Business Commons^™

Managerial Coaching: A Practical Way To Apply Leadership Theory?, Julia Milner, Grace Mccarthy

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Transformational leadership is one of the most researched leadership theories, but sometimes misunderstood by managers who believe that to be a transformational leader requires them to be charismatic and in some way extraordinary. Similarly, some sportspeople and sports coaches may be truly transformational in their achievements and yet not receive the same recognition as their more flamboyant colleagues. In this chapter, several similarities are identified between managerial coaching and transformational leadership. Some differences were also identified. Where there are similarities, it is argued that adopting coaching practices can help managers to put transformational leadership into practice and gain the associated …

Enacting Spiritual Leadership In Business Through Ego-Transcendence, Lauren Klaus, Mario Fernando

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Ethical dilemmas in organisations can arise due to situational circumstances, the decision making process and the conditions in which they are made. Academic literature offers some insights into analysing ethical decision making; these include guidelines on how to deal with ethical dilemmas (e.g. Abramson, 1985; Loewenberg and Dolgoff, 1996; Reamer, 1990). Recently, several prominent corporate scandals have been reported in the media. These include News International Limited, Barclays and BP. According to business ethics scholars, one of the causes for the escalating incidents of corporate scandals is triggered by the weaknesses in the leaders' decision making process. For example, Giacalone …

The Relationship Between Responsible Leadership And Organisational Commitment With The Mediating Effect Of Turnover Intentions: An Empirical Study With Australian Employees, Md Amlan Haque, Mario Fernando, Peter Caputi

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of an Australian study testing the relationship between responsible leadership and organizational commitment. We further test and report the mediating effect of turnover intentions of employees.

Leadership Styles And Generational Effects: Examples Of Us Companies In Vietnam, Anne Cox, Zeenobiyah Hannif, Chris Rowley

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Leadership styles are an important issue for a range of areas, including business and management. One aspect of this is the influence of the age of people on their receptivity to leadership styles. Yet, research on this area using Asian contexts is limited. Consequently, our research looks at the generational effect in the reception of leadership styles - performance-oriented and participative. In particular, we examine the different value orientations of age cohorts and their reception to different leadership styles in Vietnam. First, we outline three strands of literature, namely culture and leadership, generation as a subculture and Vietnam as a …

The Responsible Leadership For Performance Framework, Carolyn Koh

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

A leader is assumed to be someone entrusted by his/her followers to lead, behave responsibly and be accountable for his actions. He/she would be someone righteous, with a high level of moral judgement and a good reputation, and thus, be held to a higher moral standard.

Factors That Influence Responsible Leadership In Singapore: An Exploratory Study, Carolyn Koh

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

A fall in Singapore's transparency rankings from number one in 2010 (least corrupted) to number 5 in 2012 has led to the growing concern that Singaporeans are demonstrating a lack of values and social capital and that the tension between wealth accumulation and ethics has caused some Singaporean leaders to make poor ethical decisions. Incidents of corruption and bribery have become more frequent in Singapore, which is puzzling because Singapore has always been governed using stringent rule-based policies. The question that this research would like to answer is if rule-based governance needs to be coupled with character development, so that …

Enacting Responsible Leadership: The Case Of Singapore, Carolyn Koh, Mario Fernando, Trevor A. Spedding

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

The literature on responsible leadership focus predominantly on a western context with limited empirical studies reported from Asia. To address this gap, this paper aims to explore responsible leadership from a non-western context focusing on Singapore. Case studies developed from face-to-face interviews with 20 influential Singaporean leaders were analysed and similarities and differences between and within cases were utilised to identify contextual factors that influence responsible leadership. The findings reveal that Singaporean leaders possess traits/values that make them both responsible and effective leaders. However, contextual factors such as national culture and ethos of the nation as well as relational intelligence …

The 4-L Framework Of Family Business Leadership, Mary Barrett

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

The 4-L framework for learning family business leadership is a practical model based on empirical research into the learning experiences of second or later generation family business owners who attained the CEO role in the family firm. The strength of this framework is that it takes account of:

• The special characteristics of firms run primarily by blood-related members of a single family;
• The paradoxes family firm leaders have to manage in combining two conventionally unrelated systems: business and family.

