Leadership Competencies During Economic Downturns

8/2/2019 Leadership Competencies During Economic Downturns

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Leadership Competences 1

Running Head: LEADERSHIP COMPETENCES DURING ECONOMIC DOWNTURNS

Leadership Competences during Economic Downturns


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Table of Content


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Chapter One: Introduction

Introduction

This sequential explanatory, mixed-method research will investigate the impact of

the core leadership competencies of leaders, if any, from small businesses organizations

located in South Florida that showed economic growth during and after the downturn

experienced in the U.S. economy between 2007 and 2009. The U.S. Small Business

Administration Office of Advocacy [SBAOA] (2005), reported that small businesses

represented 99.0% of the state of Floridas employers in 2006 (426,073) and 44% of the

private-sector employment. In another report presented to the President of the United

States, the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy [SBAOA] (2009)

described that small businesses in general were struggling to face the economic downturn

due to challenges such as access to capital, the cost and availability of health insurance, the

ability to attract and retain talent, global competition and the ability to find new markets

and opportunities, government contracting and procurement, and taxes and regulations.

This mixed method study will analyze two separate data sets. The first data set will be an

analysis and interpretation of quantitative data responses collected through Bass's MLQ on

fifty business owners from small businesses in South Florida district from a population of

fifty (50) small business owners and CEOs registered with the South Florida District of the

Small Business Administration using the Basss Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. The

second data set will be an analysis and interpretation of responses to open-ended interview

questions of qualitative data using open-ended interview questions.


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Chapter 1 will include a brief discussion that introduces the topic of research,

presents background information of the problem and states the problem and the purpose of

the study. Along with these sections, this chapter will examine the significance of the study

to leaders and the research method and design. Other sections will cover the theoretical

framework, assumptions, scope, limitations and delimitations and a summary that will

finalize the chapter.

Background of the Problem

Despite the fact that small businesses represent 99.7% of all employer firms,

employ nearly half of all private sector employees, and make up a large portion of firms in

key sectors such as manufacturing, construction, restaurants, home building, and retail, as

reported by the House Small Business Committee (2008), the studies, surveys and reports

found in current literature offer no significant explanation and description about the type of

core leadership competencies needed from leaders managing small business enterprises that

could help these organizations to survive through economic downturns.

History has shown that, when facing economic downturns, most organizations

choose downsizing as a short-term tactic to compete within the new market conditions,

especially during downturns. As result of a survey, Stiles Associates (2009) reported that

42% of firms anticipating 10%+ sales declines in the first half of 2009 planned and reduced

staff. Downsizing affects large, mid, and small businesses because it usually leads to low

employee confidence and morale, and managers tend to lose their focus and credibility

among surviving employees which causes detrimental results in organizations

performance (Travaglione & Cross, 2006). Appelbaum, Close and Klasa (1999) argued that


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surviving employees may have difficulty in adapting to the new organizational

environment set by the leadership during downturns. In this respect, another survey among

leaders and managers showed that only 4% of the leaders of the organizations performed at

the most capable level in regard to the leadership competencies needed to develop and

implement new strategies to overcome the challenges in employee development during the

post-downsizing conditions (Schettler, 2002).

Different schools of thought suggest that during economic changes leaders can

affect the economic results of their organizations due to their individual wisdom (or lack

thereof) or attributes to finding new growth opportunities and strategies. For instance,

Fraser (2007) argued that leadership can be consumed by the business challenges faced

during a downturn and fail to leverage the highest strategic value using design methods to

understand customers' experiences, satisfaction and connections to transform business

models. These design methods may include tools and techniques to visualize product

concepts, develop multiple proto-types or improve business processes. Rogoff, Lee, and

Suh (2004), discussed about the attribution theory and the bias created among business

owners in identifying success or failure factors. These factors tend to differ for those

leaders from small business organizations whose behavior is analyzed.

