TESCO Leadership Case Analysis - Research Proposal Example

TESCO LEADERSHIP CASE STUDY ANALYSIS RESEARCH PROPOSAL By Location TESCO Leadership Case Study Analysis Research Proposal Introduction Different organizations exhibit prevalence various leadership styles. The leadership style adopted by leaders in a certain organization is very critical in determining the success of the organization and it also influences the attitude of the employees towards the organization. In order to define whether the leadership style in an organization is effective, there is need to carry out an extensive case study analysis and mapping of all the leadership activities as well as the employer employee relationships. In the case of Tesco Plc, it forms an effective case study because of the significant leadership change that occurred in 2010. This was after Terry Leahy ceased to be the chief executive officer of the organization. This research was focused on identifying factors that contributed to the success of Terry Leahy as one of the leaders who ensured the organizations success. In a bid to establish a unique leadership style, and its effects on the organization, a case study analysis is a preferred option as it will bring into focus specific information concerning Tesco. Objectives of the research proposal A research will be carried out that will seek to analyse the leadership styles of Terry Leahy, who had been the chief executive officer for Tesco Plc until June 2010. Having been the CEO since 1997 to 2010, and with the organization having registered success in different sectors, it becomes evident that the CEO had a unique leadership style. Therefore, the research will seek to highlight him strengths and leadership setbacks during the period the CEO was the CEO. On the other hand, the research will also compare Terry’s leadership to the modern leadership. It will seek to establish whether Tesco employees have exhibited any significant change towards the modern management. Finally, the research will also compile leadership practices of Terry Leahy that helped him become an outstanding CEO of Tesco and propelling the organization into immense success. Notably, the research will also consider whether the leadership styles adopted by the modern leadership conform to the organizational structure. Problem statement After the exit of Terry Leahy from Tesco Plc, a noticeable change in the organizational leadership has become very evident. In a bid to determine the factors that have contributed to the leadership change, it is critical to carry out a close analysis of his previous leadership styles and strategies that defined her leadership at Tesco. Such an analysis will help determine the factors that contributed to the leadership change when the CEO left Tesco. Literature Review The 21st century is defined by multiple leadership styles. The emphasis placed on the adoption of modern transformational leadership is evident in many societies (Alvesson & Sveningsson 2003, p.1440). Although the previous years had been defined by transactional leadership, the emerging benefits of transformational leadership both to the organization and the employees has been the course with emphasis on the adoption of this leadership style. According to leadership theorists, transactional leaderships denote a leadership style whereby the leader makes all the critical decisions and the employee/ subordinates have to exhibit compliance with such decisions. In a transactional leadership setting the role of the leader comprises of supervision and organization of people and tasks in a bid to ensure that the subordinate register a remarkable performance. The employees/subordinates only act according to the received command from the leader (Alvesson & Sveningsson 2003, p.1443). The mandate of the subordinates must always conform to the outright command emanating from the top office. Transactional leadership has been described as one that denies the employees an opportunity of exercising their self autonomy or any form of creativity. This is because performance and the decisions made by the employees must abide by the already defined standards operating procedures, standards and rules. Such leaders have the thinking that defining a reward and punishment system are the most effective motivational strategies. Thimefore, employees exhibiting a remarkable performance have the privilege of receiving incentives. On the othim hand, employees who fail to register the expected performance standards are subject to a punishment scheme that withdraws some of their privileges. The leader must ensure that he undertakes a constant monitoring of the employees and the activities that they indulge in othim cases, transactional leaders prefer to exhibit a passive control to the employees. After delivery, the required instructions, the leaders withdraw from the task until the employees face challenges and the employer is compelled by the situation to intervene. Since transactional leadership often yields undesirable results, leadership theorists have placed emphasis on the adoption of transformational leadership which allows a productive relationship between the employer and the employee. A theorist called Burns defined the concept of transformational leadership. He highlighted the need and the capacity of transformational leaders to define a specific vision for the groups they lead (Alvesson & Sveningsson 2003, p.1448). The leader himself commits to ensuring that the vision is realized. He ensures that, he develops faith in himself and also in his subordinates. Transformational leader defines strategies by ensuring that their subordinates are familiar with the defined vision. They encourage the subordinates to develop personal goals that conform to the established vision for the organization. One critical aspect of transformational leadership is ensuring that, the employees/subordinates receive the right amount of motivation and inspiration from the leader. This translates to an additional responsibility for the leader because he or the CEO must ensure that effective motivational strategies are adopted in a bid to ensure that the subordinates have the right level of vigour. Transformational leaders have to remain charismatic as this is an attribute that enables them to influence the thinking of their subordinates in a positive way. When a leader exhibits charisma to his subordinates, they feel dignified and valued and develop a form of attraction to the leader. This makes it possible for them to adopt his values. A transformational leader ensures that he influences the subordinates positively in imparting in them the values, passion, and faith that he has towards the vision of the organization. This helps the employees experience a sense of purpose within the organizational strategy. Therefore, they are motivated