Given the specificity of leadership, as well as the characteristics of the leader and their associates, but also the current business situation, it is necessary to adapt at all times in order to achieve maximum results together with employee satisfaction. The goal of the article is to explore the presence of different leadership styles (authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire) in Croatian enterprises. Survey research was conducted on a sample of enterprises, and level of usage of different leadership styles was measured using Leadership Styles Questionnaire. Six groups of enterprises were compared using Mann-Whitney test according to the level of usage of different leadership styles: (i) small and medium enterprises ( < 250 employees); (ii) large enterprises ( > 250 employees); (iii) enterprises in the growth and maturity phase (leaders); (iv) enterprises in the stagnation phase (followers); (v) enterprises with the main orientation towards international market, and (vi) enterprises with the main orientation towards domicile market. Results indicated that democratic style is the most present in all groups of enterprises, but in some groups of enterprises autocratic and laissez-faire are also often present.

KEY WORDS

leadership styles, Croatia, Mann-Whitney test, leadership styles questionnaire

CLASSIFICATION