Introduction
This part of the paper will discuss the research background, research problem, research hypothesis and the objectives. Besides, the section explores the significance and limitations of the study. In addition, this paper presents the research timeline.
Research background
Over the years, the UK restaurant sector has evolved in terms of the management styles that restaurants apply. Due to the increase in demand by customers for better restaurant services, restaurants in the UK are keen on improving the quality of communication with the aim of improving efficiency and output. Due to high competition, restaurants in the UK can no longer rely on inaction to retain customer loyalty (UK branded restaurant market to grow by £5.6billion 2013). It is therefore important to review the impact of different management styles within restaurants in the UK and their influence on the quality of organizational communication. This study attempts to explicitly review the management styles in the UK restaurant sector and their impacts on the quality of organizational communication. It will utilise best practice examples from several UK restaurants together with local management conditions within the same industry.
Research problem statement
Previously, communication model was depicted as a linear process in which one person directly conveyed messages to another person. In the twenty-first century, communication models are interactions of transaction processes where both sender and receiver have an influence on each other as they interact within the realms of global cultural context. Organizational communication captures the concepts of efficiency, globalisation, corporate social responsibility and strategies in place to accomplish different business goals (Olmstead 2002). Reflectively, different management styles that are practiced within the UK restaurant sector include the autocratic management style, democratic management style, participatory management style, and the laissez faire management style. These management styles directly influence the position, nature and function of organizational communication.
The need for business efficiency in the case study restaurants necessitates more research in the area of management styles and their impacts on organizational communication within the UK. It is for these reasons that the research will attempt to provide a framework for organizational communication as directly influenced by the type of management style in those particular restaurants. At the end of the research, the case study restaurants, that want to improve organizational communication and increase their commitment to efficiency, will have mechanisms that they can use to decide on the most appropriate management style.
Research hypothesis
Null hypothesis
Different management styles have an influence on the quality of organisational communication in the UK restaurant sector.
Alternative hypothesis
Different management styles do not have an influence on the quality of organisational communication in the UK restaurant sector.
The research aims and objectives
Taking the role and importance of different management styles into consideration, this particular research study aims to analyse the degree to which different management styles influence the quality of organisational communication in the UK restaurant sector. The research study also has particular sub-objectives that are mentioned below:
- To analyse the importance of different management styles in the UK restaurant industry.
- To explore the different management styles adopted by five selected restaurants operating in the UK.
- To investigate the impact of different management styles on the quality of organisational communication in the UK restaurant sector.
Research questions
- How effective are different management styles in the orientation of organizational communication within the UK restaurant sector?
- What is the relevance of management style in different organizational communication systems within the UK restaurant sector?
- How effective is the role of an organizational culture in communication sustainability as a management strategy within the UK restaurant sector?
Significance of the study
Organizational communication effectiveness determines the level of performance of an organization and business sustainability amidst competition. This research will assist the case study restaurants in the UK to implement effective management styles that promote efficiency and sustainability of organizational communication. It will be a compilation of best management style practices among restaurants with effective organizational communication. The study will also provide recommendations on how restaurants can effectively manage their organizational communication in order to guarantee employee and customer satisfaction.
Limitations of the study
Insufficient information exists concerning different management styles and their influence on effective organizational communication within the UK restaurant sector. The study will not be a magic bullet in the management style and effective organizational communication proposal. It will only provide structures that must be combined with the values and goals of a particular restaurant to ensure effective communication as a management strategy. Therefore, restaurants within the UK cannot implement the recommendations without reflecting on external and internal weaknesses in different organizational communication systems and management styles (Olmstead 2002). If too much emphasis goes to emerging trends, then the case study restaurants will not learn about the fundamentals of the practice that got those firms to their market positions.
Research timeline
Week 1: Research Commencement
This stage will involve reviewing the research topic and rationale for the proposed hypothesis. This stage may take one week, since choosing the topic will be dependent on available literature.
Week 2 & 3: Choosing the case study
Choosing the case study will be very challenging as research papers adopt different approaches. Specifically, I will have to choose the most convincing research variables from different research articles with a diverse approach to the research questions.
Week 4 & 5: Background research
Since materials are available for the research topic, I will have an easy time in merging the relevant material to the research question. This stage may take two weeks to accomplish.
Week 6, 7, & 8: Conducting the literature review
This stage will be very demanding, since different sources of information will be searched. The sources of information that will be probed include the internet, the university library, course notes and public libraries with relevant information on the topic of research. I will concentrate on scholarly papers, conference proceedings, and relevant books.
Week 9, 10, & 11: Conducting interviews, collecting data and analysing data
This stage will be the most difficult in the research study. I will have to balance direct interviews, questionnaires, and other methods of research to present information about the topic. Data collected through one-on-one interviews will have to be scrutinised in detail. Open-ended and closed-ended questions will be used. Each question asked will have to be comprehensive to ensure that respondents have an opportunity to give deep answers, which provide an insight into the research problem to solve through the use of Google docs software. Transcription will be done to each of the recorded interview process. For each response, from each participant, the recorded transcripts will be perused to coin relevant and most appropriate response. This part will be more time consuming than any other part of the research paper.
Week 12 & 13: Research conclusion
Emerging themes will be identified and the findings will be interpreted and related to the research question. I will have to manage the data findings and interpretation within the scope of the research topic despite any research dynamics that may arise in the process. The final study will be reviewed to confirm its comprehensiveness in answering the research question before submission.
Summary
In summary, chapter one has developed the research rationale through developing a background search on the impact of leadership strategies on organizational communication within the UK restaurant sector. However, the strategies may have limitations since insufficient information exists concerning different management styles and their influence on effective organizational communication within the UK restaurant sector.
Literature Review
Introduction
This part of the paper will examine different management styles, leadership and communication strategies in operating a business. The literature review section will explore past reports on management strategies and their relationship to effective business. A comprehensive comparison will then be developed to relate the literature to the UK restaurant sector.
Management theories
Transformational management theory
Transformational leadership provides an opportunity where employees could be motivated to give a desired output. When the management embraces the principles of transformational leadership, it becomes easier to convince employees to be flexible to change. The main characteristics of transformational leadership include adaptability, empowerment, commitment, contribution, and critical problem solving skills (Bloom and Reenen 2010).
Management expectancy theory
Expectancy theory in leadership functionality in an organization influences the behaviour of the person making decision away from personal prejudice, stereotype, or emotions. The expectancy theory review and offer the most ethically viable options for proactive leadership management of behaviour. This theory identifies the aspects of the effort-performance expectancy, valence expectancy, and performance-outcome expectancy (Montana and Bruce 2008).
Management motivational theories
Incentive theory
Incentive theory apprehends the perception that an individual hold in regards to performance reward. Thus, the higher the motivational expectation attracts the better performance of such an individual in an organization. For instance, a quantifiable paradigm shift in perception can be linked to the correlation between reward and performance in an organization. The incentive theory explores the weight an individual allocates to a reward in motivating performance (Bloom and Reenen 2010).
