Dr J. P. Nwachinaemere & Dr P. O. Ogedi
Abstract
This study adopted a correlational design to investigate innovative leadership styles and human resource management as correlates of principals’ administrative effectiveness in South East, Nigeria. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study at 0.05 level of significance. The population of this study was 1483 principals from 1483 public secondary schools in five states in South East Nigeria. The sample size for the study was 400 principals, drawn using simple random sampling. The instruments for data collection were researchers developed three sets of structured questionnaires. These are Innovative Leadership Style Questionnaire (ILSQ), Human Resources Management Questionnaire (HRMQ) and Principals Administrative Effectiveness Questionnaire (PAEQ). They were validated by five experts. The reliability index of the instruments, established using Cronbach alpha, were .75 for ILSQ, .92 for HRMQ and .77 for PAEQ. The data collected were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (r) and linear regression. The findings of the study revealed, among others, that innovative leadership styles significantly relate with principals’ administrative effectiveness in public secondary schools in Nigeria. It was recommended, among others, that human capital development should be encouraged by secondary school principals in order to assist teachers improve in their professional endeavours.