Writing Project Proposals

The Project is a vehicle to create a lasting legacy, providing you an

opportunity to:

▪ Design and undertake an original project in an area that is of interest to you – projects will be self-selected with the guidance and assistance of the NCE, must be practical in their orientation, illuminate complex managerial problems and deliver recommendations and interventions that willaid organizational decision making and or management practice;

▪ Acquire and develop considerable specialised knowledge;

▪ Refine the analytical skills needed to evaluate, test the

efficacy of, and apply academic theory to real management

issues;

▪ Develop written communication skills such as the ability

to produce high-quality written reports.

The Change Project is a work-based project that brings together elements of learning from every

module; accumulating knowledge and understanding of management and its application

within an organisation.

▪ The topic of the Project must be agreed between your employer and yourself, and must

be of benefit to the organisation – it must enable the application of KSBs to be assessed.

▪ Therefore, your employer must agree with you that the Project is achievable within

organisational constraints – it should be conducted as part of your normal work, but your

employer should make allowance, in terms of time and resource, for this work-based

project to be undertaken.

Assessment

Proposal (1,000 words / 10% of modular assessment)

▪ The main aim of the assessment of the proposal is the practical feasibility, the feasibility in terms of the quality of your planned approach and reading, the feasibility of your plans for the fieldwork and whether your plans are likely to address the requirements of your programme and in achieving Masters-level qualification.

▪ You should write clearly, to an appropriate standard of grammar and with correct spelling (either English or American-English). You should avoid overuse of bullet points and lists. The use of humour is not appropriate and you should avoid jargon, slang or colloquialisms.

▪ It is common practice to write in the third person rather than the first person. Some investigation approaches, however, may have a different convention. You should write in the third person unless your supervisor advises you otherwise.

▪ Explain all technical terms and abbreviations when they are first used. Inclusion of a glossary as an appendix is recommended.

▪ You are encouraged to use graphical presentation (diagrams, charts, graphs etc) where appropriate. They must be relevant and easy to comprehend and of an appropriate standard for a formal report. You should always refer to them in the main text, provide an appropriate caption, and include a list of all such figures and tables in your table of contents.

▪ Use appropriate headings and sub-headings.

▪ Avoid the use of footnotes or endnotes. If something is important it should be in the main body of the text. If it is not important, it should be omitted.

▪ Always check your work before submission. Read and re-read it and, if you can, get someone else to read it (a fresh pair of eyes is always valuable to spot logical, grammatical or typographical errors).

Key considerations

▪ Self-management and motivation The Project is intentionally an individual piece of work that requires you to demonstrate your ability to learn independently as part of achieving your Masters-level qualification. You will be working in a more autonomous, self-directed way than previously on your programme. You should aim to maintain momentum with your work in order to keep up your motivation and to complete your project. If you allow long periods of inactivity, you are also likely to lose your motivation. Keep your motivation by staying in touch with your allocated NCE faculty, programme colleagues and by making full use of the NCE Hub.

▪ Time schedule One of the biggest barriers to successful completion is poor time management. It is important to create a realistic time schedule in your proposal and then be diligent about adhering to it. Break the work down into manageable chunks, with clear deliverables and clear deadlines. Make sure that you are aware of your deadlines to ensure you do not run out of time.

▪ Skills and competencies Ensure that you understand the research techniques you will be using. Revisit the NCE Hub as necessary and be prepared to undertake further study on your particular research techniques to enhance your knowledge and understanding where appropriate.

The Structure

Setting the context (approx. 200 words)

Introduce and explain your selected area of change using a clear statement of the problem or issue that is the focus of the investigation. Then identify your overall aims and scope and provide a brief overview of the context and setting for the investigation. Then, explain why the Change Project is important to the sponsoring organisation and may help to deliver high performance and growth/sustainable outcomes.

Research question(s) and objectives (approx. 100 words)

Discuss your research focus or research question(s) and objectives that you intend to address through your investigation.

Literature related to your topic area (approx. 200 words)

Drawing on key academic sources provide an overview of how your reading around your research topic has informed your thinking and understanding of the issue, problem or opportunity, and has contributed to the design of your proposed investigation. Ensure that you provide a reference list comprising a minimum of ten sources.

