Research Proposal: Leadership Styles Impact in Abu Dhabi Sectors

This research proposal investigates the impact of various leadership styles on employee development, specifically comparing the public and private sectors in Abu Dhabi. The study begins with an introduction outlining the changing global business environment and the importance of employee development, followed by a background on the economic growth of Abu Dhabi and its implications for leadership. The research problem is defined, highlighting the need to analyze leadership styles and their effects on employee motivation. The objectives and research questions are presented, focusing on the differences in leadership impacts between the two sectors. A comprehensive literature review examines existing research on leadership, including definitions, components of effective leadership, and different leadership styles such as autocratic, laissez-faire, democratic, and bureaucratic. The methodology section details the research philosophy, logic, method, data collection techniques, data analysis approaches, and ethical considerations. A research timeline is provided, followed by a list of references. The proposal aims to identify the most effective leadership approaches for enhancing employee development in both public and private organizations within Abu Dhabi's dynamic commercial landscape.

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Research Proposal
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................3
1.1 Introduction......................................................................................................................3
1.2 Background of the study..................................................................................................4
1.3 Research Problem.............................................................................................................5
1.4 Research Objective...........................................................................................................5
1.5 Research Questions..........................................................................................................6
2. Literature Review...................................................................................................................6
2.1 Introduction......................................................................................................................6
2.2 Leadership in Organizations............................................................................................7
2.3 Components of effective organizational leadership.........................................................7
2.4 Types of Organizational Leadership Styles.....................................................................9
2.5 Impacts of effective leadership on employee performances and development..............10
2.6 Literature Gap................................................................................................................10
3. Research Methodology.........................................................................................................11
3.1 Research Philosophy......................................................................................................11
3.2 Research Logic...............................................................................................................11
3.3 Research Method............................................................................................................11
3.4 Data Collection...............................................................................................................12
3.5 Data Analysis.................................................................................................................12

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3.6 Ethical Consideration.....................................................................................................12
4. Research Timeline................................................................................................................13
5. References............................................................................................................................14

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Effectiveness of Leadership Styles and Their Impact on Employee Development: A
comparative study of the Public vs Private sectors in Abu Dhabi
1. Introduction
1.1 Introduction
The global business and commercial environment has developed considerably and has
undergone immense dynamics and modifications over the last few decades, much of which
can be attributed to the increasing integration and inclusiveness of the countries and their
economic and commercial and industrial activities in the contemporary period, which in turn
have been facilitated by the international phenomena of immense significance like that of
Globalization, technological, infrastructural developments, liberalizations and development
of intra as well as inter-country communication frameworks over the years (Jankalová 2012).
These occurrences have on their part, encourage the businesses and organizations to
expand their operations geographically as well as in terms of the activities and areas of
venture. This in turn has led to the creation of increased competition in the contemporary
businesses institutions and organizations across the globe (Miner 2015). This competition is
however not only constricted to capturing of higher share of market, clientele or revenue but
is also in the aspect of efficient utilization of the productive resources present with the
organizations, such that cost is minimized and maximum profit level is achieved. Of these
productive resources, labour resources are of primary importance as the employees are the
primary building blocks of organizations.
Several factors within the operational framework are of extreme importance in the
aspects of retaining and motivating the employees as well as to enhance their development
and productivity within the organization, which in turn also influences the satisfaction level
and contentment of the employees in their current workplaces. One such aspect is the type of

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leadership structure present within the organization and the attributes of the leaders under
which the employees work (Anca and Dumitru 2012). Keeping this into consideration, the
concerned research proposes to view the different styles of leaderships present in the
organizations in the contemporary period and the impacts of such leadership structures on the
development of the employees in such organization, particularly emphasizing on the public
sector as well as the private sector organizations of Abu Dhabi.
1.2 Background of the study
In the contemporary period, with the change in the nature of operations as well as
structural framework of the organizations, especially the business organizations, the
employees, especially the long term loyal ones are considered to be one of the best assets of
the companies as much of the development and productivity of the organizations depend on
the efficiency and dedication of the employees. Their productivity, however also depends on
the leadership structures and natures within the organization (Kriger 2013). The types of
leadership however vary with organizations, regions, times and also across the sectors in
which these organizations operate. The types of leadership and its implication on the
employee development also varies across the companies in the private sector and the public
sector, as the primary objectives of the organizations operating in these two sectors vary
considerably. While the main objectives of the private sector organizations are to increase
profit and maximize efficiency, the public-sector organizations also emphasize on the
increment of social welfare and equity along with the increase in the profitability (Miner
2015).
In this context, the industrial development of Abu Dhabi, the capital of United Arab
Emirates, the second largest economy in the Arab world, has been spectacular and over the
years new industries and businesses have developed significantly in this region. The huge
economic prosperity of the region has over the last few years attracted huge inflow of foreign

