(NCU) Build A Qualitative Proposal

Build A Qualitative Proposal 
BTM 7303, Assignment 6 
DuBose, Justin Z. 
Dr. Susan Petroshius 
13 November 2017 

​Relevance of Study 
As the modern workforce continues to diversify with older generations continuing to work and younger generations matriculating into the workforce, organizational leaders face the problem of leading an increasingly diverse workforce (Al-Asfour, 2014).  Additionally, as the modern workplace increases in the development and implementation of technology and broadens its geographic footprint, organizational leaders will continue to be pressed to hone their expertise as technological leaders (Al-Asfour, 2014).  Furthermore, research has additionally concluded that the technological work environment has created additional need for research in this field.  Recent research on e-leadership has been conducted in a variety of fields to include schools (Cheong, 2016; Chua, 2017; Clark, 2017), university faculties (Nadolny, 2013) the government sector (El Khouly, 2014), communication professionals (Jiang, 2016) and Information Technology (IT) professionals (El-Sofany, 2014; Verma, 2016; Zhang, 2015).  Each researcher, while acknowledging the contribution of their study to their field, noted the need for additional research in other areas and locations where e-leadership was utilized. 
This combination of factors presents a unique set of challenges to the twenty-first century organizational leader, identified as an “e-leader” (Avolio, 2014; Brooks, 2010; Savolainen, 2014; Sharma, 2015; Verma, 2016), which require a unique set of skills in order to lead organizations effectively. 
What is E-Leadership? 
  Scholars have defined e-leadership as the style of leadership by those leaders who mainly use “technological mediation in their leadership work” (Savolainen, 2014).  The need for this technological mediation could be the result of either cultural or geographic challenges (Avolio, 2014).  Due to these technological, cultural, and geographic challenges, e-leaders face the unique dilemma of communicating with their workforce from remote locations rather than in-person (Mackenzie, 2010).  Chua (2017) noted that e-leadership was the exercise of social influence by means of information and communication technology for the purpose of producing change in performance and behavior in individuals and organizations.  Garcia (2015) pointed to the creation of new leadership terms such as e-visioning, e-charisma, e-ethics, e-trust, e-culture and e-communication to highlight the rise of e-leadership.  This unique leadership style, he argues, is both a refinement of traditional leadership skills and the development of entirely new leadership skills in the technology-saturated workplace. 
Research Problem, Purpose, & Questions 
The research problem being addressed in this proposal is this: What are the critical imperatives of e-leadership in developing and influencing deep, meaningful relationships between organizational e-leaders and followers?  Several recent studies have recognized this gap in e-leadership literature and have communicated the need for further research in these areas (Avolio, 2014; Mackenzie, 2010; Patchanee, 2011; Lilian, 2014; Chua, 2017). 
The purpose of this qualitative proposal, therefore, is to examine the nature of relationship dynamics in the virtual workplace between e-leader and follower and establish an effective leadership theory and methodologies for the e-leader to develop intimacy and trust in both individual relationship and organizational culture.  This purpose will be accomplished by face-to-face interviews with 100 virtual team members and 10 e-leaders from 3 different organizations.   
The research questions being addressed in this proposal are: How do e-leaders of virtual teams effectively cultivate a culture of intimacy and trust?  What methods of digital communication are most effective in developing relational intimacy between e-leaders and workers?  What are the potential effects of these technologies on the leadership dynamic in virtual teams? 
Qualitative Design 
As the purpose of this qualitative proposal is not simply to describe the subjective experience of either the e-leader or follower in their subjective relational experience, but rather to establish effective methodologies for impactful relational e-leadership, the qualitative design of grounded theory research will be employed (Creswell, 2013).  As grounded theory research emphasizes the “interactions and social processes of people” (Creswell, 2013), it is an appropriate design for a qualitative proposal in which the purpose is to establish theories and methodologies which seek to positively influence virtual interactions and social processes between e-leader and follower. 
Population & Sample 
