Leadership Styles for Increasing Employee Motivation in the SME Setting

📄 Words:	3647
📝 Subject:	Leadership Styles
📑 Pages:	14
✍️ Type:	Essay

Background

Finding successful leadership styles, incentive programs, and resources for striking a balance between achieving corporate and employee goals in a setting where employees are inspired and engaged to work are the four primary goals of this article. This chapter highlights the main techniques used by the researcher in meeting these objectives. The steps outlined in this chapter are consistent with those of Lewis and Saunders, which highlights five stages of methodological analysis: philosophies, approaches, strategies, choices, and time horizons (Subramaniam, 2019). These different layers of methodological analysis form the basis for this review.

Research Philosophy

The research philosophy selected for use in a study indicates the worldview that a scholar has chosen to inform decisions regarding the collection and analysis of findings. Figure 3.1 above shows four main approaches used in academic research and they include positivism, realism, interpretivism, and pragmatism (Subramaniam, 2019). Their main differences stem from two philosophical continuums of reasoning, which are defined by the concepts of epistemology and doxology. They refer to what is known to be true and what is believed to be true, respectively (Heath, 2018). Positivism and interpretivism are the two major research philosophies used in scientific research (Edelbroek, Peters and Blomme, 2019). The positivism research philosophy relies on concrete empirical research to develop findings, while the interpretivism approach adds human reasoning and experiences in the process (Brinkmann, 2018). In other words, it favors the adoption of an experience-based view of the world, which accounts for the subjectivity of people’s opinions in data collection, interpretation, and analysis.

Given that the present study is focused on understanding motivational factors affecting employee performance, the interpretivism research philosophy was selected. As highlighted above, this research philosophy follows an experience-based view of the world when analyzing research evidence. In other words, it uses people’s subjective experiences to determine how data should be interpreted (Prasad, 2017). The subjective nature of the research philosophy was relevant in identifying linkages between employee motivational behaviors and leadership practices in the small business setting (Asseburg and Homberg, 2020). It was also used in understanding leadership, as a concept, because it is a subjective variable predicated on people’s ability to influence others (Abasilim, Gberevbie and Osibanjo, 2019). Given that employees respond to leadership practices differently, the interpretivism research philosophy was instrumental in understanding this diversity because it provided multiple perspectives for reviewing the research issue.

Research Approach

Two major research approaches used in academic research are inductive and deductive. These two approaches differ in approach because the inductive technique is designed to develop a theory, while the deductive method is used to test such theories (Hatta et al., 2020; Hennink, Hutter and Bailey, 2020). Given that the present study was exploratory, no theories were tested, thereby negating the use of deductive reasoning (Zeithaml et al., 2020). Instead, the inductive approach was used because the pieces of evidence collected in the study formed the basis for developing its findings. In other words, the researcher used scientific evidence gathered from the study to make broad generalizations about effective leadership styles for increasing employee motivation in a post-pandemic SME environment.

Research Strategy

According to the taxonomy of research methodologies, both positivism and interpretivism research philosophies have unique strategies for implementation. The positivist approach often involves the use of experiments, surveys, case studies, action research, theorem-proof, forecasting, and simulation tools to undertake research studies (Heath, 2018). Comparatively, the interpretivism research philosophy is associated with reviews, action research, case studies, descriptive analysis, future research, role-playing, and argumentative techniques to achieve the same goal (Hennink, Hutter and Bailey, 2020). Both sets of strategies define formats used to collect and analyze data and have far-reaching implications on the type of information to be collected.

Given that the current research is exploratory, the descriptive/interpretive approach was the main strategy adopted in the present study. This is because the relationship between leadership and employee motivation is subjective and requires a nuanced understanding of how the small business experience can impact productivity (Donkor, Dongmei and Sekyere, 2021). Additionally, the interpretive approach was used in the study because small businesses are found in multiple economic sectors – each with its unique dynamics and experiences that could affect employee motivation (Donkor, Dongmei and Sekyere, 2021). Therefore, the selected research strategy helped to provide context and meaning when evaluating the relationship between leadership and employee motivation in the SME sector.

