UK Retail: Poor Leadership Impact on Business Performance at IKEA

This report investigates the impact of poor leadership on business performance and productivity within the UK retail industry, using IKEA as a case study. It begins by defining leadership and its importance in achieving organizational goals, highlighting the skills and qualities of effective leaders. The report then examines the negative consequences of poor leadership, such as lack of communication, decreased employee morale, and improper decision-making. Furthermore, it explores ways IKEA can mitigate the issue of poor leadership through problem identification and ongoing training. Finally, the report discusses the benefits of effective leadership, including enhanced performance, improved productivity, and the development of future leaders. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and past papers for students.

TO IDENTIFY THE IMPACT OF POOR LEADERSHIP ON
BUSINESS PERFORMANCE AND PRODUCTIVITY OF THE UK
RETAIL INDUSTRY
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ABSTRACT
The purpose of conducting is to showcase the disadvantages and challenges faced by an
organisation because of poor leadership styles in the workplace. It has also shown that leadership
is the aspect in an organisation which is necessary for attainment of pre-determined goals and
objectives in systematic way.
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Contents
ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
Background of the topic...............................................................................................................4
Background of the organisation...................................................................................................4
Relevance of the proposed research to business research...........................................................5
Place the proposed study in context.............................................................................................5
Justification of the chosen topic..................................................................................................5
Value of this research..................................................................................................................6
Research aim, objectives and questions.......................................................................................6
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................7
What is the meaning of leadership in context with UK retail industry?......................................7
What are the impact of poor leadership on business performance and productivity of the UK
retail industry?.............................................................................................................................7
What are the ways that IKEA could use for reducing the issue of poor leadership within a
workplace.....................................................................................................................................8
What are the benefits of leadership in the improvement of business performance and
productivity of IKEA...................................................................................................................8
METHODOLOGY........................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14
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INTRODUCTION
Background of the topic
Leadership refers to the type of qualities of a specific individual. With the assistance of
these particular qualities they influence employees to attain their targets and goals. Leader's skills
include procedures, techniques and methods which assist leaders to understand a specific
problem or any subject. In simpler language, leadership includes creating a clear vision and
conveying this vision with employees so that they can follow it willingly (Macura, 2021). It is a
quality which cannot be taught but it can be learned and improved through mentoring. Leaders
guide their employees in such a manner in which employees do not feel pressurised and do their
work with greater capacity to attain organisational as well as their own objectives. This can be
only done when they are inspired to operate with higher dedication. The current investigation has
aimed at carrying out in-depth information about the impacts of poor leadership on business
performance and productivity of UK retail industry. Basically, this investigation clearly
highlights the linkage between employees and positive leadership for improving the performance
and productivity of the whole business.
Background of the organisation
The selected company for conducting the investigation on topic of leadership is IKEA.
IKEA is a Swedish founded organisation. It designs and sells kitchen appliances, home
accessories, other goods and services as well as ready-to-assemble furniture and many more. The
founder of the company is Ingvar Kamprad and founded in 28 July, 1943 in Sweden. The
headquarters of the company is situated in Delft, Netherlands. IKEA could efficiently carry out
its operations for increasing the level of profit and revenue. One of the major reasons of its high
profit and revenue level is leadership. The company has great effective leadership because it is
directly linked to the success of an organisation, employees are the prosperity of the whole
organisation and also known as the greatest wealth of the enterprise. At the workplace of IKEA,
each and every function has its own employees that report back to the managing director of that
specific function (Li, 2022). The most common leadership styles adopted by IKEA are autocratic
management style, democracy, laissez-Faire and many more for influencing employees by
leaders.
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Relevance of the proposed research to business research
The existing research holds high relevance in respect of business terms because it carries
out detailed data about the significant aspect which is leadership. With this specific study,
businesses can learn about the leadership styles adopted by large scale companies for influencing
employees to work hard for performing their assigned roles and responsibilities (Jia, Gong and
Brown, 2019). This also involves relevant data about the benefits experienced by an enterprise to
improve the productivity and performance of employees as well as whole business.
Place the proposed study in context
The present research is proposed for highlighting the effects of leadership on business
performance and productivity of UK retail industry (Lockhart, 2021). Basically this shows the
significance of leadership for creating positive influence among employees regarding their job
responsibilities and roles. This also aims at classifying main reasons of poor leadership in an
organisation and the challenges faced by leaders while influencing and encouraging employees
in the workplace.
