the impact of leader gender leadership styles and follower gender on leadership effectiveness in manufacturing small and medium enterprises smes in vietnam

Specifically, the study attempted to achieve three objectives, including discussing existing literature to develop an appropriate theoretical framework concerning the factors influencing

THE IMPACT OF LEADER GENDER, LEADERSHIP STYLES, AND FOLLOWER GENDER ON LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVENESS IN MANUFACTURING SMALL AND

MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (SMES) IN VIETNAM

A Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Business Administration

By

Dinh Manh Tran

University of the West of Scotland 2022

ABSTRACT

The role of gender and leadership style on leadership effectiveness has attracted scholars’ attention recently with the attempts to accelerate women on board This research investigates the relationship between leadership style, follower gender and leader gender and leadership effectiveness in the Vietnamese SMEs manufacturing context Specifically, the study attempted to achieve three objectives, including discussing existing literature to develop an appropriate theoretical framework concerning the factors influencing leadership effectiveness regarding leadership styles, leadership gender, and follower gender (1); investigating the impacts of leadership style, follower gender and leader gender on the management effectiveness of business leaders with reference to decision-making and leader- follower relationship in manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam (2); and proposing the implications for manufacturing SMEs in Vietnam to employ the most fitted, effective leadership styles for Vietnamese leaders (3)

The literature review on the relationship between leader gender, leadership styles, and effectiveness found disagreements over the research findings regarding the correlation between these areas of study Previously, the Role Congruity theory and relational demography were used to administrate trials Furthermore, earlier research indicating that the relationship between follower gender and leader gender causes leadership effectiveness is inadequate in justifying the disparate findings Additionally, studies utilizing expectation violations theory imply that females are empowered to engage in agentic leadership activities On the basis of these findings, the researcher supports the use of the Social Identity Theory of Leadership (SITL) as a theoretical framework for developing a conceptual framework for assessing the interaction between leadership effectiveness and leader gender via leadership group prototypicality that is dependent on follower gender and leadership styles in this research

In terms of research methodology, the Researcher employed the realist epistemology using measurements and scales to explore different aspects of leadership effectiveness The quantitative approach with the use of a questionnaire was utilized for data collection The study received responses from 394 respondents from 10 small and medium enterprises in Vietnam The questionnaire has two sections The first section involved five items exploring the respondents’ age, gender, working position, education, and working tenure The second section attempted to examine the respondents’ perceptions of the impacts of leadership style, leader gender and follower gender on leadership effectiveness Reliability tests, correlation analysis and regression analysis, were used to analyze data

Research findings revealed that empirical findings supported hypotheses, indicating that males in transformational leadership style and females in transactional leadership style are more effective in decision-making and leader-follower relationship

Based on the findings, the researcher generated theoretical implications concerning the use of the developed framework for further studies concerning the impacts of leadership style, follower gender and leader gender on leadership effectiveness, as well as practical implications for the benefit of appropriate leadership style and promotion of women in the organizations It is suggested that Vietnamese organizations may support the development of organizational contexts featuring the transactional leadership style for female leaders and the transformational leadership style for male leaders

The recommendations for research in the future include a more qualitative methodology, the usage of filmed sessions, more varied samples, the examination of inequalities between men and women at work, and the study of how women and men are rated in different workplaces along with how these assessments might be improved to reflect good leadership characteristics better

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the content of this thesis for the degree of Doctorate in Business Administration is my own work This thesis has not been submitted for any degree or other purposes I further declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work and that all the assistance received in preparing this thesis and sources have been acknowledged

I also declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This DBA thesis would not have been possible without the intellectual and spiritual support of so many important people in my life

I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Dr Abraham Althonayan I am extremely fortunate to have him as an instructor; His patience, morality, and frankness inspired me and helped me get through the most challenging times I would also like to thank Dr Alina Andronache, Dr Thi Thu Hoang for their valuable guidance throughout my studies

The field research in Vietnam would not have been possible without the fantastic support of my parents, who helped me connect to the companies to get actual research data

With all my heart, I thank all of the research participants for allowing me to document their educational experience and giving me great motivation to pursue this important work together

Last but not least, I would like to thank my wonderful wife, Thu Hang Nguyen, for the daily sacrifices that keep me focused on completing my thesis I couldn't ask for a better partner and mother for our child than her

Doing this thesis is a long journey with many ups and downs There were many difficulties when the covid 19 pandemic broke out for more than two years which made the research process take one extra year with many challenges Still, all this makes me incredibly grateful for what I have and the people I have met

To those who know the project and have prayed for me, THANK YOU!

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2.7 Decision-making as an aspect of leadership effectiveness 44 2.8 Leader-follower relationship as an aspect of leadership effectiveness 45 2.9 Gender in leadership, the glass ceiling and glass cliff phenomena 46

2.11 Review of frameworks related to gender and leadership effectiveness 53 2.11.1 Role congruity theory (RCT) of prejudice toward women 53

2.11.2 Relational demography - diversity and dissimilarity literature 60

2.11.2.2 Vertical dissimilarity - the measurement of diversity 61

2.11.2.1 Social identity/self-categorisation theory 63

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4.1.1 An overview of research philosophy and paradigm 88

4.1.2 Research philosophy in leadership research 97

5.1.3 Reliability test for leadership group prototypicality 134

5.2.1.1 Descriptive statistics of leadership style – Male leaders 135 5.2.1.2 Descriptive statistics of leadership effectiveness – Male leaders 138 5.2.2 Descriptive statistics for female leaders 141 5.2.2.1 Descriptive statistics of leadership style – Female leaders 141 5.2.2.2 Descriptive statistics of leadership effectiveness – Female leaders 143 5.2.3 Descriptive statistics of leader group prototypicality 146

5.3.1.2 Leadership styles and follower-leader relationship 148 5.3.2 Correlational analysis for female leaders 149

5.3.2.2 Leadership styles and follower-leader relationship 150

5.4.1 Hypothesis 1 testing (male leader, leadership styles and leadership effectiveness) 151

6.1 Review of aims, objectives and research questions 168

Appendix D The Most Preeminent Theoretical Approaches to Leadership Effectiveness 220

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1 Countries leading gender parity efforts in career development 12

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.2 Comparison of the main paradigms in terms of ontology, epistemology, and research

Table 5.19 Correlation between transformational, transactional leadership style and decision

Table 5.20 Correlation between transformational, transactional leadership style and follower-

Table 5.21 Correlation between transformational, transactional leadership style and decision

Table 5.22 Correlation between transformational, transactional leadership style and follower-

Table 5.24 Results of H1 testing (male leader, leadership styles and follower-leader

Table 5.26 Results of H3 testing (female leader, leadership style and follower-leader

Table 5.31 Results of H7, H8 testing (follower gender (female), leadership styles and decision

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

RCT: Role Congruity Theory

SITL: The social identity theory of leadership SMEs: Small and medium enterprises

SRT: Social Role Theory

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background

According to Araujo-Cabrera et al (2016), leaders take a crucial role in any organisation's success; hence, it is essential that leaders are influential and contributive to the organization (Mesu et al., 2015) However, it is questioned what factors constituting an effective leader (Weaver, 2015) are; in other words, what are the drivers of leadership effectiveness Therefore, it is exacerbated that there has been no universally accepted definition or approach to leadership effectiveness (Hwang et al., 2015) Thus, leadership effectiveness should be considered and examined in relation to the studied settings and related issues (Oyinlade, 2006) It is argued by Kang and Jin (2015) that one of the most challenging domains concerning leadership effectiveness refers to how to assess leadership effectiveness In recent literature, there have been constant controversies about the measurement of leadership effectiveness (Harris and Kuhnert, 2008; Shalhoop and Sanger, 2012) Through empirical findings, Lowe et al (2016) revealed that there are two approaches that can be employed for measuring leadership effectiveness, including subordinate perceptions and organizational measures Meanwhile, some other authors explained that it was more beneficial to use follower ratings to assess leadership effectiveness (Hansbrough et al., 2015) According to Kang and Jin (2015), the employees who are subordinate to leaders are those who can make the best measurement of leadership effectiveness within the organizations Furthermore, they also act as influencing factors on leadership effectiveness

