Managerial Research Methods: Getting the Desired Attention Essay

Introduction

As revealed by Beck & Davenport (1), attention among organizations is one of the most critical requirements for sustained organizational progress. Specifically, the management of ‘attention’ in organizations has lately become eminent issue among managers, following the currently revolutionizing employment relationships.

Notably, this crisis of ‘attention’ in organizations needs immediate attention, since its deficit has been revealed to affect organizational productivity adversely. Harwell (239) explores attention on economic, psychological and technological basis, and reveals how each perspective can be successfully managed.

Though ‘attention’ may be described as a scarce commodity; the price of getting it in abundance lies on the management techniques managers employ in their organizations. Particularly, the leadership styles practices in organizations determines the degree of motivation of the employees towards the organizational activities. For instance, transformational leadership style has been revealed as a powerful motivating leadership style among organizations, resulting into high attention of employees to the management (Beck & Davenport 1).

As McNutt (659) argues, the employment of “sum-zero rule” by managers in organizations necessitates the limitation of internal programs in order to acquire appropriate attention from the employees.

Through restructuring the functional units in organizations, the employees working in these organization units within the organization would be affected in various ways. As a result, management attention among such staff members would be achieved in abundance. Though Davenport & Beck (1) holds on the scarcity of full engagement of employees’ minds by the management, communication strategies employed within the organization are quite influential.

Objectives of this Study

This study is based on the following objectives:

1. This research will investigate whether there is relationship between the attention managers get from their junior workers, and the leadership styles they portray. By understanding the relationship between leadership styles and attention given to managers by their junior workers, it will be easier to develop strategic framework for effective organizational management in the contemporary society.
2. This research will establish the relationship between the attention managers get from their junior employees, and the overall organizational productivity. It is important to note that, employees’ productivity is largely dependent on their motivation in work, which will culminate to higher attention to the authority. On this basis, this research gears at determining whether productivity is dependent on the level of attention given to managers by their juniors.

Research Approaches

Since this research involves relationships between managers and the other employees within an organization, descriptive research method would be more appropriate. This is on the basis that, the study will only involve the investigation of relationship between employees and their seniors in their natural settings. According to Lewis et al (46), there is no direct manipulation of the variable when using descriptive research method.

Quite importantly, the relationship between employees and their managers culminating the level of attention involved will only be acquired through investigating on them directly. In addition, the output of the organizations studied will be aligned with the prevailing levels of attention given to the managers by their juniors. One of the major methods using this approach useful in this study is survey to express the status quo of the variables.

Further, qualitative research method would be used to investigate the underlying relationship between the kind of leadership exercised by managers and the attention they get from their junior workers.

Since this study will investigate all the variables in their settings, active observation would be quite appropriate method under this approach to tell how managers interact with their employees, and the subsequent attention they get in return Lewis et al (49). With the use of qualitative research approach salient information underlying between managers-employees relationships will be extracted.

Critical Literature Review

Managers in the contemporary social organizations faced with the new challenge of getting the attention they want from their employees. With the development employment and industrial relation, employees are largely free from unnecessary oppressions from their seniors. According to Davenport & Beck (2), getting attention from the junior workers requires managers to restate their leadership styles to enhance their cordial relationship with their employees.

When employees are coherent with their managers they will be highly responsive and attentive to their managers’ requests of commands. Since the leadership styles exercised by managers are highly dependent on employees’ motivation, their attention given to managers has been highly dependent on the leadership styles managers portray in their organizations.

According to McNutt (659), one of the most influential leadership styles in organizations is charismatic leadership which is strongly based on mentorship. Significantly, mentors are always quite influential in changing and modifying characters and behaviors of theirs followers. This is generally enhanced by the way their followers perceive their leadership as admirable in facilitating the achievement of the society’s ultimate desires.

On this basis, charismatic managers will always get more attention than those managers who exercise dictatorship in their leadership. As noted by (), charismatic leadership promotes intellectual development among individuals since the leaders always involve their followers in intellectual challenges.

According to Harwell (241), transformational leadership is another quite influential leadership among organizations. Notably, charismatic leadership encourages high and more productivity among organizations since the workers are very much inspired to get devoted to work. Basically, organizations which adopt charismatic leadership among their managers, makes their employees feel much appreciated which further fosters motivation among them to work more efficiently.

Through having the leaders decide what is best for the organization without being influenced by the set rules and norms within the organization, it makes it possible for the employees to apply strategies applied by their managers in the organization in order to create higher productivity within the organization. As a result, such managers get higher attention from their employees during their interaction with the organizational workplace.

As noted by McNutt (663), productivity in organizations is largely dependent on the degree of motivation in their workforce. It is important to note that; highly motivated workforce is more efficient and productive, resulting into higher output within the organization.

Particularly, managers should ultimately consider both social and psychological welfare of their employees to enhance sustained motivation in the entire workforce. When employees become highly motivated, they will exhibit high level of attention to their managers to avoid any alienation.

In cases where managers are in cordial relationship with their managers, high productivity will be realized, since employees will be more responsive to orders and requests by the managers. As a result of managers’ adherence to the needs of the employees’ needs and preferences, they will in return get more attention from such employees, which will in return result into higher organizational productivity.

Works Cited

Beck, Jackson & Davenport, Thomas. Getting the Attention You Need. Harvard Business Review. 2000. Web.

Harwell, Mark. Becoming an Effective Manager. Journal of Human Resources. 23.4, (2009): 234-239.

Lewis, Patrick. et al. Research Methods for Business students, 5^th Edition. London: Prentice Hall, 2009.

McNutt, Patrick. Efficient Management and Employee Governance. International Journal of Social Economics. 32.8, (2005): 656-666.