International Journal of Recent Advances in Organizational Behaviour and Decision Sciences (IJRAOB)
An Online International Research Journal (ISSN: 2311-3197)
2014 Vol: 1 Issue 1
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Perceived Leadership Qualities among the B-School Students:
A Statistical Analysis
Jamuna A. S,
Faculty, M S Ramaiah Institute of Management,
Bangalore, India.
Email: [email protected]
Srinivasa Rao, K. S,
Dean, Sankara Academy of Vision,
Coimbatore, India.
Email: [email protected]
___________________________________________________________________________________
Abstract
A leader plays a pivotal role in the success of a business through team work. He leads the
team by working synergistically, bringing all the people together towards a common goal. A
leader should be communicative, a good decision-maker, intelligent, an extrovert, and flexible
with openness in his actions. Though B-Schools provide an opportunity to develop
managerial skills among the students, the latter have to acquire leadership traits, while they
climb the corporate ladder. In this article, the authors have made an attempt to portray the
understanding of select management students’ perception about the leadership qualities. The
data on their opinions about the leadership qualities was analysed and conclusions were
drawn about the students’ perception towards the leadership traits. The findings of the
Research Study will be useful to the B-School students to become a good leader in order to
compete and create a niche for themselves in the Corporate world.
___________________________________________________________________________________
International Journal of Recent Advances in Organizational Behaviour and Decision Sciences (IJRAOB)
An Online International Research Journal (ISSN: 2311-3197)
2014 Vol: 1 Issue 1
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1. Introduction
A business is an organisation involved in the trade of either goods, or services or both to
the consumers. Though businesses can be „not-for-profit‟ or „state-owned‟, most of the
private-owned businesses are „for profit‟. The etymology of "business" stems from the state
of being busy, and implies a person‟s regular occupation, profession, or trade as per the
Oxford Dictionary.
Organisation that deals in business through goods or services, need a group of people as
employees. Groups develop into teams in four stages. The four stages are: (i) dependency and
inclusion, (ii) counter dependency and fighting, (iii) trust and structure, and (iv) work. In the
first stage, group development is characterized by members' dependency on the designated
leader. In the second stage, the group seeks to free itself from its dependence on the leader
and groups have conflicts about goals and procedures. In the third stage, the group manages
to work through the conflicts and in the last stage, groups focus on team productivity.
Leader plays an important role in an organisation mainly in converting groups to teams.
Teams are especially appropriate for conducting tasks that are high in complexity and have
many interdependent subtasks. One can debate on whether a leader is born, or can anyone
learn how to be a leader? If one can be trained on some skills or traits to be a good leader,
then the curriculum of B-Schools should play a key role in making the young budding
managers into leaders.
In India, B-Schools have taken a lead from IIMs and moved on giving practical exposure
to the students that gives an immediate placement to the management graduate not just by
giving degrees to the students. In the process, B-Schools have made good “business” by
charging the Tuition Fees in proportion to the placement pay packages. While on one hand,
the admissions in B-Schools have lost its sheen and institutions are trying to use all marketing
strategies to capture their registrations like „catch-them-young‟ (Integrated MBA), „Join-for-
Job, Not-for-Program‟ (half –day learning and Half-day working), „Take Appointment Order
– not the Admission Letter‟ etc. On the other hand, students who have studied UG Program
in one Institute want to join another institute for PG to get a better exposure.
Placing the students is becoming a major activity for any B-School, once the process of
admissions completes. Organisations while conducting campus recruitments from B-Schools
may delay the process of final placement due to some environmental conditions like
slowdown of economy due to recession, terrorist attacks, mergers and acquisitions,
downsizing. On the other hand, Companies while recruiting graduates from reputed B-
Schools feel that, with less training and costs, the candidates should perform the job well.
Even though, a student gets admission in a well ranked institution, if he/she is not able to
excel in academics, he/she may get fewer chances in getting a good placement. Sometimes,
International Journal of Recent Advances in Organizational Behaviour and Decision Sciences (IJRAOB)
An Online International Research Journal (ISSN: 2311-3197)
2014 Vol: 1 Issue 1
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one may find meritorious students may not have the requisite soft sills and not be placed.
Also, one can find students after paying exorbitant tuition fees, not focusing on their studies,
failing in examinations and having backlogs at the time of Placements. Student attrition,
although some to be expected, comes at a high cost. Failure to complete studies is recognized
as a personal loss for the individual, an economic loss for the universities, and an intellectual
loss for society.
