The Influence of Leadership Styles on Employee Performance - Essay Example

Research Proposal Research Proposal Proposed Topic: The influence of leadership styles on employee performance. Introduction The economic crisis and economic instability are a part of the economy, and all the organizations has to deal with it in an effective manner. The uncertainty of the economy is not limited to a particular industry as all the industries are affected by it. The real task of an organization’s management is to use such strategies, which can avoid the risk or minimize it as much as possible. It is not an easy task or accurately predefined methods to overcome such situations are not determined yet. Innovative management can solve or reduce the problem of market crisis to an extent. Management must be able to lead the employees through new techniques, which are based on the current market situations. The management must use different leadership traits so that the employees are easily able to adopt different strategies, which can help in the performance of the business. Finding an innovative idea for every problem can be a difficult task for all the management but it is essential for them to implement such ideas in the operational activities so that the production level of the employees increases which directly increases the profitability of the organization. From several studies it is observed that the role of leadership can create many changes in an organization and increase the efficiency of its employees. The importance of innovative management leads to innovative ideas. Different leadership styles help to implement the innovative ideas in the organizations and can enhance the performance of the employees. At the time of economic crisis, good leadership qualities are important to increase the performance of the organization (Cristina, 2013). Objectives The objective of the proposed study is to investigate the impact of leadership styles on the performance of employees working. Project Aim There are mainly four types of leadership styles that could be observed in different organizations. The choice of leadership style depends upon the nature of business or objectives of the organization. The suitability of leadership style, therefore, varies in different industries. The aim of the proposed study is to compare different leadership styles and their traits and their impact on employees’ performance. It would be an interesting study to compare different leadership styles on employee performance in different organizations as it will allow the users of the report to identify and understand traits of different leadership styles and their role in motivating and committing employees to perform better. A comprehensive study would be possible by taking case studies of four different organizations that support two types of leadership including Transactional and Transformational leadership indicated in Flamholtz and Randles Leadership Style Matrix (2007) and each leadership style would investigate based on its traits and their impact on employee performance. Research Questions 1. What are different leadership styles and their suitability for different organizations? 2. What is the influence of different leadership styles on employee performance? Literature Review Leadership Leadership is an art to get someone do something that they want to do for you. In simple terms, leadership is a process in which a person can influence others to help them in achieving a common goal. Some people have qualities to direct and motivate others to work hard to achieve a common goal (Sadler, 2003). In organizations, leadership is very important to achieve the goals made by the management and higher authorities. To achieve the goals, it is very important for the leaders to motivate the employees to work efficiently. When all the employees work together in an efficient manner then it is easier to achieve the organizational goals. There are different leadership styles followed in different organizations as a particular style cannot be followed in all the organizations (Komives, Wagner, & Wendy, 2012). Leadership Styles There are various leadership styles so that it is easier for the leader to deal in different kinds of situations. The most commonly practiced leadership styles include Bureaucratic, Charismatic, Transactional and Transformational leadership. Leadership and leadership styles are of great importance as they have a direct impact on the performance of the employees. If a good leader leads a team then the outcome of their performance is high as compared to those teams that are not directed by good leadership (Komives, Wagner, & Wendy, 2012). Traits and Techniques of Leadership DuBois, et al. (2015) in their article claimed leadership styles have a great impact on the performance of the employees. The head of the project or any task that is given to a particular team at an organization needs to be guided by the leader of that team. If the team leader uses the techniques and traits to motivate the team member to work then the team is more likely to achieve the desired goal. In the article it is also discussed that the leader should be able to gain complete awareness about the market conditions and the environment of the organization so that they can apply those leadership traits that can be helpful for them in making employees more productive. Fomenky (2015) discussed that the employees needs to be motivated in order for them to perform in an efficient manner. A leader must act as a guide and motivate the employees so that their performance to complete certain tasks increases. Mostly, the employees and workers are incentive-oriented but it is not the only way to motivate them. An employee can be motivated by a leader and their leadership qualities.A leader can influence and motivate an employee that will increase the performance of the leader. Leadership Style and Organizational Performance Katou (2015) discussed about the impact of leadership on organizational performance. It is believed that performance of the organizational is dependent on the leadership style that is used in an organization to influence and motivate the employees to complete the given tasks. From the findings as stated in the article by Katou (2015), it is observed that Transformational leadership behavior has a positive impact on the organizational performance. The organizational growth is directly related to the performance of the employee. Employees’ performance can be best enhanced when a good leadership directs them. The attitude of the employees