University of Nottingham
Part 1: Research Document:
Leadership’s influence on Corporate
Entrepreneurship in Indian Textile
firm’s
Anshul Muthe
MBA Entreprenuership
Supervisor: Christopher Mahon
Year of Publication: 2010/2011
1
Abstract
Leadership styles such as transformational, transactional, context-fitting and authentic influence
corporate entrepreneurship in new textile firms. Leadership studies in India are very limited but
have increased in the past decade. Research needs to be carried out to determine which leadership
style influences new textile firms in India. As part of my research, I have conducted qualitative
research using qualitative methods. The two methods I employed are narratives and ethnography.
These methods have helped me identify leadership styles such as transactional, transformational
etc. The findings suggest that there seem to be a generalised view on leadership and its constructs.
After data analysis I found that four leadership styles emerged transactional, transformational,
contextual and authentic, although most of my findings were consistent with current theorists. With
most researches there are limitations, I have voiced my concerns on the limitations which occurred
during my research such as gender, culture and other contextual factors therefore I have carefully
provided recommendations that hopefully will pave the path for future researchers.
2
Acknowledgements
I would like to take this opportunity to thank my supervisor Christopher Mahon, who has constantly
guided me through my dissertation and the programs. Needless to say without his constant
motivation and enthusiasm the dissertation would not have been enjoyable. Chris has constantly
guided me through the process.
I would like to sincerely thank all the participants who took part in my research; they have been a
central part of this dissertation. Their prompt responses and willingness will not be forgotten.
Lastly I would like to thank my friends and family for constantly motivating me. One individual
(Nikita Khandelwal) has constantly been there to support and motivate me.
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Table of Contents
Abstract ............................................................................................................................................... 2
Acknowledgements............................................................................................................................. 3
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 6
Chapter 1: Literature Review .............................................................................................................. 7
1.1Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 7
1.2 Overview of Indian Textile firms ............................................................................................... 7
1.3 Leadership throughout the years.............................................................................................. 7
1.4 Role of Leadership in Corporate Entrepreneurship ................................................................ 16
1.5 CE Framework Analysis ........................................................................................................... 17
Chapter 2: Methodology ................................................................................................................... 20
2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 20
2.2 Why Qualitative Research ....................................................................................................... 20
2.3 Methodologies ........................................................................................................................ 23
2.3.1 Ethnography .................................................................................................................. 23
2.3.2 Narratives ...................................................................................................................... 25
2.4 Data Collection ........................................................................................................................ 26
2.4.1 Data Collection Process ................................................................................................. 26
2.4.2 Ethnography .................................................................................................................. 26
2.4.3 Narratives ...................................................................................................................... 27
2.5 Interpretation of Data ............................................................................................................. 28
Chapter 3: Results ............................................................................................................................. 29
3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 29
3.2 Narrative Data Analysis ........................................................................................................... 29
3.3 Ethnography Analysis .............................................................................................................. 34
3.4 Summary of Analysis ............................................................................................................... 36
3.5 Discussion................................................................................................................................ 38
Chapter 4: Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 40
4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 40
4.2 Limitations of Research ........................................................................................................... 40
4.3 Recommendations .................................................................................................................. 41
4.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 42
References ............................................................................................................................................ 43
Appendix 1………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….50
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Appendix 2…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………51
Appendix 3…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………52
Word Count: 11581
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Introduction
Corporate entrepreneurship is a widely debated topic in recent years. Over the years many
researchers and academics have explained that organizations need to hire entrepreneurs to
revitalize their companies and improve the financial position of the company. According to J.G. Covin
and M.P. Miles, corporate entrepreneurship is potentially a viable means to develop and sustain
corporate competitiveness (1999). It is important to note that often they do not focus on the
characteristics that are required for an entrepreneur to be successful in an organization. Through
my research I intend to understand leadership’s styles and their influence on corporate
entrepreneurship.
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Chapter 1: Literature Review
1.1 Introduction
This chapter will provide a review of historical studies that have been conducted in relation to the
different issues and styles of leadership. This will be analysed in-depth according to the research
question on how these leadership styles influence corporate entrepreneurs in textile firms. The
chapter firstly will provide a brief overview of the current state of textile firms. Secondly it will
provide a detail history of how leadership styles have emerged throughout the years, this is
important since there has been a lot of literature written although there is no single consensus on
leadership itself. Thirdly it will focus on literature written on corporate entrepreneurship and
leadership influence and lastly it will examine qualitative work done on leadership styles.
1.2 Overview of Indian Textile firms
The current Indian economy has experienced exponential growth and is expected to grow within the
next 15 years. The textile industry is the second largest in the world with china being the largest.
Most textile firms in India are export house who have run their companies for generations. R.K
Overseas, Shaw Brothers, Oswal group is companies which have experienced tremendous growth
through their lifecycle. There has been little literature that has been written on the leadership styles
adopted by these companies throughout their company lifecycle. My research will focus on
companies like this and how leadership styles influence these corporate entrepreneurs.
1.3 Leadership throughout the years
Leadership is a critical dimension of how organisations are effective. It is important to note
according to Frank Heller (1997) that the United States library of congress in 1896 did not have even
one book dedicated to the subject of leadership. There have been radical advancements in the
subject of Leadership which are diverse and focus on different aspects. Raplh Stogdill (1950, p 3)
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“defined leadership as an influential process aimed at goal achievement”. He focused on leadership
in three main criteria, leadership as an interpersonal approach, a social construct and its role on goal
achievement. Although these criteria do apply it is important to note that many aspects of
leadership such as its context and personalities is left out. Most definitions of leadership often fall in
a generalised and broad category. Frank Heller (1997) questioned the definition of Leadership and
explained that individuals have many personalities and it is difficult to rationalise one definition on
leadership for everyone. Leadership throughout the years has advanced, according to Alan Bryman
(1996) leadership perspectives have shifted throughout the years. He explains that leadership styles
like trait-spotting which had been popular in the 1940’s and contingency theories in the 1980’s had
dominated much of the literature. The author further explains that these attempts are not made to
disregard pervious research but are mere advancements. There have been many researches that
have been influenced by the ‘great man theory’. The theory which was popularised by Thomas
Carlyle (1888) he explains that great men are often born leaders and regardless of social and
organizational constructs they often take control. This is mainly an historical construct and Raplh
Stodgill (1948) influenced by the theory conducted research on the traits of individuals. It is critical
to note that this is mainly an historical perspective and this theory does not take into consideration
many aspects such as traits into consideration. Edger F. Borgatta et al, (1954), explains that the
group will be the most effective if they have a ‘great man’ who according to the authors is an allround leader. Author’s Ralph Stodgill (1948) and Rosemary Steward (1963) conducted studies to
identify personality traits and qualities that contribute to leadership such as ambition and goal
oriented but these traits are too general and often inconsistent. These studies did not take into
consideration the organisation culture and context amongst others. Furthermore Bird (1940) had a
more generalised list of personality traits which influence leadership. His list consisted of more than
80 characteristics. Shaw (1976) also contributes to the generalisation of personality traits of
leadership although he refers to this in the group dynamics aspect. Furthermore Fraser (1978) also
generalises the influence of personality traits on leadership in small groups. Throughout the early
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half of the 20th century much of the literature was focused trait spotting in individuals. Most of the
authors assumed that these traits can be identified and therefore once you can identify them these
individuals could be promoted in higher positions within the organisation. Much of the literature
focused on general traits such as ambition, responsibility, goal-orientation, motivation etc... These
theories provide researchers with a general perception of leadership traits with little focus on
organisational structures and individual behaviour configurations. According to Timothy Judge et al
(2002) they explain that much of the research on personality traits in accordance to leadership has
been vague and inconsistent. The authors have tried to renew this aspect by qualitative and
quantitative methods. Leigh and Walters (1998) have also tried to renew the belief of trying to
identify leaders by personality traits. Much of the research shifted to identifying leadership styles
such as autocratic, directive, democratic etc. Katz et al (1950) explained two dimensions that effect
leadership behaviour. The two dimensions they focused on is employee centric behaviour which is
the individual’s focus on building relationships and employee needs and the second is job-centric
which is focused on completing the job. The dimension is more related to goal-orientation. Edwin
Fleishman and Ralph Stodgill (1953) had conducted similar research to Katz at al (1950). They also
identified two categorizes consideration which is similar to employee-centric behaviour and which is
more focused on the relationships of employees and Initiating structure which is slightly different to
job-centric behaviour. This focuses on the ability to plan for the future verses getting the job done.
