Developing Leadership Potential for Success in a VUCA (Volatile, Unpredictable, Complex, and Ambiguous) World

2019 ◽  
pp. 20-45
Author(s):  
Suri Weisfeld-Spolter ◽  
Eleanor T. Lawrence ◽  
Maggie W. Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Business Schools ◽  
Leadership Skills ◽  
Business Leaders ◽  
Leadership Potential ◽  
Mba Students ◽  
Executive Search ◽  
Nova Southeastern University ◽  
College Of Business ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Teaching Leadership

A key challenge facing business schools today is the opportunity to teach and foster leadership skills and behavior. This is a particularly pertinent issue given the strong emphasis that many business schools place on creating leaders, as demonstrated by its prominence in mission statements. Though teaching leadership can be approached in a variety of ways, this chapter presents an innovative approach for developing business leaders that is aligned with the mission of the Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship (HCBE) at Nova Southeastern University. Through a partnership with Korn Ferry, the world's largest provider of executive search and a distinguished authority on leadership and talent, an assessment of leadership potential followed by personalized coaching is provided for MBA students. Assessment results are integrated for developmental applications throughout the curriculum, which serves to enhance student career potential and employment opportunities. Quantitative and qualitative results provide support for this approach to developing leaders.

Why All Business Schools Should Teach Foresight: Perspectives from More Than a Decade at the University of Notre Dame

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Miller ◽  
John Michel ◽  
Tim Balko ◽  
Chad Harms
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Business Schools ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Business Leaders ◽  
Business And Society ◽  
Future Success ◽  
University Of Notre Dame ◽  
Mind Set ◽  
College Of Business ◽  
The University

This article advocates that business schools include a formalized foresight educational experience more widely in their curriculums. As a group charged with educating business leaders of tomorrow, the cultivation of the skill-set and mind-set necessary for anticipating change and positioning organizations for future success and survival should no longer be left to chance. For the past decade, the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame has required all undergraduate students to take a course titled Foresight in Business and Society. During this time, the Mendoza foresight faculty team has gained perspective on the design and value of a futures research learning experience for our students. Five underlying design principles are presented that have shaped the delivery and execution of the course these revolve around: developing great leaders, confronting ambiguous questions, experiential understanding, rigorous exploration, and anticipation as a force for good. As with any design-based perspective, the article concludes with challenges and pitfalls in recognition that the process is not always linear or smooth. But to other educators on this journey, the challenges are manageable and the promise and prospects for students makes it worthwhile.

Ethical Preferences among Business Leaders: Implications for Business Schools

2000 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger N. Conaway ◽  
Thomas L. Fernandez
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Business Schools ◽  
Environmental Risks ◽  
Business Leaders ◽  
Ethical Values ◽  
Business Faculty ◽  
Insider Information ◽  
Ethics Program ◽  
Arthur Andersen

Since 1976, the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) has encouraged business schools to include ethics in their curricula. Because lan guage is the means for conveying values, including ethical values, business com munication faculty play an important role in deciding what should be taught, and how. But until very recently, most researchers failed to look specifically at actual practices and perceptions in the workplace. To address that need, we conducted a survey of 250 business leaders concerning their ethical preferences and compared our results with an earlier study of business faculty and students. The survey, adapted from one used in the Arthur Andersen Business Ethics Program, consists of 20 narratives which presented respondents with the need to judge the impor tance of certain issues and their approval or disapproval of the action or decision described. We found no significant differences in responses to the 14 items which addressed ethical issues in such areas as creating health and environmental risks, taking credit when credit is not due, focusing on disability issues, deceiving cus tomers with products and services, and using insider information to gain personal advantage. We did find significant differences in responses to six narratives focused on ignoring wrongdoing in the workplace, doing special favors for others to gain personal advantage, and covering up flaws in merchandise or operations. Our results, and the survey instrument itself, provide useful tools for the business com munication classroom.

scholarly journals Perceived Impact of a Longitudinal Leadership Program for All Pharmacy Students