Methodological design of the investigation (approx. 300 words)

Propose and justify an underpinning research strategy (i.e., research approach and fieldwork method) that you intend to use for the inquiry to address the research question(s). Ensure that you explain an overview of the key data you require and how you intend to collect it, details of sampling (e.g., interviewees, survey respondents), and how you will access them. Then indicate your intended sample size (e.g., number of interviews, number of survey responses, etc.) and how you intend to analyse the data and present your findings.

Stakeholder management (approx. 200 words)

Consider how you will manage partnerships, people, and resources effectively. Explore the type of support and from which stakeholders you are seeking to support this project. Then discuss how you will manage complex relationships across multiple and diverse stakeholders. Consider how will various levels of organisational, including board structures, will be engaged throughout your study.

Ethical concerns with the research process

Identify any ethical issues related to the research process by replying to all of the following questions concerning your proposed research by marking with an ‘x’ as appropriate.

Yes No

1.1

Have the participants and subjects of the study been chosen because they are patients and/or

clients of the National Health Service or Social Services in the UK, or equivalent health or social

care systems in another country?

1.2

Are the participants and subjects of the study unable to give free and informed consent because

they are not over the age of 18, or as a consequence of their mental capacity? (For more details on

how mental capacity might impair the ability to give free and informed consent, please consult the

Mental Capacity Act 2005.)

1.3Are you asking questions that are likely to be considered inappropriate or to cause distress to any

of the participants?

1.4Are any of the subjects in a special relationship with the researcher that could affect their ability

freely to give informed consent?

1.5Is your project funded by a Research Council or other external source (excluding research

conducted by postgraduate students)?

Example Proposal

Setting the context:

Working title: Examining the experience and impact of leadership style on employee and organizational resilience in non-profit organizations exposed to continuous social trauma in the context of a South African marginalized community.

In South Africa, non-profit organizations often operate within the marginalized communities they serve. These communities, and by extension, these organizations and their employees are faced with daily occurrences of social trauma. It would be safe to assumethat this continuous trauma has a negative impact on those associated with the organizations. Yet, these organizations continue to operate in these communities for long periods of time despite challenging circumstances, which in my opinion, is indicative of resilience. Resilience is defined by (Sutcliffe and Vogus, 2003) as “the maintenance of positive adjustments under challenging conditions”. The purpose of this study is to understand the impact that leadership style may or may not have on employee and organizational resilience within this context. The aim is to delve into leaders and employees’ views, perceptions and understanding of leadership styles and resilience (both individual and organization) and specifically how they experience it within their context. While the author has found evidence of similar research in the preliminary literature review, evidence of similar research within this specific context is yet to be found. Majority of the literature reviewed thus far are quantitative in design. Therefore, the author feels that this qualitative study would be of immense value to organizations operating in this environment as well as the non-profit sector as a whole. In terms of scope, the author is aware of the existence of other probable contributing factors to resilience such as organizational structure and culture, governance, funding, etc, but the focus of this study will specifically be on examining the impact (if any) leadership style has on employee and organizational resilience.

Research question(s) and objectives:

QuestionWhat is the impact of leadership style/s on the ability to drive change as it relates to individual and organizational resilience?

Objectives1. To gain an understanding of leaders’ perceptions of and motivation for their own leadership style and if and how it contributes

to employee and organizational resilience;

2. Insight into what employees and leaders consider to be the driving force behind their own individual displays of resilience and that of the organizations and whether or not it relates (directly/indirectly) to the leader’s leadership style?

Literature related to your topic area:

The literature I have reviewed so far has allowed me to gain an understanding of different leadership styles and how different

researchers have proceeded to measure leadership style in relation to resilience in various contextual settings. I have found quite a

few references to transformational leadership and its efficacy within crisis contexts and organizational resilience, but there have

also been reference to authentic leadership and servant leadership as other positive leadership styles. (Avolio et al, 2005; Van

Dierendonck et al, 2014; Velero et al, 2015; McColl-Kennedy & Andrew, 2002; Zehir & Narcikara, 2016; Salehzadeh, 2019;

Rodrigues-Sanchez & Peria, 2015; Sommer et al, 2016) (Rodríguez-Sánchez and Perea, 2015) in their study cited (Lengnick-Hall and

Beck, 2005) as stating that “Building resilience is of vital importance to understand and respond to crisis situations” and (Valero,

Jung and Andrew, 2015) states that the extent to which leadership styles affect organizational resiliency and thus its performance is

not clear and that future research should consider whether other styles of leadership (other than transformational leadership) are

more effective in building organizational resilience. Therefore I was very interested in (Van Dierendonck et al., 2014)’s study. The

key prediction was that transformational leadership would be stronger than servant leadership in times of uncertainty but the

findings were contrary to the predictions. The findings appear to indicate that servant leaders could be as effective as, if sometimes

not better than, transformational leaders in terms of crisis leadership. It shows in uncertain circumstances, the interpersonal

qualities of leadership may be as important if not more.