Referring to leadership effectiveness, Nichols and Cottrell (2018) stated that there are numerous factors potentially influencing leadership effectiveness The most prevent factors refer to leadership styles which have been identified by many scholars (Frackenpohl, Hillenbrand, and Kube, 2016; Müller, Pintor, and Wegge, 2018; Weaver, 2015) It is defined by (DuBrin, 2016, p 518) that leadership style refers to “the relatively consistent pattern of behaviour that characterizes a leader” The authors also argued about the classification of leadership styles An investigation into previous studies revealed that leadership styles mainly embrace four behavioural typologies, including transactional, transformational, empowering and directive leadership (Schuh, Zhang, and Tian, 2013; Ottoman et al., 2014) Pierro et al (2013) emphasized that these four behavioural typologies of leadership were utilized in many theoretical models of leadership in the literature and used as the foundations in a number of studies Notably, Clark and Waldron (2016) indicated that in the current literature on the

leadership domain, transactional and transformational styles are more preferred by scholars than empowering and directive leadership

At the organizational level, leadership takes the responsibility to provide the direction and guidelines which enable their followers to accomplish their personal and corporate objectives According to Barbuto and Gifford (2010), with a view to making way for the organization’s growth, it is vital to understand how to ensure effective leadership styles and which leadership styles are appropriate and effective to improve the followers’ performance and the organization’s outcomes

In previous studies, the researchers have attempted to explore the effects of four leadership styles on the organization It is stated by Smirch, Hologram, and Dismayed (2017) that transformational leadership has been widely used in organizations because of its superior impact on organizational success An empirical study by Bester, Stander, and Van Zyl (2015) revealed that leaders with transformational style are more competent in generating motivations for their subordinates to successfully achieve their individual goals Furthermore, the transformational leadership style is also considered to positively influence the accomplishment of organizational goals (Ishikawa, 2012) Finally, Ng and Sears (2012) found a positive correlation between transformational leadership and followers’ job satisfaction and organizational commitment

Referring to the second leadership style, Oreg and Bergson (2014, p 3) defined “transactional leadership as an exchange process in which the leader provides rewards to followers” Leaders can use many types of rewards for their subordinates, which mainly fall into financial and non-financial rewards (Wang et al., 2013) Payment, promotion, job security, recognition, etc., are the most commonly used rewards Yaqoub (2018) explained that transactional leaders could motivate their employees by offering rewards aligned with the employees’ self-interests, preferences, and needs In other words, within the transactional leadership framework, there is an active exchange between the leaders and followers in a positive manner However, Oreg and Bergson (2014) criticized that there is no established relationship existing between the leader and the followers because rewards cannot be used as an effective measure for employees’ high-level engagement

The third leadership style identified in the leadership literature refers to the authoritative leadership style According to Boyatzis, Good, and Massa (2012), this type of leadership is systematic in nature Dinah et al (2014) argued that when the two authoritative leadership was employed, the leaders clearly delivered their expectations for the followers’ tasks and outcomes However, the directions of task accomplishment might not be transferred Nevertheless, the

authoritative leadership style is not regarded as positive leadership It is explained by Dinah et al (2014) that authoritative leadership may generate a wall separating the leaders and their followers; consequently, the followers are not involved in the leaders’ decision-making process This situation can become the source of employee dissatisfaction caused by workplace stress, discrimination, bullying behaviours, etc Therefore, previous studies asserted that there was a negative connection between employee job satisfaction and authoritative leadership style

In terms of servant leadership, Giltinane (2013) defined the servant leadership style as the leadership behaviours which emphasize serving the employees and their needs Therefore, Groves and Feyerherm (2011) asserted that leaders with servant leadership style appreciated their followers’ perceptions, opinions, commitment and contributions Servant leaders employ different measures to build and strengthen trust between the leader and followers through offering opportunities for personal and professional growth and development of leadership ability (Nichols and Cottrell, 2014) Giltinane (2013) emphasized that the significant benefit of servant leadership involves the generation of work-life balance for the followers, resulting in their job satisfaction

Finally, Oreg and Bergson (2014) listed charismatic as the last leadership style The authors stated that charismatic leadership theory was initially by Weber (1958), who described that the leaders tended to use the charismatic leadership style in the organization’s crisis time to strengthen their team Charismatic leaders are top communicators who might utilize communication skills to connect with their employees on a deep emotional level Nichols and Cottrell (2014) argued that identifying the gaps between the organization’s offers and employees’ expectations Charismatic leaders can provide measures to motivate their employees to accomplish the organization's goals

Examining the leadership literature also reveals that transactional and transformational leadership are more prevalent in the literature because these styles are adopted by the majority of leaders in organizations, regardless of organization size, industry, structure, etc (Sharma and Kirkman, 2015) In the current study, the researcher also focuses on two types of transactional and transformational leadership as the drivers of leadership effectiveness

Besides leadership styles, Barbuto and Gifford (2010) stated that follower gender and leader gender greatly influence leadership effectiveness According to Merchant (2012), although men and women may take an equal role and generate equivalent effectiveness levels in some specific settings, leadership effectiveness hinges on the way men and women utilize different leadership styles to manage their followers While men tend to employ the leadership style with a command-and-dictate manner, women prefer a mentoring and coaching style

Merchant (2012) suggested that it is vital to acknowledge the correlation between leader gender, leadership style and leadership effectiveness

Burke and Collins (2011) stated that for the optimization of leadership effectiveness of both genders, male and female, it is essential that the leaders go beyond the understanding and consideration of biological differences between men and women and facile generalizations of factors which contribute to the success of a female leader versus a male counterpart The central focus should be on whether and how gender is in the relationship with leadership

It is stated by Mendenhall (2017, p.3) that gender is a separate divergent attribute that is pertinent to the way individuals act in various situations, are thought about by others and think about themselves Hence, there is no doubt that gender has a direct impact on how leaders think, behave, as well as influence others Accordingly, when examining leadership effectiveness, the researchers tend to focus on gender as an influencing factor in leadership effectiveness