While recruiting graduates from B-Schools, the common criteria for selection rests in the
past experience of the students, reputation of the institute, followed by curriculum and
faculty. Very few recruiters give a thought about infrastructure of the B-Schools. The
companies think that hiring MBAs is a good buy, as B-School graduates possess analytical
skills, managerial skills, good business skills, leadership qualities. On the other hand,
companies also feel that non-MBAs are fairly better than MBAs on loyalty, practical
knowledge, and adaptability to the work culture [The Business India - ORG Marg survey].
2. Review of Literature
Carl and Craig (1978) examined the relationships among Internal- External (IE) locus of
control, behavioural characteristics of internal versus external personality types, and leader
and group performance. Results indicated that leaders were more likely to be internals than
externals. Superior performance was achieved by internal leaders and by groups led by
internals. A two-group step-wise discriminant analysis isolated 10 behaviours which
maximally separated internals from externals. Internals exhibited behaviours characteristic of
an instrumental, task-oriented style, and externals exhibited behaviours pointing to a social-
emotional style.
K. S. Srinivasa Rao (2002) suggested that any student, with some background followed
by a rigorous selection procedure, enters into a B-school with a lot of expectations. Even
though B-schools make standardised procedures in selecting a right candidate, they need to
train the students well before placing them. The author observed that these three angles form
a Bermuda Triangle – Student – B-School and Recruiting Organisation. The author analyzed
the situation from these three angles and suggested a “MAGIC” mantra to pass from one
angle to another angle of this Bermuda Triangle without “disappearing” at any angle.
K. S. Srinivasa Rao (2003) developed a hypothetical case that was based on style of
leadership. The objective of this case was in an academic institution and how people react to
change, when a new leader takes the responsibility as Director of a B-School. The article was
a comparison of two kinds of leadership.
K. S. Srinivasa Rao (2004) indicated that in India, a professional course has glamour in
general; especially an Engineering course has some priority among other courses to many
students. It was understood that Mathematics plays a vital role in deciding a student to be an
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Engineer or a non-Engineer. Interestingly, a student, who has not opted Mathematics at Plus
2 level, is not eligible to Engineering course. Students at school level develop a mental block
towards Mathematics because of various reasons. This paper described about the interest or
disinterest of a student about a course, role of a teacher, along with other reasons at school
level based on the data collected from first year MBA students.
K. S. Srinivasa Rao and Chowdari Prasad (2005) indicated that Globalization has
transformed the nature of B-Schools in India. They identified that Selection of Quality
Students, Dynamic Curriculum, Competitive Fee Structure, Infrastructure, Committed
Faculty, Placements, and Access to Information are various parameters that distinguish the B-
Schools in India. The authors suggested that lack of core Faculty, Facilities, Branding,
trained Staff, and Benefits to the Faculty make the Indian B-Schools difficult to find a place
in the global village. The authors suggested a model for Indian B-Schools which suits under
Globalization.
K. S. Srinivasa Rao (2010) suggested that the impact of Liberalization, Privatization and
Globalization (LPG) made Indian B-Schools to imitate the foreign educational system by
implementing new administrative structure in the organization to some extent. The
administration in the Universities was mainly controlled by the Vice Chancellor, Registrar
and the Head of the Departments but later, some of the universities followed the concept of
Dean with a lot of confusion. Slowly, private institutions, autonomous in nature of
operations, have implemented the second level of administration using the Dean position. In
this article, the author explained the administrative changes that has taken place in Indian
Educational System with a focus to higher education and suggested how a Leader and Co-
Leader should work for the development of the Organisation.
Leighton and Andrew (2011) introduced leadership as one among the other 12 desired
attributes, a student should possess in the Program of M.Sc. at Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering of the University of the West Indies. A model was developed in
a course, Practical Team Project, to measure the learning outcome of leadership by combining
the Project Management Institute body of knowledge areas and the Institute of Civil
Engineers (ICE) development objectives. This new initiative used innovative assessment
techniques, such as 360-degree feedback and zero tolerance, to evaluate the demonstrated
leadership of the graduate students. Analytical tools such as ANOVA and t-test were used to
justify the effectiveness of the chosen model.
Brain, Timothy and Katherine (2013) have measured the level of communication
apprehension in 263 students and the relationship of their communication apprehension to
measures of leadership initiative, multi-cultural appreciation, adaptability, and academic
performance. Results revealed that communication apprehension was negatively associated
International Journal of Recent Advances in Organizational Behaviour and Decision Sciences (IJRAOB)
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with students‟ willingness to take on leadership opportunities, appreciation for a multi-
cultural world, and adaptability to new situations. No significant relationships were found
between communication apprehension and overall GPA. The authors have suggested some
strategies for mitigating communication apprehension.