Research Choice

The decision to select a research choice is influenced by the nature of a study and the objectives a researcher intends to achieve. Scholars have a choice to make in selecting mixed methods, multi-methods, or mono-methods based on the above criteria. The mixed-methods technique combines qualitative and quantitative data when investigating a research issue (Champagne-Poirier et al., 2021). Comparatively, as its name suggests, the multi-method technique involves the adoption of multiple layers of analysis in investigating a research topic. Alternatively, the mono-method encourages researchers to use either qualitative or quantitative data in a study and not both (Subramaniam, 2019). Based on the above identifying criteria, the mono-method was used as the selected research choice for the current investigation because qualitative data formed the main basis for developing the findings. The use of one type of data in conducting the study provided the researcher with a nuanced understanding of the relationship between leadership and employee motivation in the small business setting.

Techniques and Procedures

Scholars often use cross-sectional and longitudinal techniques to undertake their studies. Both techniques are relevant in understanding the period of data collection, analysis, and their implications on findings (Heath, 2018). The cross-sectional method involves the collection of research data at one point in time. Comparatively, the longitudinal method is associated with data collection at different points in time (Brinkmann, 2018). Therefore, the longitudinal method is associated with research investigations that may take months, or years, to complete, while data collection processes in cross-sectional research are ordinarily completed within a few days (Subramaniam, 2019). The cross-sectional technique was the main framework used to undertake this investigation because data was collected in days. Therefore, the study captures the implications of changes in leadership styles on employee performance in a post-pandemic environment.

Data Collection

Subject to an analysis of the merits and demerits of the methodological techniques highlighted above, the researcher integrated both primary and secondary data sources in the study. Primary data came from interviews administered to 13 small business owners operating in the hospitality, retail, and transport industries. Alternatively, secondary data was obtained from credible sources of published data, including books and journals. The two sources of information were integrated into the research process to provide robust and holistic findings. Stated differently, secondary data helped to explain primary research findings and the interview data was contextualized using the secondary findings.

The decision to use interviews as the main data collection technique was informed by the small sample of participants. Given that the target population was small business owners, only one respondent in a firm gave their views on the subject matter. The interview method enabled the researcher to collect reliable data from a small sample of respondents by allowing in-depth discussions to occur about the relationship between leadership styles and employee motivation in a post-pandemic world (Assefa, 2021). The target population was small business owners who had more than 12 employees at a time. This focused search strategy enabled the researcher to sample the views of 13 SME owners. This number of informants was sufficient for the analysis because a minimum of 12 respondents is adequate to undertake comprehensive interviews (Costantino et al., 2019). The sample population means that the interplay in the relationship between leadership styles and employee motivation was investigated from the experiences of 13 small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sampling Procedure

As highlighted above, primary data was obtained from SME owners who had operational businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic period. The researcher recruited them through the purposive sampling method because it helped to identify small business owners who were had sufficient experience managing employees during the crisis period. The purposive sampling method was suitable for the study because it enables researchers to identify respondents with unique characteristics from a large sample of people (Andrade, 2021). Given that the researcher intended to gain insight into effective leadership practices in the post-pandemic period, small business owners emerged as suitable informants because they have sufficient knowledge about changes in employee motivation, before, during, and possibly after the pandemic (Donkor, Dongmei and Sekyere, 2021). Stated differently, only a limited number of people had the leadership and knowledge about employee motivation during the pandemic period.

As highlighted in this chapter, secondary data was used as supplementary research information for this study. This means that the researcher collected secondary information to supplement the primary data sourced from the small business owners. This type of data mainly came from peer-reviewed journals and books because of their high credibility and reliability in academic research (Prasad, 2017). The focus of the secondary data analysis was to collect updated information that would be relevant to the pandemic period 2019 -2022. Consequently, research materials that were older than five years were excluded from the search process. Keywords and phrases used in the search were “employee motivation,” “leadership,” “small businesses,” “COVID-19,” “pandemic,” and “crisis.”

Data Analysis

As highlighted in this chapter, the researcher collected two sets of data –primary and secondary. Primary data, which was obtained using interviews, were analyzed using the thematic and coding method, while secondary information was evaluated using the content analysis technique. For the interview part, the researcher identified recurring themes from a broader set of responses. The themes were later coded using numerical symbols to support a scaled analysis. The codes represented different areas of probe relating to the relationship between leadership styles and employee motivation in a crisis environment. Broadly, the interview findings were analyzed using thematic and coding methods in six stages, as defined in Table 3.1 below.

