1. African Journal of Business Management Vol. 6(6), pp. 2291-2298, 15 February, 2012
Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/AJBM
DOI: 10.5897/AJBM11.1874
ISSN 1993-8233 ©2012 Academic Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Leadership behavior and performance: A case study of
Takaful representatives in Malaysia
Mohamad Abdul Hamid1*, Nik Mutasim Nik Ab Rahman2 and Norfaizah Mat Nor3
1
School of Management and Institute of West Asian Studies (IKRAB), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi,
Selangor, Malaysia.
2
Graduate School of Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysi (UKM), 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
3
College of Business Management and Accounting Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia.
Accepted 9 September, 2011
This study aims to examine leadership behavior among Takaful agents or representatives on the
performance of Takaful industry in Malaysia. Current technological developments have changed the
pattern of distribution and marketing system of Takaful products. Takaful operators still appoint an
agent to attract and convince customers of Takaful products. An agent should have a strong self-
confidence to be a representative, high communication skill (persuasiveness), understand what to do
(initiating structure), comprehend customer needs, meet customer demands (consideration) and so
forth. In this study, Takaful agents have been surveyed regarding their leadership behavior. Initiating
structure, consideration, representation and persuasiveness were found to be positively related to the
performance of Takaful industry in Malaysia. These findings may help all parties, which are related to
Takaful industry, that is, regulators such as Bank Negara, agencies and agents himself can play the role
in enhancing the performance among Takaful agents for Takaful industry in Malaysia.
Key words: Takaful, agents, leadership behaviour and performance.
INTRODUCTION
The existence of conventional insurance was contra- of the members. This mutual guarantee is provided by a
dicted with Shariah compliance and declaring as haram group of people against a defined risk or catastrophe
(forbidden) by Islamic fiqh Academy of OIC Countries in befalling one‟s life, property or any form of valuable
1985. There is also a need for Muslim to join to insure things (Lim et al., 2010).
themselves in Islamic way. Muslims have to do what The development of Takaful industry in Malaysia is
Islam has asked and avoid what Islam has prohibited. In expanding rapidly and Takaful products itself gain a good
everyday life, a Muslim has to deal with any business response from customer. Takaful development continues
according to Shariah. It is the same thing when it goes to to be well known because it is highly stressed here that
insurance. The emergence of Islamic insurance as an agents play an utmost important role in order to attract
alternative of conventional insurance, in which according people to buy Takaful products. As such, most of the
to Shariah is not in line, due to Riba (interest), Gharar companies use agents to market their product. Like
(uncertainty), and Maysir (gambling). This initiated the conventional insurance product, Takaful product is a sold
emergence of the first Islamic insurance in Sudan in and not bought product. Meaning, only a small number of
1979. customers will buy Takaful policy voluntarily from Takaful
According to Hameed and Nahar (2006), Islamic insu- operators or agents.
rance is commonly referred to as Takaful, which being Thus, it is clearly showed that Takaful operators highly
derived from the Arabic word Kafalah, is a concept of depend on the active agents in order to develop
mutual cooperation to guarantee mutual protection customers‟ confidence on the Takaful products. However,
there are two categories of agent - full or part time
agents. The obvious weakness of part time agents is less
skill to attract and maintain their customer. They also do
*Corresponding author. E-mail: mdah@ukm.my. not know how to communicate, give a brief explanation

2. 2292 Afr. J. Bus. Manage.
and convince the customer about Takaful products. attract and gain customers. Since then until now, most
These problems will lead to low sale productivity, insurance companies or Takaful operators will use an
decrease agents motivation to give full commitment as a agent to assist in increasing product sales (Dubinsky et
good agent and it is not impossible they tend to leave this al., 1988).
industry. It shows that leadership behavior among agents
is essential in order to be good agents. Thus, agents
have a major impact in the financial success of a Takaful LITERATURE REVIEW
operator. Because of that, Takaful operators should give
more attention in order to have an aggressive agent with Leadership has been defined in terms of individual traits,
a positive attitude and effective performance as a whole behaviour, influence over other people, interaction pat-
in the future. terns, role relationships, occupation of an administrative
The performance of Islamic insurance, well known as position, and perception by others regarding legitimacy of
Takaful, has showed a remarkable growth from time to influence (Yukl, 2010).