Doris Gomez (2013) worked on the analysis of secondary and program specific data to
examine the predictive impact of student characteristics on persistence in an online doctoral
leadership program. This research examined individual differences that exist in the leadership
development of doctoral students that would contribute to and predict success and persistence
in leadership development programs. The study has used a logistic regression to test whether
critical thinking, leadership effective behavior, Master's GPA, gender, application summary
score, and psychological type are positively related with academic retention/completion
amongst doctoral students enrolled in an asynchronous-distance program in leadership
studies. Findings emphasize the importance of behavioural characteristics, such as effective
leadership and psychological type, in regard to persistence. This article focused on the impact
of effective leadership behavior in general and, indeed, proved as a significant factor in
student success and retention.
Jamuna A. S and Srinivasa Rao (2013) have studied on Communication and its impact on
Management Students‟ Professional life. In this article, the authors have tried to interconnect
the Role of Communication, Academic learning and Academic Performance of students in a
B-School. The authors have done a Descriptive Research and tried to connect between
Communication Skills, Personality Development and Academic Performance. The Authors
have drawn conclusions on the role of Communication and its influence on Personality
Development and Academic Performance of Students.
In the present research, the authors have focused on the perception of the B-School
Students on Leadership qualities. The authors analysed on how students are able to
understand the leadership traits learnt in the Management course and connecting the same to
self while meeting the demands thereby, before he/she enters the Corporate world.
3. Methodology
Eight leadership traits were identified based on the theories as well the information given
by earlier researchers. The authors have designed a Descriptive Research through which they
studied the perception of the B-School students on the eight leadership traits such as (i)
Communication; (ii) Decision-Making Skills; (iii) Intelligence; (iv) Extraversion; (v)
Openness; (vi) Flexibility; (vii) Conscientiousness; and (viii) Self-Efficacy. The authors have
collected primary data from 125 students who volunteered for the study out of 350 students of
a select B-School.
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The authors have developed a questionnaire with 20 statements of each of the Leadership
Traits and the respondents filled these questionnaires using 5-point Likert Scale. To avoid a
Researcher‟s bias, equal weightage was given to these eight leadership traits (12.5%) and the
respondent scores on each of these eight leadership traits were computed. The Socio-
Demographic factors were also considered while collecting the data from the respondents.
3.1 Data Analysis
The data was collected on Socio-Demographic factors like Gender, Age of the
Respondent, Degree which he/she studied before joining the PGDM Program, Prior Work
Experience, Mother-Tongue and Native State. Data was analysed using percentages,
Descriptive Statistics. Correlation Coefficients for these factors were computed and tested
using t-test.
Table 1: Distribution of Respondents Gender and Age-wise
Count of AGE (in Years)
Gender Less
than 22 22 23 24
Above 24
Grand Total
F 22 18 8 1 4 53
M 16 22 12 14 8 72
Grand Total 38 40 20 15 12 125
It was noticed that 30% of the respondents are less than 22 years of age, 32% are 22 years
of age, 16% are 23 years of age, 12% are 24 years of age and 10% are above 24 years.
Overall, 42% of Females and 58% of males responded to the survey.
Table 2: Distribution of Respondents based on Gender and Stream of Graduation
Count of DEGREE
Gender COMMERCE & MANAGEMENT
SCIENCES ENGINEERING & TECHNICAL
Grand Total
F 31 5 17 53
M 22 6 44 72
Grand Total 53 11 61 125
It was observed that 42% of the respondents are from Commerce & Management, 9% are
from Science and 49% are from Engineering & Technical stream during their Graduation.
Overall, 42% of Females and 58% of males responded to the survey.
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Table 3: Distribution of Respondents based on Gender and Previous Work Experience
Count of Work Experience (in years)
Gender 0 1 2
3 and above
Grand Total
F 44 4 3 2 53
M 53 10 4 5 72
Grand Total 97 14 7 7 125
It was observed that 78% of the respondents no have work experience, 11% have
experience of one year, 6% have 3 years of experience and 6% have 3 years and more than 3
years as prior Work Experience before joining the Program. Overall, 42% of Females and
58% of males responded to the survey.