In another survey, Hewitt Associates (2007) showed that 85% of the global top

companies had clear guidelines for leadership behavior and were able to apply leadership

competencies models (79%) to overcome challenges and deliver long-term sustainability in

comparison to only 37% among other companies such as small businesses. Even more,

these companies showed considerably more alignment in regard to their company-wide

business strategies than the other companies (84% vs. 53%). However, despite the


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challenging economic environment during 2008 and 2009, small businesses organizations

maintained their share as the major employment force in the U.S. economy (Headd and

Kirchhoff, 2009).

The literature provides little evidence about leadership models that can help small

business executives to establish a framework or an approach to successfully manage their

organizations during economic challenges. Sparks and Gentry (2008) argued that

alternative mechanisms to enhance leadership capabilities were still under debate,

especially for small businesses executives, and suggested that additional measurement tools

to evaluate leadership competencies were needed in todays business environment.

Likewise, Buchen (2005) argued that current studies in leadership should discuss the

emergence of a new hybrid: the manager as a leader to understand what are the key

competencies of the leaders and establish customized programs that can help to identify

emerging leadership roles (p. 21).

Traditional studies provide different leadership theories to identify leadership

values among successful organizations. However these studies have failed to fully explain

these values among leaders from small business organizations. Appelbaum et al. (1999)

argued that business leaders must have certain values and be value-based to lead the

emotionally damaged workforce who rather than being thankful, tend to show low morale

and disruptive behaviors during economic downturns (p. 428). In dealing with issues such

as low morale among the employees that the companies decide to keep, Svyantek (2003)

recognized that little evidence was available to support which model could help to improve

the leadership skill set of small business leaders and owners during economic downturns.

Most studies publicly known have been prepared using data from top 500 fortune


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companies to demonstrate the importance of leadership competencies and have been shared

in business schools and among local small business associations.

Statement of the Problem

Large organizations use internal leadership competency models usually developed

after years of extensive analysis of the leaders strategic response to complex challenges.

These models vary according the size of the organization, increasing their probability of

survival and growth during economic downturns (Latham, 2009; Schettler, 2002). There is

a dearth of leadership competency models for small business organizations (SBO) available

in the academic and business literature on sustaining businesses during a downturn. The

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida, which includes nine counties,

reported an 80% increase in business bankruptcy filings in 2008, of which 70% were small

businesses (U.S. Bankruptcy Court Southern District of Florida, 2010).

This sequential explanatory, mixed-method research will investigate and determine

the impact, if any, of the core leadership competencies exhibited by CEO's and business

owners on the economic growth of their organizations. First, this research will survey

CEOs and business owners from small businesses organizations located in South Florida

that actually went through economic growth during and after the downturn experienced in

the U.S. economy between 2007 and 2009. The survey instrument will be the Basss

Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire to understand which behaviors are relevant to the

underlying manifestations and the construction of specific competencies predicting success

among these leaders (Boyatzis, 2007).


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The criteria for growth will include such data as profitability ratio, increase in sales,

and growth in number of employees. Following, this study will use open-ended interview

questions to collect and analyze qualitative data from these CEOs and business owners.

The insights provided by this research may help leaders of small businesses organizations

develop alternative leadership competency models that they can adopt to address the

challenges faced by their organizations during economic downturns.

Leadership and Adaptive Work

Why do we even need a concept of leadership when so many phenomena in politics

and organizations can be analyzed purely in terms of formal and informal authority

relationships, power and influence dynamics, and the application of authoritative systems

and expertise in solving collective problems (i.e., management)? Why clutter our

vocabulary with another word?

The answer lies in the type of situation people face, the kind of problem or

challenge. Most problem situations do not call for leadership. Authoritative systems are

sufficient. For example, early in my career I ran emergency rooms as a young doctor, and

every day we saved lives by doing our jobs well. My job coordinating the team's

emergency response did not require leadership on my part; it required the expert know-how

for which I had been sufficiently trained by my elders. Some situations, however, outstrip

any expertise. Not amenable to authoritative know-how, these are the situations that call for

leadership.

