Etta C. Gray, James Arthur Williams

Show more
University of Phoenix.
James Madison University.
Show less

Abstract: Retail managers were examined to determine their leadership styles and any potential correlations to conflict management styles. Research findings suggest that successful retail managers exhibit transformational leadership styles, and those that exhibit laissez-faire leadership is strongly correlated with avoidance conflict management style. The Conflict Management Style (CMS) and Multi Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) instruments were used to survey participants in this study. A MLQ scoring manual was used to identify leadership styles, and a CMS scoring manual was used to determine conflict management styles. Pearson correlation (SPSS, version 17.0) was used to correlate between MLQ and CMS findings.

Keywords: Transformational Leadership; Conflict Management; Retail Managers; MLQ; Avoidance Conflict Management

Cite this paper: Gray, E. & Williams, J. (2012). Retail Managers: Laissez-Faire Leadership Is Synonymous With Unsuccessful Conflict Management Styles. Open Journal of Leadership, 1, 13-16. doi: 10.4236/ojl.2012.13003.

References

[1]   Ackoff, R. (1999). Transformational leadership. Strategy & Leadership, 20.

[2]   Assegid, Y. (2009). What sets true leaders apart? Integral Leadership Review, 9(5), 1-11.

[3]   Banerji, P., & Krishnan, V. R. (2000). Ethical preferences of transformational leaders: An empirical investigation. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 21(8), 405.

[4]   Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. J. (2004). Multifactor leadership questionnaire: Manual and sampler set (3rd ed.). CA: Mind Garden, Inc.

[5]   Bennett, T. (2009). A study of the management leadership style preferred by it subordinates. Journal of Organizational Culture, Communication, and Con-flict, 13(2), 1-25.

[6]   Bruk-Lee, V. (2007). Conflict management. Encyclopedia of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1, 94-99.

[7]   Creswell, J. W. (2005). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

[8]   Danley, J. (2006). Ethical behavior for today’s workplace. College and University Educational Journal, 81(2), 53.

[9]   Eagly, A. H., Johannesen-Schmidt, M.C., & Van Engen, M. L. (2003). Transformational, transactional, and laissez faire leadership styles: A meta-analysis comparing men and women. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 569-591.

[10]   Graham, S. (2006). Diversity: Leaders not labels—A new plan for the 21st century. New York: Free Press.

[11]   Goyal, S., Maruping, L., & Robert, L. (2008). Diversity and conflict in teams: A fault line model perspective. Academy of Management Proceedings, 6.

[12]   Hinckley, P. (2009). Making change work. American School Board Journal, 196(3), 27- 28.

[13]   Kanchier, C. (2005). Dealing with difficult people. The Gazette, p. B6.

[14]   Katz, R. (2005). Motivating technical professionals today. Research Technology Management, 48(6), 19–27.

[15]   Korkmaz, M. (2007). The effects of leadership styles on organizational health. Educational Research Quarterly, 30(3), 22-53.

[16]   Latham, J., & Vinyard, J. (2004). Baldrige user’s guide: Organization diagnosis, design, and transformation. New York: Wiley.

[17]   McGrane, F., Wilson, J., & Cammock, T. (2005). Leading employees in one-to-one dispute resolution. Leading & Organization Development Journal 26(3), 263-279.

[18]   Newman, J., & Griggs, D. (2008). Productivity affected by the way teams handle conflict. The Vancouver Sun, F6.

[19]   Reynolds, J., Howard, E., Cuthbertson, C., & Hristov, L. (2007). Perspectives on retail format innovation: Relating theory and practice. International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, 35(8), 647-660.

[20]   Runde, C., & Flanagan, T. (2008). Conflict competent leadership. Leader to Leader, 47? 46-51.

[21]   Sheard, A. G., & Kakabadse, A. P. (2002). Key roles of the leadership landscape. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 17(1), 129.

[22]   Teleometrics, (2007). Leadership management. Retrieved from http://www.teleometrics.com.

[23]   Tubbs, S. L., & Schulz, E. (2006). Exploring a taxonomy of global leadership competencies and meta-competencies. Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, 8(2), 29–34.