There is extensive research investigating gender differences and leadership, particularly how leaders' gender and leadership style impact their followers and effectiveness (Mendenhall, 2017) The researchers pointed out that gender role identity concerning “a stereotypical individual self-perception as masculine or feminine and encompasses qualities that are regarded as ideal for each sex in society” may significantly influence how the followers perceived their leaders’ styles and effectiveness (Wood and Eagly, 2009; Mendenhall, 2017) Mendenhall (2017) explained that people generally have expectations about each gender While men are expected to have specific, agentic characteristics such as assertiveness, achievement orientation, and competitiveness focus, women are inclined to more communal features such as the tendency to have personal caring, nurturing others, and benevolence However, Kark, Waismel-Manor and Shamir (2012) claimed that not all men and women have the correct characteristics which they are expected to have Some women may possess some masculine or agentic characteristics; in contrast, men may display some feminine-related features (Kark et al., 2012) Eagly and Karau (2002) also mentioned the role congruity theory to discuss the mismatch between the normal perception of leadership demand and female leaders This theory is useful to explain the emergence of evaluation bias for female leaders The study by Koenig et al (2011) stated that although there was progress in the perception of leader difference and leadership with the emergence of the androgynous leadership, the aphorism “Think male – Think leader” was still emphasized Lekchiri et al (2018) also listed two perspectives against female involvement in management and leadership, including 1) undervaluation of the leadership potential of females and 2) undervaluation of actual behaviours of female leaders In

the past, many scholars identified and explained the drawbacks and challenges to female leaders who performed leadership duties and functions (Hattie, 2015); there have been significant improvements in this aspect in recent studies There is an increase in studies which have examined transformational leadership as a prevalent leadership form which are more related to female leadership (Eagly and Carli, 2003; Shamir and Howell, 2018) It is revealed by Bass and Avolio (2014) that when employing the transformational leadership style, the leaders expect to transform the followers’ values, goals and expectations by changing their awareness The scholars emphasized that the responsibility of transformational leaders is to encourage their followers to set out and employ new ways of thinking through different and equitable treatment on a one-to-one basis (Ali, Metz, and Kulik, 2015; Kark et al., 2012) Shamir and Howell (2018) also affirmed that the emergence of transformational leadership corresponds to the shift in organizational structures with reference to hierarchy and flexibility In organizations whose managers are transformational leaders, the employees tend to be more collaborative and empowered (Eagly and Carli, 2003) It is argued by Eagly and Carli (2003) that the movements in leadership provided people with the opportunity to re-evaluate the essence of leadership Furthermore, the cores of leadership behaviours within the transformational styles are employee empowerment, employee collaboration and interpersonal interactions, which are in relation to the communal attributes of female leaders (Bart and McQueen, 2013; Boulouta, 2013; Shamir and Howell, 2018)

In terms of the relationship between followers and leadership effectiveness, despite the abundant literature on leadership and gender, these studies still ignored the influence of leader gender role identity on the followers’ perception of leadership style and leadership effectiveness Furthermore, according to Schock et al (2019), there are only a few studies utilizing the role congruity theory in relation to leadership prototype theory It is necessary to set out a more holistic framework to address and explain how leader gender influenced the followers’ perceptions of transactional and transformational leadership behaviours Day et al (2014) argued that within the basis of leadership prototype theory, the followers had their own ideas of what characteristics their ideal leaders should have Accordingly, if the leaders cannot meet their expectations and representation of ideal leaders, their leadership evaluation tends to be less favourable (del Carmen Triana, Miller, and Trzebiatowski, 2014) In the current study, the researcher would like to drive the study focus on the influence of followers on leadership styles and leadership effectiveness because the followers’ understanding of different leadership styles, specifically transactional and transformational leadership styles, are of great significance to understanding their leadership bias All these issues will influence the leadership process and

leadership effectiveness In addition, referring to the link between leadership styles and leader gender from the leader’s perspective, Eagly et al (2003) argued that the followers tend to perceive transformational leadership in relation to women leaders while transactional leadership is more correlated with men leaders Another aspect of the relationship between follower and leadership effectiveness refers to the influence of follower gender on the effectiveness of leaders, which is studied in this study

Furthermore, it is reported by Sanchez-Hucles and Davis (2010) that although there are significant improvements in the involvement of female leaders on the board worldwide, the number of men on the board still outnumbers that of women Although women outnumber men in such supervisory or middle-level positions, there are prejudices against female leadership Suppose the women would like to break the bias and prejudices against female leadership to promote their role in organizations In that case, it is critical that they advance their leadership effectiveness, particularly effectiveness from their followers’ evaluation There are many reasons explaining the bias against female leadership Eagly and Karau (2002) argued that there are two significant reasons for the prejudice against female leadership The first reason refers to the common misconceptions of people about gender identities, gender roles and their characteristics This reason is the most powerful influencer on the prejudice against female leadership worldwide The second reason involves the wrong perception that females, unlike male leaders, do not have sufficient knowledge, skills and expertise required for leadership effectiveness Sanchez-Hucles and Davis (2010) affirmed that women in senior positions have to generate more efforts to promote their management pathway because of these prejudices and biases

It is stated by Richard, Kirby, and Chadwick (2013) that there is a close relationship between the formulation of male and female leader prototypes and leader evaluation in relation to gender While male followers tend to expect their leaders have more female leadership characteristics such as masculinity, competitiveness and oppression, female followers expect a more caring and feminine leadership style The followers’ genders, hence, significantly influence their leadership evaluation The researchers also pointed out that while male leaders are required to show only their strengths in their positions, female leaders are required to demonstrate both strengths and other feminine characteristics to obtain leadership effectiveness (Paustian-Underdahl, Walker, and Woehr, 2014) Because of this bias, female leaders encounter several challenges when striving to be successful as a leader

Notably, Eagly and Karau (2002) affirmed that even when women can climb to the top positions of organizations, they are still under-evaluated by their female subordinates This

reflects the influence of follower gender on leadership effectiveness Some male subordinates ignore the instructions and assignments from their female superiors Under the effects of different factors, female assistants have the bias that males are more dominant than females; hence, they should not be managed by female leaders As a result, female leaders have to find ways to maintain their followers, particularly male followers, to ensure their leadership effectiveness Because of this bias, the organization’s shareholders tend not to promote female leaders to top-level management positions, leading to the outnumber of male leaders over females

The gender imbalance in the top-level management positions is particularly dominant in Asian countries because male leadership is prevalent in Asian cultures However, in recent years, according to Northouse (2015), there has been a gradual, slow increase in the number of female managers in organizations in Asia countries Under the effects of economic growth, females' health and opportunities for education are significantly improved, resulting in an increase in the number of female leaders (Liu, Cutcher, and Grant, 2015) Furthermore, Larkin, Bernardi, and Bosco (2013) explained that corresponding to the increase in the number of female leaders, there are significant changes in the perception of the effectiveness of female leaders More people have eliminated their prejudices and bias about the role, skills, and expertise of female leaders within organizations

Other researchers also pointed out that gender imbalance in the senior and top-level management positions is linked to the followers’ characteristics, including gender, culture, and religion Liu et al (2015) also concluded that the outnumber of males in top-level management has led to the majority of gender-leadership effectiveness being administered in Western contexts The management styles and social interactions between leaders and followers in Western countries are totally different from those in Asian countries Therefore, it is critical that more studies be administered in Asian contexts regarding the relationship between leadership style, follower gender and leader gender, and leadership effectiveness Because it is commonly perceived by individuals that male and female leaders have different abilities, expertise and skills that influence leadership effectiveness, it is vital to explore whether the difference in leadership styles, follower gender and leader gender may generate the impacts on leadership effectiveness Notably, research findings in this landscape have become more critical because of the significance of female leadership to business performance and profitability

Furthermore, although previous studies revealed many challenges that prevent female leaders from building trust and confidence in all subordinates, particularly males, these empirical findings are only valuable in the Western context In other words, the findings

concerning the relationship between follower gender, leadership styles, leader gender, and leadership effectiveness are not relevant in Asian countries, including Vietnam Therefore, there is an increasing need to explore how leadership effectiveness in organizations in Vietnam is influenced by leader gender, follower gender, and leadership style

1.2 Research rationale

There is an extensive range of significant studies attempting to examine the causal relationship between gender, including both leader and follower gender, leadership effectiveness and leadership styles While some authors asserted that there was no relationship between gender, leadership styles and leadership effectiveness, others empirically pointed out a statistically significant relationship between gender, leadership styles and leadership effectiveness In terms of the second perspective, some researchers held the position that male leaders’ effectiveness was higher than that of female leaders; in contrast, other researchers supported female leadership Therefore, it can be concluded that there is no consistency in research findings concerning the influence of gender differences between leaders and followers on leadership effectiveness Additionally, the settings for the majority of gender-leadership effectiveness are Western countries; there are not many research findings explaining how leader, follower gender impact leadership effectiveness Hence, it is vital and meaningful to administer a study in Vietnam, as an Asian country, to explore the impact of leadership styles, follower gender and leader gender on the effectiveness of leaders in Vietnam to enrich the leadership literature