Again, authority relationships consist of social contracts in which power is

entrusted for services. Formal authority consists of the powers formally conferred through


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institutional procedures to provide specific services, and informal authority consists of the

power informally conferred by citizens, constituents, customers, or stakeholders to provide

services that are often left implicit.

This basic structure of authority relationships serves as the backbone of organized

societies and goes back in evolutionary history even before people. We see these structures

of authority in animal societies in which dominant individuals serve the basic functions of

(a) direction each day for food, (b) protection each day from predators and other dangers,

and (c) the maintenance of order every day by orienting members to their places and roles,

by resolving conflicts when they break out, and by reinforcing social norms whenever

transgressions occur.

These structures of social organization based upon authority relationships work

elegantly and efficiently for most problems human beings face, like those I faced routinely

in the hospital emergency room. Doctors diagnose the problem and prescribe treatment and

the patient takes his or her medicine and gets well. Indeed, if we lived in a world that

remained stable, with only very slow changes in our environment, our structures and

application of authority and deference might be completely sufficient. As has been the case

for millions of years among our human and primate ancestors, they would keep us thriving

for many generations. For example, take a gorilla society. For hundreds of generations,

gorilla societies have thrived within a fairly stable ecosystem. Every day the members of

each band would look to their silverback gorilla to provide direction for food, protection

from leopards and other predators, and maintain social order. They looked to their silver-

haired elder because he had the experience and expertise to serve the needs of the group.

And for generations, he, his ancestors, and the silverbacks who took over for him when he


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grew too old knew what to do to provide the essential services of direction, protection, and

order. The group looked to him to know the way. But what happened when his group met

up with a new kind of danger? What happens when the ecosystem changes and, for

example, rather than meet up with a leopard for which clustering as a defense works very

well, the group meets up with a man carrying a machine gun?

When the situation places adaptive pressures on the community, the default

response is to do the tried and true: Look to authorities to know what to do. But authorities

do not always know what to do. So then what? Most species, societies, and businesses go

extinct.

And this takes us to the heart of leadership. How can individuals or groups of

individuals take action to mobilize adaptive work in their communities so that they can

thrive in a changing and challenging world?

We anchor a conception of leadership in that question because the unit of analysis

we have found most useful for the real-world practice of leadership is adaptive work, or

actions that generate progress in meeting adaptive challenges so an organization or society

can thrive. Organizational and political activity become leadership only when people take

action mobilizing others to tackle tough, collective problems; get work done; and generate

adaptive solutions (Heifetz, 1994; Heifetz, Grashow, & Linsky, 2009; Heifetz & Linsky,

2002; Heifetz & Sinder, 1988; Williams, 2005).

In contrast, management can be understood as the activity of coordinating complex

systems in the efficient production of solutions to routine or technical problems.


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The concept of thriving is a metaphor drawn from the concept of adaptation in

evolutionary biology in which a successful adaptation accomplishes three tasks (Kirschner

& Gerhart, 2005; Mayr, 1988):

It preserves essential DNAthe accumulated wisdom of generations

It rearranges, re-regulates, or discards the DNA that no longer serves the current

need

It innovates to develop capacity that enables the organism to thrive in new ways

and in challenging environments

A successful adaptation enables a living system to take the best from its history into

the future. It is conservative and progressive.

Anchoring a conception of leadership in the work of progressresolving

contradictions within our cultural DNA to clarify the values in thriving or between our

cultural DNA and the demands of our environment to realize those valuesenables us to

view authority and various forms of power as a set of tools, resources, and constraints,

rather than as ends. They do not define leadership, though they are often central to its

practice.