A Conceptual Framework For Understanding Responsible Leadership And Presenteeism: The Mediating Influence Of Organizational Commitment And Employee Turnover Intentions, Amlan Haque, Mario Fernando, Peter Caputi

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Presenteeism refers to reduced productivity caused by employees' ill health. Presenteeism has a substantial impact on productivity and imposes a significant economic burden to businesses and national economies. In 2010, presenteeism costed the Australian economy $AUD 34.1 and the United States economy $USD180 billion. The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework supporting the relationship between perceived responsible leadership and presenteeism, and the mediating role of organizational commitment and employee turnover intentions. Implications of this conceptual framework are discussed both in terms of future research directions and intervention strategies.

Social Innovation Through Spiritual Leadership, Lauren Klaus, Mario Fernando

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Abstract presented at the 2nd International Conference on Social Responsibility, Ethics, and Sustainable Business Bournemouth, UK, September 5 & 6, 2013.

How Is Your Boss? Impact Of Transformational Leadership Behavior Of Manager On Customers' Selling Orientation-Special Reference To Corporate Banking Sector In Sri Lanka, Nalin Abeysekera, Ananda Wickramasinghe

Sydney Business School - Papers

Selling is paramount important in marketing and considered as a lifeblood in marketing. Customer oriented selling plays a vital role in this regards .On the other hand, managers need transformational leadership behavior to manage sales staff. This study aims to integrate the concept of customer orientation and transformational leadership of a manager by conceptualizing the concepts in Sri Lankan corporate banking sector. Responses were gathered via a questionnaire survey from a sample of 100 managers and 100 customer relationship officers(CRO). The results provide evidence for the significant relationship between transformational leadership of a manager and their customer orientation.

The Multifaceted Leadership Of R. J. Chambers: A Personal Reflection, Michael J. Gaffikin

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

I was working in a fairly insignificant accounting department of a (then) small university when I was charged with the responsibility of accompanying Ray Chambers and his wife Margaret to dinner.
He had accepted an invitation to the University from its Accounting Student Society and for us it was an important occasion to have such a distinguished visitor. During our conversation that evening Ray suggested I come to Sydney University as he thought I would find it (intellectually) stimulating. I took upu his suggestion and did not live to regret it. Working with Chambers was indeed an intellectually stimulating expewrience …

Affects Of Strategic Leadership On Business Success - A Cross-Cultural Analysis From A Resource Based View, Georg Hirschi, Michael Jones

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This paper concerns strategic leadership as it functions in businesses today. The research will outline which skills and characteristics are the most important for being a strategic leader. The influence of culture on leadership is also investigated, leading to the examination of the question of whether business strategy affects leadership. The paper links leadership with strategic management and discusses how a successful practice of leadership can help an organization create a unique and valuable market position, assisting the attainment of sustainable competitive advantage. The research demonstrates that strategic leadership is above the operational level of management and that strategic leaders …

Spotlights And Shadows: Preliminary Findings About The Experiences Of Women In Family Business Leadership Roles, Mary Barrett, Ken Moores

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

In an earlier study (Moores & Barrett 2002) we found successful CEOs had learned leadership of family controlled businesses (FCBs) in a series of distinct learning phases. Because that study's sample did not include many women, our present study focuses on women in FCBs to better understand how they exercise leadership and entrepreneurship in the family firm context. Case study analysis of an international sample of women FCB leaders, using frameworks which avoid essentialist assumptions about women's and men's approach to leadership, suggests there are some characteristic ways women leaders learn FCB leadership and entrepreneurship roles. We have tentatively labelled …

Fostering Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership In Family Firms: Ten Lessons, Mary Barrett, Ken Moores

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Women's potential to lead a firm - whether one started by a family member or a new venture of their own - is still not often enough acknowledged. With family firms acknowledged as the seeding grounds for the next generation of entrepreneurs, and with increasing attention in research and public policy to women's entrepreneurship, it is important to understand the factors in family firms which help and hinder their women members' leadership and entrepreneurship potential. This article, based on the authors' book Women in Family Business Leadership Roles: Daughters on the Stage (Edward Elgar, 2009), presents ten lessons for family …

Leadership Styles And Company Performance: The Experience Of Owner-Managers Of Smes, Palli Mulla K A Chandrakumara, Anura De Zoysa, Athula S. Manawaduge