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investments as well as multinational companies in the region. This in turn has increased the
number of options of employment for the existing labour force in the region, which in turn
indicates towards the importance of the presence of appropriate leadership structures in the
public as well as private organizations in the region as both the public sector as well as
private sector hold considerable importance in the commercial sector of the country (Suliman
and Al Kathairi 2012).
Thus, it is of considerable importance to study the impacts of the different styles of
leadership in the organizations on the employee developments across the private
organizations as well as public organizations of Abu Dhabi, as much of the development of
these institutions depend on the employee development, which in turn is influenced by the
level of satisfaction of the employees working under different leadership styles in such
organizations in Abu Dhabi.
1.3 Research Problem
Keeping into consideration, the above discussion, it becomes important to study the
impact of the leadership styles in different organizations and their impacts on the employee
motivation and development in the public and private sector organizations of Abu Dhabi. It is
also of immense importance and concern to observe and analyse the appropriate forms of
leadership styles and structures for increasing the employee developments in different types
of organizations, private and public, as the private and public organizations are by nature
different, which in turn can be useful in enhancing the development of the companies in Abu
Dhabi.
1.4 Research Objective
Keeping into consideration the importance of the implications on the leadership
structures in the organizations as well as the linkage of the same with the development of the

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employees in such organization, the research primarily proposes to study the impacts of the
different existing forms of leaderships present in the private and public organizations on the
employee development in these organizations and the differences which arise in this respect,
in the commercial and industrial domain of the highly developed and economically
prospering region, Abu Dhabi.
1.5 Research Questions
The primary question which the concerned research aims to emphasize upon is as follows:
What are the differences between the impacts of the different types of leadership styles on
the development of the employees in the public-sector organizations vis-à-vis private sector
organizations of Abu Dhabi?
Keeping the above question into consideration, the secondary questions are as
follows:
a. What are the different types of leadership styles present in the private sector
organizations of Abu Dhabi?
b. What are the different of leadership styles present in the public-sector organizations of
Abu Dhabi?
c. What are the impacts of the different leadership styles on the employee development
in the private sector?
d. What are the impacts of the different leadership styles on the employee development
in the public sector?
e. What are the differences between the impacts of the leadership styles on the employee
developments in these two sectors of Abu Dhabi?

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2. Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
There have been considerable debates and discussions over the different types of
leadership styles which have developed over the years in the organizational frameworks of
the global scenario and their impacts on the organizational operations as a whole and
particularly on the employee performance, motivation and development. Keeping this into
account this section of the proposal tries to conduct an extensive review of the literary and
scholarly works along with the empirical evidences which are existent in the current period,
regarding this issue, thereby analysing the different opinions and debates present in this
respect.
2.2 Leadership in Organizations
There have been various views and definitions put forward by different scholars at
different points of time regarding the aspect of leadership in the organizations. The definition
and the meaning of the same has also changed from time to time. However, one of the most
comprehensive and inclusive definition of the term can be found in the paper of Yukl (2013).
According to the author, organizational leadership is a bilateral management framework
present in the organizations which works for the benefit of the individuals as well as for the
organization as a whole. Augmenting this opinion, Bryman (2013), asserts that in
organizations, leadership is that ability which can make robust decisions and direct the
behaviours and activities of people in the organizations in such a way the performance of the
individuals as well as that of the organization are enhanced and the organizational common
goal is achieved.
2.3 Components of effective organizational leadership
Hargreaves, Boyle and Harris (2014), assert in their extensive work, that it is of
utmost importance, especially in the contemporary periods, for the organizations across the

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globe, especially the commercial organizations, to build a robust and effective leadership
framework within their operational domain in order to enhance the development of the
individual components within the organization as well as in order to enhance the
performance, competitiveness, profitability and long term sustainability of the organizations
as well. However, the components of an effective and robust organizational leadership
structure are not highlighted by the authors.
This gap is however, filled to a considerable extent by Jackson, Meyer and Wang
(2013), who highlight the key components of an effective general organizational leadership in
all domains as follows:
a. Integrity and honesty- As per the assertions of the authors, one of the primary
cornerstones in any kind of organization, which help the same to succeed in the long run, is
that of honesty and integrity. Keeping this into consideration, the presence of truth and
honesty is an integral part of an effective leadership as the employees take cue of what they
see in their leaders. Thus, truth, transparency, the attitude of keeping the welfare of
organization ahead of personal gains and ability to admit own shortcomings and mistakes are
an integral part of an effective leadership in an organization (Mittal and Dorfman 2012).
b. Self-Awareness- Bolman and Deal (2017), on the other hand asserts the presence of the
ability of assessing self-strengths and weaknesses as one of the primary components of an
effective leader in an organization. This in turn implies that the effective leaders do not think
themselves to be perfect or supreme and are open to suggestions and feedbacks from the
employees. Stronge (2018) in his paper, argues that for a leader to be effective, empathy and
humility are attributes of immense significance.
c) Vision and Courage- Vision and courage are other significant attributes of an effective
leadership in an organization. Long term vision helps the leaders to look over short run