By distinguishing leadership from authority, and thereby uncoupling them, we can

then analyze what we commonly observe: that people leadthat is, mobilize progress on

challenges demanding new adaptations for the social system to thriveboth with and

without authority at the same time. Moreover, the various forms of power, from coercive to

inspirational, remain useful in various contexts in the practice of leadership. What matters

in determining whether leadership is being practiced are the kinds of situations one


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confrontstechnical, adaptive, or a combination of the twoand how one assesses and

takes action to serve the needs of the situation at hand.

The practical benefits of these distinctions are profound. Here are three. First,

distinguishing leadership from authority enables us to engage in the critically important

work in our age of distrust of recovering our capacity for authorityto renew our ability to

form relationships of power and trust. 3 The reduction of trust in authorities, in both public

and private sectors, is not only a crucial problem to be solved but also one that can be

better understood by analyzing the constrained and sometimes corrupted behavior of

authorities and sometimes the corrupting expectations placed on their shoulders by citizens

and stakeholders. Authorities have too often violated the trust they are given. It does not

take many experiences of personal, familial, political, or ethnic violations of trust by

authorities to make people wary. Analyzing the dysfunctions of our current, implicit social

contracts can be done more readily when we can analyze the relationship between those

who authorize (e.g., citizens, customers, and stakeholders) and those who gain authority

(e.g., public officials and business executives) and then account for and repair trust.

Second, these distinctions enable us to analyze not only the resources but also the

constraints of formal and informal authority on the practice of leadership itself and to

examine why so many people with authority do not exercise leadership. We can begin to

answer questions such as the following: Why do authorities routinely squander their power

and popularity and fail to meet the tough challenges? Why do they often trade off the long-

term for the short-term or sometimes make the opposite mistake of going for too much too

soon? What role do citizens, stakeholders, and customers play in the failures of their

authorities to lead? What strategies of leadership can we provide to help people lead from


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their positions of authority, in spite of the expectations of their various publics and

constituents for easy answers? How would people leading from positions of authority

reshape the expectations of constituents away from expecting quick-fix technical solutions

from on high, to staying in a longer-term game of experimentation, loss, discovery, and

distributed responsibility for owning the problem and doing the change work needed more

widely in the system?

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this sequential explanatory, mixed-method research will be to

investigate and determine the impact, if any, of the core leadership competencies

(independent variable) exhibited by CEO's and business owners on the economic growth

(dependent variable) of their organizations. First, this study will explore quantitative data

collected by administering the Basss Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire to small

businesses organizations located in South Florida that actually went through economic

growth during and after the downturn experienced in the U.S. economy between 2007 and

2009. The specific population will be fifty (50) CEOs and business owners from small

business organizations registered with the South Florida District of the Small Business

Administration which meet the above-mentioned criteria for growth. In the second phase of

this study, the researcher will seek a more in-depth perspective to refine and explain the

initial quantitative data by exploring the point of views of ten (10) randomly selected CEOs


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and business owners using open-ended interview questions within the specific population

(Creswell, 2005).

The researcher will integrate the study findings through a single discussion section

to determine the impact, if any, of the common core leadership competencies of these

leaders in small businesses growth during and after the downturn experienced in the U.S.

economy between 2007 and 2009. This study might contribute to the knowledge base of

leaders of small businesses, who may be able to apply these insights in their business

strategy, resulting in a potential reduction the number of small businesses closings in the

South Florida area, and provide empirical evidence of the core leadership competencies

that can assist current and new leaders of small-size enterprises in managing their

organizations through economic downturns.

Significance of the Problem

Significance of the study

The findings of this study will assist researchers to gain better understanding of the

impact of the leadership competences from leaders of small business organizations. Sparks

and Gentry (2008) recognized the importance of the leadership competencies and studied

top executives and the leadership competencies needed to succeed across several industries,

especially during economic downturn. This research will attempt to provide additional

research and in-depth examination of the leadership competencies used by successful small

business organizations in the South Florida District of the Small Business Administration.

Additionally, the conclusions of this study may assist new small business owners to

evaluate their individual skill set to survive after turbulent economic periods in the current


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business environment. Finally, this mixed-method research may also help to develop

evaluation tools and instructional programs for current and future executives of small

business enterprises, owners and advocates.