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Leadership styles of owner-managers were explored in the context of a developingcountry in South Asia with a view to examining their impact on financial performanceof SMEs. It was justified that the study has both theoretical and contextualsignificance. Data were collected from 204 companies in Sri Lanka by adopting mixedmethodologies that consisted of both qualitative and qualitative approaches.Descriptive statistics and correlation coefficient were used in the analysis. The findingsrevealed that the existence of three main leadership styles in the sample, namely;entrepreneurial, managerial, and mix of both entrepreneurial and managerialleaderships. The analysis indicated that 60 percent of firms had increased financialperformance, while …

The Value Of Managerial Beliefs In Turbulent Environments: Managerial Orientation And E-Business Advantage, T. Coltman, T. M. Devinney, D. F. Midgley

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

There is a great divide between the degree to which academic research accounts for the role of managerial discretion in firm performance and the weight given by the popular press and financial community to the importance of the management of an organization. The purpose of this paper is to bridge this gap by quantifying the way managerial beliefs influence the quality of firm performance in a turbulent environment based on e-business.
An e-business research setting is used that is associated with a situation of environmental turbulence to allow for sufficient variance in managerial beliefs to measure their effect on firm …

Leaders Can Learn To Change; Some Do: A Qualitative Study, George K. Kriflik, R. Jones

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The behaviour of organisational subordinates is significantly affected by the attitudes and actions of their supervisor. By changing themselves, leaders can therefore have a crucial impact not only on the behaviour of their subordinates but also on the extent to which those subordinates perceive that they are achieving their organisational potential. This paper presents a conceptual model of the process through which organisational leaders can attempt to change themselves with the objective of changing the behaviour of their subordinates. Using a grounded methodology, data has been collected and analysed from a large Australian public sector bureaucracy by means of participant …

Toolkit For Managing Virtual Teams, Grace Mccarthy

Sydney Business School - Papers

Leaders in multi-national organisations have to work with team members in many different locations, with few if any face to face meetings. This poses problems for leaders used to working face to face. This article briefly reviews the literature, finding some consensus that leadership is significant in managing virtual teams but that the practices adopted by leaders need to be adapted, that trust is one of the key predictors of success, and that technology and training also help improve performance of virtual teams.

The Environment. You! Me?: A Leadership Theory, George K. Kriflik

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper refers to the concept of Minimising Attainment Deficit (MAD). This is a leadership process whereby leaders help workers fulfil their expectations of achieving their potential in their work. A qualitative approach to the collection and analysis of data was adopted through the use of orthodox grounded theory. Its aim was to generate rather than to test theory. This research has contributed knowledge relevant to practitioners in the area of leadership by presenting this concept as a processual theory, along with three sets of strategies employed by supervisors(leaders). These strategies aim to help subordinates(followers) minimise the gap between the …

A World Of Flux Requires Information Literacies In The Community And Workplace, Lynda S. Kriflik, George K. Kriflik

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper outlines two studies that explored alternative methodologies that assisted individuals to identify and critically reflect on their preferred way of being. Central to both studies is the importance of critical reflection as the pathway to fully informed decisions. In one study the researcher explored how managers considered information issues that influenced their leadership style, including the risks that stem from individual attitudes and actions. The other explored consumer reactions to food system risk and the information desired to reduce such risk. Both studies highlight the need to facilitate the enhancement of information literacies in the workplace and in …

Leadership Learning: Building On Grounded Theory To Explore The Role Of Critical Reflection In Leadership Learning, George K. Kriflik, Lynda S. Kriflik

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

A study of eight senior managers from different organisations has combined Critical Theory and Grounded Theory approaches. This study builds on the findings of a previous substantive study (Kriflik 2002) which identified the most successful leadership strategies, as perceived by participants. The most successful strategies are those in which leaders focussed on their own behaviours, attitudes and actions. Building on these findings this study explores leadership competencies and the mechanisms which enhance, or enable, leaders’ ability to learn such competencies. Interviews were conducted and transcribed, then analysed, and became the basis for the choice of subsequent participants. The study identified …

Impact Of Efqm Excellence Model On Leadership In German And Uk Organisations, Grace Mccarthy, R. Greatbanks

Sydney Business School - Papers

Purpose of this paper: The research aimed to discover whether there were differences in leadership practices and perceptions of good leadership practice between German and UK organisations. Design/methodology/approach: A survey based on analysis of self-assessment documents submitted for the European Quality Award or its equivalents in Germany and the UK was distributed to 300 organisations in Germany and the UK. A response rate of 20% was achieved. The survey was also distributed to 20 assessors. Findings: There were more differences in perceptions of good practice between German organisations recognised for excellence and German organisations not using the Excellence Model than …