Table. 3.1: Thematic and coding method

Stage	Description
Familiarization of data	In this stage of the analysis, the researcher reviewed the interview transcripts to understand the tone, attitude, and quality of responses. As recommended by Morgan and Nica (2020), at this stage of analysis, no data was attributed to any particular research issue, pending further analysis to understand the context of responses. This action set the stage for the second step of the data analysis process, which was the allocation of codes to the relevant themes.
Generating Initial Codes	As alluded to in this chapter, a code was assigned to each research theme to aid in the scaled analysis of the research findings. For ease of data analysis, they represented each research issue under investigation to demonstrate synchronicity (Xu and Zammit, 2020). To recap, these issues were focused on identifying effective leadership styles, reward systems, and tools for creating a balance between the attainment of employee and organizational goals in an environment where members of staff feel motivated and engaged to work.
Searching for themes	After understanding the major characteristics of the data obtained, the researcher conducted a preliminary analysis of the interview findings to identify recurring themes. This process led to the identification of themes that focused on key areas of leadership and employee management during the COVID-19 pandemic period. By extension, the themes were organized to meet the objectives of the study.
Reviewing themes	The researcher reviewed the themes that emerged from the study to establish their synchronicity with the research objectives. At this stage of data analysis, the interview transcripts were re-read to ensure the data formed a coherent narrative. Nowell et al.(2017) say this process involves collapsing some themes into others and merging those that have close relationships.
Defining and Naming Themes	The fourth stage of the thematic and coding method allowed the researcher to refine the themes and name them. As proposed by Ummar and Saleem (2020), the emergent themes were named based on the study’s data corpus. In this process, a thematic map was used to understand the relationship between different thematic areas and their contribution towards the attainment of the research goals. This data analysis process helped to capture the essence of each theme.
Final Write-up	The last stage of the data analysis process involved the production of the completed research report. In this stage of the data analysis, themes identified were checked for consistency, accuracy, and logic to create a holistic narrative of the research findings. The aim of carrying out this research process was to provide a succinct and interesting account of the relationship between leadership styles and employee motivation among small businesses during the pandemic period.

Analysis of Secondary Data

As highlighted in this chapter, besides interview data, the researcher also gathered research materials from published sources. This data was analyzed using content analysis, which involves the identification of certain words, phrases, themes, and concepts within a larger body of text (Monteiro and Richter, 2019). The content analysis method has widespread applicability in qualitative research investigations but it also has a successful record in being used as a tool for analyzing historical texts and published research sources (Bouwmans et al., 2019). Using the content analysis technique, the researcher was able to identify the presence of relevant concepts, understand the meanings and relationships they share with factors affecting leadership and motivation. This same process also helped in understanding the language, contexts, and inherences made by various authors or scholars to identify biases or objectivity concerns that affected the findings.

Ethical Considerations

Research ethics refers to the identification of values, norms, and institutional guidelines regarding the collection and dissemination of data. Doing so helps researchers to develop good ethical discretion in the manner they treat participants and use other people’s work to develop their findings (Stokes, 2017). To promote sound scientific practices, ethical considerations in research are also designed to minimize scientific misconduct and clarify ethical dilemmas (Costantino et al., 2019). The present study had two sets of ethical implications because primary and secondary data sources were used.

Primary Research

Given that human participants formed the basis for the development of primary research findings, it was important for the researcher to ensure the presence of guidelines and policies that would protect their safety and dignity. The importance of doing so is documented in several academic texts that have highlighted the need for researchers to ensure their informants feel safe and comfortable to give information (Patten and Newhart, 2017). The process is linked to the generation of reliable data because unethical research processes may compromise the integrity of findings (Kostovicova and Knott, 2022). Therefore, relevant to the current study is the need to understand ethical measures the researcher undertook to protect the interests of the participants and enhance the credibility of their findings during the interviews. In line with this goal, the main ethical considerations that underpinned the primary research process are outlined below.

Informed Consent: Research participants need to take part in studies only after understanding the implications of doing so. To meet this goal, researchers are often encouraged to provide potential informants with relevant information relating to a study (Chatfield et al., 2021). Therefore, the researcher provided all participants who took part in the current investigation with relevant data relating to the study, including the intention of the researcher in designing it, its scope, and significance. These details were provided in an informed consent form and all participants were required to ascertain their understanding of the issues highlighted before confirming participation (see appendix section). In this regard, the researcher made them aware of what the study entailed before taking part in the investigation. Based on the terms detailed in the informed consent form, all participants took part in the investigation voluntarily. This statement means that the researcher did not coerce, intimidate, bribe, or pay the small business owners to give their views on leadership in the post-pandemic period. The goal was to interview SME owners who were willing to give honest feedback on the research topic without expecting compensation.