Table 4: Distribution of Respondents based on Gender and Mother Tongue
Count of Mother Tongue Gender
Row Labels F M Grand Total
ASSAMESE 1 1
BENGALI 4 5 9
GUJARATI 1 1
HINDI 11 16 27
KANNADA 6 5 11
KONKANI 2 1 3
KUTCHI 1 1
LAMBADI 1 1
MALAYALAM 6 12 18
MANIPURI 1 1
ORIYA 3 4 7
PUNJABI 1 1 2
RAJASTHNI 1 1
SINDHI 1 1
TAMIL 6 6
TELUGU 14 18 32
URDU 1 2 3
Grand Total 53 72 125
It was noticed that 26% of the respondents were Telugu speaking, 22% of the respondents
speak Hindi and 14% speak Malayalam. . 9% of the Respondents speak Kannada, 6% Oriya,
5% Tamil, 2% Konkini, and 2% Urdu. Very few respondents i.e. 1% are have their mother
tongue as Assamese, Gujarati, Kutchi, Lambadi, Manipuri, Rajasthani, and Sindhi. Overall,
42% of Females and 58% of males responded to the survey.
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Table 5: Distribution of Respondents based on Gender and Native State
Count of Native State Gender
Row Labels F M Grand Total
AP 14 19 33
ASSAM 1 1
BIHAR 4 1 5
CG 2 2
GJ 2 2
GOA 1 1
HARYANA 1 1
JH 2 5 7
KA 7 6 13
KE 6 12 18
MANIPUR 1 1
MH 1 1 2
MP 1 4 5
ODISHA 3 4 7
PUNJAB 1 1
RJ 4 3 7
TN 5 5
UP 4 3 7
WB 4 3 7
Grand Total 53 72 125
It was noticed that 26% of the respondents were from Andhra Pradesh, 14% from Kerala,
and 10% from Karnataka. Respondents from other states representing 6% each from
Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. 4% of the respondents
represented the states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. Respondents from the
states like Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh form 2% whereas Assam, Goa,
Haryana, Manipur Punjab form 1% of the respondents. Overall, 42% of Females and 58% of
males responded to the survey.
Table 6: Distribution of Average Score on Leadership Traits Gender-wise
Average Score for the Leadership Traits
GENDER
No. of
Respondents COM DMS INT EXT OPE FLX CONS SE Min Max
Male 72 966 880 892 843 837 875 860 894 837 966
Female 53 989 898 925 905 892 899 911 915 892 989
125
Note: COM- COMMUNICATION; WE- WORK_EXP; DMS- DM_SKILLS; INT-
INTELLIGENCE; EXT- EXTRAVERSION; OPE- OPENNESS; FLX – FLEXIBILITY;
CONS- CONSCIENTIOUSNESS; SE- SELF_EFFICACY
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It was observed that among the 72 male respondents, the minimum average score of 837
was given to OPE-Openness whereas maximum average score of 966 was given to COM-
Communication. Among the 53 female respondents, the minimum average score of 892 was
given to OPE-Openness whereas maximum average score was given of 989 was given to
COM-Communication. It was observed that both male and female respondents opted that
Communication is the highly preferred Leadership Trait and Openness as the least preferred
one.
Table 7: Distribution of Average Score on Leadership Traits Age-wise
Average Score for the Leadership Traits
AGE
(in Years)
No. of
Respondents COM DMS INT EXT OPE FLX CONS SE Min Max
Less than 22 38 985 869 905 865 842 865 880 902 842 985
22 40 973 903 915 889 880 898 889 907 880 973
23 20 971 894 893 878 888 925 911 925 878 971
24 15 993 905 912 867 857 883 878 933 857 993
Above 24 12 942 860 897 808 814 845 820 820 808 942
125
Note: COM- COMMUNICATION; WE- WORK_EXP; DMS- DM_SKILLS; INT-
INTELLIGENCE; EXT- EXTRAVERSION; OPE- OPENNESS; FLX – FLEXIBILITY;
CONS- CONSCIENTIOUSNESS; SE- SELF_EFFICACY
It was observed that among the 38 respondents whose age was less than 22, the minimum
average score of 842 was given to OPE-Openness whereas maximum average score was
given of 985 was given to COM-Communication. Among the 40 respondents whose age was
22, the minimum average score of 880 was given to OPE-Openness whereas maximum
average score of 973 was given to COM-Communication. Among the 20 respondents whose
age was 23, the minimum average score of 878 was given to EXT- Extraversion whereas
maximum average score of 971 was given to COM-Communication. Among the 15
respondents whose age is 24, the minimum average score of 857 was given to OPE-Openness
whereas maximum average score was given of 993 was given to COM-Communication.