These studies were quite different at the time and focused on leadership styles instead of the traits
within individuals. Both the studies were critical in understanding the contrasting leadership styles
between democratic which could be understood as employee centric and autocratic which is more
goal-orientated. Although there has been much written on these two categorizes of leadership,
Goran Ekvall and Jourko Arvonen (1991) explain that a third category is identified where the
supervisor is more of a visionary who makes quick decisions and accepts employees opinions. Jane
Mouton and Robert Blake (1964) argued against this differentiation of literature that leaders often
display both goal-orientated and employee-orientated behaviour. Although leaders can portray any
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of this behaviour there is no conclusive theory which explains the benefits of this was an important
step in leadership literature.
According to Renis Likert (1961), effective supervisors adopted either a participative style or
democratic style. He devised four systems which identified different aspects of leadership. The first
he explains as exploitative autocratic which is controlling, dominating form of leadership, where the
individual could threaten employees to motivate them and often does not have interpersonal skills.
The second he clarifies is a benevolent authoritative which is more on the considerate side. He could
motivate the employees by reward and takes employees opinion in decision making. The third
behaviour style of leadership he identifies as Participative where he encourages employees to take
part in discussion but ultimately he is the decision maker. The fourth is democratic leadership where
aspects such as trust and confidence is high in the employees thus shifts some of the decision
making power to them. Until this research most of the authors only mention a particular leadership
style but did not mention if the style was effective.
Through the 1960’s there was much criticism of the style-counselling studies of the two researchers
from Michigan and Ohio. It is important to note that these studies focused much of their research on
high levels of consideration and initiating structures. Robert Tannenbaum and Warren Schmidt
(1958) provided a different perspective to leadership. He explained that leaders could be both
autocratic and democratic. This was merely an extension of the employee and job-centered
leadership styles. These contingency theories added a critical dimension to leadership. Robert
Tannenbaum and Warren Schmidt (1958) explained that the particular style a manager might adopt
could be contingent on three aspects, personality traits within the manager, the behaviour or
characteristics of subordinates and a critical dimension which is the situation itself. The research
during this era turned to finding a leadership style which is the best suited for a particular situation.
This gave rise to a new set of contingent theories. Fred Fiedler (1967) provided more of a regulated
approach to leadership. He based his research on contextual factors. The author identified leaders
10
whose performance was easy to measure then he created a LPC (Least Preferred Co-worker) score.
He assessed leaders by the simple criteria that if the score was 57 or lower than the individual was
more task orientated and if the individual scored more than 64 then he was more relationship or
employee orientated. The first attempt by Fiedler was not successful he tried to relate the LPC
scores with the performance of the groups. In doing so he developed conditions based on three
criteria. The structure of the task, the power the leader has and the relationship between the leader
and his co-workers. Based on these characteristics he developed three situations or conditions. He
explained that in situations where conditions are favourable individuals who are task-orientated
perform better than individuals who are relationship orientated. In a situation where the task is
unstructured he explains that relationship-orientated leaders perform better. Task-orientated
leaders often ignore relationships and thus lead to declining situations. The third and last condition
he clarifies that in situations where the conditions are worst, task-orientated leaders perform better
since relationship-orientated leaders often fail to put pressure on their co-workers to complete the
tasks. According to Abraham Korman (1973) he explains that there are major theoretical
assumptions that the contingency theories applies. The author explains three main assumptions
while trying to identify the scores which are deemed critical on certain levels. First the actual
construct must be valid. Second researchers often use situational parameters to measure behaviour
at different levels; this often leads to conflicting results and lastly the author mentions that the
relationships or situations which are measure do not vary, which in reality is a naïve assumption.
Even with the latest research it is difficult to understand human behaviour characteristics which
define leadership styles. It is critical that Fielders systematic model (1967) does not take into
account various needs of co-workers and the least-preferred co-worker is largely an extreme case
thus it is difficult to base the theory around it. Although there is much criticism on contingency
theories Fielders research served two purposes, one exemplified the importance of contextual
factors in leadership styles and secondly the research he conducted in-directly proved that managers
often find it difficult to change the particular styles they adopt. Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard
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(1988) further explain that in-order to be an effective leader the individual must have the ability to
analyse the situation and adjust their particular leadership style to the type of situation they are in.
Although Fiedler explained that managers find it difficult to change their leadership style, the
authors argued against this and explained that leaders often change their leadership styles. They
termed this type of Leadership as ‘situational Leadership’. Furthermore Paul Hersey and Ken
Blanchard (1958) add an important element to leadership which is the readiness of the followers.
They relate this aspect to the behaviour patterns such as task behaviour and relationship behaviour.
This aspect was missing in Fielder’s contingency theory model. He did not consider subordinate’s
behaviour or willingness to follow. According to Ronald K. Hambelton and Ray Gumpert (1982) they
explain that the significance of Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard’s contingency theory is that it is much
simpler and utilises much less variables than most of the situational leadership theories. An
important question they raise is that it is still unclear whether managers who use situational
leadership are more effective than managers who do not use it. Alan Bryman (1986, p. 149) also
explains that there are certain limitations to the situational leadership model. The author explains
there is a lack of practical evidence and certain elements have no particular reason to be interlinked.
Daniel Goleman (2000) conducted a research and identified six leadership styles. The author chose
these styles based on its impact on the working atmosphere and the potential linkage to the
financial performance of the firm. His research suggested that an effective leader uses all these
styles and each style reflects an aspect of emotional intelligence. According to Salovey and Mayer
(1990) emotional Intelligence is defined as “the subset of social intelligence that involves the ability
to monitor one’s own and other’s feeling and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this
information to guide one’s thinking and action”(p.189). Daniel Goleman included emotional
intelligence into leadership which is a critical dimension. According to Ashforth and Humphery
(1995) who argued that emotion is inseparable from the organizational setting. Daniel Goleman
(2000) explicates those individuals who have perfected four or more leadership styles out of six will
be the most effective leaders. Furthermore he explains that it is important for individuals to be
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flexible and adapt to different situations. Many contingency theories state that for a leader to be
effective, he or she must adapt their style according to the context. Although there has been a great
deal of research, there is little evidence that a ‘one fit’ solution exists to leadership. There have
been many criticisms of contingency theories, according to Ayman, R., Chemers, M. M., & Fiedler, F.
(1995) the greatest weakness is in its construct. The LPC has little validity and even less reasoning,
this makes it difficult to justify its results. There is also a lack of structure or process which makes it
difficult to understand and apply the model. Many contingency theories do not question the
managers or leaders ability to diagnose the situation itself. There is little focus on the level and type
of situations leaders face on a day to day basis. Key aspects such as organisation culture, gender,
external environment factors and technology are absent when considering the type of leadership or
the context in which the leader should choose his particular leadership style. According to Laurent,
A, (1986) the structure is considered a critical factor in leadership styles. He conducted a research
between French and American management styles and the results indicated that the two groups had
different perceptions on the management structures of their respective organizations. This is critical
since contextual factors such as structure and culture cannot be ignored. His research was important
since it brought an international perspective to leadership styles and recognized the cultural
influence on management structures, which ultimately effect leadership.
At the turn of the 21st century the global environment had changed, there were advancements in
technology, the management processes became more complex, and there was a shift from the
traditional industries like steel to more technologically orientated industries. With a global
environment becoming more complex, the need for a strategic vision and re-thinking the traditional
role of leadership was evident. According to Gregory Dess and Joseph Picken (2000) leaders needed
to place less importance on traditional organizational structure and focus on creating a strategic
vision, motivating employees, scanning the external environment and trying to achieve the creative
edge. The role of leadership had changed to being a visionary, a motivator and using charm to
develop relationships at all levels. Duane Ireland and Michael Hitt (2000, pp. 43) define strategic
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leadership as “a person’s ability to anticipate, envision, maintain flexibility, think strategically and
work with others to initiate changes that will create a viable future for the organization”. The author
further explains that the complexity of the strategic leadership may lead to developing a sustainable
competitive advantage which is a critical element in the 21st century. According to Manz and Sims
(1991) the most appropriate type of leadership is one who can lead others to lead themselves. They
explain that in the 21st century, leadership will deviate from its traditional role of one leader to a
leader who can coach and motivate his subordinates to become leaders. The authors termed this
individual as a ‘super leader’. Manz and Sims (1990) also explain that in order for this the individual
to lead teams to lead themselves, the individual should have leadership behaviours such as selfevaluation, encouraging employees, empowering them to be critical about themselves. Another
critical dimension in the 21st century that researches focused on was organizational culture.
