The Interplay Between Personality Traits, Employee Duty Orientation, and Leadership Competence in Nigerian FMCG Companies: A PLS-SEM Approach

Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies in Nigeria operate in volatile, high-volume markets that require reliable execution and adaptable leadership. This article develops and tests a structural model linking employees’ personality traits, leadership competence, and operational performance through employee-duty orientation. The study used partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze data from 244 employees carefully selected from 20 fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies in Nigeria through a sampling approach. The results revealed a direct and positive relationship between operational performance (OP) and personality traits (PT), as well as a significant positive relationship between leadership competence and OP. The findings also indicate that employee duty orientation partially mediates the relationship between personality traits and operational performance. Based on deontic trait theory and a heuristic framework established within the Nigerian context, the researcher argues that duty orientation and an internalized sense of obligation toward one’s team act as key motivational channels through which trait dispositions influence behavior. Furthermore, leadership competence arises from these characteristics and functions as a contextual factor that amplifies the effect of duty orientation on performance. Therefore, in practical terms, the findings can guide leadership development and human resource strategies not only in the FMCG industry in Nigeria but also globally, particularly in similarly volatile or resource-limited settings, thereby broadening the study’s potential impact.