Effectiveness of Leadership Skills on Organisational Welfare

Research Significance

The research is shedding light on the business expansion process of Levi’s in an area where the profitability will be as per the business expectations. The managers are, therefore, trying to structure the business process in a way that can be fruitful for generating more profits from this store. It is noted that the leadership skill is the integral part of improvising the overall performance of an organisation (Herman & Chiu, 2014). The leaders have to perform their duty to motivate the employees and improvise their performance efficiency. The initial responsibility of a leader is to make the employees aware of the project related to the business expansion. The research study will be providing the theoretical implementation of the leadership attributes, which are necessarily needed to be maintained. Moreover, the collection of the authentic data will also ensure the importance of maintaining the proper leadership styles to motivate the employees. The evaluation of the sequential process of conducting the research will be identifying the internal business scenario. The research study will discuss the theoretical implementation of the efficient leadership skills to analyse the behavioural approaches of a leader. The theory discussion will be based on two major aspects, which are described further:

Concept: The conceptual analysis of a project provides the brief idea about the procedures, which are needed to be undertaken to complete the tasks. In fact, it can be considered as the symbolic expression that draws an outline of the project. It is important to make the existing employees aware of the business procedures that are needed to be undertaken during the expansion period. Hence, the conceptualised ideas are needed to be clarified.

Principle: The theory development is establishing the connection between conceptualised ideas and the project specifications. The functional principles are needed to be considered to predict the future consequences (Watson, 2013). The theory development is necessary to explore the idea about the present condition. Hence, following the basic principles of developing theories is essential.

Obtaining ideas from the above discussion, it can be predicted that this particular research has the recognisable significance. The identification of the social, potential, and general facts is possible by conducting the research study. The social or the local environment will be signifying whether the place is feasible enough for the business expansion process. On the other hand, it is required to follow the international market, as Levi’s is a global brand.

Research Questions

• How the leaders are influenced to reshape their leadership qualities?
• What theory would be justified for this particular project?
• What are the preferable strategies for undertaking an efficient recruitment process?
• What are the suitable strategies for the business expansions in a new country?
• How much time the fresher employees would receive from the management to implement such strategies?

Actions for Assessment 2

The study is based on the leadership skills of the managers of Levi’s. The company is trying to expand the business in a profitable area. Therefore, it is necessary for the manager to undertake the preferable leadership skills that can create the positive impact on the performance of the existing employees. This assessment part consists three major sections. The first section is the literature review part where the theoretical analysis of the leadership attributes will be discussed. The next section includes the suitable methodology for conducting this particular research on Levi’s. In this section, the methods of collecting the secondary researches will also be described. The final section is considering the ethical responsibilities that are needed to be maintained while conducting the research related to the business expansion.

Literature Review

Organisational change management is associated with the efficient managerial skills. Johansen (2012) commented that the leadership skills and the organisational culture are interlinked to each other. The efficient leadership skill can promote the changes by establishing a particular vision. The leaders need to make the employees understand about the requirement of changes. Especially, in case of business expansion, it is important to manage the employees and making them aware of the requirements. Piccolo & Buengeler (2013) implied that a good leader can improve the organisational productivity. While expanding the business, the supports from the existing employees are necessary. Therefore, it is essential to motivate these employees and bring out the efficient performance skills to accomplish the organisational goals. A good leader has to take the responsibilities of managing these employees and facilitating the organisational functionalities while expanding the business in a new location (Men & Stacks, 2013). The literature review section focuses on the theoretical analysis of the leadership skills. The literature will also identify the impact of leadership skills on organisational welfare.

Conceptual Framework

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework

(Source: Created by Author)

Concept of Leadership

The practices of the management and leadership are necessary for the organisational success. The skilful leaders can lead the employees in a proper way and improve the overall performance of the organisation. According to Northouse (2015), an efficient leader can motivate the employees and improve their skills in an efficient way. During the change management process, it is necessary for the managers to make the employees aware of the organisational objectives. In fact, the managers need to decide the sequential functionalities that are needed to be undertaken for meeting these pre-determined objectives. Hence, acquiring a significant leadership style and skill is essential. On the contrary, in some of the cases, it has been seen that the employees are not willing to accept the changed management scenario. Due to the job insecurity and cultural differentiations, the employee turnover rate becomes higher (Metcalf & Benn, 2013). In such times, the leaders need to motivate the employees in a significant way in order to avoid the turnover. Concentrating on such efficient leadership requirements, the leadership attributes have been classified into different styles. These are as follows:

Leadership Style

The theoretical analysis of leadership specifies the different types of leadership styles, which are needed to be undertaken by the managers. The leadership attributes can be classified in different styles, such as Autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire, transformational, and transactional. These types of leadership traits are discussed further:

Autocratic: In the autocratic leadership style, the leaders do not consult with the other employees. The upper management has the authority to undertake the organisational decisions. Bhatti et al. (2012) implied that autocratic leaders sometimes need to take a quick decision and it does not require any team input. Hence, in such cases, the autocratic leadership styles can be followed. On the contrary, team members may not agree with the decisions undertaken by the higher management. However, there is no scope for the team members to suggest any ideas. The employees might think that their contribution is not necessary. In such times, the conflicting situation may also arise accordingly. During the expansion, the management needs to concentrate on the location of establishing the business (Chaudhry & Javed, 2012). For example, in a country like China, the employees are much dependent on the decisions made by the upper authority. They value the procedures that are instructed by the management. On the contrary, in Singapore, the employees are much fond of team work and the managers consult with the employees before undertaking any organisational decision. Hence, the focus on the location is necessary while undertaking a skilled leadership style during business expansion.

Democratic: Democratic leadership style is also considered as the participative style. In such leadership style, the employees take parts during the organisational decision making process. The consultation with the employees brings the innovative approaches for conducting the business (Shahhosseini, Silong & Ismaill, 2013). In fact, the contribution of the employees is considered as fruitful for the business. The skilful leaders usually follow this type of the leadership styles to motivate the employees (Moors, 2012). In fact, this particular attribute is effective enough during the business expansion. The leaders can consult with the employees and make them aware about the future changes. The consultation process thus becomes fruitful for structuring the business entity in a new place. The democratic leadership trait determines the transparency in communicational process, which reduces the probability of situational conflicts.

Laissez-Faire: The laissez-faire leadership style lacks the direct supervision of the higher authority. The management does not involve directly in such cases. The managers have the faith on the existing employees. They do not require the regular feedback about the progress of the work. The most prominent short coming of undertaking this type of leadership trait is that the employees cannot even establish the communicational transparency. The employees are not aware of their progress report and improvement.  Therefore, Moors (2012) mentioned that laissez-faire leadership trait lacks the controlling power over the employees.

Transformational: Transformational leadership style promotes the high level of communication of the managers with the existing employees (Avolio & Yammarino, 2013). The leaders inform the employees about the goals that have been determined. Accordingly, the leaders motivate the employees to perform in a skilful way in order to achieve such goals. The direct supervision of the leaders increases the overall productivity. Moreover, the employees receive the chance to make progress in enhancing their personal and professional skills.

Transactional: The transactional leadership style determines the distribution of the rewards or punishment as per the performance measurement. The employees receive the punishment or rewards as per their performance judgment (García-Morales et al. 2012). For example, if the efforts of the employees are fruitful for achieving the organisational goals, the employees will be rewarded with appreciations and prizes. Similarly, if any discrepancies take place, the managers can punish the employees accordingly.

Effects of Leadership Skills on Organisational Welfare

During the business expansion, it is required to keep the focus on the proper leadership style. It is seen that most of the employees feel insecure about the job retention during such times. Hence, the employee turnover becomes much prominent (Braun et al. 2013). The managers have to take the responsibilities to manage the employees and motivate them to accept the change. However, the employees are needed to be informed about the importance of change management. While structuring the business entity in a new location, the effective management procedure is required in order to ensure the productivity (Carter et al. 2013). The efficient performance skills of the employees are preferably required. Hence, the managers can use the participative leadership style to consult with the employees and make them aware of the business expansion process. On the other hand, the organisational welfare considers the skilful performance attributes of the associated employees. The close and frequent monitoring process can be helpful enough in enhancing the professional and personal skills of the existing employees. With the help of the training and development process, the managers can improve the performance level. In fact, this performance effectiveness is required to structure the management functionalities in order to accomplish the pre-determined goals.

