Abstract

 

The aim of this dissertation is the study of leadership during economic crisis for a manufacturing unit. The dissertation focuses on two main areas: 1) to examine the role of leadership in economic crisis; and 2) to find out the personal and professional skills required by leaders to handle such an economic crisis. In order to investigate these two areas, the selected organization for this dissertation is Saga Sports Pvt Ltd, Sialkot, Pakistan.

Saga Sports was the largest sports manufacturing company in Sialkot (Pakistan) before its economic crisis in 2008. The cause for the economic crisis is believed to be poor leadership, and as a result, thousands of employees lost their jobs. Three branches Kingra road, gopalpur road and khichyan road are totally closed. The global economic crisis was also a big factor which influenced the crisis situation in Saga sports. However, according to the annual report of the chamber of commerce of Sialkot Industry, the rest of the companies are still doing fruitful business due to their sound strategies and policies prepared by the leaders. Although the Pakistani Government offered different packages (such as tax relaxation and loans) for affected organizations to maintain their financial position, only four out of eight manufacturing units have barely survived. The Pakistani Government, chamber of commerce and Sialkot manufacturing goods association blamed the leadership for such a drastic economic crisis.

This dissertation will investigate the main role of leaders to develop the strategies to handle the economic crisis. We are also briefing the continuous evolvement of leaders in the business environment to develop the future plans for the organization. Even the big organizations (e.g. Centre for Chemical Process Safety) developed their economic crisis strategies at the same time as they built the vision and mission of the organization. Crisis management refers to appointment of leaders and developing a specific team to monitor the business atmosphere inside and outside the organization. Leadership also identifies the initial stages for possible remedies to avert disaster for the organization.

As a result from the investigation, research and finding, it is recommended that economic crisis leadership should be a vital part of an organization and that these organisations should be very careful to implement their policies to handle economic crises.

Furthermore, it is recommended to Saga sports to

• Develop a crisis manager
• Develop a complete system to handle the crisis
• Clarify the role and the responsibility of the crisis management team

 

This research will investigate the personal and professional skills required by the leaders of Saga Sports to handle the economic crisis. Literature is reviewed carefully, also with the help of finding chapter, for future reference, suggestions are written after reviewing the whole research.

Chapter One: Introduction

 

This thesis is a study of the role of leadership in economic crisis and identifies the personal and professional skills to handle such a crisis. It is said that, due to globalization, business activities have changed over the last three decades. Fast communication has opened new dimensions in business; organizations are exploring their business by finding new potential markets and customers, which they can manage from their own organizational site. As business opportunities increase, so increased competition is created globally. Leaders are adopting different methods and strategies to survive in industry. Apart from this global competition, organizations face more challenges such as economic crisis, the unstable activities of government (like political, fiscal policies etc), and customer satisfaction etc. Leadership has always been a vital part of organizations, and with the passage of time, its importance is increasing significantly.

The significant role of the leadership is to provide the vision and the mission to organize and to provide the organisation with a targeted plan to enable the organization to handle the economic crisis. Using the proactive approach rather than reactive approach, the leadership plan the future of the organization. Leadership leads the management and workers and prepares an attractive future vision for the organization. It is only the leadership who have the ability to turn the dreams of the organization into reality by identifying the hidden opportunities of the firm especially during crucial times.

It is the leadership who always accept new challenges and accordingly prepare the new territory to handle an economic crisis situation. Kotter(2001) explained that the primary function of the leadership is that they always welcome challenge and are ready to take risks when applying their new strategies. Elliott (1998) states that, it is the leadership who always search for opportunities to get the maximum competitive advantages. He also states that they are not disappointed with their failure and take it as a part of their learning process. 

Boston (2002) states that leadership also changes with respect to the time period. For example, there was a time when decisions were taken by the leadership done with no worker participation. Now, the situation is entirely different with the leadership realising that it is important for motivation to transfer the power of decision making to the stakeholders. At the same time, a big change is that leadership is promoting a greater variety of workers and teamwork within the organization to enhance efficiency that will help the organization to survive in industry for a long time.

Behind the change in leadership, globalization performs a very active role. Media provides exact information for any company and due to easy and access of information, leadership can take high risk decisions and even can plan the future in better way. Additionally, media can make mistakes in industry with the result that the leadership does not have enough time to avoid the crisis.

In comparing leadership before the 1980s with leadership of today, we can say that is entirely different. Gands (2006) states that in the past, stability was considered to be success for any firm, but now nothing is stable - things are changing rapidly. Leadership faces too many challenges on a daily basis. Leadership is facing internal and external crises now. There are many causes for crisis for organizations. These maybe due to natural causes or maybe human made but my report will focus on economic crisis and the role of leadership to handle the crisis. According to Barton et al. (2002), there are 65 types of crises that organizations have faced during the last 10 years. These crises affected on the economy in very significant ways. For example, the 19^th October 1987 became known as “black Monday” because of it was the largest percentage decline in stock market history. Similarly, according to Browning (2007), in 1997, banking and devaluation hit the Asian market and a crisis bubble hit the information technology organizations badly.

Saga sports were one of the largest sports goods manufacturing organizations of Sialkot based companies. Its eight branches, at different points for the Sialkot, were covering almost the whole sports industry. It was producing the football, rugby ball, volleyball, hand ball, indoor ball, cricket ball (hard and soft), tennis ball, and all kind of sportswear in different cloths. Now the situation is getting worse day by day. Three out of the eight branches are closed already and the remainder are surviving on a “hand to mouth” basis. According to chambers of commerce, Sialkot industry Saga Sports was providing 65% of goods to the whole industry between 1985 and 1995. However, it was the one which collapsed due to economic crisis. As per my investigation, I found that the leaders were good but that the board of directors were inexperienced. They took the crisis as a period of accounting for fault and tried to rectify it by utilising their different expertise. In this report I will describe the strategies that Saga Sports adopted at different stages. At the same, I will propose them the suggestions after studying the strategies of progressed organizational leaders. Here, below, the aims and objectives of this report are outlined.

 

Aim and objective of Research

The aim of this research is to identify and analyse the role of leadership in economic crisis for a manufacturing unit also, to identify the personal and professional skills of the organisational leaders to handle the economic crisis. For this purpose, I have outlined the following objectives

• To identify the role of leadership in the manufacturing unit of sports goods.
• To identify the personal and professional skills of organizational leaders of Saga Sports.
• To describe the relationship between effective leadership at different stages of economic crisis.
• To describe the activities of a Saga Sports leader in economic crisis.

This dissertation plays an important role for the companies because in all of the companies there is always a leader or more than one leader who is responsible for the activities of the team members and who supervises all the activities of employees and team members. The leaders should have knowledge that what are their roles and responsibilities. It should also be in the knowledge of top level management that which style of leadership is most suitable for their organization. 

Structure of the dissertation

The structure of this dissertation is prepared in chapters in order to be able to examine the aims and objectives of the research thoroughly. Further, the literature review for the role of the leaders in economic crisis is carried out in chapter two. This review of the literature is examined through survey, journals, articles, newspapers and business magazines to identify the personal and professional skills which are required for the leaders to handle the economic crisis.

