Organisational Leadership Styles in UK Retail Industry: A Study of Morrisons

Dissertation
HOW CAN ORGANISATIONAL LEADERSHIP STYLES
ADOPTED IN THE UK RETAIL INDUSTRY IMPROVE ON
THE BUSINESS PRODUCTIVITY? A STUDY OF
MORRISONS.
1

Table of Contents
Title: How can organisational leadership styles adopted in the UK retail industry improve on
business productivity. A study of Morrisons. ................................................................................4
CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................4
1.1 Background of the study...................................................................................................4
1.4 Research Questions:.........................................................................................................5
1.5 Research Aim:..................................................................................................................6
1.6 Research Objectives:........................................................................................................6
1.8 Beneficiaries from this study............................................................................................7
1.10 Structure of the dissertation............................................................................................7
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .........................................................................................9
2.1 Introduction of literature review.......................................................................................9
2.2.1Concept and need of leadership and leaders within UK retail industry.........................9
2.2.2 Theories related to leadership......................................................................................10
2.2.3 Role of leaders to improve the business performance and productivity within Morrisons
..............................................................................................................................................11
2.2.4 Leadership styles adopted by Morrisons for improving the business performance and
productivity...........................................................................................................................14
2.2.5 Challenges faced by Morrisons in the absence of effective leadership.......................15
2.2 Summary of the literature review...................................................................................17
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ..........................................................................18
3.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................18
3.2 Research Philosophy......................................................................................................18
3.3 Research design..............................................................................................................18
3.4 Research approach..........................................................................................................19
3.5 Research Choice.............................................................................................................19
3.6 Research Strategy...........................................................................................................20
3.7 Data types and Data Collection Methods.......................................................................20
3.8 Reliability and validity...................................................................................................22
3.9 Ethical consideration......................................................................................................22
2

CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS ...................................................................23
4.1 Frequency distribution table...........................................................................................23
4.2 Data interpretation..........................................................................................................25
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................35
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................37
Questionnaire........................................................................................................................37
3

Title: How can organisational leadership styles adopted in the UK retail
industry improve on business productivity. A study of Morrisons.
CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
To overcome challenges, strong leadership is crucial as it helps organization to overcome
the challenges by maintaining confidence and motivation among the workforce. With the help of
good leadership organization can create an effective and strong workplace environment that will
not only help team to be motivated but also help organization to keep their stakeholders happy.
In this modern business environment the changes in business atmosphere is dynamic which
requires organization to embrace the importance and need of leaders and leadership to assure
higher growth and competitive position in the industry (Anderson and Sun, 2017). The present
research include discussion on the need of leaders in an organization and leadership styles
adopted to improve the business productivity and performance. To conduct this research
Morrison has been selected which is 4th largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. The
research will analyse the concept and need of leaders and leadership within UK retail industry
along with this in depth discussion of the role of leaders to make improvement in business
performance and productivity of company is also being evaluated. Research also include
discussion on the leadership styles adopted by company to make improvement in the business
performance and productivity along with the challenges that has been faced by the company due
to the absence of effective leadership. In this with the help of effective literature review in depth
analysis has been conducted. Research also include research methodology section in which use
of appropriate research methods tools and techniques is being in deathly evaluated which will
help investigator to conduct overall research in an effective manner.
1.2 Purpose of the study
The main rationale behind the selection of his topic is to understand the need and
importance of leaders and leadership style within organization in UK retail industry to make
improvement in business productivity and performance. In today’s business environment is
motivated workforce is a crucial element for organization growth and success. Negligence of
implementing strong leadership practices will impact on organization in adverse manner such as
high amount of employee turnover that will automatically impact on organization growth and
4

profitability. The present research is rational as it will help in determining the role of leaders to
make improvement in business performance and productivity along with the leadership style
adopted by the company to make improvement in business performance. This research is also
rational as it helps in determining the challenges that has been faced by Morrisons in the absence
of effective leadership. With the help of this other organizations in the same sector can determine
the extent of challenges and their impact on organization growth and can understand that
importance of leadership for their long term growth and sustainability. The present research is
also rational as it will help in enhancing researcher knowledge an understanding of the need of
leadership and leaders within UK retail industry sector. This research will benefit researcher to
apply the same research conducting ability for future research. Research will benefit investigator
in both professional and personal way as it helps in enhancing the academic skill ability that will
benefit resulted in future in a well defined and effective manner.
1.3 Statement of the problem
The organization selected for the current investigation is Morrisons which is one of the
leading organization in the UK retail industry and its operating its roles and responsibilities in
different parts of the world. The main issue that is being faced by the current organization is
challenging due to the absence of effective leadership. The present research will determine the
challenges that has been faced by the respective organization because of the effective leadership
absence. Research will also determine the concept and need of leaders and leaders within the UK
industry along with the role of leaders to make improvement in business productivity and
performance. This research will also help in determining the leadership styles that has been
adopted by company. This research will effectively help in overcoming and conduct in depth
analysis of the challenges that has been faced by the company through which organization can
implement effective strategies to overcome the issue at a significant way.
1.4 Research Questions:
 Explain the concept and need of leadership and leaders within UK retail industry?
 What is the role of leaders to improve the business performance and productivity within
Morrisons?
 What are the leadership styles adopted by Morrisons for improving the business
performance and productivity?
 What are the challenges faced by Morrisons in the absence of effective leadership?
5

1.5 Research Aim:
To investigate the need of leaders in an organisation and leadership styles adopted to
improve the business productivity and performance. A study on Morrisons
1.6 Research Objectives:
 To identify the concept and need of leadership and leaders within UK retail industry
 To determine the role of leaders to improve the business performance and productivity
within Morrisons
 To examine the leadership styles adopted by Morrisons for improving the business
performance and productivity
 To evaluate the challenges faced by Morrisons in the absence of effective leadership.
1.7 Significance of the research
The present research is significant as it is conducted on the research am which will help
to investigate the need of leaders and leadership within organization along with the importance
of leadership styles to adopt in order to make improvement in business productivity and
performance. This research will help in identifying the concepts along with the need of leaders
and leadership within the UK retail industry that will benefit organisations in this sector on
different scales to understand the importance of leaders and leadership styles to make
improvement in their overall productivity and performance. Present research is also significant as
it helps in determining the role of leaders to make improvements in the business productivity
within Morrisons. This will help organization operating in the same sector to implement different
leadership styles and understand the role of leader through which they can effectively manage
the overall business productivity and performance. This research will also benefit in identifying
challenges that has been faced by Morrisons in the absence of effective leadership. With the help
of this company can determine the challenges and can implement effective leadership styles to
overcome these challenges to assure long term sustainability and growth. The present research is
also significant as it will help in enhancing the researcher current level of understanding and
knowledge of the need and importance of leadership styles leadership and leaders within the UK
industry. This will effectively benefit researcher to conduct future research in appropriate
manner, as the present research will efficiently enhance the research conducting ability and
decision making ability of researcher in appropriate an effective manner.
6