For this qualitative proposal, face-to-face interviews will be conducted with 100 virtual team members and 10 e-leaders from 3 different organizations.  For the purposes of this proposal, virtual team members are defined as employees of the organizational who are grouped into small teams of 5-10 employees and who are spread out geographically and only connected through technological means.  Lilian (2014) and Serban (2015) have recently researched this issue of e-leadership of virtual teams and concluded that relational and leadership dynamics are greatly impacted by virtual communication as opposed to personal, face-to-face communication.  This highlights the need for further research to be conducted within these organizational populations and samples.   
Data Collection & Protection of Human Subjects 
While various data collection instruments have been employed in e-leadership research, face-to-face interviews were used by several research teams while studying this subject (Cheong, 2010; El-Khouly, 2014; Ferguson, 2016; Kiesenbauer, 2015; Nadolny, 2013).  This data collection methodology is preferable for this study over electronic surveys or electronic or telephonic interviews primarily because it allows the researcher to gather more data for field notes including facial expressions, non-verbal communication, tonality when responding, and additional personal interaction that would unable to be gathered or observed using electronic or other data collection methodologies. 
Data Analysis 
Since the data will be collected in the form of-face-to-face interviews with these workers, the data to be analyzed will their responses to questions asked by the researcher.  Additionally, other field notes gathered by the researcher in the form of non-verbal communication will be gathered and compiled as well. Creswell (2013) suggests a “zigzag” pattern of data analysis whereby data is gathered in smaller, more manageable groupings of 20-25 interviews.  Those responses are then taken from the research field and back to the office to be analyzed.  The researcher would then form categories based upon those responses.  Once the data from those 20-25 interviews have been thoroughly analyzed and categorized, the researcher would then go back to the field for another round of data collection, and then back to the office again for further data analyzation.   
Once all the data has been collected and categorized, the researcher will then begin to “code” the data, combing through the categories to form larger, thematic categories (Creswell, 2013).  These major categories will then undergo further analyzation during which process the elements or factors which caused these major categories to emerge will be extracted (Creswell, 2013).  Finally, strategies and methodologies can be developed to formulate the new theory which will address the research problem and fulfill the purpose of the research.  This form of data analysis will be employed throughout this qualitative proposal. 
Issues of Trustworthiness 
To minimize bias on the part of the researcher, steps will be taken throughout the proposal to ensure trustworthiness in the research being conducted.  Firstly, the 100 workers and e-leaders will be randomly selected from the entire pool of employees within the organization.  A balance of male to female employees will be selected as will a diverse selection of ethnicities and multi-generational employees.  This sampling of employees will address this issue of trustworthiness in the research. 
Additionally, each participant in the research process will be thoroughly briefed about the nature and purpose of the research being conducted.  This briefing process will ensure that each participant is fully aware of not only the purpose of the research being conducted, but their role in it and the confidentiality built into the research process.  The researcher will ensure that all responses to interview remain anonymous and confidential and each research participant will only be identified by an individual number, the number of the virtual team to which they are assigned, and the number of the organization of which they are a member.  For the 10 e-leaders being interviewed in this process, the same steps will be taken throughout the research process for these same purposes. 
Conclusion 
This qualitative research proposal is being conducted to address the problem of discerning what the critical imperatives of e-leadership are in developing and influencing deep, meaningful relationships between organizational e-leaders and followers.  By conducting 110 face-to-face interviews with both e-leaders and followers within three different organizations, data will be collected and analyzed for the purpose of developing a new theory regarding effective e-leadership in developing intimacy and trust in both individual relationship and organizational culture. 
 