The literature also reviews the personal and professional skills of the leaders through investigating types of crisis and leadership theories. It also examines, through defining, the basic concepts of the leadership and their qualities.

The third chapter of this dissertation describes the methodology used in the research, the main purpose of the dissertation, research methods which are used and which are not used, and analysis of the collected data.

Chapter four shows the results calculated from the collected data. The presentation of the results is in the form of diagrams and charts which assists easy understanding for the reader. The charts and diagrams are accompanied by a written explanation.

In chapter five, discussion and analysis is written in more depth for Saga Sports. In this chapter we have created a link between the literature and current position of Saga Sports. This chapter has been divided into two phase first is to find out the role of leaders in economic crisis for Saga Sports and the second is to identified the personal and professional skills which are required to handle the economic crisis for Saga Sports. This chapter is also linked with the finding chapter. Here the analysis is done in more depth with the help of data which is collected from the Saga Sports.

Conclusions and recommendations are described in chapter six. It is compared with the results from chapter four according to the academic review developed from the literature review.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Two: Literature Review

 

Introduction

The aims of this dissertation have been divided into two phases: the first identifies the role of leadership in an economic crisis and the second investigates the personal and professional skills which are required to handle such an economic crisis. Accordingly, this chapter considers the review of literature that has been completed regarding the role of leaders in economic crisis. 

 

Literature review for the role of leadership in economic crisis

Amaratunga et al (2007) stated that the reason for literature review is that it is the proper way of investigation and inquiry to increase the knowledge on a relevant topic. This dissertation studies the role of leadership in economic crisis. For this purpose, the selected company is Saga Sports situated in Sialkot. At the same time, this dissertation will create the link between the literature review and the strategies of Saga Sports.

Nowadays Saga Sports is facing the worst economic crisis since the 1980s. This is only due to mismanagement by the leaders. The situation is worsening daily and the economic crisis is affecting its daily operations like purchasing, selling and manufacturing.

This dissertation will state the role of effective leadership and the strategies of the leaders to overcome the economic crisis at Saga Sports. For this purpose, it is better for us to understand the economic crisis and role of leadership to control such an economic crisis effectively. After reviewing the literature, I will take a look at the problems encountered by Saga Sports. This chapter utilizes the different articles, journals, magazines, and newspapers to review the literature for the role of leadership in an economic crisis situation as follows.

 

Reviewing the literature of economic crisis for manufacturer firm 

Ulmer (2007) defined that crisis is an unpredicted and non-scheduled event which create the uncertainty for the organisation. Crisis is the constant threat for the organization in its different daily operations. Banks (2002) mentioned that crisis is the major threat for the organization especially for its product, name and goodwill in the market. Welch (2005) described economic crisis as it is a situation when the economy faces an immediate downfall. Economic crisis comes by a financial crisis. According to Armstrong (2007) in the economy, where there is economic crisis, the GDP level continuously falls; the prices of all the products fluctuate because of inflation or deflation. Recession or depression can be occurred because of economic crisis. This is also called real economic crisis.

Mazur (2004) states that crisis is an unexpected and surprising event for an organization. Additionally, the worst thing is when the leaders are not ready to handle it effectively. Lesly (2000) states that crisis is a form of emergency but the difference is that an emergency requires immediate attention and it does not have any impact on future but crisis is a rare event for the organization which can effect on the future.

Dier (2007) and Avolio & Yammarino (2002) states that crisis is uncertain and the responsive time for the leaders is very short, leaders have to plan immediately to defuse the impact of crisis. Most action taken in crisis went wrong and a single mistake can spoil the image of the organization.

In August 2007,UK based bank Northern Rock went into financial crisis. Leaders made mistakes in response to the crisis, with the result that depositors’ withdrew their assets and it went locked. It is most important for leaders to take right and immediate action otherwise impact can be drastic for the organization (Barling, Slater & Kelloway, 2000).

From the above mentioned literature, it can be concluded that the economic crisis is the slow process of down falling of the organization. It can be categorised in different stages as follows.

 

Stages of economic crisis

Welch (2005) and Daft (2001) stated that crisis is unexpected and unpredictable for the organization. Most of them have a slow process of build-up but can suddenly affect on the organization due to negligence of the leaders. Although it is unpredictable, four stages were developed as follows:

 

1. Prodromal stage

Jack (2005) stated that pro-dromal stage is the first stage of the economic crisis. Here we can find various warning signals. Now as mentioned by Epitropaki, & Martin, (2004) it is up to leaders to identify them as soon as possible and to make strategies to avoid future complications. In 1995, UK based bank Baring bank collapsed suddenly. There were some alarm signals for the leaders in that a single person was conducting and overseeing the internal controlling system of the bank. Management did not realise the signal and as a result, bank was unexpectedly closed. Leaders of the Saga Sports were realising this stage but they were overconfident, they tried their best to fulfil the gap with their accounting trips.

2. Acute stage

Welch (2005) and Griffin & Moorehead, (2010) argued that this is the second phase of the crisis, where the signals become more prominent and visible like incoming cash flow problems and graphs of sale decrease. Here the organization needs the immediate attention of the leaders. At the acute stage, the magnitude of the crisis can spread dramatically if the leaders do not pay attention to the crisis signals.  At this stage leaders of the saga realize the impact of downfall but instead of taking the responsibility they started to think about the financial providers help. They also putted their own interest instead collectively to their organization.

3. Chronic stage

This is the final stage for the managers to cover the economic condition of the organization through their strategies and plans. This is the limited stage for the leaders where they can control the crisis (Heifetz & Linsky, 2002). In the recent recession of the banks, the government of USA is paying attention to the crisis by monitoring the bailed and privatized the banks to avoid further damaging the economy. During the investigation it was also realised that most of the leaders of the Saga Sports were left the organization and took their own way instead to handle the critical situation.

4. Resolution stage

This is the last stage of the crisis. It is a rare chance for the organization to come back onto track. This research will also provide a conclusion and recommendation to the leaders of saga sports in order for them to identify the stage and then find out a possible solution. Here the condition of Saga Sports was entirely different, resolution could be done but revolutionary leader were not available. Already senior leaders were left the organisation and took the different sides when the Saga Sports was shaking with economic crisis.

 

Basic concept of leadership

Mansford (2002) and David (2005) stated that leadership is the basic requirement of the organisation in order to complete the correct planning, organising, leading, motivating, controlling and co-ordinating the subordinate.  Leadership is the continuous process to motivate the people to gain their acceptance regarding the finalisation of the task effectively. London (2011) stated that it is important for the organizations to set objectives so that through effective leadership they can be achieved.

Eliott (1998) described that leadership is actually controlling, supervising and evaluating the work of sub-ordinates or team members. The leader shows the right path to all other employees. He/ She guides the team members that what to do and how to do that specific work to achieve the goals and objectives of organization. Hsu (2008) stated that the leader has some specific roles and responsibilities that he should fulfil in order to achieve the targeted goals. A leader should have personal and professional skills to make the work perfect and to reduce the errors of the workers and employees.

Mansford (2002) and Jung, Chow & Wu (2003) suggested that different roles are performed by the leadership, but that the main performance is to set the future direction of the organization through proper planning.