Significance of the study to leadership

To reinforce the importance of this study, it is relevant to establish the difference

between leadership and management. Fieldeldey-Van Dijk and Freedman (2007) discussed

that leadership sets the vision and the direction of a group and engage them in

accomplishing goals and objectives while management was all about controlling, directing

and implementing that vision. This study will provide an exploration into the leadership

competencies related to small business success in the South Florida area and will contribute

to the body of knowledge in regard to small business leadership and the potential effects of

transformational leadership in small business organizations. This study might also

contribute with thoughts for scholarly analysis on future researches about small business

leaders, leadership development and behaviors in small business organizations and may fill

a gap in the literature in regard to the differences between the core leadership competences

needed for top companies leaders and small business owners and leaders. Finally, the

study of core leadership competencies from successful small business leaders and owners

might contribute to better understand how small businesses organizations can ensure long-

term sustainability during an economic recession.

Nature of the Study


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The research methodology for this study will be a sequential explanatory mixed-

method. This study will survey and interview leaders of small business organizations about

the core leadership competencies they perceive have contributed to give a successful

direction to their organizations. The study will explore leadership competencies as

predictor of business success and as support for maintaining companys sustainability

during economic downturns.

Overview of the research method

This study will use a sequential explanatory mixed methods research design.

Creswell (2005) indicated that this procedure collects quantitative data to explore and

obtain a general picture of the a phenomenon in the first place and second, collects

qualitative data to refine, explain or elaborate potential relationships and determine aspects

of the quantitative results that may require further in-depth exploration (p. 516). The

sequential approach of this method will assist to identify potential leadership competencies

from the small business leaders in the first set of data as broad assessment, and seek to

interpret, clarify, describe or validate the quantitative results with the qualitative data in the

second phase (Johnson, Onwuegbuzie & Turner, 2007).

Overview of the design appropriateness

Brannen (2005) stated that mixed methods research could contribute to bring the

attention away from theoretical work related to specific fields of study. According to

Creswell (2005), the combination of qualitative and quantitative data used in mixed

methods research designs might provide a better understanding of the phenomena rather


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than using only one type of data. A case study method was considered to accomplish the

goals of this study. However, based on Cooper and Schindler (2003) case study designs

provide a contextual analysis of few events and conditions. This design method would

provide limited insights and information about the small business organizations.

Creswell (2005) argued that a phenomenological research applied for studies where

variables were unknown and the literature provided little information about the topic. In

this type of study, he researcher can learn more through the exploration of the data

collected from the participants. The researcher can explore the phenomenon and justify the

need for the study using the direction provided in the literature review (p. 46). Similarly,

Neuman (2003) stated that qualitative studies help authors to organize and analyze the

transcripts and field notes taken during the interviews.

A quantitative design could help to measure and determine variables and

relationships about the specific financial data to determine growth figures. Creswell (2005)

explained that quantitative data involved the study of numeric data. In this study, the design

method will first explore core leadership competencies of the small business leaders during

the administration of the MLQ questionnaire. By adding the qualitative method to the

research design, the resulting mixed-method will provide an enhanced and broader

comprehension of the phenomenon in comparison with phenomenological research design

or the quantitative methods alone (Cooper & Schindler, 2003; Creswell, 2005). Using the

quantitative results collected and analyzed in the first phase to elaborate on and connect the

results will provide a general understanding of the research problem (Ivankova, Creswell &

Stick, 2008).