References 
Al-Asfour, A. & Lettau, L.  (2014).  “Strategies for Leadership Styles for Multi-Generational Workforce”. Journal of Leadership, Accountability, and Ethics, 11(2), 58-69.  Retrieved November 13, 2017. 
 
Avolio, B., Sosik, J., Kahai, S., Baker, B.  (2013).  "E-leadership: Re-examining transformations in leadership source and transmission".  The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), 105-131.  Retrieved November 13, 2017. 
 
Brooks, R. (2010). 'The Development Of A Code Of Ethics: An online classroom approach to making connections between ethical foundations and the challenges presented by Information Technology'.  American Journal of Business Education, 3(10), 1-13. Retrieved November 13, 2017. 
 
Cheng, X., Fu, S., de Vreede, G. (2017).  “Understanding trust influencing factors in social media communication: A qualitative study”.  International Journal of Information Management, 37(2), 25-35.  Retrieved November 13, 2017. 
 
Cheong, P., Shuter, R., Suwinyattichaiporn, T.  (2016). 'Managing student digital distractions and hyperconnectivity: Communication strategies and challenges for professorial authority'  Communication Education, 65(3), 272-289. Retrieved November 13, 2017. 
 
Chua, Y.P., & Chua, Y.P. (2017). How are e-leadership practices in implementing a  school virtual learning environment enhanced? Computers & Education,  109, 109 –121. Retrieved November 13, 2017. 
 
Clark, K.  (2017). "Managing Multiple Generations in the Workplace".  Radiologic Technology, 88(4), 379-398.  Retrieved November 13, 2017. 
 
Creswell, J.W. (2013). Five qualitative approaches to inquiry. In Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches (pp. 69-110). 
 
El Khouly, S., Ossman, M., Selim, M., & Zaghloul, M. (2014). “Impact of E-Leadership on Leadership Styles within the Egyptian Government Sector.”  Competitive Forum, 12 (1), 131 –140. Retrieved November 13, 2017. 
 
El-Sofany, H., Alwadani, H., & Alwadani, A. (2014). “Managing Virtual Team Work in IT Projects: Survey”.  International Journal of Advanced Corporate Learning, 7(4), 28-33. Retrieved November 13, 2017. 
 
Garcia, Ingrid.  (2015)  “EMERGENT LEADERSHIP: IS E-LEADERSHIP 
IMPORTANCE IN THE QUALITY OF VIRTUAL EDUCATION?”  RIED. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia. 18, 25-44.  Retrieved November 13, 2017. 
 
Kiesenbauer, J. & Zerfass, A. (2015). 'Today's and tomorrow's challenges in public relations: Comparing the views of chief communication officers and next generation leaders'.  Public Relations Review, 41(4), 422-434. Retrieved November 13, 2017. 
 
Lilian, S.C. (2014). 'Virtual teams: opportunities and challenges for e-leaders'.  Contemporary Issues in Business, Management and Education, 110, 1251 - 1261. Retrieved November 13, 2017.   
 
Mackenzie, M.L. (2010). 'Manager communication and workplace trust: Understanding manager and employee perceptions in the e-world'.  International Journal of Information Management, 30, 529-541. Retrieved November 13, 2017.  
 
Nadolny, L., Woolfrey, J., Pierlott, M., & Kahn, S. (2013). “SciEthics Interactive: science and ethics learning in a virtual environment”.  Educational Technology Research & Development, 61(6), 979-999.  Retrieved November 13, 2017. 
 
Patchanee, M. & Servaes, J. (2011). 'The media use of American youngsters in the age of narcissism: Surviving in a 24/7 media shock and awe – distracted by everything'.  Telematics and Informatics, 28, 66-76.  Retrieved November 13, 2017. 
 
Savolainen, T. (2014). Trust-Building in e-Leadership: A Case Study of Leaders' Challenges and Skills in Technology-Mediated Interaction. Journal of Global Business Issues, 8(2), 45-56. Retrieved November 13, 2017. 
 
Serban, A., Yammarino, F., Dionne, S., Kahai, S., Hao, C., McHugh, K., Sotak, K., Mushore, A., Friedrich, T., & Peterson, D.  (2015)  “Leadership emergence in face-to-face and virtual teams: A multi-level model with agent-based simulations, quasi-experimental and experimental tests”.  The Leadership Quarterly 26 (2015) 402–418.  Retrieved November, 13, 2017. 
 
Sharma, S., Lomash, H., & Ba wa, S.  (2015)  'Who regulates ethics in the virtual world?'. Science And Engineering Ethics, 21(1), 19-28.  Retrieved November 13, 2017. 
 
Verma, P., Mohapatra, S., & Lowstedt, J.  (2016). 'Ethics Training in the Indian IT Sector: Formal, Informal, or Both?'  Journal of Business Ethics, 123(1), 73-93. Retrieved November 13, 2017.  
 
Zhang, H., Luo, X., Liao, Q., & Peng, L. (2015). “Does IT team climate matter?  An empirical study of the impact of co-workers and the Confucian work ethic on deviance behavior”.  Information & Management, 52(6), 658-667.  Retrieved November 13, 2017.