LEADERSHIP PRACTICES

Leadership Practices For Maximizing Workforce Effectiveness And Organizational Performance In The Face Of Increasing Workloads While Balancing Employee Job Satisfaction In The Financial Industry

Table Of Contents

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION4

I. Background5

II. Problem Statement12

III. Purpose Statement13

IV. Significance of the Study13

V. Significance of the Study to Leadership14

VI. Nature of the Study15

VII. Qualitative Research Questions15

VIII. Theoretical Framework15

IX. Definitions Of The Terms16

X. Assumptions17

XI. Scope of the Study18

XII. Limitations and Delimitations19

XIII. Summary19

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW21

I. Introduction22

A. Historical context of leadership practices23

B. Definition of leadership39

C. Leadership practices40

II.Managers48

A.Management style49

B.Management practices50

C.Management effectiveness51

D.Managing talent and retention53

E.Job security55

F.Employee motivation56

G.Managing diversity56

H.Compensation structure59

III.Engineers60

A.Workload60

B.Job security60

C.Compensation61

D.Job satisfaction62

E.Management style and effectiveness63

F.Innovation64

G.Job hopping65

IV.Ethnicity/Diversity66

A.Cooperation/competitiveness68

B.Conflict resolution style68

V. Summary and critique70

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODS72

I. Research design72

II. Site72

III. Sample73

IV. Data collection73

A. Interviews73

V. Data analysis74

VI. Validity - Internal And External75

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION77

I. Results77

A. Knowledge workers:77

B. People Managers:80

C. Human Resources (HR) Managers:84

II. Discussion87

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION99

REFERENCES102

BIBLIOGRAPHY113

Leadership Practices

Chapter 1: Introduction

Projects and service based organizations are facing workload challenges (Bayer and Gann, 2006; Hsieh, Yen, and Chin, 2004). According to Appelbaum, Lopes, Audet ? Steed (2003) organizations face problems managing project workload and maintaining high talented employee. There have been several studies about the problem of leadership practices, work/life leadership, and employee retention in organizations (Coffe and Tombari, 2005). The innovation advancement of technology in the financial industry requires improvement in managerial practices towards project workload and employee retention of high talented workers to enhance corporate performance, quality product, and job satisfaction (Appelbaum et. al. 2003; Coffe and Tombari, 2005; Bayer and Gann, 2006). This research plan addresses the problem of managing workload which is an ongoing issue for corporate executives who continuously encounter challenges maintaining employees' commitment to prioritize and meet collective project requirements and job satisfaction (Coffey, 2005; Bayer & Gann, 2006). The research will focus on qualitative case study to explore secondary data and conduct interviews (sample) of 40 information technology (IT) managers and 100 IT employees in the financial industry within District of Columbia and State of Maryland in the United States. The significance of the study is to inform and guide managers and leaders to identify factors necessary to manage workload while improving organizational efficiency, corporate profitability, and improving employee job satisfaction.

I. Background

In dealing with continuously increasing competition, managers in the global business world have two major, interconnected tasks, both very important for competitive advantage: to develop strategy and to build organizational performance in order to implement and execute it successfully. Strategy involves performing different activities than rivals', or performing similar activities in a different way, defining a unique position, making clear trade-offs and tightening fit (Porter 1996). Achieving organizational performance is a necessary part of management, which means performing similar activities better than rivals, involves change, flexibility and relentless efforts to achieve best practices. Through good performance, strategy is implemented in a manner which satisfies the needs of its stakeholders. Organizational performance includes effectiveness, efficiency, sustainable growth, and last, but not least, employees' satisfaction. Thus, it involves understanding and shaping organizational behavior. It is difficult to understand and influence the behavior of one person or a small group; understanding and ...