Paley (2004) and Miller & Dess (1996) stated that organizations always divided the goals into sub-goals such as long term and short term.

Kotter (2001) described that effective leadership is the skill to manage changes and always be ready to take risks through experimentation.

The second phase of this dissertation is the study of the personal and professional skills which are required by the leadership during different economic situations at Saga Sports. This aim can be achieved by reviewing the literature review of leadership theories for manufacturing organizations.

Truckenbrodt (2000) stated that the concept of the leadership theories has concerned extensively both manually and scientifically to researchers for investigation. According to Nohria & Khurana (2010) the influence of leadership theories is important for researchers to conceptualize the attributes of the leadership especially regarding behaviour, integrity, style and traits of leadership. Some researchers claim that leaders are born but most said that leadership can be adopted through skill, training and practice.

 

Trait theory of leadership

This dissertation is the study of the role of leadership during economic crisis and to identify the personal and professional skills which are required by leaders to handle such an economic crisis. The second part of this dissertation is directly related to the leadership theories which were presented in the early part of the 1900s but were reconsidered in 1930/1940. The trait theory is one of these in which traits of the leaders are discussed. Lussier and Achua (2010) and Northhouse (2010) stated that the trait theory is based on the assumption that leaders are born and not made. Administrative skill, social skill, self-confidence and intelligence are by birth naturally in the leaders.

Ghasseli (2009) and Sadler (2003) stated that it is common perception for an organization that a suitable candidate for a managerial post possesses the qualities which are mentioned in the trait theory of leadership.

 

Behavioural theories for leadership

The study of behavioural theory for leadership is important for this dissertation because I am investigating the personal and professional skills needed by leaders to handle an economic crisis. This theory will help us to identify the different behaviours of the leaders when dealing with an economic crisis.

The theory was presented in the early 1990s but was investigated by Kurtlewin and associates in 1930. The purpose of this investigation is to identify the best behaviour for leaders. Griffen and Moorhead (2010) and Pillai & Williams (2004) stated that extensive research was undertaken to find out the best behaviour but found that there is no best style which is suitable for every situation. Some styles are famous like autocratic, participative and democratic.

 

Contingency theory

The idea behind the trait and the behavioural theory to find the best behaviour for leaders in all situations was established in the 1950s, but was reconsidered in 1960 when a theory was presented that suggested that it is not possible to adopt the same behaviour in all situations. Samuelson (2006) and Rafferty & Griffin (2004) stated that trait and behaviour are important for a successful decision but not suitable for all occasions. It depends upon the current situation of the organisation. The contingency approach believes that the behaviour of the leaders always depends on different aspects such as nature of work, quality and external environment as well.

Restubog (2006) and Sarros & Santora (2001) stated that the style of the leaders depended on the size of organization, the level of management and cultural values.

The contingency theory of leadership supports my research because it identifies the professional skills for the leaders to handle the different economic situations of the manufacturing organization.

 

Integrity theory

In the1960s, economist like Mckie, Robert, House and Aditiya realised the importance of the trait, behavioural and contingency theories and they integrated all these theories for possible success of the leaders in different economic situations (Turner & Barling, 2000).

Montgomery (2011) and Schyns & Meind (2005) stated that ability of the leaders is that the followers perceive the leader to have super power qualities.

 

Conclusion on leadership theories

Leadership theories are directly related to the second part of the dissertation (i.e. personal and professional skills required by the leaders). Reviewing the existing literature on the personal and professional skills of the leaders, it is important to investigate the leadership theories for future reference.

 

Role and responsibilities of leader in manufacturing unit

This dissertation is the study of role of leaders in economic crisis. Saga Sports is the selected organization. They manufacture sports goods and currently face an economic crisis. The next phase of this research is directly linked to the present situation of Saga Sports. In order to do this, a critical review on existing literature follows.

Becherer (2005) and Thomson (1996) stated that leadership is the backbone of manufacturing organizations. Leaders are responsible for the success of both the internal and external strategies of the organizations as well. Leadership also monitors the current situation and plans the future. Leaders build up the mission and vision of the organization after analysing the sources, visualizing the competitors, identifying opportunities and gather information regarding potential market and customers.

A leader is a person who has followers. A leader should think with the mind of his followers. A leader should have faith in his team members, he should trust his followers. A leader should make plans and then instruct his team members that how to do work according to that plan and how to achieve the goals of an organization (Walumbwa & Lawler, 2003; Montgomery, 2011).

It is also necessary to mentioned that although there are different levels of leadership from top to bottom, top-level management (decision-making) is the more responsible during economic crisis. Hence, the one thing common in every organization is that crisis in organizations is only due to ineffective strategies. Charan (2007); Gandz (2007); Whittinton, Goodwin & Murray (2004) mentioned that the following skills are necessary for competent leadership:

• Analysis of the environment (internal and external) for business activities and forecast for the future
• Identify the core competitive advantage
• Set targets and prepare the strategies to achieve them
• Establish a highly motivated workforce

Greve and Mitsuhashi (2007) also suggested to high-level leaders to transfer the operational and tactical responsibilities on executive level and as stated by Winkler (2010) that they should put their focus on decision making and planning.

 

Analysis of the environment for the manufacturing organization

It is important for the leaders to examine the environment (internally and externally). It is very important for the organization to deeply understand the current market requirement and for future strategies, government business policies and competitor’s strategies. These are constant activities which are needed to update their organization regarding customer trends and requirements in order to gain the customer’s loyalty for the long term. At the same time, it is a moral duty to connect with the internal matters of the organization.

Shimizu and Hitt (2004) suggest that, for internal and external analysis, leaders should use the SWOT analysis techniques. It will help them to identify the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities for the organization.

Bass (2007) and Wren (2005) say that exactness and time frame are the most important factors for the organization. There is no room for a second mistake when the organization may go out with a single mistake. Therefore, it is essential for the leaders to get the maximum information before any decision making.

 

Vision of the manufacturing organization

Vision for the future direction of the organizations is prepared by the leaders. Visions are the sense making for work. It defines the aim and meaning of work for the subordinates. It also gives the line of action to the workers for the organization. Proval (2007) and Zhu et al (2013) says that it is the moral obligation of the leaders to transfer the vision to the worker in such a way that they feel part of it.  It is the leader who conveys the ideology, values and techniques in such a way so that they may able to achieve the target efficiently.

Vision is continuous positive thinking process for the organization and it should move forward to the people who are working inside and outside the organization. Akdere and Foster (2007) believe that it is the leaders who prepare the visions of the organization, but for success, it is more important to convey it to the stakeholders and ensure them that they are part of the future of the organization.

Vision tells that what an organization wants to achieve in short run or in long run. In vision, the top management of a company should clearly mention that what are the specific actions that would be performed in order to get excellence and to increase the profitability. Vision of a company tells that what actually the purpose of that organization is. In vision statement, the company clearly defines its goals and objectives that why that company is made, what the main purpose of that organization is. It also tells that whether the company wants to grow in a long run or in a short run. The growth of an organization depends upon its vision. All the employees and workers who work in an organization should have knowledge of the vision. They should have full know how that what actually the vision of the company, where they are working is. So that, the employees can work according to the goals of company (Frow, 2006).