also changes by the application of transformational leadership style in the organization. Penava & Šehić (2014) and Katou (2015) also claimed that the transformational leadership is beneficial for the improvement in the performance. In the article it is discussed that transformational leadership can bring change in the attitude of the employees. It is easier for the leaders who adopt the traits of transformational leadership to motivate the employees to provide effective results. As there is a change in the attitude of the employees relating to their work therefore, change in the organization is also observed. The increase in the productivity of the employees increases the performance of the organization. It is only possible because of the leadership traits used to motivate the employees to work better. All the organizations should not adopt a similar leadership style as a single leadership style cannot be applied on every organization. According to the market conditions and organizational environment, such a leadership style must be adopted which can enhance the performance of the employees. Literature Gap In different industries different leadership styles are used to enhance the performance of the employees. Autocratic, Bureaucratic, Transformational, Laissez-faire and democratic leadership are some of the basic leadership styles that are widely used in almost all the industries to increase the performance of the employees (Ispas, 2012). Ispas (2012) discussed the role of different leadership styles in different industries, which help the operational activities of the companies and increase employee productivity. However, there are limited cross-sectional studies that compare two leadership styles and how they contribute to the employee performance. It is the gap that the proposed study will aim to add to. Conceptual Framework The aim of the research questions below is to find out the leadership styles that are used in different industries to improve the performance of the employees. DuBois, et al. (2015) and Komives, et al. (2012) discuss the importance of leadership in different industries which have been proved the several studies. The leadership style used for differrent industries are identified in the studies and adoptation of the styles of leadership in the industries will help the performance of the employees and organization. Hypothesis Setting Leadership styles as suggested by DuBois, et al. (2015) and Fomenky (2015) are very helpful for organizations and have a positive impact on the performance of the employees. However, different leadership styles differ in their influence on employee performance that will be investigated through the proposed study. Overall, each leadership style will be investigated for validating the following null and alternative hypotheses. H0: Leadership styles do not have an impact on the performance of employees. H1: Leadership styles have a positive impact on the performance of the employees. In addition, the proposed study will compare employee performance to investigate the difference between groups of employees working under different leadership styles. The analysis will provide results to validate the following null and alternative hypotheses. H2: There is no significant difference in the employee performance working under different leadership styles. H3: There is a significant difference in the employee performance working under different leadership styles. Proposed Research Methodology In order to propose a suitable research methodology for a possible study that aims to investigate the impact of different leadership styles on employees’ performance working in different organizations, the research onion proposed by Saunders (2003) depicted below. There are three main research philosophies that are considered for the proposing the research methodology. These philosophies or theories support different types of research methods. For the proposed study, positivist paradigm is considered. The positivist paradigm supports the view that the nature is ordered and patterns can be predicted using formalized methods and tools. It allows research to provide valid and objective results that are not based on the researcher’s interpretation but instead they are derived from the application of precise statistical methods on objective data (Woodside, 2010). Therefore, the proposed study will adopt quantitative methods to gather data and analyze it using already prescribed and tested statistical methods. The proposed study will collect data pertaining to the views of employees of different leadership styles practiced in different organizations and their job performance. It could be indicated that employees will give their views on leadership traits they observe in their organizations that affect their commitment and work-related performance. Based on the project aim, leadership traits are considered as the independent variables for the proposed study and the employee performance is the dependent variable. The leadership style will be assessed on the basis of different leadership traits including empathy, emotional mastery, humility, responsibility, accountability, self-confidence, self-driven, courage, focus, vision, confidence, role-modeling (DuBrin, 2015; Matthias, Narayanan, & Chaturvedi, 2014; Hassan & Hatmaker, 2014). On other hand, employee performance will be assessed based on performance measures including adherence to policy, creativity, productivity, and absenteeism (Houldsworth & Jirasinghe, 2006). The quantitative study will investigate the impact of traits of each type of leadership style on the employee performance. In this way, the proposed study will provide results for validating the hypotheses set out in the conceptual framework of the proposed study. The proposed study will be deductive. It will follow the following approach to present objective findings from the research. Source: (Farquhar, 2012) Furthermore, the study will compare values of the dependent variables i.e. employee performance among different types of leadership to differentiate between the impact of different leadership styles on work related performance of employees. The proposed research will be case study of four organizations that practicing two different leadership styles. The proposed research approach is considered to be relevant and reliable as many previous studies including Ekaterini (2010), Kerns & Ko, (2010) and Abbas & Yaqoob (2009) have also implemented quantitative methodology for the investigating the phenomenon. Data Collection The proposed study will collect