Networks and leadership development: Building linkages for capacity acquisition and capital accrual

Social networks can aid the leadership development process through facilitating access to important developmental assignments and the acquisition of capabilities to handle associated challenges. Although much of the traditional focus of leadership development has been on building intrapersonal capabilities, functioning effectively as a leader necessitates the development of interpersonal capabilities associated with dyadic ties and relational capabilities associated with patterns of ties within networks. Such capabilities allow aspiring managers to accrue not only human capital, but social and system capital as well. Aspiring managers can tap task, career, and friendship/support networks to aid developmental and career success. Structure factors, including strategic choices, network characteristics, and the technological interface moderate the ability of managers to convert potential network contacts into significant leadership development and capital accrual. Personal factors also influence leadership development prospects. Overall, there are many ways in which network concepts associated with dyadic and relational levels of analysis can facilitate addressing the challenges that are key to leadership development.     

Creating comprehensive leadership pipelines: Applying the real options approach to organizational leadership development

Typically, firms consider leadership development (i.e., training focused on skills required for success in leadership roles) and succession planning (i.e., the creation and implementation of long-term plans that address changes in top leadership roles) as two distinct organizational initiatives. In recent years, however, scholars and practitioners have called for a new, more comprehensive approach that considers the organization as a system. Rather than considering succession planning and leadership development as distinctly different initiatives, organizations should work to create internal leadership pipelines that span entry-level employees to executives. To leverage potential advantages associated with instituting comprehensive leadership pipelines and to address practical concerns associated with risk and talent management, we propose the introduction of incremental investment in organization-wide leadership development programs via distinct, evaluative stages – a real options reasoning (ROR) approach to leadership. We argue that blending ROR with skills-based leadership models diversifies risk associated with investments in talent management and increases the ability for targeted, purposeful investment in potential organizational leaders.     

Developing leaders for creative efforts: A domain-based approach to leadership development

As we move into the 21st century, innovation, sustained innovation, has become a critical determinant of organizational success and survival. Although we know much about potential influences on innovation, little is known about the actions that should be taken to develop the people who must lead these efforts. In the present paper, we present a model of the capacities and capabilities people need to lead creative efforts. A selection, optimization, and compensation model is used to specify the kind of interventions that might provide a basis for developing these capacities and capabilities. The implications of these observations are discussed with respect to both the relevance of available leadership development techniques and the unique needs of people asked to lead creative efforts.     

Developing holistic leaders: Four domains for leadership development and practice

Leadership development and practice have traditionally been quite narrow, with a decided focus on the analytical realm of leadership. However, the contemporary climate of corporate scandal and resultant loss of societal confidence, coupled with the evolving demands, needs, and expectations of employees, point to the potential need for a more holistic approach to leadership. Thus, this article proposes how management education and leadership development programs can develop holistic leaders that are adept at operating in the analytical, conceptual, emotional, and spiritual domains of leadership practice. An integrated model for holistic leadership development and practice that addresses all four of these domains is proposed, and grounded in both established and emerging leadership development theory. Additionally, a leadership development classification scheme is proposed based on classroom, job, and organizational contexts.     

Work stress and leadership development: The role of self-leadership, shared leadership, physical fitness and flow in managing demands and increasing job control

Leaders work in highly stressful environments, yet few leadership development efforts have focused on managing work stress. We posit that self- and shared leadership practices can help leaders manage high job demands and increase long-term job control. We examine the effects of high-strain jobs; identify the outcomes of active jobs, and highlight physical fitness as a key strategy of, and flow as a natural outcome of self- and shared leadership. We argue that self- and shared leadership, and the consequent and entailed fitness and flow benefits, support healthful regeneration and increased engagement and are thus vital to the leader's ability to manage work stress and create an active work environment. Our multi-disciplinary model offers a proactive way for leaders to manage the stressful demands of today's work environments.     

Global human development: accounting for its regional disparities

This study’s multilevel statistical models quantify the effects of civilization zones and instrumental factors on the capacities for human agency that a country provides its citizens. These capacities are measured by the UN’s human development index, which synthesizes measures of literacy, longevity, and income. Indicators of political democracy, slavery, national debt, corruption, and internal conflict gauge the instrumental factors. Political freedom and emancipative employment coupled with civil order account for the regional differences in human development scores; civilization zones, heavily indebted poor countries, and corruption influence the variability among countries within the regions.     

Talent and leadership development practices as drivers of intention to stay in Lebanese organisations: the mediating role of affective commitment

This paper examines the relationships among investment in talent and leadership development practices in Lebanese organisations and two behavioural outcomes, affective commitment and intention to stay. Affective commitment is expected to mediate the relationship between talent and leadership development practices and intention to stay. We found that both talent and leadership development practices were positively related to intention to stay and affective commitment. We also found that affective commitment partially mediated the relationship between talent development and intention to stay and fully mediated the relationship between leadership development and intention to stay. The research and practice implications of the study findings are discussed.     

A coupled Markov chain approach to credit risk modeling

We propose a Markov chain model for credit rating changes. We do not use any distributional assumptions on the asset values of the rated companies but directly model the rating transitions process. The parameters of the model are estimated by a maximum likelihood approach using historical rating transitions and heuristic global optimization techniques.We benchmark the model against a GLMM model in the context of bond portfolio risk management. The proposed model yields stronger dependencies and higher risks than the GLMM model. As a result, the risk optimal portfolios are more conservative than the decisions resulting from the benchmark model.     

