Leadership and Change Management of Woolsworth †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Leadership and Change Management of Woolsworth. Answer: Research Methodology The three major types of research philosophies used for conducting a research are positivism, realism and interpretivism. Positivism philosophy allows the researcher to conduct the research based on the quantifiable observation that eventually helps in statistical analysis of the data (Baskerville Wood-Harper, 2016). Realism philosophy provides an opportunity of continuous researching due to the fact that scientific methods can be imperfect at times. Interpretivism philosophy deals with observations using a particular philosophy of studying the concepts of individuals rather than scientific methods (Yanow Schwartz-Shea, 2015). In the case of this research, the researcher has used positivism philosophy as this provided an opportunity of using factual knowledge and testing of the research aim and objectives in a scientific and statistical manner. Therefore, this will help in evaluating the changes and impact of the leadership skills of Woolsworth CEO on the organisation due to continuous changes in the environment. Research Approach Deductive and inductive are the two most widely used research approaches used by researchers while conducting the research. As commented by Clapham et al., (2012), the concept of deductive approach highlights deducing observations and conclusions based on the previously existing concepts and literatures. This helps in achieving the research aim and objectives by supporting from existing literatures. On the contrary, in the case of inductive approach, new theories and concepts are developed based on the observations of the research. As a result, the researcher emphasises more on observations rather than research questions. In this case, the researcher has used a deductive approach as this is most suitable for positivism philosophy. Moreover, the use of deductive approach has also provided an opportunity to test the role of leadership of the Woolsworth CEO and support the observation with previously existing concepts and literatures. Research Design Descriptive, explanatory and exploratory are the three widely used research designs while conducting a research. Explanatory design emphasises more on explaining the reasons of the phenomenon along with the predictions of future occurrences. As mentioned by Creswell (2013), exploratory design evaluates the issues, hypothesis testing and clarifying different concepts related to the topic. However, in the case of descriptive design, a detailed analysis and descriptive study is conducted including both exploratory and explanatory designs. In the case of this current research, descriptive design has been used as this provides an opportunity to clarify the aim and objective of the topic. This will also allow understanding the challenges faced by the Woolsworth CEO while implementing the leadership styles within the organisation. Data Collection Method The two main types of data collection methods are primary and secondary data collection methods. Secondary data collection includes information collected from books and journals. On the contrary, primary data is collected by both qualitative and quantitative methods (Sullivan-Bolyai, Bova Singh, 2012). In this case, qualitative data collection methods have been used in order to understand the impact of leadership on the organisations and its effect due to continuous environmental changes. Sampling Method Probability and non-probability are the two sampling methods used in the case of researches. As mentioned by Cohen, Manion Morrison (2013), probability sampling is the method of sampling that selects the participants randomly. This provides an equal opportunity for the participants to be selected. On the contrary, in the case of non-probability, the participants have no idea of being selected. The participants are selected arbitrarily. In this case, probability sampling technique has been used as Woolsworth CEO are chosen to understand the impact of leadership. Research Strategy There are different types of research strategies that are generally selected based on the kind of research. The different types of research strategies are case study, action research, survey and interviews. In this case, interview has been selected as the research strategy as this has provided an opportunity of developing a deeper understanding of the impact of change in leadership that ultimately helped Woolsworth in gaining competitive advantage in Australian market. Ethical Consideration Ethical considerations have to be followed while conducting a research. According to the ethical considerations, the participants have to participate willingly rather than forcefully to be a part of the research. Moreover, the identity of the participants has to be kept confidential and cannot be disclosed without their consent (Ritchie et al., 2013). Leadership traits: The CEO of Woolworths is responsible for the implementation of both short-term and long-term plans of the company. Woolworths CEO has unveiled his long-term strategies for the food and liquor department with the motive of restoring sales growth up to 4%. While in case of short-term strategies, Woolworths CEO had suggested implementation of a new SAP system so that the reduced sales in the food department due to changes in the Chinese import laws could be solved. The CEO of Woolworths expects the implementation of the new SAP system shall assist in reducing the out-of-stock levels. Woolworths CEO focuses on fixing the basic issues such as high turnover of employees and the out-of-stock levels. The major change brought by Woolworths CEO was implementation of gender equaliy. According to Woolworths CEO, gender equality shall be ensured only with pay equalities. Woolworths had approximately 16000 employees who work full