Methodological design of the investigation:

My research approach is going to be a qualitative approach as I would like to gain an in depth understanding of leaders and employees’ experiences of leadership style in relation to individual and organizational resilience within the context of organizations operating in marginalized communities and being exposed to continuous social trauma. I would like to ascertain if the themes which are generated from the data bear any relation to available literature and what that potentially could mean in terms of leadership style being a contributing factor in developing resilient employees and organizations. The fieldwork method will be in depth interviews with leaders and employees from various non-profit organizations operating in the community I work in.

The sampling approach will be non-probability, purposive sampling as the organizations need to display some level of resilience at least by virtue of operating within the community for at least 8 years and employees interviewed would need to have been withthe organizations for 5 or more years which indicates at least a level of individual resilience by virtue of long term service under difficult and often traumatic conditions. The sample size aimed for would be at least 15 interviewees, of which at least one perorganization would be in a leadership position within the organization. The reason for selecting the community I currently work in is because of the level of access I would have to organizations, because I work in the same community. Organizations are all aware of each other but do not interact often because organizational focus is vastly different, however the organizations are always open to collaboration. I will not be using my own organization in the sample because of familiarity bias. I will be using a semi structured interview questionnaire just to start off the interview process but the data collected would be mainly an in depth account ofinterviewees experiences of how their leaders lead, (as well as leader’s experiences) their style and behaviours (against the backdrop of the continuous traumatic experiences within the community) and how this influences employees own behaviours, attitudes and resilience development. The data will be audio recorded, transcribed directly after interviews and catalogued in an excel spreadsheet, and then coded and analysed using a thematic analysis approach

Stakeholder management:

Once I have identified the interviewees and finalized appointments as well as confirmed feedback submission dates with my supervisor. I am negotiating time and use of facilities with my organization for interviewees who might feel more comfortable at a different location to their own office. There is also a coffee shop in close proximity to our community if that is a preference of any particular interviewee – I will work there. Once I connect with interviewees, I would be able to get a better understanding of each individual to ensure their comfortability with the process. From interviews for a previous assignment I learned that the processleading up to the interviews is as important. I did not provide much information and those interviewees expressed anxiety because they were not fully aware of what the interview would be about.

This time I will provide the interviewees with more information around the purpose and scope of the study to alleviate any possible anxiety around the process and to create some rapport prior to the actual interview. My organization has agreed to allow me one day per week for the duration of the project to work from home – this will allow me to have extra dedicated time and space to think and focus on writing and analysis. I have received permission from our IT department to download software onto my work laptop for use during the project (i.e. referencing software, coding software etc). I also have permission to use the work printer for any printing of research documents which may be necessary for which I will reimburse the organization the standard printing fee.

Revised Proposal

Setting the context: (revised version)

Working title: Exploration of the impact of leaders delivering change within a South African non-profit organization

Why South African non-profit organization?Why delivering change? What is the change? Why is the change needed?What the impact of leaders? What is the benefit of knowing this?

The purpose of the study is to understand the impact of leaders delivering change within South African non-profit organization located within deprived communities. The contribution that this study will make is…

Research question(s) and objectives: (revised version)

QuestionWhich leadership style has the most significant impact on the performance of a change initiative delivered within a South African non-profit organization?

Objectives1. Develop an understanding of different leadership styles on the performance of a specific change initiate.

2. Generate a series of propositions that are applicable to practice and sufficiently generalizable to the wider management field.

Literature related to your topic area: (revised version)

1. Define ‘leadership styles’

2. Then explain that there are various typologies which exist that help explain different leadership styles – provide several

examples (one of the examples will be authored by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKe)

3. Examine the linkage between the typology authored by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee, and performance

of change imitative (recognise that this linkage will likely not have been considered within a South African deprived setting)


1. Having selected the typology authored by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKe as my theoretical model, I first

need to find a sample of each leadership type. Therefore, 100 leaders will take an assessment to ascertain their leadership style

(on the following slide).

