Investigating Implementation of Strategic leadership Changes in Uk Retail sector

Abstract

Leadership and management are important for the organisations to set clear goals and objectives and lead the employees efficiently towards achieving the success. The research focuses on analysing the implementation of strategic leadership changes in the recent era of 21st century, where the leaders aim at changing their leadership style and managerial principles in order to manage the workforce and expatriates successfully. The introduction is effective with the aim and objectives of the research which are exploring the leadership change and identifying the impacts of the strategic leadership changes in the workplace. The literature review of the research explores various secondary literature sources, books, journals and articles in order to identify the strategic leadership changes and the managerial practice at the workplace. The books and journals are effective where the researcher can improve the understanding and conduct the research by in depth analysis and evaluation. In the methodology chapter, the researcher selected the deductive approach and the positivism philosophy in order to conduct this research efficiently. Ethical consideration by protecting the data and ensuring data safety are fruitful for the researcher to complete the study. The researcher selected secondary data collection method and conduct the study through qualitative data analysis technique. The discussion and evaluation are effective which explore that, there is strategic leadership changing the retail industry of the UK where the firms choose to implement transformational leadership style and change the internal workplace culture for managing the employees at home country and also maintaining good bonding with the expatriates. The conclusion and recommendation will be there for providing suggestions to the retail firms to improve their leadership practice for managing the employees successfully. If you are looking for business dissertation help, this research is going to provide you with the most valuable insights and guidance for your academic pursuits.

Acknowledgement

This research has been the greatest learning opportunity for me throughout the entire course; and it would have been difficult without the patient valuable and constructive support, and guidance provided by my lecturer. His/her commitment and passion to teach further inspired me at a time when I felt lack of confidence. I feel confident to complete my course in Management with effective support and advice from my peers. I would like to thank various people for their contribution to this research project. I wish to thank my fellow members and colleagues for making each and every day a challenge, as well as their support and encouragement during this study are also fruitful for me to get motivation and also I am blessed with supportive family members. I also get cooperation and support from the employees and managers at the human resource department of the retail organisations of the UK, who are the major participants in my research. Without their cooperation and response, it would not be possible for me to gather relevant and valid information about the internal process of change management to conduct this study with appropriate analysis and evaluation.

Introduction

The research is related to evaluating the implementation process of strategic leadership change in the organisations, mainly in the UK retail firms, where the retail organisations face challenges to gain competitive advantage and they try to increase creativity to manage their operations through changed initiatives (Ansoff et al., 2018). The introduction includes the background of the study as well as significance of the research which develops clear idea behind the reason and aim of the research. After that, the introduction chapter is effective for the researcher to develop suitable aim and objectives of the research to create good understanding and set clear aim to conduct the research efficiently. The research questions are also there which are appropriate to develop research plan for completing the study with in depth analysis and evaluation.

Background of the study

The retail organisations in the UK focus on strategic management and lead the changed initiatives and this study provides a scope to evaluate the process of implementing strategic change in the organisation (Ojwang, 2016). The leaders and managers face high competitive threats and the threat of the substitute products which influence them to adopt new strategic changes in the organisation. The organisations in the recent years try to manage strategic change in the workplace where the leaders are able to manage the workforce and create good corporate culture for better management. The firms try to expand their business across the globe through managing the employees and other stakeholders by developing strategic changed initiatives. There is technological advancement through Information Technology (IT) infrastructural development, leading to automation and robotics and marketing and finance which have important impacts on the organisational activities, which further influence the entrepreneurs to identify new strategic changes in the workplace and manage the working activities for enhancing the brand creativity and innovation (Ramanathan et al., 2017). The organisations also try to expand their operational activities through strategic change and in this regard the employee management is mandatory as the employees are playing crucial role to manage the workforce and create good corporate culture to fulfil the organisational vision.

Rationale of the study

This particular research is about analysing the strategic leadership changes in the workplace of the multinational corporations mainly in the UK retail sector. In the recent era of globalisation, the organisations under the retail sector of the UK are growing at a rapid rate and the brands are efficient to manage their operations in long run. During the brand expansion, the business leaders of the organisations are also looking for technological innovation and company creativity to serve the customers in the retail sector (Filimonau and Gherbin, 2017). As per the figure below, it has been seen that there is sustainable grot hint he UK retail sector and the sales volume of the organisations are also growing at an increasing rate. In June, 2020, there was 13.9% growth in the retail sector of the UK and it is predicted that, there would be high and sustainable growth in future in the retail sector. The customer’s base is also strong and the major brands operating in the UK retail sector are such as Tesco, Sainsbury, Wal-Mart and Morrison’s, which are expanding their business across the globe and operating in the UK retail industry efficiently (Nash, 2019). Hence, the strategic leaders of the organisations are looking for new solutions and creative decision for the business to maximise the brand performance and gain the organisational market share in long run.

UK retail sector growt

(Source: Filimonau and Gherbin, 2017)

In this context, the corporate leaders try to expand their business trough managing all the stakeholders and in this regard the leadership style must be developed efficiently through change management process (Tudor, 2018). The organisational leaders try to manage the employees through strategic leadership change and in this regard the leaders face issues at the workplace such as resistance to change, internal conflicts, lack of understanding and mistrust, lack of communication and collaboration (Birasnav and Bienstock, 2019). The corporate leaders in this regard try to manage the internal process and the research is effective to identify and analyse the strategic leadership changes at the workplace that would be beneficial for the leaders of the corporate firms in the UK retail sectors to manage the workplace and retain the employees for fulfilling the company vision and objectives.

Aim and objectives of the research

The aim of the research is to analyse the implementation of strategic change in the UK retail sector.

Research objectives

The objectives of the research are such as,

To acknowledge the models of leadership and change management

To analyse the leadership changed practice in the organisations

To evaluate the leadership and managerial practice in the UK retail firms to adopt the strategic changes in the workplace

To recommend some suitable suggestions through which it is possible to provide effective tactics of improving the leadership changes in the UK retail firms

Research questions

What are the models of leadership and change management?