time and the gender pay gap was around 0.5% which the CEO wanted to eradicate. This was necessary to equalise the pay of the women working in Woolworths. Woolworths also aimed at increasing the number of indigenous employees. Woolworths CEO aimed at having the percentage of indigenous staff equivalent to the percentage of indigenous people in the Australian population. The CEO aimed at having 3500 indigenous members in the team. The major aim of including the indigenous staff is to increase the retention rate of the employees. Woolworths CEO also aimed at reducing the food wastes in the operations by associating with charity organizations and providing food to the homeless. This defines the leadership qualities of the Woolworths CEO (Du et al., 2013). Contingency model of leadership: The Fiedlers contingency model of leadership effectiveness lays stress on the relationship between leadership and the performance of the organization. According to the contingency theory, it becomes necessary to assess the leader according to the traits and situations faced by the leader in order to ensure group effectiveness. Considering the need, a least preferred co-worker (LPC) scale was developed and the leaders were asked about the person least likely to work with. The effectiveness of leadership is determined by the leadership style and the favourableness of the situation. Leadership challenges faced by Woolworths: The following are the leadership challenges faced by the company: Supermarket: Woolworths is required to increase its sales and redefine the perception around prices. The sales of the supermarket has witnessed a downfall while Coles sales increased considerably. The earnings of Woolworths collapsed due to the need of cutting down the prices in order to win back the customers. The investors have also been waiting since a long time to witness improvement in the conditions of the company. Therefore, a great challenge lies for the CEO of Woolworths to restore the sales of the supermarket. Restoring market confidence: The CEO of Woolworths faces the biggest challenge of restoring the lost market confidence of the supermarket as it faces tough competition from its competitors. A great responsibility lies with the CEO of Woolworths to rectify the wrong past blunders of themanagement in terms of public relations and ad-hoc strategies. Replacement: The major leadership challenge for the CEO of Woolworths is to find out his own replacement who will be able to manage the company efficiently. Make the business competitive again: The challenge lies with the CEO of Woolworths to make the company competitive again as it used to be the supermarket giant in the past (Maak, Pless Voegtlin, 2016). Conclusion: Therefore, the leadership style to be adopted must be of a collaborator. Equal emphasis must be laid on the task as well as the people. High expectations must be set and the area of concern must be the results. The leader must engage the employees in the decision-making processes to make them feel wanted and important in the organization. The major focus should be on win-win solutions so that Woolworths is able to restore its position within a short span of time. The win-win solution emphasizes on finding a solution that is accepted by both the parties involved. In such a situation, both the parties are the winners and they feel satisfied as they are mutually benefitted from the decision (Gnzel-Jensen et al., 2017). The leader must encourage responsibility in the organization so that the members work as a team in the establishment of the objectives of the organization and achieving common goals. Improvement in the performance of the employees enhances the efficiency of the CEO. This enhancement has the capability of bringing development in the leadership skills of Woolworth CEO. This development has deep correlation with the tag of great man, which enhances the individuality of the CEO (Goleman, Boyatzis McKee, 2013). Therefore, it can be concluded that a good leadership style and behaviour can bring massive changes in the overall profitability of an organization. References Baskerville, R. L., Wood-Harper, A. T. (2016). A critical perspective on action research as a method for information systems research. InEnacting Research Methods in Information Systems: Volume 2(pp. 169-190). Springer International Publishing. Clapham, M., Nevin, O. T., Ramsey, A. D., Rosell, F. (2012). A hypothetico-deductive approach to assessing the social function of chemical signalling in a non-territorial solitary carnivore.PloS one,7(4), e35404. Cohen, L., Manion, L., Morrison, K. (2013).Research methods in education. Routledge. Creswell, J. W. (2013).Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications. Du, S., Swaen, V., Lindgreen, A., Sen, S. (2013). The roles of leadership styles in corporate social responsibility.Journal of business ethics,114(1), 155-169. Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., McKee, A. (2013).Primal leadership: Unleashing the power of emotional intelligence. Harvard Business Press. Gnzel-Jensen, F., Hansen, J. R., Jakobsen, M. L. F., Wulff, J. (2017). A Two-Pronged Approach? Combined Leadership Styles and Innovative Behavior.International Journal of Public Administration, 1-14. Maak, T., Pless, N. M., Voegtlin, C. (2016). Business Statesman or Shareholder Advocate? CEO Responsible Leadership Styles and the Micro?Foundations of Political CSR.Journal ofManagement Studies,53(3), 463-493. Ritchie, J., Lewis, J., Nicholls, C. M., Ormston, R. (Eds.). (2013).Qualitative research practice: A guide for social science students and researchers. Sage. Sullivan-Bolyai, S., Bova, C., Singh, M. D. (2012). Data-collection methods.Nursing Research in Canada: Methods, Critical Appraisal, and Utilization, 287. Yanow, D., Schwartz-Shea, P. (2015).Interpretation and method: Empirical research methods and the interpretive turn. Routledge.