time. It can be seen by a lot of Takaful operators in the Stogdill (1974) defines leadership behaviour as that
present day and an average growth rate is 20% per year which leaders use to influence a group of people towards
(Lim et al., 2010). As a result, it is an interesting subject the achievement of goals. Leadership is an interaction
to be discussed. The Takaful industry has a huge between two or more members of a group that often
potential to be emphasized. However, there are still many involves a structuring or restructuring of the situation and
people who do not know what Takaful is, and the term the perceptions and expectations of members, and is
Takaful itself seems unfamiliar since it is an Arabic term. concerned with three things; leaders, followers and their
Furthermore, this is one of the challenges which must be interactions (Hasbullah, 2008). Some other definitions are
faced and answered by the Takaful industry; for it to be as follows:
well known.
Other than that, the important role played by agents 1. Leadership is “the behaviour of an individual when he
become an interesting issue to be analyzed in order to is directing the activities of a group toward a shared goal”
find out how agents leadership behaviour like initiating (Hemphill and Coons, 1957).
structure, consideration, representative and persuasive- 2. Leadership is “a particular type of power relationship
ness impact on the performance of Takaful industry as a characterized by a group member‟s perception that
whole. Nowadays, distribution system for life insurance another group member has the right to prescribe beha-
has been changed dramatically over time. Traditional viour patterns for the former regarding his activity as a
methods for selling insurance have been substantially group member” (Janda, 1960).
modified and new marketing models have emerged 3. Leadership is “an interaction between persons in which
(Rejda, 2003). Although, some insurers employ a new one presents information of a sort and in such a manner
marketing system such as direct mail, print, that the other becomes convinced that his outcome will
telemarketing, broadcast advertising or internet to market be improved if he behaves in the manner suggested or
their products and services, a traditional method, that is, desired” (Jacobs, 1970).
agents, seem to be the driving marketing force for most 4. Leadership is “the initiation and maintenance of
companies (Dubinsky et al., 1988). structure in expectation and interaction” (Stogdill, 1974)
This study is setting out to examine the impact of 5. Leadership is “the influential increment over and above
leadership behaviour among Takaful agents on the per- mechanical compliance with the routine directives of the
formance of Takaful industry in Malaysia. The objectives organization” (Katz and Kahn, 1978).
of the study are: 6. Leadership is “the process of influencing the activities
of an organized group toward goal achievement” (Roach
1. To identify whether there is a relationship between and Behling, 1984).
agents‟ leadership behaviour (initiating structure, con- 7. Leadership is the “the process of influencing
sideration, representative and persuasiveness) and the employees to work toward the achievement of objectives”
performance of Takaful industry in Malaysia. (Lussier, 1990).
2. To determine the impact of leadership behaviour 8. Leadership is “the ability to influence a group toward
among agents on the performance of Takaful industry in the achievement of goals” (Robbins, 1993).
Malaysia. 9. Leadership as an interpersonal process through which
a leader directs the activities of individuals or groups
This research focuses on the impact of leadership towards the purposeful pursuance of given objectives
behaviour among Takaful agents on the performance of within a particular situation by means of communication.
Takaful industry in Malaysia through the initiating (Gerber et al., 1996).
structure, consideration of an agent of the customer, how 10. Leadership as the behaviour of an individual when
the agent acts as representative and good spokesman that person is directing and coordinating the activities of a
(persuasiveness) for the Takaful agency in order to Group toward the accomplishment of a shared goal

3. Hamid et al. 2293
(Rowden, 2000). The studies fell short, most notably in the lack of
Slocum et al. (2008) argue that when people think of establishing a clear causal relationship. Did high
„leaders‟, they often think of famous people in the position considerate behavior cause more productive followers or
of power. But not all leaders are as famous as the CEOs did more productive followers cause higher considerate
of America‟s largest companies. Leaders can be found at behavior from the leader? The more studies that were
all levels of an organization and in all spheres of life. completed using the LBDQ, the more inconsistent the
Although we focus here on leaders in business, much of results. Lastly, the most significant development to come
what has been learned about leadership has come from out of the OSU studies was that effective leaders are
observations and research on political leaders, religious considerate to their followers. This was not “an earth-
leaders, and even student. Leadership is an influence shattering” revelation. Shortly after Ohio State started
relationship between leaders and followers who strive for examining behavioral leadership, the University of
real change and outcomes that reflect their shared Michigan began similar studies (Benson, 1998).