What are the changed leadership practices in the organisations?

How does the leadership and managerial practice in the UK retail firms provide a scope to adopt the strategic changes in the workplace?

What would be the recommend suggestions through which it is possible to provide effective tactics of improving the leadership changes in the UK retail firms?

Significance of the study

The study is beneficial to analyse the implementation of the strategic leadership change in the organisation for identifying the leadership practice and change management process in the UK retail sector. The organisational leaders are important to lead the business firms efficiently towards achieving the future success and in this regard, the study is also effective to identify the strategic change management process in the retail organisations of the UK. The theories and models of change management and the leadership style such as transformational leadership and situational leadership practice are also advantageous for increasing the understanding about strategic change management. On the other hand, the Lewin’s change management model and the human resource management strategic planning are also reviewed which are beneficial to propos further recommendation to the organisational leader in the UK retail sector to develop the suitable leadership practice and manage the change through maintain the employee morale and organisational commitment towards them.

Literature review

The second chapter is literature review which is beneficial for the researcher to review the existing secondary sources of information for conducting the study efficiently. Through this chapter, it is possible for the researcher to collect the theories and concepts of the research topic as well as improve own understanding and knowledge to conduct the study in a systematic way. The existing theories on the strategic leadership changes as well as the organisational tactics to lead the changes in the organisation will provide a scope to the researcher to identify the leadership skill and strategy to lead the employees towards achieving success. The literature review is also advantageous to understand the impacts of the strategic leadership changes in the organisation and discuss the potential strategies to develop appropriate leadership style and managerial practice for leading the employees towards achieving the organisational success. Hence, literature review is effective for the researcher to gather a vast range of theories and model for conducting the study efficiently.

Entrepreneurship skill for strategic leadership

The skill and capabilities of the strategic leaders are necessary to lead the strategic change in the workplace, where the change leaders are crucial role in the organisation for managing the organisational activities and growth the firm efficiently in long run. The strategic leaders must be good in decision making behaviour in order to develop effective strategic planning for the organisation and develop suitable leadership style and managerial practice so that the organisational leader and the management team and lead the employees towards achieving the future success (Wiesner, Chadee and Best, 2018). The skills of the strategic leaders in the organisation are such as cooperative behaviour, communication skill, initiator, strategic thinking skill, problem solving and decision making skill and on the other hand having time management skill, resource investigator and creative analytical skill are also good or the strategic leaders in the organisation, where they would be able to manage the organisational activities efficiently in long run. on the other hand, the strategic leader have curiosity to explore innovative as well as maximise efficiency, resilience financial skill and networking in doing the business globally in the recent era of globalisation, the strategic leaders try to improve their innovation by developing problem solving and the creative analytical skill, so that they are able to manage the organisational operational activities and maintain the workforce efficiently to achieve the future aim of the firm (Morden, 2016).

The critical analytical skill and the problem solving skill of the strategic leaders are beneficial where the leaders try to explore new alternative solution for the business and improve business creativity to achieve the future sustainable development. On the other hand, the time management skill is also necessary where the leader can maintain schedule to perform better and manage all the tasks at the organisational workplace (Naidoo and Gasparatos, 2018). In addition to this, the strategic leaders are responsible to create good organisational vision and mission, establish the organisational structure and communication protocols in the workplace in order to manage the working activities and expand the business efficiently. For strategic leadership change, these roles and responsibilities are important, where the leaders are able to manage the workforce and lead them successfully through high communication and cooperation. On the other hand, delegate and power influence are also beneficial to manage the followers and develop suitable strategic planning for leading the organisational change (Asghar and Oino, 2017). Hereby, the strategic leaders are the effective role model in the workplace where the leaders decide the organisational vision and develop appropriate strategic planning for achieving the future success and thus the above mentioned leadership skill are also beneficial for the leaders to make fair decision and lead the organisational changes for the benefits of the companies in long run.

Leadership style for change management

The strategic leadership change is mandatory for the organisational leaders to develop successful leadership style and managerial practice in the workplace. This further provides an opportunity to the organisational leader to develop corporate brand n culture and structure of the company in near future, where it is possible for the organisations to manage the workforce as well as maintain the relationship with the stakeholders in long run. It is mandatory for the leaders to develop corporate strategy and choose appropriate leadership style for managing the organisational activities through successful change management practice (Golensky and Hager, 2020). In this regard, the transformational and transactional leadership style is effective to choose proper way to lead the team and manage changes in the companies.

The transformational leadership style is mainly related to influencing the employee appreciation and communication through continuous motivation. In this regard, the leaders try to adopt the transformational leadership style in order to maximise motivational activities in the organisation (Jabbar and Hussein, 2017). The corporate leaders try to encouraging the employee’s creativity and innovation in the workplace and in this regard there are several incentives and non-monetary rewards which further motivate the employees for better management and participation. The leaders also focus on creating good corporate culture under the transformational leadership style through strategic change, where managing transparency and accountability, as well as fairness, involvement with the employees and other stakeholders of the business, such as customers, suppliers and distributors and the managers and respect each staff in the workplace are mandatory for the leaders (Sahani, 2020). In this regard, the ethical practice of employment rules and legislations as well as organisational ethics is managed well by the strategic leader during the change. Indivi8duaol traits are also maximised, where the leaders value each staff and empower them efficiently in the workplace for understanding their perception. This further helps the leader to lead the strategic change principles by empowering all the staff members in the workplace. On the other hand, the individuals experience, the scope for the personal and professional’s career development as well as the structured salary and equality in the workplace also motivate the employees for managing their performance and contributing efficiently in the organisational visions (Viitala, Kultalahti and Kangas, 2017).