Among the 12 respondents whose age is above 24, the minimum average score of 808 was
given to EXT- Extraversion whereas maximum average score was given of 942 was given to
COM-Communication.
It was observed that Communication is the highly preferred Leadership Trait and
Openness and Extraversion are the least preferred one.
Table 8: Distribution of Average Score on Leadership Traits based on the Degree
Average Score for the Leadership Traits
DEGREE
No. of
Respondents COM DMS INT EXT OPE FLX CONS SE Min Max
COMMERCE &
MANAGEMENT 53 977 884 894 874 881 887 884 923 874 977
ENGINEERING
&
TECHNICAL
61 973 892 921 871 846 891 889 895 846 973
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SCIENCES 11 985 881 880 840 842 848 830 852 830 985
125 Note: COM- COMMUNICATION; WE- WORK_EXP; DMS- DM_SKILLS; INT-
INTELLIGENCE; EXT- EXTRAVERSION; OPE- OPENNESS; FLX – FLEXIBILITY;
CONS- CONSCIENTIOUSNESS; SE- SELF_EFFICACY
It was observed that among the 53 respondents whose Degree is Commerce &
Management, the minimum average score of 874 was given to EXT- Extraversion whereas
maximum average score was given of 977 was given to COM-Communication. Among the
61 respondents whose Degree is Engineering & Technical, the minimum average score of 846
was given to OPE-Openness whereas maximum average score was given of 973 was given to
COM-Communication. Among the 11 respondents whose Degree is Sciences, the minimum
average score of 830 was given to CONS-Conscientiousness whereas maximum average
score was given of 985 was given to COM-Communication.
It was observed that Communication is the highly preferred Leadership Trait and
Extraversion, Openness and Conscientiousness are the least preferred one.
Table 9: Distribution of Average Score on Leadership Traits based on Previous
Work Experience
Average Score for the Leadership Traits
Work Exp
(in years)
No. of
Respondents COM DMS INT EXT OPE FLX CONS SE Min Max
0 97 978 890 911 876 868 882 884 906 868 978
1 14 981 883 902 896 863 950 915 932 863 981
2 7 986 925 896 814 846 871 900 902 814 986
3 and above 7 920 829 857 777 771 814 768 804 768 920
125 Note: COM- COMMUNICATION; WE- WORK_EXP; DMS- DM_SKILLS; INT-
INTELLIGENCE; EXT- EXTRAVERSION; OPE- OPENNESS; FLX – FLEXIBILITY;
CONS- CONSCIENTIOUSNESS; SE- SELF_EFFICACY
It was observed that among the 97 respondents who have NO Work Experience, the
minimum average score of 868 was given to OPE-Openness whereas maximum average score
was given of 978 was given to COM-Communication. Among the 14 respondents who have
one year Work Experience, the minimum average score of 863 was given to OPE-Openness
whereas maximum average score was given of 981 was given to COM-Communication.
Among the 7 respondents who have 2 years‟ Work Experience, the minimum average score of
814 was given to EXT- Extraversion whereas maximum average score was given of 986 was
given to COM-Communication. Among the 7 respondents who have 3 years or above Work
Experience, the minimum average score of 768 was given to CONS- Conscientiousness
whereas maximum average score was given of 920 was given to COM-Communication.
It was observed that Communication is the highly preferred Leadership Trait and
Openness, Extraversion and Conscientiousness are the least preferred one.