 

As mentioned in the introduction chapter, this dissertation also studies the personal and professional skills required by the leaders to handle different economic situations. With this regard, the most important skills are as follows for future reference by any organization

 

Setting goals for manufacturing organization

Binini et al (2007) and Hunger & Wheelen (2003) describe that setting a vision and establishing a goal are the two primary objectives of an organization. Corporate leadership always involves two types of goals. The first is financial goal and the second is strategic goals. Financial goals refer to finance like profit and sale, rate of return etc. but the strategic goals refer to finding new potential markets and customers, introducing new product, increasing sale, growing organization in the line of product and market.

Latham (2004) also describes that leaders should develop targets which are achievable, no doubt these should be hard. Leadership should fix the motivational rewards for the workers to achieve the strategic goals for the organizations.

 

Strategic implementation for manufacturing organization

Benz & Ferry (2007) and Raduan et al (2009) describe that for leaders it is the most important and crucial stage when the managers implement their strategies. Strong leadership especially leadership style and skills like communication, motivating attributes, technical knowledge and administrative skills are required.

Bass (2007) and Etzioni (1961) states that in implementing the strategies it is necessary for the leaders to take the responsibility with active participation because strong strategies are useless without proper and efficient implementation. Evered (2000) and Payne and Frow (2006) say that it is the top important task for the leaders to communicate with people at different levels of motivation and commitment. Accordingly, it is necessary for the leaders to make sure that the influence of the leaders is taken into account in task implementation.

 

Strategic Evaluation for manufacturing organization

Lussier and Achua (2010) say that this is the final stage of task accomplishment. Here the leaders have to realise that either everything is according to plan or not. This phase depends on three main attributes: first, to analyse the reason for strategy, second is to measure performance and the third is to make correction if there are any gaps between the planning and performance.

Atkinson (2006) stated that strategic evaluation is performed by the leaders and managers at the end of a sub goal. It helps them to compare their actions with strategies. If the result is not as per their planning then they rearrange their activities to accomplish the task efficiently. It is most probable for the leaders to get feedback for possible correction. 

 

Leadership in economic crisis for a manufacturing firm

Linda and Jerry (2003) ad Rieple & Haberberg (2008) state that, manufacturing is a most complex activity it may increase the value of energy, labour and raw material of any industry. Manufacturing firms are the backbone of the economy of any country -however, Pakistan at the moment it is facing a crucial economic crisis. Before assessing the economic crisis in a manufacturing unit, it is important to realise that it depends on many factors. These factors can be due to the financial position, labour market, trade for wholesale and retail, telecommunication, technology, accounting, purchase market, importers buying power and prices of raw material etc. Manufacturing units are strongly based on the above mentioned factors. It is mostly these factors which are causes for economic crisis of any organization.

Court, Hoyland and Young (2005) and Daft (2008) stated that economic crisis refers to unfavourable circumstances for the organization where they lose their values. Crisis can also be described as unexpected and unpredictable events where the sources of organization tend to a dangerous direction. Crisis can also be defined as the position of an organization when goodwill, pride and image of the organization are put at high stake.

 

Leadership in economic crisis

For crisis management, there are two stages. The first phase is before any economic crisis (pre economic crisis stage) and the second is in a crisis position. In both phases, the situation leaders perform the most important role in establishing the environment. For extra detail, I have divided it into two main parts: the first part helps us to identify the strategies before crisis, called pre economic crisis strategies; e second part highlights the role of leaders during the crisis.

 

Leadership in pre economic crisis

I have already mentioned that crises are unexpected and unpredictable events for the organization. Accordingly, although it is very hard for the leaders to develop a pre-crisis plan to handle it efficiently, there are different precautionary measures which can help us to reduce its impact on the organization (Schwartz, 2007). Researchers have claimed that, with the help of a pre plan for crisis, organizations can handle it better than those who do not have such a plan (Carmeli and Schaubroeck, 2008). Pre crisis steps for leaders are as follows.

 

Leaders who handle the economic crisis

This is the era of globalization and it is affecting the organization in different directions. There are more positive impacts, but we cannot ignore the negative impacts. Day by day, mode of business is changing due to technology and immediate communication. Organizations are facing many internal and external challenges. It is necessary for the organizations to hire responsible managers in response to these challenges. It is the most important for the manager to detect internal and external alarm signals which indicate a threat for the organization. Further, it is most important that the crisis manager should have the power, tools, resources and stature to handle any crisis signals (Lukaszewski 2007).

 

Conclusion

It is the evidence from the above literature review that the role of leadership in economic crisis is very important. It is vital for the leaders to identify the signals of economic crisis through investigation and research and adopt suitable behaviour to handle the situation.

Many authors identify the definite link between the roles of leadership in economic crisis from the literature review and with the help of the personal and professional skill of the leaders; they can lead the organization in economic crisis back towards normal circumstances.

Through the above literature review, the link between the roles of leadership in economic crisis has been examined and explained. The literature also described the difficulties of the nature of manufacturing organisational culture to handle the economic crisis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Three: Research Methodology

Introduction

The aims of this research are firstly to identify the role of leaders of Saga Sports in economic crisis and secondly to identify the personal and professional skills which are required by leaders of Saga Sports to handle the economic crisis. This chapter will analyse the methods and the methodology to carry out the investigation to find out the above mentioned aims of this research for Saga Sports.

 

Reasons for research

Baldry, Sarshar and Newton (2002) stated that the reason for the research is threefold, ‘’a process of inquiry and investigation, systems and methodology and increase the knowledge’’. The aim of this dissertation is to identify the role of leaders of Saga Sports to handle the economic crisis. Therefore the research has been designed to understand the role of leaders in economic crisis.

This chapter of the dissertation describes the way of conducting research. In this phase, I will cover:

1. Research purpose
2. Research strategies
3. Data collection
4. Data analysis validity and reliability of research

 

Research Purpose

According to Saunder (2009), research can be divided into three types: descriptive, explanatory and exploratory. Saunder et al. (2009) states that descriptive techniques are mostly applied when the research describes the event, characteristics of a person or any particular situation. Descriptive technique is also known as statistical research and most researchers use it to describe the behaviour or attitude of the person. The explanatory technique is used to develop the relation between the objectives. So accordingly, this dissertation is not using descriptive and explanatory techniques.

Ghauri and Gronhaug (2005) define that exploratory technique is used when the research problem is not described and the researcher wants to identify and understand the matter. In this research, the exploratory method is used. This dissertation is a study of the phenomena of leadership and performance in economic crisis. I believe it to be a worthwhile dissertation especially to Saga Sports who can reflect of the time when they failed to handle the economic crisis. The reason for using exploratory method is that in this dissertation we want to find and explore that what are the roles and responsibilities of leaders at the time of economic crisis. The main purpose of our research is to explore that which roles and responsibilities should the leader fulfil in order to tackle with economic crisis. We also want to find out that which style of leadership is more efficient and better to adopt by the leaders in the companies that whether the leaders should adopt the old style, that is traditional leadership, or the new style.