In addition to this, the strategic leader also focuses on improving the behaviour in the workplace to lead the changes by involving all the staff members in the organisation. The inspirational motivation, continuous support and communication of the leaders lead the changes inefficiently where it is possible for the strategic leader to develop strong bonding and corporate relationship with the stakeholders (Lang, Crosby and Kwong, 2016). Idealised behaviour and individuals characteristics of the stakeholder are managed well where the leaders try to understand the perception of each staff and manage them efficiently by fulfilling their needs and aspirations in the organisation. Intellectual stimulation is also possible under this leadership style where the strategic leaders try to change the internal organisational process and arrange effective training and development program for increasing the skill and abilities of the employees (van der Schans, 2020). On the other hand, increased group focus and communication are also possible where the leaders try to manage change through sharing authentic sources of information and data with the employees which further helps them to create bonding and improve trust towards the leader about the decision, made for change management. On the other hand, the strategic leaders aim to manage the organisational commitment towards each stakeholder and maintain the business ethics as well efficiently. Hence, through the leadership changes and strategies to manage the corporate culture and the stakeholders, it is possible to lead the change and develop suitable leadership practice in the workplace (Akhtar, Kaur and Punjaisri, 2017).

Situational leadership style

(Source: Akhtar, Kaur and Punjaisri, 2017)

On the situational leadership style is also mandatory for the strategic leadership change in order to improve the organisational culture and leadership style to lead the employees as well as manage the organisational stakeholders in long run. Through the strategic leadership change, it is possible for the leaders of the corporate brands to manage the workforce sustainably and lead them towards achieving the organisational changed initiatives. In this regard, as per the model of situational leadership, there are four ways to develop the leadership style, which are supporting, delegating, directing and coaching (Shao, 2019). Under supporting style, the leaders are highly supportive and there is low direction from the end of the leaders. Under the delegating leadership style, both the supportive and directive behaviours are low which may hamper the workplace practice. Under directing, there is low support and high directive behaviour towards each employee. Under the coaching leadership style, the leaders are trying to support and direct the employees by sharing authentic information and valid data with them. The organisational strategic leaders are hereby beneficial to follow the coaching leadership style during the strategic change management so that the employees can get continuous support and direction for better management.

Change management strategy

Change management practice and the strategic leadership change are strongly connected to each other where through the change process, the leaders try to improve their leadership style and managerial practice in the workplace which further provides a scope to the leader to strategise the whole organisational activities and develop suitable corporate culture for better management of the business. In the recent era of globalisation, the organisations try to manage change in the workplace and lead the employees efficiently through enhancing communication and cooperation (Joyce, P., 2016). The changes are implemented in the workplace due to maximising the organisational aims and improving their performance in long run, so that the employees can contribute creatively to achieve future success. In this regard, the Lewin’s change management model is effective for the strategic leadership change, where the leaders can lead the employees by following suitable changes in the workplace. As per the model, there are three stages such as unfreezing, change and refreeze (Wilbur et al., 2020).

Lewin’s change model

As per the first stage of unfreeze, the strategic leaders try to determine the changes, ensure particular support and cooperation in the workplace as well as create the necessity of change in the workplace (Covin and Slevin, 2017). The strategic leaders try to manage their working activities in the workplace through determining the needs to change. The leaders also ensure that there is strong support and bonding from the management team and the employees. Strategic leadership change is also beneficial where the leaders try to create urgency of change and identify the needs for the changes so that the leaders can share the thoughts and principles of change with the employees, this further helps to manage the staff members and understand their doubts for better employee management. Under the second stage of change, the organisational leader focuses on enhancing internal communication and dispels rumours for managing the strategic leadership changes (Wang, 2018). The organisational structural development and decision making behaviour are conducted by empowering the employees in the workplace and this is one of the major strategic changes where the leaders are able to involve the individuals in the workplace and give them fair chance to participate in the organisational decision making behaviour during the change process.

In the third stage of refreeze, the organisational strategic leaders try to anchor the changes into the organisational culture, developing the ways to sustain the change and provide support and training to the employees to celebrate the organisational success. Hereby, the strategic leadership change is a systematic process, where the leaders try to involve with the employees and develop effective corporate culture and organisational structure to manage the employees and lead them efficiently (Bosire, 2018). The leaders try to enhance internal communication as well as maximise cooperation in the workplace to develop effective working process and in this regard the aim of the strategic leader is to create partnership working practice in order to manage the team and maximise the organisational vision through collaborating working practice. Through the strategic leadership style, the leaders are also able to manage the corporate culture and create bonding among the employees during the change initiatives taken place in the organisation (Kakucha, Simba and Anwar, 2018). The strategic leaders also efficient to arrange training and development program for the leaders to lead them and enhance their performance and this is also beneficial to provide personal and professional development opportunity for the staff which motivate ate them to participate in the company and contribute efficiently to achieve the strategic vision, set by the organisational leader.

Human resource strategy under strategic change

The stakeholders of the organisation are important to run the business efficiently and there are internal and external stakeholders who contribute efficiently to establish the organisation sustainably. The major external stakeholders are such as government, customers and social communities as well as the suppliers and the distributors (Edwards, Raheem and Dampson, 2017). On the other hand, the internal stakeholders of the business are such as managers, employees, owners and shareholders who are important to operate the business activities by effectives strategic planning. In this regard, during the strategic leadership change, it is mandatory for the organisation to manage the human resource mainly the shareholders, managers and employees who are playing crucial role in managing the business activities and achieving the organisational aim and objectives in long run (Coban, Ozdemir and Pisapia, 2019). The organisational strategic leaders are able to manage the stakeholders by developing effective changes in leadership style, managing change and involving the managers and employees to create good corporate culture. In this context, the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and the Herzberg’s two factor theories are effective for the organisational leader to manage the workforce and lead the change through developing effective leadership style.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

According to the model of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, there are five difference needs of the employees in the workplace and the strategic leader aims at fulfilling the needs and preferences in order to manage god workforce and maintain the strategic changes efficiently in the workplace (Kitsios and Kamariotou, 2017). The needs are such as physiological needs, safety and security, love and belongingness, as well as self esteem and self actualisation which are mandatory to be met in order to lead the employees towards achieving the changed initiatives. The organisational leaders in this regard try to create new incentives and rewards for the employees as well as develop structured salary for the staff to motivate them in long run. This is one of the effective strategies to lead the change and fulfil the basic needs of the employees. On the other hand, the needs of safety and security is mandatory and in this regard during the strategic leadership change, the organisational leader try to manage the job security, protect the data of the employees and provide them safe workplace to perform better. These are the effective strategic planning for the organisation to manage the workplace and create safety and security for the staff members (Norzailan, Yusof and Othman, 2016).