Methodology

The study is mainly based on the information collected from the different types of secondary sources. For example, the literature review section is informing about theoretical perspectives related to the leadership styles and traits. Apart from such literature sources, the data has been gathered from the journal articles, informative websites, and other publically available data. However, the data is needed to be updated since the current business scenario is drastically changed. The rapid changes in this current business scenario have been influencing changes in the organisational functionalities. Therefore, it is necessary to use the updated journal and websites to incorporate data on the study. The use of the secondary sources is needed to be ethically approved. Hence, the application of the proper methodology is the most fruitful way of analysing the case scenario.

Ethical Responsibility

While conducting the research, it is important to focus on several ethical responsibilities. It is required to keep the focus on the authentic sources of referred journals articles. The information collected from the verified sources is providing the necessary information by ensuring the proper authenticity. Another most important ethical responsibility is to maintain the updated journals and website information. The current business world is signifying the drastic changes. Therefore, the business functionalities have also changed accordingly. The updated journals or information from other sources help in finding the current trends that the leaders usually follow during the business expansion. It is even necessary to maintain the confidentiality. The collected information should not be revealed to other analysts. Moreover, the falsified data should also be eliminated. The application of the proper literature and methodologies is thus necessary. Maintenance of such ethical responsibilities will be helpful for conducting any particular research study.

Conclusion

The study has been considering the effectiveness of the leadership skills on the organisational welfare. It is noted that Levi’s has decided to expand the business in a new location to ensure more profitability. Therefore, the employees need to face several changes in the management functionalities. The management leaders have to take the responsibilities to motivate these employees and make them aware of the changing scenario. The literature study has been reflecting the different leadership attributes that the managers need to undertake in order to keep the employees motivated. On the other hand, the maintenance of the ethical responsibilities while conducting the secondary data is also necessary. However, it has been found that if the managers of Levi’s can undertake the participative or transformational leadership style, it would be preferable for the future business expansion.

References

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Bhatti, N., Maitlo, G. M., Shaikh, N., Hashmi, M. A., & Shaikh, F. M. (2012). The impact of autocratic and democratic leadership style on job satisfaction.International Business Research, 5(2), 192.

Braun, S., Peus, C., Weisweiler, S., & Frey, D. (2013). Transformational leadership, job satisfaction, and team performance: A multilevel mediation model of trust. The Leadership Quarterly, 24(1), 270-283.

Carter, M. Z., Armenakis, A. A., Feild, H. S., & Mossholder, K. W. (2013). Transformational leadership, relationship quality, and employee performance during continuous incremental organizational change. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34(7), 942-958.

Chaudhry, A. Q., & Javed, H. (2012). Impact of transactional and laissez faire leadership style on motivation. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 3(7).

García-Morales, V. J., Jiménez-Barrionuevo, M. M., & Gutiérrez-Gutiérrez, L. (2012). Transformational leadership influence on organizational performance through organizational learning and innovation. Journal of Business Research, 65(7), 1040-1050.

Herman, H. M., & Chiu, W. C. (2014). Transformational leadership and job performance: A social identity perspective. Journal of Business Research,67(1), 2827-2835.

Johansen, R. (2012). Leaders make the future: Ten new leadership skills for an uncertain world. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Levistrauss.com, 2016. Global Workplaces - Levi Strauss. [online] Levi Strauss. Available at: <https://www.levistrauss.com/careers/global-workplaces/> [Accessed 16 Aug. 2016].

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Metcalf, L., & Benn, S. (2013). Leadership for sustainability: An evolution of leadership ability. Journal of Business Ethics, 112(3), 369-384.

Moors, G. (2012). The effect of response style bias on the measurement of transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 21(2), 271-298.

Northouse, P. G. (2015). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.

Piccolo, R. F., & Buengeler, C. (2013). Behavioral approach to leadership. Oxford University Press.

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Shahhosseini, M., Silong, A. D., & Ismaill, I. A. (2013). Relationship between transactional, transformational leadership styles, emotional intelligence and job performance. Researchers World, 4(1), 15.

Watson, T. (2013). Management, organisation and employment strategy: New directions in theory and practice. Routledge.