data from the primary research. Primary research allows the researcher to obtain first hand information that is specific to the purpose of the study (Hair, Wolfinbarger, & Money, 2015). For the proposed study, a survey will be conducted of employees in four different organizations that are practicing two different leadership styles. The data will be collected using a questionnaire. The use of questionnaire supports quantitative research as it will allow data collection from a large sample of employees in a short period of time. The questionnaire will be designed to include three sections including demographics and job related questions, leadership traits, and employee performance. Leadership traits and employee performance as indicated above will be addressed by including several statements based on the Likert Scale. The Likert Scale allows the research to collect responses by providing numerical response options to select from. Sampling The sample to be selected for the proposed study will be cross-sectionional as employees from organizations in various industries will be included in the survey. Four organizations including South West Airlines (SWA) and Whole Foods Market (WFM) (Transactional leadership) and Marriott International (MI) and Dell Corporation (DC) (Transformational leadership) (Nelson & Quick, 2012) will be selected for data collection. The total population of employees working for SWA and WFM is 105,000 and for MI and DC it is 310,000. It is impossible to include all employees in the survey. Therefore, 100 employees from each company will be randomly selected to participate in the survey making the size of sample to be 400 individuals (Babbie, 2009). Statistical Methods The statistical methods proposed for this study include descriptives, regression analysis and Independent Samples T-Test. Descriptives will be used to summarized data collected from questions in all three sections of the questionnaire. Regression analysis will be carried out to determine the relationship between the dependent variable (employee performance) and independent variables (leadership traits). The dummy variable with values 0 and 1 will be included in the study representing male and female employees. The expected outcome of the regression analysis would in the following form. Employee Performance = β0 +β1 * Empathy + β2 * emotional mastery + β3* humility + β4 * responsibility + β5 * accountability + β6 * self-confidence + β7 * self-driven + β8 * courage + β9 * focus + β10 * vision + β11 * confidence + β12 * role-modeling + F The independent samples T-Test will be used to compare values of the dependent variable between two groups of employees identified on the basis of the type of leadership in their organizations i.e. transaction and transformation leadership. The expected outcome would be the mean difference and p-values that will compared with the confidence interval 0.05 or 5% to ascertain the significance of the difference in mean values. Ethics There are ethical concerns related to the primary research proposed. For this, ethical approval from the university will be sought to approach companies for the survey. The researcher will ensure that privacy of employees is not breached and no disclosure to third party will be made. Implications of the Study The implication of the proposed study will be in the form of useful learning related to different types of leadership styles and their impact on employees’ performance. Furthermore, it will allow generalization of results to other organizations that follow similar pattern of leadership styles. List of References Abbas, Q & Yaqoob, S 2009, Effect of Leadership Development on Employee Performance in Pakistan, Pakistan Economic and Social Review, vol 47, no. 2, pp. 269-292. Babbie, E 2009, The Practice of Social Research, Cengage Learning, Mason. Cristina, V 2013, The Importance of an Innovative Leader in the Organization, Annals of the University of Oradea, Economic Science Series, vol 22, no. 2, pp. 703-709. Ekaterini, G 2010, The Impact of Leadership Styles on Four Variables of Executives Workforce’, International Journal of Business and Management, vol 5, no. 6, pp. 3-16. DuBois, M, Koch, J, Hanlon, J, Nyatuga, B & Kerr, N 2015, Leadership Styles of Effective Project Managers: Techniques and Traits to Lead High Performance Teams, Journal of Economic Development, Management, IT, Finance & Marketing, vol 7, no. 1, pp. 30-46. DuBrin, A 2015, Leadership: Research Findings, Practice, and Skills, Cengage Learning, Mason. Farquhar, JD 2012, Case Study Research for Business, SAGE, London. Fomenky, NF 2015, Impact of Motivation on Employee Performance, Global Conference on Business & Finance Proceedings, vol 10, no. 1, pp. 332-336. Ispas, A 2012, The Perceived Leadership Style and Employee Performance in Hotel Industry - a Dual Approach, Review of International Comparative Management, vol 13, no. 2, pp. 294-304. Hair, JF, Wolfinbarger, ‎ & Money, AH 2015, Essentials of Business Research Methods, Routledge., New York. Hassan, S & Hatmaker, DM 2014, Leadership and Performance of Public Employees: Effects of the Quality and Characteristics of Manager-Employee Relationships, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, no. February, pp. 1-29. Houldsworth, E & Jirasinghe, D 2006, Managing and Measuring Employee Performance, Kogan Page Publishers, London. Katou, AA 2015, Transformational leadership and organisational performance, Employee Relations, vol 37, no. 3, pp. 329-353. Kerns, CD & Ko, K 2010, Exploring happiness and performance at work, Journal of Organizational Leadership & Business  , vol Summer, pp. 1-24. Komives, SR, Wagner & Wendy 2012, Leadership for a Better World: Understanding the Social Change Model of Leadership Development, 2nd edn, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken. Nelson, D & Quick, J 2012, ORGB 3, Student Edition, Cengage Learning, Mason. Matthias, J, Narayanan, J & Chaturvedi, S 2014, Leading Mindfully: Two Studies of the Influence of Supervisor Trait Mindfulness on Employee WellBeing and Performance, Mindfulness, vol 5, no. 1, pp. 36-68. Penava, S & Šehić, D 2014, Te Relevance of Transformational Leadership in Shaping Employee Attitudes towards Organizational Change, Economic Annals, vol 59, no. 200, pp. 131-162. Saunders, M 2003, Research Methods for Business Students, Pearson Education India, New Delhi. Sadler, P 2003, Leadership, Kogan Page Publishers, London. Woodside, AG 2010, Organizational Culture, Business-to-Business Relationships, and Interfirm, Emerald Group Publishing, Bingley. Read More