Impact of Leadership on Functions of Management and Business Performance within Retail Industry

This report explores the impact of leadership on functions of management and business performance within the retail industry, with a focus on Marks & Spencer. It examines the leadership styles adopted by the company, their impact on business performance, challenges faced in the absence of leadership, and ways to improve leadership. The report also outlines the research methodology and time framework.

Project proposal
(Impact of leadership on functions of
management and business
performance within retail industry)
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Research aim and objective.........................................................................................................3
Research question........................................................................................................................3
Research rational..........................................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................4
Leadership styles adopted by organisation to manage business operations................................4
Impact of leadership styles on functions of management and business performance.................4
Challenges faced by company in the absence of leadership........................................................5
Ways to improve leadership within an organisation....................................................................5
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................................5
TIME FRAMEWORK.....................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
RESEARCH ETHICS APPROVAL FORM...................................................................................9
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INTRODUCTION
Effective leadership is one of the key function in managing the business performance and
productivity. They are the one who has the power to influence other in the favour of the
organisation. Leaders can bring values in the company by guiding the subordinate. The goal of
each and every company is not only to survive in the competitive edge but also they want to
manage their function and performance (Saleem and et. al, 2020). This objective of the business
can be fulfilled by having the effective and good leaders within the organisation. Therefore, in
the current research, investigator talks about the impact that can be bring by having an effective
leadership in a company. To carry this research, the chosen sector is retail and the selected
company is Marks and Spencer.
Research aim and objective
Research Aim:
To examine the impact of leadership on functions of management and business
performance. A study on Marks & Spencer
Research Objectives:
 To investigate the leadership styles adopted by Marks & Spencer to manage business
operations
 To examine the impact of adopted leadership styles on functions of management and
business performance within Marks & Spencer
 To discern the challenges faced by Marks & Spencer in the absence of leadership
 To recommend ways to improve leadership within Marks & Spencer
Research question
 What are the leadership styles adopted by Marks & Spencer to manage business
operations?
 What is the impact of adopted leadership styles on functions of management and business
performance within Marks & Spencer?
 What are the challenges faced by Marks & Spencer in the absence of leadership?
 What are the ways to improve leadership within Marks & Spencer?
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Research rational
The primary reason for conducting the investigation is to acquire detail knowledge on the
topic. leadership. This investigation will help in knowing the different leadership style which can
be implemented by the company. With the present research, impact of effective leadership in an
organisation will also be understood and the benefits which can be gained in also learned. Apart
from this the present investigation would also help in gaining dual objective which are personal
and professional (Zhang, Cao and Wang, 2018). The personal perspective which will be fulfilled
by the current investigation is that various skills will be developed and these skills helps in
completing the investigation in systematic manner. On the other hand, professional objective will
be attained by knowing the different leadership style which an investigator can applied in their
business when they will be working as a leader.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Leadership styles adopted by organisation to manage business operations
As per the view of Jia and et. al (2018), there are various different types of leadership style
which can be used by the business in their operation. The foremost leadership style which can be
used in retail sector is Autocratic style in which overall management of the company is
controlled by the top manager. They have all the right and decision is also taken by them.
Another leadership style is democratic leadership style where all the team member participates in
the decision making process of the company. The last leadership style in a retail sector is
transformational leadership in which they adopt the cause and effect relationship.
Impact of leadership styles on functions of management and business performance
According to the view of Purwanto (2020), there is a direct relationship of effective
leadership style on business functioning and performance. Leaders decision and action directly
affect the organisational performance and productivity. It is very important for a company to
have a good leader so that they can gain competitive edge from them. The foremost impact of
leadership style is on the motivation level of the employee. A good leader has the power to boost
the morale of the staff in the favour of organisation. The second impact is effective management
system, with leader company can effectively and efficiently manage the function of the business
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Challenges faced by company in the absence of leadership
In the view of Cummings and et. al (2018), there are various challenges which can be
encountered by the organisation in the nonappearance of effective and efficient leadership in
their business. One of the crucial challenges that company face is lack in attaining the vision and
mission of the company. The next problem that is encounter by the business is delayed in
decision making process. Another vital affect is low employee motivation and low productivity
of the company.
Ways to improve leadership within an organisation
As per the view of Altheeb (2020), there are so many ways which can be used by the
company in order to improve the effectiveness of leadership within company. The foremost
approach which can be used is building trust and transparency. Leaders should invest their
efforts in such a way that they can build trust and transparent system in the eye of followers. This
will also develop the culture of belongings as employee think they are treated in equal an d fair
manner. Second measure which can be used to improve leadership is focusing on continuous
performance management. They should track the performance of the subordinate in regular
manner so that they can take corrective action whenever there is a need.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
To carry out the investigation in sound manner researcher would be selecting quantitative
research method. The primary reason for this it helps in gathering and analysing numerical data
for the study (Iovino and Tsitsianis, 2020). To collect and evaluate data the philosophy which
will be selecting by the investigator is positivism and the approach to solve the research problem
will be deductive approach. For gathering data, the research strategy would be survey research
strategy. This is because it helps in gathering mass quantitative data from wider people
(Knottnerus and Tugwell, 2018).
