Qualitative Research for Business PSychology - Essay Example

?Qualitative Research for Business Psychology Mergers are formed with the main aim of realizing economic gains. Agencies involved in a merger should be worth more together than when they were apart in order for the merger to be justified. Some advantages of mergers include combining resources, eliminating inefficiencies, attaining economies of scale and garnering tax advantages. Merging helps companies to grow and survive in today’s competitive business environment. Regulatory changes, technological advancements, industry excess capacity and increased global competition all fuel mergers. A merger is a strategic move that can make or break a company. These mergers may experience unique challenges such as leadership, communication, engagement and valuation. Integration of different agencies is, therefore, a demanding task which needs to be managed skillfully. Managers may ignore some important aspects in a merger in their excitement to close the deal fast. This may lead to serious impacts in the newly formed merger. This may create a gap between expectations and actual performance and the wealth of investors and shareholders may get eroded. To ensure the success of mergers, effective leaders should be selected to guide and instruct employees. Leadership plays an important role to successful mergers. Management practices implemented by leaders of organizations ensure employee satisfaction and improve organizational performance. Qualitative research methods are used to gather information about importance of leadership research and practice for organizations. Qualitative methods are important tools used for the study of leadership mainly because they help individuals understand how leadership is exercised in different levels of an organization. These research methods can also add richness and depth which may lack in data collected from interviews or questionnaires. Mergers and acquisitions have been taking place at an unprecedented rate. The main aim of this study is to determine various driving forces based upon analysis of a recent merger activity. A content analysis was carried out, and the content analysis approach offered an efficient approach in identifying driving motivators behind the merger activity. Conducting a Content Analysis To fully explore the rationale behind the merger activity, a content analysis was performed. Content analysis helps in theory generation, theory elaboration and critical theory development in the study of leadership (Wildemuth & Zhang 2010, 6). The purpose of the analysis is to understand the role of communication, leadership, valuation and engagement processes within a merger between two branding and advertising agencies, by using qualitative research tool of in depth interviews. The coding of application content approximates use of interviews. Content analysis has the advantage of high reliability and ease as the applications closely underlie merger decision morale. The merger between the two agencies must provide certain data in order to reinforce the merger stated rationale. This will also provide an appropriate framework for both inductive and deductive conclusions. Additionally, it will provide a link to strategy literature for validity of various coding categories. Use of more than one coder as well as a referee ensures reliability in the coding procedures. To address issues, 6 interviews were conducted with various junior and senior management employees. A content analysis of interview responses was then conducted. Content analysis is a method of research defined as the systematic assignment of content to categories and analysis of relations involving the categories using various statistical methods. Content analysis is helpful in finding patterns based on which researchers can methodically evaluate merging and importance of leadership and communication in ensuring success. Interviewees provided different perspectives regarding leadership and communication. They also gave their views regarding benefits and drawbacks of merging the two agencies. Interviewers conducted an exploratory inquiry into the leadership culture and communication process throughout the merger. To get firsthand accounts and information, six people were interviewed. The interviewees were cooperative and each had specific ideas regarding meaning of leadership in a professional setting, organizational values and they also talked about communication. Interview responses were reported in a way which did not change the original meaning expressed by the participants in the interviews. Inductive content analysis was used since it has the power to make faithful inferences (Schamber 2000: 732). In- person interviews were conducted by two interviewers and others were conducted by three interviewers. This was helpful as it helped in processing the non-verbal aspects of the interview to assist in interpretation. Interviewers took notes to ensure accuracy and interviews were also discussed to ensure there was clarity and consistency in interpretations of the interviewers. Each interview was carried out professionally stating the purpose of the study allowing interviewees to share their views regarding leadership, engagement and communication in the new merger. The interview resulted in transcribed documents, which were reviewed and compared against the notes to ensure accuracy. Interviews entailed main questions, secondary questions and prompts that focused on leadership, communication and engagement. Transcripts of the interview served as the main sources of data for content analysis. The main purpose of the study is to analyze the state the current state of the post-merger organizational climate. Responses to each interview were unitized before coding was done. Content analysis in this study functions as an analytical tool for categorization and a secondary observational tool for identifying variables in text. In the study, content analysis was incorporated at the pretest stage when developing the interview guide. It functioned as a basis for assessing effectiveness of various items of the interview as well as a basis for the coding