Research Proposal: Line Managers, Employee Development and Well-being

This document is a research proposal exploring the role of line managers and leaders in employee development and well-being, using H&M as a case study. The proposal outlines the research aim, which is to identify the different roles played by line managers and leaders in employee development and well-being. It also includes specific research objectives, such as understanding the importance of talent management and evaluating the issues faced by line managers. The proposal addresses key research questions, such as the significance of talent management and the impact of line managers' roles. The rationale highlights the challenges faced by line managers in employee development and emphasizes the importance of talent management. The literature review covers themes such as the importance of talent management, issues faced by line managers, and the impact of their roles. The proposal also includes a Gantt chart outlining the activities and timescales, along with the research approach, which is primarily inductive, and the methodologies, including sampling, data collection (primary and secondary), and the use of questionnaires. The proposal also includes a research ethics approval form, ensuring adherence to ethical guidelines throughout the research process.

Research Proposal
(Aims and Objectives)

ANNEXURE “A”:
Research Proposal Form
Student Name
Student ID
Centre Name
Tutor
Unit No
Proposed Title
Section One: Title, objective,
responsibilities
Title or working title of the research
project (in the form of a question, objective
or hypothesis)
TITLE- The role of line managers and
leaders in employee development
and well-being; A case study on
H&M.
Research Aim:
To complete research proposal
appropriately prepared aims are needed to be
framed which will make it possible for the
research worker to attain the desired goals which
is pre determined. In this manner, aims and can
be seen as:
 To identify the different roles played
by line managers and leaders in
employee development and well
being. A case study on H&M.
Research objectives (e.g what is the

question you want to answer? What do you
want to learn how to do? What do you
want to find out?):
Research Objectives:
To execute a detailed research proposal,
out of the aim prepared, it is required to make
objectives which will further ease the process of
research proposal. The objectives prepared can be
seen as:
 To understand the importance of talent
management for a company.
 To evaluate the different issues faced by
H&M’s line managers and leaders while
developing policies and procedures
related to well being and development.
 To analyse the impact of different roles
and responsibilities played by line
managers and leaders in employee
development and well-being.
Research Questions:
To prepare a research proposal, the need
of issues and problems which will be faced and
addressed by the research worker is needed to be
resolved and catered. For this cause, respective
questions are needed to be addressed:
 What is the significance of talent
management in an organisation?
 How can the issues faced by H&M’s line
managers and leaders be seen in order to
develop policies and procedures related to
development process?
 What is the impact of roles and
responsibilities that line managers play in

development and well being of
employees?
Section Two: Reasons for choosing
this research project
Reasons for choosing the project (e.g. links
to other subjects you are studying,
personal interest, future plans,
knowledge/skills you want to improve, why
the topic is important):
RATIONALE:
In the business environment, there are
various challenges that are faced by the line
managers in order to work for the development
process of the employees who so ever are
working in organisation. The talent management
is a technique which is performed by the
managerial team in order to develop efficiency
and effectiveness which work for overall growth
and reattainment of employees (Sudheesh,
Duggappa and Nethra 2016). Thus performing
the research on the respective topic which has a
wide scope, the members of the group who are
working will develop a greater insight.
Performing the research will be helpful in
diversifying the knowledge about what are the
roles and responsibilities of line managers
towards the employees and also to the
organisation. This will improve the knowledge
which can be used in coming times for enhancing
the professional career by improving the skills
and competencies.

Section Three: Literature sources
searched
Use of key literature sources to support
your research question, objective or
hypothesis:
LITERATURE REVIEW:
Introduction to Literature Review:
Literature Review is termed as academic
source generated either from offline sources like
books, articles or from online sources like
journals, articles and more. It helps in increasing
the knowledge which was already known.
Themes of Literature Review:
Understanding the importance of talent
management for a company
According to the view point of author,
Kasemsap (2016), it can be said that talent
management is a vital tool which is used by
management team to retain its employees,. As
known talented workforce is an asset and in order
to retain them the talented workforce is required
to be managed.
Evaluating the different issues faced by H&M’s
line managers and leaders
According to the view point of author,
Księżak (2016), it can be said that to manage a

diverse population every line manager will face
issues as all employees have a different mindset
and to meet their wants leaders have to follow
their mindets.
Analysing the impact of different roles and
responsibilities played by line managers
According to the view point of author,
Pollitt and Bouckaert (2017), it can be said that
leaders perform a number of functions. They
segregate their work and this can be done by
providing them appropriate training and
development tactics which they can use in order
to complete the tasks.
Section Four: Activities and
timescales
Activities to be carried out during the research project (e.g
research, development and analysis of ideas, writing, data
collection, numerical analysis, tutor meetings, production of
final outcome, evaluation, writing the report):
ACTIVITIES AND TIME SCALE:
The Gantt Chart for the following Research Proposal can be seen
as:
How long this will
take:

