffected from school (Finn, 1989; Jenkins, 1995). They may gradually withdraw from school activities,and in some cases participate in disruptive behaviour and display negative attitudes towards teachers andother students (OECD, 2003). These students who have become disaffected from school tend to create one of the biggestchallenges for teachers and school administrators as they try to meet their need to be fully engaged in school.
Despite the highimportance of students’ academic engagement as one of the key factors that determine academic achievement and the problem disengagement in school create for the student, the school and society at large, some students are still found in lapse engaging academically. Academic engagement has long been found as a critical factor in shaping college outcomes (Gasiewski, 2012). Despite the need, findings still indicates that students find it difficult to engage academically (Trawler 2010; Perkmann 2013). This problem of students’ difficulty engaging academically makes research on factors influencing academic engagement to remain an important research question.
Studies have been carried out to determine factors that influence academic engagement, (Jonson, Crosnoe & Elder 2001; Talor & Francis 2010; Pasquae & Murphy 2005; Granville & Dika, 2002; Fredricks & Blumenfeld, 2004) but not much of these studies have been done to see the impact of parent-child relationship and styles of parenting. Also, enough has not been done in Nigeria especially in the south-east in regards to this context, hence a gap in knowledge. This study therefore, will seek to fill some gap in knowledge by examining the impact of parent-child relationship and parenting style on academic engagement of adolescent students in secondary schools in Enugu East Local Government.

Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of parent-child relationship and parenting style on academic engagement of adolescent students in secondary schools in Enugu East local government. Specifically, the study would seek to determine whether:
1. Parent-child relationship would have impact on academic engagement of adolescent students in secondary schools in Enugu East Local Government.
2. Responsiveness parenting styles would have impact on academic engagement of adolescent students in secondary schools in Enugu East Local Government.
3. Autonomy granting parenting styles would have impact on academic engagement of adolescent students in secondary schools in Enugu East Local Government.
4. Demandingness parenting styles would have impact on academic engagement of adolescent students in secondary schools in Enugu East Local Government.

Operational Definition of Key Variables
Academic Engagement: Students’ investment in and commitment to learning, belonging and identification at school, and participation in the institution environment and initiation of activities to achieve educational goals as measured using the 31 item Student Engagement Scale (SES) byDoğan (2014).
Parent-Child Relationship: The unique and enduring bond between a parent or caregiver and his or her child measured using the Parental Warmth Scale from Child Parental Acceptance-Rejection/Control Questionnaire (PARQ/Control; Rohner & Khaleque, 2005). The mean warmth received by each participant from both parents represents his/her parental warmth score.
Parenting Style: This is a collection of attitudes towards the child that are communicated to the child and that, taken together, create an emotional climate in which the parents’ behaviors are expressed. Parenting style in this study is measured using Parenting Style Inventory II (PSI-II) by Darling and Toyokawa (1997) based on the three parenting style dimension of demandingness, responsiveness and autonomy granting. The mean score for each of the three dimensions from both parents represents each participant’s parenting style score.

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IMPACT OF LEADERSHIP STYLE AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE

 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   Background to the Study

Efficient and effective organization performance and productivity is the core target and interest of any business establishment. The efficiency and achievement of any organizational goal must be anchored on certain persons and responsibilities delegated to persons for the purpose of concentration and division of labour benefit. Attitude and behavior towards any activity is also a core determinant of the success of that act.  The behavior of employees in organizational life and their relationship with their jobs are affected by many variables. One of the most important of these variables is leadership behavior of supervisors for leadership is seen as the behavior of impressing people in many studies.

Leadership is the process through which an individual tries to influence another individual or a group of individuals to accomplish a goal. Leadership is valued in our culture, especially when it helps to achieve goals that are beneficial to the population, such as the enactment of effective preventive health policies. An individual with leadership qualities can also improve an organization and the individuals in it, whether it be a teacher who works to get better teaching materials and after school programs or an employee who develops new ideas and products and influences others to invest in them.

The behavior of employees in organizational life and their relationship with their jobs are affected by a lot of variables. One of the most important of these variables is leadership behavior of supervisors for leadership is seen as the behavior of impressing people in many studies. It has also become clear that organizational commitment has important implications for employees and organizations through various studies by researchers. Bennett and Durkin (2000) stated that the negative effects associated with a lack of employee commitment include absenteeism and turnover.

Employees are bent on acting in such manner as they have seen their boss or superior imply. The activities of employee is the major determinant of performance and output because an improved attitude towards work and toward one responsibility and assignment will transform into the person’s ability to either perform effectively or not.

It could be observed that leadership and management envisages deeply into what the organization can achieve if the quality of recognition is accorded to them. Leadership has been propounded to include the sources of influence that are built into a position in an organizational hierarchy. These include organizationally sanctioned rewards, and punishments, authority, as well as referent and expert power katz and kahn 1966, p.32. It could be seen however, that subordinates within the organization, through not all seem to enjoy the influence that exists all over and above the organization. Leadership is very essential organization and greatly influences the whole organization because achievements and results occur corollary to the traits being projected by the leader.

