The blind leading the blind

2016 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chirag Shah

Purpose – Online collaboration – a required method for many problem-solving situations in today’s work environments – has many aspects that are not clearly understood or explored. One of them is how work styles, specifically leadership styles, within a seemingly homogeneous teams with no prior role assignments affects the process and outcomes of collaboration. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the aspect of online collaboration to learn how different leadership styles that may emerge impact collaborative work. Design/methodology/approach – The work described here employs a user study involving 84 participants in 42 pairs, working in one of the three conditions across two sessions. The three conditions are defined based on the amount and the kind of awareness provided to the team members: no awareness of personal or team progress (C1), awareness of personal progress (C2), and awareness of both personal and team progress (C3). The log and chat data from the sessions where these teams work in collecting relevant information for two different topics are collected and analysed. Findings – Quantitative and qualitative analyses indicate the difference among the three conditions with respect to these two leadership styles. Specifically, it is found that those with the team awareness provided to them (C3) exhibited the least amounts of leadership, keeping the team relatively symmetric. The democratic nature of such teams also fostered more diverse searching behaviour and less need for communication. Originality/value – The work reported here is a first attempt to shed light on two kinds of connections: individual and team awareness to leadership style, and leadership style to diversity of information exploration.

Author(s):  
Haniya Sarfraz

Purpose A common conception is that transformational, transactional, and other types of leaders implement similar time management skills; however, this paper aims to state that this is not true to a very large extent. Design/methodology/approach The characteristics of transactional, transformational, and other leadership styles are defined, while the popular and latest time management principles are incorporated with this description. There are eight time management categories, and this paper connects the respective categories to nine leadership styles based on each style’s nature. Cross-cultural leadership’s approach to time management is used to highlight and provide simplification for this process. Together, this showcases the importance and need to further investigate the relationship between leadership style, time management, and time conception. Findings This time management differentiation between transformational, transactional, and other leaders needs to be acknowledged, as this will deliver insight about how leaders can advance their leadership style. This differentiation brings greater understanding of the link between leadership and time management thus giving leaders deeper awareness on how they form their groundbreaking strategies and, with the cross-cultural leadership’s time management approach, mold their personal traits and experiences in coordination with this link. Originality/value This review states and highlights the difference in time management skills between nine leadership styles. The cross-cultural leadership approach helps identify three time and behavioral conceptions and the countries to which these conceptions are prominent in. The time conceptions assist leaders in understanding why they portray certain time management behaviors based on their cultural background, thus providing simplification in applying the time management skills for their leadership style.


Author(s):  
M. Rahul ◽  
R. Ganesan

Leaders in the global arena are the one who face the challenges never seen before, while coordinating work and managing relationship between team members coming from varied ethnic groups. Globalization has undoubtedly opened up endless growth opportunities for both, businesses and individuals, by collaborating with each other, but with certain inherent challenges. These challenges are the difference in the cultural background of the team members, which gets predominantly reflected in their behavior at workplace too. The cultural differences exist primarily due to differences in shared values, which form the basis for difference in perception and practices of decision making by an individual (Hofstede, 1980). Juana Bordas has rightly described that any business that fails to adapt their leadership style aligning with multi-cultural approach will find it difficult to thrive in a more colorful world. Leadership style has witnessed various facets of changing work environment that has demanded from leaders to modify their approach to adapt along and be effective and survive in the ever-changing environment of business (Bordas,2007).A cross-culture leader plays a significant role in knitting the diverse workforce into an efficient team; which requires a leader to very well understand the various dimensions of culture. This understanding of the leader enables him to learn about blending of leadership styles to address the challenges of such work environment. This paper is an extended work on 'Leadership in Cross-Cultural Environment – A Comparison of Asian and Non-Asian Managers' (Rahul and Ganesan, 2015). The extended research study has identified that enhanced work experience of cross-culture leaders enables them in effective team management, than the rise in designation, as it results in creation of hierarchical distance between the leaders and subordinates.