scheme. A coding scheme was developed after the first few interviews and this process entailed testing inter-coder agreement, iteration of coding samples of data and revising the coding scheme. Coding took place in various stages. Each interview transcript was closely read and annotated. Concepts were highlighted and also labeled. Subsequent coding occurred in a manner of comparing interview transcripts and this allowed emergence of categories with their properties. Additional themes and activities emerged in each stage of coding The process of analysis was inductive and it took a grounded theory approach. Variables were not derived from existing theories and the categories were let to emerge on their own. Some categories were straight forward and they could be identified easily based on manifest content. Others were really difficult to identify as they were partially based on content of other texts. Categories were expected to be distinct from one another and exhaustive. In this study, data collection and data analysis were carefully designed and controlled and this ensured the results that were achieved were credible. Through the interviews, respondents own views regarding what they thought about leadership and communication in company XY were solicited in their real working environments. Also non-intrusive inductive content analysis was used to identify different themes that emerged from the interview transcripts. Criteria was defined in the own language as that of the interviewees, just like it appeared in the interviews. All these processes ensured credibility of the research as it reduced bias of one researcher. Credibility of research findings were also verified by the fact that some issues were identified by more than one respondent. Transfer of the study was achieved by documenting data processing in a codebook. Codebook contained explanation for procedures for handling qualitative data. Coding scheme was also listed and it entailed category names, identification numbers coding rules as well as detailed category definitions. Detailed documentation of coding schemes and data handling makes it easy for future researchers to judge criteria transferability to other contexts. Research findings were also dependable and this was enabled by the transparent coding process. The same version of the scheme was used by each coder and this ensured coding consistency. The codebook was also used to define distinctions between the categories and this ensured they were clear to the coders. There was frequency of criteria occurrence in the study. The study aimed at analyzing the current state of the post merger organizational climate. Therefore, findings were a list of criteria together with their definitions, examples and keywords. Majority of the individuals interviewed believed there was little visibility of leadership in the merger. Interviewees felt there was a vacuum of information coming from the organization’s top management and there is no real communication of the organization’s vision. In their discussions of leadership, communication and engagement, interviewees believed the company was not fully serviced and prepared to merge the two agencies. The relationship between leadership and post-merger performance is significant and positive for organizational profitability in years after the merger. As time progresses, an improvement in the new working environment and post merger performance will also be positively related. Client Report Research continually indicates that most mergers fail, and this failure can be explained by strategic, financial and market factors. A merger represents major change to an agency, since it entails blending two organizations that were formerly independent. Working in a post merger context appears to be an inflammable environment, and leaders are expected to be efficient in order to beat to beat these failure indicators. Post merger context Mergers are regarded as methods through which organizations can attain growth and development as merged agencies can compete in ways they could not have been able to on their own. Mergers in which related organizations are joined are usually for the purpose of gaining economies of scale. The increased size enables the newly merged agency to better exploit existing core competencies. A merger helps organizations get access to capabilities, markets and resources which they could not have been able to control on their own. Management of different stages of the merger will determine that these synergies are indeed attained. Four main stages can be distinguished during a merger and they include the planning stage, anxious stage, merger stage and evaluation stage. Each phase is important for success as it deals with organizational structure, strategic vision and fit and pre-merger planning. Attaining success in a merger is believed to be a matter realizing functions of organizational leaders, organizational alignment and defining the strategic intent. Independent organizations are integrated through attention to organizational process of communication, leadership, decision making and trust building among stakeholder, employees and top management. In the study, the physical integration between the two branding and advertising agencies already took place, and it is now upon the new leaders to guide and integrate the new merger. Systems and procedures of the merged companies should be combined as this will standardize and homogenize current work processes. Main roles of the new leaders are to select, retain and motivate employees as well as management of communication processes with involved stakeholders. Leaders may experience challenges when it comes to integrating process and physical assets as well as integrating the people and former cultures. Leadership issues in a post merger context need to be addressed by the people’s skills. Assessing organizational performance will help address the issue of timing. Good leadership is considered crucial for the success of a merger. Failure of a merger is attributed to a lack of attention to employee integration and issues experienced in each level of management. The rationale behind this statement