The third needs are such as love and belongings where the employees try to create social bonding and improve trust. It is also the role of the strategic leader to create good bonding and develop strong corporate relationship to involve the staff and fulfil their needs and aspirations. The leaders and the managers also try to create good corporate culture with strong bonding so that the partnership working practice can be developed by the organisational leaders to enhance the changed initiatives and create good leadership style for better management. Self esteem includes achievement at the workplace, confidence and the respect for each other and here also there is necessity of the strategic leadership change, where the leaders can develop suitable corporate culture with trust and respect among the employees so that they can get best workplace to perform better. On the other hand, self actualisation is also necessary to be fulfilled by recognition at the workplace, increasing creativity and innovation of the employees, and ensuring morality, these are mandatory to be managed well under the working practice of the organisation. Through the strategic leadership changes, the corporate leaders try to develop these strategies to create values for the employees as well as manage the expatriates for expanding their business across the international borders.

Herzberg’s two factor theory

On the other hand, the Herzberg’s two factor theory is also another effective way to improve the leadership strategic planning to manage the workforce and lead the organisation successfully. As per the model, there are mainly two factors, one is motivational and other is hygienic. Under the motivational factors, the strategies of achievement, recognition, responsibility, the working practice, advancement and the personal growth are mandatory to engage the staff members and lead them towards achieving the changed initiatives. Through the change leadership process, the leaders try to restructure their working practice and organisational culture in order to manage the whole workforce (Bailey et al., 2018). The leadership style can be developed through the strategic changes and it further influence the leaders to develop effective tactic to motivate the stakeholders to participate in the company for better management and running the business efficiently. The achievement and recognition are mandatory at the workplace, where the staff members can get motivated and contribute efficiently for achieving higher. Through continuous motivation it is possible to lead the employees towards strategic change management process and in this regard, the leaders are also collaborating to share clear roles and responsibilities of each staff as well as develop suitable working practice for better management. Hence, the job structure, clear roles and idea to perform in the workplace as well as recognition and the opportunity of personal and professional development are effective for the leaders to become a successful leader and fulfil the organisational aim successfully (Cameron and Green, 2019).

On the other hand, the hygienic factors are also mandatory for the organisation, to manage the workforce and under these factors; the strategies are such as supervisor quality, wages and salary, working condition, co-worker relation as well as the policies and practice of the organisation (Ojwang, 2016). These are mandatory to be managed well to become a successful strategic leader. Through the strategic leadership change, it is possible for the leaders to develop suitable leadership style as well as change the organisational practice to create values for the stakeholders as a whole. Through restructuring the salary and wages as well as developing the performance related pay and incentives at the workplace, it is possible to provide monetary incentives to the employees and this is one of the major motivational factors to retain the employees and manage them during the changed initiatives. On the other hand, the supervisor quality and the monitoring process are also effective to manage the workforce where co-worker relationship, trust and respect for each other are helpful to manage the organisational workplace and it is possible for the leader to lead the changes sustainably (Armstrong and Taylor, 2020). In addition to this, the organisational leader also focuses on developing suitable organisational culture and workplace condition to maintain safety and security of the staff at the workplace. The ethical practice and employment rules, legislation, managing transparency and accountability and developing fair decision are also the strategies of the corporate leader to manage the workplace and contribute positively to achieve future organisational success.

Impacts of strategic leadership change

The Strategic changes are important for the organisations to enhance the capabilities of the firm and maximise its performance for gaining high competitive advantage (Cameron and Green, 2019). The process of strategic change includes diagnosing the need for change, stakeholder analysis, reallocation of the organisational resources, creating change network, building team, managing resistance to change, enhancing communication and collaboration, implementing the changed initiatives efficiently (Schilling and Shankar, 2019). The strategic leadership is important for the organisation to achieve the strategic aim and objectives of the business as well as the leaders are also capable of developing suitable corporate culture for the business. The corporate culture and the internal structure of the organisation can be developed by the strategic leadership changes, where the leaders are able to manage the workforce and distribute the roles and responsibilities efficiently in the workplace.

Hence, the strategic leadership changes are important for the leaders to monitor the progress and review the working activities in the organisation for restructuring the business activities and creating new wings for the business success (Boon et al., 2018). Developing strong corporate relationship with all the stakeholders of the business including the employees, customers, suppliers and distributors as well as the management team, government, social communities and shareholders is also possible for the strategic leaders during the change., the leaders and the managers can cooperate with each other during the change process where the leaders can review and monitor the workplace and improve the leadership style and managerial practice for successful strategic change and it has crucial impacts on the working activities, organisational growth and performance. There is strong linkage between the strategic leadership change and the organisational performance where the main aim of the strategic leader is to maximise the organisational performance and achieve future success for long run.

On the other hand, through the strategic leadership change, the strategic leaders can develop suitable corporate culture and the structured workforce with clear roles and responsibilities, which further motivates the employees for working better and contributing positively in the organisation for achieving the future success (Schilling and Shankar, 2019). The leadership style and managerial practice can be improved which further encourage the employees and developing the partnership working practice can also be possible for the strategic leader to lead the employees towards achieving the future success. During the change, the leaders can manage the internal conflicts, reduce the chance of misunderstanding and creating good bonding among the followers through developing effective human resource management strategic planning and thus there is great impacts of the strategic leadership change on the human resource management tactics, where it is possible for the leaders and the managers to manage the workforce and lead the employees successfully (Berman et al., 2019). Gaining the high competitive advantage in the market, establishing the business successfully as well as business expansion are also the benefits of the strategic leadership changes, where the workplace activities are managed well as well as the strategic leaders try to be innovative and technological advanced for successful change management where the leaders try to lead the employees towards change to serve the customers in a better and unique way, this further helps the firm to maximise creativity and technological innovation which is advantageous for the businesses to grab the market opportunities and establish the business sustainably.