According to Ronald Sims (2000) new leadership is critical to successfully changing organizational
culture. Furthermore Bernard Bass and Bruce Avolio (1993) explain that effective organisations need
to think strategically and develop culture. The authors also explain that leaders often change their
organization culture by understanding it and then aligning it with a new direction or vision (Bass,
1985).
Managers today rely on different aspects of leadership; they use motivation as a tool to encourage
employees. McGregory Burns (1978) conducted a study on political leaders to differentiate between
transactional and transformational leadership. He explained that transactional leaders are those
who treat their employees in terms of an exchange or reward them based on the tasks needed to
pursue the set goals. Transformational leaders on the other hand are those who influence, motivate
and inspire employees and form more of a relationship with them. According to Bernard Bass (1990)
transformational leadership occurs when leaders expand and look after the interests of their
employees. Furthermore he adds that transformational leaders possess characteristics like a
charismatic leader, a visionary and guide their employees. Transactional leaders are more structured
14
and reliant on rewards. He places more emphasis on transformational leadership, explaining that it
influences the overall performance of the firm, the corporate image and could be an influential
factor in recruiting new employees. Bernard Bass (1990, pp.27) states that transformational
leadership can be learned and should be the subject of management training and development.
Although this might be true he fails to mention that Leaders might have personalities which are not
flexible and could be difficult to alter also the results were collected from one engineering firm. It
would have been interesting to understand how different contextual factors such as culture and
structure would affect transformational leadership? Bernard Bass (1997) added contextual factors
such as culture to transformational and transactional leadership. In his study he explained that some
of these contextual factors are inevitable and there seems to be high variances in them but in a
general sense he found that transformational leadership tends to be more effective than a reward
based system. He also identified a critical aspect that culture influences leadership for. E.g. He
mentions that Europe seemed to be more towards the transactional side of leadership.
There has been much debate on whether leadership is essential in an organisation or what qualities
classify a leader. According to Bernard Bass (1990) transformational leaders have charisma,
intellectual stimulation and inspiration. Rakesh Khurana (2002) mentions that it is assumed that the
secret behind being a successful CEO is leadership. He explains that aspects such as strategic
thinking, industry knowledge are important but are becoming less essential to organisations. He lays
emphasis that leaders are often chosen based on their charisma, thus many organisations overlook
viable candidates. Furthermore he states that charisma is hard to define and the impact it has on
CEO’s is exaggerated.
There have been many studies conducted through the years to identify a ‘one fit’ leadership style or
find out what characteristics make an effective leader. Recent literature has focused on authentic
leadership, according to Kernis (2003, pp. 85) authenticity is the” unobstructed operation of one’s
true self in daily enterprise”. George et al (2007) state that no one can become authentic by
imitating someone else, they explain that in our for an individual to have authentic leadership he or
15
she needs to learn from their own experience, be self-aware and implement their own beliefs and
thoughts. This type of leadership is critical of today’s entrepreneurs as they need to establish their
own style of leadership which is an important aspect to success.
1.4 Role of Leadership in Corporate Entrepreneurship
There have been a lot of studies conducted on corporate entrepreneurship and leadership that
explain the need for companies to hire entrepreneurs to create a strategic renewal through
innovation, stimulation of corporate venturing, enhancing entrepreneurial intensity and encouraging
employees to act entrepreneurial. With companies looking to diversify and the economic landscape
becoming increasingly globalised, it is becoming critical for companies to hire entrepreneurs.
According to Jeffrey Covin and Morgan Miles (1999) corporate entrepreneurship has been a
potential viable option for creating a sustainable competitive advantage. Morris and Kurato (2002,
pp. 28) define Corporate Entrepreneurship as ‘entrepreneurial behaviour inside established midsized
and large organizations’. While this definition might hold true, the word entrepreneurial behaviour is
too vague and generalised. Sharma and Chrisman (1999) explain that corporate entrepreneurship is
a process within an existing organization, where an individual or a group of individuals instigate
renewal or innovation within that organization. This definition is more precise and defines Corporate
Entrepreneurship as a process. Zahra (1991) defined Corporate Entrepreneurship as an activity
which looks at new venture creation. Each of these definitions focus on different aspects but fail to
mention any context or stage the organisation might be when Corporate Entrepreneurship is
implemented. Furthermore there is a lack of information on what kind of individual would develop
new ventures or innovation.
Through the years there has been much written on the constructs on Corporate Entrepreneurship.
With the emergence of Corporate Entrepreneurship companies focused their efforts on innovation,
entrepreneurial qualities such as risk-taking and rapid product innovation. According to Serpa (1987)
Organizations saw Corporate Entrepreneurship as a means to renew their strategic goals, enter new
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markets, create new products, enhance financial performance and reduce their business risk. John
Stopford and Charles Baden-Fuller (1992) explain that Corporate Entrepreneurship exhibited many
different types of attributes such as pro-activeness, team orientation, Aspirations beyond current
capability, capabilities to resolve dilemmas and learning capability. These are critical aspects that
entrepreneurs within organizations need to demonstrate. Pralad and Hammel (1989) state that the
attribute: ‘aspirations beyond current capability’ is necessary for an organization to achieve their
strategic intent and they are more likely to gain market leadership. Zahra et al (1999) mention that
although there is empirical evidence that Corporate Entrepreneurship increases company
performance by creating pro-activeness within the firm but he mentions that studies should now
focus on its link with the company’s financial performance. This is a critical aspect which has not
been clearly identified as yet. Furthermore there have been many frameworks of how Corporate
Entrepreneurship leads to organizational performance but still there is little consensus on an ideal
framework. In addition most of the frameworks focus on the strategy that the firm should adopt
versus the type of leadership or attributes of leadership which leads to successful Corporate
Entrepreneurship.
1.5 CE Framework Analysis
Corporate Entrepreneurship is more of a strategy by which a firm can renew its processes and look
for an entire new direction. It can also be implemented in a time when a firm might be faced with
serious business risk. There have been many frameworks that explain how Corporate
Entrepreneurship can be implemented but little consensus remains. Burgelman (1983) examined the
management of new ventures and their structure in large organisations. He explains that much has
been written regarding the need for strategy and diversification but there is still little understanding
of the process of new venture development. In his framework he examines internal corporate
venturing and the role of middle managers in the process. The main aspect he explains is that two
corporate level functions are segregated, business development and new venture creation from
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research and development and other general management functions. Furthermore he explains that
the main engine behind corporate entrepreneurship is the new initiatives created by individuals at
an operational level.
Although this might be true, it would be interesting to see what kind of
leadership styles this individual could portray and if they would enable new venture creation also
the study is limited to large organisations and does not focus on start-ups and mid-size firms.
William Guth and Ari Ginsberg (1990) expanded on Burgelman’s model of new venture creation
(1983) they identified two key ingredients new business within the organization and strategic
renewal. An important aspect to note is that they incorporated strategic management into the
framework and identified several factors that influence corporate entrepreneurship like the external
environment, organizational conduct and performance. Although this framework incorporates
strategic leadership, it does not explain what kind of characteristics, styles and beliefs are required
to influence corporate entrepreneurship. Hornsby et al (1993) explain that Corporate
Entrepreneurship is complex and presents various challenges; they explain that on a practical level
companies need to establish guidelines on a daily basis in order to implement internal strategies. On
a theoretical level there needs to be a constant re-assessment of the constructs of corporate
entrepreneurship. The framework identifies organizational and individual characteristics which could
lead to new venture creation. More so the framework analyses key components of individual
characteristics such as the need for locus of control, ability to take risks and goal-orientated. It would
be interested to analyse if these aspects have commonality to leadership styles. For e.g. ‘goal
orientation’ could be linked to transactional leadership which focuses on achieving the task. This
would provide an in depth analysis of how a leadership style could influence corporate
entrepreneurship.
