Transformational Leadership in the Private Sector in the UK

1.0 Title of Project (20 words)An investigation to establish the impact of transformational leadership in the private sector in the UK; A case study of Starbucks UK.

2.0 Terms of Reference(250 words)

2.1 Purpose: this study looks into transformational leadership approaches as practiced in Starbucks as an organization. The effect of transformational leadership practices is measured against the progress that the company has made both financially as well as through the measurement of other success pointers such as employee satisfaction and retention practices.

2.2 Methods: a qualitative and quantitative study has been undertaken in this study, where a number of employees of the company are surveyed through the use of a questionnaire on the effective leadership practices being engaged by top-notch and branch leadership in the course of daily activities. A number of employees from different departments were surveyed for their opinion on changes since the implementation of transformational leadership practices while a section of the leadership were also surveyed for transformational leadership practices being implemented.

2.3 Expected Outcomes: an increased use of transformational leadership practices saw more worker and leader productivity. Leadership practices that embodied a transformational approach often included a higher participation of employees in decision-making, stronger employee motivation during project implementation and higher overall efficiency in service delivery and quality management.

PART-B: Proposal (Bid for the Knowledge Transfer project with ToRs given in PART-A)

1.0 Title of Project(20 words (Same as PART-A))An investigation to establish the impact of transformational leadership in the private sector in the UK; A case study of Starbucks UK.

2.0 Background and Context(400 words)

2.1 Academic area and general business context of the problem

Transformational leadership approaches to leadership at the workplace have been appraised for their ability to improve performance and increase productivity for employees. As such, this approach has been undertaken in different fields of practice including hospitality, care, production and services industry for the improvement of service delivery. Recently, Starbucks saw this approach as the best in a bid to improve services and ensure quality management is maintained with a growing customer base and the more employment of workers.

New leadership at the company has thus undertaken transformational leadership practices in a bid to ensure that these goals can be met. In a growing world of competition, it has been identified that it would have to start with the leadership of Starbucks if the company is going to stay afloat.

2.2 Specific business context of the problem

the practice of transformational leadership in food services industry has yet to be explored for its effectiveness, as has been the case with other areas such as nursing and business management. This study seeks to engage the employees and management of Starbucks in assessing the success of the implementation of transformational leadership practices in the course of meeting organizational goals for the enterprise.

2.3 Purpose of the proposed study

Research question

This study seeks to investigate the effect of transformational leadership practices at the company. This is especially with regards to the performance of the individuals working for the company as well as other aspects including financial performance and other performance pointers.

2.3.2Research aim

The appraisal of transformational leadership practices has been done severally in many different fields. However, there is limited research concerning the effect of transformational leadership in the service provision industry. This study seeks to investigate the practice in the service industry and determine the effect, if any, of transformational leadership practice in phenomenal enterprise performance.

Furthermore, this research looks into the predominant styles of leadership that were dominant in the enterprise in previous years and their comparison with the performance under transformational leadership to determine if there are any notable differences.

(SMART)Four Research objectives(for Quantitative research)

To determine the effect of transformational leadership practice on the performance of Starbucks.

To compare different leadership practices in Starbucks and their effect on the performance of the company.

Does transformational leadership practice have an effect on the employability of Starbucks?

What is the organizational citizen behaviour in Starbucks under the transformational leadership approach as opposed to other approaches previously used?

2.4 Significance of the proposed study

This study seeks to add on to the limited literature in the area of the effects of transformational leadership practice in the service industry.

3.0 Literature Review(385)

Todays market world presents constantly shifting phenomena, namely markets, technology, and customers. As a result, there is now a higher amount of competition, especially from foreign firms as they infiltrate local markets. Thus, the markets put real pressure on the local companies to ensure that they can outperform their competitors and gain their fair share of the market. Leadership practice has been identified as the most important factor for employee effectiveness in high performance (Avolio & Bass, 1995). Leadership models that are past can thus not be applied in todays changing business environment because of the need for todays leaders to be explorers, rather than followers of guidelines. Transformational leadership practice arose as a different kind of leadership model that embraces the working together of leaders and followers to reveal higher levels of motivation, inter-professional interaction and morality (Burns, 1979). This kind of leadership aligns everyone under common goals and gives them common pursuits by encouraging the challenging of common traditions (Bass, 1985). Empirical evidence has been gathered by scholars on the effectiveness of transformational leadership practice in increasing performance and worker outputs (Shamir, House, & Authur, 1993).