toward adopting organizational goals as they formulate personal goals (Alvesson & Sveningsson 2003, p.1446). An outstanding feature of transformational leadership that has received the appraisal from many theorists is the fact that subordinates are propelled towards self actualization. This means that, as the leader exhibits a level of growth, and as the organization registers a measure of growth, the employees acquire new skills and responsibilities registering personal growth as well. For leaders achieve this, they need to ensure that subordinates have the required space, motivation, training, empowerment and relevant opportunities for them to exhibit growth. This means that a leader should help employees do their best according to the skills that they have while presenting opportunities for them to develop new competencies so that they qualify for new responsibilities. Research Methodology This research will adopt a case study approach which is one of the approaches under the qualitative research paradigm. A case study analysis presents the opportunity for a research to indulge in an extensive and intensive description of an organization. In the case of understanding Tesco’s leadership, a case study will allow the researcher to obtain in depth information that proves relevant to the research question. Since case studies are under the qualitative research paradigms, they employ different strategies in a bid to understand and analyse information about a specific organization. Since qualitative research makes use of different paradigms in a bid to carry our research, the case study analysis that will be undertaken will also utilize multiple paradigms. One of the paradigms that will be used will be positivism (Symon and Cassell 2012, p. 67). This paradigm embarks on gaining access to data that can be categorized as exhibiting validity and reliability. In order to achieve access to such data, the research must employ questions of a specific standard. Moreover, emotionalism will also be evident in the case study as some of the employees of Tesco Plc will be interviewees and will serve to provide data of the leadership style in the organization according to the experience of the organization. Such employees will be required to provide accounts of leadership instances that define the leadership style in an authentic way. In addition, constructionism will also be applied because the researcher and the employees selected for the study will exhibit active participation in deriving meaning from the data analysed (Symon and Cassell 2012, p. 97). Tesco plc will be the focus of the research. The first step in the research will involve understanding the organizational structure of the superstore. From the available data on different sites, Tesco’s organizational chart has the store director in the top office and under him is the original manager then a store manager. These three positions from the hierarchy below the CEO. The other employees who hold different positions belong to a different level and their responsibilities are interconnected. After analysing the organizational chart, designing of the interviews that will form the bulk of the research to establish the leadership style adopted by Terry Leahy will follow (Symon and Cassell 2012, p. 115). A sample population that will participate in the research will be selected from different level of the organizational structure after the consent to participate in the study. The selected participants will need to be individuals who witnessed Terry Leahy’s leadership regime for a minimum of five years and who can decipher the evident difference between the current CEO and Terry Leahy. The interviews will take place in different sections and open ended questions will be used to motivate the participant to reveal as much information as they can. Evidently, the subjectivity of the participants will be a core determinant of the findings from this research. This is because the participants will be presented with an opportunity to assess Terry Leahy’s leadership style and identify on which category it falls (Symon and Cassell 2012, p. 123). They will be provided with a transactional leadership scenario as well as a transformational scenario. Based on the answers they provide to the open answers used, they will be required to highlight to which scenario Terry Leahy’s leadership points to. The open questions to be used in this research will be formulated strategically to bring up the major aspect of both types of leadership so that the participants may be able to rate. In cases whereby the participants highlighted that the dominant leadership style was transformational, they will answer additional questions whose purpose will be to determine the leader’s efficiency in motivating his/her employees (Symon and Cassell 2012, p. 67). Participants in the research will undertake two different interview sessions depending on their rank in their organizational structure. This means that, employees who are high in the hierarchy will attend more sessions in a bid to determine if the CEO’s leadership style had served to influence them in any way. The purpose for this is identifying if Terry Leah’s leadership style served to prepare new leaders for the future. Expected Work Schedule Since the case study analysis will be an in depth study, it will take a period of about six to twelve months. This is the case because the first three months will focus on understanding Tesco’s organizational structure. The second phase of the research will focus on identifying potential participants in the study. Carrying out the interviews will take time for the employees will be interviewed personally and the fact that Tesco working hours do not allow them much time, the interview schedule to take a lengthy time. After collection of the required data, the last three months of the study will focus on making interpretations of the available data. Expected Project Outcome Findings from the research will be expected to highlight whether Terry Leahy exhibited a transactional of a transformational leadership style. This will only happen if employees from different ranks from the leadership hierarchy participate in rating the previous Chief Executive Officer. Upon the understanding of his dominant leadership style, the research will be able to determine whether the current organizational change had any basis of what the CEO had achieved. Bibliography Alvesson, M. & Sveningsson, S 2003, “Managers Doing Leadership: The Extra-Ordinarization of the Mundane”, Human Relations, 56:12:1435-1459. Symon, G. and Cassell, C 2012, “Assessing and reviewing qualitative research”, in Symon, G. and Cassell, C. (eds), The Practice of Qualitative Organizational Research: Core Methods and Current Challenges, Sage Publications (publish date March 2012), chapter 12. Read More