Summary

The literature review is hereby beneficial for the researcher to gather a vast range of theories and concepts related to the above mentioned research topic. The aim of the research as well as the objectives can be fulfilled through this study, where the researcher would be able to gather more authentic data and information and collect relevant information for further in depth analysis and evaluation. The researcher reviewed the theories such as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Herzberg’s two factor theories which are beneficial to identify the tactics to manage strategic changes in the workplace where the leaders can manage the stakeholders mainly the employees for retaining them and encouraging their creativity to perform better. On the other hand, the review of the leadership style and the concepts of leadership practice in the organisation are also beneficial where transformational leadership and management and situational leadership theory are effective for the researcher to progress in the research and complete it by fulfilling all the research questions. Hence, the above discussed theories and concepts are fruitful for the researcher to understand the strategic leadership changes and analyse the research topic more efficiently by gathering more authentic data and relevant information.

Research Methodology

The third chapter research methodology is beneficial for this study, where the researcher has the scope to select the right method of conducting the business project efficiently. Through choosing the right data collection and data analysis method, the researcher would be able to gather authentic data sources and analyse it efficiently to progress in the paper and maximise the above mentioned research topic. The research onion in this regard is helpful to select the best methods and develop effective planning to conduct the research in a systematic way

Research onion

Research philosophies

There are three types of research philosophies which are interpretivism, realism and positivism. Interpretivism philosophy is effective where the researcher is able to interpret the data and influence the data with the social existence and theories. On the realism is also effective to link the theories with the reality in the society (Brannen, 2017). Positivism philosophy refers to analysing the data and information related to the research topic by effective inclusion of the human being where the individuals can share their feedback. In this regard, the researcher will choose the positivism research philosophy for conducting the study efficiently by engaging the individuals so that effective data and information would be gathered efficiently for in-depth analysis.

Research approaches

Inductive and deductive research approaches are the major two approaches of the study where the inductive approached is totally different to the deductive approaches (Brannen, 2017). The inductive approach indicates that the researcher will collect and analyse the data and information efficiently in order to develop appropriate theory and concepts for successful completion of the project. On the other hand, the deductive approach is related to gathering the theories and concepts related to the research topic and then analyse and evaluate the data for concluding the research topic. In this study, the researcher will choose the deductive approaches in order to conduct this study efficiently. Firstly, the researcher reviews the theories and concepts related to the strategic leadership changes in the retail organisations as well as collect the other relevant data. After that, the researcher will be going to analyse and evaluate the collected data and information to fulfil the research aim and objectives.

Data collection

There are two types of data collection method are primary and secondary data collection which are beneficial for managing the research activities and completing it successfully. The primary data collection method is related to gathering the data from the first hand sources like survey, questionnaire, case study analysis and interview (Brannen, 2017). On the other hand, the secondary data collection method refers to gathering the data from the books, journals, articles and online published articles. Gathering the authentic data and relevant information are mandatory for the researcher to conduct the study and in this regard, the researcher selects the secondary method to complete the study efficiently. The secondary data collection is beneficial to review the secondary sources of information where the research will focus on case study analysis for gathering the information of the retail organisations Tesco, Sainsbury and Wal-Mart and conducting in-depth analysis and evaluation. In this regard, the researcher will review the annual report of the organisations, income statement, and the business news of the retail firms Tesco, Sainsbury and Wal-Mart in order to gather information.

Data analysis

The data analysis method includes the quantitative and qualitative data analysis. Both the analytical tools are effective for conducting the in-depth analysis and evaluation. The quantitative analysis method is related to analysing the collected data and information on the basis of the charts, graphs and statistical tools (Brannen, 2017). On the other hand, the qualitative data analysis method is done through thematic analysis, in-depth evaluation through applying the secondary sources of information. In this particular study, the researcher will choose the qualitative data analysis method in order to analyse the secondary sources of information efficiently through the thematic analysis procedure.

Ethical consideration

The researcher maintains research ethics in this paper and maintains respect and integrity to include the managers of the retail corporations. The researcher respects each member and convinces them to take active part in the research in order to manage the research objectives and complete the study by gathering relevant data and information. The researcher tries to maintain relevancy and validity of the collected data and organisational information which will be kept safely under Data Protection Act 1998. Moreover, relevant and valid data are included in this study to fulfil the research questions and identify the strategic leadership changes in the retail organisations. Additionally, due to this pandemic era for COVID 19, the researcher avoid primary data collection method, and the secondary data collection and managing reliability of the data are effective for the research to conduct this study efficiently.

Chapter 4: Findings and discussion

Introduction

The fourth chapter is findings and discussion where it analyses the gathered data and information for fulfilling the above mentioned research aim and objectives. The researcher tries to conduct case study analysis through gathering the authentic data and information about annual report and business news of the famous retail firms Tesco, Sainsbury and Wal-Mart. The qualitative data analysis by gathering the secondary information would be helpful for the researcher to complete the above mentioned research aim and objectives. The collected data and information will be represented further through discussion and evaluation, where thematic analysis will be adopted. The researcher will develop different themes for further in depth analysis and evaluation of the collected data about the organisations Tesco, Sainsbury and Wal-Mart.

Data findings and Discussion

Through the qualitative analysis it is possible to discuss the secondary data collected through case study analysis and in this regard the thematic analysis is one of the best ways to analyse the data findings. By considering the case studies of Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Wal-Mart, it is possible to develop the themes for in-depth analysis and evaluation, where the researcher tries to review the case studies, business report and annual report of the companies to gather the authentic secondary information.