2. Then, ensuring a range of diversity within each of the six styles, select 5 to form a control group.

3. Next, select a number of variables that can be used to assess the leaders’ control groups against the change; time and budget.

Given that each of these are already set, we can measure the gap between targeted and actual for each control group. This will

allow us to then conclude which leadership style has most significant impact on the performance of a change initiative, given

that the group with the best result will have generated most significant impact over time. Due to the fact that of controlling for

certain variables such as diversity, we are able to reduce other factors that may be impacting upon the performance impact.


Daniel Goleman’s international bestseller Emotional Intelligence (1995) forever changed our concept of ‘being smart’, proving that

emotional intelligence – how we handle ourselves and our relationships – matters more than IQ or technical competence. Drawing

from decades of analysis within world class organisations, this research has recently been extended (Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee,

2002) to unveil scientific evidence that links organisational success or failure to the concept of ‘primal leadership’ to argue that a

leader’s emotions are contagious – and must resonate energy and enthusiasm for an organisation to survive and thrive. This highly

practical theory suggests that ‘resonant’ leaders excel not just through industry savvy but also by leveraging EQ competencies such

as empathy and self awareness. They also interchange among six leadership styles – from visionary to coaching to commanding – as

the situation demands. Identifying the psychological processes through which EQ leadership can be learned, it provides a powerful

framework and cutting edge insights into how leaders might develop their capability to maximise organisational performance.

The following questionnaire is based on the work of George Litwin and Richard Stringer, psychologists from Harvard University. But

it considers the same six distinct styles of leadership as Daniel Goleman.

SCORING Read the following statements and against each statement allocate a score:

▪ This is always true of me 5 points

▪ This is often true of me 3 points

▪ This is true of me 50% of the time 2 points

▪ This is largely untrue of me 1 point

▪ This is totally untrue of me 0 points

I am not convinced the team will work with initiative if I don’t demonstrate what to do and how to do it

I work hard to establish strong emotional bonds between myself and my team

My team trust me implicitly

I spend a lot of my time getting buy-in to ideas from my team members

I expect people to do as they are told, without questioning my motives

I am more interested in setting long term goals than in being involved in detailed day to day work

I delegate challenging assignments, even if they will not be accomplished quickly

I would prefer that team members be happy in their work than spend my time correcting each fault

I exemplify all the standards that I expect from my team

I believe in investing time in people

I translate the organisation’s strategy into terms that the team can understand

People who do not do what their leaders tell them deserve to be reprimanded immediately

I work hard to create a strong sense of belonging for all the team

I think that we can all get a good deal of insight into an issue if we discuss it as a team

Work should be very task-focused

I spend time helping staff to identify their own strengths and areas for development

I believe that decision-making in the organisation should be top down

I try to set a vision and get staff to come along with me in creating that vision

I give plentiful instruction and feedback

I hold a lot of meetings with my team to ensure that they are happy with the way that the team is working

I know what is best for my team and expect them to do what I ask

Collective decision-making is the most effective form of decision-making

I identify poor performers and demand more from them

If people do not perform well enough I believe they should be quickly replaced

If I believed an existing system was hampering good work, I would have no hesitation in getting rid of it

In giving feedback I look at the extent to which a person’s work has furthered the group vision

I encourage people to create long-term development goals

I give my team members regular feedback on their performance

I set out where I want the team to get to, and expect them to use their initiative in getting there

I believe that we can always find ways to do things better and faster

I make agreements with my team about their roles and responsibilities and enact development plans

I give the team freedom to achieve our goals

I believe in letting the team have a say in the way the team is managed

I have great self-control and expect to use my initiative alone in managing others

I think that team members should have a say in setting goals and objectives

I give my team the leeway to take calculated risks and be innovative, once I have set out the direction they should take

Transfer your scores from the previous statements to the appropriate statement numbers in the grid below to determine leadership styles

3. 7. 2. 5. 1. 4.

10. 13. 12. 8. 6. 9.

15. 18. 21. 14. 11. 16.

22. 24. 23. 20. 19. 17.

26. 25. 34. 28. 29. 27.

35. 31. 36. 32. 33. 30.

Commanding Pacesetting Democratic Coaching Affiliative Visionary

Stakeholder management:

1. Who are the stakeholders? And what is their level of power and influence? 2. What is the type of support and from which stakeholders I am seeking to support this project?3. How will I manage partnerships, people, and resources effectively?4. How will I engage various levels of organisational, including board structures throughout this study?

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