Anonymity and Confidentiality: The safety of the research participants was partly enhanced by observing principles of anonymity and confidentiality in research. Anonymity and confidentiality of data are two ethical principles associated with the use of human subjects in research (Blake et al., 2021). They relate to the need to protect the privacy of respondents when collecting and analyzing information (Kostovicova and Knott, 2022). Some scholars suggest that the concepts are closely linked with the need for informants to give consent to participate in a study because doing so is an implicit acceptance of the risks involved in doing so (Kostovicova and Knott, 2022). Subject to this statement, the information obtained from the respondents was presented anonymously in this report to protect the identity of the respondents. This action is in line with the provision of Mustajoki and Mustajoki (2017), which maintains the need to protect the integrity and identity of people who wish to give their views about a study and do not wish to be known. Therefore, the anonymous presentation of research findings made it possible to extract valuable data about the leadership practices of small businesses without obsessing over the identity of the small business owner or their backgrounds.

Withdrawal from Study: Given that the research participants enjoyed the freedom to take part in the study voluntarily, they were also at liberty to withdraw from it. However, participants who chose to do so were required to inform the researcher in writing. Withdrawal from the study meant that they were at liberty not to answer specific questions in the interviews or take part in any specific research process relating to the investigation. The freedom to withdraw from the study stems from the recommendations of Bratton and Gold (2017), which highlights the importance of researchers to give informants the freedom to engage in the research process, as and when they wish. Doing so helps improve the quality of information they get (Thompson et al., 2021). In other words, their right to take part in the study allows informants to give candid feedback, unlike if they were under duress. Therefore, the researcher ensured that the interviews were conducted in a free and relaxed atmosphere.

Treatment of Data: Given that human subjects formed the basis for developing the research findings, the treatment of personal information became an important ethical concern. Ethical guidelines relating to the treatment of data are widespread and vary depending on the value of the information collected, purpose of study, and sensitivity of information (Ferretti et al., 2022). Nonetheless, most techniques proposed in the management of data are associated with procedures for the collection, management, and preservation of information (Morgan and Nica, 2020). Based on these common objectives, in this analysis, the researcher stored information obtained from the small business owners in a computer. It provided a safeguard for the study by securing data using a password. The password was only privy to the researcher to minimize the threat of data breaches. Similarly, the information secured was not shared with anyone, except for the supervisor, and the relevant academic institutional board members.

The safeguards outlined above made it difficult for persons who may harbor ill intent to destroy, alter, or compromise the data. For example, the informants were allocated a unique identifying code, during the data analysis phase, which made it difficult to expose the identities, names, genders, positions held in the corporation. Similarly, some of the information stored in the interview transcripts were encrypted, thereby making it difficult for unauthorized persons to understand their contents (Ferretti et al., 2022). The last step in protecting the data involved destroying the information after concluding the research process.

Secondary Research

The ethical issues involved in the use of secondary data are not as expansive as they are in the primary research section outlined above. This is because secondary research does not use human subjects as the basis for developing research findings. Instead, data is sourced from the findings of other scholars through a rigorous research review process before they are used to develop findings (Ballin, 2020). Based on these characteristics of secondary research, the ethical implications that emerged in this part of the analysis related to the use of other people’s works. Consistent with this observation, secondary data used in this study was obtained with permission from the authors. Alternatively, freely available research materials were used in the investigation because of the lack of legal safeguards to prevent public use. The researcher also correctly cited the authors whose works were used in developing this research.

Limitations of Study

The limitations of this study stem from the scope and nature of the investigation. These limitations refer to aspects of the research investigation that were out of the control of the researcher and have the ability to influence the findings (Nekmat, 2020). The first limitation is associated with the focus on small businesses as a distinct segment of the economy. Therefore, the findings highlighted in this paper are solely representative of employee motivation practices in SMEs as opposed to MNCs and similar enterprises. The second limitation of this study is its indicative nature. Therefore, the findings reported in this document are only indicative and do not represent the actual extent of leadership effectiveness in the small business segment of the market.

Reliability and Validity of Findings

The reliability and validity of the findings highlighted in this document are supported by the use of the member-check technique, which involves participant approval before the publication of findings (Al-Tit, 2020). In other words, the researcher provided informants with an opportunity to review the findings to establish whether their views were correctly presented in the study, or not. Corrections and adjustments to the findings were made in areas where disparities between the respondents’ views and the findings reported were observed. Consequently, there was consistency in the views presented by the small business owners and the findings of the study.

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