 

Research approach

In this dissertation, a critical approach to literature review is used for conducting the research approach. Accordingly, this dissertation develops the summary, structure and combines recent academic information. According to Saunder et al. (2009), literature can be conducted into three main sources: primary, secondary and territory. Primary literature refers to the first occurrence of a piece of work. Here, government report and publications, organizational reports, theses and unpublished data like letters, memos, and e-mails are counted. Secondary literature refers to books, journal and newspapers.  Secondary literature is easy to locate and can be targeted by a wide range of people.

This dissertation examines all three techniques. A secondary source will support this dissertation to identify the work already done on the topic of economic crisis of manufacturing unit. This dissertation will draw a critical analysis on exiting literature. At the same time, a primary approach will support this dissertation to find out the backbone of the matter and reason for the failing Saga Sports.

This dissertation was done with the help of primary, secondary and territory. The main focus is on secondary source. With the help of secondary source, literature review was studied to find out about the leadership styles and economic crisis. Maximum information is gathered from the literature review on leadership styles and economic crisis. It is also found that how the old style leaders used to tackle with the economic crisis and what are the roles and responsibilities of leaders at the time of economic crisis.

 

Research strategies

Saunder et al. (2009) stated that there are seven types of research strategies.  These are: experiment, survey, case study, action research, ground theory, ethnography and archival theory. I look at case study research strategy method because this technique is used to study the contemporary phenomena in the boundaries of its real life perspective. This method lends its support to describe the different sources as evidence. According to Robinson (2002) and Yen (2009), case study is the only technique where we cannot find any boundary between the research phenomena and the context of the topic which is under consideration.

 

Data Collection

Qualitative and quantitative techniques are used to conduct the research and collect the relevant data. Data was collected through published documents and through personal investigation like interviews and questionnaire techniques to understand the matter in a better way.

Eastbury-Smith and Danusia (2000) stated that qualitative and quantitative research is referring to a positive concept and views of the research and the phenomenological or a social and subjective perspective of research. Qualitative method is mostly used to analysis the data through discussion and observation. On the other hand, quantitative data is mostly used when the data is analysed through the numerical figures.

I have used a combination of qualitative and quantitative data. Data investigated through interviews is referred to as qualitative data, and at the same time, research done through a questionnaire is referred to as quantitative data. Both techniques are used to obtain in depth results.

Data was collected from interviews and questionnaires. With the help of questionnaires maximum amount of data can be collected in lesser time. Mostly the interviews were conducted from manager and top level management to find that what are the roles and responsibilities of leaders in economic crisis and also to find that according to them which style of leadership is more effective; old or new. Questionnaires are filled from employees and workers of Saga Sports and same questions were asked from them too.

 

Data analysis

For data analysis, the data comparability technique is used in this dissertation. Collected data is compared with literature and references available on the same topic. Hubermann and Milles (2001) stated that, it is a very important technique for the leaders to find out the similarities and differences between actual theory and application. This approach also helps to analyze the matter due to non compliances of theoretical methods.

 

Validity and reliability

This is the most important phase of research work.  Saunder et al. (2009) said that reliability and validity come from a consistent result obtained from the data. For the perfect validation of data, it is necessary to follow the methods strictly and at the same time, thesis should be collected through authentic sources which are already accepted from different institutions. This report will be valid and reliable because the targeted organization has already been tested by different theories which were measured in other circumstances.

 

Ethical consideration

Farrell and Cobbin (2000) stated that ethical consideration refers to good and bad action, right and wrong. Also included are the idealistic evidences of goodness by predetermined activities of the society. The contents for ethical consideration directly refer to the restatement of the law, behaviour and style and the other relevant issues regarding the research and investigation. It is the moral duty of the principal investigator to keep in mind the ethical issues during the research especially when designing the questionnaire and interviews. There are different areas which people might not want to disclose like age, income, experience etc. There are other issues which might be sensitive for the commercial reputation of the organisation like customer information, annual income, purchasing point and taxpaying system etc. In order to collect the data for research these issues should be kept in mind for full cooperation and best results.

 

Qualities of good research

Hibberd (1996) stated that there are five qualities for good research. First is objectivity, this directly refers that the conclusion and the recommendation should be calculated directly from the finding chapter. It is the best deed to use personal views to draw conclusions and recommendations but it is necessary to mention the difference between personal views and evidences which are collected from thorough research.

The second quality is validity; it refers to how accurate the answer to a question is. Amaratunga (2002) stated that it is necessary to make sure that actually what is measured and what have been the attempts to measure it. Hartley (2001) stated that if the measuring tools are incorrect then the results will never be valid.

With this reference, the questionnaire was designed with the aim to measure if the leaders of Saga Sports have had enough personal and professional skills to handle the economic crisis or not. The second objective of the questionnaire was to identify if the leaders of Saga Sports required more training to handle the economic crisis or not. For the above purpose, the interviews were randomly selected with the managers from different departments.

The third quality is reliability; this has already been mentioned that this is a calculated result which should be the same under constant conditions on different occasions.

The fourth quality for good research is openness; this refers to the transparency and clarity of the research. The questionnaire and the interviews should be collected with the condition of confidence in that the data would be kept secret under the rules of university.

It was also informed to the respondents of Saga Sports that the questionnaire sheets and interview recording would be kept locked, and at the same time, a soft copy would be allotted a password which would not be accessible to the general public. 

The final quality is acceptance of limitation. All investigators and researchers will work under these limits. These limitations could be from the side of money, time, people, etc. These limitations must be accepted by the researcher to proceed further, otherwise the research might not be approved.

Summary

This chapter of the dissertation described and justified the methodology which was chosen for the primary research topic. Questionnaire techniques were used to understand the situation which had happened. In order to investigate further, more in-depth interviews were arranged with the leaders from different departments of Saga Sports. At the time of investigation, much attention was given to the ethical issues; it was ensured that the data would be kept in a very safe way. Also the commercial awareness was maintained at the time of investigation. The research also meets the criteria of reliability, objectivity, openness, acceptance and limitations. Although it was quite hard to organize the interviews in such a busy environment as that of Saga Sports, it was nevertheless completed through questionnaire and interviews.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Four: Research findings

Introduction

This chapter focuses on the primary research findings which have been collected through questionnaires distributed to the employees of Saga Sports and interviews which were randomly selected with the managers and leaders of the organization.

 A questionnaire is actually a written form of instrument that is used in research. It consists of different questions and respondents have to answer those questions in written form. The questionnaire is used to collect data from other people who have links with the topic of the research. Sir Francis Galton discovered questionnaire. Questionnaire helps in collecting data from maximum number of respondents in much less time. It saves time as well as cost (Mellenbergh, 2008).

In interview, the person who is taking the interview asks different types of questions related to the topic of research from other person. The person who takes the interview or who asks the questions is interviewer and the person who gives the interview is interviewee. With the help of interview, the interviewer can understands and can have a look at the facial expressions of interviewee, which in case of questionnaires is not possible. Interview is a time consuming process. It requires a lot of time and specially in this case where the interview was conducted from managers, it was very difficult to manage (Seidman, 2000).

