Leadership Theories and Styles.edited

1 Leadership Theories and Styles: Case Study KLD Bank Kenya Limited, Jibawi Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Course Date

2 Table of Contents A. Organization Description ........................................................................................... 3 History and Background of KLD Bank Kenya Limited ......................................... 3 Organization's Mission, Vision, Purpose, and Objectives of KLD Bank Kenya Limited .................................................................................................................... 4 John Kraft Leadership Practices in KLD Bank Kenya Limited Jibawi Branch ..... 5 A2. Effects of Current Leader on Culture ...................................................................... 5 B. SWOT Analysis of KLD Bank Kenya Limited Jibawi Branch ................................ 6 B1. Current Strengths ..................................................................................................... 7 1. Experienced Personnel ............................................................................................... 7 2. Thriving Business Units ............................................................................................. 7 B2. Current Weaknesses ................................................................................................. 7 1. Unethical Staff .............................................................................................. 7 2. Increased Employee Turnover ...................................................................... 8 B3. Currents Opportunities ............................................................................................. 8 1. Urbanization Project Financing .................................................................................. 8 2. St able increase in income levels ................................................................................. 8 B4. Current Threats ........................................................................................................ 9 1. I ncreased Labour Costs .............................................................................................. 9 2. Cyber Crime ............................................................................................................... 9 C. Leadership Evaluation ............................................................................................. 10 C.1 Strengths of the Current Leader ............................................................................. 10 Strengths ................................................................................................................ 11 1. Team Player ................................................................................................ 11 2. Having a fair mind ...................................................................................... 11 3. The willingness to adapt ............................................................................. 12 Weaknesses ........................................................................................................... 12 1. Being easily Overwhelmed ........................................................................ 13 2. Slow Decision Making ............................................................................... 14 3. Delayed Performance ................................................................................. 14 C3. Recommendations for The Current Leader ........................................................... 14 References .................................................................................................................... 16

4 which it would transfer its Kenyan banking operations, assets, and liabilities. KLD Group Limited is now a holding company with banking and non-banking subsidiaries that do not engage in active trading as a result of the restructuring. To manage and oversee all KLD regional units in Kenya, Tanzania, South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Ethiopia, KLD Group PLC was founded in 2016 as a non-operating holding company (KLD, 2022). The Jibawi branch, as one of the Bank branches, was established in 2007 and has been functional to date serving customers with utmost professionalism and efficiency. Organization's Mission, Vision, Purpose, and Objectives of KLD Bank Kenya Limited The mission of KLD Bank is to become Africa's preferred global provider of financial solutions by increasing efficiency and market share. The company's vision is to dominate the financial solutions market in Africa with a global reach. The business has put much effort into achieving its goals and serving its purpose of making the world more straightforward so that its customers can advance. KLD has concentrated on growing efficiency and market share to become Africa's preferred financial solutions provider with a global footprint. All bank branches across the region must adhere to all these goals and objectives, including the Jibawi branch mentioned above. All branch managers, such as Mr. John Krapt, conduct their managerial duties in line with these goals and objectives to achieve the organization's success.

5 John Kraft Leadership Practices in KLD Bank Kenya Limited Jibawi Branch Mr. John Krapt had many leadership practices within the bank branch, but this article will only cover three of them. First, he needed to develop and update a branch business expansion strategy, translating the overall bank strategy into branch-specific strategies based on the branch's unique characteristics. Second, he needed to ensure that KYC, AML, Audit, and Legal / Compliance guidelines were followed and that a self-audit mechanism covering safe custody was in place. Although guidance and training will be provided as needed, the Branch Manager must read and understand the Bank's policies, procedures, and practices regarding the branch business operating environment and the Bank in general. Third, he had to establish and maintain top-notch customer relationship management procedures. Customer relations are a business's techniques to communicate with its clients and enhance their experience. Responding to immediate obstacles and proactively creating long-term solutions toward customer success are all a part of these relationships. Initiating and carrying out customer retention and retention initiatives are also included. A2. Effects of Current Leader on Culture Mr. John is a skilled and devoted banker and consultant for customer service who can both retain and bring in new clients. Thanks to his strong interpersonal and communication skills, he can work independently and in a group setting. In the Jibawi branch, Mr. John has established a clan/collaborative organizational culture that encourages everyone to perform their roles to the best of their abilities. The Jibawi branch liability and asset portfolios are developed, grown, and monitored. Everyone embraces teamwork to ensure the branch stays profitable and competitive and reacts quickly to internal and external changes.