is that, when an employee gets a good fit with the organization culture of the new merger, the culture automatically becomes part of the employees’ identity. Employee will, therefore, be motivated to work hard and contribute towards achievement of the outlined goals. Research finding indicate that organizational leadership is a determinant of an employee’s satisfaction, productivity, commitment and longevity within the organization. Failure to address changes that occur when a merger is formed can have serious negative consequences on organizational performance. Employees may refuse to cooperate and they may also loose commitment. This will result in negative behavior and may bring about conflicts that may be difficult to resolve. Conflict and negative behaviors in turn influence performance negatively. Improved post merger performance is not only associated with a successful integration of people. The new leaders and members of the organization will also need time in order to be acquainted with the new organizational culture as well as to learn the new rules, routines, objectives and goals. Internal working environment within an organization also plays an important role. A merger represents major and sudden changes within an organization and this may lead to uncertainty and stress among workers. An organization should put strategies in place that will help employees cope with arising issues and uncertainties. If effective strategies are not put in place, it may result into negative behavior among employees like job dissatisfaction, acts of sabotage, increased turnover and absenteeism rates, lowered morale as well as lower productivity. Leadership can influence organizational performance and it also determines success or failure of an agency. A leader in a merger is, therefore, a phenomenal concept developed by members of an agency to enable them understand complexity of causalities in the organizational environment. Leaders can have a significant effect on organizational performance through their strategic actions. Leaders can facilitate translation of information on to members of an organization, and this way, they can reduce conflicts. This way, the newly formed organization will be better aligned to the new organizational culture and environment and it will record high performance (Gill 2011, 75). A merger may have disrupting effect on existing work structures and routines and this may have negative impacts on performance. The lowered morale and conflict following a merger may further reduce organizational effectiveness. A good leader that is familiar with the organization can motivate the people by developing organization specific skills. These skills will help members of the organization to learn and implement the new direction of the merger. Improvement of performance can be seen and employees will be motivated to work under the new leadership. Leadership Challenges Experienced By the Newly Merged Organization Leadership is an important aspect in the merger process. A better understanding of organizational dynamics in a merger calls for leadership, which plays a huge role in unfolding the process of the merger. Business analysts view business ventures from operational and financial perspectives. They will then get surprised when these mergers fail, when on paper they seemed sure to succeed. An important aspect that determines whether a merger will succeed or fail is actually its people. The newly merged organization does not create value for the organizations involved and this may lead to failure. Following the merger, there are no clearly defined leadership roles and employees may not understand the layer of leadership they are closest to. Some employees may feel unsupported and this will have a great effect on strategic direction. Lack of clarity regarding leadership roles leads to and potentially reinforces cultural differences among employees of the two merged agencies. Lack of clarity will have a great impact on learning of the organization. Employees will feel there is no vision and they will not be able to tell what their organization stands for. Interview participants were asked about what they think of leadership and communication in the merger. Each participant answered in his or her own way. A few variations regarding leadership and communication were uncovered. For instance it appeared there was some kind of extraversion and a little bit of arrogance and egotism in some levels of management within the new merger. Some participants felt their decisiveness needed to be coupled with inclusiveness, as this would help create a connection between ideas and actual practical work. One way of understanding what goes right or wrong in a merger is to recognize that leadership plays a critical role in the merger process. There are crucial areas that are often neglected yet they need specific attention in merger processes. For instance, the dignity of people needs to be respected even when they are being challenged to overturn deep-seated traditions and practices. A crucial challenge of any merger is usually cultural. This means that if a person does not believe or he or she is not willing to learn something from the new partners, the merger will not succeed. A merger is always about trust and partnership rather than domination and power. In the merger between the two branding and advertising agencies, there needs to be a very clear vision about where people are headed as a business. These companies exchange research and new ideas. Employee exchanges between the two organizations will improve performance and facilitate coordination. Employees that have stayed in their original companies may also take part in various tasks of the other company. Questions may arise regarding which identity will dominate when corporate identities are blended and combined if common operating structures are not well built and maintained. Respecting and embracing differences involved in two companies that have merged helps create trust even between companies that have been long time competitors. If a merger is to succeed, leaders should respect self-esteem and identities of all people involved. Employees