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Research Questions and Hypothesis

To address the purpose of this sequential explanatory, mixed-method study will

investigate and determine the impact, if any, of the core leadership competencies

(independent variables) exhibited by CEO's and business owners on the economic growth

(dependent variable) of their organizations. The first phase of this research will survey fifty

(50) CEOs and business owners of small business organizations in the South Florida

District of the Small Business Administration that showed the above-mentioned growth

criteria between 2007 and 2009 using as a survey instrument, the Multifactor Leadership

Questionnaire (MLQ) developed by Bass and Avolio (2004) to assess and measure

leadership behaviors exhibited by these leaders. The second phase will use open-ended

interview questions in face-to-face, mail, telephone interviews and web surveys to collect

the data from ten (10) randomly selected CEOs and business owners from small business

organizations.

Hypotheses

This study will analyze the answers to the following hypothesis to determine the

impact, if any, of the leadership core competencies in the economic growth of the above-

mentioned small businesses:

H10: There is no significant leadership core competencies exhibited by these

leaders in the economic growth of their businesses.

H1a: There is significant impact of the leadership core competencies exhibited by

these leaders in the economic growth of their businesses.


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H20: There is no relationship between the number of leadership core competencies

exhibited by these leaders and the economic growth of their business.

H2a: There is a relationship between the number of leadership core competencies


H30. There is no relationship between a particular leadership core competency


H3a. There is a relationship between a particular leadership core competency


Research Questions

This study, the following research questions will guide the research:

RQ1. What leadership competencies do CEOs and Small Business owners

perceive as contributing to the success or survival of their organizations during economic

downturns?

RQ2. How economic downturns do transform CEOs and Small Business owners

core leadership competencies?

RQ3. What leadership competencies have contributed to improve your

organizations market share, customer satisfaction, job satisfaction and financial

profitability during and after the economic downturn?

Theoretical Framework

Past researches have analyzed the specific actions that leaders from top companies

initiated to create successful organizational strategies, changes in processes, the application


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of certain economic principles, the implementation of initiatives to improve goal

alignment, workforce utilization, retention of high performers and employee development

among other topics. These studies were able to determine leadership competency models

employed by leaders from top organizations in order to face economic challenges. Sparks

and Gentry (2008) argued that companies priorities may change with new trends in

globalization, technological advances and employment issues face and when companies

revise their internal priorities, leadership competencies also evolve.

Companies results in the absence of certain leadership skills and the learning

process experienced by executive leaders during the leaders exposure to opportunities and

challenges faced by their organizations have been largely studied. According to Hoagland

(2008),organizational results are a function of leadership skill development and its

perpetual application (p. 2). On another hand, Matzler, Kepler, Schwarz, Deutinger, and

Harms (2008) found a positive relationship between transformational leadership and the

performance of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) using a sample of 300 SMEs

from Austria that had strong results in innovation. Bass (2007) described widely the job of

the leaders of the organizations. Top management and CEOs set policies, provide direction

to the organization, determine goals and strategies, coordinate effective staffs efforts, deal

with adaptability to reduce uncertainty, and increase stability. In summary, the

profitability of a firm depends on the CEOs actions (p.39).

The MLQ has been profusely used to determine clusters (factors) for leadership

behaviors and develop a measurement instrument to identify those factors Bass and Avolio

(2004). Strategic wisdom and decision-making among small business leaders indicates a

clear contribution to the small business success and environment and has gained


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insufficient attention compared with the vast literature on the topic in large firms.

Liberman-Yaconi, Hooper, and Hutchings (2010) , suggested that models originated from

studies with large firms provide inadequate and misguided practices among small firms.

Rogoff, Lee, and Suh (2004), discussed about the attribution theory and the various

contributing influences, bias and situational factors that could cause the different business

outcomes. Many theories have been discussed to comprehend the challenges faced by

leaders such as behavioral models, rational economic and strategy by design; these models

looked to understand thriving thinking systems required to produce strategies and analysis

that may contribute to the organizations success and viability during the economic

downturns (Bass, 2007; Emiliani, 2003; Spinelli, 2006) .

Definition of Terms

Economic downturn: According to Adams (2009) the common definition of a

recession, and the one most frequently cited in the media, is a period of two consecutive

quarterly declines in real GDP.