Leadership style plays a crucial role in managing strategic leadership change in the organisation

In Tesco, there is transactional leadership style, where the rewards are given to the employees who are performing efficiently in the workplace and on the other hand, there is punishment for the staff who is suffering from lack of efficiency and capability. Additionally, the leader of the company also follows the hierarchy structure and makes decision on its own without discussing it with the employees (Tesco, 2020). The leaders try to create the corporate culture in the workplace and manage the workforce through suitable hierarchy and managing seniority. As per the findings, there are structured organisational departments in the organisation which are beneficial for the management team to handle their employees and develop strong team for maximising the performance of each department. The findings reveal that, there is systematic leadership approach in Sainsbury’s with effective management and mainly the leader of the firm follows situational leadership style for better support and direction to lead the employees towards achieving the organisational success. The leader is cooperative and supportive in the workplace, where training and development program for the employees as well as the direction of the leaders is also effective to lead the team members efficiently towards achieving the future success. In the organisation, the leader develops hierarchical structure for managing the team members and the managers focus on enhancing communication so that it is possible for them to lead the employees (Sainsbury’s, 2020). It has been explored that, in Wal-Mart, there is strong leadership trait and the leaders follow hierarchical structure for maintaining the seniority and make the decision individually. On the other hand, there is demographic leadership style, where the leader is efficient to understand the perception of the employees and manage them successfully. The managers of Wal-Mart follow a structured organisational activity, where the employees have clear roles and responsibilities to perform better. The leader is strict and the managers are efficient to manage the team members efficiently for enhancing their productivity and performance in long run (Wal-Mart Inc., 2020). The leadership style is laying a crucial role to develop the organisational activities and manage the strategic changes in the workplace and in this regard the leaders must restructure the organisational changed initiatives and develop suitable workplace for the employees (Tudor, 2018). As per the findings, Tesco is efficient where the leaders try to manage the workforce through hierarchical structure and there is strict rules and ethical structure of the organisation. On the other hand, the leader of Sainsbury’s focuses on enhancing communication and cooperation for managing the workforce and there is situational leadership style, where the leader tries to direct and support the staff members for achieving future success (Wiesner, Chadee and Best, 2018). Wal-Mart is also efficient to create good workspace where the leader is successful to manage their expatriates and the employees in home country through developing structured workplace where the managers are efficient to manage all the staff. Hence, it is mandatory to follow suitable leadership style and in this regard the transformational leadership is mandatory for all the three firms to manage the staff members where individualised trait and the informational motivation are fruitful to retain the staff and respect each of them in the workplace (Birasnav and Bienstock, 2019). The situational leadership style is also beneficial for the organisations in the UK retail sector to provide effective direction and supports the employees for maximising their performance.

The corporate culture is important to be developed in the UK retail organisations to promote strategic changes in the workplace.

As per the findings, the leader of Tesco focuses on managing the workplace culture by maintaining cultural diversity. The major values for the stakeholders are such as respect and dignity, maximising the needs and preferences of the stakeholders, managing transparency and sustainability of the business. These are the values, through which the leader tries to create a corporate culture in the workplace (Tesco, 2020). In Tesco, there is empowerment of the managers in the organisation for making decision for change. On the other hand, the leader tries to provide fair scope to all the employees and manager to take active part in the organisational change management process and decision making behaviour. In Sainsbury’s communication and cooperative working practice are the major strategies of the leader to create internal culture, where every employee gets equal opportunity to take active part at the workplace. Additionally, the findings also indicate that, the leader mainly focuses on respecting each staff and building strong corporate relationship with all the employees which are beneficial for creating good organisational culture. In Sainsbury’s also, they are empowered in the workplace where the leaders encourage their creativity and cooperate with them for better performance (Sainsbury’s, 2020). In Wal-Mart, the leader is efficient to develop corporate culture with strict rules and ethical practice. There is safety and security of the staff members as well as effective working hours and clear roles and responsibilities also enhance the good organisational culture. The managers of Wal-Mart are also empowered in the organisation to make creative solutions for strategic leadership changes and the leader tries to arrange meeting for sharing the thoughts and perception for making collaborative decision (Wal-Mart Inc., 2020). For strategic leadership change, it is mandatory to create good corporate culture for all the UK retail organisations where it is possible for the organisations to maintain good relationship among the staff members and retain them for long run (Asghar and Oino, 2017). Tesco follows structured organisational workplace an implement ethical practice of safety and security management among the staff, enhancing communication and providing support are mandatory for improving internal corporate culture of the brand. Sainsbury’s mainly focuses on enhancing communication and partnership working practice for managing the workspace culture, where the employees are successful to create good bonding and develop corporate relationship with the senior management team for better management (Filimonau and Gherbin, 2017). Wal-Mart is also efficient workplace where there is strong employee base and the leader is successful to create strict corporate culture and manage cultural diversity among the workers for managing the expatriates as well. For managing the good corporate culture, it is mandatory for the organisations in the UK retail sector to manage transparency and accountability in the workplace as well as safety and security to the employees, freedom to work and maintaining feasibility values creation of the staff (Jabbar and Hussein, 2017). These practices are beneficial for the organisational leader to manage the workplace culture and enhance the performance of the companies in long run (Asghar and Oino, 2017). As per the theory of leadership and management, the leader must be motivate and mange change through developing suitable internal culture and hence corporate culture must be developed in the retail firms for better management. High communication, freedom to work, encouraging employee’s creativity and partnership working practice are the major ways to develop corporate culture.

The change management strategies are also mandatory for change initiatives to be fulfilled by the corporate leaders.