and stakeholders will not give their best to the organization when they feel that their identities are consumed by a great force. Several studies have identified leadership and ethical dilemmas experienced in newly formed organizations. It is identified that every leader perceives ethical problems differently. Various solutions have been proposed on addressing these ethical and leadership dilemmas. There are various frameworks and ethical models that can be used to assess appropriateness of various actions. Organizations can benefit by providing clear written statements regarding ethical codes of conduct. High ethical standards of an organization are related to the top leadership emphasis on employee actions. Leaders should be able to create an ethical climate within their organizations. Importance of Leadership in the Newly Merged Organization In order to drive change, value based or visionary leadership needs to be espoused. This type of leadership will enable the leader to reinforce values that exhibit characteristics like articulating a clear and appealing vision. The leader will be able to use strong and expressive forms of communication while at the same time display strong self-confidence as well as confidence in achievement of visions and goals of the organization. A leader should be able to communicate high expectations of the people and show confidence in their abilities. He should also be able to exhibit role modeling behaviors and characteristics that reinforce and emphasize values that are in the line with the vision of the merged organization. These leadership roles will empower people to achieve these organizational visions (Stahl 2004, 5). These leadership concepts should be applied in the newly merged organization as they will enable people to work harder and feel better. Delivering leadership with integrity together with communication of the core values of the newly merged company enables stakeholders and employees understand their roles and how they can affect operations of the organization (Gendron 2012, 125). Good leadership will energize people and it will also create excitement for the new company. Value based leadership will help the newly merged company advance in attaining its strategic goals. The high failure rates of mergers are frightening prepositions for organizations involved. A clear understanding of the role of leadership in the processes of mergers can help in achieving success and building harmonious organizations. Elements of Good Leadership Most theories of good and charismatic leadership outline vision setting as an essential element. A leader that is able to create a compelling vision for the organization shows the members an idealized goal of the future. A vision aims to align an organization around a strategic direction. Charismatic leaders should know how to convey and communicate an organization’s vision to their employees and workers. Articulation of an organization’s vision is an important component that will assist in coordinating and motivating efforts of team members. Leaders can discuss visions through their actions or directly. Good leadership is an indicator of the level of concern and satisfaction within an organization. It is also a measure of the social attitude that is grounded within employees of an organization. Leaders should be able to develop demand side economics with a more psychologically realistic conception of employees. An analysis of leadership and decision making in organizations provides an effort to map differences that may come up. These are important to the study as they indicate long term aspects of character which can influence variations in individual employee behavior. Conclusion A content analysis works well in examining rationale behind activities of a merger for a newly formed organization. There are various paths, for the variables examined, which provide a clear explanation for the activities of the merger. These paths are related to communication, leadership and engagement. It appears that charismatic leadership and open communication processes drives much of the activities of the merger in all levels. Many of the processes explained that the newly formed agency would create economies of scale which would ensure organization success as justification for the merger activity. The merger was justified either directly or indirectly by referencing the combined activities of the two agencies to expand into markets in which the individual agencies did not have a market presence. As a result, the merger will be able to increase productivity and increase their overall gross revenue. The merger was also justified through the fact that the combined asset base would be bigger in size and this will enable the new organization to access resources that the individual agencies could not have previously accessed on their own. In essence, the large asset base would allow the merged agencies to offer new services to their clients. Through the merger, the merged agencies will still be able to better compete with other agencies in their field. The results obtained from the content analysis reinforce that quality leadership, effective communication and employee engagement will ensure success of mergers. Further research and analysis in this field will provide more insight into the motivating factors behind mergers as well as strategic benefits that may derived from mergers that incorporate these attributes. References Gendron, M. 2012. Employee Communication during Mergers and Acquisitions. Gill, R. 2011.Theory and Practice of Leadership. SAGE Publications Inc: Thousand Oaks, California. Schamber, L. 2000. Time-line Interviews and Inductive Content Analysis: Their effectiveness for Exploring Cognitive Behaviors. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 51(8), 723-754. Stahl, G. K. 2004. Getting it together: The Leadership Challenge of Mergers and Acquisitions. Retrieved from http://www.ccl.org/leadership/pdf/publications/lia/v24n5together.pdf Wildemuth, B. M. and Zhang, Y. 2010. Qualitative Analysis of Content. Retrieved from https://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~yanz/Content_analysis.pdf Read More