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Table 10: Distribution of Average Score on Leadership Traits based on their Mother Tongue
Average Score for the Leadership Traits
Mother Tongue
No. of
Respondents COM DMS INT EXT OPE FLX CONS SE Min Max
ASSAMESE 1 950 938 888 938 838 875 875 850 838 950
BENGALI 9 1008 942 903 900 919 938 926 967 900 1008
GUJARATI 1 900 863 863 925 875 825 900 863 825 925
HINDI 27 999 928 963 909 959 931 916 975 909 999
KANNADA 11 972 892 928 867 803 865 892 898 803 972
KONKANI 3 958 808 875 800 821 800 858 867 800 958
KUTCHI 1 875 875 763 788 1000 888 838 875 763 1000
LAMBADI 1 1025 1000 938 850 975 925 925 925 850 1025
MALAYALAM 18 947 815 817 780 748 808 804 806 748 947
MANIPURI 1 1000 850 775 788 588 788 563 600 563 1000
ORIYA 7 982 914 957 923 938 975 980 970 914 982
PUNJABI 2 925 756 788 750 725 769 806 850 725 925
RAJASTHNI 1 888 700 750 763 713 613 663 763 613 888
SINDHI 1 938 688 713 875 750 738 463 600 463 938
TAMIL 6 942 923 925 856 798 871 894 883 798 942
TELUGU 32 986 889 917 891 857 896 898 905 857 986
URDU 3 946 896 921 846 892 908 825 888 825 946
125
Note: COM- COMMUNICATION; WE- WORK_EXP; DMS- DM_SKILLS; INT-
INTELLIGENCE; EXT- EXTRAVERSION; OPE- OPENNESS; FLX – FLEXIBILITY;
CONS- CONSCIENTIOUSNESS; SE- SELF_EFFICACY
It was observed that among the 32 respondents whose Mother Tongue is Telugu, the
minimum average score of 857 was given to OPE-Openness whereas maximum average score
was given of 986 was given to COM-Communication. Among the 27 respondents whose
Mother Tongue is Hindi, the minimum average score of 909 was given to EXT- Extraversion
whereas maximum average score was given of 999 was given to COM-Communication.
Among the 18 respondents whose Mother Tongue is Malayalam, the minimum average score
of 850 was given to EXT- Extraversion whereas maximum average score was given of 947
was given to COM-Communication. Among the 11 respondents whose Mother Tongue is
Kannada, the minimum average score of 803 was given to OPE-Openness whereas maximum
average score was given of 972 was given to COM-Communication. Among the 9
respondents whose Mother Tongue is Bengali, the minimum average score of 900 was given
to EXT- Extraversion whereas maximum average score was given of 1008 was given to
COM-Communication. Among the 7 respondents whose Mother Tongue is Oriya, the
minimum average score of 914 was given to DMS- Decision-Making Skills whereas
maximum average score was given of 982 was given to COM-Communication. Among the 6
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respondents whose Mother Tongue is Tamil, the minimum average score of 798 was given to
OPE-Openness whereas maximum average score was given of 942 was given to COM-
Communication. Among the 3 respondents whose Mother Tongue is Urdu, the minimum
average score of 825 was given to CONS- Conscientiousness whereas maximum average
score was given of 946 was given to COM-Communication. Among the 3 respondents whose
Mother Tongue is Konkini, the minimum average score of 800 was given to FLX – Flexibility
whereas maximum average score was given of 958 was given to COM-Communication.
Among the 2 respondents whose Mother Tongue is Punjabi, the minimum average score of
725 was given to OPE-Openness whereas maximum average score was given of 925 was
given to COM-Communication.
Among the others, one respondent per each of the Languages as Mother Tongue, are the
following:
Assamese, the minimum average score of 838 was given to OPE-Openness whereas
maximum average score was given of 950 was given to COM-Communication
Gujarati, the minimum average score of 825 was given to FLX – Flexibility whereas
maximum average score was given of 925 was given to EXT- Extraversion
Kutchi, the minimum average score of 763 was given to INT- Intelligence whereas
maximum average score was given of 1000 was given to OPE-Openness.
Lambadi, the minimum average score of 850 was given to EXT- Extraversion whereas
maximum average score was given of 1025 was given to COM-Communication
Manipuri, the minimum average score of 563 was given to CONS- Conscientiousness
whereas maximum average score was given of 1000 was given to COM-Communication
Rajasthani, the minimum average score of 613 was given to FLX – Flexibility whereas
maximum average score was given of 888 was given to COM-Communication
Sindhi, minimum average score of 463 was given to CONS- Conscientiousness whereas
maximum average score was given of 938 was given to COM-Communication
It was observed that Communication is the highly preferred Leadership Trait (except for
respondents whose Mother Tongue is Guajarati and Kutchi). Also, it was noticed that
Decision-Making Skills, Intelligence, Openness, Flexibility, Extraversion and
Conscientiousness are the least preferred one.