In the leadership literature, it is pointed out that one of the significant concerns of business worldwide refers to how to select the right leaders with the highest level of effectiveness to promote the organizations’ growth and profitability It is agreed by Khan and Vieito (2013) that leadership effectiveness is the key to the organization’s success Effective leaders are those who lead their teams to success, contributing to the organizations’ growth and profitability Besides the issues of leadership effectiveness, leader gender, leadership style and leader-follower relationships are also perceived as the most critical challenges to obtaining high organizational performance (Jalbert, Jalbert, and Furumo, 2013) The leaders who do not know how to use different factors to impact their followers are those with a low level of leadership effectiveness

Furthermore, because leaders have to deal with different employees and business situations, the insufficient understanding of leadership styles may result in failure, reflected by low leadership effectiveness (Jalbert et al., 2013) It is important that leaders understand that there are many leadership styles with distinct advantages and disadvantages In order to promote

their leadership effectiveness, they should navigate these advantages into how they manage their followers Jalbert et al (2013) and Fudman (2015) also indicated the existence of gender prejudice and bias against female leaders and its effects on the team and organizational performance Therefore, it is critical that scholars identify the difference in leadership styles and leadership effectiveness in relation to gender differences Understanding these aspects may promote the involvement of women in top-level management and leadership effectiveness

Due to the fast-developing domestic economies since the "Doi Moi" reforms in 1986, Vietnam, as the setting of the current study, has received substantial government support and investment, which aim to change from a centrally-planned command to an open market economy; thus has integrated into the globalization and worldwide economy In alignment with this economic transition, Vietnam is a socialist and post-colonial nation with a sustainable contribution to promoting gender equality in many areas, including business (Nguyen, 2021) Henceforth, Vietnam is considered a compelling case that aims to study females' engagement and participation in Vietnam's business ecosystem Compared to other developing countries in Southeast Asia, Vietnam has made signs of progress in eliminating gender discrimination, particularly when it regards business opportunities and participation According to the World Economic Forum (2021), out of 156 countries worldwide, Vietnam ranked 87th in the 2021 Global Gender Gap index in four categories, including economic opportunity and participation, education, health, and political involvement Meanwhile, Vietnam ranked seventh in the top ten developing countries in East Asia and the Pacific region (World Economic Forum, 2021)

The government has also made a substantial commitment to preserving Vietnam's socialist goals for gender equality; therefore, it continues to upgrade the national policy and legal system that support female rights in various aspects According to Nhan Quyen News (2015), Viet Nam was one of the first members of the CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women) adopted by UNGA (UN General Assembly) in 1980 The convention stated the principle of gender equality and the empowerment of females since they will become leaders in different fields in the future Expressly, the 2013 CEDAW's Article 26 specified that men and women own equal rights to organise business activities Hence, the State is required to release legal policies to protect the rights of female citizens and make changes in supporting gender equality in the workplace (UNDP, 2021)

In recent years, Vietnam has made a sustainable contribution to reforming its regulations and legal frameworks that support the non-discrimination and equality between males and females in complying with the CEDAW For instance, Vietnam's 2006 GEL (Gender Equality Law) aims to eliminate gender discrimination and support females' rights in the areas of

healthcare, education, and land labour (United Nations, 2007) Accordingly, the GEL provides the definition of gender-based equality and discrimination; then, it outlines different measures for guaranteeing gender equality in various aspects The 2007 Domestic Violence Prevention and Control Law (DVPCL) is another governmental piece of the legal framework that aims to prevent domestic violence from female employees It discusses the responsibilities of relevant individuals and organisations to protect females in the workplace (ILO, 2021)

The sustainable commitments to gender equality in Viet Nam are also exhibited in the NSAPs (National Strategies and Action Plans) that aim to support gender non-discrimination and female leadership in business There have been different strategies for the advancement of women in accordance with the NSAPs, including the first and second NSGE (National Strategy for Gender Equality) for the period of 2011-20 and 2021-30 According to Government Portal (2021), the NSGE is an essential part of the State's planning and development document that is considered the national strategy of socio-economic and human resources development The current 2021-30 NSGE states its new target that the number of Vietnamese paid female employees will rise to 50% by 2025 and to 60% by 2030 (Vietnam Law Magazine, 2021) Meanwhile, the percentage of female leaders and business owners will reach more than 27% by 2025 and 30% by 2030 Hence, the NSGEs focus on increasing female employees' wages and benefits, eliminating gender discrimination in the business industries and supporting female self-employment and leadership (UN Vietnam, 2021) Therefore, it is evident that Vietnam has been striving to reduce the gender gaps in leadership in various areas, including business

However, there are still many challenges to promoting gender equality in decision- making positions at different levels At the national level, despite the Government’s attempts, there are some periods in which the percentage of females in decision-making positions dropped In more detail, a decrease of the ratio of female deputies fell from 27.3% in 2002 to 24.4% in 2011; meanwhile, in the same period, the number of female deputies in the Communist Party’s central committee was only 14 members (ILO, 2021)

At the ministry level, there are many factors preventing the development of females; they tend to be assigned the position of deputy director (Eklund, Barry, and Grunberg, 2015) Research findings from previous studies implied that female leaders have enough talents, expertise, and skills to generate positive impacts on the process of decision-making Therefore, it is suggested that the appropriate proportion of women in decision-making positions should make up more than one-third of all positions (Rhee and Sigler, 2015)

In the business area, the report by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (2021) revealed that the investigation of the total registered enterprises in Vietnam showed only

20% of business owners were females in 2006; however, great changes have occurred, leading to the higher proportion of women involving in the top management positions (Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 2020)

The report by World Bank (2021) also indicated that the country has still encountered a number of challenges in promoting gender equality in the management to promote the contribution of female leaders to leadership effectiveness (World Bank, 2021) Some reasons may be sourced from external factors, while others are internal reasons Different measures have been implemented to tackle these external and internal reasons

The Vietnam Government has attempted to establish a strong legal system to protect women’s rights and promote their social roles, as mentioned earlier in this section Furthermore, a gender quota policy has been developed and communicated to accelerate the participation of women in the country’s party, executive, and legislative systems for decades However, it is criticized that the actual practices have not brought about the outcomes as expected (Eklund et al., 2015) Although the Government has expressed their commitment to gender equality, some legal documents are inhibiting the advancement of women into leadership For example, the retirement age for women at 60 years old while that for men was 65 years The gap in retirement age has limited the career pathway of women (Kroska and Cason, 2019)

Notably, it is identified that gender bias exists in all sectors in Vietnam, including both the public and private sectors Tran, Nguyen, and Tran (2019) revealed that the ordinary working sectors for Vietnamese women were agriculture, forestry, and pisciculture Furthermore, the report by World Bank (2021) highlighted that the average wage for women is only two-thirds of that of the mean in the same position In particular, a recent survey by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (2021) indicated a significant difference in leader gender in the workplace Organizations provide women with fewer opportunities for their personal and professional skills, expertise, and qualifications, particularly in the public sector