 Results which are calculated from the respondent data is are as follow

General background data

Results from the investigation showed that the response ratio from the questionnaire sheet was low; only 45 employees out of 100 returned the questionnaire and in 45 respondent 30 sheets were in position to calculate result. The low figure might have been because there was the holiday period of Christmas in UK. Unfortunately, the research was carried out on the days when most of the employees were on holiday. A second reason for the low response might have been due to the immediate shift turnover. Employees were rushing to change their shift which meant that most of the employees did not receive the research form.

Collected data showed that most replied data is from males. The indicated figure showed that 80% were male and 20% were women. The low ratio for women is due to the fact that in Pakistan the ratio of working women compared to men is low. In fact, there was only one department in Saga Sports where women were working. Women were only working in the washing department whilst the rest of the departments were full of men. Table 1 shows the graphical presentation of gender.

 

Table 1- the response of gender

Gender	Number
Male	24
female	6
Total	30

 

Table two described that data is calculated from the different departments of Saga Sports. Responding data is mentioned as bellow

Table 2- Departments of respondent employees

 

Departments	Numbers
Financial department	3
Purchasing (Raw material) department	2
Lamination department	9
Cutting department	7
Sorting department	3
Stitching department	1
Washing department	4
Packing department	1
Total	30

 

Table three indicate the experience in years, related data was also calculated from the different departments, respondent result was calculated and summary is as follow

Table -3 number of respondents according to years of experience

Experience in years	Number of respondents
0-5 Years	4
6-10 Years	10
11-15 Years	6
16-20 Years	2
21-25 Years	5
26-30 Years	2
30Years +	1
Total	30

 

Finding

The data which was gathered from the questionnaire and interviews was to analyse and identify if the leaders of Saga Sports have enough personal and professional skills to handle an economic crisis. At the same time, it was identified if the leaders of Saga Sports knew their roles to enable them to handle an economic crisis situation.

The data that was collected with the help of interviews and questionnaires helped much in this dissertation to find that which style of leadership the leaders of Saga Sports should adopt and whether or not leaders of Saga Sports fulfil the roles and responsibilities that they should fulfil. It is also found from the research done on the employees and managers of Saga Sports that which type of personal and professional skills are required by the leaders of Saga Sports or do they have the enough skills to handle the situation of economic crisis.

This research has investigated if the leaders of Saga Sports have enough personal and professional skills to handle an economic crisis, whether more training was required by the leaders of Saga Sports to handle the economic crisis situation, and if the old leadership style is more efficient than the present.

Difference between Traditional Leaders and Collaborative Leaders:

The workplace is changing day by day. The top management of companies uses to find innovative solutions for solving the problems. In companies, new methods are finding through which they can increase their productivity by engaging workers and encouraging growth. The traditional leadership style is changing with collaborative leadership style. The new leadership style is much different from old leadership style:

1. Power: In traditional leadership, it was believed that power is in one hand only. It is of single authority. The traditional leaders believe that their power is because of their position of the authority. According to this approach, the longer you stay in a firm or an organization; greatest will be you power in that firm. In collaborative leadership, it is believed that power is more in team. It means that in a team every member should be given a chance to take part in decisions. In this way, leader can find the best possible solution of a problem.
2. Information: In traditional form of leadership, information was not openly available to each and every employee or every member of a team. The leader of a team only makes it available to any employee on the basis of need to know. The leader has only authority and control over the information in traditional leadership. In collaborative leadership, information is openly available to all the members of a team. The leader equally shares the information with each and every member of his/her team.
3. Idea Generation: In traditional leadership, only occasionally team members were allowed to give their ideas in anything. Mostly, the top level management takes part in idea generation. No other person was allowed to take part in idea generation. In collaborative leadership, leaders give equal authority to every person to generate any new idea. Leaders encourage their suggestions and ideas.
4. Problem Solving: In traditional leadership solutions for problems are delivered to the workers or employees by top management. In the boardroom, these decisions are made and then after passing on they are delivered to other members of team. In collaborative leadership, team members brainstormed their solutions for ideas and leader encourage group power for solution of problems.
5. Resource Allocation: In traditional leadership resources are provided by the top management only when they think there is need of those resources. They allocate the resources after doing proper investigation. A lot of time is needed for this whole process.  In collaborative leadership resources are allocated on the basis of trust. Top management or leaders allow resources proactively. In this way, projects are done actively and quickly.
6. Rules and Responsibilities: In traditional leadership, every member has fix rules and responsibilities that they have to follow. In this way, members cannot contribute with their creative skills. In collaborative leadership, all the members of team are encouraged to work in a team environment. They share their resources, ideas, skills etc.
7. Resolving issues: In traditional leadership, issues and problems are resolved by an individual. Only one person is responsible for resolving any problem. In collaborative leadership, all the members equally participate in solving any kind of problem.

 

1. personal and professional skills required to handle an economic crisis

The respondents to the question, “Do the leaders of saga sports have enough personal and professional skills to handle the economic crisis or not?” obtained results is as 7% are strongly disagree, 20% are disagree 43 % are agree and rest of the 30 % are strongly agree of that the leaders of the Saga Sports have the enough capability to handle the economic crisis. Figure 1 shows this information pictorially. Data was collected through the questionnaire.

Figure 1

 

At the same time, results calculated from the interviews as to whether the leaders of Saga sports have enough personal and professional skills to handle the economic crisis were as follows (see figure2). 30%strongly agreed, 50% agreed, 15% disagreed and the remaining 5% strongly disagreed. The interview also investigated if there was a crisis team available at Saga Sports or not. The following diagram represents the results calculated from the interviews

Figure 2

 

The above diagram(figure 2) shows the results. Here, 50% of the managers randomly selected from the different departments agreed that they have skilled leaders in Saga Sports to handle any kind of economic crisis.

2. more training required to handle an economic crisis

This second phase of the research is to investigate if the leaders of Saga Sports require more training to handle an economic crisis or not. Data indicated by the questionnaire from the managers as follows.

The data which was collected from the employees with the help of the questionnaire (see figure 3) shows that 20% are strongly disagree, 60 % are disagree, 10 % are disagree and the rest of 10 % are strongly agree. Here the data was collected from the employees through questionnaire and the majority of them are in favour of their leaders. 

In this phase 60% respondent calculated from interview indicated that leaders of Saga Sports does not need more training to handle the economic crisis situation. The data was collected randomly from the different departments of saga Sports.

Figure 3

 

At the same time, random interviews were carried out from the managers of different departments to investigate if the leaders of Saga Sports required more training to handle the economic crisis or not, in response of this investigation, the result is as follows. The results were as follows (see figure 4): 20% respondent strongly agreed,30% agreed, 40% disagreed and 10% strongly disagreed.

 

Figure 4

 

The results to the question, “Do the leaders of Saga Sports require more training to handle an economic crisis?” The results were calculated from the interviews of the managers randomly selected from the different departments. The respondent results (see figure 4) indicate that most managers (40%) disagreed on the statement that the leaders of Saga Sports required more training to handle an economic crisis.