Arousal theory
Arousal theory functions in communication culture to create structural goals which develop norms, expectations of specific behaviour display, and appropriate guideline controlling interaction with one another. For instance, when the underlying command plans originate from the opinionated inclination of such an individual, the results would basically be aligned towards self contempt (Andreadis 2009).
Leadership and management theories
In management, motivation is important and functions between individual interaction and internal attributes of the involved parties. As a component of motivational functionality, expectancy theory discusses the aspect of perception that an individual holds towards the environment of leadership and influence. As a matter of fact, this theory expounds on the implementation mechanism of leadership in broad environmental spectra. Proposed by Andreadis (2009), expectancy theory in leadership functionality in an organization influences the behaviour of person(s) making decision away from personal prejudice, stereotype, or emotions.
According to Bloom and Reenen (2010), expectancy theory review and offer the most ethically viable options for proactive leadership management of behaviour. This theory identifies the aspects of the effort-performance expectancy, valence expectancy, and performance-outcome expectancy. The authors argue that effort-performance expectancy (E-P) apprehends the perception of an individual that can be directly correlated to performance level. This argument is supported by experience of the individual in question since performance and ethical decision making process is skewed towards experience with a situation(s). At ceteris paribus, the theory predicts better performance for the more experienced person since he or she will display higher E-P expectancy magnitude, irrespective of the field of leadership (Bloom and Reenen 2010).
In a quick rejoinder, Huczynski (2012) argues that, “what valence a certain object or activity and partly upon the needs of the state of the person at that time” (Huczynski 2012, p. 273). From this argument, it is apparent that low income earning staff may show higher valence than those at the apex of the organizational hierarchy who may be characterized as those experiencing actualisation on the pyramid of functionality.
Besides, the target of this theory is the entire hierarchy of staff members from the top management to the casual labourers at bottom of the ladder. As a result of properly structured communication ethics, the work environment becomes holistic, soft and socially friendly to the staff when valence is applied. Besides, healthy ethical communication culture creates structural goals which develop norms, expectations of specific behaviour display, and appropriate guideline controlling interaction with one another. This theory includes written rules of engagement, expected behaviour, and repercussions for deviation. Each member of the organization community will become part of the philosophy upon confirming allegiance. To control group behaviour, desirable leadership attributes are necessary, which are possessed by the managers gained over time with experience. Management plans, tests and implement company policies in line with the preset ethical goals (Lipshitz et al. 2007). Therefore, for such an individual to accomplish the balance, he or she has the sole responsibility of acting as an exact opposite of a frugal person. These actions oriented motives must be aligned to the right individual, extent, time, and reason (Davidson, Wood & Griffin 2009).
Montana and Bruce (2008), support the Vroom’s theory of expectancy by presenting the instrumentality of the components of motivation to behave in a particular manner because of expected reward. The authors further build a behaviour leadership model involving actual and observed experiences of individuals within a similar environment and under the same situation. The visual representational meaning of the memory stages conveys the relationship between the participants and the depicted structuring. The creation of a visual representational meaning proposes the space-based model for analysis cantered in the placement of objects within the semiotic space of memory. The conceptual processes define, analyse and classify places, people or things, including abstract ones in the encoding process. These processes can be classified into classificational, symbolic, and analytical. The classificational categorizes people, things or places in a tree structure in which things are represented as belonging to a particular class or order in the memory (Davidson, Wood & Griffin 2009).
In line with valence reward as part of the expectancy theory, every individual should be a role model of the other. Besides, they should develop self-confidence by elucidating own individual values in an organization to attract the expected reward. Actually, this is possible through setting good examples through conforming to shared values of the team (Montana and Bruce 2008). Secondly, the team needs to enliven a common vision. Indeed, they should visualize the future through perceiving to achieve pleasant and excellent possibilities.
Montana and Bruce (2008) argue that the rules that define right or wrong doing may differ between regions, but there are those ethics that apply in most environments. The ideal perspective would by a commitment to fairly develop ethics after a great improvement in response channel. Ethical considerations are observed at educational level, executive management level, and the government and private stakeholders. At education level, most of the higher institutions do offer at least one elective course on ethics. The major concern has been with the integrity of senior organization and government officials as well as private stakeholders such as exporters who were reportedly involved in big scandals ranging from abuse of power, bribery and embezzlement of public funds (Montana and Bruce 2008). As an ethical reassurance policy, Andreadis (2009) suggests a psychological test in the employee selection procedures. Indeed, psychological test is focused on certain aspects of the applicant’s performance, behaviour, and attitude since management position is associated with decision making and calmness under pressure (Andreadis 2009).
Different management styles
Over the last few years, the roles and responsibilities of managers within a company have significantly changed (Montana and Bruce 2008). According to Montana and Bruce (2008), management style can be explained as the overall leadership approach followed by managers in a company. Further, there are several types of management styles in terms of managing employees of an organisation. Management style can undoubtedly have a huge impact on how the employees perform. For example, employees in multinational organisations such as Google are free to decide their way of working and their managers follow a relaxed management style, since it is suitable within such business environments (Male et al. 2007). On the other hand, government and public sector firms follow a stricter management style due to the high level of bureaucracy (Male et al. 2007). The different management styles are disclosed below.
Autocratic management style
According to Montana and Bruce (2008), autocratic management style is characterised by lone decision making by the management of an establishment. The leader then has the responsibility of communicating the decision to other members of the organization who must obey the decision. For instance, an organization practicing an autocratic management style in the restaurant sector may entrust the manager to issue instructions to the employees on customer service guidelines, which must be followed. As indicated by theory X and theory Y, the autocratic management style involves supervision after instructions with the belief that the employees are responsible to do what is right (Male et al. 2007). This management style promotes proactive employee involvement since it outlines what is to be done by each employee. Besides, employees may feel motivated when the manager is proactive in the supervisory role.
Democratic management style
According to Andreadis (2009), democratic management style involves proactive management through a consultative framework between the manager and other members of an organization. The “democratic management style means facilitating the conversation, encouraging people to share their ideas, and then synthesizing all the available information into the best possible decision” (Anderson 2009, p. 45). Generally, democratic management style is associated with flexibility hence more broad and sustainable decisions. However, since this management style is characterized by wide consultation, it may take a very long time to reach a consensus. In relation to the UK restaurant sector, the democratic management style has its merits and demerits. For instance, it promotes active employee participation and consultative decision making. However, it may be characterized by slow decision making, even during crisis when there is need to make radical and fast decisions (Huczynski 2012).
Participatory management style
As opined by Davidson, Wood and Griffin (2009), “participatory management is a system in which employees of a business organization take an active role in the decision-making process as it relates to the way the business operates” (Davidson, Wood, & Griffin 2009, p. 29). The main characteristics of the participatory management style include teamwork, increased employee responsibility level, and the inclusion of the employees in the business ownership. In relation to the UK restaurant sector, participatory management style is widely practiced since it promotes open and sustainable business operations since the employees feel appreciated.
