Investigating the Applicability of Contingency Leadership Theory in the South African National Defence Forces: A Comparative Study of Combat and Support Divisions

This study aimed to assist leaders in the South African National Defence Forces (SANDF) understand the contingency factors that influenced choice of leadership styles and help such leaders to select the appropriate leadership style(s) for enhancing leadership effectiveness. To do that, the study tested the applicability of the contingency leadership theory to the SANDF, identified the contingent leadership factors within the SANDF and recommended the appropriate leadership style. The study was based on a sample of randomly selected n=120 staff from one of SANDF’s unit, split equally between support and combat staff. Four instruments were administered, the Demographic instrument, the Task Work Instrument (WSI), the Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) instrument, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) and the Least Preferred Co-worker (LPC) instrument. Descriptive statistics, correlation, T-tests and regression analyses were used to analyse the data. T-test results showed that there were statistically significant differences between staff in support and combat staff in terms of task structure, work engagement and leader-member exchange. In addition, these three leadership contingent factors were found to significantly influence the choice of leadership within SANDF’s combat division. Within the support division, task structure was an insignificant factor in determining the influence of leadership style but work engagement and leader-member exchange were significant contributors to the choice of leadership style in that division. Therefore, the differences in these contingent factors point to the applicability of the contingent theory to SANDF. While the dominant leadership style in the combat division was relationship-oriented, a combination of relationship-oriented and task-oriented leadership styles was dominant in the support division. Training and development were proposed as a way of enhancing the adaptability of leaders in the SANDF, thereby improving their mobility across the two diverse divisions. Finally, the size of the sample, relative to the target population, choice of contingent factors and reliance on quantitative methodology, all presented some limitations. Recommendations for future research has been given in light of these limitations.