However, there is no doubt that there are great improvements in gender equality in the management of both public and private sectors in the current year The report by Nguyen (2020) revealed that Vietnam is among the top countries with initiatives for gender equality at the top- level management positions The report by Thornton International (2020) also aligns with Nguyen’s report by stating the provision of developmental opportunities to women at 56%, compared to the global average of 34% Figure 1.1 shows the report results

Figure 1.1 Countries leading gender parity efforts in career development

Source: Thornton International, 2020

As shown in Figure 1.1, Vietnam has led in many aspects of gender equality For example, in terms of the ability to develop and implement flexible workplace conditions for female workers is scored at 5^%, which is higher than that of the global average value of 31 % Furthermore, the attempts to establish an inclusive working culture in Vietnam are also calculated at 58% compared to 34% of the global extent Moreover, it is reported by Thornton International (2020) that in the business sector, 33% of the top-level management positions are occupied by females, compared to the global average of 29% Notably, the Thornton report highlighted that in 95% of organizations in Vietnam, at least one woman is working as a senior manager This percentage of the global extent is 87%

Despite the significant improvements in gender equality in management in Vietnam, there is no doubt that men still outnumber women in the direction of enterprises The thorough conduct of literature reviews shows that there is a lack of research on the impact of gender and leadership style on the efficacy of both the leader and the follower and on transactional and transformational leadership In comparable research, Daher (2017) only looked at the directive, participatory leadership styles A second issue is that the researcher did not look at how two important aspects of leadership effectiveness, namely decision-making and the relationship between the leader and the follower, were influenced by gender Moreover, as stated, there is a scarcity of empirical findings concerning how leadership style, follower gender and leader gender influence leadership effectiveness in the Vietnam context For all the aforementioned

reasons, the Researcher conducted the research titled “THE ROLE OF GENDER AND

LEADERSHIP STYLES ON LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVENESS IN VIETNAM MANUFACTURING SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (SMES)”

1.3 Research aim and objectives

Based on the research background and rationale, the importance of leadership styles and gender differences in business leadership effectiveness is evident Hence, to examine the relationship between leadership styles, follower gender, leader gender and leadership effectiveness in manufacturing SMEs, this doctor thesis aims to discuss, develop and test a leadership framework through the investigation of the impact of gender and leadership styles on the management effectiveness of Vietnamese leaders This thesis also aims to define different factors that have a significant impact on leadership effectiveness More specifically, three highlighted research objectives of this doctoral thesis are as follows:

1) To discuss existing literature in order to choose and develop an appropriate theoretical framework concerning the factors influencing leadership effectiveness regarding leadership styles, leadership gender, and follower gender

2) To investigate the impacts of leadership styles, leadership gender, and follower gender on the management effectiveness of business leaders with reference to decision-making and leader-follower relationship in manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam

3) To propose the implications for manufacturing SMEs in Vietnam to employ the most fitted, effective leadership styles for Vietnamese leaders

1.4 Research questions

In order to obtain the research aim and objectives, the following research questions are derived:

1) What is the appropriate theoretical framework concerning the factors influencing leadership effectiveness regarding leadership styles, leadership gender, and follower gender in manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam? 2) How do leadership styles, leadership gender, and follower gender affect the

management effectiveness of business leaders with reference to decision-making and leader-follower relationship in SMEs in Vietnam?

3) What are the implications for manufacturing SMEs in Vietnam to employ the most fitted, effective leadership styles for Vietnamese leaders?

1.5 Hypotheses of the study

In the current study, two leadership styles involve transactional leadership and transformational leadership and while two dimensions of leadership effectiveness refer to leader-follower relationship and decision making Therefore, the following hypotheses were generated:

H1 Male leaders who exhibit transformational leadership style will become more effective Leadership effectiveness is considered through leader-decision making and leader- follower relationships

H2 Male leaders who exhibit transformational leadership style will become more effective than female leaders who exhibit transformational leadership style

H3 Female leaders who exhibit transactional leadership style will become more effective Leadership effectiveness is considered through leader-decision making and leader- follower relationships

H4 Female leaders who exhibit transactional leadership style will become more effective than male leaders who exhibit transactional leadership style

H5 Follower gender (male) in transformational leadership will have (a) relationship(s) with leaders' decision-making and/or leader-follower relationship

H6 Follower gender (male) in transactional leadership will have (a) relationship(s) with leaders' decision-making and/or leader-follower relationship

H7 Follower gender (female) in transformational leadership will have (a) relationship(s) with leaders' decision-making and/or leader-follower relationship

H8 Follower gender (female) in transactional leadership will have (a) relationship(s) with leaders' decision-making and/or leader-follower relationship

1.6 Scope of the study

The current study was conducted in the Vietnamese context focusing on SMEs in the manufacturing sector Leadership is crucial to any organization; however, it becomes more vital for SMEs with distinctive characteristics Therefore, SMEs operating in the manufacturing sector in Vietnam were selected as research subjects In terms of leadership styles, transformational and transactional leadership are the most prevalent leadership styles in the leadership literature; hence, these two styles were investigated in the current study regarding how these two leadership styles influence leadership effectiveness Furthermore, many domains can be used to measure leadership effectiveness; under the scope of the study, only two

dimensions of decision-making and leader-follower relationships were employed as studied variables by the researchers

1.7 Significance of the study

It is expected that the current study will provide meaningful, valuable theoretical and practical contributions Theoretically, the current study provides empirical findings concerning the impacts of leadership style, follower gender and leader gender on leadership effectiveness in the Vietnam context Although there are numerous studies examining the relationship between leadership effectiveness and leader gender within different leadership styles, there is a dearth of studies conducted in the Vietnamese context focusing on manufacturing SMEs Furthermore, the similarity and differences between the impacts of leader and follower gender were identified in the study by Daher (2017); the researcher did not investigate how leader and follower gender influenced two dimensions of leadership effectiveness, including decision making and leader-follower relationship There is a necessity to conduct empirical research to examine the degree to which leadership style, follower gender and leader gender can generate impacts on a leader’s decision-making and leader-follower relationship Hence, the current study will fill these literature gaps and enrich the literature on gender differences and leadership in the Vietnam context

Practically, the current study expects to provide meaningful insights for SMEs in Vietnam to enhance leadership effectiveness Research findings concerning the significant impacts of gender on the effectiveness of leaders and differences in males and females with transactional and transformational styles will shed some light for companies, particularly SMEs, to promote their leadership effectiveness, contributing to organizational outcomes In particular, meaningful, empirical findings concerning the differences between women and men in their management positions, preferences in leadership style and leadership effectiveness are generated Research findings are expected to support eliminating gender bias and prejudices against female leadership, contributing to the acceleration in their career pathway with higher positions in their organizations The current study’s findings are also helpful for organizations to decide whether they should promote women to the board or not to ensure growth and profitability

1.8 Definition of key terms

Throughout the study, the following key terms are used by the researcher

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs): According to Das (2017), in the business law

of Vietnam, SMEs are defined as micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises that have no more than 200 employees

Leader: “A leader inspires others to act while simultaneously directing how they act.”

(Groves and Feyerherm, 2011, p 536)

Follower: It is defined by Groves and Feyerherm (2011, p 539) that “follower refers to

someone who supports and is guided by another person or by a group, religion, etc.”