As per the findings, in the organisation Tesco, there are issues in the organisation which are resistance to change, lack of communication and mistrust which create problems to perform the organisational operational activities in the market. Additionally, there are several challenges related to lack of empowerment of the managers and employees as well as lack of cooperation from the end of the leaders and lack of collaborative decision making behaviour, which raises problems in managing the workplace ethics and culture of the multinational corporations. The case study of the company reveals that, it is mandatory for the firm to manage change in the workplace by cooperating with the staff (Tesco, 2020). In this regard, the leader focuses on arranging general meeting in the organisational workplace for identifying the perceptive of the other managers. There is lack of employee engagement in the organisational decision making behaviour, but the leader tries to share the important information with the staff for leading them successfully. In Sainsbury’s, the major issues are related to lack of structured workplace and internal conflicts due to poor communication and collaboration (Sainsbury’s, 2020). The organisational leader fails to develop the workplace structure where the employees sometime are not engaged in the workplace and their performance has been hampered. The leader of Sainsbury’s focuses on encouraging open discussion and creates values for the employees while initiating the change management practice. The leader is also efficient to manage change through dispel rumours and engaging each staff efficiently in the workplace. The organisational leader tries to empower the staff members and lead them efficiently through changed initiatives where the leader ensures that there is value creation of the employees in the workplace. As per the findings, the main issues in the workplace of Wal-Mart are resistance to change and lack of cooperation of the leader. This raises the issue to manage the expatriates. The leader also fails to develop suitable working practice which hampers the performance of the organisation. The leader in this regard tries to arrange meeting with the managers and lead the strategic changes for better management and creating good corporate culture (Wal-Mart Inc., 2020).

The change management tactics are important for managing the strategic leadership changed initiatives in the organisational workplace, and it is the responsibility of the leaders to create good workplace culture and improve bonding during the changes (Filimonau and Gherbin, 2017). Tesco focuses on managing change through empowering the managers and improving the leadership style, as there are existing challenges of managing leadership changes such as internal conflicts and resistance to change. Sainsbury’s also aims at enhancing communication and empowerment of the staff during the changed process so that the employees can understand the need for change and accept the changes efficiently (Naidoo and Gasparatos, 2018). Wal-Mart is also a good workplace where the managers support the employees, and lead the staff towards achieving future success. For strategic leadership change, the leaders try to engage each staff and let them understand about the need for change. The leaders of the retail firms also try to convince the employees and restructure the incentives and rewards for leading them with new leadership changes. The leaders provide continuous support and arrange training and development program for encouraging the staff member and maximising their contribution (Wiesner, Chadee and Best, 2018). Creating the changed initiatives, involving the staff in the changed process as well as sharing all the necessary information with the employees also create good corporate bonding and it further provides a scope to manage changes in the workplace. The Lewin’s change model can be applied in the organisational context to follow the steps for leading the changed initiatives towards achieving the future success. the organisational leader and management team of the retail, firms in the UK must enhance communication, convince the employees and empower them in the change management process, so that they can feel special and contribute with their full capabilities to achieve future success (Birasnav and Bienstock, 2019).

Effective strategic tactics are important to be implemented in the workplace for managing the staff and leading them towards changed initiatives.

It is mandatory for Tesco leader to engage each employee, as it is beneficial for the leader to develop strong team work. Moreover, it is also mandatory to manage transparency and share the important information and make collaborative decision (Tesco, 2020). There is strong suggestion towards the leader about managing the workplace through enhancing communication and cooperation to ensure high engagement, trust and bonding among the leaders, managers and the employees. It is also essential for Sainsbury’s to develop partnership working practice through increasing involvement and apart from that it is mandatory to strategise the monetary rewards of the staff for encouraging their creativity and contribution in the workplace (Sainsbury’s, 2020). It would be fruitful for the leader of Wal-Mart to adopt the transformational leadership style for strategic leadership changes and communicate all the information and data with all the staff for successful engagement with them so that the employees would be motivated to perform better and adopt the changed initiatives successfully (Wal-Mart Inc., 2020). It is mandatory for the organisations to follow the directive and supportive leadership practice for successful change management as well as leading the employees towards achieving the future success. As per the Herzberg’s two factor theory, it is mandatory to motivate the staff members through providing monetary and non-monetary rewards which may also fulfil the employee’s needs where they can feel valued at the workplace. During the strategic leadership changes, it is mandatory for the organisations to implement important strategic changes in the workplace so that the leaders can handle the team and lead them towards achieving future success (Ramanathan et al., 2017). In this regard, Tesco must follow the transformational leadership style with effective empowerment of the staff members. In order to mitigate the challenges such as internal conflicts and resistance to change as well as lack of communication and collaboration, the leader of Tesco must maintain transparency and accountability for increasing fairness in decisions making behaviour (Nash, 2019). The employees must be empowered well in the workplace to share their overview and feel valued to express their solutions and creativity in front of others (Filimonau and Gherbin, 2017). On the other hand, Wal-Mart also must follow the transformational leadership style to continuously support the employees for better management. The leader of Wal-Mart also needs to improve corporate culture through improving fairness and providing fair opportunity to each staff member in the workplace. Additionally, the Sainsbury’s also follows the situational leadership style with high direction and high supportive workplace. Hence, all the strategic leaders must follow new leadership changes in the recent 21st century to manage the employees and expatriates efficiently (Ramanathan et al., 2017). Freedom to work, managing transparency and flexibility of the employees help them to concentrate on their roles and motivate them further to perform better. The organisational leaders and managers must be cooperative and enhance partnership working practice in order to lead the strategic changes and achieve future sustainable development of the companies.

Conclusion and recommendations

Conclusion

The research is beneficial to explore the theories and practice of the changed leadership for suitable management of the organisational activities and the employees. In the recent 21st century, there is increasing numbers of migrants labourers and it is the responsibility of the organisational leader to manage the employees at home country and also the expatriates in order to retain them efficiently and develop suitable working practice so that the organisational ain and objectives can be achieved sustainably. In addition to this, the methodology of the research is effective to understand the systematic process to conduct the study and fulfil the above mentioned research aim. Through the analysis, it has been explored that, the retail sector of the UK is growing at a raid rate and there is changed leadership model through which the organisational management team and the leaders of the famous retail firms such as Sainsbury’s Tesco and Wal-Mart try to manage the huge numbers of employees and also the stakeholders who are engaged with the business. The organisations are operating efficiently in the market to serve the customers with high quality products and services and in this regard the leaders strategic planning and organisational vision are necessary to be developed so that the employees can follow the strategic vision and fulfil the organisational aims successfully.