Laissez faire management style
Under the laissez faire management style, “the manager takes a back seat in proceedings, leaving the staff in charge of their own specific sections or tasks (Lipshitz et al. 2007, p. 21). The merit of this management style includes improved morale among the employees since they have high responsibility in the business. Besides, the employees may become more creative since they are allowed to apply their own ideas. However, this management style has demerits such as redundancy, especially when the workers decide to abuse the high level of responsibility bestowed upon them. Since this management style does not have a structure of authority, employees may easily lose their sense of accountability and direction. With reference to the UK restaurant sector, this management style is not ideal since the sector is very sensitive to changes in quality of services.
Impacts of the management styles on employee motivation
According to Montana and Bruce (2008), each type of management style serves a purpose grounded in the kind of operations and business environment and the situation. The highly efficient management styles are those that can help the managers to develop a good operating environment for all the individuals involved and motivate employees to put in their maximum efforts (Davidson, Wood & Griffin 2009; Male et al. 2007). Moreover, it is believed that management styles also have an impact on the quality of organisational communication within distinct industries such as retail, food, information technology, and electronics (Montana and Bruce, 2008).
According to Andreadis (2009), management style has a strong impact on employee motivation and ability to learn in an organization. Besides, highly effective managers differ in leadership styles based on knowledge and skills, the type of task, and time restrictions among other factors. These actions inspire and encourage optimal performance among employees (Andreadis 2009). On the other hand, Davidson, Wood & Griffin (2009) note that leadership styles differ in different sectors and industries. In union, Vaccaro et al. (2012) are categorical in stating that different operation systems determine the type of leadership style a company is practicing. Irrespective of the leadership style, the authors conclude that management styles have an impact on organizational communication (Vaccaro et al. 2012; Andreadis 2009; Davidson, Wood & Griffin 2009). Management styles identified by the above authors include autocratic management style, democratic management style, participatory management style, and the laissez faire management style (Vaccaro et al 2012; Lipshitz et al. 2007; Davidson, Wood & Griffin 2009; Montana and Bruce 2008; Huczynski 2012).
UK Restaurant sector
Several literatures indicate that the UK restaurant sector is steadily growing in terms of scope and production (UK branded restaurant market to grow by £5.6billion 2013). The scope involves the increasing number of employees, while production involves management techniques that have been employed to ensure sustainable growth (UK branded restaurant market to grow by £5.6 billion 2013; Ernst & Young 2012). This requires restaurants to put in place suitable management techniques to ensure effective retention and attraction of employees (UK branded restaurant market to grow by £5.6 billion 2013). Moreover, proper communication between the staff members and top management is considered as an important factor behind the success of any restaurant (Ernst & Young 2012).
Since different management styles have different impacts on the organisational communication, restaurants’ choice of management styles greatly depends on the effectiveness of communication that a particular management style could offer (Lipshitz et al. 2007). For instance, in the case of autocratic management style, there is a lack of communication between top management and employees, since the employees are not involved in decision making (Bloom and Reenen 2010). They are given instructions, which they need to follow. Secondly, in the case of democratic management style, the level of communication is higher as compared to the autocratic one, since the employees are involved in company’s practices to some level.
Besides, managers practicing the democratic style of management show willingness to delegate duties to the employees as part of the organizational functionality (Montana and Bruce, 2008). Thirdly, in the case of participatory leadership management style, employees are encouraged to employ their own knowledge and make decisions when suitable. In this style, the level of communication between employees and with top management is generally good (Dasgupta et al. 2013). Lastly, in laissez faire management style, the organising team are given the autonomy to finish a task or job in any manner they believe is most suitable without having to necessarily consult any higher authority. In this type of management style, communication is not effective, since the employees might not feel the need to communicate with other colleagues or top management before making decisions or performing any task (Bloom and Reenen 2010).
Communication and effective business
Proper communication between the management and employees determine the success of any restaurant (Ernst & Young 2012). In fact, different management styles have different impacts on the organizational communication channel. Thus, the choice of a management style is directly proportional to the effectiveness of communication in that particular restaurant (Ernst and Young 2012; Lipshitz et al. 2007; Bloom and Reenen 2010; Montana and Bruce 2008; Dasgupta et al. 2013).
Communication in organizations can be either formal or informal. These two forms of communication are distinct, though they are used simultaneously in organizations. Formal communication is the proper and defined process of information exchange within an organization (Bloom and Reenen 2010). Communication influences innovative and deviating period of organisational economic activities, such as development of the technology, increasing market demand, production and workflow, investment and trade patterns, competition among the rival companies and facing the threats as a result of market dynamics. Organizational and leadership ethics determine the level of participation by the employees and interventions passed through a feasibility test for implementation to initiate a cultural shift in the organization. Besides, communication ethics define content policy based on the need to address work related habits in order to create a friendly workplace environment (Bloom and Reenen 2010).
As a result of properly structured communication ethics, the work environment becomes holistic, that is, soft and socially friendly to the staff. Besides, healthy ethical communication culture creates structural goals which develop norms, expectations of specific behaviour display and appropriate guideline controlling interaction with one another. Thus, “as salience, time, and willingness to communicate increase, coping and constructing, further along the continuum, may be chosen” (Modaff, DeWine & Butler 2008, p. 23). Aspired ideals of a stable organizational communication model include the need for an organization to strive to develop a good culture by fostering a strong alignment with the monitored path of achieving its goals, missions and vision. The model has written rules of engagement, expected behaviour, and repercussions for deviation. The aspect of organization communication system should be made effective in order to minimise conflicts of interest. Thus, the concept of aspired and profiled structures must be laid down to aid exchange of information, professionalism and pro-activeness in issue based interaction (Bloom and Reenen 2010).
The part of principles in an effective organizational communication model encompass laid down rules to enable the organization to be more efficient. This is in the form of a well organised hierarchy of workforce from management with administrative roles in service providing workers. Managers are empowered by the organization’s constitution to perform the role of prefects and offer leadership solutions upon consultation with one another. To control group behaviour, desirable leadership attributes are necessary, which are possessed by the managers gained over time in experience (Janus 2008). Therefore, “strategic communication planning consists of one overarching principle and three separate strategies, or practices: contain, cope, and construct” (Modaff, DeWine & Butler 2008, p. 21). Whenever there is a strong professional relationship nurtured on the values of appreciation and respect within an organizational communication model, hidden talents are easily displayable for business sustainability (Janus 2008).
Organization communication skills are acquired through creative inspiration in communication systems in organisations. When successfully carried out, redundancy and emotional strains are kept at bay, as constant interaction is a means of boosting confidence and personality which is a recipe for good organizational culture. Moreover, self evaluation skills in communication ethics encompass actual and expected outcome. Therefore, “by promoting the principles of specialisation, standardisation, and predictability in organizations, classical theorists have essentially attempted to minimise the occurrences of misunderstandings” (Modaff, DeWine & Butler 2008, p. 27).