Leadership: Kang and Jin (2015, p 1) define leadership as “the ability of an individual

or a group of individuals to influence and guide followers or other members of an organization”

Leadership effectiveness: “Leadership effectiveness represents the ability of a leader

'to mobilize and influence followers.” (Cicero, Pierro and Van Knippenberg, 2010, p 411)

Transactional leadership: According to Giltinane (2013, p 11), transactional

leadership is the leadership style that leaders utilize to use permissible power within the bureaucratic network of the organization to manage their followers

Transformational leadership: “Transformational leadership is a type of leadership that

focuses on effecting revolutionary cultural change by contributing to that organization’s vision.” (Giltinane, 2013, p 11)

1.9 Organization of the thesis

The current study includes seven chapters as follows:

Chapter 1 – Introduction – explains the background and rationale underlying the

study's decision concerning the impacts of leadership style, follower gender, and leader gender on leadership effectiveness Then, research objectives and questions are defined Accordingly, 8 hypotheses were generated in alignment with research objectives and questions Finally, the researcher went through the scope of the study, the significance of the study, the definition of key terms, and the organization of the thesis in this chapter

Chapter 2 – Literature review – critically explores the literature concerning how

leadership effectiveness is influenced by leadership style, follower gender and leader gender from the theoretical perspective The researcher explores different related theories in this chapter, such as stereotype fit theories, motivation theories, Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT), etc

Chapter 3 – Theoretical framework – involves investigating concepts of leadership

style, follower gender and leader gender, and leadership effectiveness in previous studies

Following each part of the concepts, hypotheses were accordingly generated In this chapter, significant studies concerning the impacts of leadership style, follower gender and leader gender on leadership effectiveness, both Vietnamese and foreign studies, are reviewed to generate the conceptual framework for the study

Chapter 4: Methodology – explains the research philosophy underpinning the

researcher’s choice of research philosophy and design In the first section of the chapter, the researcher systematically reviews research philosophies in social science research; two dominant examined paradigms included positivism and interpretivism Then, what was preferred paradigms in leadership literature was discussed Based on these explanations, the researcher justified the quantitative design of the current study The last sections of this chapter embraced the explanations for validity and reliability, ethical considerations, limitations, and delimitations of the research design

Chapter 5 – Data collection and analysis – describes how data was gathered and

analyzed Firstly, the sample and sampling procedures to select research subjects are represented Secondly, the researcher specifically explained the research instruments and operationalization of variables Thirdly, data collection procedures were discussed in detail In addition, data analysis methods and procedures were discussed in this chapter Finally, descriptive statistics were presented and analyzed in response to research hypotheses and questions

Chapter 6 – Discussions – discussed research findings in relation to findings from

previous studies to draw the conclusion for the study Discussions were also generated to determine whether the hypotheses were accepted or rejected

Chapter 7 - Conclusions and Recommendations – finally summarized the main

findings of the current studies Based on research findings, some recommendations were proposed for SMEs to improve their gender equality in management and leadership effectiveness Limitations of the current study and suggestions for further studies were also presented

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction

This chapter reviews different theories and frameworks related to gender and leadership effectiveness to summarize and analyze what other researchers have discovered before with a view to choose the most appropriate framework for this thesis The concepts of leadership, Antecedents of leadership, Leadership effectiveness, Leadership style, Gender, Leadership and followers’ characteristic in previous studies are discussed for further understanding of the research’s focus This chapter also looks at two aspects of leadership effectiveness that are chosen to be examined in this study, namely Decision making and Leader-follower relationship Finally, the research gaps are identified and concluded after reviewing the literature on leadership style and leadership effectiveness in Manufacturing SMEs and in Vietnam

2.2 Gender

The World Health Organization explained the term "sex" in reference to the physiological and biological attributes that distinguish men and women apart (WHO) In social science, the term "gender" refers to "the socially constructed roles, attitudes, activities, and characteristics that are deemed proper or inappropriate for men and women" (World Health Organization, 2016, p 3)

Scholars have emphasized the importance of distinguishing between sex and gender since the 1970s (Eagly and Heilman, 2016; Rhee and Sigler, 2015) In biology, a biological trait is defined as a biological trait that encompasses a species' morphological, physiological, genetic, and hormonal variation (Kairys, 2018) Prior to the discovery of the chromosomal configuration of chromosomes, it was assumed that only two chromosomal configurations existed: XX and XY However, we now know that four additional chromosomal configurations, including XO, as well as XY, and XXY, exist in addition to XY males and XX females (Fritz and van Knippenberg, 2017) In the wake of the existence and finding of the diverse chromosomal orderings, we now get a better insight into the Y and X chromosomes and the genetic aids they make, as well as a better understanding of gender and sex

Gender is a complex concept that makes reference to the various experiences, responsibilities, roles and constraints that people have depending on their presenting gender and/or sex (Black and Garvis, 2018) The psychosocial repercussions of biological sex (whether a person is male or female) were characterized by Wittmer (2001) as the level to which an individual has masculinity and/or femininity in an individual Gender is often operationalized via the observation of men and women in activity or by the questioning of

participants about their gender identity (Gray, Allen-Craig, and Carpenter, 2017) Women's and men's sexuality, on the other hand, includes a great deal more than only the psychological effects of biological sex Female and male sexuality are two distinct phenomena with different facets (Gillard, Buzuvis, and Bialeschki, 2014) Gender schemas and stereotypes, gender role identity, and the characteristics, attitudes, and values linked with gender roles are all examples of these aspects (Black and Garvis, 2018)

Bem developed the Theory of Gender Schema in 1981 as a way of reasoning gender preconceptions and sex stereotyping that exist in contemporary society (Black and Garvis, 2018) This process, according to Bem (1981), starts in infancy Children get an awareness of the activities and qualities that are linked with each sex as well as keep interpreting information through the lens of their gender diagram as they become older and more experienced While parents can instil more androgynous ideas in their children at home (for example, by restricting children's approach to the material which encourages sex-typing and so on), youngsters frequently interact with sex-typing at school and even in daycare centres Rhee and Sigler (2015) advocated that adults had better educate their children about a sexism diagram so that they would be able to realize when sexist data or actions are presented to them This technique, she argues, will help to prevent youngsters from automatically conforming to a certain gender paradigm, so encouraging positive social change (Rhee and Sigler, 2015)

In order to build a core gender identity, it is important to understand how one's upbringing, media, and other cultural factors form this identity For the purposes of this study, Bem divided sex-typing into four categories: undifferentiated (undifferentiated), cross-sex- typed (androgynous) and sex-typed The researcher classified individuals as sex-typed if they process and integrate information in accordance with their gender; cross-sextyped if they process and integrate information in accordance with the opposite gender; androgynous if they process and integrate traits and information from both genders; and undifferentiated if they do not appear to process sex-typed information (Rhee and Sigler, 2015)

In our civilizations, why are certain gender roles so ingrained in our minds? Children, especially throughout adolescence, are induced to follow the cultural classification of males and females, according to Rhee and Sigler (2015), in order for society's stereotypically congruent standards to be inculcated in their minds It is a process theory that enforces gender norms throughout societies The Gender Schema Theory is one such process theory An established heterosexual subschema that distinguishes between valid social standards of masculinity and femininity helps the formation of a solid gender schema in society by establishing clear divisions between the two In this subschema, it is maintained that men and

women should be treated differently, and many civilizations adhere to this subschema as the default position As Johnson et al (2018) proposed, cross-sex contacts, especially in social contexts, lead to a greater likelihood of people adopting gender stereotypes, and people react differently toward members of the same sex depending on whether they consider them to be attractive or ugly,

