On the leadership function of self-sacrifice

This paper describes the leadership function of self-sacrifice in organizational settings using a multiple-level model of leadership. It explores why self-sacrificial behaviors would arise in organizational settings and what would be the effects on followers if a leader exhibits self-sacrificial behaviors. It is proposed that self-sacrificial leadership will facilitate individual and organizational adaptations to changing environments and that followers will attribute charisma and legitimacy to a self-sacrificial leader and intend to reciprocate.     

How leadership matters: The effects of leaders' alignment on strategy implementation

Research has confirmed that leader behavior influences group and organizational behavior, but we know less about how senior leaders ensure that group and organizational members implement their decisions. Most organizations have multiple layers of leaders, implying that any single leader does not lead in isolation. We focused on how the consistency of leadership effectiveness across hierarchical levels influenced the implementation of a strategic initiative in a large health care system. We found that it was only when leaders' effectiveness at different levels was considered in the aggregate that significant performance improvement occurred. We discuss the implications of these findings for leadership research, specifically, that leaders at various levels should be considered collectively to understand how leadership influences employee performance.     

From sovereign to subject: Applying Foucault's conceptualization of power to leading and studying power within leadership

This article uses Michel Foucault's conceptualization of power to rethink how power operates within leadership relations. Foucault (1980:220) defines power as a “a structure of actions, bearing on the actions of those who are free.” This idea is explored, noting how it differs from much leadership theorizing which defines power in terms of a leader's position or personal characteristics. Foucault's assertions that “power is everywhere” (1988, 12), that it is relationally based and is best perceived through its effects are examined. We identify implications for researching power from this perspective, including the appropriateness of methods capable of mapping social, historical, and institutional dynamics. We offer four analytic strategies: beginning from power's outcomes, investigating points of resistance, proactively identifying hidden dynamics and attending to networked alliances. Insights generated from this approach highlight the contingent, ephemeral nature of power and help explain the indeterminacy leaders often experience when wielding it in practice.     

Re-imagining ethical leadership as leadership for the greater good

As Western nations slowly emerge from the recent global recession, there is demand among citizens for authorities to practice, and be seen to practice, ethical leadership. Although these conditions have been favourable for research into ethical leadership, extant research privileges westernized perspectives on ethical leadership and is largely silent on the meaning and practice of ethical leadership in the context of the ‘big’ ethical questions. In consequence, most research into ethical leadership, although well meaning, offers little guidance about how to imagine and implement sustainable, ethical solutions to systemic problems. In this research note, we outline a proposal to reimagine ethical leadership as leadership for the greater good and identify three avenues of research into leadership for the greater good that compliment existing critical perspectives on ethical leadership.     

The science of leadership: A journey from survey research to field experimentation

This is a personal account of the stages through which my thinking and my research career unfolded, beginning with student socialization into questionnaire-based survey research, through originating implicit leadership theory, to initiating “respite research” to study the effects of stress on strain without causal ambiguity, and finally to my adoption of field experimentation as the most internally and externally valid research method. It was a journey of breaking free of popular survey research methods and embracing causally unambiguous experimentation. It struck home for many, inasmuch as almost all the articles that my students and colleagues and I submitted reporting randomized field experiments were accepted for publication in top-tier journals. I describe my transition from survey research to field experimentation as it unfolded, provide successive examples of field experiments, and press home the major lesson: field experiments are doable, replicatable, and causally unambiguous. Moreover, they provide actionable cause-and-effect results that can propel our science forward and put useful tools into the hands of practitioners.     