purposes. It takes many forms and can be used for a Referring to Yuki (1981), initiating structure concerns
wide variety of purposes (Slocum et al., 2008). the degree to which a leader directs subordinates, clarify
Different concepts between researchers in their field their roles and plans, coordinates, problem solves,
study of leadership will lead to different interpretation of criticizes and pressure them to perform better. Thus,
the results and meaning. However, in particular, it has initiating structure is manifested by task-oriented
been argued that follower perceptions are critical behavior. Another definition for initiating structure is
because only those who are perceived as leaders are leader initiating structure which is the degree to which a
allowed the discretion and influence to lead effectively supervisor defines his/her own role and the roles of
(Lord and Maher, 1993). Thus, leaders can only be subordinates toward attainment of the group's goals.
effective only if followers are willing to be led. Some examples include assigning tasks, specifying pro-
cedures, planning and scheduling work, communicating
the importance of meeting deadlines, and maintaining
Leadership behavior definite standards of performance (Stodgill, 1963). Keller
(2006) argues that initiating structure has been seriously
Two leadership behavior dimensions are initiating struc- neglected in the past 15 years. Similarly, Judge et al.
ture and consideration. According to Benson (1998), Ohio (2004) referred to initiating structure as the "forgotten
State University (1940‟s) pioneered behavioral leadership one" of leadership research since 1987 and suggest
research. The goal of these studies was to identify those there should be a renewed interest in this leadership
leadership behaviors necessary for effective leadership. style.
The studies concentrated on relating specific leadership Supervisory consideration is the degree to which a
behaviors to attainment of group or organizational goals. superior develops a work climate of psychological
Initially, over 1800 behaviors were brainstormed as support, mutual trust and respect, helpfulness, and
essential. This list was subsequently paired to a more friendliness. Some examples include finding time to listen
manageable 150 behaviors, and then, factor analysis was to employees' problems, consulting with workers on
used to further refine the behaviors into two large important issues, treating employees as equals, and
categories: considerate and initiating structure. being willing to accept a worker's suggestion (Stodgill,
Considerate behaviors are similar to group mainte- 1963). Thus, supervisory consideration lends congeniality
nance behaviors, while initiating behaviors resemble to the work environment that can both enhance workers'
task-oriented behaviors. Ohio State University (OSU) emotional needs, as well as the development of social
sought to establish a relationship between leader beha- involvements.
viors and leader effectiveness. A questionnaire called the Prior researchers such as Churchill et al. (1985)
Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ) suggest that initiating structure and consideration are
was used to demonstrate the relationship. The survey generally inversely associated with role conflict and
was given to subordinates of 57 production foremen. The ambiguity. Published research has ascertained that job
hypothesis was that foremen could be considered the satisfaction and performance tends to be positively
most effective leaders when they had low rates in both related to initiating structure and consideration.
voluntary turn over and written grievances. The findings As stated by Kasturi (2006), performance of an
weren‟t surprising; foremen with high levels of organization is the outcome of activities of individuals and
considerate behavior tended to have more favorable units of the organization. Except for the external
effectiveness rating while similarly, foremen with low influences on individual behavior and personal traits,
initiating structure behavior had more favorable effective- organizations can either influence or control all factors
ness ratings. The conclusion was that a relatively high affecting the performance of individuals and units through
degree of considerate behavior with a relatively low formal and informal means. Some of the formal means of
degree of initiating structure behavior led to the most controlling units‟ activities are structure, operating
effective leaders in the organization (Benson, 1998). manuals, standard operating procedures, charters, and

4. 2294 Afr. J. Bus. Manage.
budgets. Greater influence on individuals can be Dependent variables
exercised informally through communication, work
i) Initiating structure: The degree to which a leader directs
culture, management style. subordinates, clarify their role and plans, coordinate problem
In a comprehensive review of salesperson performance solves, criticizes and pressure them to perform better.
