Impact of Perceived Leadership Styles of an Elected Official on Organizational Commitment in the Municipal Sector

Volume 11 Issue 4 March - May 2017

Research Paper

Impact of Perceived Leadership Styles of an Elected Official on Organizational Commitment in the Municipal Sector

Albert E. Smothers*, Deb S. Lawton**

* Director of Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer, University of Phoenix, USA

** Research Affiliate, Center for Workplace Diversity Research, School of Advanced Studies, University of Phoenix, USA.

Smothers, A.E., and Lawton, D.S. (2017). Impact of Perceived Leadership Styles of an Elected Official on Organizational Commitment in the Municipal Sector. i-manager’s Journal on Management, 11(4), 21-29. https://doi.org/10.26634/jmgt.11.4.13449

Abstract

In today's rapidly changing world, managing a local government or municipality has become extremely challenging. Municipalities are competing with local organizations to recruit the best talent and face many of the same issues, particularly managing and leading a diverse workforce. This study involved two very important aspects in the field of organizational behavior: leadership styles and organizational commitment. The main purpose of this study was to describe the employees' perception of the Mayor's leadership style, identify the employees' demographic profile (age, gender, race, education, and length of service), and determine its impact on the employees' level of organizational commitment within their municipal department. This study examined the relationship between the independent variables (leadership style and demographic profile) and the dependent variable (organizational commitment).