The Role of Effective Leadership Style in Successful Merger and Acquisition Growth Strategy of Ecobank Ghana

The study examined how effective leadership style assisted in motivation employees of Ecobank Ghana towards the successful implementation of its merger and acquisition growth strategy. In conducting the study, purposive sampling technique was adopted to select key officials of the bank, key managers and supervisors of the bank whose leadership styles influenced employees to work hard towards turning the new consolidated bank around. Out of 120 questionnaires distributed, 104 returned safely which enabled the relevant to be collated and analyzed for strategizing the direction of the study. The study noted transactional, laissez-faire and transformational leadership styles were all brought on board to assist employees of the bank work hard towards achieving set targets thereby improving upon their financial performance. The relevance of the study lies in the fact that with the new minimum capital adequacy level increased by the central bank of Ghana from US$20 million as at December 2012 to US$100 millions by December 2017, a lot more banks in the country have been slated for integration and will therefore need strong leadership styles to enable them to successfully undertake their mergers and acquisitions exercise.