Essay Instructions: Dissertation prospectus Running Head: ISSERTATION PROSPECTUS 1
Disintegrating Relationship between organizational leaders and employees
Submitted by
Andre Alexandre Jr
Grand Canyon Univers ity
Phoenix, Arizona
Feb 05, 2014
Introduction
Organizational leadership behavior towards employees can significantly affect their perception of the workplace, and contribute to the organization high performance and most essentially create and maintain a proper organizational culture that lead to the success of the organization . The good health of the organization depends greatly on the relationship between leaders and employees. Lately, however, relationship between employees and organizational leaders are sinking with a speedy rate in workplaces .The reason for that escalation in the relationship is unclear. Organizational leadership tend to take employees for granted . They used them in time of organizational needs and ignore their potentiality and their commitment afterward,it seems also that organizational leaders sometimes ignore employees needs and do not thing that employees organizational commitment is important. When employees answer the organization?s call and are willing to cooperate in time of hard ship, leaders should recognize them for their efforts put together . According to (Podsakoff, 2006), satisfied employees generally are easier to perform contributions role that exceed other role. If employees are satisfied then propensity to commit becomes stronger because there is what is called reciprocity norm or psychological contract (Carol, 2007). Evidence suggests satisfied employee likely to speak positively about organization, helping co-workers, and making their performance beyond normal estimates, more than that the satisfied employees are more obedient to duty call (Robbins, 2006).
This study will contribute to existing knowledge in that most studies focus on rewards such as pay increase or higher position , but employees feeling and emotions, fairness, and justice should be taken into consideration in the process . Organizational leaders need employees to support the organizations in hard time, they should recognize them after economic stress is over . Employees are normally concerned about the fairness of outcomes rather than the fairness of procedures( Greenberg, 2005). Procedural justice, according to Greenberg (2005), is one of the forms of organizational justice. Greenberg defined organizational justice as a term used to describe the role of fairness in the work place. It is concerned with the ways in which employees determine if they have been treated fairly in their jobs as well as the ways in which those determinations can affect other work-related influences . A poor relationship between organizational leadership and employees create a controversial atmosphere within the place , and that could have a negative
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effect on the organization objectives. At the beginning of the 21st century, employee?s animosity towards organizational leaders are speedily increasing. In time of hardship, leaders tend to convince employees to support the organizations by accepting to perform extra task in order for the organization to remain operative. When leaders expect employees cooperation during the organizations rainy days , they must acknowledge and show understanding after recovery, otherwise that will create unsatisfactory , which will affect the organization culture and performance. Lately, the relationship between organizational leaders and employees are disintegrating on a daily basis.
The research rationale is whether the relationship between employees and leaders is motivated by leaders lack of recognition of employees support and commitment to the organization, or whether organizations are at risk to pay the price of this poor relationship. This study is important to conduct because this interaction between leaders and employees treating to have significant effects on employee performance .
Background of the Study
Organizational leaders should create a positive leader-employee relationship and to promote interaction which would be essential quality that leaders can implement to motivate employees to improve the effectiveness of their performance . Therefore, theThis study?s focus will be on the employees and leaders relationship, and at the same time some questions or concerns will be examined eventually. Without any doubt, certain aspects of research and practice in organizations will be challenged.The relationship between employees and leaders is disintegrating daily and organizations continue to be at risk of suffering from the existing conflict. The internal culture of an organization is usually determined by leadership behavior and the perceptions of employees in the workplace. Leadership in an organization is usually a two-sided interaction between leaders and employees to achieve a common objective (Holloway, 2012, p.10 ). Therefore, this study will use a qualitative approach to examine a number of circumstances, and one of them is the growing intensity between employees and leaders. Engagement provides the basis for leaders to influence the behaviors of their employees while simultaneously influencing their perceptions (Albrecht, 2010, p. 27). .
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The disintegrating relationship between employees and leaders is attributed to various factors including the failure to focus on employees? emotions at work, stressful events, and physical settings. Actually, many studies on employee-leader relationship have primarily focused on employees? production and rewards without examining the human side of these employees, which has a significant effect on the relationship. These studies have failed to address the consequences of leaders? behavior on employees? feelings and contributed to ineffective organizational leadership that continues to affect the personal life and behaviors of employees .