studies, Churchill et al. (1985) note that performance has ii) Consideration: the degree, to which a leader is supportive,
traditionally been defined in terms of salesperson friendly and considerate of subordinates, consults with them,
behavior which has been evaluated in light of its represents their interests, has open communication with them and
contributions to the goals of the organization. Dubinsky et recognizes their contribution.
iii) Representation: The degree to which a leader is speaks and
al. (1988) defined performance as the manner in which acts as the representative of the group.
the individual executes his or her tasks, responsibilities iv) Persuasiveness: The degree to which a leader is using
and assignments. Previous investigations have persuasion and argument effectively; exhibits strong convictions.
discovered that performance generally, is positively
related to initiating structure and consideration.
Independent variables
Performance of insurance company in financial terms is
normally expressed in net premium earned, profitability Performance of Takaful industry in Malaysia (the manner in which
from underwriting activities, annual turnover, return on the individual executes his/her tasks, responsibilities and
investment, return on equity etc. These measures can be assignments).
classified as profit performance measures and invest-
ment performance measures (Kasturi, 2006). Budget
HYPOTHESIS
variances measure the financial performance of each
unit. Performance of each branch includes both financial H1: Initiating structure
and non-financial performance. Financial performance for
branches can be divided as profit performance and H1: There is a relationship between initiating structure and the
investment performance. These are expressed in terms performance of takaful industry in Malaysia.
of turnover, gross and net profits, return on investment,
return on capital employed, etc. (Kasturi, 2006). Some of H2: Consideration
the non-financial performance measures may include
growth in number of policies, market share of the branch H2: There is a relationship between consideration and the
or division in the local area, company‟s market share in performance of takaful industry in Malaysia.
total, number of branches and divisions, Speed in policy
processing, speed in delivery of the policy notes, timely
H3: Representation
reminders to the customers, number of drop outs from
the policies, growth in products and product lines, H3: There is a relationship between representation and the
customer satisfaction, speed in settlement of claims, performance of takaful industry in Malaysia.
employee training, research and development, market
intelligence and surveys, number of policies per agent,
H4: Persuasiveness
agents training, retention of efficient agents, etc. (Kasturi,
2006). H4: There is a relationship between persuasiveness and the
performance of takaful industry in Malaysia.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
170 questionnaires were distributed to respondents which come
from the agents of Takaful operator in Malaysia. The questionnaire
was designed into two parts, that is, Parts A and B. Part A was
In conducting this research, 170 questionnaires were
divided into 5 sections which contained initiating structure, distributed and 73.5% (125) of the questionnaires were
consideration, representation, persuasiveness (independent returned back by the cooperative respondents with
variable) and Takaful performance (dependent variable). Part B is answered results. High response rate was due to self
demographic factors where the respondent background was collection, directly from the agents.
collected such as gender, age, race, religion, Takaful operator
The results of data analysis are divided into four
respondent work for, work position, duration work in the industry
and through the currently Takaful agency and empowerment status. different parts, which are frequencies analysis, reliability
In this study, the target populations are agents of Takaful analysis on related variables engaged in the study,
operator in Malaysia. The reason for using a sample, rather than multiple regression to see the most important leadership
collecting data from the entire population, is self evident. Studying a behaviour factors impact on the dependent variable and
sample is likely to produce more reliable results. 170 people were the analysis on correlation in order to identify whether
selected randomly among agents of Takaful operator in Malaysia.
The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) 17.0 is used
there is any relationship between independent variables
to analyze the data obtained from the sample of population. The (initiating structure, consideration, representation and
types of data analysis technique consist of frequency distribution, persuasiveness) and dependent variable (performance of
reliability, regression analysis and correlation. Takaful industry).

5. Hamid et al. 2295
Table 1. Cronbach‟s alpha reliability coefficients for the variable.