3. Is the old leadership more efficient than the present?

The next phase of the research was to investigate that if the old leadership was more efficient than the present or not? In order to carry out this investigation, questionnaire sheet was distributed. The respondent result was as: 40% strongly agreed, 30% agreed, 20% disagreed and rest of the 10% respondent strongly disagreed. 40% of employees strongly agreed that the old (1990s) leadership was more efficient to handle an economic crisis. The data is presented in figure 5.

 

Figure 5:- in response that the old leadership was more efficient than the current

 

Interviews were also randomly arranged from the different departments to analysis if the old leadership was more efficient than the current. The results from the interviews were as follows (see figure 6): 10% respondent strongly agreed, 20% agreed, 30% disagreed and rest of 40% strongly agreed that the old leadership was more efficient to handle the crisis then the current.Diagrammatical representation is as follow.

Figure 6: – findings from the interview question

In the above diagram (see figure 6), we can analyse that in the view of the interviewees, 40% respondent are strongly disagreed that the old leadership was not more efficient than the current.

The result calculated from the interviews that the old leadership was more efficient to handle the economic crisis is entirely different from the questionnaire because it was taken from the managers or supervisors. It might be the reason that the mangers or supervisors are quiet close to leaders and know their skills and qualities better than workers of Saga Sports.

Contradiction in Findings

There was contradiction in findings of this dissertation. According to the results of interviews it is found that old style of leadership is more efficient and effective to handle the situation of economic crisis. But according to the findings of questionnaires it is found that new style of leadership is more efficient. The reason is that the interviews were conducted from the managers of Saga Sports whereas the questionnaires were filled from the employees or workers of Saga Sports. As the managers work more closely with the leaders of Saga Sports, so they know their skills and abilities better than the workers or employees of Saga Sports.

Summary of Findings

In this dissertation the techniques of questionnaire and interviews were carried out and a wealth of information has been collected to identify the role of leadership in an economic crisis.

The second objective of the investigation was carried out and identified the personal and professional skills which are required by leaders. In order to do this and investigate the above objectives, research was carried out at Saga Sports with the help of questions to find out if the leaders at Saga Sports have enough skills to handle an economic crisis or not. A second question investigated if the leaders of Saga Sports required more training to handle an economic crisis or not. The third objective was to investigate whether the old leadership of the 1990s was more efficient or able to handle an economic crisis. The data is further analysed in the next chapter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Five: Discussion and Analysis

Introduction

The aim this research has been divided into two phases. The first phase is to find out the role of leadership in an economic crisis and the second is to identify the personal and professional skills which are required to handle an economic crisis at Saga Sports.

The main purpose of this chapter is to investigate the data in more depth and also to support the findings chapter with the presented theory in the literature review chapter. In order to do this, research has been completed to examine the respondents’ data and compare with the references to literature which is considered throughout the dissertation regarding the role of leadership in economic crisis.

 

Role of leadership in economic crisis

The information collected through questionnaire and interviews at Saga Sports showed that the respondents had good awareness regarding the role of the leadership in economic crisis. Even during the questionnaire investigation, it was realised throughout the different department that there is the better communication with the leaders than ever. There is now also an overall presentation which is carried out quarterly which helps to understand the economic position of the organization.

The perceptions of workers and managers are somehow different from each other. Most of the workers perceive that the leaders should adopt the techniques and tools of old style of leadership. They think leaders should adopt the new style of leadership but there should also some techniques of old style of leadership. According to perception of managers, the old style of leadership is more efficient than new style of leadership. They think that leaders should not give equal choice to all the employees to take part in problem solving and giving new ideas. According to managers, there should be traditional leadership in the companies so that work can be done more efficiently and quickly.

 

This is a good symbol for the organization when the workers and the leaders have good communication. They discuss the financial and economic position of the organization. It helps the leaders to identify the economic crisis and take action. With reference to literature, Dolan and Garcia (2002) stated that strong communication is necessary for organizational leaders to understand the economical fluctuation of the organization.

By carrying out interviews and the completion of questionnaires to investigate if the leaders of Saga Sports required more training to handle an economic crisis, the results showed 60% (18 out of 30) of respondent were disagree that the leaders of Saga Sports required more training to handle the economic crisis. With reference to literature review, Kotter (2001) stated that leadership is the skill to manage changes; leaders should always be ready to take risk through investigation. With regard to the above references, it is necessary for the leaders of Saga Sports to provide the employees with training in the business environment which will help them to identify any changes in the organization whether it might from the financial or production side. At the same time, it is necessary to provide them with training in the scrutiny of data. This will help them in decision making in different economic positions which will be based on the data analysis of the organisation.

Furthermore, for training purposes, seminars and training classes should be arranged for the leaders of Saga Sports. During these sessions, a good technique is to discuss case studies of leaders who developed sound strategies for their organizations to handle economic crisis. Study of literature is also a good way to supplement training to develop knowledge of how leaders can handle economic crisis.

The question was asked if the leaders of Saga Sports have enough personal and professional skills to handle the economic crisis or not? 43% (13 respondents out of 30) were agreed that the leaders of Saga Sports have enough skills that they can handle the economic crisis.

With reference to literature, Gasseli (2009) stated that a suitable candidate for leadership would be that person who possesses the personal and professional qualities of leadership which are a necessary requirement of the organization. Becherer (2005) stated that, leadership is the backbone of the manufacturing organization. For the future reference of Saga Sports, it will be the necessary for them to identify the requirements of the organization so that the management may be able to select candidates according to the requirements of the organization.

A third issue was questioned through questionnaire, whether the old (1990s) leadership was more efficient to handle the economic crisis than the current leadership. 40% (13 out of 30) strongly agreed that the old leadership was more efficient to handle the economic crisis. During the research, it was realized that most employees argued that current leaders should adopt the techniques and strategies of the old leadership to handle the economic crisis.

At the same time interviews was collected for the purpose to indentify that the old leadership (1990s) was more efficient to handle the economic crisis or not. The respondent result was entirely different from the questionnaire, it was identified that 40 % interviewer were strongly disagree that the old leadership was more efficient to handle the economic crisis.

Reason for different result is already mentioned that might be the managers and the supervisors are more close to leaders and they know them more then the employees.

Summary

The findings from the research supported the literature around the role of leadership in economic crisis, but provided an indication that most of the employees are not happy with current leadership and that is something that needs to be addressed. From the investigation of both the discussed literature and my findings, it seems that there are logical arguments which link the role of leadership in economic crisis.

The next chapter of this dissertation draws the conclusion with references to literature and gives recommendations (for both organisations such as Saga Sports and academic) with reference to the calculated research. The chapter will also focus on the process of research, and, furthermore, recommendations are given for future research and how the current method could be enhanced.

 

 

Chapter Six: Conclusion and Recommendation

The aims of this dissertation were to study the role of leadership in economic crisis, to identify the personal and professional skills to handle the economic crisis, and to investigate if the previous leadership was more efficient than the current to handle the economic crisis or not. Because now days it is a big issue for the companies to decide that which type of leadership is more effective and efficient to adopt. They should have knowledge that what are the roles and responsibilities of leaders at the time of economic crisis. Because at most of the times, leaders do not know that what to do and how to manage the situation of economic crisis so, the purpose of this dissertations is to make the leaders aware with their specific roles and responsibilities at the time of econpmic crisis. This dissertation will also help the top level management of companies to find that which type of leadership they should adopt, whether traditional or collaborative. At the start of the dissertation, the objectives of the research are mentioned and a brief introduction to Saga Sports is given.

