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In times of open and distributed innovation, many innovation activities that are important for firms' products and services take place beyond the boundaries of the firm and thus beyond firms' direct control. A prime example for this phenomenon is open source software (OSS) development, where multiple actors contribute to a public good, which is also integrated into company-owned software products. Despite the importance of aligning community work on the public good with own in-house development efforts, firms have limited options to directly control the OSS project or the project's outcome. This research reflects on resource deployment control, a control mode in which firms assign own developers to work for an OSS project to influence the OSS project, and tests hypotheses on individual developer levels.

This research tests the effect of perceived resource deployment control on opinion leadership by analyzing employed Linux kernel developers.

The findings show that developers who perceive being assigned to an OSS project to enact control also exhibit opinion leadership. This research also investigates boundary conditions such as the OSS business model a firm operates and the reputation developers assign to the developers' employer.

This research is the first that is devoted to resource deployment control, and the research closes with a discussion of implications for control theory and the management of innovation beyond firm boundaries.

When it comes to leadership, companies that systematically and continuously put the right leaders in the right jobs outperform companies that don’t – by a wide margin. Despite this profound observation, the subject of leadership still does not warrant the attention it deserves. Granted, there is no shortage of literature on the need for better business leadership in general, but there is little to explain what it really takes to make it happen.

Companies that systematically and continuously put the right leaders in the right jobs outperform companies that don’t – by a wide margin. In this article, the authors argue that chief executives must recognize and act on the consequences of how they deploy their best managers.

From an exploratory study of 37 large multinationals, this paper aims to report key findings, derive learnings for the design of corporate leadership systems and identify future research issues for a better understanding of individual leadership in corporate leadership systems.

The study reported builds on ten years of ongoing research on the nature of leadership, leadership communication, and institutional support structures in large multinationals. As such, it is part of ongoing longitudinal leadership research, following a hermeneutic approach.

From a qualitative as well as quantitative perspective the paper reviews the implementation and usage of corporate leadership instruments and discusses current practices of large corporations trying to select, support, measure, motivate and develop very large numbers of leaders around the world. A conceptual leadership system is presented as a basic frame of reference.

The exploratory research approach has its strength in framing the field of corporate leadership systems. Further in‐depth research is needed on the nature of each the four key fields of the conceptual framework described.

Those who are responsible to design and revise corporate leadership systems will find a valuable frame of reference and selected benchmark data as a basis for the assessment and further development of the corporate leadership landscape.

This paper presents original findings in a highly relevant, but under‐researched field of corporate leadership practice.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a distribution management system that determines the path toward lean distribution through teamwork. This system introduces a set of lean distribution initiatives regarding the structural and strategic facets of organizations.

Through studying the case, which is one of the largest distribution companies in the Middle East, the deployment process of the developed system is examined through chartering focus, deployment and operational teams. These teams held several rounds of panel discussions to formulate the strategic, tactical and technical plans required for making distribution operations lean.

It is found that the strategic focus of the case should not only be restricted to distribution initiatives but also the company can achieve a suitable competitive position by focusing on leadership and integral architecture of information, distribution and transportation channels. The first semi-year cycle of implementing the lean distribution system in the case targeted a 2.5% reduction in the ratio of distribution cost to sales by planning for the cross-docking adoption. It also aimed at a 10% increase in the market share for the prioritized market by a 20% reduction in lost sales owing to improper implementation of the processes.

The developed lean distribution management system is novel in the way it includes the strategy, structure and capabilities of an organization. Deploying this system causes a meaningful connection between lean distribution principles and operational initiatives.

Shared leadership is an effective mechanism for managing project teams. Its performance-enhancing benefits have been demonstrated in many studies. Nonetheless, there is an obvious silence about how to promote shared leadership in Lean Six Sigma (LSS) project teams. To address this deficit, the purposes of this study are to investigate the influence of shared leadership on LSS project success and to explore how team psychological safety, project task complexity and project task interdependence influence shared leadership.

A multi-source, time-lagged survey design with a four-month interval was conducted. To do this, the authors collected data from 71 project teams (comprising 71 project managers and 352 project members) using LSS approaches in the manufacturing and service industries.

The findings show that shared leadership positively influences LSS project success. The authors also found that team psychological safety fosters the development of shared leadership and, more importantly, these effects are stronger when the tasks are more complex and more interdependent.

These findings advance our understanding of the factors that enable shared leadership and equip LSS project managers with practical techniques to improve shared leadership for the success of their projects.

This study extends the theory of shared leadership to the context of LSS project management and is among the first, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to theoretically propose and empirically validate how to promote shared leadership in LSS project teams.

The pillars of public administration rest on balancing the triumvirate of traditions, managerial, political, and legal, in developing and implementing public policy. The normative concept of leadership has consistently surfaced as an important dimension in the policy process. However, scholarship exploring the importance and relevance of leadership in public administration has been sporadic and limited in scope. This article elucidates the disconnect between the study of leadership and public administration. To validate the relevance of leadership in public administration, future empirical studies must embrace the long-view, heuristic inquiry, and the lifecycle of leadership.