Measurement of development and regional disparities in Greek periphery: A multivariate approach

The identification of regional disparities and regional growth patterns is an important factor affecting policy formulation. Single indicator, usually GDP-based, approaches have revealed significant shortcomings. In this work we provide a methodology and the respective tools to analyse regional disparities and development patterns. Aiming at capturing the different aspects of development and quality of life our approach is multi-dimensional: we, first, develop a composite index; we, then, apply multivariate clustering for identifying regions with similar socio-economic profiles. The methodology is applied to examine Greek regions. The results do not provide strong evidence for convergence of Greek regions during the period 1995–2007.     

A multiobjective optimization approach to smart growth in land development

In this paper we apply a multiobjective optimization model of Smart Growth to land development. The term Smart Growth is meant to describe development strategies—that do not promote urban sprawl. However, the term is somewhat open to interpretation. The multiobjective aspects arise when considering the conflicting interests of the various stakeholders involved in land development decisions: the government planner, the environmentalist, the conservationist, and the land developer. We present a formulation—employing linear and convex quadratic objective functions subject to polyhedral and binary constraints for the stakeholders. The resulting optimization problems are convex, quadratic mixed integer programs that are NP-complete. We report numerical results with this model for Montgomery County, Maryland, and present them using a geographic information system (GIS).     

A two–stage approach to additive time series models

For nonlinear additive time series models, an appealing approach used in the literature to estimate the nonparametric additive components is the projection method. In this paper, it is demonstrated that the projection method might not be efficient in an asymptotic sense. To estimate additive components efficiently, a two–stage approach is proposed together with a local linear fitting and a new bandwidth selector based on the nonparametric version of the Akaike information criterion. It is shown that the two–stage method not only achieves efficiency but also makes bandwidth selection relatively easier. Also, the asymptotic normality of the resulting estimator is established. A small simulation study is carried out to illustrate the proposed methodology and the two–stage approach is applied to a real example from econometrics.     

A unified approach to nonlinearity,structural change,and outliers

This paper demonstrates that the class of conditionally linear and Gaussian state-space models offers a general and convenient framework for simultaneously handling nonlinearity, structural change and outliers in time series. Many popular nonlinear time series models, including threshold, smooth transition and Markov-switching models, can be written in state-space form. It is then straightforward to add components that capture parameter instability and intervention effects. We advocate a Bayesian approach to estimation and inference, using an efficient implementation of Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling schemes for such linear dynamic mixture models. The general modelling framework and the Bayesian methodology are illustrated by means of several examples. An application to quarterly industrial production growth rates for the G7 countries demonstrates the empirical usefulness of the approach.     

The “management‐per‐result” approach to international development project design

Results‐based management (RBM) has proved to be a valuable tool for international development project management; however, there are some inconsistencies that limit the use of RBM at the design phase to manage for results. This article presents a “management‐per‐result” approach to reinforcing the project design function of RBM and illustrates its application to a real‐life project. Shying away from a technocratic approach, it emphasizes a “quick‐and‐dirty” approach and proposes an updated version of the logical framework to include success criteria and factors and very rough estimates for both project costs and benefits for targeted project results for different types of projects (infrastructure development, “process” type of project, and so forth).     

Structures,strategizing, and contested territories: A structuration perspective on strategy development in employer branding

This study examines strategy development in employer branding based on structuration theory, focusing on the interplay between employer branding structures and the (inter)actions of employer branding strategists. To analyse this interplay, this paper draws upon a series of strategy meetings in an employer branding project of a multinational construction company. This study adds to the current debate on employer branding by advancing the understanding of the structural embeddedness of strategizing in employer branding. Furthermore, the study proposes that strategy development shifts employer branding engagements into contested territory due to various and contradictory structures strategists need to deal with.     

Disruption,dissolution and reconstruction: A dialectical view on inter-organizational relationship development

This paper contributes to research on inter-organizational relationship dynamics by applying a dialectical approach. We analyze a situation where the relationship parties have divergent understandings of business exchange, and use a longitudinal, in-depth single case study method to investigate their interaction process. The case study focuses on the relationship between a customer and a supplier in the ferrochrome industry, using the acquisition of the supplier as the trigger of the relationship change process. The paper contributes to studies on relationship dynamics by showing how dynamics of inter-organizational relationships may result from struggles when parties’ interests and goals do not align with existing relationship arrangements. In particular, we focus on the process of (re)construction of the relationship and its linkage to the structural properties of the relationship.     

RAM: A Range Adjusted Measure of Inefficiency for Use with Additive Models,and Relations to Other Models and Measures in DEA

Generalized Efficiency Measures (GEMS) for use in DEA are developed and analyzed in a context of differing models where they might be employed. The additive model of DEA is accorded a central role and developed in association with a new measure of efficiency referred to as RAM (Range Adjusted Measure). The need for separately treating input oriented and output oriented approaches to efficient measurement is eliminated because additive models effect their evaluations by maximizing distance from the efficient frontier (in ₁, or weighted ₁, measure) and thereby simultaneously maximize outputs and minimize inputs. Contacts with other models and approaches are maintained with theorems and accompanying proofs to ensure the validity of the thus identified relations. New criteria are supplied, both managerial and mathematical, for evaluating proposed measures. The concept of approximating models is used to further extend these possibilities. The focus of the paper is on the physical aspects of performance involved in technical and mix inefficiencies. However, an Appendix shows how overall, allocative and technical inefficiencies may be incorporated in additive models.