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The purpose of this paper is to critically review the extant western literature on political skill and impression management in human resource management and organisational behaviour and applies an inductive approach to explore an equal Chinese concept of office politics in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

An empirical study conducted in a wide range of Chinese organisational forms, employing an inductive approach based on critical incident technique.

Data collected from 173 employees supported this model and indicated the existence of 14 clusters of behaviours that characterise political skill, impression management and the overlap between the two. Extending impression management theory, the authors found that individual players’ political skill drives the dynamics of Chinese office politics and may help a subordinate gain a favourable image with superiors and serve as the overlap between individual political skill and impression management from the Chinese perspective.

The authors used a grounded theory approach to report the construct of a Chinese concept of office politics in the PRC, which is much similar to the western concept of political skill in organisation. Compared with western political skill literature, this study found both universal and cultural-specific phenomena on political perspective in Chinese organisations.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of trustworthiness at an organizational level. A comparison of Chinese and US perspectives facilitated the identified insight into the nature of trustworthiness.

This paper is an exploratory study of cross-cultural perceptions of trustworthiness at an organizational level. A survey was administered to business school students, faculty members and industrial managers in a major Chinese city. Usable data collected from 398 respondents was analyzed identifying significant factors characterizing organizational trustworthiness.

Seven factors were identified that characterize organizational trustworthiness. These factors were significant for both US and Chinese respondents, with procedural fairness considered most important of the identified factors.

This paper contributes to trustworthiness literature at the organizational level. Prior empirical research is based on data collected from US business school students. This is the first reported study based on a comparison of data collected from Chinese and US participants. Identifying the seven significant factors characterizing organizational trustworthiness has practical value to international employers who work with the Chinese students who will become tomorrow’s Chinese employees.

This monograph seeks to summarise the key influences of a role‐based perspective on leadership when making decisions as to how organisational resources can best be deployed.

Application of new frameworks provides insight into the leadership roles executives can adopt when part of formal, informal and temporary groups within the organisation's senior management team and those parts of the organisation for which they are responsible. The methodology adopted is qualitative, focusing on application of previously developed frameworks.

Adoption of an appropriate leadership role, and the timely switch from one role to another as circumstances change, are found to facilitate improvement in the ability of executives to mobilise organisational resources, and in so doing effectively address those challenges with which the organisation is faced.

A one‐organisation intensive case study of a multinational engineering company engaged in the design, development and manufacture of rotating turbomachinery provides the platform for the research. The research intent is to validate two frameworks in a different organisation of a similar demographic profile to those in which the frameworks were developed. The frameworks will require validating in organisations of different demographic profiles.

The concepts advanced, and implications discussed, provide an insight into the role‐based nature of leadership. The practical steps individual executives can take to develop their ability to adopt different leadership roles are highlighted.

This monograph is an investigation into, and study of the contribution of theory that provides insight into, the process by which executives effectively mobilise organisational resources. This differs from the original contributions to theory, which focused on methodology, data gathering and validation in contrast with the current study that is focused on practical application.

Characteristics of leaders whose behaviour is visceral include taking action based on instinct rather than intellect and exhibiting coarse, base and often negative emotions. Despite the challenge of precisely defining the nature of visceral behaviour, the purpose of this paper is to provide insight into this less attractive side of boardroom life.

Following a literature review of the research into the negative behaviour leaders exhibit, the paper highlights four forms of visceral behaviour based on focused and intimate qualitative case studies involving the experiences of those on the receiving end of that behaviour within a boardroom context.

Based on interviews with an international sample of five chief executive officers (CEOs), plus three subordinates with substantial profit and loss responsibility, the study reveals a distinctly human experience from which no one is exempt. The idiosyncratic nature of the visceral behaviour experienced resulted in each study participant's unique experience. The authors conclude that leaders need to adopt specific measures in order to control and reduce the darker human tendencies.

