Gradute Studies Final Research Project Question

Im trying to narrow down a research proposal that contrasts the strategic leadership process of top corporations to the strategic leadship process of street leaders. I would like to show that the ethics in corporations and ethics in street business arent different to the bottom line success of the organization. I would like to create and then test a business plan, and I would like to defend the street leader as an anti-hero in a post modern society. Is this possible, is it legal and is this Qualitative, Quantitative, or both?

Hmmmm . . . what do you mean by "street leader," exactly? Perhaps it should be obvious, but the term doesn't ring any bells offhand, and Googling the term doesn't clarify much.

Good question, lets us criminal leader or gang leader for a better use of the word. The issue is not all good leaders punch a clock, and not all "Street" or "Dis-Organized" leaders are victims of social-economic negativity.

Ah. Well, in that case, you will have to establish what sort of criminal leader you are talking about. Ultimately most gangs are outgrowths of organized crime, and the true leaders of organized crime dress in suits and often own and run some generally legitimate companies in addition to their criminal enterprises. On the other hand, the people who run the gangs at street level, the thug equivalent of middle management, would have a noticeably different leadership style. Still, you could probably find parallels in the way each group motivates its "employees," and arranges rewards and punishments meant to advance the financial well-being of the "company," so you have a good topic.

Your approach might be to complicated, with the business plan and all.

I LOVE the idea, though! The idea, itself, is complex. I think there is little difference between the survival of the fittest in legal vs. illegal business.

When I say that it is too complex, what I mean is that you might not need the business plan. How about showing similarities by interviewing people who are experienced with leaders in both settings, and then do a narrative analysis (qualitative) to show similarities and differences. This will be theory-generating, qualitative research.

Want to see a relevant and fascinating study? This is qualitative, and it is ethnographic: amazon.com/Search-Respect-Structural-Analysis-Sciences/dp/05 21017114

You do not want quantitative unless you want to compare numerical outcomes of business exploits.

Check out that link above, and see if you get some inspiration.

You hit the heart of my research proposal.

I would like to verify that the leadership approach to achieving the highest ROI are similar. (Corporate Gang and Organized)

By find parallels in the means needed to advance the financial well-being of the "company."

Such as


My primary form of information gathering is interviewing leaders from both settings. The business planning will not be needed for verification?

I think you should use "qualitative survey interviews" which are basically just papers with open ended questions to be answered by participants. You can distribute them to...

No, forget I said that. This seems like it would be great with, say, two case studies (i.e. one about a legit business and another about an underground/criminal one)... and that would be the quantitative part... but you could have a qualitative part, too, where you use Likert scales to ask people to rate their experiences with their leaders. That way, you can compare ratings of the 2 types of leaders based on a common set of criteria. That would make you one of the people who uses "mixed method" (i.e. both quant and qual) but the quant. part is easy, because you will just report, for example:

Only 24 out of 80 people surveyed about their experiences under the leadership of Herb Kelleher reported that they felt "very" intimidated when in his presence.

Look on Google Scholar for studies using Likert scales and see if it is something you would like to use...

Looks to good form of measuring. excellent answers...

You might run into a bit of trouble finding a subject for the criminal side of your study. I mean, asking people who engage in illegal business activities to detail their business practices isn't likely to go down well. In fact, it seems like the premise underlying a CSI or Law and Order episode. "So, the guy we found floating in the harbor was a student asking questions about the way the local mafia boss ran his illegal businesses . . ."

Ha ha, good call! Ha ha, I was thinking that it would be pretty exciting, though, if it works out. Maybe Gerald is in deep with the mob. :)

LOL... one nevers knows.... Actually to keep me from going to jail or ending up in the lake, I would focus interviews with those leaders already in jail.

Good idea!! If you end up in a lake, though, be sure to interview the former mob members you run into down there...

I have collected enough research material to begin my proposal. My question in how do I transform this research into a grant proposal dealing with urban leadership studies?

You have to identify a problem. "Blood, sweat, or money," is what one adviser said. You have to show, through your research, how a problem can be solved through the use of resources in this direction that you describe. What have you come up with? You'll also need to choose a research design; do you have one in mind?

The problem is that urban youth do not have the resources needed to develop leadership in a corporate setting. The idea would be to have projects that involved long term strategic planning by the youth. Explain what you are meaning by design of research?

The research design is the big obstacle for people trying to complete their dissertations. People are enthusiastic about the subject, because it is something that they chose out of interest, but the methodology (design) is a whole subject that needs to be learned.

In an above post, I wrote about the "mixed method", which includes quantitative analysis (of numbers) and also qualitative analysis (of what people say). Now that you are talking about long term strategic planning by youth, though, I think it might be better to use a case study design. Are you planning on working with a particular group? If so, the group is the case that you study. If you are going to compare outcomes for a group of youths to outcomes fro a group of business professionals, you will be comparing two cases. I think you should look at some text books about research methods (You probably have some already if you are involved with this project).

Check out Case Study Research: Design and Methods by Yin (2002)