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane R. Mort ◽  
Joe D. Strain ◽  
David L. Helgeland ◽  
Teresa M. Seefeldt
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Leadership Skills ◽  
Pharmacy Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
Leadership Perceptions ◽  
Leadership Program ◽  
Leadership Potential ◽  
Professional Business ◽  
Perceived Impact

Objective: To describe a longitudinal leadership program involving all students and report the perceived impact. Design: The program included a first year Leadership Interview, a third year Report of Leadership, and a fourth year Professional Business Meeting Attendance. Activities involved guided reflection. Assessment: Students (n=138) indicated the activities helped them recognize the importance of leadership and their leadership potential (e.g., 72.5% and 62.3% of students due to meeting attendance, respectively). Students participated in leadership activities that they would not have pursued otherwise, either in response to the activity (27.7% due to interview) or as a requirement of the activity (51.1% for leadership report). Students reported developing specific leadership skills through the activities. Most students planned to be involved in a district/regional (72.5%), state (84.1%), and national (51.4%) meeting in the five years following graduation. Conclusion: Students reported a positive impact on leadership perceptions and participation. The report is a preliminary step in the development and assessment of a longitudinal curricular initiative involving all pharmacy students.   Type: Case Study

scholarly journals A Study on Relationship Between Subordinates’ Perceptions of Destructive Leadership and Upward Bullying

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (S1-Feb) ◽  
pp. 107-116
Author(s):  
Sameeksha Kaushik
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Style ◽  
Leadership Skills ◽  
Destructive Leadership ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Multifactor Leadership ◽  
On Line ◽  
Software Engineers ◽  
Immediate Supervisor ◽  
And Behavior

Many studies have been conducted to understand the existence of workplace bullying in subordinate-supervisor relationship in relation with leadership. However, not many studies have focused on the study of bullying caused by subordinates to the managers (upward bullying) and which behavior of the leader or subordinates leads to this bullying. Upward bullying includes bullying behaviors such as threats or malicious accusations shown by subordinates to their supervisor and destructive leadership includes behavior that undermines motivation or work-related satisfaction of subordinates. The purpose of this study is to explore a significant relationship between subordinate perceptions of destructive leadership and upward bullying. A questionnaire of scales consisting of 34 items was used where upward bullying was found out by using Negative Acts Questionnaire Revised (NAQ-R) scale and to measure destructive leadership, rater form of Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) was used. One hundred and ninety-three software engineers who are employed in digital (IT) firms have completed an on-line questionnaire of their perceptions of the leadership style and behavior of their immediate supervisor, and the frequency with which they are engaged in specific bullying behaviours targeting their supervisor. The results of the study helped to explore the lacked evidences of upwards bullying and to know the subordinates’ perceptions due to destructive leadership at work environment. The findings revealed that subordinates’ perceptions of destructive supervisory leadership were moderately correlated with an increased incidence of upward bullying. This paper offers support for prevalence of upwards bullying which can be a response to destructive leadership, and as this research is done with a specific sector, it further enhances need of future researches. Few recommendations like educating employees about workplace behaviours at organisations are discussed. Practical implications to be taken by the managers such as self-assessment of managers to improve leadership skills are discussed.

Successful family business succession: Utilizing peer groups for critical leadership skills development

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenell Lynn-Senter Wittmer ◽  
Clinton Oliver Longenecker ◽  
Angie Jones
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Family Business ◽  
Succession Planning ◽  
Leadership Skills ◽  
Peer Groups ◽  
Family Businesses ◽  
Business Leaders ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Critical Leadership ◽  
Business Succession

Purpose The current study explores the necessary leadership skills required for leadership succession in family businesses as well as best development activities for each skill. The current study provides suggestions for best practices in developing and utilizing peer groups as a leadership development method. Design/methodology/approach A needs assessment was conducted by surveying 150 family-business leaders. Leaders were asked, “What are your most pressing leadership development needs for your organization as you move toward succession? A follow-up question was then asked: “For each of these skills, what method would best help develop this skill for family business leaders?” The responses were content analyzed, placed into themes, and rank ordered. Findings High agreement amongst business leaders was found as eight leadership skills were cited by high percentages of family-business leaders. Leaders overwhelmingly reported peer developmental activities as being the best method for developing these skills. Originality/value Succession planning in family-businesses is critical as many family business fail to make it past the first or second generation. However, little research explores what specific leadership skills are necessary for optimal succession. As well, many leaders in public organizations seek individual methods of development, such as executive coaching, whereas family business leaders seek group activities to learn with/through their peers.