Other factors associated with inhibiting learning in organizations are inappropriate organizational structures, work pressure, entrenched attitudes towards learning, and emphasis on meeting targets. Fear and resistance to change in organizations that are characterised by high levels of bureaucracy and inter-functional rivalry are the main reasons that impede learning (Bloom and Reenen 2010).
Leadership and management in organizations
The concepts of leadership and management have been consistently misused to refer to either of them. The two concepts are complex in their applicability and use in the field of business activities. The concept of leadership can be broadly defined as the intrinsic ability to internalise a setting with the intention of empowering a group or team to proactively and creatively contribute towards problem solving (Male et al. 2007). On the other hand, management, in the broad spectrum, can be defined as the process in an organization that is inclusive of setting, strategic planning, managing resources and deploying the needed resources to realise specific objectives that are measurable within a specified period of time (Male et al. 2007).
The main characteristics of leadership include adaptability, empowerment, commitment, contribution and critical problem solving skills. The aspect of adaptability effects the adjustments that may be required in exercising influence over a challenge. Through these adjustments, a person exercising leadership may be in a position to model a unique setting that reassures and discerns the wants and desires of the subjects. The aspect of empowerment involves inspiring self-esteem and confidence among the subjects to align their feelings to specific intuition or instinct. These elements determine the effects of an organizational communication system (Janus 2008).
Management is the process in an organization that is inclusive of setting, strategic planning, managing resources and deploying the needed resources to realise specific objectives that are measurable within a specified period of time. Management is based on collaborative procedures that involve designing specific learning experiences to teach organization on how to monitor automatic behaviour, recognize the relationship between these behaviours and cognition, ways to test the validity of the relationships and measures to apply to substitute the distorted thoughts with more realistic cognitions within the goals of such an organization (Male et al. 2007).
Restaurant organizational effectiveness
Organizations function best when the intra and intercommunication systems are perfect. Therefore, successful organizations manage information continuously. The practice of information management involves the science of processing information to facilitate informed decision making among managers. However, the channels of this information should be protected to ensure protection of the organization’s private information that may lead to the unwanted third party interference. In encoding and decoding information, it is critical to balance the wanted and unwanted grapevine. Thus, in reviewing performance based on feedback received, it is important to handle the voluntary information with care to boost trust and confidentiality which form the pinnacle of organizational behaviour (Bloom and Reenen 2010). Therefore, it is critical to balance the feedback with the goals of such an organization as a remedy towards inclusiveness and active participation which translates into desirable performance.
To increase productive behaviour, it is vital to create a healthy work environment and personal growth perspectives that apply to all situations, since the problems that each individual faces at an interpersonal level ultimately affect the group. In carrying out an in-depth enquiry to each employee’s personal life, organizational psychologists should endeavour to determine which behavioural therapy best suits the individual. Thus, through properly designed training procedures, talent promotion, and motivation, productive behaviour internalisation will present that individual with the best alternative ways of solving problems faced in role execution. All this is summarized in the figure below.
Summary
In summary, different management styles are practiced across different restaurants within the restaurant sector of the UK. As mentioned in the above literature review, the styles have different impacts on organizational communication effectiveness. It is apparent that the elements of leadership, communication, and management strategies have direct impact on the efficiency of a business venture, especially within the UK restaurant industry. Theoretically, restaurants practicing the laissez faire management style have the weakest organizational communication system.
Research Methodology
Introduction
This part of the paper will review the appropriate method of collecting and analysing data. This research will be conducted using research survey study approach. Use of the qualitative research approach will facilitate understanding of the individual attributes that contribute to poor performance. This methodology will help in identification of statistical patterns in the data on different leadership styles within the UK restaurant sector using questionnaires and interviews.
Qualitative and quantitative research methods
Questionnaire
Based on the literature review and groups, a self constructed five-item structured questionnaire will become imperative. The questionnaire will be prepared to use 5- point Likert scale (Anderson 2004). Managers and employers within the UK restaurant sector will express a broad range of opinions in the focus groups on the key issues in the discussion. The use of the structured questionnaire was inspired by cost effectiveness and relative convenience of the method.
Strengths
- It is cost effective.
- It provides anonymity to the user and thus gives more honest responses.
- Information can be gathered from a large number of people.
- The results are easily analysed and quantified.
- Since the questions are uniform and if the conditions under which they are answered are controlled, then the information gathered is standardised.
Weaknesses
- It is not possible to explain to the respondents any point that they may misinterpret in a question. Giving a pilot test to a few respondents could partially solve this.
- It is possible for a respondent to be dishonest in case they do not feel comfortable. Assuring the respondent of their privacy can minimize this.
- Respondents can be superficial, especially if they feel the questionnaire is wasting their time. Creating an environment where they do not feel inconvenienced could solve this.
To minimize any of the on the above weakness, the questionnaire design will use a simple language that is understood by both parties. The time for completion will be reasonable and designed to identify the target population so as to yield useful data for the research analysis and interpretation.
Interviews
Adopting semi-structured, open-ended and closed-ended questions interview, data collection through a one-on-one interview is critical considering the scope of the research topic. The process of a one-on-one interview involves scheduling a meeting between each informant at a time.
Advantages
- The choice of one-on-one interview is based on the rationale of gaining insight on the feelings, opinion, and experiences.
- Moreover, the semi structured interviews are given room for further probe depending on the nature of data collected.
- As a matter of time, this method is easy to apply and allow direct interaction with the informant. Besides, these meetings are not complex to arrange since each of them involve the informant and the interviewer.
- In addition, the interviewer has full control of the interview process and likely to get first hand information with minimal biasness.
- Moreover, the researcher is in a position to seek further clarification on specific ideas and responses given within the interview time.
- From responses gathered, one-on-one interview makes it easy to scribe clear responses that answer the questions asked.
Disadvantages
- The interview is tedious and time consuming.
- Interview findings may be biased if the interviewer and the interviewee do not read from the same page.
- The interview is expensive when the sample space is large.
Since the researcher is expected to accord the research project professional seriousness, the willing respondents are likely to reliable, credible, and informed responses to questions asked.
Research Approach
This research will be conducted using research survey study approach. The researcher chose the qualitative approach rather than a quantitative because the scope of the research is focused, subjective, dynamic, and discovery oriented (Anderson 2004). The qualitative approach is best suited to gain proper insight into the situation of the case study. Besides, qualitative data analysis is more detailed than quantitative one. Moreover, this approach will create room for further analysis using different and divergent tools for checking the degree of error and assumption limits (Anderson 2004). The researcher will use direct interviews with open ended and close ended questionnaires to target respondents.
Data that will be collected through one-on-one interviews will be scrutinized in detail. Through open ended and closed ended, each question asked was comprehensive to ensure that respondents had an opportunity to give deep and answers that provide an insight into research problem solution through the use of Google docs software. Transcription will then be done to each of the recorded interview process. For each response, from each participant, the recorded transcripts will be perused to coin relevant and most appropriate response. Factually, instances of divergent or convergent opinions by one or more respondents will be marked appropriately (Anderson 2004).
