An exploration into senior managers' effectiveness: the case of the Muscat Municipality, Oman

Since the eighties there has been a concerted effort to reform the public sector in order to, amongst other things, improve their performance and service delivery to the public. Large scale and capital intensive projects are required, especially within Oman a developing country, for ensuring development and improved service for the citizen. The planning, implementation and maintenance of these initiatives rests on public sector institutions. The role and effectiveness of senior managers play a significant part in the overall success of their organisations and the development of their nations. The main concern of this research is to explore and identifying the behavioural influences which contribute to the increased effectiveness of the senior managers of the Muscat Municipality, Oman. This research utilises a combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. In addressing the leadership effectiveness in Oman, it utilises and contextualises Analoui’s (2002) model of eight parameters for effectiveness as a basis to explore the awareness, perceptions, skills, organisational criteria, motivation, degree of demands and constraints, choices and opportunities, and dominant leadership philosophy for effectiveness. Based on the above, suggestions have been made to improve the content and context of senior managers’ work to increase their effectiveness in Oman. This first time study contributes to the present knowledge and understanding of the subject by contextualising the concept of ‘Managerial Effectiveness’ in Oman’s public sector. It concludes that better understanding of the subject requires attention being paid to the identified parameters of senior managers’ effectiveness. Moreover, consideration should be given to the influences and impact of the above parameters on personal, organisational and external contexts in Oman. These will lead to improved performance and organisational effectiveness as the whole