Research proposal
Leadership as a human resources management strategy and policy in multinational companies: A case study of Apple Company
Brief discussion on leadership strategy and policies
Leadership is the ability to influence people to contribute willingly to the objectives of an organization. Leaders have the obligation of motivating their followers to improve their performance so that they can achieve the goals of an organization.
There has been an increasing need for organizations to come up with innovative products and to differentiate the products offered in the market for successful competition. As more companies penetrate the international market, competition increases and there is need to come up with strategies and policies of improving the performance of the employees (Kambil, 2010).
To improve the competitiveness of its products, Apple has embraced leadership as a strategy and policy and this has made the company to achieve higher sales levels in the recent past. Apple Inc. manufactures computer hardware, software and electronics. The company has become innovative and has been able to differentiate its products by adopting modern technologies. The innovativeness of the employees of Apple can be attached to the excellent leadership strategies of Steve Jobs, the president and co-founder of the company (Frank, 2011).
Rationale for the selection of this topic
Leadership has become a very important aspect of human resources management and there is need for organizations working in multinational environments to embrace leadership as a strategy of improving performance at the workplace. It is important for managers to use better strategies of communicating with their employees and to encourage the use of leadership roles to improve the level of competitiveness of the products manufactured and marketed by these companies (Mostovicz, Kakabadse, & Kakabadse, 2009).
Research question and research objectives
Apple Inc. was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak with the objective of manufacturing computer software and hardware. The company encountered several challenges in the beginning stages especially due to lack of enough funds and the stiff competition from other companies such as Microsoft, Dell and IBM among others.
The company continued to improve its products by adopting innovative technologies and in the recent past, Apple has ventured into the manufacture of electronics. In addition, the company has established online stores where most of its products are sold. The management of the company has adopted leadership as a key strategy of encouraging employees to develop innovative products (O’Grady, 2008).
The objectives of this research proposal will be to establish the role of leadership strategies in the improvement of the performance of employees in an organization. Secondly, the paper will address issues relating to the effectiveness of different leadership styles. Lastly, the proposal will explain how Apple Inc. has applied leadership as a strategy and policy of promoting its competitiveness in the global markets.
The research questions to be addressed in this research proposal are how effectiveness has leadership strategies on the performance of employees, the importance of leadership in achievement of a competitive position by Apple and how the management of the company has been able to address the issue of innovation and product differentiation by application of leadership strategy as a way of motivating employees.
Proposed research methodology
To collect information about the research project, primary data will be collected through questionnaires and interviews. Questionnaires will be distributed to the employees and senior management of the company. Initially, the top management will be consulted so that permission to collect data from the stakeholders can be provided.
Secondary data will be collected from books, internet, magazines, journals and other publications. In addition, internal documents of the company will be used to identify the impact of leadership on the performance of employees in the company (Perry, 1998).
Bibliography
Frank G. (2011). Best management practices. Journal of Management Development. 30(1): 93-105.
Kambil, Ajit. (2010). Developing the next generation of leaders. Journal of Business Strategy. 31(2):43-45.
Miser, Brad. (2004). Special edition using Mac OS X, v10.3 Panther. Que Publishing. ISBN 0789730758, 9780789730756.
Mostovicz, Isaac E., Kakabadse, Nada K. and Kakabadse, Andrew P. (2009). A dynamic theory of leadership development. Leadership & Organization Development Journal. 30(6):563-576.
O’Grady, Jason D. (2008). Apple Inc. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 0313362440, 9780313362446.
Perry, Chad (1998). Processes of a case study methodology for postgraduate research in marketing. European Journal of Marketing. 32(9/10):785-802.