2nd Proposal.

Relationship of Quality Management and Customer Satisfaction with the Successful Leadership Strategies in Business Organizations

Customer Inserts Grade Course Customer Inserts Tutors Name 25th March, 2012

Research Proposal

The current research study will focus on one of the basic blocks of the human resource management in every organization. This block refers to the leading of the workforce hired at the organization and is known as leadership in the management context. The research proposal will outline the background, research aims, and the data collection techniques to be used in the completion of this research study.

Background of the Study The foundation of a business organization rests on its core functional departments which are the major contributors to the basic activities. In the past few decades, many organizations failed in accomplishing their missions while the others flourished and expanded to be known as the large-scale successful organizations. Whether the organizations succeeded or failed, depends largely upon the manner and ways in which their initiative and performance management standards were led (Kilian, 1992; Townsend & Gebhardt, 2006). According to the studies conducted by Gallear and Ghobadian (2004), the successful performance and the excellence initiatives command a defined vision and leadership commitment as the pre-existing conditions. It was also noted by Weymes (2003) that every successful organization possesses a leader who bears a strong moral conduct, solid organizational relationships, and has the capability of transferring their wisdom and sharing their knowledge with the people in organization. In the same manner, Picken and Dess (2000) found out that when the employees are empowered and supervised by the leaders at all levels, the advancements and innovations take

place which result in a stronger organization. The failure rate of performance excellence in organizations in the past suggested the dire needs to explore further the ways and strategies that the leaders should adopt in order to take the organizations towards success. In the present day organizations, the human resource managers and executives have to counter several challenges regarding the managing and leading of their organizations through crucial decreasing in funds, increasing outsourcing, and the ethical and economic dilemmas (Kotter, 1995). For the purpose of taking the organization towards a successful future, there must be an exemplary performance elicited by the leaders in an organization. The leaders need to struggle and make tireless efforts to become the most contributing resource in the organizations. Thus, in order to meet the strategic objectives and organizational goals, the leaders in the organization are required to develop their skills and search for more knowledge on using their potential in an effective manner.

Problem Statement Leadership in the management of human resource plays a vital part in managing the organizations functions and activities. The research studies have discovered various failed attempts during the implementation of the initiatives of maintaining the performance excellence in the organizations (Bennett & Kerr, 1996; Warwood & Roberts, 2004; Higgs & Rowland, 2005). Many studies have been performed on identifying the causes of failures, and the literature claimed that the leadership plays a significant role in the implementation of the successful performance excellence initiatives in any business or service organizations. This study deals with the relationship between the role of the leadership and various leadership styles of human

resource professionals with the quality management and customer satisfaction that are employed in the organizations of the current business world.

Research Objectives The current study is conducted with the basic objectives to understand the role and strategies of the effective leadership process implemented in the successful business organizations. It can be further broken down in various smaller objectives which include: Determining the significance of leadership in implementing initiatives; Examining the roles, theories and styles of leadership in various organizations; Elaborating the role of effective leadership with the quality management and customer satisfaction.

Research Questions The literature review search and attainment of the objectives will be performed through a systematic research study. For this purpose, the objectives of the study will be broken down in the form of smaller research questions. They will include: 1. What is the significance of an effective leadership in taking up of initiatives in the organization? 2. Discuss the various roles, styles, and theories which are possibly adopted by the advanced organizations these days. 3. How are the quality management and customer satisfaction variables related to the effective leadership strategies that are implemented in large-scale organizations of the modern times?

Significance of Study

The study serves as the guideline for the human resource executives of the present day organizations to manage the personnel effectively. By highlighting the most important domain of the business, the current study will be evidence that an effective leadership strategy can be a source of success for the evolving businesses in the era of advancements. Secondly, it will make significant contributions in allowing the chief executives and the human resource managers to implement such a leadership which will give a competitive advantage and market positioning to the organizations in future. Moreover, by providing various cases of successful business organizations, the study will assist the further strategies which will be formulated through researches in this study.

