Foundation of the Study
Cockerell (2018) stated that most organizations chief executive officers, board members,
and executives focus solely on creating business strategies around growth or innovation while
failing to realize that they need a leadership strategy. Džupina and Džupinová (2019) stated that
the vision, mission, and values of an organization are crucial to business strategy as this is what
transforms the responsibility into strategy. Kachaner et al. (2016) showed that in creating business
strategies, it is leaders and executives who create and use such approaches as questioning and
workshops to aid them in the development of short, medium, and long-term strategies for their
organization which focus on analysis of the market, competitors, or new business models and
entrants to the markets. This supports the observation that leaders and executives are creating
strategy for their organizations but are focused on areas other than leadership within their
organization. Instead, leadership strategy and theories are practiced at the individual level rather
than an organizational level. Allio (2018b) cited individual leaders have driven the global market
for leadership education and improvement to over 20 billion dollars in 2017 through various
courses, seminars, and degree programs to improve performance for themselves and their
organizations. Yet, Allio (2018a) stated despite our best efforts there is a lack of knowledge on how
to produce good leaders and a lack of clarity on exactly how leadership works.
Bonsu and Twum-Danso (2018) showed that many businesses fail due to their leadership's
failure to understand the relationship between the nature of their business, its leadership styles, and
their employees. Henry (2018) showed that management and leadership need to understand the
depth, breadth, and inter-connectedness of problems and address them with a more global
approach. Moving towards this approach, Latta (2019) referenced distributed leadership and its
three conceptual forms of distribution in leadership which is collaborative, collective, and
coordinated. However, Jones et al. (2012) stated that even distributed leadership lacks a leadership
framework. In threading the learnings of strategy, distributed leadership, and individual leadership
theories, this research attempts to provide a cross-cultural, cross-functional, collaborative,
coordinated environment created from the direction of a more universal language or set of guiding
principles in how to achieve the vision, mission, and values of the company through an
organizational leadership framework.
Background of the Problem
Norenberg (2020) stated that leadership failures are reducing engagement levels creating
reduced organizational performance and a failure to meet targets. Amar and Hlupic (2016) showed
the theories that have guided management over the last century are not effective for leading with
no single approach for leaders to follow that offer success. Furthermore, Allio (2021) reflected that
like management theories, the management processes we have so embraced over the last 50 years
have lost their utility. Allio (2021) continued that the planning bureaucrats no longer can keep up
with the pace of change. Ready (2018) stated that changes in the world means a shift from
traditional leadership. Later, Ready (2019) reflected that organizations need to rethink what it
means to lead as it is no longer about one person or those who reside at the top but that everyone
must adapt a leadership mindset. Kellerman (2016) stated that leadership as an industry needs
reconceiving through shedding its obsession with individual leaders and shift to a focus of learning
that creates a systemic approach to leadership.
The research area of distributed leadership has yielded some perspective into the shifting
focus of individual leadership approaches to a more expansive comprehensive approach, and the
need for an organizational leadership framework. Latta (2019) described distributed leadership as
the movement away from the influence of single individuals towards a network of interacting
individuals with a variety of expertise and unlimited boundaries distributed across many leaders.
Klein et al. (2018) stated that teachers and leadership in an educational setting has a potential for
success when it is integrated with the larger vision of the organization and seen as a process or
event rather than a role. Klein et al. (2018) continued that in expanding the leadership model and
creating more leaders, a lack of transparency and increase in tension arises which need addressed
through a framework that considers leadership activities and processes.