Colvin and Slevin (1991) present a firm-behaviour model of corporate
entrepreneurship. They explain that behaviours rather than attributes influence the entrepreneurial
process. According to the authors entrepreneurial posture is present in three behavioural aspects of
management which is risk-taking, product innovation and technological leadership. Although this
model incorporates external, strategic and internal variables, these variables are extremely broad in
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nature. It also provides a very generic description of the framework with entrepreneurial posture
not clearly being defined. Lumpkin and Dess (1996) explain that Entrepreneurial Orientation possess
some of the characteristics that can lead to new venture creation. They identify the characteristics
to be risk-taking propensity, innovativeness, pro activeness, competitive aggressiveness and
autonomy. Some of these attributes have been identified by previous researches like Colvin and
Slevin (1991) but the author’s mention that these attributes may differ based on the organizational
context and other factors. Furthermore the authors argue that this occurs merely at a firm-level and
in large organizations. This is in agreement with Schumpeter’s (1942) explanation that firm’s
eventually become powerhouse entrepreneurs as they dedicate more resources. It would be
interesting to see if these characteristics hold true for start-up companies or if one of these
characteristics would be more important to an entrepreneur than the other. In contrast with
Lumpkin and Dess (1991) view that Entrepreneurial Orientation is critical, Morgan and Hughes
(2007) explain that not all facets of Entrepreneurial Orientation are positive. In addition they
mention that only pro activeness and innovativeness will have a positive impact on a firm while risktaking could have negative consequences.
Corporate Entrepreneurship frameworks in the past have mainly focused on the strategic aspect of
business and have given little attention to leadership. Ireland et al (2003) specify that in order for
Corporate Entrepreneurship to generate wealth it is important to integrate opportunity and
advantage seeking behaviours into the framework. The author identifies two keys aspects: First
Entrepreneurial mind set, which they define as a growth-orientated perspective through innovation,
creativity and flexibility and second Entrepreneurial culture and leadership. Ireland et al (2003) go indepth on the leadership aspects; they explain that there are six attributes that are critical. It is
important to note that the authors mention leadership through an entrepreneurial perspective but
do not mention a particular style that would fit this. This entrepreneurial leadership moves away
from the traditional school of thought of leadership such as autocratic, democratic, it instead
focuses on a visionary aspect, an opportunity recognition aspect and entrepreneurial behaviour.
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Chapter 2: Methodology
2.1 Introduction
In order to identify the facets of leadership and its influence on corporate organisations in textile
firms, I choose a qualitative research method. My dissertation made use of qualitative method in
order to understand some of the issues mentioned in the literature review. This section has been
broken down into four parts. The first section proves a justification for why qualitative research is
necessary in analysing leadership aspects. In the second section I explain the methodologies which I
have used. This section provides insight into past literature on narratives and ethnography. The third
section will explain the data collection process and the various techniques I used to gather my
primary data. It will also describe the interview process. The last section will explain how I intended
to interpret the data. The highlights of the data collected for the purpose of my dissertation have
been transcribed in the Appendix 3. To ensure that the data is collected systematically and in an
ethical manner I have created a simple numbering system which highlights the transcript of the data.
All the interviews were conducted in an ethical manner through narratives and ethnography.
2.2 Why Qualitative Research
There have been many articles written on the two types of research, qualitative and quantitative.
Qualitative research helps identify crucial underlying factors that help researches understand the
thought process behind consumers or interviewees. Gephart (2004) described qualitative research
as “a multi-method research that uses an interpretive, naturalistic approach to its subject matter
(Denzin & Lincoln, 1994)” and “addresses questions about how social experience is created and
given meaning” (Gephart, 2004: 454–455). While interviewing entrepreneurs it is important to
understand their thought process and their past experience. Since qualitative research according to
(Denzin & Lincoln, 1994) studies phenomena in the environments that they naturally occur it proves
a better perspective to the interpreter. Quantitative research on the other hand emphasis on the
analysis and relationship between variables (Denzin & Lincoln 2000). According to Gephart (2004)
20
qualitative researchers strive to explain concepts through observation. Through the interview
process I reviewed and understood the behaviour of individuals who carried out a consistent
leadership style or used a style in a particular context. I applied theory and tried to observe them in
their natural environment. Furthermore Schultz (1973) states that qualitative research helps
researchers to understand the meanings which are used in societies and therefore reveals their
direct everyday life realities. Quantitative research on the other hand imposes scientific meanings
and thus may not reflect the true reality Gephart (2004). Conducting a qualitative research engages
the interviewee into a dialogue versus quantitative research which provides a direct answer. This
provides an opportunity to understand why an individual would provide the specific answer.
Qualitative research provides a humanistic approach which allows the interviewee to provide his
understand of perhaps the understanding of the concepts being asked versus quantitative is
involved in getting the results and statistically analysing it. According to Joerges (2004) qualitative
research is a naturalistic form which is more persuasive since it looks at life through different lenses.
Cooper et al (2005) while analysing authentic leadership explains that there need to be specific
dimensions which need to be identified for research. He specifies that qualitative method might be a
useful way in identifying these dimensions. Furthermore he states that other forms of research in
leadership have largely benefited from the use of qualitative methods. He adds that qualitative
method might help understand the behaviour and attributes that influence the leadership style.
Conger (1998) argues that leadership is a complex phenomenon and qualitative research must play a
critical role no matter what the stage of research it is in. Furthermore he explains that qualitative
research can refine and validate some of the prior hypothesis generated by researchers. Conger
(1998) identifies a crucial aspect of quantitative research explaining that leadership is a dynamic
process and in analysing it, quantitative research only identifies the static moments at a time.
Therefore it is unable to understand how certain events unfolded and did any contextual factors play
a role. In my use of qualitative research it is important to understand what the entrepreneur was
going though at the point of certain decisions he made. For e.g. One of the interviewees had labour
21
problems in his office and at that point he was forced into using a more strict approach such as
transactional leadership. This context would be difficult to understand under a quantitative method.
Swanson (2005) mentions that organisations are entities created, conceptualised and run by humans
and Cycyota, and Harrison (2006) explain that most of the data collected for research comes from its
people. The data collected within organisations can potentially shape integral processes, strategies
and communication. It is critical to understand the intrinsic factors of human beings which are often
captured by qualitative research. Human beings often bring in their own assumptions and past
experiences while answering questions which are better interpreted in qualitative research.
Conger (1998) states that qualitative methods have been underutilized in the field of leadership. In
his article he explains that quantitative methodology fails to capture some of the facets of leadership
and has left us with a generalised understanding of leadership. He urges researchers to employ
qualitative methods such as narratives, ethnography and interview based approaches. Although
there have been many studies done using qualitative methods researchers should be cautious to this
approach. According to Stenbacka (2001, pp. 551) there is a basic validity question that arises that is
whether the intended object measured has actually been measured. Throughout my research I
found this as a challenge since it was easy for the interviewee and I to strive from what was intended
to be researched. Another aspect that researchers should be cautious about is the characteristics
and the interpretation of data. Unlike quantitative research qualitative research engages in dialogue
and requires various skills in interpretation. The interviewer must understand the contextual factors
such as culture, structure etc. in order to interpret the data in an ethical manner. According to
Marshall and Rossman (1999) when conducting a qualitative research it is critical to be systematic
and careful in order to understand the phenomenon. This is crucial aspect which must be carried out
in qualitative research.
22
Despite certain limitations mentioned above according to Conger (1998) qualitative methods are
ideally suited to identify leadership’s dimensions. He explains when the research is conducted well it
can provide in-depth data and offer researchers flexibility to further examine the research topic.
2.3 Methodologies
For the purpose of my dissertation I have chosen ethnography and narratives as a method to
understand how leadership influences corporate entrepreneurship in textile firms. I first embarked
upon ethnography as it would give me a better understanding on contextual factors that influence
leadership and then I choose narratives to understand the styles of leadership employed by
entrepreneurs in firms.