The second reason for disintegrating relationship between employees and leaders is the actions taken by organizational leadership during times of economic and financial hardships (Goswami, 2013, p.8). In most cases, organizations are forced to downsize personnel to reduce their payroll. As a result, the remaining workforce is required to collaborate with leaders in accepting to carry out extra task through sharing the leftover workload for the organization to remain fully operational. Employees put their efforts together in helping the organization to deal with the effects of economic hardship in the hope of being recognized afterward, instead they found themselves still budding workloads and not seeing any reward coming their way, even though the economy resurfaces. This not only contributes to low employee morale but affects their relationship with leaders because they do not perceive the workplace as fair. Employees view of leaders practices should have a direct impact on their performance and help improve their achievement( Richards,2007).The study will focus on examining some more issues, such as the nature and purpose of organizations.
Even though this relationship has continued to disintegrate, these employees are currently juggling multiple roles without any recognition, pay increase or promotion. They are being derogated and feel disenfranchised. The worst outcome of this problem is that some employees become depressed because they have no choice but to stay with these organizations. The study will use person to person interviews which can be held through telephone/video call to have a better understanding of the nature of the conflict between leaders and employees, both leaders and employees will be observed and interviewed. Consequently, many organizations continue to
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have discouraged employees. Notably, one of the major problems of modern organizations is the lack of trust between employees and leaders (Abrrow et. al., 2013, p.26).
Problem Statement
It is not known how the concept of leadership in organizations has come to limelight after the mid twentieth century when nations of the world realized that organizations are growing everywhere, and play a vital role in shaping the economic, social, cultural and political norms, and values of a society . Nevertheless, continuous challenges in relationship between leaders and employees are further creating obstacles for leaders to cope with the situation (Smith & Hughey, 2006). Leaders?behavior in the workplace has created major problems for organizations and employees as well. Employees complaint that their pay increases do not cover the annual inflation rates, thus resulting in lessened purchasing power, even though they are loyal and committed to the organizations. Another concern is way they have treated after cooperating with these organizational leaders in time of crisis, there is no recognition whatsoever..The relationship between employees and leaders has been disintegrating on a daily basis and that is a threat to the productivity of the organization s. The study is worthwhile since organizations continue to retain a workforce that is demoralized and people are forced to stay only because of personal financial engagement .
Therefore, conducting the research will help identify ways in which organizations can address these challenges and create a system of high motivation and satisfaction among employees across all their operations.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine in depth the the relationship between organizations leaders and employees, where organizational leadership aims to win the commitment and loyalty of personnel in order to achieve efficiency and effectiveness , but ignore employees commitments and needs. Leaders in organizations must possess strong negotiation
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skills, since they have to maintain a balance between the needs and demands of employees, and external stakeholders (Smith & Hughey, 2006). The current study will examine the main issues, by using interviews within the organizations to examine the role of key people such as leaders and will use method of observation to investigate and address the causes and effects of poor relationship that exist within most organizations.
The study will also explore why the relationship between organizational leaders and employees continue to disintegrate and whether organizations are at risk of paying the price of the existing problem. The study will be carried out on the basis of the effect of poor relationship on employee perception of the workplace. The reason for such consideration is that leaders? behaviors influence employees? perception of justice and fairness in the workplace and employee citizenship behavior can make an organization successful . The study will use MLQ to measure the leadership styles and employees perception of the workplace.
Research Questions
The following research questions guide this study.
Research Question 1: Why is the relationship between organizational leaders and employees disintegrating every day ?
Research question2:How the poor relationship between leaders and employees can affect the organization performance?
Research Question 3: How are organizations at risk to pay the price of the existing conflict?
Significance of the Study
This study is important to conduct because it will help in identifying the reasons for and magnitude of the disintegrating relationship between organizational leaders and employees . In addition, this study will help determine why and how organizations are at risk of suffering from the consequences of the existing conflict. The study will help in identifying ways organizations can use to promote healthy relationships between leaders and employees and ensure that they retain a workforce of highly motivated and satisfied employees who remain committed to the organization for the right reasons. Since many studies have primarily focused on employees? production and rewards, this research will provide insights on the need to focus on the human side of employees i.e. their emotions at work, stressful events, and physical settings. As a result, the study will provide a different dimension of understanding employees? perception of the workplace based on addressing their human side in daily interactions with leaders.