2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 159-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan M. Berlin

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to study how psychiatric doctors practise leadership in multidisciplinary healthcare teams. The paper seeks to answer the question: How do psychiatric doctors lead multidisciplinary teams during treatment conferences? Design/methodology/approach – Six psychiatric teams were studied at a university hospital. Each team was observed over a period of 18 months, and data were collected during four years (2008-2011). Data were collected through interviews with doctors (n = 19) and observations (n = 30) of doctors’ work in multidisciplinary psychiatric teams. Findings – Doctors in a multidisciplinary team use either self-imposed or involuntary leadership style. Oscillating between these two extremes was a strategy for handling the internal tensions of the team. Research limitations/implications – The study was a case study, performed during treatment conferences at psychiatric wards in a university hospital. This limitation means that there is cause for some caution in generalising the results. Practical implications – The results are useful for understanding leadership in multidisciplinary medical teams. By understanding the reversible logic of leadership, cooperation and knowledge sharing can be gained, which means that a situation of mere peaceful coexistence can be avoided. Understanding the importance of the informal contract makes it possible to switch leadership among team members. A reversible leadership with an informal contract makes the team less vulnerable. The team’s professionals can thus easily handle difficult situations and internal tensions, facilitating leadership and management of multidisciplinary teams. Originality/value – Doctors in multidisciplinary psychiatric teams use reversible leadership logic.


2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis C. Uzonwanne

Purpose The purpose of this study is to fill the gap by investigating the relationship between age and other demographics on decision-making and leadership styles of executives in the non-profit sector. Design/methodology/approach This study is a quantitative research using correlation analysis and analysis of variance. The quantitative approach establishes facts, makes predictions and tests stated hypothesis and used the Pearson correlation coefficient, the ANOVA and the two-way analysis of variance. This study used surveys to collect data. Findings H1 states that there will be no significant difference in the decision-making models used among non-profit organizational leaders (rational, intuitive, dependent, spontaneous and avoidant) based on demographic variables: gender and age. H2 states that there will be no significant difference in the leadership style used among non-profit organizational executives (selling, telling, delegating and participating) and different dimensions of demographic variables: gender and age. Research limitations/implications This study explored the relationship between the demographics, age and gender and the decision-making models (rational, intuitive, dependent, spontaneous and avoidant) and leadership styles (selling, telling, delegating and participating) of executives in non-profit organizations. The age of the executives also showed to be important factors that influenced executive’s leadership styles and decision-making models as well. Practical implications Rational decision-making as reflected to in this study has been used by older, possibly more experienced non-profit executives. This model is favorable towards making decisions on complicated issues. The final choice rational decision-makers select will maximize the outcome; it is assumed that the decision-maker will choose the alternative that rates the highest and get the maximum benefits (Robbins and Decenzo, 2003, pp. 141-142). The researcher suggests that non-profit executives, especially the younger executives, should attend management and leadership conferences that focus on rational decision-making models as concerns business strategies and making the best choices based on possible alternatives. Social implications Rational decision-making as reflected to in this study has been used by older, possibly more experienced non-profit executives. This model is favorable towards making decisions on complicated issues. The final choice rational decision-makers select will maximize the outcome; it is assumed that the decision-maker will choose the alternative that rates the highest and get the maximum benefits (Robbins and Decenzo, 2003, pp. 141-142). The researcher suggests that non-profit executives, especially the younger executives, should attend management and leadership conferences that focus on rational decision-making models as concerns business strategies and making the best choices based on possible alternatives. Originality/value This is an original piece of research that contributes to the literature on leadership style.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonia Ruiz Moreno ◽  
María Isabel Roldán Bravo ◽  
Carlos García-Guiu ◽  
Luis M. Lozano ◽  
Natalio Extremera Pacheco ◽  
...  

PurposeThis paper aims to report the findings of a study examining the relationship between different leadership styles and engagement through the mediating role of proactive personality.Design/methodology/approachServant leadership, paradoxical leadership, authentic leadership, employee engagement and proactive personality were assessed in an empirical study based on a sample of 348 military personnel in Spain. The questionnaire data were analyzed through SEM using EQS and bootstrapping analysis using the PROCESS macro for SPSS.FindingsThe results reveal that servant leadership style in officers partially impacts their cadets' engagement through proactive personality but that authentic and paradoxical leadership styles do not mediate the relationship. The authors also verify a direct relationship between proactive personality and engagement.Practical implicationsThe study implications advance the literature on leadership in emphasizing new leadership styles to increase proactive personality and engagement in the military context. This study verifies the importance of military leaders fostering servant leadership as an antecedent of proactive personality. Finally, the authors show that servant leadership partially impacts engagement through proactive personality.Originality/valueThis study explores the relationship among servant, paradoxical and authentic leadership styles, proactive personality, and engagement – relationships that have not been explored theoretically and tested empirically in the military context.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings The results show that trust and operational cohesion have a mediating role between leadership style and virtual team efficiency. Media richness is shown to moderate the relationship between leadership styles and trust. Transformational style has an important impact on operational cohesion when media richness is high while transactional leadership has a positive significant impact when it is low. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.