Therefore, transformational leadership practice at Starbucks presents an area of interest as this practice furthers its reaches to the realms of the service industry.

4.0 Methodology(400 words)

4.1Introduction

4.2Research Design

The research is going to be a mixed approach. Qualitative and quantitative data sources are going to be used for this analysis. Information from the financial reports in the last few years are going to be used in measuring the performance of Starbucks in recent years following the implementation of transformational leadership practices. Furthermore, such reports will be key in highlighting the kinds of practices that have been used in the company. The qualitative approach is going to be used to obtain information from the employees concerning work experiences and the specifics of transformational leadership practice as implemented by leaders at the branch level.

4.3 Data collection, analysis and presentation of results

An online questionnaire will be sent out to the employees of the company for response. The questionnaire to be used will have the 5-point Likert scale. Data obtained from the questionnaire will be entered into Excel and analyzed using SPSS software for the determination of results and obtaining deductions.

4.3.1 Starbucks Financial Performance (Use actual title of objective 1)

4.3.1.1 Secondary data(to address objective 1)(if you will use secondary data)

4.3.1.1.1DataCollection

This data will be obtained from financial records and annual reports that the company has reduced. In these, there will be information on new leadership practices being implemented as well as the financial performance that will be highlighted.

4.3.1.1.2Data Analysis

Regression analysis will be used to determine the trends in financial performance of the company during the course of the implementation of transformational leadership practices in Starbucks. This approach should give the study a trend on the financial performance of the company since the beginning of the use of transformational leadership approaches.

Presentation of Results

The results will be tabulated and presented in graphical forms for the ease of noticing trends in the financial performance of the company.

4.3.1.2 Primary data(to address objective 1)(if you will use primary data)

4.3.1.2.1Data Collection

A questionnaire will be used to obtain data from the employees of the company. The questionnaire will address the leadership methods being used, different practices and ratings of the leadership. A correlation with the performance of the company will be done.

4.3..1.2.2Population

Employees of Starbucks that have been working for the company for over 5 years will be the target group for this study as they have seen the transition of the company.

4.3.1.2.3Sampling

Random sampling for this project will be used. Employees who have not met the criteria, that is, have not worked for Starbucks for at least 5 years will not be considered as participants in the study.

4.3.1.2.4Research Participant Protection (Ethics)

Necessary permissions from the relevant company authorities will be obtained before moving into the study with the employees of Starbucks. The questionnaire will also have a statement of privacy as well as the open choice for respondents to withdraw from the survey at any time. The study has also ensured that none of the questions will go contrary to the interests of the respondents.

4.3.1.2.5Data Analysis

Questionnaire data will be analyzed using ANOVA tools in SPSS as well as any other relevant tools, where relationships need to be established.

4.3.1.2.6 Presentation of Results and/or Findings

The results will be tabulated and presented graphically. Further explanations will be offered during the discussion and analysis section of the study.

References

Avolio, B., & Bass, B. (1995). Individual Consideration Viewed at Multiple Levels of Analysis: A Multi-Level Framework for Examining the Diffusion of Transformational Leadership. Leadership Quarterly , 199-215.

Bass, B. (1985). Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations. New York: Free Press.

Burns, J. (1979). Leadershsip. New York: Perennial.

Shamir, B., House, R., & Authur, B. (1993). The Motivational Effects of Charismatic Leadership: A Self-Concept Based Theory. Organization Science , 577-94.

Marks available Marks awarded

Provisional Title

Clarity and precision of title, research question, aim and objectives.

20 Background and Context

Explanation of topic area

Evidence of business/ tourism relevance

20 Literature Review

Critical discussion of academic/ relevant literature on topic related to the

research question.

Use of a good range of books, journal articles, company reports, reliable

web sources where relevant.

20 Methodology

Explanation and justification of proposed data collection and analysis of

methods.

Explanation of sampling

Justification of research method(s) chosen

Attempts to make predictions and recommendations.

20 Presentation, style and quality of English

Structure of presentation

Time management and clarity of delivery

English grammar, spelling and register

10 Referencing

Accurate referencing using the Harvard Reference System.

Suitable use of in-text referencing in relevant sections.

10 Total marks

Agreed Mark