Use of the qualitative research approach will facilitate understanding of the individual attributes that contribute to poor performance. Attributes of the subjects under study will be qualitatively studied through observation where the researcher will collect data using an observation schedule during the interview process. This will allow the researcher to enter observed qualitative behaviour indicative of lack of motivation in an organization. Quantitative methods used in this study will generally apply in the analysis of the collected data where analytical tools such as chi square, regression and correlation methodologies will be used. These methodologies will help in identification of statistical patterns in the data on motivation collected from organizations using questionnaires and interviews (Janus, 2008).
In order to collect the data necessary for this study, several steps will be taken to ensure that appropriate care is taken to protect the participants. The participants will be given consent forms which outlined the topic of discussion and any relevant information that the participant might need before agreeing to be interviewed. Once consent is obtained, interviews will set up with the selected participants, in which the author of this study will act as the interlocutor with the participant, giving semi-structured individual interviews that will be conducted in the English language so that communication is given depth that might not be allowed in interviews conducted in a language that is secondary to the participants (Anderson 2004).
Questionnaires will be designed to collect fundamental facts about business motivation dynamics. Questionnaires undertaken will be 100 in number. Some of the questions in the questionnaire will require the employees and employers in the organizational fraternity to state what affects their mode of performance in relations to motivation. The questionnaires will have an open section where the employees and employers will discuss their experiences when performing duties.
Research Samples
Sampling
This research will target managers and supervisors randomly chosen from restaurants in the UK, since they have the knowledge of the strategic planning and systems management strategies that regulate the effectiveness of communication and performance. A sample space of 200 participants will be interviewed. The sampling criterion that will be used in the initial sampling plan represents the true picture of the activities on the ground. To begin with, the sampling plan considers several managers and concentrates on different shifts. Besides, this sample plan is representative of the UK restaurant sector management styles and it is not biased, since the results generated are from different sampling units with a sample space of one. Moreover, adaptation of this sample plan as authentic would not compromise the aspect of comparative study in decision making, that is, it gives room for comparison to another set of data.
Sampling Formula
n=N/ (1+N (e2))
Where:
- n = sample size
- N= Target population
- e= Degree of freedom
- n=200/ (1+200*0.052)
- n=200/1.075
- n= 187.907
Data analysis
The data analysis is made from the primary data which is collected through the questionnaires by the researcher. The collected data is quantitative data, which support the aim of this research. The collected quantitative data will be coded and passed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version seventeen. In the process, cross tabulation will be used to compare and contrast perception on the transition and the actual position of the same in the UK restaurant industry. In order to quantify the relationship between the independent and dependent variable, analysis will be essential besides figures, charts, and tabular representation of correlation analysis (Yin 39). The collected data are presented through the charts and pie charts in chapter four data analysis.
Analysis of variance focuses on establishing the differences between the means of data collected from the targeted respondents. The analysis focuses on the disintegrating the variation among and between groups. Therefore, analysis will attempt to establish if there exists a statistical equality between the mean of the two groups of data. The first element of the analysis is that it measures the variations between groups. The second element is the variation within the responses (Yin 43).
Generalisability and vigour
This sample chosen for survey presents clear, scientific and verifiable criteria for making decisions in the dynamic restaurant sector of the UK. Putting into consideration the above strengths, it is more representative of the sample space chosen randomly within a specified interval. Reflectively, this will permit comparative research, especially when the qualitative design is adopted to give room for testing accuracy and degree of biasness. Generally, decision making process is a science that reviews different aspects in a phenomenon before adoption of a quantifiable approach. The survey will be a success and a true representation of the subject of the study.
Validity and reliability
Validity and reliability determine the accuracy of collecting data in research. In order to achieve validity in the questions presented in the questionnaire, it is essential to carry out question pre-testing (Groves et al. 2009). On the other hand, reliability quantifies the magnitude of consistency of research instruments and the outcome created by the same. The way in which an event is experienced is related to the way in which the person, who has experienced this event, can give a different perspective. However, in this qualitative study, the researcher will have the opportunity to get the perspective of the participants. Utilising these experiences as a framework from which to develop the study, the work is likely to reflect the unique understanding that the personal experiences bring to the development of case studies (Miller et al. 2012). The interviews will be conducted by the researcher because of common characteristics of culture, sector, and country. This type of relevant personal experience must be used objectively in order to further the work and not to colour it with personal prejudices (Paul 2010).
The mixture of questionnaire and direct interview will present a number of pre-specified competencies and best practices based on findings from a review of literature, and participants will be asked to indicate which of the practices they use or rely on most. Some items may be listed for comparison and respondents asked to rate them in terms of frequency of use in order to gather their relative importance. Some basic information will be requested to identify demographic characteristics of the sample and to confirm eligibility of respondents with respect to meeting criteria for participation (Anderson 2004).
The researcher will send the questionnaires the targeted companies and schedule a direct interview with participants who are flexible and can afford a fifteen minute break to answer the interview questions. In the collection of data procedure, the research will adopt a drop and pick module for the sample population. Each respondent will be given a time frame of a week to respond to questions in the questionnaire. Where necessary, further clarification will be accorded to participants.
Ethical considerations
During the data collection phase of this study, the researcher will strive to uphold ethics appertaining to scientific research. This will be pursued through inclusion of an informed consent form in the interview and questionnaire which the units being studied will be required to read understand and consent to before the study commences. Additionally, authorization for conduction of this study will be sought from relevant authorities to ensure transparency. Similarly, the researcher will ensure confidentiality of the subjects included in this study by insisting on their anonymity where each subject will be identified using a unique as opposed to use of names. The data collected will not be used for any other purpose rather than for which it was primarily intended for.
According to Lopez (2010), the insider perspective is quite troublesome for the qualitative researcher, as it is purely posited upon interpretation. Therefore, the validity and reliability can come into question. The validity of qualitative research can come from several safeguards put into place by the researcher in order to balance the subjectivity of the interview format which develops the insider perspective. Developing questions from theoretical foundations can elevate the level of responsible reporting since the questions provide a basis for further research in order to prove or disapprove the theory further. Obtaining feedback from the participants can also increase the validity of the research. As well, it is important to write solid descriptions of the interview experience so that readers of the research are open to their own interpretations of the perspectives presented by the insiders as well as the interpretations of the researcher (Lopez, 2010).
In order to create relevant case studies, qualitative research needs participants who are purposive. These participants are not selected randomly, but have characteristics that provide a foundation from which the stories of their experiences are relevant to the purpose of the study. This type of purposive sampling is done through the outlines of criteria which the participants have successfully fulfilled (Janus, 2008).
Addressing the ethical concerns
The researcher has prior training and experience in data collection and analysis at the college level. Credibility is enhanced by adopting distinct quantitative and qualitative approaches to gathering data and reporting findings. Transferability of the results is theoretically possible by gaining a sufficiently large sample that will be representative of the population of employees and employers in organizational settings, but given that the data will be gathered from tow organizations transferability may not be likely (Lopez, 2010).