Theoretical Framework The theoretical framework of this study will be laid on the theories and strategies of the leadership that are associated with the attainment of organizational objectives and improvement of human resources. Thes etheories would include the introduction and description of the transactional, transformational and few other theories that command the leadership in an organzaition. The first perspective will focus upon the support of top leadership when initiating any quality improvement strategies in the business organization. It will connect the successful implementation of these strategies on the leaders initiation. The second perspective will hold that the involvement of lower and middle level employees is just as significant as of leaders in the formulation and implementation of effective strategies. The third perspective of the theoretical framework will support that the organization is customer oriented. Due to this significant customer relationship, the actual worth of the leadership strategies would be visible in the form of employee motivation and thus, quality improvement.

Research Methods This study will utilize the qualitative method of research. The application of a qualitative research method to study the leadership strategies is adequate and effective in various ways. Firstly, this method is well able to attract the richness of leadership dynamics and human interaction (Conger, 1998). Second, it provides the researcher as well as the reader, a connection between the theory and the application, and focuses on the distinguishing activities of the organization. Moreover, through examining different strategies utilized in the organizations, it provides a valuable insight into the most effective leadership strategies.

Data Collection Techniques The data for this study would be collected through conducting interviews. A total of 30 interviews will be conducted from the leaders in two large scale and well-known organizations. The participants selected for the purpose of interviews will be well aware with the organizational functions and responsibilities. They would either have performed in the leadership capacity or would still be in charge of the leading functions in the business organization. These interviews will be conducted through the semi-structured questionnaires and include both open and closed ended questions. Later, the responses obtained will be collected and interpreted with the help of pie charts or graphs to assist the qualitative research performed in the study. Moreover, the secondary data shall be collected using various physical and virtual sources. These will include searching databases such as Sage, Datamonitor, Proquest, and other electronic libraries. While, the physical sources would include the collecting of data through the print sources such as books, reports and newspapers.

Ethical Issues The formalized code of ethics utilized by the researcher develops the trustworthiness and increases the authenticity of the study. There are three ethical concepts that will assist this study: (i) participants are provided full and true knowledge of the research being conducted, (ii) participants are not forced to respond, (iii) the confidentiality of the respondents involved in the interviews is respected and maintained. Similarly, the process of data collection during the research is also driven by the ethical guidelines.

Contributions from the Study This study would assist the researchers in conducting future studies regarding the leadership. It would also provide them with the additional knowledge which they might want to use in order to illustrate their researches. Moreover, the current research will provide a guiding path and open new horizons to the future managers as well as researchers to proceed with their ideas regarding the implementation of the leadership strategies.

REFERENCES

Bennett, L. M. & Kerr, M. A., 1996, A systems approach to the implementation of total quality management. Total Quality Management, 7 (6), 631-649. Conger, J. A., 1998, Qualitative research as the cornerstone methodology for understanding leadership. Leadership Quarterly, 9 (1), 107-121. Dess, G. G. & Picken, J. C., 2000, Changing roles: Leadership in the 21st Century. Organizational Dynamics, pp 18-33. Gallear, D. & Ghobadian, A., 2004, An empirical investigation of the channels that facilitate a total quality culture. Total Quality Management, 15 (8), 1043-1067. Higgs, M. & Rowland, D., 2005, All changes great and small: Exploring approaches to change and its leadership, Journal of Change Management, 5 (2), 121-151. Kilian, C. S., 1992, The world of W. Edwards Deming. Knoxville, TN: SPC Press. Townsend, Kotter, J. P., 1995, Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail, Harvard Business Review, 73 (2), 59-68. P. & Gebhardt, J.,2006, The customer is always right. Industrial Engineer, 38 (5), 41-45. Warwood, S. J. & Roberts, P. A. B., 2004, A survey of TQM success factors in the UK. Total Quality Management, 15 (8), 1109-1117. Weymes, E., 2003, Relationships not leadership sustain successful organizations, Journal of Change Management, 3 (4), 319-331.