Table 11: Distribution of Average Score on Leadership Traits based on their Native State
Average Score for the Leadership Traits
Native State
No. of
Respondents COM DMS INT EXT OPE FLX CONS SE Min Max
AP - ANDHRA PRADESH 33 991 898 924 894 868 902 901 907 868 991
ASSAM 1 950 938 888 938 838 875 875 850 838 950
BIHAR 5 978 943 933 918 933 913 898 928 898 978
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CG - CHHATTISGARH 2 988 913 975 775 1050 681 738 1050 681 1050
GJ - GUJARAT 2 869 794 719 788 875 850 806 875 719 875
GOA 1 1050 963 1000 963 763 1000 1075 1088 763 1088
HARYANA 1 963 950 1038 838 988 938 1188 988 838 1188
JH - JHARKHAND 7 961 866 893 843 870 866 854 955 843 961
KA - KARNATAKA 13 959 879 906 831 801 838 863 875 801 959
KE - KERALA 18 944 813 811 781 744 803 800 809 744 944
MANIPUR 1 1000 850 775 788 588 788 563 600 563 1000
MH - MAHARASTRA 2 919 831 975 763 838 888 931 906 763 975
MP - MADYA PRADESH 5 1013 1003 913 968 960 983 970 1003 913 1013
ODISHA 7 982 914 957 923 938 975 980 970 914 982
PUNJAB 1 988 800 900 713 700 725 838 825 700 988
RJ - RAJASTHAN 7 991 891 907 882 898 852 788 888 788 991
TN - TAMILNADU 5 968 915 910 903 808 888 900 860 808 968
UP - UTTAR PRADESH 7 984 861 975 952 959 980 955 952 861 984
WB - WEST BENGAL 7 1013 948 938 902 938 964 929 957 902 1013
Note: COM- COMMUNICATION; WE- WORK_EXP; DMS- DM_SKILLS; INT-
INTELLIGENCE; EXT- EXTRAVERSION; OPE- OPENNESS; FLX – FLEXIBILITY;
CONS- CONSCIENTIOUSNESS; SE- SELF_EFFICACY
It was observed that among the 33 respondents whose Native State is AP - Andhra
Pradesh, the minimum average score of 868 was given to OPE-Openness whereas maximum
average score was given of 991 was given to COM-Communication. It was observed that
among the 18 respondents whose Native State is KE - Kerala, the minimum average score of
744 was given to OPE-Openness whereas maximum average score was given of 944 was
given to COM-Communication. It was observed that among the 13 respondents whose
Native State is KA - Karnataka, the minimum average score of 801 was given to OPE-
Openness whereas maximum average score was given of 959 was given to COM-
Communication.
Among the others, seven respondents per each of the Native State are the following:
JH - Jharkhand, minimum average score of 843 was given to EXT- Extraversion whereas
maximum average score was given of 961 was given to COM-Communication
Odisha, minimum average score of 914 was given to DM- Decision-Making Skills
whereas maximum average score was given of 982 was given to COM-Communication
RJ - Rajasthan, minimum average score of 788 was given to CONS- Conscientiousness
whereas maximum average score was given of 991 was given to COM-Communication
UP - Uttar Pradesh, minimum average score of 861 was given to DM- Decision-Making
whereas maximum average score was given of 984 was given to COM-Communication
WB - West Bengal, minimum average score of 902 was given to EXT- Extraversion
whereas maximum average score was given of 1013 was given to COM-Communication
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Among the others, Five respondents per each of the Native State are the following:
Bihar, minimum average score of 898 was given to CONS- Conscientiousness whereas
maximum average score was given of 978 was given to COM-Communication
MP - Madhya Pradesh, minimum average score of 913 was given to INT- Intelligence
whereas maximum average score was given of 1013 was given to COM-Communication
TN - Tamil Nadu, minimum average score of 808 was given to OPE-Openness whereas
maximum average score was given of 968 was given to COM-Communication
Among the others, two respondents per each of the Native State are the following:
CG - Chhattisgarh, minimum average score of 681 was given to FLX – Flexibility
whereas maximum average scores were given of 1050 was given to OPE-Openness and
SE- Self-Efficacy
GJ - Gujarat, minimum average score of 719 was given to OPE-Openness whereas
maximum average scores were given of 875 was given to OPE-Openness and SE- Self-
Efficacy
MH - Maharashtra, minimum average score of 763 was given to EXT- Extraversion
whereas maximum average scores was given of 975 was given to INT- Intelligence
Among the others, only one respondent per each of the Native State are the following:
Assam, minimum average score of 838 was given to OPE-Openness whereas maximum
average score was given of 950 was given to and COM-Communication
Goa, minimum average score of 763 was given to OPE-Openness whereas maximum
average score was given of 1088 was given to and SE- Self-Efficacy
Haryana, minimum average score of 763 was given to EXT- Extraversion whereas
maximum average score was given of 1088 was given to and CONS- Conscientiousness
