• Posted on October 26, 2023
• Libin

Assignment Sample on 7BUS2002 Business Research Method

Introduction

Global Leadership is considered as a management approach undertaken by business leaders for developing strategic goals to attain successful outcomes across international marketplaces. Multinational organisations operating across the globe implement global leadership for satisfying globalisation policies. This study will highlight global leadership and sustainability approaches undertaken by Reckitt Benckiser Group for obtaining a competitive advantage in consumer hygiene sector of the UK.

Research Background

International leadership approaches developed by multinational organizations are targeted towards obtaining business goals across diverse market segments. As asserted by Ciulla (2020) global leadership approach holds significance in evaluating international market trends for multinational companies to attain business competitiveness. This study will evaluate global leadership strategies such as organisational management, employee retention and multicultural operations developed by Reckitt Benckiser Group in UK to attain a competitive position in consumer hygiene sector. Covella et al. (2017) noted that sustainability approaches developed by business organisations assist in attaining cost-effectiveness by reducing business costs and increasing flexibility in operations. Evaluation of sustainability operations was performed by Reckitt Benckiser Group to improve business performances. An increase in productivity across domestic and international platforms are simultaneously achieved

Reckitt Benckiser Group operates as one of the leading consumer hygiene manufacturers and suppliers in UK. The sustainability report published by Reckitt Benckiser in 2020 had highlighted the fact that involvement in sustainable product manufacturing had increased revenue by 20% from 2019 (RECKITT, 2021). Global leadership approaches undertaken by Reckitt Benckiser Group had focused on enabling diverse and inclusive management strategies to attain equality across international sectors (RECKITT, 2021). Sustainability and inclusivity concepts developed by this organisation had assisted in reducing internal business conflicts and obtaining performance excellence in long run markets.

Research Rationale

The rationale of this study will aim at understanding importance of global leadership and sustainability approaches towards attaining business competitiveness. As per the views of Park et al. (2018) advent of globalization has provided growth opportunities for large scale business organisations to expand market size across international platforms. In this context, it can be explained that global leadership practices developed by Reckitt Benckiser Group would assist in expanding business operations across international consumer hygiene market. Healthcare sector in the UK had prioritized hygienic requirements from 75% in 2019 to 98% in 2020 after a massive outbreak of COVID 19 (ENGLAND.NHS, 2021). Leadership strategies implemented by Reckitt Benckiser Group for satisfying consumer demand for healthcare and hygienic products in

UK will be analysed in this study. Demirel and Kesidou (2019) noted that introduction of sustainability had assisted multinational companies towards maintaining consistency in profit earning margin by developing cost-effective manufacturing, procurement and operational activities. Objectives of sustainability plan developed and managed by Reckitt Benckiser towards improving business performance and increasing profitability will be addressed in this study simultaneously.

Aim of Research

This study will aim at evaluating global leadership and sustainability approaches undertaken by Reckitt Benckiser Group for attaining business competitiveness in consumer hygiene sector of UK.

Research Objectives

Primary Objective

• To understand the concept of global leadership and sustainability in business management.

Secondary Objectives

• To identify factors influencing global leadership in global business operations.
• To assess challenges faced by Reckitt Benckiser Group while implementing global leadership and sustainability approaches.
• To recommend strategies for mitigating challenges faced by Reckitt Benckiser Group during global leadership and sustainability approaches.

Research Questions

Primary Question

• How did Reckitt Benckiser Group attain competitive advantage in UK by implementing global leadership and sustainability approaches?

Secondary Questions

• Which factors influence implementation of global leadership and business sustainability for gaining a competitive advantage?
• What strategies can be recommended for mitigating challenges faced by Reckitt Benckiser Group while performing global leadership and business sustainability?

Problem Statement

Challenges faced by Reckitt Benckiser Group while implementing global leadership and sustainability strategies will be addressed in this study. Reckitt Benckiser Group had faced limitations in managing organisational conflicts due to a lack of cross-cultural approaches, managerial issues and others (RECKITT, 2021). Absence of multicultural management approaches had obstructed Reckitt to reduce employee turnover across international operating units. Sustainability targets had faced obstruction from hierarchical leadership stages which had prevented bottom level workforce from participating in decision-making process (RECKITT, 2021). Presence of rigidity in sustainability approaches had failed in sustainability objectives in long run market.

Significance of Research

This study holds significance in identifying major factors influencing global leadership and sustainability approaches in business organisations for attaining business competitiveness. According to Bocken et al. (2020) influencing factors such as higher revenue earning motive, reduction in operating costs and increase in a cost-effective procurement influences business towards increasing sustainability. Hence, it can be explained that Benckiser Group would need to analyse opportunities for earning higher profit margins through sustainable business schemes. Global leadership practices developed by Reckitt for satisfying such sustainability objectives across international markets will be identified and evaluated by researcher.

