Leadership that promotes organizational learning : both sides of the coin

Purpose &ndash; The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how leadership has the capacity to both positively influence learning processes and negatively inhibit organizational learning.Design/methodology/approach &ndash; This is a conceptual paper that brings together an analysis of leadership and organizational learning literature. The argument is centered on transformational leadership and the responsibility for creating an organizational learning culture.Findings &ndash; There is a conventional belief that leaders have solitary control and influence when it comes to setting up organizational learning processes. However, a top-down approach to facilitate and implement learning in organizations is not always an effective method because learning should be a collaborative practice. Thus, to rely fully on leaders to initiate and sustain the learning processes can be counter-productive.Practical implications &ndash; Good and effective leadership is the key to organizational learning. Learning is the only sustainable method of achieving competitive advantage for contemporary organizations because of rapidly changing environmental forces. Corporations with aspirations for long-term survival must facilitate, through their leadership, &ldquo;the impulse to learn&rdquo; amongst their members.Originality/value &ndash; Knowledge is lacking in the area where leadership is linked to learning. Such knowledge is important because leaders play a central role in the learning framework and leaders also offer the required guidance for organizations to integrate and sustain learning processes through policy and practice.<br /

Culturally-linked leadership styles

Purpose &ndash; This paper seeks to examine whether cultural context facilitates the emergence of different leadership styles. The key objective of the paper is to consider whether leadership styles areculturally-linked and/or culturally-biased.Design/methodology/approach &ndash; A multifactor leadership questionnaire was utilised to measure differences in leadership styles and to offer explanations as to why the &ldquo;one size fits all&rdquo; view is not appropriate. Analysis of variance and t-tests were utilised to compare means for more than two managerial groups.Findings &ndash; The analysis found significant differences between leadership styles and cultural groups, hence, supporting the argument that culture and leadership interact in different ways in diversecontexts. Transactional leadership was found to be strongly aligned with the ratings of managers from Malaysia, and transformational leadership scales correlated with the Australian respondents&rsquo; meanratings.Practical implications &ndash; Variations in leadership styles are due to cultural influences because people have different beliefs and assumptions about characteristics that are deemed effective for leadership. Therefore, it is fundamental to know what leadership skills and knowledge are valued most by managers on a global level. This information is critical as it offers insight into developing competencies in different workplaces, especially as organisations expand their geographical boundaries into international markets.Originality/value &ndash; The findings of the study provide empirical understanding for culturally-linked leadership styles. The paper contributes to understanding the importance of workforce diversity and attention to other cultures and, thus, enhances our appreciation of today&rsquo;s &ldquo;global village&rdquo;.<br /

A cross-cultural study into peer evaluations of women\u27s leadership effectiveness

Purpose: The present paper is based on a cross-cultural exploration of middle managers in two diverse cultures and aims to focus on how the leadership styles of managerial women are perceived and evaluated. In particular, female and male peer evaluations of leadership effectiveness in Malaysia and Australia are to be explored.Design/methodology/approach: Surveys from 324 middle managers from Malaysia and Australia were quantitatively analysed. The sample for the study was drawn from organisations in four industry types in both countries.Findings:&nbsp; Findings suggest that evaluations of female managers\u27 leadership styles in general, and within the respondent\u27s own organisations, were strongly culture specific, especially in Malaysia. The results reflected the strongly held values, attitudes and beliefs of each country. While this is not unexpected, it does highlight a need to be cautious when interpreting Western research results and attempting to transplant those into other cultures. In Malaysia, female managers were not seen as effective in the leadership styles they adopted in their roles when compared to the Australian female managers\u27 evaluations. Such an evaluation may have had little to do with an objective appraisal of the female managers\u27 capability, but rather with a strongly held cultural belief about the appropriate role of women in society, and in organisations in particular.Research limitations/implications:&nbsp; It is suggested that national culture manifests itself in the values, attitudes and behaviours of people. Cultural influences are therefore likely to impact on the way women and men behave in the workplace, particularly when roles of authority and power are evident, and the way in which that behaviour will be evaluated by others. Further research using different samples in different cultures are recommended. In addition, the influence of ethnicity, race or religion in plural countries such as Malaysia and Australia is also worthy of investigation.Practical implications:&nbsp; This research suggests that values and attitudes are strongly culture-specific and therefore have the ability to influence evaluations at an organisational level. Such an awareness of cultural influences should guide appropriate human resource practices, particularly within a globalized environment.Originality/value:&nbsp; The inclusion of a gender comparison in the data analysis in this paper is a significant attempt to add to the extant knowledge of the cross-cultural research. This is a unique contribution because of the omission of a gender perspective in the previous two seminal studies in culture literature (i.e. Hofstede and House et al.). In addition, the findings suggest that culture-specific influences are important determinants that impose expectations on the role of women differently from men in society and within organisations hence, making the gender comparison of the findings more significant. <br /

Malaysian and Australian male and female middle managers : a cross-cultural comparison of workplace attitudes, aspirations for promotion, and self-rated leadership styles