Through the discussion, it has also been revealed that, there are several issues in the retail sector, where the leaders sometime fail to manage the huge workforce and it is one of the major problem of the retail sector for which the managers try to implement strategic leadership changes where the leaders can adopt new leadership style and develop managerial practice for better management. The organisational leaders of the retail firms are also looking towards adopting new working place culture and creating good organisational structure in order to manage the employees at the UK and also the expatriates, who are working across the globe. In addition to this, as per the discussion, the management team are also concerned about managing the workforce during the changed initiatives and in this regard they also focus on creating new changes in the leadership so that the corporate leader of the retail firms can follow suitable organisational practice to handle the workforce. There is strong employee team in the retail firms, and the stakeholder base of the three firms, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Wal-Mart are also strong and thus it is the responsibility of the leaders to develop strategic leadership changes in the workplace for maximising the organisational performance and successful fulfilment of the company aim. It is fruitful or the organisational leader to change the internal working process and leadership practice in order to develop strong team and lead the employees towards achieving the future organisational aim.

Meeting objectives

The research is conducted on the basis of the data collection and analysis where the researcher is successful to conduct secondary study by gathering data and information of three retail firms in the UK to understand the strategic leadership changes in the UK retail sector. The major objectives of the research are met efficiently which are described further.

To acknowledge the models of leadership and change management

Through this research, it is possible to meet the first objective of the study, where the literature review is effective to collect the existing theories and concept of the strategic leadership changes. The theories of transformational leadership and situational leadership are fruitful for understanding the major strategic planning of the leaders in the recent era of globalisation to manage the workforce across the international borders. On the other hand, the entrepreneurship skill and managerial practice through reviewing the human resource management are also beneficial to acknowledge the strategic planning of the organisational leaders to handle strong employee base and retain the experienced staff for long run. On the other hand, the change management model proposed by Lewin is also beneficial to understand the change management practice to lead the employees towards achieving the future success.

To analyse the leadership changed practice in the organisations

The research is effective to meet the second objective of the study where it is possible to acknowledge the effective leadership and managerial practice on the workplace of the multinational corporations for strategic leadership changes. These are important for the orders to create values for the stakeholders and manage the employees in long run. The organisational leaders try to create good corporate culture in order to lead the employees and in this regard harmony and freedom to work at the workplace, cooperation with each other and high communication are fruitful for the employees to manage their working activities the study also reveals that, the leaders try to maintain safety and security of the employees and manage cultural diversity through providing cultural training, respecting each staff and creating values for them. For managing the strategic leadership changes, the leaders try to convince the employees for the change management activities in the workplace as well as empower the employees for the organisational decisions making behaviour and on the other hand, recognition and promotion at the workplace are also beneficial for the leaders to manage the workforce and lead them towards achieving the changed initiatives and organisational aims.

To evaluate the leadership and managerial practice in the UK retail firms to adopt the strategic changes in the workplace

Through the research, it is possible to identify the effective initiatives of the UK retail firms in order to manage their leadership and management. The retailers are efficient to handle the large numbers of employees, where Wal-Mart is one of the best organisations hiring a huge numbers of employees across the globe. On the other hand, there is strong employee base in the other two retail organisations, Tesco and Sainsbury’s which are also efficient to manage the employees. However, as per the study, in the recent 21st century, the leadership and management practice must be changed in the workplace where the leaders adopt transformational leadership style in order to engage the staff members and maximise their values in long run. Through the discussion, it is also revealed that, the managers of the organisations Wal-Mart, Tesco and Sainsbury’s are concerned about managing the stakeholders, mainly the employees, shareholders and the suppliers who are major stakeholders of the firms to serve the customers efficiently. In this regard, the strategic planning of the organisations such as managing structured salary, effective recruitment and selection process as well as the training and development program are the leader’s strategists to manage the employees and maximise their performance in long run. There are some issues in the workplace of the retail firms, such as lack of empowerment, safety and security as well as communication gap and cultural diversity, which need to be taken care of by the leaders through the strategic leadership changes.

To recommend some suitable suggestions through which it is possible to provide effective tactics of improving the leadership changes in the UK retail firms

The research is effective to meet the fourth objective of the study which is recommending the suitable suggestions to the retail firms for better strategic leadership changes and these recommendations will be discussed in the next section.

Recommendations

The recommendations are beneficial for the organisations Tesco, Wal-Mart and Sainsbury to improve their strategic leadership practice in the workplace in near future so that it would be possible for the leader to maximise the organisational performance and gain high competitive advantage sustainably.

Recommendations for Tesco:

Tesco must focus on managing the safety and security of the employees, by creating insurance for the staff, implementing CCTV and managing fire extinguisher and emergency exit at the workplace mainly in the production unit.

Tesco also needs to improve the managerial style by empowering the employees to mitigate the issue of lack of communication and cooperation. Through enhancing communication and cooperation, it is possible for the leader to share the thoughts and perception of the employees and empower them to make collaborative decision.

For strategic change management, it is also mandatory for Tesco to improve internal communication and in this regard arranging general meeting with the board of members, group discussion, encouraging open conversation and implementing ICT at the workplace would be beneficial for the leader of Tesco to enhance communication.

Suggestions for Sainsbury’s:

Sainsbury’s needs to improve the working practice through the strategic leadership change and in this regard it is mandatory o the organisation to create partnership working practice at the workplace where all the employees can cooperate and work collaboratively.

The leader of Sainsbury’s needs to develop incentives and rewards for the employees to motivate them and encourage their creativity in the workplace.

The leader of Sainsbury’s also needs to support the employees by adopting coaching leadership style, where high direction and continuous support would be beneficial for the firm to manage the staff and maximise their performance.

Recommendations for Wal-Mart:

Wal-Mart must focus on implementing the transformational leadership style for managing the workforce internationally, through individualised trait inspirational motivational activities.

The organisational leader must focus on creating good corporate culture at the workplace through managing transparency and accountability for managing working practice.

The leader of the firm needs to create good bonding and managing cultural diversity through enhancing communication, arranging training program for the staff as well supporting all the members for better engagement and trust.

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Appendices

Time table