Dependability will be assured by providing clear, detailed and sequential descriptions of data collection and analysis procedures. It is a quality that is reliant on the study design being congruent with clear research questions, having an explicit explanation of the status and roles of the researcher, providing findings with meaningful parallelism across data sources, specification of basic theoretical constructs and analytical frameworks, and data collection across a range of settings. This study seeks to fulfil these criteria as much as possible. A full effort will be made to accurately and faithfully transcribe data from interviews. In the event of possible misunderstanding, clarification or confirmation will be sought from the interviewee (Denscombe 2002).
Research Techniques
The researcher will be fully involved in preparing both quantitative and qualitative research phases, implementing the survey and interviews, and analysing the data gathered. A sense of neutrality will be maintained and the researcher will conduct research as an explorer whose goal is to establish the link between employee performance and motivational strategies that organizations implement. It will specifically seek to gain insight from employees and employers who are the subjects of motivation, as this will enable the researcher to gather views about differences that may exist between how these two groups interact as well as gain knowledge about two quantitative questions that the research will use (Anderson 2004). The question is;
What is the management strategy that your restaurant practices to ensure that you perform optimally?
The null hypothesis to be tested will be the following:
Null hypothesis: Different management styles have an influence on the quality of organisational communication in the UK restaurant sector.
The large scale questionnaire survey for the quantitative phase will help identify which competencies and best management practices are more common while the interviews during the qualitative phase will help focus on actual methods used based on a few real cases. Two qualitative questions that the researcher will use are:
What is the relevance of management style in different organizational communication systems within the UK restaurant sector?
How effective is the role of an organizational culture in communication sustainability as a management strategy within the UK restaurant sector?
The first qualitative question addresses the qualitative phase of the research and is intended to understand how management strategies and styles are applied in general within the UK restaurant industry. The second qualitative question should identify the perceptions of the employees and the managers on the organizational culture in communication sustainability in their organizations. The quantitative phase of the study will involve the administration of questionnaire survey to identify existing management styles and strategies and their effectiveness in the UK restaurant industry. The researcher will use drop-and-pick survey tool. Potentially, 100 survey participants will be obtained randomly in the two organizations.
The questionnaire survey will be designed to be completed by a sample comprised of managers and employees within the same industry, whereas a limited number of 5 participants will participate in interviews. This number is justified based on Anderson’s (2004) recommendation to have a sample size no more than ten participants for interviews in mixed methodology studies. If it appears the survey responses will be less than 20, an email request will again be sent to the participant pool used in order to satisfy the minimum of 20 required for the Q-statistic to be used.
The qualitative phase of the study will use open-ended interview questions. One-on-one semi structured interviews allow for presentation of open ended questions which attract diverse open ended answers. This is a plus on side of the interviewer who will have an opportunity to gather expansive answers as the respondent has freedom of speaking widely on problem statement. In the process, the respondent may, in fact, provide an insight into a forgotten aspect of the study aim. Thus, a pilot study will be carried out which represents 10 percent of the population of the study. This is necessary as a precaution against using a data collection tool in full research before determining its relevance and efficiency. Demographic information will include areas of content expertise, length of experience in related field of work and current performance grading.
Justification of the methods to be used
Use of the qualitative research approach will facilitate understanding of the individual attributes that contribute to poor performance. Attributes of the subjects under study will be qualitatively studied through observation where the researcher will collect data using an observation schedule during the interview process. This will allow the researcher to enter observed qualitative behaviour indicative of different management styles. Quantitative methods used in this study will generally apply in the analysis of the collected data where analytical tools such as chi square, regression and correlation methodologies will be used. These methodologies will help in identification of statistical patterns in the data on motivation collected from organizations using questionnaires and interviews. For interviews, as long as an interviewee agrees to be recorded, the interview will be recorded. This will ensure that all points made by the interviewee are documented and available for consideration in the analysis. Electronic copies of the interview transcripts will be e-mailed to each participant for verification of accuracy.
The collected quantitative data will be coded and passed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version seventeen. In the process, cross tabulation will be used to compare and contrast different management styles within the UK restaurant sector. In order to quantify the relationship between the independent and dependent variable, ANOVA will be essential besides figures, charts, and tabular representation of correlation analysis (Anderson 2004).
ANOVA analysis
Analysis of variance focuses on establishing the differences between the means of data collected from the targeted organizations. The analysis focuses on the disintegrating the variation among and between groups. Therefore, ANOVA analysis will attempt to establish if there exists a statistical equality between the mean of the two groups of data. The first element of ANOVA is that it measures the variations between groups. This part will entail computing the difference between the mean for each of the financial institutions and the mean for the population. It is often denoted as
The second element is the variation within the institutions. This looks at the differences between the value of the institutions and their average. The second part is denoted as
The subsequent sections will carry out the ANOVA analysis of the two organizations (Anderson 2004).
Hypothesis statements for ANOVA analysis
Null hypothesis
Ho: µ1 = µ2
The null hypothesis implies that the mean of the sample selected on the impacts of management styles for one organization is equal to the
mean of the other organization within the UK restaurant sector.
Alternative hypothesis
Ho: µ1 ≠ µ2
The null hypothesis implies that the mean of the sample selected on the impacts of management styles for one organization is not equal to the
mean of the other organization within the UK restaurant sector.
To reject the null hypothesis, the value of F- calculated should be greater than the value of F – critical.
Scope of the study
There is need to concentrate a research on a specific target of audience. This is what is referred to as the scope of the study in an academic research work. Generalization of research findings only apply within the scope of the study. The main target sector in this survey comprises of players within the UK restaurant industry. The main aim is to analyse the degree to which different management styles influence the quality of organisational communication in the UK restaurant sector. This means that all findings and recommendations will be limited to the different management styles within the UK restaurant industry.
Summary of the methodology
The evaluation methodology will be used in completing this paper. The research design will be a mixed-methods blueprint, emphasizing strategies from a qualitative model, including the importance of observation, the quality of the evaluation in context, and the use of subjective human interpretation in the evaluation process. The theory used in this evaluation will be the organization communication effectiveness. Another strategy that will be used in this research involves the participant-oriented model, which emphasizes the central importance of the participant evaluation through the use of a survey (De-Rada 2005). Quantitative information will be gathered through a 3-part survey. The survey will include open-ended questions and a Likert-type scale to rate specific information on a 1 (not influential) to 5 (extremely influential) in answer to research-based questions. Five restaurants have been selected as the locations where the surveys will be administered. In the review of literature, the research questions will be addressed through discussing similar models. Information on these models and programs will be retrieved from the university’s modules. In addition, theories and methods related to the evaluation of the data collected, methods, and a survey used in the evaluation will be used to help determine the effectiveness of the research design and relevance of the research outcome.
Findings and Analysis
Introduction
This chapter reviews the findings of the research and offers a comprehensive analysis within the scope of the study. The response rate was 100%. All the respondents filled their questionnaire survey forms on time. This is summarized in the tables below.