Women's Leadership Journeys In Family Firms: Preliminary Results From A Qualitative Study, Mary Barrett, Ken Moores

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The family business literature has thus far not devoted much attention to understanding female vantage points in family firms (e.g. Dumas, 1998; Sharma, 2004). Poza and Messer (2001) and Curimbaba (2002) describe the varying roles that women adopt, but without explaining why they adopt such roles. Our research examines the career progression of women leaders in family businesses, specifically how various roles allow them to progressively learn skills and competencies.In an earlier book (Moores and Barrett, 2002) we found that successful family firm CEOs encountered a series of unique paradoxes. Exploring, understanding and perhaps managing these paradoxes took them on …

A Test Of Transformational And Transactional Leadership Styles On Employees' Satisfaction And Performance In The Uae Banking Sector, Raed Awamleh, John Evans, Ashraf Mahate

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This study tested the transformational leadership theory among managers at functional levels in United Arab Emirates (UAE) banks. The UAE banking sector was chosen due to its importance in the U.A.E. economy and its significant contribution to the Emirates GDP. The paper examines the effects of both transformational and transactional leadership styles of bank managers/supervisors on employees’ satisfaction and self-perceived performance. Self-esteem and leadership disposition (Romance of Leadership) of employees were hypothesized to act as moderators. Data was collected from employees working in national and international banks operating in the UAE. A multiple regression analysis indicated that transformational leadership style …

A Test Of The Transformational Leadership Model: The Case Of Iran, Raed Awamleh, Sohrab Khalili

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This study tested the transformational leadership theory among managers at functional levels in Iranian oil companies. It examined the effects of transformational and transactional leadership styles satisfaction and self-perceived performance of followers. Self-esteem and leadership disposition (Romance of Leadership) of employees were hypothesized to act as moderators. Data was collected from employees working in the oil industry in Iran. A multiple regression analysis indicated that transformational leadership style and self-esteem were related to job satisfaction and performance. In contrast, transactional leadership and romance of leadership did not show any impact on dependent variables. Proposed moderating variables were also insignificant. Results …

A Grounded Theory Of The Leadership Process In A Large Government Bureaucracy, George K. Kriflik, R. Jones

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper presents a theory of the leadership process within the particular substantive setting of a large government bureaucracy. The study organisation (labelled AGRO) possesses a dominant engineering culture and has a history characterised by non- tumultuous change. The research methodology of orthodox grounded theory was employed. The main concern of the participants was found to be a desire to close the gap between their current work reality and that level they perceived themselves to be capable of achieving. This was resolved through the basic social process of Minimising Attainment Deficit. Leadership aspects of charisma and vision where not evident …

Minimising Attainment Deficit: A Leadership Process Theory, George K. Kriflik, Robert Jones

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Leadership as a process was found by RTA workers to fulfill their need for attaining their potential in their jobs. This article presents an overview of this substantive theory which emerged during a Grounded Theory study. Minimising Attainment Deficit, the process, comprises a number of Leader Strategies which aim to modify workplace conditions and so alter workers’ behaviours. The fundamental premise of this theory is the workers’ perceptions of their own potential and their perception of what they are currently achieving, and that any shortfall in achievement results in an Attainment Deficit. Minimising Attainment Deficit Unleashes workers to achieve higher …

The Nature And Structure Of Trade-Financial Networks: Evidence From The New Zealand Pastoral Sector, 1860-1939, Simon Ville, G. Fleming

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This study applies modern network theory to trade and finance networks in the New Zealand pastoral sector before World War Two It particularly examines the manner in which networks can include trading and financial business transactions simultaneously. In addition, it provides evidence of the role of leadership in such networks, in this case played by the stock and station agents as intermediaries bringing farmers into contact with a wide range of service providers.

The Steel Leadership Program: Telling The Stories, Karin H. Garrety, Viviane Morrigan, Richard Badham, Michael Zanko

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Introduction

• Between October 1999 and June 2000 fifteen interviews were conducted with Springhill employees who had participated in the SLP course.
• The OD Team at Port Kembla intends using these stories to help build a new culture.

An analysis and representation of participants' stories of their experiences arising out of the BHP Steel Leadership Program (SLP) does not lend itself readily to executive summary and bullet points. However, we have been able to discern a number of key themes from the process of gathering these stories and, of course, from the stories themselves.