Variable Cronbach’s alpha Number of items
Initiating structure 0.952 9
Consideration 0.764 7
Representation 0.932 5
Persuasiveness 0.813 7
Performance 0.859 9
The result indicates that the Cronbach‟s alpha for the agency within 1 to 2 years. It is followed by 29.6% of
independent and dependent variable is 0.922. The closer respondents who worked less than a year. It is also
the reliability coefficient gets to 1.0, the better. In general, stated that only 22.4% respondents work within 3 to 5
the overall reliabilities coefficient is 0.922, which is good. years. Lowest data are those who work within 6 to 10
Therefore, the consistency reliabilities of the measure years from a total of 11.2% respondents. Mostly, 64.8%
used in this study can be considered to be good. of respondent are full-time agents.
Based on Table 1 and 2, it shows that male respon- Table 3 shows descriptive statistics of the respondents.
dents contribute to a larger percentage which is 59.2% as It may be mentioned that all variables were tapped on a
compared with female respondents (40.8%). Most (44%) 7-point scale. From the results, it may be seen that the
of the respondents are among 20 to 29 years old. 26.4% mean on initiating structure is about somewhat agree
respondents are among 30 to 39 years old. There are (5.9778) on a 7-point scale, as was the mean on con-
22.4% respondents who were aged between 40 to 49 sideration (5.2091). Representation is also about
years old. 6.4% of respondents are in the range of 50 somewhat agree at 5.9696 on a 7-point scale, relatively
years or over. A respondent in the age range of less than same with mean of persuasiveness (5.7577). The mean
20 years is only 0.8% which contributes to the lowest age of 5.8818 on 7-point scale for performance of Takaful
range of respondents. It is also clearly stated that most of industry indicates that most of the respondents are
the respondents in this study consist of Malay which somewhat agree on the level of performance of Takaful
stands at 92.8% (116), followed by 6.4% (8) Chinese res- industry. The minimum of 1.44 indicates that there are
pondents and only 0.8% (1) of the respondent come from some who seriously disagree with the performance of
Indian race. This indicates that 92.8% of respondents are Takaful industry at all and the maximum of 7.00 indicates
Muslims and the rest of 7.2% respondents are non- that some are seriously agree with the performance of
Muslim. Takaful industry in Malaysia.
Question five asked about the Takaful operator repre- Table 4 presents the correlation between all indepen-
sented by the respondents. Result presents that majority dent variables and dependent variable. Based on the
(37.6%) of the respondents are from Etiqa Takaful table, it shows that there is significant and high positive
Berhad. This is followed by 34.4% of the respondent relationship between initiating structure and performance
representing Takaful Ikhlas Sdn. Bhd. There are about of Takaful industry in Malaysia. The value of the Pearson
15.2% of the respondents who come from Prudential correlation is 0.732 significant at 0.000 level (any value
BSN Takaful Berhad and 8.8% from Syarikat Takaful less than 0.050 are significant).
Malaysia Berhad. There are 2.4% of respondents from However, there is significant and moderate positive
others Takaful operators, while only 0.8% of respondents relationship between considerations with the dependent
come from CIMB Aviva Takaful Berhad and MAA Takaful variables (performance of Takaful industry in Malaysia).
Berhad. Next, result also shows that most (76.8%) The value of the Pearson correlation is 0.567 significant
respondents are from ordinary agents, followed by the at 0.000 level (any value less than 0.050 are significant).
agency managers (16%). Only 7.2% of the total Furthermore, the relationship between representation and
respondents consist of unit managers. persuasiveness with dependent variable is significant and
The next question describes the duration of agents high positive relationship. The correlation value for
work in Takaful industry. Most (33.6%) of the representation and persuasiveness is 0.764 and 0.834
respondents had experience of 1 to 2 years in the Takaful significant at 0.000 levels.
industry. This was followed closely by 28.8% respondents Thus, it can be concluded that there is a positive
who had worked less than 1 year. A total of 23.2% relationship between leadership behaviour factors
respondents were working in the industry for 3 to 5 years. (initiating structure, consideration, representative and
At least 2.4% of the respondents get involved in the persuasiveness) among agents and performance of
industry for more than 10 years. Information about Takaful industry in Malaysia.
duration of respondent working through this Takaful Multiple regression technique is used to determine
agency has also been collected. It is found that majority which one is the main factor of leadership behaviour
of 36.8% respondents have been working on this Takaful among agents that contributes to the performance of

6. 2296 Afr. J. Bus. Manage.
Table 2. Summary of frequency analysis.