Qualitative analysis
The data
This section provides a summary of data that is used in the analysis. A sample of 200 people was interviewed to give their opinion on the impact of the management styles on the effectiveness of communication. The table presented below gives a summary of the of the number of respondents, mean, standard deviation and the ranking of the four management styles used in the analysis.
The table below shows that the participatory management style has the highest mean of 5.2939 while Laissez faire has the least mean of 4.1757. This implies participatory management style is the most predominant style in the UK restaurant market. Further, Laissez faire is the least popular. Further, the standard deviation shows that there is less variation of the values observed from the mean. This implies that the respondents were consistent in their responses.
Which management style is prevalent in the UK retail industry?
There are various indicators that give information on the quality of organizational communication. Some of these indicators are indicated in the table below.
Based on the data collected from a sample of 200 employees, it can be noted that employee satisfaction had a high mean of 4.8094. This shows that it is a good indicator of effective communication. This is followed by financial strength and corporate image. Growth of revenue had the lowest mean. This implies that it is the weakest indicator of effective communication. The standard deviations are also quite low. This implies that the results provided by the respondents are consistent.
Correlation analysis
Correlation analysis measures the degree of association between two variables. The null and alternative hypotheses are presented below.
Ho: There is no significant relationship between management style and organizational communication
H1: There is a significant relationship between management style and organizational communication
The table presented below gives the results of correlation matrix between management style and communication effectiveness.
In the table above, it can be observed that there exist a positive relationship between the four types of management style and organizational communication. Participatory style had the highest coefficient (0.678) followed by democratic style (0.652), Laissez faire (0.498), and autocratic style (0.439). The positive relationship shows that management style has a positive impact on organizational communication. Thus, the management style reflects on the performance and communication of the organization.
What is the relationship between management style and organizational communication?
ANOVA analysis
Analysis of variance focuses on establishing the differences between the means of data collected from the targeted organizations. The analysis focuses on the disintegrating the variation among and between groups. Therefore, ANOVA analysis will attempt to establish if there exists a statistical equality between the mean of the two groups of data. The first element of ANOVA is that it measures the variations between groups. This part will entail computing the difference between the mean for each of the financial institutions and the mean for the population. It is often denoted as
The second element is the variation within the groups. This looks at the differences between the value of the institutions and their average. The second part is denoted as
The subsequent sections will carry out the ANOVA analysis. A multivariate analysis will be used to test the differences and relationships in management styles among the groups in the UK retail industry. The three groups that will be analysed are private companies, government owned companies, and jointly owned companies within the UK restaurant sector. The table presented below gives information on the management style that is prevalent in the three groups.
S.D standards for standard deviation
Based on the mean standard deviation presented in the table above, it can be observed that democratic leadership is the most predominant management style among the privately owned companies in the UK retail industry. In government owned companies, autocratic style is the most predominant while in jointly owned companies; participatory style is the most predominant. Thus, it can be noted that the prevailing management style differs across the three groups.
Hypothesis statements for ANOVA analysis
Null hypothesis
Ho: µ1 = µ2 = µ3
The null hypothesis implies that there are no differences in management styles between private companies, government owned companies and jointly owned companies within the UK restaurant sector.
Alternative hypothesis
Ho: µ1 ≠ µ2 ≠ µ3
The alternative hypothesis implies that there are differences in management styles between private companies, government owned companies and jointly owned companies within the UK restaurant sector. The results of ANOVA analysis are presented in the table below.
In the table above, the F-value is 4.21 while the P-value is 0.001. The null hypothesis will be rejected at the 99 % confidence level and this confirms that the indicators for determining effectiveness of communication differed across the three categories of companies in the UK retail sector. Thus, it can be concluded that the predominant management style in a given category has an impact on organizational communication and the overall business performance. From the above analysis, the findings answer the research question which is the type of management style which is predominant in the UK restaurant sector. Apparently, the participatory leadership style was identified as the most ideal in promoting efficiency in the UK restaurant sector.
Quantitative analysis
Answer to the close-ended questions
- To what extent are you knowledgeable or aware of different management styles as practiced by different companies in the UK?
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
- Does your organization have a unique management style(s) in managing its operations?
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
- Is the primary focus of the management style towards organizational efficiency is effective in your opinion?
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
- How do you grade the management style(s) in terms of being good and reflective of the actual products?
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
- Is it factual that the success of these management styles is based on the strategy of implementation?
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
- What do you think of the management styles in terms of their effectiveness (general)?
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
- Do you agree with the content of the management style(s), now that you are one of the stakeholders in the UK restaurant industry?
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
- Generally, the management style in our organization is successful because it allows the stakeholders to discuss thoughts, opinions, and become an active part of the organizational operations.
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
- To what extent, are you knowledgeable or aware of the existence of other restaurants in the UK that practice distinct management styles? I am aware of such companies.
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
- What do you think of the companies’ management styles in terms of representing their corporate balance?
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
- Do you think that the management styles are within the dynamics of the UK restaurant industry?
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
- Do you think that the management styles promote proactive employee participation?
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
Summary of the responses
The distribution of the closed-ended questions percentage score
Analysis of each question
- To what extent are you knowledgeable or aware of different management styles as practiced by different companies in the UK?
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
From the above pie chart, it is apparent that more than 70% of the respondents acknowledged the use of different management strategies within the UK restaurant sector?
- Does your organization have a unique management style(s) in managing its operations?
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
In answering question two, 80% of the respondents acknowledged that their organizations have unique management styles. The respondents were aware of these management styles as applied by the restaurants they work in. However, forty respondents were indifferent.
- Is the primary focus of the management style towards organizational efficiency is effective in your opinion?
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
90% of the respondents agreed that the primary focus of the management style practiced by their restaurant is very effective. As a result, most of them are inspired by the ideal management strategies that these restaurants practice.
- How do you grade the management style(s) in terms of being good and reflective of the actual products?
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
90% of the respondents graded the management styles as very effective in their organization. However, ten percent were indifferent.
- Is it factual that the success of these management styles is based on the strategy of implementation?
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
80% of the respondents agreed that the successes of these management styles are based on the strategy of implementation.
- What do you think of the management styles in terms of their effectiveness (general)?
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
80% of the respondents identified the success of the different management styles as dependent on the management approach. However, 10% of the respondents had a divergent opinion on the same in relation to how the management style influences effectiveness. 13 respondents were neutral.
- Do you agree with the content of the management style(s), now that you are one of the stakeholders in the UK restaurant industry?
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
82% of the respondents agreed with the content of the management style(s), now that you are one of the stakeholders in the UK restaurant industry.
- Generally, the management style in our organization is successful because it allows the stakeholders to discuss thoughts, opinions, and become an active part of the organizational operations.
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
89% of the respondents agreed that their organizations are successful because they allow the stakeholders to discuss thoughts, opinions, and become an active part of the organizational operations. The other percentage indicated that some of the strategies within some different management styles were not proactive.