How (not) to motivate online workers: Two controlled field experiments on leadership in the gig economy

An increasing number of workers participate in online labor markets. In contrast to traditional employment relationships within firms, the interaction between online workers and their employers are short and impersonal, which makes motivating online workers more challenging. We present results from two large-scale controlled field experiments on Amazon Mechanical Turk investigating the effects of monetary rewards and soft leadership techniques on output quantity and quality. In the first study, we investigate the effects of monetary rewards and simple upfront messages (praise or reference points). Monetary rewards increase quantity significantly. Sending simple messages, however, can have a significantly negative effect on quantity. The second study concentrates on the effects of communication based on charismatic leadership techniques. Charismatic communication techniques can also backfire if only a subset of them is used, whereas using a broad set including quantitative goals increases output quantity significantly. Neither intervention had a significant effect on the quality of work.     

The role of personal values in the charismatic leadership of corporate managers: A model and preliminary field study

This study used multi-source field data collected in five organizations to examine linkages among managers' personal value system (i.e., intensity of openness to change, traditional, collectivistic work, self-transcendent, and self-enhancement values), charismatic leadership of managers, and three outcome measures. Two-hundred and eighteen managers provided self-reports of their personal values and ratings of their followers' extra effort and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Nine-hundred and forty-five subordinates rated the focal managers' charismatic leadership. Superiors of the focal managers provided ratings of managerial performance 2 months after collecting the managers' and subordinates' ratings. Results indicated that traditional, collectivistic work, self-transcendent, and self-enhancement values related positively to charismatic leadership, which predicted managerial performance and followers' extra effort and OCB. Managerial performance moderated the relationships between leaders' values, charismatic leadership, and followers' outcomes.     

Culture and leadership: women in nonprofit and for-profit leadership positions within the European Union

Research has shown that women commonly hold positions of leadership within nonprofit organizations, while men typically hold the leadership positions within for-profit organizations. However, little research on women's leadership roles has been conducted within European Union countries. The purpose of this article is to examine women's leadership positions within nonprofit and for-profit organizations within the European Union and, using Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Theory, to further investigate a potential correlation between national culture and female leadership. Fifty-one companies were examined based on type, country characteristics and gender dominance. A significant difference was found between organization type (nonprofit/for-profit) and organizational dominance (masculine/feminine). The findings suggest that the European Union has patterns of gendered leadership positions similar to patterns found previously in the USA. However, countries that were characterized as feminine had more than expected nonprofit organizations, while masculine countries had more for-profit organizations.     

Setting the stage for effective leadership: Antecedents of transformational leadership behavior

Although transformational leadership behavior (TLB) has been linked to a number of positive organizational outcomes, research regarding the antecedents of such behavior is limited. Guided by Ajzen and Fishbein's theory of reasoned action [Psychological Bulletin 84 (1977) 888], we investigated two potentially relevant antecedents to performing TLB: cynicism about organizational change (CAOC) and the leader's social context—specifically peer leadership behavior. We hypothesized that CAOC would negatively predict TLB, while peer leadership behavior would positively predict TLB. Further, we expected that peer leadership behavior would have a positive moderating effect on leader CAOC. Data were gathered from 227 managers from multiple organizations and their 2247 subordinates. Findings supported the proposed hypotheses. Cynicism and peer leadership behavior explained nearly one quarter (24%) of the variance in TLB. Further, it appears that both CAOC and TLB may be malleable in organizational contexts. Implications for leadership research and practice are discussed.     

Contextual leadership,transformational leadership and the performance of international innovation seeking alliances

In this paper, we examined aspects of contextual leadership [Osborn, R. N., Hunt, J. G., & Jauch, L. R. (2002). Toward a contextual theory of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 13, 797–837] and transformational leadership [Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York: Free Press] by alliance heads and by executives in the sponsoring firms for a sample of innovation seeking U.S./Japanese alliances in research-intensive sectors. We identified three aspects of performance (a) alliance innovation, (b) the strategic contributions to the U.S. sponsor and (c) the strategic contributions to the Japanese sponsor. We found that (a) knowledge/ information based (contextual dimensions) leadership by the alliance head was associated with higher innovation and strategic contributions to the sponsors and (b) transformational leadership by sponsoring executives was dysfunctional for alliance innovation but contributed positively to the strategic contribution the alliance provided a sponsor and, (c) the linkage between leadership by the alliance head and performance was much more important for some types of alliance governance (administrative) structures than others. That is, we argue that appropriate leadership is embedded in its context.     