Job satisfaction: Roelen, Koopmans and Groothoff (2008) defined job satisfaction

as a global concept that varies with the aspects of the job and that includes the positive

emotional reactions and attitudes individuals have towards their job (p. 434).

Leadership: Northouse (2007) described the concept of leadership the process of

influencing and achieving goals while creating movement in an organization.

Small Business sustainability: Ability to survive or to remain in business based on

the financial analysis of the small enterprise in terms of sales, market share, and

profitability.


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Assumptions

For the purpose of the study it will be assumed that the questionnaire will be

conducted face-to-face to maintain accuracy in the collected data. This study assumes that

the majority of participants would answer honestly the questionnaire and the research

questions. It will be assumed that the financial data reported by the selected companies in

their P&L and balance sheet statements was prepared using current Generally Accepted

Accounting Principles and reflect the most current and actual status of the organization.

According to Miller (2009), the number of small businesses will grow during

economic downturns because the downsizing market increases and new entrepreneurs and

well-trained executives see new opportunities as business owners. Caron (2008) cited that

many of the todays big companies started during a recession such as Microsoft in 1975,

CNN in 1980, GE (1876) founded in the middle of a six-year recession that started in 1873

and Hewlett-Packard during the great depression among other companies. However, Lee

(2009) argued that small business leaders are afraid of pursuing business opportunities and

struggle to take the business to the next level or have difficulties in managing larger

operations.

Scope, Limitations and Delimitations

This study will investigate and determine the impact, if any, of the core leadership

competencies (independent variables) exhibited by CEO's and business owners on the

economic growth (dependent variable) of their organizations. By using a combination of a

structured questionnaire and semi-structured interviews this study will attempt to obtain


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detail and clarification from the participants (Harris & Brown, 2010). The specific

population will be fifty (50) CEOs and business owners from small business organizations

registered with the South Florida District of the Small Business Administration. The

validity of the information provided will be determine by the straightforwardness of the

responses provided by these CEOs and small business owners who voluntarily agreed to

participate in the study.

Yoon and Horne (2004) argued that data from a population will be rarely obtained

in full and suggested a careful sampling selection by using radon sampling in survey

research and understand the limitations of methods such as telephone, mail, face-to-face

interviews and electronic surveys. The potential threats to the validity of the study also

justify the appropriateness of the sequential explanatory mixed method. According to

Creswell and Tashakkori (2007), the use of both quantitative and qualitative results may be

integrated to provide meaningful inferences to connect compare or contrast the findings,

which might contribute to better understand how small businesses organizations can ensure

long-term sustainability during an economic recession. This study will be delimited to the

ethical decisions of the participants and the quality of the CEOs and business owners

included in the survey population. Only individuals with college education will be included

as participants of the study.

Summary

This study will support the relevance of the impact of the core leadership

competencies of leaders of small businesses organizations located in South Florida that

showed economic growth during and after the downturn experienced in the U.S. economy


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between 2007 and 2009. Kaiser, Hogan, and Craig (2008), argued that organizational

effectiveness depends on leaders especially when the dynamics of external forces may

overpower leaders strategic intentions and actions.

The selected research design will provide a framework that will combine the

benefits of the quantitative and qualitative methods to improve the trustworthiness of the

information to be analyzed and have the possibility of recognizing new themes and insights

from integrating and overlapping the collected data (Cooper & Schindler, 2003; Creswell,

2005; Jang, McDougall, Pollon, Herbert, & Russell, 2008). The results of this study may

contribute to reduce the number of small business failures in the South Florida area.

Chapter 2 will provide a review of the literature, discussing widely central aspects

and theories relating to general concepts of leadership and core leadership competencies

identified by scholars, schools of thought and individual researchers. The literature review

will integrate a comprehensive review of potential areas of controversy; clarify the need for

the current study and debate on the outcome of the leadership styles and leaders behaviors

on firms during an economic downturn, especially small businesses.


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Leadership Competencies During Economic Downturns

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