Justification of the chosen topic
The current investigation is investigated on the topic of leadership and its impact over
performance and productivity of the employees. The main reason of carrying out the topic is to
highlight that leadership is one of the significant practices for an organisation because it keeps
employees influenced and motivated towards their assigned roles and responsibilities. Beside
this, there are two other vital objectives which can be attained through two different perspectives
which are: personal and professional perspective. In respect of personal perspective, I will get get
a chance to learn about the latest trends in the market and I will be able to increase my
knowledge even in business areas. I will be able to apply leadership quality in my personal life to
influence others regarding my personal work. On the other hand, in terms of professional
perspective, I will easily learn about the strategies to eliminate concept of poor leadership on
business productivity and employee performance. This will also help me in determining
strategies through which I can motivate and influence existing employees to do their work with
greater efficiency and effectiveness.
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Value of this research
It is the research which covers the broader area of an organisation and this is known as
leadership. This has high value because this could be used by researchers, businesses and
professionals. This is of high value for researchers because they can take it as foundation to do
their own investigation on the same topic (Obodo, 2020). Businesses could consider this
investigation for learning about the several strategies used by them for influencing workers.
Research aim, objectives and questions
Research aim
To determine the effects of poor leadership on business performance and productivity of
UK retail industry: A study on IKEA
Research objectives
 To understand the meaning of leadership in context with UK retail industry
 To evaluate the impact of poor leadership on business performance and productivity of
the UK retail industry
 To determine the ways that IKEA could use for reducing the issue of poor leadership
within a workplace
 To examine the benefits of leadership in the improvement of business performance and
productivity of IKEA
Research questions
 Explain the meaning of leadership in context with UK retail industry?
 What is the impact of poor leadership on business performance and productivity of the
UK retail industry?
 What are the the ways that IKEA could use for reducing the issue of poor leadership
within a workplace?
 What are the benefits of leadership in the improvement of business performance and
productivity of IKEA?
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LITERATURE REVIEW
Literature review is that section of research which contain the past publish data about the
selected topic. This part of investigation helps the researcher to gain detailed understanding
about the topic which will aids them in enhancing their knowledge and skills. Literature review
also helps in finding the gap between the past and present information. The data that is gathered
in this are from various secondary sources. Some of them are books, journals, magazine, online
sites etc.
What is the meaning of leadership in context with UK retail industry?
As per the view of Snyder (2019), leadership can be defined as the form of qualities or
abilities an individual possess in themselves. With the help of these capabilities they can
influence other employees or person to attain their goals in effective manner. Leadership is that
skills which cannot be taught, in-fact this is acquired by the person by seeing or learning their
mentor or leader. An effective leader is one that has so many qualities within them, some of
them are self-confidence, quick decision maker, good communication skills, innovative and
creative thoughts, ability to take risk and many more. They have the power through which they
can influence and motivate their followers towards the direction of company’s goal and
objectives. They are those people which take tough and wise decision which help the
organisation to attain their vision in proper manner. Leaders with their capability can convinces
followers and control their action in right way so that they can work by merging their personal
objectives with organisational goals. In retail sector were having an effective leadership skill is
crucially for managing the company’s resources in effective way which will helps in improving
performance and attainment of goals.
What are the impact of poor leadership on business performance and productivity of the UK
retail industry?
According to Ericsson (2018), there are various impact of poor leadership on business
performance and productivity some of them are:
Lack of effective communication: One of the negative impact of poor leadership in an
organisation is Lack of communication. This will reduce the performance as the employee will
not get the exact information and message which will affect them. If there is improper interaction
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between the leader and the followers than they cannot understand each other which will bridges
the gap between them in great extent.
Decrease in employee morale: Another consequences of poor leadership is that lack of
employee morale. Leaders with their leadership strategy cannot boost employee’s motivation
which will affect their productivity level. With the miserable leadership approach they cannot
make staff more loyal towards the organisation. The workforce will not willingly work and take
more time to complete their task in effective way.
Improper decision: Next impact of deadly leadership skill is improper decision which could
hinder the performance and productivity level of the employee. They cannot make proper
decision which create new problem for the workforce. In fact, effective solution cannot be gain
in time which result in delay towards the decision making on those critical issue which company
faces due to low productivity and performance.