Management Education for a Sustainable World

2021 ◽  
pp. 217-235
Author(s):  
Christiane Molina
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Management Education ◽  
Business Schools ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Business Leaders ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Teaching Techniques ◽  
The World ◽  
Development Of Competencies

Societies across the world currently deal with multiple interconnected problems whose solutions call for the active participation of various actors. The private sector is among them and as a result, business leaders are in need of competencies that enable them to find appropriate answers. Sustainability competence may offer the key to transition towards a more equal and fair economy where the resources are maintained for the use of future generations. Higher Education Institutions and specifically business schools are an essential means to develop such competency. This chapter presents a proposal of an educational pathway for the development of competencies for sustainability and offers educators an array of teaching techniques that could be used at each stage.

Rethinking Ethics Education in Business Schools in the Post-Financial Crisis Epoch

2012 ◽  
pp. 342-356
Author(s):  
Vlad Vaiman ◽  
Throstur Olaf Sigurjonsson
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Business Ethics ◽  
Ethics Education ◽  
Business Schools ◽  
Moral Character ◽  
Business Leaders ◽  
Direct Part ◽  
Financial Industry ◽  
Continuous Education ◽  
Business Elite

This chapter deals with a multitude of perspectives on ethics education in business schools and provides a compelling example of Iceland, where unethical behavior of its business elite and the total disregard for commonly accepted ethical rules of conducting business led to unsustainable expansion of the financial industry and its subsequent collapse in the fall of 2008. The authors examine whether ethics education or more precisely, the lack thereof, played any role in this financial collapse, and whether business schools should contribute to molding moral characters of their students, who will ultimately become the next generation of business leaders. Here are a few important highlights of what has been found. First, a consensus seems to have been reached that business schools have an important role in developing the moral character of their students, something they haven’t practiced sufficiently according to managers. Second, business schools ought to take a more direct part in a society’s discourse on business ethics and perhaps be in the forefront of these discussions. Third, there is a clear need for not only asking business schools to contribute to molding the moral character of students but to reshaping that of practicing managers through re-training and continuous education.

Raising Ethics and Integrity Awareness by Incentivizing Professionalism

2012 ◽  
pp. 200-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy S. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Business Schools ◽  
State University ◽  
Bedside Manner ◽  
Moral Conduct ◽  
Client Relationships ◽  
Research Scholarship ◽  
Business Practitioners ◽  
College Of Business ◽  
Organizational Scholarship ◽  
Faculty And Administrators

Far more than in the fields of business, research scholarship in the medical and legal fields has considered the integrity of students and graduates. Within the broader concept of professionalism, integrity is manifest in these fields as behavioral qualities such as bedside manner, client relationships, and dedication to quality. Yet in business scholarship, research into professionalism extends little beyond exploration of it antonyms as evidenced in the moral conduct of certain notorious executives. Conspicuously absent from business literature is much consideration of the positive behavioral qualities desirable in our institutions’ students, neither with respect to scholastic progress during college, to employability and career progression following graduation, nor to the foundations of conduct that characterize pro-social business practitioners. In this chapter, the author offers an exploration of professionalism as a concept within which integrity is implicit and critical, and around which business schools can structure programs to raise awareness and standards among their students and graduates. The chapter begins by fleshing-out the concept of professionalism, including brief review of the word’s etymology and history. Next, an argument is developed as to the relevance of professionalism to students and, therefore, to faculty and administrators of business schools. Finally, the intentions and experiences at the college of business at a mid-tier state university, where colleagues and the author have developed and launched what is called the Professionalism Recognition Program, are presented in the spirit of positive organizational scholarship to provide other business faculty and administrators with a potential idea for addressing professionalism at their institutions. The author concludes with discussion of additional research related to the concept of professionalism and it’s applicability in business schools’ planning.

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