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benefits or specific initiatives to maximize the performance of the companies in the long tun.
On the other hand, courage and confidence help the leaders to be decisive and risk-takers
(Chhokar, Brodbeck and House 2013).
Apart from the above-mentioned attributes, Daft (2014) also points towards the need
for the presence of many other components like that of efficient communication skills, team-
building capabilities and motivating attitudes as integral part of effective leadership in an
organization.
2.4 Types of Organizational Leadership Styles
In this context, the different types of leadership styles in the organizations, as have been
highlighted in the relevant literary works are primarily as follows:
 Autocratic Leadership- This type of organizational leadership experiences significant
control over the employees and the overall operational framework and does not
usually take into consideration the opinions and feedbacks of the employees.
 Laissez-Faire Leadership- This kind of leadership allows and encourages the
employees to perform their tasks according to the best possible way which they deem
fit (Antonakis and Day 2017).
 Democratic Leadership- In this leadership styles the suggestions and inputs of
employees are often asked for and valued in the aspects of taking important
organizational decisions.
 Bureaucratic Leadership- This is a highly structured and regulated form of
leadership characterized by extreme emphasis on regulative environments and strict
hierarchy Von (Krogh, Nonaka and Rechsteiner 2012).

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 Servant Leadership- These leaders share power and authority with the employees,
keeping the needs of the teams as the primary priority and indulges in collective
decision making and activities.
 Transformational Leadership- These leaders inspire the employees and subordinates
to involve in effective communications and productive decision making by creating
an intellectually stimulating environment in the workplace (Cummings and Worley
2014).
2.5 Impacts of effective leadership on employee performances and development
Yidong and Xinxin (2013), in their empirically evidenced and statistically supported
paper, asserts that the presence of effective leadership styles in the organizations play key
roles in influencing the performance of the employees and their overall development in the
organizations, in the following aspects:
a. Employee motivation- As per the assertions of the authors, the presence of an effective
leadership structure in an organization, creates a productive environment in the organization
where the employees feel encouraged and motivated to work better and stay in their current
jobs.
b. Self-Esteem- Under an effective and compassionate leader, the employees feel that their
opinions and works are valued and thus their importance is perceived to be considerably
higher in the organization by them, which increases their self-esteem while in the presence of
an ineffective leader, the employees may not feel respected (Li, Sanders and Frenkel 2012).
c) Performance Enhancement- In presence of effective leaders who are themselves
achievers, highly productive and inspirational workers, the employees feel encouraged to
enhance their performance and develop their skills to reach the levels where their leaders
stand and they are also encouraged to do so (Choudhary, Akhtar and Zaheer 2013).

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All these factors cumulatively help in the overall development of the skills,
productivity as well as career graph of the employees in the organizations themselves.
2.6 Literature Gap
In spite of presence of substantial presence of literatures and works in the aspect of
the meaning, implication of organizational leadership, the nature and types of such
leaderships and their implications on employees in the organizations, there are however little
discussions regarding the differences which arise in the employee development in public and
private organizations attributing to the different leadership styles. Keeping this into
consideration, the concerned research proposes to venture extensively in this aspect, in the
organizational domain of Abu Dhabi.
3. Research Methodology
3.1 Research Philosophy
There are three types of research philosophies. While positivism philosophy takes
scientific evidences into consideration and studies the concerned issues in a statistical
framework, Realism philosophy takes both cardinal and ordinal aspects into consideration.
On the other hand, interpretivism taken a small and qualitative sample and analyses in depth
the attributes and issues concerned. The concerned research proposes to take the notions of
both positivism and interpretivism philosophies (Neuman 2013).
3.2 Research Logic
There are primarily two types of research logic- deductive and inductive. The
inductive logic studies the evidences first and based on that generates assertions or theories,
while the deductive approach first creates hypothesis and then test their viabilities on the
basis of evidences. The concerned research proposes to take the inductive approach.

