Introduction: When the Matter Should Be Taken into the Hands of a Strong Leader
Immigration issues have always been on the agenda of most states, and are most likely to remain there. Immigrants always have to deal with many complexities, such as the process of assimilation, the economic and financial change, as well as the associated challenges, unemployment issues, etc. Like immigrants in any other state, the immigrants in Malaysia are currently facing economic problems (Chin, Li, Kang, Behar, Chen & Chen, 2011) that can be dealt with the help of a religious organization (Yang, 2011). Introducing the principle of cooperation and knowledge sharing into the community, such an organization as the Hope for the New Life can possibly change the current situation with the Malaysian immigrant workers for the better (Abdul-Rahman, Wang, Wood & Low, 2012).
Research Questions: What Needs to Be Answered in the Course of the Research
To start with, the issues that are going to be addressed in the given research must be listed. In addition, the key factors that shape the life of Malaysian workers will be categorized. Once having the key factors are split into categories, one can analyze them more efficiently and find a unique approach to coordinate them.
What leadership model seems the most appropriate: knowledge sharing and addressing the current issues
Analyzing the problems that the migrant workers in Malaysia are facing at present, one can claim with certainty that the key issue is the uneven distribution of information (Choo & Chan, 2013), which causes economical and financial disintegration of the immigrant society. Therefore, the politics of Hope for the New Life must be focused on promoting knowledge sharing among immigrants (Hemphill & Leskowitz, 2012). According to what researchers say, the most efficient leadership styles that can help promote knowledge sharing are charismatic (Hunter, Cushenbery, Thoroughgood, Johnson & Ligon, 2011), transactional, and assumption-based leadership styles. Charismatic leadership will help set an example for the organization members to follow, transformational leadership will contribute to the knowledge-sharing process (Park, 2012), while assumption-based style will help develop further strategies to address newly emerging issues.
Developing a unique approach: the problems that need to be addressed
The problems that the immigrants in Malaysia are currently facing can be split into several categories:
- financial:
- lack of financial support;
- low wages;
- low life standards
- economical:
- low paid jobs
- insecure jobs
- political:
- inactive in political life;
- red tape
- social:
- language issues
- education
- employment
- training
- social activities (Talib, 2011).
Though the given problems seem rather diverse, they all stem from the same issue, which is the lack of cooperation between the immigrant people in Malaysia. Researches show that Malaysian immigrant workers prefer to be on their own as opposed to creating groups and diasporas. As a result, even if some of the immigrants develop a successful strategy, the rest remain completely unaware of it. Hence, the most efficient ways of introducing an efficient system of knowledge sharing into the immigrant society in Malaysia are is the most crucial research question.
Regarding the possible obstacles: what might stand in the way of Hope for the New Life
Though the study seems very extensive and must help solve many current issues among immigrants in Malaysia, one cannot act as if this research was completely flawless. It has its own limitations. One of the most obvious is its scope – since it is impossible to embrace all the problems that immigrants face, considering the most topical ones are the only possible way out. When created, though, the Hope for the New Life will have to adjust to the specifics of the given environment. Another limitation concerns the precision of the data. No matter how up-to-date the information is, there is no way to provide the statistical data accurately within unit’s digit.
The pros and cons of the chosen leadership model and the possible alternatives
Though the chosen model seems rather viable, it still has several problems. First, it requires considerable flexibility, since it consists of three different models. Secondly, the chosen model demands great involvement of the immigrants. However, there are many positive aspects to talk about.
Speaking of the advantages of the chosen leadership method applied in a religious organization, it is necessary to mention that the given approach has already been adopted successfully in a similar environment. My ministry in Vietnamese-American United Methodist Church was based on the same idea of knowledge sharing, which helped the project turn out a complete success. Once every single member of the organization has the access to all the crucial data, it can be expected that the church members will have more chances to evaluate their chances of economical or financial success.
Research Hypothesis: The Issues for the Hope for the New Life to Tackle
The research hypothesis of the given paper can be worded in the following way: with the help of the knowledge sharing principle as the fundament for the Hope for the New Life, and the mix of transactional, charismatic, and assumption-based leadership, the Hope for the New Life will promote knowledge sharing among the Malaysian immigrant workers.
Research Methods: Choosing the Most Adequate Approach towards the Identified Problem
Since choosing the research strategy depends on the type of the data, the research question, and the adopted approach, the given research is going to be a quantitative-experimental study. Demanding a consideration of a number of factors and the ability to manipulate these factors, the given research is going to focus on its analytical aspect. Therefore, the research question is whether the knowledge-sharing model together with the principles of assumption-based and transformation leadership model can possibly spur economic and financial development of the immigrant diaspora in Malaysia (Choi, 2010).
Conclusion: The Prospects of a Religious Organization for Malaysian Migrant Workers
Although the given research is focused on the possible changes that the Hope for the New Life can give the Malaysian workers, and, therefore, demands a basically qualitative research approach, it is still clear that a number of statistical data is going to be taken into account, therefore, the research is going to be semi-qualitative and semi-qualitative; to be more exact, the mixed research approach is going to be adopted. As for the leadership styles, in the light of the fact that not only spiritual but, first and foremost, economic and financial problems are to be addressed, the Hope for the New Life will have to adopt a mixed style of leadership that will combine the elements of several other styles. With that in mind, it can be expected that the Hope for the New Life will reach considerable success in its beginnings.
References
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Chin, J. J., Li, M. Y., Kang, E., Behar, E., & Chen, P. C. (2011). Civic/sanctuary orientation and HIV involvement among Chinese immigrant religious institutions in New York City. Global Public Health, 6(2), S210–217.
Choi, S. (2010). Reclaiming the English language in postcolonial Malaysia: Ethnicity, Class, and the Nostalgia for Global Citizenship. ProQuest: Ann Arbor, MI.
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Hunter, S. T., Cushenbery, L., Thoroughgood, C., Johnson, J. E., & Ligon, S., (2011). First and ten leadership: A historiometric investigation of the CIP leadership model. The Leadership Quarterly, 22(1), 70–91.
Park, S. B. (2012). Transformational leadership as a new pastoral model for South Korean churches. ProQuest: Ann Arbor, MI.
Talib, I. S. (2011). Malaysia and Singapore: Complied and introduced by Ismail S. Talib. The Journal of Commonwealth Literature, 46(4), 655–672.
Yang, J. (2011). A Christian perspective on immigrant integration. Review of Faith & International Affairs, 9(1), 77–83.