- To what extent, are you knowledgeable or aware of the existence of other restaurants in the UK who practice distinct management styles? I am aware of such companies.
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
95% of the respondents were aware of the existence of different management styles in other restaurants within the UK restaurant sector. The high percentage in awareness is a clear indication of active impact of management styles in the UK restaurant sector.
- What do you think of the companies’ management styles in terms of representing their corporate balance?
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
91% of the respondent had positive response to this question. This means that majority of the respondents are proactive in their organizations’ corporate culture. This is a clear indication that different management styles have an impact on the performance of organizations within the UK restaurant sector.
- Do you think that the management styles are within the dynamics of the UK restaurant industry?
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
94% of the respondents agreed that the management styles practiced within the UK restaurant industry were dynamic enough to accommodate the swings in the sector. However, the rest of the respondents were indifferent.
- Do you think that the management styles promote proactive employee participation?
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Slightly Disagree
- Neither Disagree nor Agree
- Slightly Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
93% of the respondents agreed that the management styles practiced in their restaurants promoted their participation in the decisions and strategies for managing the operations. The rest adopted the indifference approach.
Summary of the analysis
From the above results, it is apparent that most of the respondents had clear knowledge of the impact of the different management styles on the effectiveness of the organizational communication within the UK restaurant sector. Specifically, an average score of 89% was obtained for different questions that aimed to identify the success of different management styles as influenced by the clarity, reliability, and dependability on the organizational communication effectiveness.
Discussion and Recommendations
Introduction
Since businesses, which have very effective leaders have higher chances of growing very fast, then it is very important for leaders to be very effective and visionary in their work. While managers are mainly the implementers, they need also to be very visionary leaders who not only implement the programs of the company but also initiate very strong strategies which can spur their companies to greater levels of success. This part of the paper reviews the findings above in relation to empirical literature and provides recommendations within the scope of the paper.
Management styles within the UK restaurant sector
The restaurants within the UK restaurant sector should be led by visionary transformational leaders who have a vision for the company. From the study that, most organizations encompasses only transactional and transformational leadership without considering the other forms. However, these kinds of leadership styles may be inadequate in some cases. In such cases, the organization may fail terribly. Companies should, thus, diversify their leadership strategies and incorporates the concepts of leadership from other types of leadership like autocratic and bureaucratic leadership. Organizations should diversify their leadership styles in order to be able to respond to all forms of challenges they may face.
Through designing personal task management model levels, the employee’s task orientation module will remain active in developing dependence of interest attached to an activity, creating proactive relationships, and monitoring their interaction with physical and psychological health. Eventually, will pay off since they will have learnt to appreciate the essence of tolerance and need to stay active. By encouraging a hyperactive tolerance level, the staff will internalise the need for optimising output level through pre-planning of activities and accommodating extras.
Task orientation and control are vital in ensuring the safety and health of employees. Task orientation is the procedure that is applied in evaluating whether there are any risks linked with the identified tasks. Task orientation basically involves taking into account the duration, frequency and nature of tasks assigned to the staff. On the other hand, task control means taking appropriate actions in order to eliminate health and safety risks at the workplace. However, when the actions do not eliminate the stressors, then it entails minimizing the risks since only eliminating a stressor do not eradicate any risks associated that may be experienced by employees.
In order to successfully create an effective organization communication environment, it is imperative to review the good reputation, concentrate on the ‘right stuff’ and defining the ‘stuff’. Under defining ‘stuff’ module, it is important to balance the performance of the employees with the effort they place in the technical elements of sales activities. Under reputation building, the plan should review the problem solving skills that motivate and create invaluable assets out of employees.
Focus performance management
Through focus performance management, the management personnel within the UK restaurant sector will be in a position to create clear goals on performance appraisal, manage a positive feedback channel, and offer a continuous and systematic coaching to ensure that employees perform at optimal productivity level. Thus, the best way to motivate the employees is by giving them responsibilities for achieving something and the authority to do it in their own way. Through this approach, employees will be empowered and they will feel trusted and valued by the management personnel and the company. This is summarized in the table below.
Operational efficiency as part of participatory management
Operational efficiency and market niche provide an indication of how well the company manages its resources, that is, how well it employs its assets to generate sales and income. It also shows the level of activity of the corporation as indicated by the turnover ratios. The level of activity for the restaurants within the UK restaurant sector has remained relatively stable despite threat of competition, constant change of taste, and varying preference. In order to stay afloat, the restaurants should adopt the participatory management style in order to create a dynamic and stable organizational culture.
The main characteristics of leadership include adaptability, empowerment, commitment, contribution, and critical problem solving skills. The aspect of adaptability influences the adjustments that may be required in exercising influence over a challenge. Through these adjustments, restaurants that embrace participatory management style will be positioned to model a unique setting that reassures and discerns the wants and desires of the stakeholders. Besides, this management style inspires self esteem and confidence among the employee to align their feelings to specific intuition or instinct in the UK restaurant concept. Through this leadership, management of restaurants within the UK restaurant sector will be able to facilitate the degree of empowerment, feeling, and faith in solutions offered by the stakeholders.
Since leadership inspires the need to contribute proactively towards creation of a suitable environment for closing the gap that may exist between a challenge and its solution, managers in restaurants practicing participatory management will offer creative leadership which is a rich recipe for an imaginative response to stimulation that creates a wider chain of adaptation of viable solutions to the demands of the clients. Through proactive management, the restaurants in the UK will roll out an organized process within the sector that involves setting, planning, managing customer demands and deploying assets to achieve specific goals and objectives such as offering the ideal support system for the employees within their corporate structures.
Area of future research
The focus of this research was based on the impact of different management styles on the effectiveness of organizational communication within the UK restaurant industry. The research was entirely based on determinant of satisfaction level based on policy oriented auditing responsibility strategies. Thus, little is mentioned on the cost constraints and planning rationale on the side of strategic plans and control systems. Hence, further study should be carried out on the need to incorporate the cost constraint and planning rationale before making an inclusive conclusion on the level and determinants of success in the company as part of the strategic management style.
Conclusion
Conclusively, the critical elements of an effective management implementation strategy include management commitment, employee involvement, workplace analysis, risks prevention and control, training for employees, efficiency in production, and operation. An effective management implementation strategy system must therefore include the evaluation procedure to help gauge its effectiveness and guide in the creation of the measures to correct flaws in the system. The study also showed how factors like corporate leadership practices, planning systems, social responsiveness, management control, background information and the organization performance relative to other organization impacts the performance of leaders in an organization. These factors have a significant effect on the performance of leaders in any given organization. If a leader has strong background information on the particular organization, s/he is bound to lead the organization into greater growth than the one without such knowledge.
In general, the effectiveness of the leadership practices in a given company is a great factor to the success of the company. If the leaders are very effective and practice sustainable business practices, then their organizations grow faster than those who do not practice such practices. Thus, there is an expected positive correlation between the management practices and the organization’s success.
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