Leadership Style and Budget Performance: An Empirical Investigation of Tertiary Institutions in South West of Nigeria

This study investigates the influence of leadership style and budgetary gameplay on budget performance in the selected tertiary institutions in South West of Nigeria. The purposive technique was used to select ten (10) respondents from each seven (7) selected tertiary institutions, totalling seventy (70) respondents as a sample size for the study. Data analysis was performed with the aid of inferential statistical tools such as Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) and Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method of estimation. Results reveal that advancement leadership style and positive leadership style have a significant influence on budget performance, while punitive leadership style is a weak predictor of budget performance. Results also show that economic game pattern and time game pattern have a significant influence on budget performance, while devious game pattern and incremental game pattern predict poor performance and absenteeism among the bursary staff members of the selected tertiary institutions. The study, therefore, recommends that advancement leadership style, positive leadership style, economic game pattern and time game pattern should be encouraged by the management of tertiary institutions to allow the staff members to have the sense of belonging in the process of budget formulation and implementation. This will assist tertiary institutions to achieve their stated objectives and also incessant strike syndrome facing tertiary institutions in Nigeria will be reduced drastically.