A Study of the Leadership Code and Employee Engagement
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Aquila Digital Community The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Dissertations Spring 5-2012 A Study of the Leadership Code and Employee Engagement Richard James Stewart University of Southern Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations Part of the Business and Corporate Communications Commons, Gaming and Casino Operations Management Commons, and the Performance Management Commons Recommended Citation Stewart, Richard James, "A Study of the Leadership Code and Employee Engagement" (2012). Dissertations. 785. https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/785 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The University of Southern Mississippi A STUDY OF THE LEADERSHIP CODE AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT by Richard James Stewart Abstract of a Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2012 ABSTRACT A STUDY OF THE LEADERSHIP CODE AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT by Richard James Stewart May 2012 Ulrich, Smallwood and Sweetman’s (2008) leadership code presents a synthesized approach to developing individual leadership ability and forms part of the base for organizational leadership capability. Employee engagement research indicates that effective leaders consider employee engagement as one of their primary focuses (Weichun, Avolio, & Walumbwa, 2009). While studies of employee engagement and leadership approaches are plentiful in the research world, no research on the leadership code and its relationship to employee engagement can be found. Therefore, research to identify a relationship between the leadership code and employee engagement can provide a much needed advancement in the body of leadership research. This cross sectional exploratory study explored the relationship between the leadership code and employee engagement at a Native American casino in the Southeastern United States. Any relationships identified between the five leadership code domains and employee engagement was insignificant. Additional studies should focus on additional study designs to further examine the relationship between the constructs of the leadership code, as defined by Ulrich, Smallwood and Sweetman (2008), and employee engagement, as defined by Schaufeli and Bakker (2004). ii COPYRIGHT BY RICHARD JAMES STEWART 2012 The University of Southern Mississippi A STUDY OF THE LEADERSHIP CODE AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT by Richard James Stewart A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Approved: Cyndi Gaudet_____________________ Director Heather Annulis___________________ Brian Richard_____________________ Dale Lunsford_____________________ Susan A. Siltanen__________________ Dean of the Graduate School May 2012 DEDICATION You never travel alone on your dissertation journey. When you initially embark you have the encouragement and support of many well wishers. As time wears on many who wished you well have fallen away or grown weary of asking if you have completed your journey. Then one day you look around and realize that only a few ardent supporters remain. Those remaining loved ones, and they can be called loved ones at this point, continue pushing you along with honest and pointed feedback, much needed encouragement and at times your favorite sandwich, beverage or snack. These are the ones you know will be with you now and into the future no matter where your ultimate journey takes you. This dedication goes out to those loved ones who never left me, encouraged me and made those sandwiches - my amazing in EVERY way and beautiful wife Jill, our awesome children Breeann, Hunter and Savannah; my mom Barbara who just listens intently while I drone on incessantly about nothing and has always been there for me no matter what; Cleta-mom who I consider my second mom and has one of the most caring hearts on the planet; Wayne, the crazy man who made me laugh often and in the moments I most needed it; Tom O, my friend and my mentor who has taught me so much and supported my efforts in so many ways; my work buddies who kept me motivated even when I didn’t want to be motivated, you have earned this honor right along with me and for all those others who put up with my whining and complaining and for some reason never told me to shut up, I salute you! WE MADE IT! iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge my dissertation committee, Dr. Cyndi Gaudet, Dr. Heather Annulis, Dr. Brian Richard and Dr. Dale Lunsford. Dr. Mary Nell McNeese provided unending and unselfish statistical guidance along the way. Dr. David Ulrich of The RBL Group for being available in the early part of my study and providing useful ideas, research approaches and making his staff and his knowledge available when needed. Dr. Ryan Nelson for going above and beyond providing suggestions, edits, reference material and encouraging me to push on and never give up. Jay Baker from The RBL Group, for copyright permission and assisting with the Leadership Code data collection and finally Dr. Wilmer Schaufeli for permission to use the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................ii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................ iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................iv LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... vii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS........................................................................................... viii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................1 Statement of the Problem Purpose of the Study Research Objectives Significance of the Study Delimitations Limitations Definition of Key Terms Summary II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE....................................................12 Introduction A Short Review of Leadership The Leadership Code Assessing Leadership Employee Engagement Summary III. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY ........................................44 Introduction Research Design Population Sample Confidentiality of Participants Data Collection Survey Instrumentation Reliability and Validity Summary IV. RESULTS………………………………………………………………………64 Introduction Data Analysis v Demographics Data Imputation Kendall’s tau Cronbach’s alpha Results Threats to Study Design Summary V. DISCUSSION…………………………………………………………………...90 Summary of the Study Conclusions and Recommendations Recommendations for Future Research Limitations Summary APPENDIXES ................................................................................................................106 REFERENCES… ...........................................................................................................119 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Top Ten leadership Competencies from Korn/Ferry Institute Study…..…26 2 Sampling of Items Comprising the LC360………………………………..…54 3 Number of Questions for Leadership Code Domains……………………...55 4 Utrecht Worker Engagement Survey Alpha Scores…..……………….…..60 5 Leadership Code 360 Discriminant and Convergent Validity Measures...61 6 Descriptive Statistics………………………………………….……………….73 7 Five Leadership Domains Correlated to Direct Report Employee Engagement…………………………………………………………………....75 vii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1 Study Conceptual Framework…………………………………………………6 2 Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid………………………………………..18 3 Leadership Brand…………………………………………………………...…28 4 The Leadership Code and the Five Rules…………………………………..32 5 360 degree feedback versus traditional feedback………………………….37 viii 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Organizations in the United States and many other countries face operational disruptions caused by increased pressure from globalization, economic and social forces. These disruptions cause many organizations to shift their operational model to a knowledge-based approach in order to survive in the new world economy. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reports that currently in the United States, knowledge-based services represent almost 80 percent of the economy and in the top 40 world economies, almost 60 percent (Chesbrough, 2011, pp. 2-3). This massive disruption creates a critical need for organizations to identify and implement effective methods to organize and lead in the new global era. Survival in this new era will require the development of new organizational forms and systems, such as teams and new incentive systems, which decentralize decision making, mobilize intellectual capabilities, and harness the knowledge and intelligence of all members of the organization. (Florida & Kenney, 1993, p. 637) The research indicates that organizations must develop new methods of organization and leadership to adapt to the disruptions faced in the new world economy. As Florida and Kenney (1993) state, the new era requires