Literature Review

Concept of Global Leadership in business management

Global leadership and business sustainability assist in gaining a competitive advantage and help in improving business operations to sustain continuous development. International business organisations strive to achieve competitive advantage by implementing global leadership for analysing global market trends. As per the views of Reiche et al. (2017) in the era of globalisation, international organisations develop multicultural leadership approaches for managing workforce, consumers and suppliers belonging to diverse communities. Cross-cultural leadership assists organisations to increase consumer and supplier bases and improve employee retention. Reiche et al. (2017) explained that business management functions involving diversity and inclusion in cross-cultural performances assist organisations towards improving innovation and decision-making process. Participative actions included in global leadership policies helps international companies such as Reckitt Benckiser in expanding market operations and gain stability in profit margin simultaneously.

Significance of Global Leadership for attaining business sustainability

Figure 1: Significance of Global Leadership in business sustainability

(Source: Inspired by Kurucz et al. 2017)

Significance of global leadership lies in attaining sustainable value across environmental, social and economical forums associated with business operations. Sustainable value interconnects socio-economic and environmental attributes for maintaining a competitive advantage by expanding market size across domestic and international platforms. According to Kurucz et al. (2017), socio-economic forms involve diversity, equality, profit-earning strategies and investment functions that are required to be satisfied for maintaining a stable business position. Implementation of sustainable global leadership strategies such as diversity, inclusion, corporate social responsibility and corporate code of conduct assists international business organisations towards addressing wellbeing of diverse stakeholder communities. Business resilience across global platforms can be easily maintained by adopting sustainable approaches for fulfilling long term business goals. Kurucz et al. (2017) stated that environmental objectives related to business sustainability targets towards reduction of pollution levels across areas of business operations. Global leadership functions towards environmental sustainability involve maintaining ecological balance and preserving biodiversity.

Factors influencing global leadership and business sustainability

Relationship between business sustainability and global leadership strategies can be explained by identifying high profit earning plans developed by business organisations. Global leadership and business sustainability are influenced by two primary factors such as “Economic Dimensions” and “Environmental Requirements” and one secondary factor such as “Socio-Cultural Value”. According to Wesselink et al. (2017), economic dimensions related to sustainable leadership management refer towards reducing management and operational costs of business organisations through cost-effective approaches. Diverse economic dimensions present across global marketplace positively influence international business organisations towards developing sustainable procurement, manufacturing and supply strategies.

Environmental requirements include a reduction in levels of global warming, which influences organisations towards introducing eco-friendly products and services. Secondary factors such as socio-cultural value involve addressing psychological and physical wellbeing of stakeholders in global marketplace (Wesselink et al. 2017). Global leadership practices such as cross-cultural management and corporate social responsibility assist international firms towards satisfying requirements of diverse social communities. Global practices help these firms to incorporate strategic changes and develop their internal business functions and maintain sustainability.

Challenges faced by Reckitt Benckiser while implementing global leadership 100

Challenges faced by Reckitt Benckiser Group towards performing sustainable global leadership strategies had obstructed in achieving long term business goals in consumer hygiene sector of UK. Reckitt Benckiser Group had identified that absence of a multidisciplinary approach in cross-cultural leadership had acted as a major limitation towards analysing behavioural instincts of international stakeholders (RECKITT, 2021). Lack of appropriate calculation and estimation of sustainability targets had obstructed managerial authorities of Reckitt towards formation of inclusive corporate strategies for addressing wellbeing of diverse communities. Rigid sustainability plan developed by hierarchical leaders of Reckitt had also prevented the growth of decision making actions among workforce.

Theoretical Perspectives

Competency Pyramid Model

Figure 2: Competency Pyramid Model

(Source: Inspired by Kansal and Singhal 2018)

Hierarchical distribution of competencies present in operational and managerial activities of business organisations is determined in competency pyramid model. As asserted by Kansal and Singhal (2018) opportunities and threats associated with business competencies are analysed in competency pyramid model for developing appropriate business strategies. Implementation of this model would assist Reckitt Benckiser Group in identifying major business competencies for addressing sustainability goals. Individual competencies presented in pyramidal structure would help in determining appropriately sustainable practises for Reckitt to attain competitive advantage.

Transformational Leadership Theory

Figure 3: Transformational Leadership Theory

(Source: Inspired by Eliyana and Ma’arif 2019)

Transformational Leadership refers to management approaches developed by leaders for positively influencing followers to satisfy changes in internal and external environments. According to Eliyana and Ma’arif (2019), transformational leadership enables corporate firms to identify changes occurring in a business environment and modify strategies as per requirements. Managerial leaders of Reckitt Benckiser Group would be required to identify current business trends in consumer hygiene sector of UK for providing a workforce with appropriate training and development. This leadership approach would provide Reckitt with guidance to motivate staff towards achieving successful business outcomes.

Strategies for mitigating challenges faced by Reckitt Benckiser during leadership management

Involvement of strategic approaches such as “Vision and Mission” objectives would provide Reckitt Benckiser with guidance in identifying sustainability goals. According to Bora et al. (2017), vision and mission objectives implemented by business organisations determine corporate goals and develop action plans for execution. Global leadership practises including cross-cultural management and CSR of Reckitt Benckiser would need to focus on developing a vision of sustainability. The mission of Reckitt Group would be to attain a competitive advantage by addressing consumer and stakeholder requirements across diverse market segments.