Profile Description Frequency Percent
Male 74 59.2
Gender
Female 51 40.8
Under 20 1 0.8
20-29 55 44.0
Age 30-39 33 26.4
40-49 28 22.4
50 or Over 8 6.4
Malay 116 92.8
Race Chinese 8 6.4
Indian 1 0.8
Muslim 116 92.8
Religion
Non-Muslim 9 7.2
CIMB Aviva Takaful Berhad 1 0.8
Prudential BSN Takaful Berhad 19 15.2
Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Berhad 11 8.8
Takaful operator Takaful Ikhlas Sdn. Bhd. 43 34.4
MAA Takaful Berhad 1 0.8
Etiqa Takaful Berhad 47 37.6
Others 3 2.4
Ordinary agent (representative) 96 76.8
Position Unit manager 9 7.2
Agency manager 20 16
Less than 1 year 36 28.8
1-2 years 42 33.6
Long work in 3-5 years 29 23.2
6-10 years 15 12
More than 10 years 3 2.4
Less than 1 year 37 29.6
1-2 years 46 36.8
Long work through
3-5 years 28 22.4
6-10 years 14 11.2
Full-time 81 64.8
Empowerment status
Part-time 44 35.2
Takaful industry in Malaysia. Initially, the inter corre- agents that are initiating structure, consideration,
lations among the four variables are taken into account. representation and persuasiveness as well.
According to Table 5, the R (0.855) is the correlation of Table 6 indicates whether the proportion of variance
the four variables with the dependent variable. As shown explained by the model summary is significant or other-
2
in the table, R (0.731) is the explained variance. It wise. Furthermore, it shows whether the overall effect of
means that 73.1% of the variance in performance of four independent variables on performance is significant
Takaful industry in Malaysia has been significantly or not. From Table 6, it is important to emphasize the fact
explained by the four leadership behaviour factors among that p value is significant at 0.000 which is below 0.05

7. Hamid et al. 2297
Table 3. Descriptive statistics.
Variable N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. deviation
Initiating structure 125 2.44 7.00 5.9778 0.78504
Consideration 125 2.43 7.00 5.2091 0.96645
Representation 125 1.40 7.00 5.9696 0.94359
Persuasiveness 125 1.86 7.00 5.7577 0.81748
Performance 125 1.44 7.00 5.8818 0.80542
Table 4. Pearson correlation.
Variable IS CON REP PER PEF
Initiating Structure (IS) 1 0.584** 0.791** 0.794** 0.732**
Consideration (CON) 0.584** 1 0.484** 0.664** 0.567**
Representation (REP) 0.791** 0.484** 1 0.778** 0.764**
Persuasiveness (PER) 0.794** 0.664** 0.778** 1 0.834**
Performance (PEF) 0.732** 0.567** 0.764** 0.834** 1
Table 5. Model summary.
2 2
Model R R Adjusted R Standard error of the estimate
a
1 0.855 0.731 0.722 0.42452
a
Predictors: (constant), PER, CON, REP, IS.
Table 6. ANOVA.
Model Sum of squares df Mean square F Sig.
a
1 Regression 58.813 4 14.703 81.588 0.000
Residual 21.626 120 0.180
Total 80.438 124
a
Predictors: (constant), PER, CON, REP, IS; bdependent variable: PEF
Table 7. Coefficients.
Unstandardized coefficients Standardized coefficients
Model t Sig.
B Standard error Beta
1 (Constant) 0.856 0.300 2.854 0.005
Initiating structure 0.057 0.091 0.055 0.623 0.534
Consideration 0.028 0.054 0.033 0.513 0.609
Representation 0.230 0.073 0.270 3.161 0.002
Persuasion 0.550 0.093 0.558 5.938 0.000
a
Dependent Variable: Performance of Takaful industry.
level. Thus, we can conclude that the overall model is Based on Table 7, it shows which one among the four
significant. That is, the variables (initiating structure, variables influences most the variance in performance of
consideration, representation and persuasiveness) have Takaful industry in Malaysia, that is to say, the most
a significant combined effect on the dependent variable important factor. The column beta shows that the highest
(takaful performance). value in the beta under column standardized coefficients

8. 2298 Afr. J. Bus. Manage.
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