This paper outlines the rise of women in management worldwide, and considers why so few women achieve senior or executive management positions. This slow advance of women into senior roles is unexpected given that the changes in organisations today are believed to require more &lsquo;feminine leadership&rsquo;. A decrease in the emphasis on masculine characteristics for managers is reported, and a requirement that more &lsquo;feminine leadership&rsquo; needs to be adopted by organisations in order to ensure their survival in the future (Powell, Butterfield &amp; Parent, 2002, p.189). Recent empirical research reports that there are differences in leadership style between male and female managers, and the findings suggest that women exhibit more transformational leadership than their male counterparts, with this style being strongly equated with effective leadership (Eagly, Johannesen-Schmidt, van Engen, 2003). However, these findings are based on western research, and it may be that cross cultural research will yield a different picture (House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, &amp; Gupta, 2004). Leadership and leadership styles may be conceptualised differently in a more paternalistic society. To explore this possibility, a cross cultural study was conducted in Malaysia and Australia. It is hypothesised that countries that are paternalistic in cultural values will exhibit a stronger constraint on women in management roles, which may impact on workplace attitudes, aspirations for promotion and style of leadership exhibited. Therefore, it is possible that the career advancement of women may be more problematic for Malaysian managerial women than their Australian counterparts. Results from an initial pilot study in Malaysia and Australia are outlined, and highlight some interesting similarities and differences to what are reported in the western literature.<br /

Asia-Pacific immigrant managers in Australia : their views about career

Systematic cross-cultural studies of career advancement are fragmented, despite the burgeoning cultural diversity of the global workforce. This study examines diverse groups of managers from the Asia-Pacific region and their stories of career progression to date in Australia. Immigrant managers were interviewed to examine the influence of the new environment on their current career and advancement prospects. In doing so, we demonstrate the experiences of internationally mobile managers when adapting to new boundaries for career advancement. We found that overseas managers have difficulties fitting into the Australian workplace norms. In addition, the study revealed that newcomers had expected to be recognised and promoted for their multiple qualifications; however this did not take place within the Australian workplace context.<br /

The career resilience of senior women managers: A cross-cultural perspective

This article examines how cultural contexts influence the demonstration of resilient behaviors of women senior managers in large organizations. We compare the experiences of Malaysian and Australian women overcoming key challenges and obstacles in their career journeys by engaging in the resilience strategies of network leveraging, learning, and adaptability. Our findings reveal the unique, complex, and contextual nature of career resilience, and show how resilience can be demonstrated, often differently, across culture and context. Our study adds to the existing body of literature in the areas of careers, gender in the workplace, and resilience, by highlighting how senior women sustain and navigate their career paths within the constraints of their socio-cultural contexts. Practical and scholarly implications are discussed

Mixed methods : a research design for management doctoral dissertations

Purpose &ndash; This paper seeks to examine two management doctoral research projects to highlight the advantages in mixed methods as the primary research design.Design/methodology/approach &ndash; This paper summarises the methods of data collection and analysis which were used by two doctoral students in their management research. The researchers used mixed methods approaches (quantitative and qualitative) to explore different areas of management.Findings &ndash; The paper supports the view that triangulation of research methods strengthens the findings and inferences made for understanding social phenomena in more depth, compared to using a single method.Research limitations/implications &ndash; The paper relies excessively on two doctoral research projects which utilise sequential mixed methods. Therefore, arguments made in the paper are specific because other doctoral projects that have used different methods from those employed in the two projects were not considered.Practical implications &ndash; Early researchers, in particular students commencing doctorate studies, should apply mixed methods research because it develops skills in the two most dominant data collection methods used in management research. This paper is a practical guide on how this could be done effectively.Originality/value &ndash; The paper is drawn from two unique doctoral research projects. The paper&rsquo;s originality and value is in providing experiences and practical insights on how mixed methods research is undertaken.<br /

The role of leadership theory in raising the profile of women in management

Purpose: To consider how leadership theories have helped or hindered raising the profile of women in management and leadership roles.Design/methodology/approach: This paper traces the earlier leadership theories through to the contemporary research on transactional and transformational leadership styles and offers a viewpoint on how each theory has contributed, or otherwise, to an awareness and acceptance of women in management and leadership roles.Findings:&nbsp; In 1990, research began to report gender differences in leadership styles with female managers being seen in positive terms as participative, democratic leaders. More recent work reports that women are believed to exhibit more transformational leadership style than their male colleagues, and this is equated with effective leadership.Research limitations/implications:&nbsp; All of the earlier theories on leadership excluded women and this exacerbated the problem of women not being seen as an appropriate fit in a management or leadership role. Recent findings clearly describe that the transformational qualities of leadership that women exhibit are required by the flatter organisational structures of today. Therefore, a more positive outcome for women advancing to senior roles of management or leadership may be observed in the future.Originality/value:&nbsp; The paper reviews the major leadership theories, and links these to a timeframe to illustrate how women were not visible in a management context until relatively recently. Such an omission may have contributed to the continuing low numbers of women who advance to senior management and leadership roles.<br /