Despite the acclaimed contributions of small businesses to growth of various economies, Nigeria inclusive, majority of family-owned businesses are confronted with similar challenge in the area of business continuity. With the dynamic and turbulent nature of Nigeria's business environment, increasing number of small family businesses operating in Nigeria have either shutdown or stopped operating at the retirement, incapacitation or death of the business proprietors/owners, owing to the absence of a clear succession plan, vision disconnect between the owner and the successor, lack of interest, requisite drive, technical knowledge and capabilities to manage the business prudently. Hence, this study investigates leadership succession and sustainability of small family-owned businesses in Anambra, South East Nigeria. The study employed the survey research design, carried out in Onitsha and Nnewi commercial and industrial hubs of Anambra State. The simple random sampling technique was employed to select sample of 298 registered small business owners. A five-point Likert structured 6-item questionnaire was adopted for data collection. The study employed Pearson Product Moment Correlation to determine the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. Also, the Paired Sample t-test was employed to verify the existence of statistical evidence proving that the mean difference between the paired observations in the hypothesis is significantly different from zero. The findings revealed that, mentoring and human capital development has significant influence on sustainability of small family owned businesses. The study therefore recommended that, family businesses owners should identify the successor early enough and adopt mentorship as a process to equipping the successor, who must however willingly show genuine interest and is not coerced into the business, and adequate time should be devoted for training of chosen successors, in order to equip them with relevant skills that will make How to cite this paper: Onyeukwu, P. and Jekelle, H.E.

Scholarly works have shown that one of the outstanding factors of organizational commitment has been leadership, which relates to the style adopted by the leader and the impact it has on the commitment level of employees for performance. The aim of this research was to explore the effect of leadership styles on organizational commitment. Transformational, transactional, and laissez faire styles of leadership were examined. A cross-sectional survey of 151 employees at a public sector agency in Abuja, Nigeria, was conducted. The research employed a quantitative approach to the collection of data using questionnaire administration. All questionnaire items were assessed using the five-point Likert scale. Inferential statistics in research was carried out using multiple regression technique to substantiate the survey findings. Based on the Great man theory, Contingency theory and Behavioural theory, the study confirms that transformational, transactional and laissez faire leadership styles and organizational commitment were statistically associated. In terms of contribution to the model, the explanatory variables jointly contributed 68.2 percent in explaining organizational commitment. On individual contribution, transformational leadership style contributed the most, 58.6 percent to the model while transactional leadership style contributed 11.8 percent to the model and finally laissez-faire leadership style contributed 11.2 percent to organizational commitment in the study context. The study therefore recommends that AEA should use continuous transformational leadership style practices to sustain high employee commitment and organizational effectiveness. Also, AEA should apply a bit of both transactional and laissez faire leadership styles from time to time depending on the situation of things at the workplace as there is no particular leadership style that is one-size fit all but depends on situation at hand. One realistic implication that could be learned from this study is that in order to minimize employee turnover, managers need to implement affirmative strategies that will benefit the establishment.

The study examined the effect of workforce diversity on job performance. The employees’ diversity were conceptualised in terms of gender diversity, age diversity, and educational background diversity. The study was underpinned by the social identity theory as it examined such characteristics as gender, age and education. The social identity theory infers that employees have a tendency of classifying themselves based on groups in which they fit in. The study area was public sector in Abuja, Nigeria. The study adopted the quantitative research design whereby questionnaires were administered to the participants. A sample size of 208 participants were drawn from a population of 452 employees of the government agency in Abuja using Raosoft sampling size calculator. However, only 137 valid questionnaires were retrieved from the participants. Therefore, the data analysis was based on the valid retrieved questionnaires. Data analysis and hypotheses test was done using multiple regression analysis. The results showed a significant relationship between the dimensions of the explanatory variables (gender diversity, age diversity and educational background diversity) and the outcome variable (employee performance). The study also revealed that the combination of gender, age and education were the core elements that explained employee performance by 62.9 percent. In terms of individual contribution, the results indicate that educational background diversity contributed most to the variation of employee job performance while both age and gender also contributed significantly. The study therefore recommended that leadership of organisations need to focus more on diversity management in order to integrate the diverse characteristics of the workforce within the organisation.

The study examined the effect of workforce diversity on job performance. The employees’ diversity were conceptualised in terms of gender diversity, age diversity, and educational background diversity. The study was underpinned by the social identity theory as it examined such characteristics as gender, age and education. The social identity theory infers that employees have a tendency of classifying themselves based on groups in which they fit in. The study area was public sector in Abuja, Nigeria. The study adopted the quantitative research design whereby questionnaires were administered to the participants. A sample size of 208 participants were drawn from a population of 452 employees of the government agency in Abuja using Raosoft sampling size calculator. However, only 137 valid questionnaires were retrieved from the participants. Therefore, the data analysis was based on the valid retrieved questionnaires. Data analysis and hypotheses test was done using multiple regression analysis. The results showed a significant relationship between the dimensions of the explanatory variables (gender diversity, age diversity and educational background diversity) and the outcome variable (employee performance). The study also revealed that the combination of gender, age and education were the core elements that explained employee performance by 62.9 percent. In terms of individual contribution, the results indicate that educational background diversity contributed most to the variation of employee job performance while both age and gender also contributed significantly. The study therefore recommended that leadership of organisations need to focus more on diversity management in order to integrate the diverse characteristics of the workforce within the organisation.

Scholarly works have shown that one of the outstanding factors of organizational commitment has been leadership, which relates to the style adopted by the leader and the impact it has on the commitment level of employees for performance. The aim of this research was to explore the effect of leadership styles on organizational commitment. Transformational, transactional, and laissez faire styles of leadership were examined. A cross-sectional survey of 151 employees at a public sector agency in Abuja, Nigeria, was conducted. The research employed a quantitative approach to the collection of data using questionnaire administration. All questionnaire items were assessed using the five-point Likert scale. Inferential statistics in research was carried out using multiple regression technique to substantiate the survey findings. Based on the Great man theory, Contingency theory and Behavioural theory, the study confirms that transformational, transactional and laissez faire leadership styles and organizational commitment were statistically associated. In terms of contribution to the model, the explanatory variables jointly contributed 68.2 percent in explaining organizational commitment. On individual contribution, transformational leadership style contributed the most, 58.6 percent to the model while transactional leadership style contributed 11.8 percent to the model and finally laissez-faire leadership style contributed 11.2 percent to organizational commitment in the study context. The study therefore recommends that AEA should use continuous transformational leadership style practices to sustain high employee commitment and organizational effectiveness. Also, AEA should apply a bit of both transactional and laissez faire leadership styles from time to time depending on the situation of things at the workplace as there is no particular leadership style that is one-size fit all but depends on situation at hand. One realistic implication that could be learned from this study is that in order to minimize employee turnover, managers need to implement affirmative strategies that will benefit the establishment.