What are the ways that IKEA could use for reducing the issue of poor leadership
within a workplace
As per the view of Pandey and Pandey (2021), to enhance the employee performance and
expenses the ways that can be adopted by IKEA to overcome from the situation of poor
leadership within the workplace are:
Knowing leader’s problem: Sometime leaders can be worried about the wider
responsibility that are being given by them. So to solve to solve the poor leadership problem
IKEA can use the approach where top management speak to the leader and try to know the issue
which affect them (Jia, Gong and Brown, 2019). They can invite the leader for an informal
communication and know the cause. This will help the leader to feel stress less and make wise
decision.
Provide ongoing training: Another approach that can be used by IKEA is provide
ongoing coaching to the leaders about the skills and qualities that they can learn within them
which help them to be an effective leader. This will help them to build themselves and improve
their leadership qualities which is needed as per the companies’ gaols or vision.
What are the benefits of leadership in the improvement of business performance and
productivity of IKEA
According to, Hoon and Singh (2019), the advantages of effective leadership in the
improvement of business performance and productivity of IKEA are it will assist them in
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spotting the opportunity which they can use to enhance the performance of their followers by
communicating them the methods which can be used for smooth functioning. Next benefit that
can be gained is training the followers to become leaders by delegating some power which can
use by them to improve their productivity level. Good leaders make a good mentor which will
guide the other workers in positive manner towards their performance.
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METHODOLOGY
Methodology introduces to the process used by researcher for collecting as well as analysing
information about any topic or research. There are various types of methodologies that helps in
gathering information regarding the effects of poor leadership on business performance and
productivity of UK retail industry. Some significant methodologies are explained below;
Research design: This is the process used for identifying research problem. There are three
types of research designs such as exploratory, experimental and descriptive. Within this research,
descriptive type of research design is more valuable and useful for the researcher because it
facilitates in collection and evaluation of numerical information in decided time period
(Mohajan, 2018). There are certain reasons behind the selection of descriptive research design
such as provides numerical data, not require maximum time etc. Along with this, there are
different methodologies that comes under research designs. These are;
Research philosophy: This part of the research design is classified into four types that are
positivism, pragmatism, realism and interpretivisim. These are main types but within a current
study, positivism is useful philosophy for the researcher. There are various benefits regarding the
selection of positivism type such as helps in collection and evaluation of quantitative
information, cost and time effective philosophy and many others. These are considering biggest
reasons behind the use of positivism philosophy in current investigation.
Research approach: It is the process of evaluating gathered information through an
effective type of research approach. This section of the methodology is classified into two types
that are inductive and deductive. Inductive approach is essential in evaluating qualitative data,
whereas deductive approach is useful in analysing quantitative data. Within this research,
deductive approach will be used by researcher for evaluating quantitative information
(Zangirolami-Raimundo, Echeimberg and Leone, 2018). There are various reasons regarding the
use of deductive approach in current investigation such as assist in evaluation of quantitative
data, not requires maximum time, cost-effective and many more. Inductive approach is not
effective within a research because it requires a lots of time and cost.
Research strategy: It refers to the process of collecting accurate information through an
effective type of research strategy. There are various strategies of the research such as survey,
case study, experimental, action research and many others. These are main strategies but for
collecting quantitative and primary information regarding the effects of poor leadership on
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business performance and productivity of UK retail industry, survey will be a selected strategy.
There are various benefits regarding the use of survey strategy such as provides data in numbers,
helps in collection of quantitative information within minimum time and many others. Therefore,
as compared to action research, case study, experiment etc., survey will be a more valuable and
useful in achievement of research aim and objectives successfully (Ledford and Gast, 2018).
Data collection methods: There are two methods of the data collection such as primary and
secondary. Both methods of the data collection are essential within a current research. For
collecting primary information regarding the effects of poor leadership on business performance
and productivity of UK retail industry, questionnaire will be used by the researcher. Secondary
method is also used for collecting accurate data about the topic. There are various sources that
will be used for gathering secondary information about the poor leadership and its impact on
business performance. These are books, articles, publication research, journals and many others
relevant to the existing topic. Therefore, primary and secondary are important methods of data
collection within a current research.
