Power Distribution at Eskom: Putting Self-Leadership, Locus of Control and Job Performance of Engineers in Context

Abstract

Given the deep energy crisis that currently engulfs South Africa, which has been attributed to the crisis of electricity supply leadership and perceived weak locus of control among Eskom management and staff, the purpose of this study is to review the self-leadership and internal locus of control literature to identify components of these concepts that could leverage employee job performance and improve electricity service delivery. In the absence of literature that examines the combined effects of self-leadership and internal locus of control, the researchers adopted a theoretical and reflective approach that combined the interpretation of extant literature on isolated effects of these variables on job performance and the researchers’ individual perspectives on the matter. Drawing on this literature review, gaps in the extant literature are identified and an integrative framework for improving Eskom engineers’ job performance and electricity service delivery is developed. The study reported that although the reward strategy component of self-leadership and external locus of control serve as moderating variables, the combination of behaviour-focused strategies, thought self-leadership strategies of self-leadership and internal locus of control had the greatest influence on job performance of Eskom engineers. The paper renders a rich literature review on self-leadership and locus of control in a resilient, national energy supply institution and bestows an innovative conceptual framework for leveraging the job performance in particular and electricity service supply in an energy crisis ridden country in general.