具有双边市场特征的产业中厂商定价策略研究

具有双边市场特征的产业不仅涵盖了传统产业,如房产中介,而且还包括新兴产业,如电子支付产业.以一类具有双边市场特征的企业为研究对象,它提供的产品不能被消费者独立消费,必须寄生于商品交易中.通过两阶段模型对平台企业的间接定价策略展开研究,研究表明:在双边市场同时具有初始规模优势,并且在双边市场同时具有较高品牌价值评价的平台企业将设定更加倾斜的价格结构(交换费),并且通过这种倾斜价格结构的强化机制削弱竞争对手.但是,当双边市场的交叉网络外部性比较弱的时候,弱势平台企业可以不断提高双边市场用户的价值评价来获得更多的市场.     

The challenges of leadership in the third sector

The third sector is experiencing a radical shift due to social, political and economic changes in Europe. Due to these shifts and their implications, the question of leadership has become significant and needs to be explored. This article contributes to the literature on the challenges of leadership in the sector. It does so by drawing on the personal narratives provided by leaders across the sector. The views expressed by the narratives provide a deeper insight into leadership in the third sector, than has previously existed. The narratives are valuable for a number of reasons including: they help to extend the knowledge and perspectives of leadership in a way that acknowledges the uniqueness of the sector; they contribute to a better understanding of the challenges faced by leaders in the sector; and they serve as an illustration of the benefit of approaching leadership through the eyes of those practising leadership. The article concludes by identifying the impact for leadership across the sector and the implications.     

The limits of price leadership: needs-based positioning strategy and the long-term competitiveness of Europe’s low fare airlines

This article argues that a strategy of low operating costs and cheap prices is not sufficient in and of itself to establish long term competitive advantage for a growing company. Companies also need to leverage their distinctive corporate capabilities and unique experiences. In the case of service sector companies such as airlines, capabilities derive from the relationship which exists between the company, its employees, and its customers, as well as the reputation which is gradually established on the basis of reliability and quality of service. Unique experiences arise from the corporate culture and route network which an airline builds over time.     

Zeroing in on leadership effectiveness: The methodological challenges of benchmarking leadership practices

Business success in the 21st century will be based on the widespread mastery of leadership roles, rather than on the directives of a professional or leadership elite. The first step for systematically enacting a leadership development agenda for our nation is to identify the factors, values or qualities most important to leadership effectiveness. Next, we must improve our understanding of how these guiding ideas and insights translate into what successful leaders do. As we perfect this understanding, we will need to operationally define the best practices of successful leaders. These best practices must then become benchmarks for intensive leadership development efforts.This article considers nine methodological challenges of the first agenda item-identification of the factors, values or qualities most important to leadership effectiveness. To illustrate these challenges, the authors use their own business leadership research as a case study. This research surveys 127 chairmen, chief executive officers, and presidents-a cross section of successful U.S.A. business leaders, including men and women from all parts of the nation who have diverse industry, racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds. The authors identify where methodological improvements are needed to cope with the challenges of leadership research. They suggest important directions for methodological development and propose three minimum standards for future leadership research.     

Need for leadership as a moderator of the relationships between leadership and individual outcomes

Earlier research on situational leadership theories has produced little and partly contradictory evidence about the role of situational moderator variables in explaining the relationship between leadership and outcomes. In this article, we propose to concentrate on need for leadership as a singular moderator of the relationships between leadership and employee outcomes. Using a sample of 958 Dutch employees from various organizations, the moderator hypothesis was tested. Need for leadership was paired with three leadership factors and five outcome variables, generating 15 possible moderating effects. Five of these were significant. Although the findings compare favorably with other studies using leadership moderators, the effects are weak, and there is not much evidence that leadership–outcome relations are reversed by need for leadership.