Learning about leadership and firm growth through monthly data collection and dialogue with entrepreneurs

Academics often are criticized for doing research that is irrelevant and esoteric. Additionally, the review cycle is lengthy, and even when high quality research is produced, results are unlikely to reach the practitioner for years. Thus, in order to address the needs of both scientists and practitioners, a monthly survey of entrepreneurs was begun. Although the research study topic is how firms grow, the focus of this paper is on the research method used to understand the subject. The paper will lay out the logic for the monthly research process, explain the outcomes of the system, and provide the reader with some early and tentative findings from the ongoing work on how firms grow.     

包容型领导在创新领域的双刃剑效应——违反规范可接受感知的中介和主动性人格的调节

应用社会信息加工理论,探索了包容型领导对创新的双刃剑效应。以375名员工为样本,运用层级回归方法分析数据。研究发现：包容型领导正向影响对创新有利的越轨创新行为、对创新不利的知识隐藏行为;违反规范可接受感知中介了包容型领导对越轨创新、知识隐藏的影响效应;主动性人格正向调节了包容型领导通过违反规范可接受感知对越轨创新的影响,但没有调节包容型领导通过违反规范可接受感知对知识隐藏的影响。     

差异化变革型领导对员工创新绩效的跨层次影响

基于社会信息加工理论,探讨差异化变革型领导对员工创新绩效的跨层次影响,尤其是员工心理安全感的中介作用及团队差错管理氛围的调节作用。采用配对式调查问卷,以74名领导和264名下属为样本,建立层级线性模型。结果发现:①团队一致性变革型领导对员工创新绩效具有显著正向影响,个体差异性变革型领导对员工创新绩效具有显著负向影响;②心理安全感分别在团队一致性变革型领导、个体差异性变革型领导与创新绩效间起部分中介作用;③团队差错管理氛围不仅正向调节团队一致性变革型领导与心理安全感间的正向关系,还正向调节个体差异性变革型领导与心理安全感间的负向关系。     

Personal values and leadership effectiveness

The study sought to evaluate the personal values profile, the predominant leadership styles, the leadership effectiveness, and the relationship between personal values balance and leadership effectiveness of a group of Brazilian executives. In order to evaluate the personal values profile a closed instrument of the rank order type has been developed and applied. To identify the predominant leadership styles, as well as the leadership effectiveness of the involved executives, it has been used as an instrument available in the market. To verify the relationship between personal values balance and leadership effectiveness, the linear regression method has been used computing the linear correlation coefficient between the before mentioned variables, involving 400 executives. The study has shown that the executives have an unbalance in their personal values profile, with predominance of economic and theoretical values. Additionally the study has uncovered lack of flexibility regarding the leadership styles, presenting styles of selling and sharing ideas as dominants. The study also showed that the leadership effectiveness of the involved executives was at a moderate level. Finally, the research pointed out a high positive relationship between personal values balance and leadership effectiveness, and, furthermore, it showed a better balance of personal values, if one considered only the part of the sample involving executives working in organizations which presented better results in the three previous years (50 executives).     

Design thinking for innovation: Considering distinctions,fit, and use in firms

As firms struggle with high failure rates when developing new products and services, they seek new approaches to innovation. One method garnering attention is design thinking (DT), a design-based method of problem solving. Businesses as varied as Airbnb and PepsiCo are embracing DT in growing numbers, but some may be joining the bandwagon without understanding its distinctions compared to the main alternative, the Stage-Gate (SG) methodology. SG, a project-review process, is used in many firms today to create innovations. To guide managerial consideration of DT, this article provides an explanation of DT as compared with SG, a framework to assess DT’s fit with the firm, and ways DT may be effectively used.     

Performance measurement impacts on management and leadership: Perspectives of management and employees

The study focuses on the impacts of performance measurement (PM) on management and leadership—a research area that has not received much attention in the literature. The empirical part of the study is based on 24 interviews from eight case organizations applying the Balanced Scorecard (BSC). Representatives of both management and employees were interviewed in each case organization. The study concludes that performance measurement can only support, not replace managers in leading people. The study shows that when operating with a performance measurement system (PMS), the increased interactivity between the management and the employees leads to higher performance.     

Jeong exchange and collective leadership in Korean organizations

How does the Korean management system work with open interaction and without excessive power abuse, in spite of the emphasis on authority and hierarchy in Korean society? This paper explicates the concept of jeong exchange, an emotional support mechanism based on informal social ties, as the basis of social capital in Korean collectives (woori). Jeong exchange is first described and then contrasted with related concepts in the other major Confucian societies of China and Japan. It is then used to develop the notion of “collective leadership” to describe the nature and process of Korean leadership.     

The ‘Leadership–Stakeholder Involvement Capacity’ nexus in stakeholder management

It is increasingly accepted that stakeholders affect the achievement of organisational plans and that ineffective ‘stakeholder involvement’ in developmental initiatives can hinder the achievement of business objectives. Using the context of sustainability, case study research demonstrated that ‘stakeholder involvement’ (how stakeholders become active or inactive) is a complex process influenced by a range of interlinked personal and externally driven factors. Principally, the process is influenced by the type of leadership (leadership quality) and the capability of stakeholders to become involved (stakeholder involvement capacity). These two forces play a significant role in stakeholder involvement and constitute the main part of the ‘Leadership–Stakeholder Involvement Capacity’ (LSIC) nexus that is presented in this paper. The LSIC nexus sheds light on our understanding of key complex issues that underpin the lack of, or ineffective, stakeholder participation in developmental initiatives including stakeholder relationships, stakeholder mind-sets, information quality and accessibility, contextual circumstances and implementation priorities.     

The role of subordinate emotional masking in leader–member exchange and outcomes: A two-sample investigation

Recent developments in the leadership literature call for research that emphasizes the role of the follower as well as that of emotion in the leader–member exchange (LMX). In response to these calls, this research examines the relationship between subordinate emotional masking and LMX quality, as well as the mediating role of LMX quality in emotional masking/outcome relationships. We collect data from two samples of MBA students from the United States and China, respectively. In both samples, we find that emotional masking by subordinates is negatively related to LMX quality. The mediating role of LMX quality in the relationship between emotional masking and work-related outcomes is also supported. Suggestions for future research and practice are discussed.     

The tao of organization behavior

Well-known concepts in Organization Behavior are viewed in this paper through a Taoist lens, in particular through the perspective enshrined in the famous yin–yang symbol. Since Tao purports to be a fundamental Law of Nature, it should be possible to find Taoist principles operating within, or at least behind, concepts and theories presented in the field of Organization Behavior as having some degree of truth value. Concepts from personality theory, learning, motivation, leadership, and organization culture are found indeed to accord with the Tao. The review reveals aspects of OB concepts not usually discussed, and suggests a fresh approach for theory evaluation and development. A general principle of yin–yang balance as an essential dynamic for performance and harmony in a wide variety of contexts is suggested. Implications for further research are indicated.