The experiences of study participants are presented in four case studies, providing insight into their experiences whilst also protecting their identity. The study participants were drawn from a sample of companies operating globally within a single sector of the manufacturing industry. The concepts the authors present require validating in other organisations with different demographic profiles.

The paper presents a model based on two dimensions – choice and level of mastery – that provides the reader with insight into the forms of visceral behaviour to which leaders succumb. Insight enables us to offer managers strategic suggestions to guard against visceral behaviour and assist them in mitigating its worst aspects, in both those with whom they work and themselves.

This study proposes that executives need to be prepared to switch roles and membership of groups in order to fulfil their leadership responsibilities effectively.

A validated framework provides insight into the leadership roles that executives can switch between as they move from one formal, informal or temporary group to the next within the organisation's wider senior management team. The methodology adopted is qualitative, focusing on inquiry‐based learning which enabled the authors to gather data on those aspects of context that relate specifically to the leadership roles executives switch between.

Changing role is found to facilitate improvement in each executive's decision‐making effectiveness and, over time, in the decision‐making capability of an organisation's wider senior management team.

A one‐organisation intensive case study of a multinational engineering company engaged in the design, development and manufacture of rotating turbomachinery provides the platform for the research. The concepts advanced will require validating in other organisations of both similar and different demographic profiles.

The concepts advanced, and implications discussed, provide an insight into the nature of leadership as a network of relationships. The practical steps individual executives can take to develop their ability to adopt different leadership roles are highlighted.

This paper attempts to assist executives within the wider senior management team to better adapt and coordinate their behaviour with other executives. In so doing, it is suggested that executives contribute more positively to the organisational decision‐making processes and wider senior management team interaction by being adaptive and responsive to changes in their surrounding context.

This study seeks to propose that executives need to be prepared to adopt roles as a mechanism for rotating leadership if those groups of which they are a part are to perform to their full potential.

A validated framework provides insight into the leadership roles executives can adopt when part of formal, informal and temporary groups. The methodology adopted is qualitative, focusing on the application of previously developed frameworks.

Adopting a role is found to enable the rotation of leadership within a group, which in turn facilitates development of the group.

A one‐organisation intensive case study of a multinational engineering company engaged in the design, development and manufacture of rotating turbomachinery provides the platform for the research. The frameworks will require validating in organisations of different demographic profiles.

The concepts advanced and implications discussed provide an insight into the role‐based nature of leadership. The practical steps individual executives can take to adopt a role, and in so doing develop the group of which they are a part, are highlighted.

This paper is an investigation into, and study of, the process by which executives adopt roles as a mechanism for rotating leadership within a group. In so doing, it is suggested that executives contribute more positively to the development of the groups of which they are a part by being more adaptive and responsive to changes in their surrounding context.

The research described in this article seeks to address the question of the extent to which a role‐based perspective can provide insight into the distributed and networked form of leadership.

A model provides insight into the distributed and networked form of leadership, and the roles that executives can adopt in formal, informal or temporary groups within the organisation's overall senior management team. The methodology adopted is qualitative, focusing on inquiry‐based learning which enabled the authors to gather data on those aspects of the social structure within which they were embedded that related specifically to the leadership roles available to executives and the networks they formed.

Generically applicable links between leadership roles are identified that provides structure to the task accomplishment networks within groups executives form when discharging their leadership responsibilities. Characterising leadership in terms of role, and the task networks that executives form, is found to facilitate improvement in the speed with which groups gain productive contributions from their members.

A case study of three demographically similar multinational engineering companies engaged in the design, development and manufacture of rotating turbo‐machinery provides the platform for the research. The concepts advanced will require validating in other organisations of different demographic profiles.

The concepts advanced, and implications discussed, provide an insight into the distributed and networked form of leadership. The practical steps individual executives can take to contribute to the speed with which groups gain productive contributions from their members are highlighted.

This article attempts to assist executives within a senior management team to better adapt and coordinate their behaviour with other executives. In so doing, it is suggested that executives contribute more positively to the development of groups and the speed with which the groups of which they are a part gain productive contributions from their members.