Sampling methods: This part of the methodology has two techniques such as probability and
non-probability. Within this research, probability sampling will be applied for selecting 30
employees of IKEA on random basis. One of the main reasons behind the use of probability
sampling is it assist in larger sample selection and not require maximum time (Newman and
Gough, 2020). Non-probability is considering another type that not used by researcher within a
research because it requires maximum time and not assist in selection of larger samples. Along
with this, within this research target groups are the employees of IKEA.
Data analysis: This is the process used for evaluating gathered information via a research
analytical technique. Within this research, quantitative information will be collected from the
questionnaire. This is an effective research instrument of data collection. For evaluating
quantitative information, frequency distribution analysis will be applied by investigator. It is an
effective and useful technique of data analysis because it assists in analysation of quantitative or
numerical information within less time.
Research ethics: There are various principles of the research ethics such as obtaining
informed consent, protecting confidentiality and anonymity of the research participants,
providing right to withdraw and many others (Basias and Pollalis, 2018). These are main
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principles that would be used by researcher for completing each activity of the research in ethical
and successful manner.
Validity and reliability: It is important for the researcher to use an effective method that
helps them in collecting of valid and reliable data about the topic. Within this research,
questionnaire will be used by researcher. This is an effective instrument of data collection
because it assists in gathering valid and reliable information from larger population in minimum
time period. Therefore, questionnaire will be used for getting valid and reliable outcomes.
Limitations to the research methods: There are various limitations of the research such as
access issue, communication problem and many others (Hoon and Singh, 2019). These are main
limitations that have a negative impact on researcher while they want to complete full research
successfully.
Possible limitations to the research: There are certain possible limitations of the research
such as lack of time, inappropriate amount of capital etc. These are major limitations of the
research that not assist investigator in getting valid outcomes.
Timescale: Gantt chart is used for identifying the starting and ending dates of each chapters
effectively. Gantt chart of the current research is mentioned below;
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Basias, N. and Pollalis, Y., 2018. Quantitative and qualitative research in business & technology:
Justifying a suitable research methodology. Review of Integrative Business and
Economics Research, 7, pp.91-105.
Ericsson, A., 2018. Organizational Culture and Employee Loyalty: The Case of IKEA.
Hoon, T.S. and Singh, P., 2019. A Practice in a Research Methodology Class. Asian Journal of
University Education, 15(3), pp.45-53.
Jia, F., Gong, Y. and Brown, S., 2019. Multi-tier sustainable supply chain management: The role
of supply chain leadership. International Journal of Production Economics, 217, pp.44-
63.
Kumar, R., 2018. Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners. Sage.
Ledford, J.R. and Gast, D.L. eds., 2018. Single case research methodology. New York, NY:
Routledge.
Li, Y., 2022. Business Insight: Leadership and Human Resource Management Analysis for
IKEA.
Liu, L., Yu, B. and Wu, W., 2019. The formation and effects of exploitative dynamic capabilities
and explorative dynamic capabilities: an empirical study. Sustainability, 11(9), p.2581.
Lockhart, R., 2021. IKEA Christians in the School of Jesus. Christian Witness in Cascadian Soil:
Coworkers with God in the Land of Hiking, Hipsters, and Hand-Crafted Lattes, p.128.
Macura, J., 2021. Adaptability of expatriates’ leadership style to subsidiary organizational
culture a comparative study between self-initiated and assigned expatriates.
Mohajan, H.K., 2018. Qualitative research methodology in social sciences and related
subjects. Journal of Economic Development, Environment and People, 7(1), pp.23-48.
Newman, M. and Gough, D., 2020. Systematic reviews in educational research: Methodology,
perspectives and application. Systematic reviews in educational research, pp.3-22.
Obodo, C., 2020. Retail Organizational Change and Leadership in ICA Maxi and IKEA.
Pandey, P. and Pandey, M.M., 2021. Research Methodology Tools and Techniques.
Reichert, A.M. and Nguyen, T.M., 2021. IKEA Group employees as DANCERs in a normative
context: Mindfulness and its experienced influence on self-leadership.
Snyder, H., 2019. Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and
guidelines. Journal of business research, 104, pp.333-339.
Thomsen, S., 2018. Foundation Ownership at IKEA. Available at SSRN 3243347.
Zangirolami-Raimundo, J., Echeimberg, J.D.O. and Leone, C., 2018. Research methodology
topics: Cross-sectional studies. Journal of Human Growth and Development, 28(3),
pp.356-360.
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