Preliminary Review of the Literature
According to Swindall (2011), employees? ability to engage is affected by various factors including the type of relationships with organizational leaders (p. 212). While leaders can create performance goals, employees experience difficulties in meeting these goals if their relationship with leaders is disintegrating. Broner (2009), states that employees? perceptions of workplace fairness in light of leaders? attitudes towards subordinates have significant effects on employee retention (p.19). For instance, the fast food industry experience annual high turnover rates of employees because of poor relationships between leaders and workers. Smither & London (2009), state that disintegrating relationship between leaders and employees is demonstrated in interpersonal aggression toward employees. This kind of treatment is specifically strong when employees work for financial need instead of personal fulfillment purposes. The existing literature shows that ?
? Employee retention is affected by their perceptions of workplace fairness and justice, which are dependent on organizational leaders? behaviors.
? While some employees are forced to stay and be committed to organizations because of lack of alternatives, high turnover rates are experienced in some industries because of disintegrating relationship between employees and leaders.
? Disintegrating relationship between employees and leaders is demonstrated in aggression where organizational leaders take employees for granted.
? When employees have poor relationships with their leaders, they stay and commit to the organization for financial gain rather than personal fulfillment reasons.
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Research Methodology
The general approach of this research is qualitative study, which seems to be the most appropriate research methodology for the problem. The rationale for selecting this research methodology is that the research focuses on understanding a human or social issue through developing a holistic view. Since the problem under evaluation does not require analysis of statistical procedures, qualitative study is the best methodology. Furthermore, this method is appropriate because there is very little knowledge regarding the phenomenon being explored. Data collection methods to be used in the study are observations, individual interviews, and analysis of documents and materials. The qualitative study will demonstrate investigate how leaders? negative behavior influences employee perception of fairness and affect their relationship. Secondly, the study will also show how organizations can pay the price for this conflict.
Research Design
The study will use grounded theory research design , which is research based on observations or data from various data sources. This design aligns with the research methodology since the data sources will provide information that will be subjected to analysis and review. The design is appropriate because the problem has gained minimal focus in the past though employees are ready to provide information that will address the issue. In addition, the phenomenon being evaluated is based on generation of theory rather than theory description or testing.
Source of Data
The types of data that will be collected in the study include relationship between leaders and employees, the link between leadership behavior and employees? perception, and employees? production and rewards. The data will be gathered from organizational leaders and employees as well as documents and materials that address the problem.
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Data Collection and Procedures
Interviews are the most frequently used method to explore what leadership patterns exist in organizations. However,this study will use both interviews and observations as methods to collect data. The interview is undoubtedly the most common source of data collection in qualitative studies. For this study?s approach, using person-to-person format is most prevalent for accuracy. Interviews could be formatted from the highly structured style, in which questions will be determined before the interviews, to the open-ended, and conversational format. Twelve(12 )organizations are targeted and will be selected across the states of New York , and the participants will include high ranking leaders such as Presidents ,Vice-presidents, general managers, and departmental supervisors. For the employees, both interviews and observations will be used. For the most part, interviews are more open ended and less structured (Merriam, 2001).In the process, the study will use the same tactic to ask the same questions of all the participants, but the order of the questions, the exact wording, and the type of follow-up questions may vary considerably for leaders and employees.
Since data collection in qualitative research is usually a time consuming process because of research methodology, the data will be collected from a group of 30 participants and evaluation of 7 different documents and materials on the subject. The study tend to use as data collection instruments the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) 45 item questionnaire with four dimensions (Transformational, Transactional, Laissez-Faire Leadership and Outcomes of Leadership, such as Effort, Effectiveness and Satisfaction) (see Bass, 1998.This instrument have been systematically developed and tested in relation to subordinates outcomes, has been scientifically studied tend to be appropriate for this study.This will be followed by making observations on the participants during direct interactions. The final step in the process will be analysis of current literature regarding the relationship between employees and leaders in organizations.