7 Most employees in KLD are experienced since most have worked in the banking sector for quite a while. New employees are also trained well and taken through a vigorous exercise that strengthens their skills. By having experience personnel, the organization can complete a task effectively, keep the customers happy, and save the business money; all this leads to increased growth, profitability, and a good reputation which markets the Bank to new clients. 2. Thriving Business Units Due to rapid urbanization, business units have gradually developed in the Jibawi area. Most establishments have been banking with the Jibawi KLD bank and obtaining loans. All these activities have increased over the years and tend to add profitability to the Bank. The Bank can develop better strategies through research and development to create mutual monetary benefits between the Bank and the businesses. B2. Current Weaknesses 1. Unethical Staff Despite Mr. John trying to encourage an organizational culture that adopts high ethical standards, some staff has tried to go against it. Some senior staff mostly lacked respect for their subordinates and the customers. Interns, employees, and customers have reported cases of sexual harassment, and the accused were always e the same individuals previously accused with the same allegations- they were all in senior management. All this misconduct can develop a bad reputation for the Bank and cause a drastic drop in profitability. 2. Increased Employee Turnover Due to some of the unethical behavior displayed by staff, some employees had to resign in large numbers, mostly female employees. Such has affected the performance of the bank branch since new employees had to be recruited and retrained, which

8 needed plenty of resources. The remnant had to work twice as hard to cover the niche, which slowed all processes by half. All this is bad for business, and clients can quickly shift to the Bank's competitors where services are faster; this causes a loss to the Bank at large. B3. Currents Opportunities 1. Urbanization Project Financing The high growth rate of urbanization in the Jabawi area will need to project financing for infrastructure. The county governments mainly depend on KLD bank for loans and pay them back on time, and the loans give the Bank good interest. The interests will grow the profitability of the bank branch. Additionally, due to growth in infrastructure, more businesses and institutions will sprout in Jibawi, creating an excellent business environment for the Bank. Better infrastructure also appears to increase urban household demand for bank loans. 2. St able increase in income levels A possibility of economic growth in the next two to three years may happen. With economic growth, financial, technological, and political growth is experienced. All these factors create a conducive working environment for banks. Financial growth means a high affinity for increased customer loans, which creates more revenue for banks (Beck et al., 2010). Technological development will enable the technical department of the Bank to develop or adapt the latest banking technology, making service delivery efficient and effective. Political growth means peace and stability, which makes the external environment safe and secure for the Bank to operate. Environments prone to war and conflict threaten the safety of the money transacted by the Bank.

10 C. Leadership Evaluation Mr. John, the branch manager of KDL Bank, Jibawi branch, displayed a variety of traits in his leadership as much as he was a competent and committed banker and Customer service consultant with the ability to maintain existing customers and recruit new ones. Furthermore, he p ossesse d excellent communication and interpersonal skills , but he also had some weaknesses. The following section will cover Mr. John's strengths and weaknesses while applying the behavioral theories of leadership. C.1 Strengths of the Current Leader Mr. John's strengths were: being a team player, having a fair mind, and the willingness to adapt. Three leadership philosophies were discovered by research done in the 1930s by Iowa State University: Democratic, authoritarian, and laissez-faire. According to Daft (1999), a democratic leader delegated power to others, promoted participation, and depended on subordinates. Knowledge for task completion depends on the influence of subordinates. In democratic leadership, subordinates and leaders collaborate and engage in all matters. Everyone is allowed to air their ideas, thus making them part of the decision- making process- here, it is clear that participation, the delegation of power, and influence from subordinates are the critical pillars of the democratic leadership style (Odumegwu, 2019). From the strengths mentioned above, it is clear that Mr. John used the democratic leadership style from the behavioral leadership theories. All his strengths in leadership were borrowed from the concepts of behavioral theory.

11 Strengths 1. Team Player Mr. John is a team player in all instances. He always encouraged teamwork in the Bank and gave room for members' participation in decision-making processes. Being a team player has always been his mindset. Mr. John is always open to new ideas. He used to say collaboration is all about compromise—and flexibility. For instance, during meetings, he would barely propose solutions for any form of a problem; he would always start up a debate that needed all ideas to be aired by all staff; then, we would all decide on the decision that had the most members. He would then agree or add a few adjustments with our permission. His flexibility did not imply bending over backward. It was critical in a team environment that everyone did their fair share and strived for quality work. We were told not to be afraid to speak up when we noticed missed responsibilities or poor accountability. However, he encouraged we must always act with good intentions and assume the same of our teammates. 2. Having a fair mind When handling matters that have a broad impact, fair leaders hold themselves accountable for maintaining objectivity. By upholding acceptable standards and responding logically, a leader exemplifies fairness. They seek alignment between individuals and groups to produce outcomes that benefit both parties . All these traits were permanently adopted by our manager Mr. John. He was always active in his listening. Collaboration frequently resulted in feelings of sociability and shared ideas. While that was correct, he also emphasized the importance of listening and reflecting. He made sure to give other people's ideas the same effort as his own. For instance, he would give the floor to those who had not spoken if he realized he had