2.3.1 Ethnography
The first method that I employed for understanding leadership in corporate entrepreneurship is
ethnography. It is a method which has been used by many organisational researchers and is a
preferred approach to scholars. According to Silverman (2001) ethnography involves interviews,
surveys and other methods, the importance lies in the observation. This method involves the
researcher becomes a part of the organisation and observes them. Van Maanen (1979, pp.540)
states that the principal aim of organizational ethnography - is to “uncover and explicate the ways in
which people in particular work settings come to understand, account for, take action, and
otherwise manage their day-to-day situation”. I was part of a textile firm named R.K. Overseas
where I observed three entrepreneurs who were the owners of the companies. They considered
themselves as leaders and through observation I was able to understand their leadership style. I
monitored their day to day activities and understood the context that they worked in. This helped
me understand how these entrepreneurs operated. Rosen (1991) mentions that the researcher has a
choice of continuing the research as an outsider or employee of the company. I felt that to
understand the attributes and the type of leadership style it was important for me to be an
23
employee of the company. It is often when you are working with participants and living within the
group that you uncover details. Schwartzman (1993) states that studying participants in their own
environment helps in understanding the facets of the organisation and its culture. Ybema, Yanow,
Wels and Kamsteeg (2009) mention that ethnographers lay emphasis on the need to study people in
their natural settings in order to get a clear picture of the complexity, sophistication and daily
manners of the organisational life. Understanding these complexities and daily routines help
identify the characteristics of human behaviour, which influence important aspects such as decision
making. When observing participants every time an individual had to make a decision I found that
they portrayed a particular leadership style. Research in organisations often includes getting data
from the employees about their seniors or about the practices in the organisation which the
employees are reluctant or dubious to share. Since ethnography involves observation technique as a
major tool for collection of data, a lot can be understood by observing the actions and behaviour of
the people in the organisation without them actually telling the researcher. Rosen (1991) mentions
that one advantage of ethnography allows the researcher to get close to the participants who might
provide the interviewer with details unlike quantitative research where the interviewer might not
have any relation with the participant. Access is an important aspect of ethnography, by employing
this method the interviewer has greater access to details of the organisation versus a quantitative
method. Since was the case it helped me in not only collecting data but also improved the accuracy
of the data. Buchanan and Byrman (2009) explain that since ethnography is a method where the
researcher becomes part of what is being researched, he can capture the formal and informal
activities of the organisation. In my research I was able to capture some of the informal activities
such as conversations between participants and brief discussions which took place. Ethnography
can reveal some of the intricacies of individuals if used correctly and in an ethical manner. Agar
(2010) mentions that the proven capability of ethnography has recently caught the attention of
researchers as being a suitable method. Based on these theoretical and practical aspects of
ethnography, I utilised this method while working at R.K Overseas for one and a half month. This
24
method helped me understand different attributes and details on the leadership styles and structure
of the organisation.
2.3.2 Narratives
There are numerous benefits of conducting a narrative analysis and an increasing number of
researchers are opting for this approach in an organisation. As part of my research I created a
guideline of questions which would serve as a format when conducting narratives analysis.
According to Soin and Scheyett (2006) incidents or actions can tell or explain stories which are
integral part of our lives. These stories can be analysed and studied this is known as narrative
analysis. Sandelowski (1991, pp. 163) explains that the very act of storytelling can illustrate how lives
are understood and transformed in stories. Humans have a habit of telling stories as it helps relate
to others and understand ourselves better. Fisher (1984, pp 6) referred humans as “homo narrans”,
while Currie (1998, pp 2), termed our species as “homo fabulans – the tellers and interpreters of
narrative”. Human beings have been born with the facet of storytelling and through my experience
in gathering data this approach helped me understand contextual factors and attributes of
entrepreneurs. Organisations are often driven by people and therefore they adapt the nature of
human beings such as storytelling. Humpherys and Brown (2007, pp. 447) state that organisation are
literally the narratives that individuals share and re-tell in ways which explain reality. A contextual
factor which influences leadership is organisational culture and this according to Soin and Scheytt
(2006) is well captured in the stories that individuals tell about the organisation and people around
it. Organisations have different stories as part of my narrative analysis I was able to interview 5
entrepreneurs from different organisations. This provided me with different leadership styles that
were portrayed by entrepreneurs in different contextual settings. In one instance one of the
entrepreneurs provided me with a detailed story explaining his life journey and how he had
managed to successfully start his own textile company. Stutts and Barker (1999) explain that
storytelling has provided a rich body of knowledge which sometimes is unavailable through other
25
methods. Dennig (2004) mentions that stories are effective means by which an organisation can realign itself, improve one’s competitive position and culture. Narrative analysis can be carried out in
organisations in different ways besides just listening to individuals stories. Researchers can review
past records of the company, in certain cases the infrastructure, public statements and publications.
These different mediums make narrative analysis an important method for leadership and
entrepreneurial research. Soin and Scheytt (2006) clarify that stories can be gathered via different
methods such as formal meetings, at a restaurant or at a party. In my research I focused on
conducting interviews and listening to the stories of entrepreneurs in a formal manner. These stories
were collected in the entrepreneur’s offices. Stories are can be never ending and therefore it is
critical to use in narrative analysis. I found this method to be very insightful while conducting my
research.
2.4 Data Collection
The collection of data in any research plays a critical role. According to Polkinghorne (2005)
researchers that use qualitative methods to gather data use it as evidence for their findings. For the
purpose of my dissertation I collected primary data via two methods ethnography and narratives.
2.4.1 Data Collection Process
This study was carried out in India. As part of my dissertation I decided to look at textile firms in
India. In the start I found a few challenges while trying to narrow which firms I should focus on. After
consulting with friends and family I had decided to conduct research via two methods. Highlights of
the data have been transcribed in the Appendix 3 and the portion which is in italics is used in the
analysis.
2.4.2 Ethnography
26
As part of this research method researchers become a part of the organisation and use observational
techniques to understand human behaviour within an organisation. According to Agar (2010)
ethnography has become a chosen method for qualitative research. I was part of R.K Overseas a
mid-size textile firm for a month and half. While working there I monitored three entrepreneurs in
the organisation who were are at an operational, strategic and managing director level. This gave me
insights on not only how entrepreneurs use leadership styles at a top level but also at an operational
level. All data was collected neatly in a notebook and then transferred to MS. Word. The data was
recorded on an ad-hoc basis with most of it being in a conversation, in a meeting or at lunch. I also
monitored daily interactions between employees and entrepreneurs themselves. In order to record
data in a systematic way, I devised a numbering system for this method. Each Entrepreneur was
given a number E1 and a conversation number to it. For e.g. E1C1 would be the first individual and
the first conversation captured, E1C2 would be the first individual and the second conversation
captured etc. This helped me keep a daily record on the conversations.
2.4.3 Narratives
As part of this research method, I was able to identify five entrepreneurs in textile firms. Narrative
inquiry according to Leavy (2009, pp.27) is a kind of social research which involves, “a collaborative
method of telling stories, reflecting on stories, and re-writing stories”. Narratives are a descriptive
form of research and therefore the interviews I conducted were in a conversational manner. It
involved the entrepreneurs explaining their history, the situations they have been in, the general
understanding of leadership and their views. In order to guide these entrepreneurs, I provided them
with a brief on what my topic was. For getting ethical and non-biased answers I choose not to reveal
all the information and let the entrepreneurs provide their descriptions and viewpoints. The brief is
listed in the Appendix 2. Although the conversations varied in time, an average time spent with the
entrepreneur was approximately 35 minutes, with some conversations being extended over an hour.
In order to record the data systematically all conversations were recorded in a notebook and
27
immediately transferred to MS. Word. A numbering system was devised to record the narratives.
Each entrepreneur was numbered as P1 and their conversation as C1.
2.5 Interpretation of Data
At the end of data collection, the most important step according to me is the interpretation of data.
Hammersly (1992) and Miller (1986) state that almost all research involves subjective perception
and when you try to analyse data it will produce different perspectives but these authors argue that
it is critical to understand the underlying reality. I have personally collected the data myself through
narrative analysis. This involved conversations and descriptions with the entrepreneurs. Since
analysing data is the final stage of research it places even more importance since through this data a
conclusion might be made. According to Stenbecka (2001) basic elements should be questioned
while interpreting data such as validity, reliability and quality. In order to validate my data I had
chosen entrepreneurs from different organisations. After the conversations and story-telling I reiterated the conversation to make sure that the data was accurate. As seen in the results section the
data obtained had some overlap from participants but each entrepreneur had a different story.
28
Chapter 3: Results
3.1 Introduction
The purpose of the dissertation is to understand how leadership influences corporate
entrepreneurship in textile firms hence this chapter focuses on analysing the data collected through
ethnography and narrative methods. In this chapter I will first provide an analysis of data which was
collected through five interview sessions. These sessions were in a narrative format and the
highlights of the transcript will be used in the analysis. Secondly I will focus on analysing data which
was collected when I worked at R.K.Overseas. Thirdly I will provide a brief summary of my analysis
which will provide an analysis of the particular leadership styles used by entrepreneurs in
organisations and lastly i will discuss the results.
3.2 Narrative Data Analysis
Through the narrative analysis there was a general opinion about leadership. More or less the
participants interviewed explained their stories and in certain situations provided a detailed
description of how they tackled a specific problem. All participants generally agreed that leadership
is required to guide their employees in a direction. They explain that often people need to provide
the guiding light. The informants explained that most of their employees needed a clear direction for
them to understand some of the company’s goals and objectives. This is consistent with theorist,
Ralph Stogdil (1950), explained that leadership is an influencial process. As seen by the statement
below.The participant explains that at the beginning every individual needs to be guided. He
mentioned that I had to influence the employees by teaching them the basics.