The data collection source will be both primary and secondary. The main reason for
selecting combined data method is in-depth information for the subject will be acquired. To
gather primary data researcher would be designing questionnaire and for secondary website and
journals will be used. To select the sample population probability sampling technique will be
selecting by researcher (Sileyew, 2019). This is because it provides equal chance to the
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participants to be the part of the study. The sample size will be 30 leaders from Marks and
Spencer.
TIME FRAMEWORK
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Altheeb, S.A., 2020. Leadership Style and Employee Motivation: A Study of Saudi Arabian
Work Environment. Journal of Educational Psychology-Propositos y
Representaciones, 8.
Cummings, G.G., and et. al, 2018. Leadership styles and outcome patterns for the nursing
workforce and work environment: A systematic review. International journal of nursing
studies. 85. pp.19-60.
Iovino, F. and Tsitsianis, N., 2020. The methodology of the research. In Changes in European
energy markets. Emerald Publishing Limited.
Jia, X., and et. al, 2018. How leadership matters in organizational innovation: a perspective of
openness. Management Decision.
Knottnerus, J.A. and Tugwell, P., 2018. Ethics of research methodology requires a methodology
of research ethics. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. 100, pp.v-vi.
Purwanto, A., 2020. The Impacts of Leadership and Culture on Work Performance in Service
Company and Innovative Work Behavior as Mediating Effects. Journal of Reseacrh in
Business, Economics, and Education.
Saleem, A., and et. al, 2020. Principal leadership styles and teacher job performance: Viewpoint
of middle management. Sustainability. 12(8). p.3390.
Sileyew, K.J., 2019. Research design and methodology (pp. 1-12). Rijeka: IntechOpen.
Zhang, L., Cao, T. and Wang, Y., 2018. The mediation role of leadership styles in integrated
project collaboration: An emotional intelligence perspective. International Journal of
Project Management. 36(2). pp.317-330.
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Appendix
RESEARCH ETHICS APPROVAL FORM
All students conducting research activity that involves human participants or the use of
data, collected from human participants, may be required to gain ethical approval before
commencing their research.
Please answer all relevant questions and note that your form may be returned if
incomplete.
For further support and guidance please see your Unit Tutor.
Before completing this form, we advise that you discuss your proposed research fully
with your Unit Tutor. Please complete this form in good time before your research
project is due to commence.
Section One: Basic details
Student Name
ID Number
Centre Name
Project Title Impact of leadership on functions of management and business
performance within retail industry
Section Two: Project summary
Please select all research methods that you plan to use as part of your project:
Interviews
Questionnaires ✓
Observations
Use of Personal Records
Data Analysis ✓
Action Research
Focus Groups
Other (please specify Primary research
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Section Three: Participants
Yes No
Will your research involve human participants?
Ages
12–16
Young
people
aged
17–18
Adults
Who are the participants? Tick all that apply
How will participants be recruited (identified and approached)?
Answer: By using probability sampling, 30 employees of Marks and Spencer will
be selected randomly.
Describe the process you will use to inform participants about what you are doing:
Answer: E-mail and questionnaire will use to inform participants regarding the
work.
How will you obtain consent from participants? Will this be written? How will it be
made clear to participants that they may withdraw consent to participate at any
time?
Answer: By providing accurate information regarding the research to the
participants, informed consent will be obtained from the respondents.
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Studies involving questionnaires Yes No
Will participants be given the option of omitting questions they do
not wish to answer?
If No, please explain why below and ensure that you cover any ethical issues
arising from this:
Answer:
Studies involving questionnaires Yes No
Will participants be given the option of omitting questions they do
not wish to answer?
Studies involving observation Yes No
Confirm whether participants will be asked for their informed
consent to be approved.
Yes No
Will you debrief participants at the end of their participation?
(e.g. give them a brief explanation of the study)
Yes No
Will participants be given information about the findings of
your study? (This could be a summary of your findings generally)
Section Four: Data storage and security
Yes No
Confirm that all personal data will be stored and processed in
compliance with the Data Protection Act (1998)
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Who will have access to the data and personal information?
Answer: Researcher
During the research
Where will the data be stored?
Answer: In laptop and hard disk
Yes No
Will mobile devices, such as USB storage and laptops, be used?
If yes, please provide further details:
Answer:
After the research
Where will the data be stored?
Answer: In USB
How long will the data and records be kept, and in what format?
Answer: Up to six month
Yes No
Will the data be kept for use by other researchers?
If yes, please provide further details:
Answer:
Section Five: Ethical issues
Are there any particular features of your proposed work which may raise ethical
concerns? If so,
please outline how you will deal with these:
It is important that you demonstrate your awareness of potential risks that may arise as
a result of
your research. Please consider/address all issues that may apply. Ethical concerns may
include, but
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are not limited to the following:
 informed consent
 potentially vulnerable participants
 sensitive topics
 risks to participants and/or researchers
 confidentiality/anonymity
 disclosures/limits to confidentiality
 data storage and security, both during and after the research (including transfer,
sharing,
 encryption, protection)
 reporting
 dissemination and use of your findings.
Section Six: Declaration
Yes No
I have read, understood and will abide by the [insert name of
college/centre] Research Ethics Policy
Yes No
I have discussed the ethical issues relating to my research with
my tutor
I confirm that, to the best of my knowledge, the above information is correct and that
this is a full description of the ethical issues that may arise in the course of my/our
research.
Student Name: Florin Popescu Date 13/12/2021
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