With changing social norms favouring gender flexibility as well as same-sex acquaintances, gender stereotypes are changing along with them Four ethnic groups of young American adults were studied by Wall (2018) in confirmatory factor analysis (Hispanic American, European American, Asian American and African American) Interestingly, the findings demonstrated that Bem's anticipated two-factor distinction (i.e., feminine /masculine) failed to match women and men in a clear binary fashion from any ethic categories When the Bem Sex Role Inventory was utilized between the late 20s and early 21s, women's femininity scores dropped drastically, while men's masculinity scores remained consistent, according to Rosette, Koval, and Ma (2016) This 20-year period saw no significant change in the scores of the men Female self-reported masculinity grew considerably when the study period was extended from 1974 to 2012, whilst female self-reported femininity remained consistent Male masculinity and femininity ratings remained stable throughout the course of this lengthy period While female androgynous scores have grown considerably since 1974 (albeit not since 1993), male androgynous scores have been rather steady throughout the same time period These results may suggest that women have been less likely to endorse conventional feminine features during the 1990s or that the scale is indifferent to modern gender stereotypes, depending on how you interpret the data (Rosette et al., 2016)

Furthermore, gender involves how people interact with one another as well as the societal obligations that society expects them to fulfil (Elborgh-Woytek, Newiak, and Kochhar, 2013; Paustian-Underdahl et al., 2014) Furthermore, gender conceptions are dependent on cultural and historical contexts and are prone to change For most of history, men's superior social standing in numerous societies showed that men enjoyed more access to authority, resources and opportunities compared to women Hence, as a consequence, males were granted more power and influence over their counterparts (Elborgh-Woytek et al., 2013; Kark et al., 2012) Shifts in self-identity, views and approval of differed gender roles need a discussion about gender and leadership in order to be effective

2.3 Gender stereotypes

Stereotypes of men and women are preconceived conceptions about the traits of men and women that determine how men and women "should" behave in certain situations (Wolfram

and Mohr, 2010; Paustian-Underdahl et al., 2014) In contrast to women, men are perceived to possess agentic attributes like decisiveness, logical reasoning, independence and assertiveness, while women are perceived to possess communal attributes like nurturing, helpfulness, warmth and concern for others (Koenig et al., 2011) The stereotypical portrayals of women as warm, caring, and loving, compared to males who are cold, competitive, and authoritarian, may have led to some people feeling that women are less successful in leadership jobs than men, despite the fact that they can be just as capable as men (Krook, and Norris, 2014; Klettner, Clarke, and Boersma, 2016) It is suggested that the importance of the leadership effort hinges on the nature area of leadership Scholar Eagly and colleagues (1995) revealed that both women and men are good leaders to the same extent if the position of leader is not "gendered" (i.e., the expectation of people that the leader is a woman or man) With this situation, leaders whose projected gender and sexual orientation will have more success Due to the fact that the context in which leadership takes place and social role anticipations have an impact on the effectiveness of leaders, this conclusion is discussed in greater depth under the heading "Situation and Gender." Traditionally successful management (e.g., on time, results-oriented) is typically sex- typed as male, according to studies on gendering leadership qualities As a result, characteristics regarded as crucial for success as a manager or leader have often been stereotyped as being related to male characteristics or traits (Klettner, Clarke, and Boersma, 2016) According to Eklund et al (2014), effective managers exhibit characteristics that are more frequently associated with male leaders compared to females, and the assumption that effectual leaders will exhibit masculine characteristics is clearer in men than in women, according to these researchers

When it comes to women whose leadership positions go beyond managerial duties, gender preconceptions can be especially difficult to overcome since agentic rather than communal inclinations are typically lauded A theory developed by Eagly and Karau (2002) contends that the agentic characteristics required for effective leadership are contradictory with the prevalent communal characteristics stereotypically linked with women, leading to an unfavourable assessment of female leaders' behaviour as less effective or favourable than that of male counterparts When it comes to leadership roles (e.g., scientist, political leader or military officer), the more agentically defined they are, and the more fully women fulfil the agentic requirements of those roles, the more likely it is that such women will elicit negative evaluations due to their action deviating from the female gender role’s social norm, according to research (Eagly and Heilman, 2016) Therefore, women in leadership positions are subjected to paradoxical pressures: with a view to being effective leaders, they must exhibit agentic

qualities (that is to say, male features), yet in order to be effective women, they must avoid seeming "too macho." As a consequence, if women add more community behaviours (e.g., expressive, pleasant, and participatory) into their repertoire, they may get more positive replies if those actions are not judged as unfit for the position of leader (Eagly and Heilman, 2016; Shen, and Joseph, 2021)

2.4 The double-bind

Female leaders attempting to address and surpass preconceptions at the executive level frequently has to deal with a significant obstacle: the double bind Dwivedi et al (2018, p 12) noted that "the mismatch between the attributes ascribed to women and those considered necessary for leadership puts women leaders in a pickle and subjects them to a double standard." Women in administrative positions are frequently criticized for being either insufficiently aggressive or too aggressive and what looks enterprising, self-confident or forceful in a man frequently appears self-promoting, arrogant and abrasive in a woman

As a result, women are compelled to choose between being excessively feminine or excessively masculine in their appearance and personality ( Dwivedi et al., 2018; Eagly and Karau, 2002; Gafni et al., 2019) In this situation, they must choose between performing agentic actions and being regarded as efficient but unfavourable and performing communal actions and being regarded as inefficient but favourable (Graça et al., 2018; Malmström et al., 2017) For added weight, Malmström et al (2017) discovered that in the case of predominantly masculine leadership styles, the greatest dissimilarity between men and women in leadership positions existed In contrast to men, women were disproportionately influenced when they adopted autocratic and a more dominant leadership style, while men were not subjected to such consequences when they chose to implement any of the two masculine or feminine behaviour (Lee and Huang, 2018) As Kanze et al (2018, p 12) put it, "as a consequence of the common belief that men have the right to lead, they may have more leeway to conduct leadership in a variety of masculine or feminine ways" As a result, though it is possible for women to be punished for agentic actions, men do not have any constraints in terms of their degree of agency or community membership

Female and male leaders were assessed to be equally competent and achievement- oriented, according to Johnson, Stevenson, and Letwin (2018), when clear information on the success of both female and male leaders was provided to participants On the other hand, the findings showed a higher disdain for female leaders compared to the male counterparts Despite their success, this study lends credence to the concept of the double bind, in which women can

be punished for trespassing traditionally "male" – i.e leadership-oriented – areas, thereby impeding positive mobility (Johnson et al., 2018)

2.5 Leadership, Antecedents of leadership, and Leadership Styles 2.5.1 Leadership

To comprehend the disparities in cognizance of male and female leaders, one must first understand the definitions of leadership as well as leadership effectiveness The word "leadership" is frequently used to refer to "personal characteristics and characteristics that individuals at the top must possess" (Monroe, Levine, and Clark, 2015, p 23) According to Barnett et al (1998), a leader "provides a resource in terms of appropriate role behaviour directed toward the group's goal attainment in exchange for increased influence associated with status, recognition, and esteem, all of which contribute to the legitimacy of making influence assertions and having them accepted." (p.3)

As seen by the huge amount of literature available on the subject, leadership has long been a topic of substantial inquiry and interest across all cultures, although with varying interpretations (Burke, 2002) It has been argued that the proliferation of leadership theories is fragmented, contradictory, and cross-disciplinary in nature (Burke, 2002; Cooke and Xiao, 2014) Leadership has a variety of characteristics (Day, 2000) Numerous definitions have resulted in a lack of clarity and definitional confusion, which has contributed to the current situation (Li, Yang, and Cho, 2006) The problem seems to be connected to the wide range of research aims, as well as the conceptualization, operationalization, and characterization of leadership aspects in the study in question Leadership has many different meanings and operationalizations, and it is difficult to establish a single definition that incorporates all of them Given that leadership may be seen in several ways (for example, as a process, interaction, or conduct), it is important to understand how it is defined (Li, Yang, and Cho, 2006)