P1(C4): “Every individual has his learning curve, so I felt that at the beginning I had to
mentor all my workers, I taught them the A-Z of textiles”.
In trying to understand the participant’s views on leadership and its influence I felt that it was quite
generalised in cases. Many researchers Frank Heller (1997) have provided a broad definition and a
generalisation on leadership. George et al (2009) explain an important point which is consistent with
29
one of the participant’s responses. The interviewee had explained that through his past experiences
working in a textile mill he had learnt how people interacted with each other and gained most of
job-related experience through it. In my opinion this is critical and it does influence and teach an
individual certain characteristics. It is the past experiences that may build the characteristics which
could ultimately influence your leadership style.
P1(C1): “I worked in a mill for about five years, oiling machines, spinning yarn and turning
to learn as much as I can”.
This participant felt that his past experiences influenced his thought process which ultimately
played a role in his leadership style of choice. People also learn from daily or past interactions with
individuals. As most of these corporate firms were sole proprietors or family owned business there
seemed to be a strong connection with a super human being influencing their leadership style.
P1(C2): “My father was a true inspiration for me he had single handedly raised the whole
family and contributed a lot to the community in Nepal. I feel that he made me work and
provided me with education which was a blessing in itself.”
P2(C1): “I learnt a great deal from him… never waste time is what he use to say.. and if
you say something you are going to do.. you better do it.”
In both the participants above there seems to be a common element a father figure, an inspirational
leader or a person who has mentored them throughout their career. This falls in line with the great
man theorist Thomas Carlyle (1988) who explains that great leaders are born and it cannot be
taught. Each of these individuals during their interviews had explained the personality traits that
their fathers had exhibited. Traits such as goal-oritated, ambition and visionary are something that
the participants explained were visible in their fathers. Most literature through the 1950’s was
focused on understanding personality traits in leadership and what personalities make an effective
leader. Although Borgetta et al mention that a group needs a ‘great man’ to lead in order for it to be
effective. In my narratives where the participants explained that the father figure inspired these
30
individuals there was no evidence whether this was an effective style. The participants mention that
this influences their thought and leadership style.
Through my interviews I found that in order for these entrepreneurs to be successful or their
employees to work it was important for them to form relationships. These have been much theory
on leadership styles that focus on relationships with employees. Transformational leadership focuses
on aspects such as caring for the employees, motivating them and inspiring them. This was a
constant theme through the participants.
P1(C6): “I treated them as family not employees and I know they like that… infact most of
my staff have been working for me for over 15 years…. I believe in creating friendships and
relationship with clients.”
P3(C2): “ I formed great relations with my employees … I found the need to motivate them
continuously through bonuses and other compensation…”
As seen by the conversations I had with the participants, they explain that relationships with the
employees is very important. One of the participants mentioned that these employees worked for
him for 15 years, since he had kept good relationships with them. I believe that the relationships you
form with your employees often help you progress in your career and it sometimes helps getting the
task done. In the statements listed above and the context in which they have been made it was
inferred that these individuals used transformational leadership in their organization. In one
instance the participant mentioned that they had helped an employee’s mother by paying for her
operation. These are the kind of relationships these entrepreneurs formed with their employees.
Benard Bass (1991) explains that transformational leaders often have ‘charisma or intellectual
simulation’. These qualities were evident in most of the participant’s leadership style. As seen below
one of the participants mentioned that he had to use more of his charm to convince union leaders to
convey messages to their individuals to return to work. In my opinion it is important to have
‘charisma’ so that you could lead, motivate and influence people. In this case it did work for him as
the workers eventually came back to work. Leaders need to be persuasive and have personalities
31
which can develop relationships. Some theorist like Rakesh Khurana would disagree with this
statement as he explains that ‘charisma’ itself is difficult to define and even less proven.
P5(C2): “I feel that I had to use a lot of charm, convincing union leaders who have to
convince their people to come back to work….”.
One important factor I realised was that one of the participants mentioned that I have great
relationships with the employees and i find the need to motivate them continuously through
financial aspects. This was quite contrary to Benard Bass (1997) who mentions that relationships are
more effective than a reward based system.
Although in these organisations transformational leadership might have be successful the same
participant (P1) goes on to mention that he has realised that he might have sacrificed financial
rewards personal or companies in order to generate these relationships.
P1(C7): “I feel that sometime people have to let go of some financial aspects, in my life I
know I could have minimized some of the costs.. I mean employee wages etc.. But I feel it’s
not worth it.”
This participant brings up an interesting point whether an individual can have both transactional and
transformational qualities. There has been limited literature on this point. He mentioned that there
was a need to sacrifice financial aspects for relationships. Although this might be the case for this
participant it is important to note that it might not be successful in someone else’s case. For e.g.
another participant (P3) mentions that although I had formed great relationships with my clients at
one point I could help business slip away.
P3(C3): “Within three hours I realised that I was going to lose more that 80 percent of my
business.. I had tried my best to explain my order delivery success rate, quality and whole
relation aspect…”
P3(C4): “I believe the true character of a person or leader is seen in the worst situation… I
through these tough times kept my relationships with my employees, suppliers clients etc..
but it didn’t work out… “
32
In this case even though the entrepreneur had tried using his relationship with his clients, they
explained that it was purely a transaction. Since they could find products at a cheaper cost in China
they had switched suppliers. In these situations there is not much a person can do. In fact even his
employees who he had through the years had good relations with turned their backs on him. I feel
like some theorist that leadership needs to take place in a certain context. An individual can adapt
his or her leadership style to the situation.
An interesting aspect which I noticed was the need for a relatively need concept called authentic
leadership. In one of my interviews the participant explained that there was no definition for
leadership. He said you just carry out your duties and based on the situation you make dicisions. He
had explained that I really don’t think of him having one leadership style that a person can copy or
have.
P4(C3): “ Leadership to me can’t really be defined… I feel that in my company it depends
on the situation.. there are so many things going on I just take it as it comes… “
Theorists have often agreed with this statements explaining that researchers have over generalized
on leadership. Frank Heller (1997) explained that leadership is so vast and there are so many
attributes that it is difficult to rationalize one particular style. This was consistent with what the
participant meant. Although he went on to explain that leadership cannot be taught and individuals
need to have personalities within themselves.
P5(C1): “I feel leaders are individuals who rise above the crowd.. someone who inspires…
but I believe this can’t be taught… (WHY:me).. people have to have it within themselves
certain personalities… you have seen Amitabh Bachann right.. he walks in the room and
you know hes a leader. I mean its about one’s personality…”
This participant mentions that leaders are often born with the personalities and leadership cannot
be taught. There has been little written on authentic leadership, I felt that what this participant
wanted to explain was that there needs to be authenticity in leaders.
33
The participant had
mentioned that through his past experiences he had learnt a great deal and therefore he felt that
leadership can be taught it needs to be developed by the person themselves.
3.3 Ethnography Analysis
Through this method I had worked in R.K Overseas for one and half month, in this time I observed
three entrepreneurs. For the purpose of the assignment I have identified three situations which I felt
these entrepreneurs displayed their leadership style.
(E2) New Product Development:
Corporate entrepreneurship theorist Burgelman (1983) William Guth and Ari Ginsberg (1990)
mention the need for strategic renewal and new venture creation. Through my observation I found
one of the entrepreneurs to display high levels of strategic and innovation thinking. This individual I
found had a knack of finding a new way to conduct business. One clear example was when an
international client wanted a particular style and design of a shawl. Through the manufacturing
process the company had said that this style was not possible. There were intricacies in the weaving
process that would not allow the design to be feasible. The entrepreneur displayed excellent
‘entrepreneurial Orientation’.
Table 1:
Innovativeness
Pro-activeness
Competitive
Autonomy
Risk-Taking
Aggressiveness
Combined
lycra, Travelled
silk and wool to the
allow hand-woven alone,
material to be seen
to The
other
client Acted alone Took the task on her
factories would have definitely throughout
asked got the order. Hence the process
friends in the she
same business
turned
this
around in 2 weeks.
34
hands
and
had
promised the client
that
deliver.
she
would
Client
relationships
could
have been lost.
As seen in the table above the entrepreneur was successfully able to implement what researchers
Lumpkin and Dess (1991) had described as Entrepreneurial Orientation. In order to get the tasks
achieved this entrepreneur had utilised transformational leadership style by convincing the clients,
managers and the manufacturers to give this new product material a test.