In general terms the acts of controlling other people consists uncertainty reduction ,which entails making the kind of choice that permits the organization to proceed towards its objective despite various kinds of internal and external variables. The effectiveness of leadership has some characteristics, which include forceful threats, a complete assertion of authority to the subordinates, and a derived, and situational responsibility. Note that in the society today, not only the presence of rewards (positive and negative), or the incentive appraisal could induce productivity but the feeling of belongingness. Improper leadership qualities within the organization have a negative impact on the subordinates as well as the achievement of the organizational objective. An 6 organization that has growth and forward looking has a good leadership and vis a vis a bad or deteriorating organization has a bad leadership. Leadership is always related to the situation. There is a growing awareness that is a continuous interaction between the factors presents in any given situation, including for example, the personal characteristics of the leader, the tasks, the environment, the technology, the attitudes, motivation and behaviour of the followers and so on

Hence, in order to be effective, it is critical for managers to influence their subordinates, peers, and superiors to assist and support their proposals, plans, and to motivate them to carry out with their decisions Blickle, (2003). Organization commitment can also increase the creativity in the organizations Sousa & Coelho, (2011). However, organizational commitment is one of strong determinant of success towards employees for the better performance of the organization, which is highlighted various times in the past literature Chew & Chan, (2008) Das, (2002). The behavioral status of the employees in any company is occasioned and influenced by the leadership behavior and life style, this transcends into productivity level and performance.

Another way of defining leadership is to acknowledge what people value in individuals that are recognized as leaders. Most people can think of individuals they consider being leaders. Research conducted in the 1980s by James Kouzes and Barry Posner found that a majority of people admire, and willingly follow, people who are honest, forward looking, inspiring, and competent. An individual who would like to develop leadership skills can profit from the knowledge that leadership is not just a set of exceptional skills and attributes possessed by only a few very special people. Rather, leadership is a process and a set of skills that can be learned.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Over the years, there has been conflicting ideas and conceptions about the effect of leadership style and the behavior of employees towards productivity. Leadership includes the ultimate source of power but has that positive ability in persuading other individuals and to be innovative in decision-making. According to Bennis and Nanus,(2013) many organizations are over managed and under led. The difference is crucial, managed are people who do things right, but leaders are people who do the right things always. Problems are bound to occur within every noted organization and decision-making is bound to generate conflicts while initiating policies. People are expected to coordinate. Whatever they are doing to achieve organizational goals. In this light, the notion of leadership act are those, which help a grouping meeting those stated objectives (Bavelas 1960).

However, the scholarly ideology and dichotomy on the degree of impact exacted on productivity and employee performance by leadership and organizational behavior remain a national and scholarly contest. Several researchers are of the opinion that leadership style is greatly related to performance while others believe that employee behavior is more related to productivity and performance level of an organization at large. Undisputable, different scholars have different ideas and different perception about organizational behavior and leadership style. Thus, the question remains, which leadership style is best for organizational and employee’s performance maximization? What degree of contribution do leadership styles have on the performance level? Are there positive or negative relationships between the leadership and organizational behavior and employees’ performance? To what extent are these claims applicable and feasible in the area of this study? These constitute the major problems that triggered and motivated this study.

1.3 Research Objectives

The main objective of this study is to ascertain the impact of leadership and organizational behavior on employee performance.

The specific objectives of this study include

  1. To ascertain the relationship between leadership style and employees commitment to work.
  2. To ascertain the relationship between organizational employees behavior and employees commitment to work.
  3. To ascertain the relationship between leadership style and organizational behavior.

1.4 Research Questions

  1. What is the relationship between leadership style and employee’s commitment to work?
  2. What is the relationship between organizational behavior and employee’s commitment to work?
  3. To what extent do leadership style relate to organizational behaviors?

1.5 Hypotheses

H01

There is no significant relationship between leadership styles and employee’s commitment to work

H­02

There is no significant relationship between organizational behavior and employee’s commitment to work s

H03 ­

There is no significant relationship between leadership style and organizations employees behavior

1.6 Significance of the Study

Every research work is expected to be of relevance to certain persons thus this work ill be relevant to the following ;

  1. To the academia, this work will be relevant as it will constitute a literature of relevance on the topic organizational behavior and leadership.
  2. It will serve as a working document for firms and business organizations on the type of leadership style to adopt and the implications of employee’s behavior on their performance.
  3. To further researchers, this work will be adopted as a research material for further studies and reference material.
  4. This work will highlight various strategies to manage different organizational behaviors since people behave differently.

1.7 Scope of the study

The area of coverage of this the research work is basically on UNILEVER PLC Aba, Abia. The project is primary concerned with the impact of leadership and organizational behavior on employee performance particularly in Aba.

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