The leadership process, according to Mattis (2001), is "a process of social influence by which one person is able to enlist the cooperation and support of others in order to complete a shared goal" (p 11) Using an assessment of the literature, Mattis (2001) studied the development of leadership research Leading up to 1964, the majority of leadership research was devoted to the study of prototypes and perception studies, status accrual and legitimacy (including behavioural and cognitive components), contingency interaction studies and personality characteristics and styles, among other subjects (McGuire, 2000; Schoon and Polek, 2011; Yeagley, Subich, and Tokar, 2010) Contingency models of leadership effectiveness were prevalent between the mid-1960s and the mid-1970s (Roth, Purvis, and Bobko, 2012; Pas et al.,

2014) A number of popular theories, such as normative decision theory (Moss-Racusin, and Rudman, 2010) and path-goal theory (behavioural and motivational) (Moss-Racusin, and Rudman, 2010; Oakley, 2000; Rosette et al., 2016), placed a strong emphasis on the interrelation connecting outcomes and actions, which was contingent on task environments and interpersonal (social)

There was a strong focus on cognitive theories throughout the period between the mid- 1970s and the mid-1980s, with a special emphasis on views of leadership during this time period All of these theories, including attribute theory (van Knippenberg and van Kleef, 2016), implicit personality theories (Kragt and Guenter, 2018), "the romance of leadership", inferential processes and recognition (Barry, Berg, and Chandler, 2014), have contributed to a better understanding of leadership as a social influence process characterized by mutual dependence and reciprocal causality (Conger, 2013; Martin et al., 2009; Wendt et al., 2009) Gender distinctions and challenges turned into a centre of inquiry as well, with few distinctions yet a number of stereotype impacts being discovered (Dinah et al., 2014)

Transformative leadership theories, such as charismatic, transformational versus transactional leadership, connect situational influences, behaviours and personal characteristics (Alvarez and Lazzari, 2015; Bass and Avolio, 2014; Gupta et al., 2019), as well as studies of leadership efficacy (Heilman and Chen, 2003; Monroe et al., 2015), were considered to be the missing link connecting universal (transformational) theories with situation-specific (contingency) theories during this time period Also, during that time period, new methods of leadership were developed from a cultural perspective (Lee and Liu, 2012; Snaebjornsson and Edvardsson, 2013) Leader-Member Exchange (Dorfman et al., 2012; House et al., 2013) and other related theories were developed during this time period as well

Final but not least, the 1990s and beyond saw the development of numerous emerging leadership concepts and theories, like authentic leadership (Whelan, 2013), servant leadership (House et al., 2013), workplace integration of emotions, cognitive leadership (Paris et al., 2009), complexity (Rudman and Glick, 2010), cross-cultural leadership (LaPierre and Zimmerman, 2012), shared leadership (Leslie et al., 2017) Besides, scholars interested in more in-depth examinations of leadership ideas are encouraged to consult leadership textbooks such as House et al.’s (2004) Handbook of Leadership or other equivalent volumes

Workplace leadership research demonstrates the validity of both subjective and objective viewpoints, as well as the presence of both situationally specific and more generally generic cause factors (Fletcher, 2004) Unlike other social and organizational processes, leadership is a highly complex social and organizational interaction and networking activity

that does not occur in isolation but rather in combination with other social and organizational processes (Ayman et al., 2012) Because of this, it should be investigated from a conceptual as well as from a practical standpoint It is necessary to be a leader in order to be able to participate in a range of roles and activities that define the needed diversity suggested by organizational or environmental settings (Dorfman et al., 2012) It is vital to address the social part of interpersonal and relational abilities while studying leadership, as well as the technical aspect (Elsaid and Elsaid, 2012)

From positional legitimacy to control procedures to shared structures of society that consider the interconnectedness of people, teams, and organizations, leadership definitions have evolved through the years (Elsaid and Elsaid, 2012) Given the diverse and challenging nature of leadership, it is necessary to continue to develop Because it overlooks self- conceptualization, the multiple levels of leader identification, interpersonal relationships and environmental elements, focusing entirely on the leaders themselves has its limitations

Leadership entails a variety of activities, including decision-making, resource gathering, listening, information gathering, communicating goals and visions, developing strategies, recruiting the assistance of followers, and assigning duties Its breadth is distinct from the majority of other tasks that an individual must perform and has far-reaching consequences Often, leadership is exerted within an organizational environment, which defines each circumstance differently in terms of authority, power, and other variables For each of these organizational situations, a distinct set of traits is required (House et el., 2013) Kellerman (2012) asserts that effective leadership requires both formal (or technical) and informal (or compassionate) actions

Managing stress and dispute, dealing with frequent adverse relationships, guiding individual and group performances, and leading change are all part of the leadership balancing act (LaPierre and Zimmerman, 2012) Leaders must also supply a framework and then encourage subordinates or groups regarding a common mission and sense of being responsible Effective leadership involves a variety of skills, such as those listed above, as well as others (Metwally, 2012) As organizations try to keep up with and react to enormous pressures from both internal and external settings, executives face unprecedented and difficult challenges (Rudman and Glick, 2010) With growing obstacles and demands, it becomes more challenging for those in managerial positions or roles to perform stably and correctly Although superiors may have a sense of being confined by their varied stakeholder accountability, this is an intrinsic characteristic of leadership In addition, this change has a detrimental effect on staff energy, excitement, and loyalty To have a good impact on their followers, companies, and

environments, leaders must step up and embrace the challenges they encounter (Moss-Racusin and Rudman, 2010; Paris et al., 2009; Sharma and Kirkman, 2015) Leaders that adjust continuously to this ambiguous and ever-changing environment will prosper and succeed (Whelan, 2013)

In order for a leader to be really effective, he or she must support their followers in regaining confidence, resilience, seeking for purpose, encouraging improved self-awareness, and recuperating from traumatic experiences (Dabke, 2016; Johnson et al., 2018) Making sense of ambiguity and turning contradictions into meaningful learning opportunities are hallmarks of effective leadership (Kang and Jin, 2015) For them, good judgment means being able to foresee consequences and avoid pitfalls, as well as being able to gather and use correct information when making decisions They also strive to be articulate communicators who can convey their thoughts clearly while also listening attentively Integrity and bravery go hand in hand with a good dosage of self-awareness, tolerance, enthusiasm, and a fresh point of view, which these people also possess A strong moral compass and clear values, and ethical standards are essential for effective leaders (Moss-Racusin and Rudman, 2010) With a strong focus on relationships, they are adaptive, helpful and conscientious (Koenig and Eagly, 2014) The omnivorous art of leading requires all of the following

Leadership research and practice have benefited greatly from the paradigm shift that complexity theory offers (Lee and Huang, 2018; Monroe et al., 2015) When it comes to the production of complex emergent structures inside and across organizations, complexity theory regards leadership as being or supporting the formation of complex emergent structures It offers a broader view of the relationships and processes that take place at the top of organizations Control or anticipating the future is not as important as creating and influencing circumstances that lead to desired outcomes

Rather than displacing current ideas and approaches, complexity theory has the ability to enhance them (Martin et al., 2009) The leadership implications of this approach are many A new focus is placed not on a leader's personal attributes but on the context in which he or she leads, the influence process, and other success factors The role of a leader is to serve as a catalyst, facilitator, or moderator of change in the workplace Creative and social dynamics are stimulated as a consequence The highest levels of an organization's hierarchy need complex leadership (Snaebjornsson and Edvardsson, 2013) Behavioural, cognitive, and social complexity are all included in the Leaderplex Model (Figure 2.1), which was developed by Hooijberg et al (1997) to show how they are all linked to leadership and organizational performance For this approach, the primary goal was to include a wide variety of events,