Milestone one:
_________________
Target date (set by tutor):
_________________
Milestone two:
_________________
Target date (set by tutor):
__________________
Section Five: Research approach and

methodologies
What type of research approach and
methodologies are you likely to use and
why? What your areas of research will
cover:
RESEARCH APPROACHES AND
METHODOLOGIES:
An appropriate research model helps in
collecting the desired information using accurate
and appropriate data which will be helping in
completion of the research work. It serves with
relevant techniques, tools, strategies that facilitate
the process (Lee 2018).
Research Approach
There are mainly two kinds of approaches
which can be seen as deductive and inductive
approaches. In most of the cases and in the
proposal even inductive approach is followed as
it will give reliable results.
Sampling
This refers to finding the probable
method out of primary research. This categorises
the sampling techniques and sampling data from
the whole lot which is catered. To meet the aims
and objectives, the data will be sampled in
accurate sample and size in a stratified manner.
Data Collection
Data can be collected in two ways i.e.
through primary data or secondary data
(Lordkipanidze 2019). Both gives information

but primary data is more reliable whereas
secondary data is time saving.
Research Methodology
The methods which can be used to attain
data comes under research methodology. In most
of the cases the tool used for conducting the
research will be Questionnaire (Wu 2019).
Research Ethics
Ethics are needed to be significant in
order to execute an activity. When a task is
completed with ethical beliefs it will result in
being more ethical and reliable (Osawe 2018).
The sources can be trusted in order to achieve
further studies as well. The research proposal and
research work completed can be used again in
further study by the same research person or by
some other person and if research is not
completed with ethical beliefs there are chances
of next report being unethical.
Comments and agreement from tutor
Comments (optional):
I confirm that the project is not work
which has been or will be submitted
for another qualification and is
appropriate.
Agreed: ________________
(name)_______________ Date

______________
Comments and agreement form
project proposal checker( IV
sampling)
Comments (Optional):
I confirm that the project is
appropriate.
Agreed /Disagree:
(Name of the IV)
Date

REFRENCES
Books and Journal
Kasemsap, K., 2016. Promoting leadership development and talent management in modern
organizations. In Managerial strategies and practice in the Asian business sector (pp.
238-266). IGI Global.
Księżak, P., 2016. The CSR challenges in the clothing industry. Journal of Corporate
Responsibility and Leadership, 3(2), pp.51-65.
Pollitt, C. and Bouckaert, G., 2017. Public management reform: A comparative analysis-into the
age of austerity. Oxford university press.
Sudheesh, K., Duggappa, D.R. and Nethra, S.S., 2016. How to write a research proposal?. Indian
journal of anaesthesia, 60(9), p.631.
Lee, V., 2018. Beyond seeking informed consent: Upholding ethical values within the research
proposal. Canadian Oncology Nursing Journal, 28(3), p.222.
Lordkipanidze, R., 2019. My research proposal after experiment findings: Tax on passivity (as
fine in wrestle) for lazy and tax discount for profitable business (sincerely the best
estimation to manly Trump Reforms, which help to urgently needy, and not eternal
loafers by “social” frames). Tbilisi, Charity Partnership for Free Epochal Reserchgate.
net, As E-Research Proposal, 30.
Wu, H., 2019, October. Research proposal: Reliability evaluation of the apache kafka streaming
system. In 2019 IEEE International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering
Workshops (ISSREW) (pp. 112-113). IEEE.
Osawe, T.O., 2018. Mapping international social work education: A research proposal toward
rethinking social work education and professional practice in Nigeria. Transnational
Social Review, 8(3), pp.331-336.

Research Ethics approval form
Section 1: Basic details:
Project title:
Student name:
Student ID number:
Programme:
College Name:
Intended research start date:
Intended research end date:
Section 2 Project summary
Please select all research methods that you plan to use as a part of your
project:
 Interviews Yes No
 Questionnaires Yes No
 Observations Yes No
 Use of personal records Yes No
 Data Analysis Yes No
 Action Research Yes No
 Focus Groups Yes No
 Others (Please specify) :
Section 3: Participants
Please answer the following questions, giving full details where necessary.
Will your research involve human participants?
Who are the participants? Tick all that apply:
Ages 12-16: Young people aged: 17-18 Adults: 18 and above
How will participants be recruited (identified an approached)?

Describe the processes you will use to inform participants about what you are
doing:
Through advertisements
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?
By questionnaire
Studies involving questionnaires: will participants be given the option of
omitting questions that do not wish to answer?
Yes No
If no please explain why below and ensure that you cover any ethical issues
arising from this
Studies involving observation: Confirm whether participants will be asked
for their informed consent to be observed.
Yes No
Will you debrief participants at the end of their participation (i.e 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 brief summary of your findings in general)
Yes No
Section 4: Data Storage and Security
Confirm that all personal data will be stored and processed in compliance
with the Data Protection Act (1998)
Yes No
Who will have access to the data and personal information?
Researcher
During the research:
researcher

Where will the data be stored?
With self
Will mobile devices such as USB storage and laptops be used
Yes No
If Yes, please provide further details:
After the research: Secured
Where will the data be stored? With professor
How long will the data and records be kept for and in what format? Till
completion of course. It will be used for further examination
Will data be kept for use by other researchers? Yes No
Section 5: 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 because of your research. Please consider/address all issues that
may apply. Ethical concerns may include, but are not limited to the following:
 Informed consent.
 Potentially vulnerable participants.
 Sensitive topics
 Risk 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 6: Declaration
I have read, understood and will abide by the institution’s Research and
Ethics Policy: Yes No
I have discussed the ethical issues relating to my research with my Unit
Tutor:
Yes No
I confirm that to the best of my knowledge:
The above information is correct, and this is a full description of the ethical
issues that may arise in the course of my research

Name: Date:
Please submit your completed form to your supervisor and also attach to the
Research Proposal when submitting to Similarity.