A solution that may address the changes and shifting needs of the leadership field is an
organizational leadership framework. Within the study of expanding teacher leadership, Klein et
al. (2018) stated that using a distributed leadership framework in their educational setting study
revealed it is essential to move away from the focus of the individual leader and towards leadership
as a series of interacting relationships with linked context. However, Modeste and Kelley (2020)
reflected that there is limited implementation information of leadership practices in distributed
leadership. In their study on distributed leadership, Liu et al. (2018) showed that further studies of
how to enact and foster the shared leadership responsibilities of distributed leadership will continue
to improve the quality of teaching and learning outcomes in the educational industry. While the
educational field is progressing in research that expands leadership beyond the traditional setting,
a current literature review of leadership in business research revealed the opposite. There remained
a primary focus on individual roles of leadership theories such as transformational and servant
leadership while overall leadership strategy research reflected a focus on areas of the business such
as sustainability, innovation, and development rather than leadership as a functional unit or
process.
A leadership strategy, however, is not the complete objective of this research but a
leadership framework. Yuan et al. (2018) reflected that strategy in business is a firms focus, and
actions taken to understand and adapt in an industry or segment to realize a high level of
performance in that area. Literature on leadership reflected that neither research nor the business
world approaches leadership as an industry or segment in which to strategize. This may be due to
the lack of a foundation for the collective unit of leadership to reside as suggested in this research
through the organizational leadership framework. However, scholarly research does neither
address the description of a framework well, nor define an organizational leadership framework.
Rather, research focuses on categories of frameworks such as ethics and business development or
conceptual and theoretical approaches in research. Moulin-Frier and Oudeyer (2020) stated that
the use of a framework offers a shared language in which stakeholders may use to plan, execute,
and evaluate efforts. In comparing strategies and frameworks, they are fundamentally different yet
complement one another. The objective of this qualitative case study is to thread the learnings of
business strategy, leadership theories, and distributed leadership research. The threading of these
learnings with the study results attempted to both define and reflect the need for an organizational
leadership framework. The organizational leadership framework attempts to offer itself as a
resource that focuses on global leadership language that acts as a guiding principle, or a type of
constitution for leading within the organization thus improving the effectiveness of leadership,
their organizations, and bridging the knowledge gap in research.
Problem Statement
The general problem to be addressed is the failure of organizations to create a leadership
strategy through an organizational leadership framework, a synthesis of an organization’s
strategies, functions, culture, and individual behaviors into universal guiding principles which all
facets of business reference to create more intelligent and coordinated magnetic like movements.
Examining prior research of distributed leadership lended insight into how not having an
organizational leadership framework affects leadership, culture, and results. According to Jakobsen
et al. (2021), individual leaders are finding themselves with the need for conjoint action where
behavior is coordinated between individuals, groups, units, and levels due to organizational
objectives that cannot be achieved by a single person. Lahtero et al. (2019) stated that traditional
leadership approaches are leaving individuals feeling demotivated with a decreased sense of well-
being and lacking meaningfulness. Leadership is currently approached from a singular perspective
with a lack of attention of leadership as a collective group. Bagwell (2019) showed that a focus on
formal leadership roles for single individuals can be a daunting task and that there is a need to
rethink human capital through a more in-depth examination or analysis of how leaders enact their
leadership practice. Anderson and Sun (2017) stated that with the extensive overlaps in leadership
styles, there needs to be a shift away from the individual leader and a new focus towards a
coordinated full-range integration leadership strategy. Supporting this view, Holloway et al. (2018)
showed that individual leaders require support, shared values, and vision that comes through a
practical leadership framework.
Arnold et al. (2019) stated that in a retail envirionment store managers are key to
implementing corporate strategy and often find themselves facilitators in bridging various
unconnected parties within an organizaion. Arnold et al. (2019) continued that with this being the
case there is a need for understanding from top management the boundary-spanning aspect of the
store manager role. The retail industry offers a significant portion of leadership field. According to
Duffin (2020), the retail industry is the second largest employer in the United States behind
education and health services. In this research, the specific leadership problem addressed was the
lack of understanding regarding the scope of organizations and their current individualized
approach to leadership without a leadership strategy through an organizational leadership
framework that shifts the understanding of leadership to a collective unit and focused on a retail
leadership environment in the United States.