2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-93
Author(s):  
Mohammed Ali Al-Awlaqi ◽  
Ammar Mohamed Aamer ◽  
Maged Mohammed Barahma ◽  
Mohamed Battour

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the tendency of leaders to select their followers depending on their human capital factors such as age, education level, previous working experience and training.Design/methodology/approachThe participants were 1,388 employees working in a randomly selected sample of 289 small-sized businesses operating in Yemen. A self-reported questionnaire was used to collect the data. The correspondence analysis method was used to explore the tendency of leaders to select their followers depending on their human capital factors.FindingsWe found significant corresponding relationships between leadership styles and the selection of the followers' human capital factors. The passive avoidant style was found to select middle-age, long-experience and fully-trained followers. Transactional style on the other hand was found to select young, middle-level experience and non-trained followers. The transformational leadership style was found to have no selection preferences towards any of the human capital factors except for working experience.Originality/valueAlthough, some previous studies tried to understand the leaders–followers relationships, no one investigated the tendency of leaders to select their followers according to their preferences. This study contributes significantly to the leaders–followers theory by studying the selection process of the leadership style of their followers' human capital factors. Understanding this phenomenon could help explain why some leadership styles are more effective than others, especially in very limited resources contexts such as micro-sized businesses.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds his/her own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings When it comes to leadership styles, people invariably think of “who” rather than “how.” If, for example, a leader adopts a charismatic style, they then become synonymous with that style, or are compared with someone famous with a similar way of leading, such as Sir Richard Branson. This can be problematic, however, for a number of reasons. Firstly, while Branson has a high media profile and comes across on TV as charismatic, few people know if this is actually his leadership style in the Virgin group of companies he owns. And secondly, what is actually meant by charismatic leadership and what its strengths and weaknesses are get lost in the focus on personality. Practical implications This paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 280-293
Author(s):  
Kiran Sakkar Sudha ◽  
M. Ghazi Shahnawaz

PurposeThe present study explored the direct as well as indirect relationships between narcissism personality trait and performance. Two leadership styles (task oriented and authoritarian styles) were identified as possible mediators.Design/methodology/approachNarcissism was measured by using Narcissistic Personality Inventory (Ames et al., 2006), performance was measured by performance scale (Greene-Shortridge, 2008). Sinha's leadership scale (Sinha, 2008) was used to measure task-oriented and authoritarian leadership styles. 273 senior-level managers of a big public sector Indian organization participated in the study. SPSS 22 and SmartPLS 2.0 were used to analyze the data.FindingsCorrelation result shows that narcissism personality trait was positively related to authoritarian leadership style and negatively to task-oriented leadership style, task performance and teamwork dimensions of performance. Task-oriented leadership style mediated the relationship between narcissism and task performance and teamwork more than the authoritarian leadership style.Originality/valueThe study attempts to empirically test the behavioral manifestation of narcissism personality trait as positive or negative and has considered the whole measure of performance which has not been previously explored. Practical implications were also highlighted beside the theoretical concerns.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 500-523 ◽  
Author(s):  
Usha Lenka ◽  
Minisha Gupta

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework exploring innovation process in research and development units of organizations. Research and development (R&D) teams of pharmaceutical firms operating in India were the unit of analysis. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 352 leaders and equal number of team members working in R&D teams. Responses were collected through questionnaire survey method. Questions to measure variables of members’ proactive personality, emotional intelligence, trust, task reflexivity, team creativity and innovation adoption were answered by team leaders. Similarly, questions on variables, resonant leadership style of team leaders, team information sharing process and climate for innovation were answered by team members. Out of 450 distributed questionnaires, 352 completely filled responses were finally obtained, with a response rate of 78 percent. Data were analyzed through structural equation modeling using AMOS 21.0 software package. Findings Findings of the study reveal that members’ proactive personality, emotional intelligence and trust enhance members’ learning ability called task reflexivity. This learning is further promulgated with the intervention of team information sharing process and support for innovation. Team creativity enhances innovation implementation in organizations. However, resonant leadership style of team leaders does not support task reflexivity. Practical implications Overall, the study highlights that creativity is promulgated when information is disseminated among members in a supportive climate for innovation. Organizations can create and innovate by developing capability of members who are proactive, emotionally intelligent and who trust their colleagues, so that team members can rationally judge organizational priorities, learn from their colleagues, plan and execute novice ideas to serve market needs. Originality/value R&D team enhances creativity and innovation in organizations by leveraging their talent and skills. This work is an attempt to develop an innovation process model in Indian pharmaceutical organizations to promulgate creativity and innovation through R&D teams.


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