Data Analysis Procedures
This study will use simple Correlation to analyze the relationship bwrween leaders and employees relationship, transformational leadership dimensions of organizational leaders. Based on the relationship of thematic analysis to phenomelogy, this study will use a thematic analysis of data, where it will focus on recurring themes and patterns in the process. To be more specific, coding will play a critical role in the analysis process of the data collected from participants. In the process, Creswell?s (2007) linear, hierarchical approach data coding will be used. Three steps will be used in the process: organizing and preparing data for analysis, critically reading through all data, and then coding the data. Emerging, recurring themes, and ideas will be grouped in different categories. That will show how various factors are interrelated and how they can lead to a successful relationship between leadership and employees within organizations. The procedures to be used to conduct the data analysis include constant comparative analysis and discourse analysis. The two procedures will be used in analyzing the first research question to compare the reasons provided by employees and examine the pattern or flow of communication respectively. The second and third research questions will be analyzed through constant comparative analysis to determine the similarities and differences in the risks organizations face because of disintegrated relationship.
Ethical Considerations
There are probable ethical issues that will emerge during the research including employees? concerns on confidentiality, potential legal actions against organizational leaders, and probable victimization of the employees or leaders. In attempts to address these ethical considerations, human subjects will be protected through seeking their informed consent from each of them as well as from the organization. The informed consent will be properly documented and interviews and observations conducted in environments that ensure confidentiality. The protection of human subjects and data will also be enhanced through seeking for Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) approval. Site authorization will be achieved through seeking approval from the institution and organizations? top management and using contacts that can help remove barriers to entrance.
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References:
Abrrow, H.A., Ardakani, M.S., Harooni, A. & Pour, H.M. (2013, July). The Relationship
Between Organizational Trust and Organizational Justice Components and Their Role in Job Involvement in Education. International Journal of Management Academy, 1(1), 25-41.
Albrecht, S.L. (2010). Handbook of employee engagement: perspectives, issues, research and
practice. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Broner, S. (2009). Employees? perceptions of leaders? attitudes and employee retention: a
quantitative study on perceived attitudes. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest LLC.
Creswell, J.W.(2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches .(2nd ed.).Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Goswami, J.H. (2013, March). Sustaining Employee Engagement in the Face of Crisis ? A Test
of Leadership and Introduction of a New Model. International Journal of Research in Computer Application & Management, 3(3), 8-12.
Smith, B.L. & Hughey, A.W. (2006). Leadership in Higher Education- Its Evolution and Potential: A unique role facing critical challenges. Counseling and Student Affairs Faculty Publications, Western Kentucky University.
Holloway, J.B. (2012). Leadership Behavior and Organizational Climate: An Empirical Study in
a Non-profit Organization. Emerging Leadership Journeys, 5(1), 9-35.
Merriam, S. B. (2001). Something old, something new: The changing mosaic of
adult learning theory. Andragogy Today, 4(1), 1-29.
Richards, B. J., & Malvern, D. D. (2007). Validity and threats to the validity of vocabulary assessment. In H. Daller, J. Milton, & J. Treffers-Daller (Eds.), Modelling and assessing lexical knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Smither, J.W. & London, M. (2009). Performance management: putting research into action.
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Swindall, C. (2011). Engaged leadership: building a culture to overcome employee
disengagement. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Appendix A
Phenomena and Data Analysis
Table 1
Research Questions Phenomenon (Problem) Being Studied Sources of Data Analysis Plan
1. Why is the relationship between organizational leaders and employees disintegrating every day?
Reasons that contribute to this poor relationship between employees and leaders based on the actions and behaviors of leaders. 1. Individual interviews.
2. Interviews on focus groups.
3. Observations during direct interactions.
4. Documents and Materials. 1. Constant comparative analysis on reasons provided by employees regarding the problem.
2. Discourse analysis of the pattern or flow of communication between employees and leaders.
2. How are organizations at risk to pay the price of the existing conflict? The extent with which organizations suffer due to disintegrating relationship between leaders and workers. 1. Documents and materials.
2. Interviews on organizational leaders. Constant comparative analysis on the similarity and differences of risks that organizations face as stated by different organizational leaders.