Purpose Statement
The purpose of this qualitative case study was to expand upon the leadership body of
knowledge by exploring the lack of an organizational leadership framework in a business
environment and its effect on leadership and business results. Current leadership knowledge,
learning, and focus are on the individual leader. Lahtero et al. (2019) stated in their study of
distributed leadership in the educational industry that traditional leadership approaches are often
leaving individuals feeling demotivated with a decreased sense of well-being and lacking
meaningfulness. Kellerman (2016) stated that business leadership as an industry needs to shift its
learning through the shedding of its obsession with individual leaders and shifting to a focus of
creating a systemic approach. This research focused on leadership within the retail industry. Retail
is the second-largest employer industry in the United States (Duffin, 2020), and it is also the eighth
largest industry representing 5.8% of the Gross Domestic Product (Shriever, 2020). The retail
industry's impact on the field of leadership is significant, while the researcher also has a working
knowledge and experience in the field. This study sought to explore this significant problem by
highlighting the individualized leadership approach within retail store leadership in the United
States and reveal the need for a systemic approach to leading within an organization to improve
leadership and organizational effectiveness.
Research Paradigms
Monroe et al. (2019) suggested that research students should be familiar with the various
research paradigms to be aware of the different perspectives that may form their approach,
allowing them to better select, develop, and defend their work. The first approach acknowledged
in this research is the positivist paradigm. Turyahikayo (2021) stated that a positivist approach
insists that knowledge must be certain and that people's thoughts about reality may not be accurate
without a scientific basis. The researcher's thought is that this is not a favored approach as they
hold that science is faith, not fact. This approach reflects hypocrisy as science proves facts until
more science proves the contrary. The second approach acknowledged in this research is the post-
positivist paradigm and more closely aligns with the researcher's thought process. Like the
positivist paradigm, Young and Ryan (2020) showed that the post-positivist paradigm maintains
that knowledge must be certain with a dependence on observation and measurement but concedes
that instead, knowledge is constantly being built upon to improve our understanding. A collective
group utilizing a standardized process to repeat the same results comes across to the researcher as
a good form of knowledge.
The third approach acknowledged in this research is the pragmatism paradigm. Kaushik
and Walsh (2019) reflected that a pragmatism paradigm is a plurality approach based on what
works best for the problem investigated. Kaushik and Walsh (2019) continued that in research,
multiple versions of reality may exist with choice based on anticipated or desired outcomes in this
approach. The researcher understands this style but approaches it with caution. Perspectives play
such a vital role in this process. For example, a box may take the form of a table, chair, or stool. It
would seem not easy to establish knowledge if one source is discussing apples while the other is
discussing oranges. While they both are fruit, each has its unique qualities. The fourth and final
approach acknowledged in this research is the constructivist paradigm. This research reflects a
combination of this approach and a desire for a post-positive understanding. Perez (2019) showed
that constructivism is knowledge constructed through the interactions of individuals and the world
and that it is in the lived experience that stems understanding. This research aims to improve the
experience of and the field of leadership itself through studying participants within a leadership
framework.
Nature of the Study
The method of this research study is qualitative. The qualitative research method best fits
this study according to Creswell and Poth (2018), who described qualitative research as a problem
that needs exploring within a group or population in which identifiable variables cannot easily
measure and has a strong desire to understand the context of the participants. This study’s focus is
on organizations’ need for a leadership strategy through an organizational leadership framework
and its impact on their leadership. With current literature providing no background or work in
organizational leadership frameworks and the study's focus on how this affects leadership
performance and business results, the context of the study makes the variables challenging to
identify, resulting in constructs, or what Creswell (2014) described as more of an abstract idea than
defined term.
