Effective Leadership Style in Extractive Industry: A Case Study of Emerging Companies in Mozambique

Abstract

This research aimed assessing the effective leadership recommended in Extractive Industries (ExI) in Mozambique considering its rapid growth. Primarily the hypothesis was that new entrants which in the case of ExI will preferably perform beyond expectations when subjected to directing and coaching leadership styles. Additionally, the rapid growth of the industry demands a lesser experienced internal workforce as domestic regulation limit the hiring of external workforce, while demanding high productivity. The situational approach is that leadership adapt his style according to the situation of the follower. Based on the results, it was not possible reject the null hypothesis; however, it was possible to prove that coaching style was positively correlated and statistically significant with motivation and motivation with performance. So indirectly, alternative hypothesis was accepted, thus, the leader’s performance in the proposed environment significantly correlates with coaching style. The interaction plot also shows the tendency of positive performance with increased directing and participating. Delegating style, although performs as other styles in small quantities, when increased, leads to both demotivation and deficient performance. The experienced workforce was demotivated; potentially caused by the mismatch between leadership style and the context of the follower; with leaders lacking supportive style when it was needed. The new entrants’ willingness was high, probably because most are derived from low paid environments while ExI are highly attractive. This willingness however depreciated with time due to poor supportive style.