13 over whelmed, make decisions slower, and sometimes face delayed productivity (Odumegwu, 2019) . These types of leaders run the risk of entombing themselves in peril. Instead of choosing, they ask their team for suggestions. The ability to do so is not always present. Making decisions for the entire team in a crisis is sometimes part of being a leader. Leaders who follow the framework of this leadership style may procrastinate more frequently because they wait for someone else to tell them what ideas are good. Even when procrastination is not used, democratic leadership takes longer to reach a consensus than other leadership styles—this is done so that everyone can express their thoughts and ideas (Indeed, 2022). Before dismissing a suggestion, it should be thoroughly discussed. Larger teams may face production delays as everyone attempts to reach an agreement on the best course of action. Such flaws were evident during Mr. John's leadership and are discussed further below . 1. Being easily Overwhelmed Mr. John's leadership style required more time and effort when a team consensus was needed. Due to the additional work, there may have been missed deadlines and possible leader burnout. For instance, the issue of sexual harassment was once raised during a meeting, and as usual, we all had to contribute our ideas on how to handle the issue; most of the seniors were accused of this obscene character, and therefore it was pretty hard for some of the subordinates to air their thoughts for fear of being punished afterward. Some even faced threats, and the whole scenario became overwhelming for Mr. John.

14 2. Slow Decision Making When everyone had to weigh in, it might have been more difficult to make quick decisions. The time needed to schedule meetings and discussions can be detrimental to business when quick decisions are necessary, or deadlines are involved. For instance, due to the holistic approach of inclusivity, some deadlines could hardly be met, and we had some issues with the overall Bank's top management. Slow decision- making could affect relationships, culture, and psychological aspects and cost the bank time and money. The time it took to implement new ideas was hampered by slow decisions, especially when we were pressed for time. Customers, clients, and a few team members lost interest in us. 3. Delayed Performance Because they detested making decisions, some employees struggled to perform well under democratic leadership. Additionally, they felt they had put in more effort than our leader. Wholesomely, when there was minimal supervision, most employees would relax and either procrastinate or abandon their duties. All of this had adverse effects on service delivery and the Bank's overall reputation. C3. Recommendations for The Current Leader Mr. John must consider whether this is the best approach in all cases. Although democratic leadership can benefit a team in various ways, it is inappropriate for every team or project. Before beginning each new project, he should take the time to consider which approach will work best for him and the team. Second, he should provide instruction to make sure that each team member understands how to voice their opinions and listen to others in a way that benefits the entire team. All participants should agree on any ground rules before the open discussion starts, and be sure to ask any questions that may come up.

16 References Akinbowale, O. E., Klingelhöfer, H. E., & Zerihun, M. F. (2020). An analysis of cyber-crime effects on the banking sector using the balanced scorecard: a literature survey. Journal of Financial Crime ,   27 (3), 945-958. Azizi, S. (2018). The impacts of workers' remittances on human capital and labor supply in developing countries.  Economic Modelling ,  pp. 75 , 377–396. Beck, Thorsten, Asli Demirgüç-Kunt, and Ross Levine. 2010. “Financial Institutions and Markets across Countries and over Time.” World Bank Economic Review 24 (1): 77–92. Daft, R. (1999). "Leadership: Theory and practice," Fort Worth, TX: Dryden Press. Fredrick. O, (2021). Cybercrime poses a threat to Kenya's financial sector. The Standard Newspaper https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/sci-tech/article/2001411926/cyber-crime- poses-threat-to-kenyas-financial-sector Indeed, (2022). Democratic Leadership Style in the Workplace: Pros and Cons KLD, (2022), Progress Report, Influence of Banking Innovations on Financial Performance of Kenya Commercial Bank.  International Journal of Current Aspects in Finance, Banking, and Accounting ,  4 (2), 11–21. Odumegwu, C. (2019). Democratic Leadership Style and Organizational Performance: An Appraisal.   Development ,   9 (3).

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