The other primary options besides the qualitative research method are quantitative and
mixed-method research studies. Creswell (2014) described quantitative research as testing a theory
with a narrow hypothesis and either support or refute said hypothesis through data collection. This
study has no easily identifiable variables or hypotheses to identify. Bloomfield and Fisher (2019)
stated that quantitative research needs both dependent and independent variables to test the null or
relationship between the variables. With this study not having these variables, quantitative methods
are eliminated. Creswell (2014) described mixed methods research as a collection of both open-
ended qualitative data and closed-ended quantitative data in a study. Turner et al. (2017) described
mixed method research as a form of triangulation or using multiple approaches to generate a better
understanding of theory. With the elimination of quantitative research due to the lack of easily
identifiable data, this also eliminated a mixedmethod study.
There were five primary design options available for this study: Phenomenology, narrative,
grounded theory, ethnography, and case study. The selected design for this qualitative research was
a case study. Breslin and Buchanan (2008) described the case study as a useful tool for researchers
to explore the space between theory and practice. Creswell (2014) stated that case studies can be
found in many fields and are used to evaluate programs, events, activities, or processes of one or
more participants. Creswell and Poth (2018) showed that while ethnography may be at times a
case, the work of a case study involves developing an in-depth understanding of a specific issue or
problem rather than the culture sharing of a group. Creswell and Poth (2018) showed that case
studies have parameters such as space and time, contain a focus, generates themes from data
analysis, and end with assertions. Yin (2014) described a case study as one of the most challenging
avenues in social science with the researcher’s goal to fairly collect, present, and analyze data. Yin
(2014) further described three types of case studies: exploratory (i.e., A study with no
propositions), descriptive (i.e., A study that deals with the what), and explanatory (i.e., A study that
deals with the why). This study reflected an exploratory case study as it delved into the knowledge
gap in the research of the unknown or unfamiliar grounds of organizational leadership frameworks.
Ethnography is a viable design option as research and experience on this topic continues to
develop. Creswell (2014) described ethnography as studying areas such as behaviors of a group in
a natural setting over a period. Creswell and Poth (2018) described ethnography as developing an
elaborate description of an entire culture-sharing group with a focus on discernable working
patterns. Stake (2010) provided examples of ethnographic studies as qualitative researchers who
feel those who are policy setters and practitioners should be particularly interested in their work as
it provides a greater sense of experience from complex situations. Creswell and Poth (2018)
showed that this focus is on discernable working patterns that rely on participant views.
Ethnography is not applicable as it focuses on the full culture sharing experience of a group while
this study focuses on the lack of an organizational leadership framework rather than an entire
culture.
The grounded theory option is not an option for this study. Stake (2010) showed that
grounded theory is the move away from the individual to collective knowledge. Grounded Theory
is described by Creswell (2014), as using abstract theory grounded in participant's view with
multiple stages of data collection. Creswell and Poth (2018) stated more specifically that the
participant's views come from their experience of the process. Chun Tie et al. (2019) showed
grounded theory as derived from data where theory generates from said data analysis. While the
study looked to gain collective knowledge from its participants, the participants themselves have
not been identified as formal experts of an organizational leadership frameworks with no easily
identifiable variables but rather constructs. Grounded Theory is more suitable for future research
in this subject area as more organizations take up the practice of an organizational leadership
framework.
The final two primary options of narrative and phenomenological designs were also not
considered for this study. Creswell (2014) showed that narrative research studies the lives of
individuals and often combined the stories of and views of the lives of both the participant and the
researcher. Creswell and Poth (2018) showed narrative studies as those who collect stories from
the experiences of individuals within specific places or situations that shape into a chronology.
Creswell and Poth (2018) described phenomenological studies as the lived experience of a group
of people experiencing the phenomenon. Creswell (2014) showed that in phenomenology, studies
contain no theoretical orientation and attempt to build from the experience of participants. This
study focused on the need of an organizational leadership frameworks, where its participants,
leaders, and leadership were in a position where they have not been identified as experts in these
frameworks, thus eliminating these options.