(E3) Production Issues:
R.K Overseas is facing tremendous competition from Chinese manufactures; one of their clients had
demanded that they reduce the manufacturing costs. The entrepreneur was in-charge of logistics,
operation and production was faced with a serious challenge. Due to the large volume of the order
and the client been a very important one. The entrepreneur had to negotiate with the client in an
transactional manner. In this case he had to lay three individuals off and have strict monetary
negotiations. Theorists have mentioned that individuals employ transactional leadership styles and
this was something that the entrepreneur displays. While observing his relationship with employees
I noticed that he often treated them in a monitory aspect. His rewards were based on performance
and interactions were based on if the goal were achieved. I found this individual very structured in
his work and to be extremely goal-orientated. Although this occasion he had no choice but to take
active measure his relationship with employees were consistent with transactional leadership
behaviours.
(E1) Strategic Renewal
35
The third entrepreneur who I had observed was the CEO of the company. His main role was to
provide strategic vision. I carefully observed his characteristics. Corporate entrepreneur theorist
mention that it is essential to have innovativeness, risk-taking and opportunity-seeking behaviours,
this was quite contrary to what I observed in this entrepreneur. In observing him I found that this
individual was more on a transactional style of leadership. He had established measures such as a
matrix that would reward employees based on the sales orders they provide. In one observation he
mentioned that “Ultimately money pays the bills”. He explained to me several times that you need
to treat the business as a business and not as a relationship hub. I found that this leadership style
was more autocratic and fit the traditional leadership school of though. Through my numerous
conversations with him I felt that he didn’t display many of the entrepreneurial aspects such as
looking for innovativeness. I found this to be quite a contrast to an individual who was running the
company.
Ethnography helped me understand the three entrepreneurs in their natural environment.
As I was part of the company I understood who individuals made decisions and their leadership
style. It gave me a better perspective on how these leadership styles influence corporate
entrepreneurs.
3.4 Summary of Analysis
Listed below is the summary of corporate entrepreneurs and their leadership styles. The data
analysis has helped me categorize these individuals into a particular leadership style. The table
below provides, the respondents leadership style, the position that they occupied in the organization
and their gender.
Table 2:
36
Number
Organization
Method
Name
E1
R.K Overseas
Participants
Leadership Style
Gender
Position
Ethnography
Managing
Autocratic/Transactional Male
Director
E2
R.K Overseas
Ethnography
Product
Transformational
Female
Transactional
Male
CEO
Transformational
Male
Designer
E3
R.K Overseas
Ethnography
Operations
Director
(Partner
in
the firm)
P1
P2
P3
P4
Currents
Narrative
Buying Agents
Analysis
Ankur Exports
Narrative
Managing
Autocratic
Analysis
Director
Transactional
Goradia
Narrative
CEO
Transformational
Textiles
Analysis
Sarju
Narrative
International
Analysis
& Male
& Male
Transactional
CEO
Authentic & Contextual
Male
Bang Group of Narrative
Production
Transformational
Male
Companies
Director
LTD.
P5
Analysis
37
3.5 Discussion
After analysing data I realised that most of the participants had more or less a general view of
leadership. The conversations and stories through ethnography provided direct answers to the style
of leadership which the participants employed in their organisations. There were many similarities
between the participants. I felt that transformational leadership was more employed by the
entrepreneurs. Out of eight entrepreneurs whom I interviewed and observed four displayed
characteristics of transformational behaviours with their employees. The general view throughout
the interviews I felt was that leaders needed to provide clear direction to their staff and motivate
these individuals often. An important facet of leadership which I discovered was motivation.
In almost all of the firms I observed the employees were easily motivated by financial rewards this
was consistent with Maslow hierarchy of needs by Bob Poston (2009). This theory mentions that
until physiological needs are not met which as food water etc... Are not met one cannot progress to
a higher level of satisfaction. This was quite evident, although the aim of my project was not to
observe motivation and its relationship with leadership. Although most of the viewpoints on
leadership tend to be similar there appeared to be contrasting views in the minds of the
participants. In certain cases participants displayed both a transactional and transformational side.
In observation I felt that it was difficult to identify one particular fit for some of these entrepreneurs.
In analysing the data I felt that I was able to get a better understanding of the individual’s leadership
style through ethnography. Since I was able to work in the company for a month and half it helped
me understand the characters better. This gave me a better analysis on how these individuals react
to certain situations. Literature in the 1960’s has mentioned contextual factors such as culture to
influence leadership but in my findings I felt that organisation culture is best understood only once
you are within the company. I felt the best judge of this was the ethnography study.
38
Overall I was satisfied with the data I received as it provided me with good insights on how
leadership influences these corporate entrepreneurs.
39
Chapter 4: Conclusion
4.1 Introduction
In this chapter I will summarise the data which has helped answer my research question. I will first
provide some of the limitations I have noticed during my research. Second I will provide
recommendations on further research and lastly I will provide a conclusion on my entire research.
4.2 Limitations of Research
During the course of my research there were many limitations which I encountered. Leadership
throughout the years has been hard to define. Individual’s perspective on leadership differs from
person to person and there are numerous personality traits, behaviours and contexts that influence
it. In my research I found four limitations.
Culture: Every organisation has a culture and this often influences leadership. Since I conducted
narratives in five organisations and ethnography in one, I felt that I was better able to understand
culture in one organisation. Bernard Bass (1997) mentioned that there are variances in
organisational culture and this influences leadership. I felt that I was restricted in this aspect in
analysing cultures influence on leadership. Another key point which Hofstede (1986) explains is the
influence of national culture in organisation. Since this research was conducted in India, it was
unable to analyse if national culture played an important role in these individuals’ leadership styles.
Gender: In my research seven out of eight entrepreneurs in the organization were male. Theorists
have mentioned that there is a lack of research on women leadership as mentioned by Wilson
(2002). In analysing most of the data pointed towards transformational leadership but gender could
have put a limitation in the conversations I would have got.
40
Context: There has been much written on contextual factors playing an important role in leadership.
With ethnography as a chosen method I was able to understand the leadership styles better but in
narratives I was not able to capture some of the contextual factors such as culture in the data.
Methodology: Narratives are an effective method of research but there are certain limitations that
researchers should be cautious about. In conducting the qualitative analysis I was limited to
understanding what these entrepreneurs’ opinions on leadership were. Narratives and ethnography
are interpretive methods and therefore require careful interpretation. I had to be careful on what
stories these individuals had described and I tried to ensure that these individuals provided lots of
information on their own. Since the methods are interpretive different individuals might interpret
the data differently.
Although leadership and corporate entrepreneurship have many constructs I felt that in analysing
the data I had to narrow my focus certain leadership styles. All data was collected and interpreted in
a non-biased fashion.
4.3 Recommendations
The research carried out was narrow in its scope as it focused on eight entrepreneurs. I would like to
recommend as with any other research that theorists focus on a larger sample size. I felt that there
has been much written on organization cultures but little on how it relates to leadership.
After analysis I felt that researchers need to focus on in depth analysis on what actual occurs within
the organisations. I feel that there has been a lot of generalised research conducted on leadership.
Researchers need to focus on organisation or situation specific leadership, smaller and more focused
groups could pave the way to understanding attributes and how individuals drive organisation. In
addition national cultures should also be studied, researchers can conduct analysis in developing
countries to examine if the leadership styles are copied from western countries or authentic
leadership occurs more in developing countries.
41
There has been a lack of gender studies conducted in Indian firms. This would be a great opportunity
for researchers to study women in leadership positions and how they influence corporate
entrepreneurs.
4.5 Conclusion
India is one of the fasted growing economies in the world therefore leadership and corporate
entrepreneurship are crucial elements that can help the economy grow. In my dissertation I have
attempted to answer leadership’s influence on corporate entrepreneurship in textile firms. Through
reviewing literature on leadership and corporate entrepreneurship I had realised that much of the
views of leadership were of traditional school of thought. After analysing the data I was extremely
pleased to understand that most of the contemporary styles of leadership such as transformational,
transactional, contextual and authentic have played a critical role in corporate entrepreneurship.
Corporate entrepreneurship consists of many frameworks and there is much mention on the
attributes of entrepreneurs such as risk-taking and how they influence the organisation. I was
pleased to find the similarities between these attributes and contemporary leadership styles.
The qualitative methods employed in this research have been fruitful. To the best of my ability I was
able to interpret data via ethnography which gave me a better understanding of leadership within an
organisation and how it influences corporate entrepreneurship. Narratives on the other hand helped
me understand some of the past experiences of entrepreneurs in organisations which influence their
leadership style.
