Journal on Processing and Energy in Agriculture (Jan 2012)
Relationship between the impact of leadership styles of agricultural support center specialists and efficiency of consultations with farmers in the agrarian sector of the republic of Armenia
Abstract
The article shows the changing of efficiency of consultation process from Agriculture Support Center's (ASC's) of Republic of Armenia during of various types of Leadership styles. We have sorted four different types of groups during our experiments. In the first group we included farmers taught by ASC with the directing leadership style. The second group consisted of farmers taught by ASC with the coaching leadership style, In the third group consisted of farmers taught by ASC with the supporting leadership style and the last group under the same conditions was instructed by a ASC with the delegating leadership style. In all the groups the teaching period took two days. The ASC's were classified via a special scale. The selection of the farmers was based on their social conditions and their level of knowledge. In all groups farmers were in equal levels. The research was done for the purpose of identifying the best leadership style of adult teaching, during which the farmers' comprehension is higher. Immediately after the teaching process and then two weeks after we observed the residual knowledge, which farmers acquired during the training process via questionnaires and individual inquiries. The residual knowledge was evaluated on a scale, where 10 was the maximum level and 1 was the minimum. The results showed that during the directing leadership style, when high task and low relationship focus exists, and the communication in one way, the residual knowledge was minimal compared to sessions conducted by a coaching and supporting leadership styles, when the relationship is higher and the communication is two-way. Initially this caused a comfort situation, farmer thought, that the lecture care about their problem and wants to help them. And during this situation the interest of the subject increased considerably. The article suggests what kind of leadership style can be used during adult teaching for the purpose of increasing the comprehension of farmers.