The literature review briefly examined the role of leadership in economic crisis. This was completed with the help of models in such a way that organisations can take help to become more efficient. This dissertation also explained the link between the role of leadership in literature and participative organization.

This dissertation describes the different methods for research and the reason behind the use of questionnaire and interviews techniques. It tells of the reason for selecting the topic, and why the interviews and questionnaire were used in a manufacturing organization which works 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

Furthermore, it is also mentioned that the interview technique is necessary in order to understand the matter of economic crisis in depth, as the questionnaire cannot open the whole area of required investigation. In understanding the role of leadership, ethical consideration and the limitations of undertaking the research methods were also briefly examined.

The findings from the questionnaire and interviews were investigated. The responses to the interviews and questionnaire were productive and positive. Some responses to both the techniques were negative in opinion and behaviour and were not included in this research because it was thought that they failed to identify the role of leadership in economic crisis. However, the majority of respondents were fully cooperative and helpful and they participated in the investigation actively.

It is also stated that, leaders of the Saga Sports are also responsible to introduce new technology to increase the efficiency of production. During the investigation it was also identified that the Saga Sport is still working with the traditional way. Most of the production departments were still manual. This is also a big reason for not providing the high quality goods. It was also realize from the employees during the investigation that the competitors are using new machinery and tools to enhance their production. (e.g. new machines are available in market for stitching, to reduce the redundancy new cutting machines are also available in the market) It is also suggested to Saga Sports to use the technology especially in production department to increase their productivity and quality.

It is also recommended to the leaders of the Saga Sports to find out the more potential market and customers. In this way they can increase the demand of their production, obviously when the demand will increase profit margin will automatically increase.

The following section will discuss and examine the findings through the investigation at Saga Sports. This will define the difference between the literature review and findings from Saga Sports through interviews and questionnaires. In the literature review we can find the ideal role of leadership in economic crisis, but the finding chapter discovered that some employees are not satisfied with the current leadership in economic crisis and this is something which needs to be taken notice of.

Conclusion of the research

Conclusion is provided after scrutinizing the research. The research was conducted through questionnaire and interview. These methods help the investigator to identify the reason in depth. However the main research was developed on the basis of the questionnaire, the interviews did not really add much in depth. The questionnaire process was quite appropriate because many answers to the questions were repeated frequently even though it was collected randomly from the different departments.

Furthermore, it is also mentioned that it has been difficult to establish a link between the participated organisation and the literature, but through encouragement to the employee’s at Saga Sports, I managed to complete a successful investigation. Andrews and Herschel (2001) stated that by encouraging and motivating the employees of the participant organization then the research can be found successfully.

In the next section of the dissertation, recommendations are drawn for the leaders of Saga Sports.

Recommendations

Here, recommendations are given to Saga Sports after the complete study of findings and literature. These recommendations may also help all kinds of manufacturing firms which are based on the Sialkot industry.

During the investigation at Saga Sports, it was observed that there was no future plan to handle an economic crisis. Although Saga Sports have very experienced leaders and most compatible strategies to accept any challenges, it was only in the form of papers.  Furthermore, although leaders at Saga Sports were very experienced, the board of directors were relatively inexperienced.

The leadership was doing its best at their end but coordination between the chairman and the board of directors was missing. An economic crisis bubble started to appear in 2004-5 in the US but Saga Sport recognized it very slowly due to poor coordination between the leaders and the board of directors. Over confident management typically wasted their time in waiting for aid from investors and rating agencies. They applied “accounting tricks” to mislead the accounting picture and blamed the government, investors and agencies for mismatching their accounting quantities. The management also was dependent upon investors and other finance provider agencies. The management took many wrong decisions to handle the current economic crisis situation and are considered to be the cause of economic crisis at Saga Sports.

It is very important for Saga Sports to develop a crisis management team to handle the different types of crisis which they face in the current business atmosphere. The main purpose should be to develop a proper system for organization to handle the challenges, rather than just filling in the paperwork and putting it away in a safe place.

The second recommendation after studying the finding is that the organization should hire a crisis executive. However, it is necessary for the organization to identify the requirements of the organization so that high level management may be able to set a level of selection for an executive crisis leader.

A third recommendation which is derived from the findings of the investigation is that the leaders of Saga Sports require more training to handle the economic crisis. For this purpose, a case study of successful leaders and organizations can discuss with them for future reference. Additionally, a good prospectus of the organization for the leaders will provide them with complete awareness of the whole function of the organization so that they may able to scrutinize data for good decision making.

The findings discovered that the respondents are agreed that the previous leadership was more efficient than the current leadership. Accordingly, it is recommended to the current leadership that they should adopt the strategies and methods of previous leadership to handle the economic crisis. During the investigation it was also realized that communication between the employees and leaders was far better in the previous leadership.

Hence, it is recommended that the present leaders of Saga Sports should focus on communication between the employees and leaders. This will help them in many ways, such as to find out the right person for the job, understanding the problems which the workers face to provide high quality goods, in motivating the employees for any kind of change, etc.

It is also recommended to the leaders of Saga Sports to build up strong relationships with stakeholders through proper communication. It is necessary for the leaders to maintain a high level of communication before, during and after the economic crisis. Generally it has been observed that, at the time of trouble, leaders put themselves behind the line of fire and blame others. A competent leader is that person who can accept the responsibilities and is always ready to undertake the challenges.

The next recommendation for Saga Sports is to establish an economic crisis response team. Members of the team should be selected from different departments but all should be well experienced. It is necessary for the team members to follow the leader but should be in a position as to be able to challenge the leaders in case of any incompetence on the part of the leader.

The leaders of Saga Sports should encourage their team members to give innovative ideas and providing solutions for any kind of problem that arises at the time of economic crisis. They should get their help in solving problems. The leaders of Saga Sports should communicate effectively with the employees to make them fully aware of the problem so that the employees can give better solution which can help the leaders in deriving the organization out from economic crisis. The leaders should make a diversified team where there are members of different departments. The leader should divide the work equally to all members and they should have permission to share their problem or issue with any other employee or member of the team. There should be open environment for all the employees so that they can work without any stress and tension. The leaders of Saga Sports should entertain the ideas of employees. 

Another recommendation is that the high level management should be built up from the leadership teams who worked for the interest of the organization and workers who are working there. Leaders of Saga Sports got the chance to save the organization in the early part of the crisis but they put their own personal interests first and as a result the organizations lost their manufacturing unit and are still trying to cover their losses.

The final recommendation for the leaders of Saga Sports is to keep a close eye on the strategies of their competitors. This will help them to compare their sale, purchasing and production for future references. At the same time it is necessary for the leaders to analyse the market and customer trends in depth so that high level management can prepare the different future strategies for potential markets and customers.

Leaders at Saga Sports should act on their future strategies to avoid any kind of economic crisis rather than just doing the paper work to justify their inner feelings that they have most competent strategies to accept the challenges for Saga Sports.

 

 

 

 

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