Research Questions
This qualitative case study explored the possibilities involved in the implementation of a
leadership strategy through an organizational leadership framework within a business
environment. The central research question’s goals were to begin shifting the focus away from
individual leadership research and towards a more systemic leadership approach. The central
research questions are as follows:
RQ1: How do leaders approach accomplishing their overall organization’s objectives such
as those represented in the vision, mission, and values?
RQ2: How does the presence of an organizational leadership framework affect leaderships
approach towards accomplishing their overall organization’s objectives such as those
represented in the vision, mission, and values?
Conceptual/Theoretical Framework
Mayer (2015) showed that the conceptual framework is a crucial part of research design in
qualitative research as it contains the concepts, assumptions, and theories that support the theory
of the research conducted. According to Green (2014), the conceptual framework draws on
concepts from a variety of theories to both guide research and ensure that said research is given
order and completed in a way that is clear and understandable to its readers. Jabareen (2009) stated
that the use of conceptual frameworks in qualitative research serves as a necessary tool for linking
different bodies of knowledge that span a variety of disciplines. That is precisely the approach that
this research attempted to do in building a foundation that shows the need for a leadership
framework.
Figure 1
Visual of the Conceptual Framework
In the current landscape of business, Allio (2018c) referenced data which revealed
individuals are investing heavily in the self-development of their leadership capabilities. The
research of Kachaner et al. (2016) showed that it is leadership and executives which are using a
variety of approaches to understand and develop strategy of their organizations. Džupina and
Džupinová (2019) showed that strategy transpires from the vision, mission, and values of an
organization. This information revealed that leaders are developing themselves to either execute
or create strategy that stems from top statements or principals of an organization regarding its
objectives. Free (2014) showed that a mission statement answers why the organization exists or
what they do and the vision statement informs and motivates towards the organization's
aspirational future. Lahey and Nelson (2020) stated that value statements are a company's core
philosophy around what the company stands for ethically. These company statements or pincipals
provide a great deal of information yet lack detail on how a company desires those within the
organization lead or work to achieve the statements objectives. The organizational leadership
framework objective is to fill that gap.
The organizational leadership framework originated from the vision, mission, and values
of an organization and form within a unified executive leadership team that creates those strategies.
The vision, mission, and values of an organization inspired the organizational leadership
framework. Acting as a compass, its content funnel or create cooridanted movement from strategy
to leader in a unidifed fashon across an organization. The research of Fairholm (2009) showed that
strategy and strategic thinking is a competency of leadership that could drive actions which link to
the achievment of organizational goals. Though without proper alignment and integration, strategy
remains difficult. Rentes et al. (2019) showed that some businesses often use business process
management to align the various functions and relationships to the strategies, goals, and policies
of an organization for a specific process. A well-formed organizational leadership framework
offers guiding principals at a company level rather than ceasing at a specific functions or process.
The organizational leadership framework is grounded in the collaborative, collective, and
coordinated spirit of a distributed leadership environment. Latta (2019) described distributed
leadership as an expansion from single or few individuals to many with diverse expertise and
endless boundaries. The study by Torrance and Humes (2015) showed that while this approach
may be more productive, the expansion of leadership to many creates confusion or a lack of clarity
that needs addressing through something that articulates their role and its competing
accountabilities and boundaries. This reflects that individual leadership along with its styles and
theories play a vital role under distributed leadership. Kilicoglu (2018) stated that the core
functions of leadership must be present to distribute. Individual leadership learning is the housed
within distributed leadership. Klein et al. (2018) learned in their study on distributed leadership
that the use of a framework is needed to see leadership as a series of interacting relationships.
The organizational leadership framework serves as that framework.
Definition of Terms
Distributed leadership: Distributed leadership in an educational setting is described by
Bagwell (2019) as moving beyond the traditional view of the principle as the sole practitioner of
leadership and towards a leadership model that integrates the coordinated actions and interactions
across many leaders in the school's environment. Lahtero et al. (2019) described distributed
leadership as having core features and characteristics that emphasize the group or network as the
quality of leadership, makes leadership available to various groups, and assumes the traits of
knowledge and know-how as qualities of many and not few.