Methodology

Research Philosophy

Research philosophy describes foundation and set of beliefs considered while conducting particular research. This study will consider “Interpretivism Philosophy” for focusing on perspectives and ideas associated with global leadership and business sustainability. Bleiker et al. (2019) noted that interpretivism determines impact of social and cultural factors on the performance of entities or organisations. Interpretivism philosophy will assist in identifying influence of global leadership and sustainability approaches on internal management of Reckitt Benckiser Group.

Research Strategy

Research Strategy aims at developing suitable approaches for addressing aims and objectives determined in a study. “Case Study” strategy will be chosen for addressing research objectives focused on identifying global leadership and sustainability goals implemented in Reckitt Benckiser Group. Ridder (2017) noted that case study research strategy assists researchers in developing specific action plans and improvement measurements. Involvement of case study strategy will assist towards attaining a specific focus on global leadership and sustainability in hygiene sector of the UK.

Data Collection

This study will retrieve relevant information from “Secondary Resources” such as peer-reviewed journals and articles. Secondary sources would be retrieved from Google Scholar and official website of Reckitt Benckiser Group. Information from newspaper articles, government publications in UK will also be considered for data collection.

Data Analysis

Analysis of collected information will be performed by considering “Thematic Analysis Concept”. Individual themes formed in secondary qualitative data analysis will satisfy individual research objectives, questions and discussions presented in literature review section.

Research Limitations

Limited information related to existence of global leadership practices in consumer hygiene sector of UK was gathered due to unavailability of adequate information. Secondary sources possessing paid or subscription options were excluded from consideration, which had obstructed retrieval of relevant information.

Ethical Issues

Ethical considerations involving breach of copyright and risks of plagiarism while retrieving information from secondary sources were mitigated by considering “Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (c.42) 1988”. For maintaining reliability and validity, information published on and after 2017 was only considered from authentic databases.

Research Timeline

(Refer to Appendix 1)

 

 

References

Bleiker, J., Morgan-Trimmer, S., Knapp, K. and Hopkins, S., (2019). Navigating the maze: Qualitative research methodologies and their philosophical foundations. Radiography, 25, pp.S4-S8.

Bocken, N.M. and Geradts, T.H., (2020). Barriers and drivers to sustainable business model innovation: Organization design and dynamic capabilities. Long Range Planning, 53(4), p.101950.

Bora, B., Borah, S. and Chungyalpa, W., (2017). Crafting strategic objectives: Examining the role of business vision and mission statements. Journal of Entrepreneurship & Organization Management, 6(1), pp.1-6.

Ciulla, J.B., (2020). The Search for Ethics in Leadership, Business, and Beyond. Springer.

Covella, G., McCarthy, V., Kaifi, B. and Cocoran, D., (2017). Leadership’s role in employee retention. Business Management Dynamics, 7(5), pp.1-15.

Demirel, P. and Kesidou, E., (2019). Sustainability‐oriented capabilities for eco‐innovation: Meeting the regulatory, technology, and market demands. Business Strategy and the Environment, 28(5), pp.847-857.

Eliyana, A. and Ma’arif, S., (2019). Job satisfaction and organizational commitment affect transformational leadership towards employee performance. European Research on Management and Business Economics, 25(3), pp.144-150.

England.nhs.uk (2021). National Standards Of Healthcare And Cleanliness. Available at:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/B0271-national-standards-of-healthcare-cleanliness-2021.pdf [Accessed on : 19 December]

Kansal, J. and Singhal, S., (2018). Development of a competency model for enhancing organisational effectiveness in a knowledge-based organisation. International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 16(3), pp.287-301.

Kurucz, E.C., Colbert, B.A., Luedeke-Freund, F., Upward, A. and Willard, B., (2017). Relational leadership for strategic sustainability: Practices and capabilities to advance the design and assessment of sustainable business models. Journal of Cleaner Production, 140, pp.189-204.

Park, S., Jeong, S., Jang, S., Yoon, S.W. and Lim, D.H., (2018). Critical review of global leadership literature: Toward an integrative global leadership framework. Human Resource Development Review, 17(1), pp.95-120.

Reckitt.com (2021). Sustainability. Available at: https://www.reckitt.com/sustainability/ [Accessed on : 18 December]

Reiche, B.S., Bird, A., Mendenhall, M.E. and Osland, J.S., (2017). Contextualizing leadership: A typology of global leadership roles. Journal of International Business Studies, 48(5), pp.552-572.

Ridder, H.G., (2017). The theory contribution of case study research designs. Business Research, 10(2), pp.281-305.

Wesselink, R., Blok, V. and Ringersma, J., (2017). Pro-environmental behaviour in the workplace and the role of managers and organisation. Journal of cleaner production, 168, pp.1679-1687.