Leadership style as a predictor of employee commitment in university libraries in South-West, Nigeria
| Pages | 441-452 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-09-2018-0073 |
| Date | 12 August 2019 |
| Published date | 12 August 2019 |
| Author | Okeoghene Mayowa-Adebara,Rosaline Oluremi Opeke |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Leadership style as a predictor of
employee commitment
in university libraries in
South-West, Nigeria
Okeoghene Mayowa-Adebara
Library Department, National Open University of Nigeria, Lagos, Nigeria, and
Rosaline Oluremi Opeke
Department of Information Resources Management,
Babcock University, Ilishan Remo, Nigeria
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of leadership style (LS) on employee
commitment (EC) in university libraries in South-West, Nigeria.
Design/methodology/approach –The study adopted a survey research design. The population of the
study consisted of 684 librarians from 43 universities in the six states of South-West, Nigeria. A validated
questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.
Findings –Findings showed that the level of EC in university libraries in South-West, Nigeria was fairly
high (M¼2.64 on a four-point scale). LS had a significant influence on EC in university libraries in
South-West, Nigeria (β¼0.245, R
2
¼0.276, po0.05). However, transformational LS (β¼0.383, po0.05)
relatively contributed more to EC than transactional LS (β¼0.183, po0.05).
Research limitations/implications –A limitation of the study was that the study was done in all the
university libraries in South-Western region of Nigeria which may affect the inference of the study results to
other university libraries outside this region.
Practical implications –The findings of the study will be of benefit to academic institutions, library
management and librarians on planning and decision making regarding personnel management.
Originality/value –The study therefore recommends that administrators, library managers should adopt
transformational LS.
Keywords Librarians, Nigeria, University libraries, Leadership style, Employee commitment, South-West
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The university library is often referred to as the “heart”of a learning community, providing
a place for students and faculty to do research and advance knowledge. It becomes
important for libraries to acquire relevant information resources as well as employees that
will deliver quality services to library users. Employees in the library are categorized into
professionals, para-professionals and non-professionals whose responsibility is to provide
numerous services to these users, addressing their diverse needs, characteristics and
interests. Librarians are the activators of functions and services, as they possess skills in
collection development, technical processing of information sources, user education and
information literacy among others (Amusa et al., 2013). The degree to which university
libraries can provide services to meet the needs of their users are dependent on the
availability of committed personnel. In today’s competitive and ever changing work
environment, libraries cannot succeed without employees who are knowledgeable, skillful,
talented and committed.
Employee commitment (EC) therefore involves employees’devotion toward the
achievement of organizational goals by complying with the rules, regulations and objectives.
Allen and Meyer (1990) conceptualized EC as three components which include affective,
normative and continuance commitment. Affective commitment involves employee emotional
Library Management
Vol. 40 No. 6/7, 2019
pp. 441-452
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0143-5124
DOI 10.1108/LM-09-2018-0073
Received 14 September 2018
Revised 2 April 2019
Accepted 1 May 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-5124.htm
441
Leadership
style as a
predictor of EC
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