Leadership and Corporate entrepreneurship are two facets of literature which can really contribute
to the real world. These need to be studied in greater depth. Hopefully this dissertation has done
just to answer the research question of leadership’s influence on corporate entrepreneurship in
textile firms. The literature review, methodology, data analysis and recommendations hopefully
provide new insights on leadership scholars and pave the way to new specialised theories.
42
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Appendix 1
List of Organizations where entrepreneurs were interviewed.
Number
Organization Name
Method
E1
E2
E3
R.K Overseas
R.K Overseas
R.K Overseas
Ethnography
Ethnography
Ethnography
P1
Currents Buying
Agents
Ankur Exports
Goradia Textiles
Sarju International
LTD.
Bang Group of
Companies
Narrative Analysis
Participants
Position
Managing Director
Product Designer
Operations Director
(Partner in the
firm)
CEO
Narrative Analysis
Narrative Analysis
Narrative Analysis
Managing Director
CEO
CEO
Narrative Analysis
Production Director
P2
P3
P4
P5
Note:Since Narratives and Ethnography methods seek to gain inside knowledge about the organizations
listed above, the names of the entrepreneurs have been withheld.
51
Appendix 2
The Entrepreneur Brief
For the purpose of my dissertation at the University of Nottingham, I had proved a brief to the
entrepreneurs. Since the purpose of narrative analysis is to let the interviewee themselves explain
and describe the situations which they have been in through story-telling. I have purposely not
provided them with an extensive brief, although there have been times in the interview where I
have guided these individuals. The brief provided to the interviewees is listed below.
The Entrepreneur Brief:
I would like to understand your views on leadership and past experiences that you can share
with me. Kindly let me know how you and your companies have progressed through the years and
any specific situation or problems you have dealt with. All the data collected will be held
confidential.
52
Appendix 3
Highlights of the Transcripts: Data that is in italics has been used in the analysis section.
P1:
I am originally from Nepal and came to Bombay with only 1000 rupees in my pocket. I had done a
bachelor’s degree back at that time in textiles in Nepal… hmm you will hear about this later.. With
no job and no place to stay Bombay was a difficult city to live in.(C1) I worked in a mill for about five
years, oiling machines, spinning yarn and turning to learn as much as I can.. it was quite a struggle..
by 1987 I was somewhat settled and I approached a lot of people to start a new business. No one
was willing at that time to start business with me except kharel, he was my best friend. I think in
business you have to have luck and find some sort of opportunity. In the initial months it was only
me and Kharel who worked trying to find clients.(C2) My father was a true inspiration for me he
had single handedly raised the whole family and contributed a lot to the community in Nepal. I feel
that he made me work and provided me with education which was a blessing in itself. I feel that
without his guidance and work ethic I would have not learnt much.
Around 1988 I had two to three orders from international clients but with two people working
around the clock (C3) I felt overwhelmed, with less money and need to hire more people I felt I was
taking a big risk. I put much of my life-savings and fathers earnings into this company…
Since Karel was mostly a financial guy, I had to direct him and teach him jobs such as quality checks,
his English was quite poor too so I had to talk and form relations with my clients to get more orders.
Coordination and communication with employees and clients are extremely important; people fail
miserably to do this. I hired more individuals as the company began to grow..
(C4)Every individual has his learning curve, so I felt that at the beginning I had to mentor all my
workers, I taught them the A-Z of textiles.
53
(C5) I think I made them larger that they were. One thing I have realised and it worked for me is I
treated my staff properly and with respect. I literally spoke to them on a constant basis. This
helped me a lot.
(C6)I treated them as family not employees and I know they like that… infact most of my staff have
been working for me for over 15 years…. I believe in creating friendships and relationship with
clients.
(C7)I feel that sometime people have to let go of some financial aspects, in my life I know I could
have minimized some of the costs.. I mean employee wages etc.. But I feel it’s not worth it.
P2:
All life I have struggled Anshul, sometimes 70 hours a week… this phone doesn’t stop ringing. I was
brought up in textile orientated family my dadji (grandfather) was a wealthy man in Punjab I as a
young boy was very inquisitive. I enjoyed reading books and learning new things… In 1970 I started
working for my Dad, in our family we are expected to join the business…you know what I mean….
(C1)I learnt a great deal from him… never waste time is what he use to say.. and if you say
something you are going to do.. you better do it. Discipline is something my dad instilled in
everyone.. through the factory…
(C2)I consider myself to be a strict person.. very disciplined like my father. I demand a lot from my
workers and I do this to keep them on their toes… In my factory have seen people just not work
because they are lazy.. I have sharp measures that I judge every person in the company.. Though I
keep my work and family life separate…
Something I hate about people is that they come to me with a problem but not one person’s thinks
about the solution…(C3) I have to guide every to try and think outside the box… I am at times harsh
on my employees since I need to get my work done but feel that this needs to be carried out..
54
(C4) All decisions are made mostly by me.. I like to make sure I have a control on situations.. In a
company it is important to place controls because I see people lose business interest and take
advantage of your work.
(C5)Discipline is the key to success and make sure people who work for you follow it.. I spend some
time everyday making sure and running checks on my employees and clients to make sure my
business is running smoothly..
P3:
Anshul do you believe in faith, it is important.. I feel. I had owned one of the most state of the art
facilities which was based in Amritsar, Punjab.. you ask anyone out there have you heard of Goradia
Textiles… they will surely nod their heads.. In 1991 we built a brillant factory with donear loom
machines capable of capacity which was unheard of at that time… I had over 100 people working for
in the late 90’s.. massive clients such as Macy’s and Ikea…
(C1)At that time what I didn’t realise was that I was knee deep in manufacturing… I was unable to
see the world around me…. Manufacturing will do that to you…
The business was great by 1999 I was turning over well more than 6 crore rupees.(C2) I formed great
relations with my employees … I found the need to motivate them continuously through bonuses
and other compensation…
Transactions were good but I had little time on my hand…. I lost track of peoples work, the
environment changed so quickly I didn’t know what hit me.. by 2004 most of my clients were looking
at China. I lost two biggest orders to China…
I ran my company very ethicallyy one particular meeting stands out.. I had invited two of my biggest
clients for dinner to my farm house.. (C3)Within three hours I realised that I was going to lose more
55
that 80 percent of my business.. I had tried my best to explain my order delivery success rate,
quality and whole relation aspect… but they said Mr. Goradia we are getting goods cheaper sorryy…
What would you do?..... hmmm It became unfordable to run my company..
I always encouraged my employees… motivated themm through numberous benefits.. but when the
times were tough… employees get going… you know right…
(C4)I believe the true character of a person or leader is seen in the worst situation… I through these
tough times kept my relationships with my employees, suppliers clients etc.. but it didn’t work
out…
P4:
I was a young entrepreneur like you.. I set up a plant in Chembur (Bombay).. Business through the
years was good
(C1)I feel that motivation is something which plays a critical role in managing people.. I motivate
myself by different ways… You got to have a desire buddy… I have three daughters who I have to
take care of and they serve as my motivation everyday…
(C2) I have 25 people working for me but the thing is everyone is motivated through salaries..
increase them and they will work.. Last two years I have been increasing salaries and still they are
not happy… One worker Sujal I have personally helped the person.. I treated this person as family
and helped her mother through a surgery.. I paid for the charges.
(C3)Leadership to me can’t really be defined… I feel that in my company it depends on the
situation.. there are so many things going on I just take it as it comes… If I can’t afford to provide
bonuses I can’t help it.
I feel that people need to respect each other and work together… this is a business but can also
generate your best friends.
56
I feel that one has to evaluate yourselves capabilities before directing people..
(C4)Life is beyond a desk… anyone can put information in a column… people need to think
differently an challenge people… It is how you take it forward..
P5:
Labor is one of India’s biggest problems I feel.. I had around 75 employees working for me at one
point of time… It was delightful… Most of them Maharastrian (my cast)… so I though easer to
communicate right..
With 75 people working for me I need to be on my toes.. I used to have twice monthly meetings with
the entire staff and hand out certificates every quarter… this I think helped the employees..
(C1)I feel leaders are individuals who rise above the crowd.. someone who inspires… but I believe
this can’t be taught… (WHY:me).. people have to have it within themselves certain personalities…
you have seen Amitabh Bachann right.. he walks in the room and you know hes a leader. I mean
its about one’s personality…
I ran into workers problems since I was involved with unions. Through some false information…
individuals though I a different political party follower and this information had travelled up to the
Union leaders.
57
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