This paper aims to explore the relationship between the worldviews of leaders and their corresponding leadership styles. It also proposes a leadership development framework integrating training strategies and pertinent leadership skills.

The paper proposes a modeling of seven leader types and illustrates the predominant worldview of each leader type. Separately, a modeling of six distinct leadership skills is used to distil the strengths and weaknesses of each leader type, from which specific training implications are discussed.

First, autocratic and bureaucratic leaders tend to adopt a negative worldview which impinges on their level of power and influence. Second, charismatic and visionary leaders are well‐equipped with instrumental and creative imagination skills, reflecting their collaborative, global and transformative worldview. Third, both enabling and servant leaders display a quieter persona in terms of assertiveness, as they believe action speaks louder than words. They are highly consultative and participatory in their management approach.

CEOs and HRD professionals may now be able to assess their leaders' worldviews and match these with their leadership styles to design appropriate training programs for leadership development. A number of practical suggestions presented in this paper will provide pointers for training implementation.

The value of this paper lies in examining the root of a leader's attitude and behavior, that is, to focus on his/her worldview. The author's point of view is that a strategic leadership development program should first allow leaders to experience a variety of worldviews through simulation and other techniques, which will in turn influence the way they think and act.

This study aims to present Lean Six Sigma (LSS) deployment and sustainment strategies for the healthcare sector from a multi-level perspective. The objective is to present LSS implementation insights to enable policymakers, practitioners and academicians to test and develop an LSS framework for healthcare sectors.

The strategies identified are the result of a multi-method research design involving literature review, action research (AR) and Delphi study. Further, the AR portion of the study involved more than 10 years of projects focused on the deployment of LSS in the healthcare sector.

The strategies include a holistic view from the multi-level perspective, considering the Top Management Level, Middle Management Level and Operational Level. The authors ascertained 27 strategies across the three levels of organizational structure for the effective deployment of LSS. Further, the authors present a customized LSS “pocket guide” from the healthcare perspective for quick reference.

The strategies delineated in this study are based on the Indian healthcare section only; thus, further research in additional geographic contexts is needed. Also, further research is necessary to provide additional empirical validation of the effects of the identified strategies on LSS program outcomes and to verify that the strategies operate at the proposed organizational levels. Future research should also focus on identifying the interrelationships between strategies within and across levels, developing a “road map” for LSS implementation in hospitals and designing the LSS curriculum for medical schools and other medical training programs.

Observations of this study can contribute to developing a holistic framework for successful LSS implementation in the healthcare sector for academicians, practitioners and policymakers. This, in turn, ensures an enhanced value proposition, improved quality of life and reduced healthcare operational costs. Thus, it ensures a win-win situation among all the stakeholders of the healthcare sector.

The strategies put forth will enable the LSS researchers, academicians and, more particularly, practitioners to delve deeper into specific enablers and safeguard the LSS deployment from backlash. The research has two significant benefits. Firstly, it enhances the understanding of LSS from the healthcare perspective. Secondly, it provides direction for future studies with specific components for hospitals’ LSS framework, which can be further tested, refined and improved.

The purpose of this paper is to study the role of leadership in implementing Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in a knowledge process outsourcing/business process outsourcing (KPO/BPO) service environment. KPO/BPO organizations present unique operational challenges such as client contractual obligations, young worker age profile, high attrition, dynamic outsourced business processes, technological disruptions to list a few. To implement LSS in such an environment, leadership plays a crucial role. While it is known that leadership is a critical success factor for LSS implementation, their role in a recently evolved KPO/BPO sector is hardly studied leading to high failures. The present study aims to address this gap.

A qualitative case study research method is used. A case study protocol consisting of research outline, data collection plan, interview schedule and list of expert reviewers was prepared. A semi-structured interview schedule of the case organization was used that covered exploring the leadership role in terms of their leadership style, communication, employee engagement and their ability to guide program in entire LSS implementation process. Further depth is obtained by considering dimensions of LSS implementation process such as actors involved, processes adopted, performance outcomes, implementation challenges and competency requirements. Primary and secondary data from two case studies yielded rich insights and helped to answer the research questions around role of leadership in LSS implementation for the KPO/BPO service environment.

This research case study demonstrates key leadership competencies that lead to successful implementation of LSS in two KPO/BPO organizations. To handle implementation challenges, a combination of LSS and transformation style of leadership style was observed. Leadership role focussed on coaching and empowering, rather than telling and controlling. Apart from the 17 leadership competencies seen in published literature, the authors observed 12 specific competencies (7 interpersonal and 5 LSS) in two case organizations that enabled effective LSS implementation. This study also gives an in depth understanding of the leadership role and enabling competencies during LSS implementation.

Because of the inherent limitations of case study research method, researchers and practitioners must be cautious to the extent of generalization of findings and the conclusions.

Positioning leadership to managing the LSS implementation in KPO/BPO service operations helps in innovative adaption of standard improvement methodologies (such as LSS) to address their specific problems and deliver on the overall organizational goals.

Current study explores in depth how leadership role impacts LSS implementation in two KPO/BPO case organizations. Studies focussing on LSS service operations model in a KPO/BPO environment are not extensively published, especially those covering leadership role during LSS implementation.