Manipur, minimum average score of 563 was given to CONS- Conscientiousness whereas
maximum average score was given of 1000 was given to and COM-Communication
Punjab, minimum average score of 700 was given to OPE-Openness whereas maximum
average score was given of 988 was given to and COM-Communication
Table 12: Correlations among Leadership Traits
Correlations (Pearson Correlation with p-value)
AGE WE COM DMS INT EXT OPE FLX CONS SE
AGE 1 .805(**) -0.134 -0.015 -0.024 -0.126 -0.059 -0.058 -0.123 -0.088
p-value
0.000 0.137 0.865 0.790 0.161 0.517 0.517 0.172 0.329
WE .805(**) 1 -0.123 -0.068 -0.091 -.179(*) -0.142 -0.104 -0.155 -0.133
p-value 0.000 0.173 0.452 0.313 0.046 0.113 0.248 0.084 0.140
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COM -0.134 -0.123 1 .584(**) .486(**) .555(**) .519(**) .550(**) .490(**) .511(**)
p-value 0.137 0.173 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
DMS
p-value
-0.015 -0.068 .584(**) 1 .730(**) .578(**) .624(**) .620(**) .610(**) .611(**)
0.865 0.452 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
INT
p-value
-0.024 -0.091 .486(**) .730(**) 1 .639(**) .667(**) .651(**) .699(**) .657(**)
0.790 0.313 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
EXT
p-value
-0.126 -.179(*) .555(**) .578(**) .639(**) 1 .728(**) .740(**) .681(**) .654(**)
0.161 0.046 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
OPE
p-value
-0.059 -0.142 .519(**) .624(**) .667(**) .728(**) 1 .743(**) .709(**) .782(**)
0.517 0.113 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
FLX
p-value
-0.058 -0.104 .550(**) .620(**) .651(**) .740(**) .743(**) 1 .752(**) .709(**)
0.517 0.248 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
CONS
p-value
-0.123 -0.155 .490(**) .610(**) .699(**) .681(**) .709(**) .752(**) 1 .801(**)
0.172 0.084 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
SE
p-value
-0.088 -0.133 .511(**) .611(**) .657(**) .654(**) .782(**) .709(**) .801(**) 1
0.329 0.140 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). *. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
Note: COM- COMMUNICATION; WE- WORK_EXP; DMS- DM_SKILLS; INT-
INTELLIGENCE; EXT- EXTRAVERSION; OPE- OPENNESS; FLX – FLEXIBILITY;
CONS- CONSCIENTIOUSNESS; SE- SELF_EFFICACY
It was observed that there was a significant association among the Eight Leadership
Traits, namely, (i) Communication; (ii) Decision-Making Skills; (iii) Intelligence; (iv)
Extraversion; (v) Openness; (vi) Flexibility; (vii) Conscientiousness; and (viii) Self-Efficacy.
The Correlation Coefficients were tested by t-test found significant at 1% level (Ref: p-values
in the Table 11). It was also observed that Age (in years) and Previous Work Experience (in
years) also have a significant association at 1% level. Also, noticed that Previous Work
Experience (in years) has a significant association with Extraversion at 5% level.
4. Conclusion
After analysing various parameters and opinions on leadership and correlating the same it
was observed that there was a significant association among the Eight Leadership Traits.
When a student joins a B-School, he /she would be interested in the Infrastructure, Faculty,
and Tuition Fee etc. Apparently, they get influenced by friends, relatives and parents and or
even by the marketing and branding of the Institution. Once admitted, the student will be
focussed on Placements. In the process, students who give equal weightage to the core –
Academics along with their Personality Development, come out with flying colours.
Whereas, students who cannot adjust to the system in terms of Environment, Academic
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Rigour, Expectations of the Program, Recruiters Perception, Business Awareness, and Soft
Skills lag behind and may not reach their career goals.
The Authors through the Research outcome suggested that Communication is an
important trait for a Leader and students should understand it right from the beginning and
improve themselves in order to get good returns. At the same time, the other leadership traits
like Decision-Making Skills; Intelligence; Extraversion; Openness; Flexibility;
Conscientiousness; and Self-Efficacy are important while one is climbing the Corporate
ladder. The Faculty of B-Schools should mentor the students after understanding the lacuna
in them. Institutions should focus not only the Academics but also on the overall development
of the students and train them not just as budding managers of any organisation but mould
them as Leaders through proper counselling. This develops a „Good Connect‟ between the
students and B-Schools and, in turn, strengthens the bondage between alumni and its Alma
mater.
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