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3.3 Research Method
While the quantitative method of research helps in analysing the cardinal and
numerical aspects of the concerned topic, the qualitative method helps in taking into account
the ordinal or abstract aspects which the quantitative modes cannot incorporate. Keeping into
account the concerned arena where the research proposes to venture both cardinal and ordinal
aspects are of equal importance, for which the research proposes to adopt a mixed method
(Neuman 2013).
3.4 Data Collection
Data can be primary or secondary- the primary ones being directly collected are more
authentic and unbiased but are also time taking and costly. Secondary data are easy to obtain
but may have credibility issues. The concerned research, not compromising with the research
quality proposes to collect relevant primary data from different employees as well as leaders
in the private and public organizations of Abu Dhabi, both quantitatively (in terms of survey
questionnaires) as well as qualitatively (in terms of in depth interviews) (Taylor, Bogdan and
DeVault 2015).
3.5 Data Analysis
For analysis of the quantitative data collected, the concerned research proposes to use
statistical software platform SPSS and the research also proposes to incorporate an extensive
thematic analysis of the qualitative data collected.
3.6 Ethical Consideration
The concerned research vouches strongly to conduct all the research and analysis
activities under the ethical norms and framework such that the integrity of the research is
maintained. The researcher proposes to take interviews of the participants only after receiving

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their consent and also to maintain confidentiality. The research also proposes to analyse and
interpret the results in an unbiased manner.
4. Research Timeline
Activities Month 1-3 Month 4-12 Month 12-28 Month 28-36
Research
Ideation

Research
design

Primary Data
collection
 
Data Analysis
and report
writing


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Publication 
5. References
Anca, V.Ă.C.A.R. and Dumitru, D.D., 2012. LEADERSHIP-A KEY FACTOR TO A
SUCCESFUL ORGANIZATION-part I. Studies in Business & Economics, 7(3).
Antonakis, J. and Day, D.V. eds., 2017. The nature of leadership. Sage publications.
Bolman, L.G. and Deal, T.E., 2017. Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and
leadership. John Wiley & Sons.
Bryman, A. ed., 2013. Leadership and organizations. Routledge.
Chhokar, J.S., Brodbeck, F.C. and House, R.J. eds., 2013. Culture and leadership across the
world: The GLOBE book of in-depth studies of 25 societies. Routledge.
Choudhary, A.I., Akhtar, S.A. and Zaheer, A., 2013. Impact of transformational and servant
leadership on organizational performance: A comparative analysis. Journal of Business
Ethics, 116(2), pp.433-440.
Cummings, T.G. and Worley, C.G., 2014. Organization development and change. Cengage
learning.

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Daft, R.L., 2014. The leadership experience. Cengage Learning.
Hargreaves, A., Boyle, A. and Harris, A., 2014. Uplifting leadership: How organizations,
teams, and communities raise performance. John Wiley & Sons.
Jackson, T.A., Meyer, J.P. and Wang, X.H., 2013. Leadership, commitment, and culture: A
meta-analysis. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 20(1), pp.84-106.
Jankalová, M., 2012. Business Excellence evaluation as the reaction on changes in global
business environment. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 62, pp.1056-1060.
Kriger, M., 2013. Wise leadership in organizations: Integrating Eastern and Western
paradigms. In Handbook of faith and spirituality in the workplace (pp. 255-269). Springer,
New York, NY.
Li, X., Sanders, K. and Frenkel, S., 2012. How leader–member exchange, work engagement
and HRM consistency explain Chinese luxury hotel employees’ job
performance. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(4), pp.1059-1066.
Miner, J.B., 2015. Organizational behavior 1: Essential theories of motivation and
leadership. Routledge.
Mittal, R. and Dorfman, P.W., 2012. Servant leadership across cultures. Journal of World
Business, 47(4), pp.555-570.
Neuman, W.L., 2013. Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches.
Pearson education.
Stronge, J.H., 2018. Qualities of effective teachers. ASCD.
Suliman, A. and Al Kathairi, M., 2012. Organizational justice, commitment and performance
in developing countries: The case of the UAE. Employee Relations, 35(1), pp.98-115.

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Taylor, S.J., Bogdan, R. and DeVault, M., 2015. Introduction to qualitative research
methods: A guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.
Von Krogh, G., Nonaka, I. and Rechsteiner, L., 2012. Leadership in organizational
knowledge creation: A review and framework. Journal of Management Studies, 49(1),
pp.240-277.
Yidong, T. and Xinxin, L., 2013. How ethical leadership influence employees’ innovative
work behavior: A perspective of intrinsic motivation. Journal of Business Ethics, 116(2),
pp.441-455.
Yukl, G.A., 2013. Leadership in organizations. Pearson Education India.