Framework: Khajeheian (2019) defined a framework as something we use to understand
boundaries, constructing factors, and basics of how something works when we have no previously
proven model or theory in which to stand. Bowie (2019) briefly compared or described a
framework, as a constitution, or guide. In the setting of the work by Bowie (2019), the framework,
or constitution, acted as a sovereign authority and covenant with God in which provides
organization and principles of how its civil government should act.
Organizational Leadership Framework: There is no current research that directly
addresses the use or definition of an organizational leadership framework that sets forth principles
that create a single unifying leadership approach for leaders to guide them in driving strategy,
culture, and business results. The organizational leadership framework is defined here as a
synthesis of an organization’s strategies, functions, culture, and individual behavioral efforts into
universal guiding principles in which all facets of the business reference and follow to create more
intelligent and coordinated magnetic like movements across the organization. Linenberger and
Schmidt (2016) described the need for a framework of collective leadership beliefs that are based
on an organizational culture and provides clarity along with well-defined leadership behaviors.
Henry (2018) discussed the need for a more inter-connected global approach to business. These
statements are supported in the research of Torrance and Humes (2015) who showed the needs of
clarification for competing accountabilities across boundaries in expanded leadership
environments. This clarification opportunity has the capability of being addressed through the
working definition of an organizational leadership framework as it provides the compass needed
in a business to fulfill these opportunity gaps while being proactive rather than reactive defining
and setting the leadership approach and culture.
Strategy: Adobor (2019) showed strategy to be the creation of plans of actions in a business
environment that is currently moving away from its formulation solely by top management teams
and towards a more inclusive environment for internal and external stakeholders in creating
innovative ideas.
Assumptions
Creswell and Poth (2018) stated that our philosophical assumptions, or the abstract ideas
and beliefs that inform our research when developing a qualitative study, takes place in five
different phases of research: The researcher as a multicultural subject, philosophical assumptions
and interpretive frameworks, research strategies and approaches, methods of collection and
analysis, and the art, practice, and politics of interpretation and evaluation. When it comes to the
researcher as a subject Creswell and Poth (2018) revealed four philosophical assumptions that play
a role in research: Ontological, epistemological, axiological, and methodological. The first phase
assumptions for this case study are that the academic environment of the researcher is an effective
aid in highlighting and acting as a corrective partner in limiting the conscious and unconscious
biases, subjectivity, personal values, and personal experiences that may have affected this
qualitative research.
In the second phase of Creswell and Poth’s (2018) philosophical assumptions, the
researcher uses research to support and show that leadership needs a shift from its focus on the
individual leader to that of leadership as a collective unit. Here the researcher’s philosophical view
is that the organizational leadership framework is the best path forward in providing a tool for this
change to take place and uses the research as an attempt to provide a way to build future focus
around the subject. Within the third phase of Creswell and Poth’s (2018) research strategies and
approach, the researcher continues this assumption and use of research along with guidance from
the researcher’s academic institution in the selection of a case study design. Yin (2014) showed
that the use of construct validity, internal validity, external validity, and reliability can all be used
within the case study to establish quality of the research.
Yin (2014) stated that a distinct variety of perspectives are captured from the participants
and address the fourth phase of Creswell and Poth’s (2018) methods of collection and analysis. As
there is no current research that directly addresses the use of an organizational leadership
framework, the researcher assumed that most organizations do not currently use a leadership
framework. With this assumption, the researcher assumed that participants in the study would have
a limited knowledge or experience working with or under a leadership framework. Participants
selected are also assumed to have a working knowledge of the leadership, culture, business
functions and overall objectives of their organization such as vision, mission, or values due to
purposeful selection of tenured leadership with knowledge of the overall organizational objectives.
Furthermore, within this phase as pointed out by Yin (2014), there is an assumption
