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This chapter describes the change efforts and action research projects at a Dutch multinational which, over a period of 25 years, produced in one of its businesses a zigzag path toward collaborative leadership dynamics at the horizontal and vertical interfaces. The chapter also identifies the learning mechanisms that helped achieve this transformation. Changing the patterns at the vertical interfaces proved to be a most tricky, complex, and confusing operation. The data show that organizations need hierarchical interfaces between levels, but are hindered by the hierarchical leadership dynamics at these interfaces. The data furthermore show that competitive performance requires more than redesigning horizontal interfaces. A business can only respond with speed and flexibility to threats and opportunities in the external environment when the leadership dynamics at agility-critical vertical interfaces are also changed.

This study sets out to investigate the leadership roles, the predictors of leadership effectiveness for Chinese managers, and the relative effects of gender and rater differences on perceived leadership roles. The study is important as it seeks to investigate whether a leadership model (the Integrated Competing Values Framework) developed for Western cultures explains the leadership behaviours of Chinese managers.

Using a 360° feedback method, the data for the study were collected from 49 middle managers and 142 of their significant others (boss, peers and staff). The data were submitted to a repeated measures ANOVA, with role displayed and position as the within‐subjects factors and gender as the between‐subjects factor, to determine whether there were any significant main or interaction effects. A standard multiple regression was performed, between the effectiveness as the outcome and the leadership roles. This was followed by a forward regression analysis.

The empirical evidence shows significant differences in the extent to which the leadership roles were displayed. Chinese managers were focused most on getting the job done (deliverer) and monitoring performance (monitor) followed by developing staff (developer) and developing networks (broker). Being innovative (innovator) was the least displayed leadership role. The managers showed moderate reflective capability (integrator) and moderate effectiveness. They rated themselves higher than did their bosses, peers and staff. Their bosses also rated the managers' leadership behaviours higher than did the peers and staff. However, there was no significant difference between men and women in their leadership roles displayed or effectiveness. In the forward regression, the developer contributed relatively most to the prediction of effectiveness.

The study contributes to the literature on cultural and institutional effects on leadership behaviour and effectiveness. The findings show that cultural and institutional differences do significantly affect variability in leadership behaviour associated with leadership effectiveness.

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.

This paper aims to examine the influence of leadership roles on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities as perceived by employees, as well as their impact on job satisfaction.

Drawing upon a sample of 245 employees in the tourism industry, a structured questionnaire was developed to measure leadership roles and CSR activities as perceived by employees. The competing values model was adopted to operationalize leadership roles.

Results indicate that different leadership roles are linked with different dimensions of CSR activities, although innovator role proved to prevail on this association. More specifically, innovator role is related to all CSR dimensions, followed by monitor which is associated with the philanthropic and environmental dimensions. The broker role is related only to environmental CSR actions.

The possibility to generalize the results to other countries with different characteristics (e.g. regulatory framework, economic development) needs to be investigated further by carrying out similar studies.

Understanding the nature of the association between leadership and CSR activities would enable practitioners to pursue or cultivate these roles and behaviors creating strategic value by fostering their multidimensional impact upon the social context.

The present research has led to the diagnosis of the leadership role profiles supporting CSR strategies in the tourism industry. Findings also highlighted the importance of the innovator leadership role in explaining the variance of different aspects of CSR activities.

The purpose of this paper is to validate the number and order of leadership roles and identify the personality traits which trigger the choice of leadership roles.

A survey addressing classification and measurement questions in each of the competing values framework (CVF) quadrants was administered to a sample of managerial leaders across organizations. Multidimensional scaling representing the underlying CVF dimensions in a spatial arrangement was conducted with input derived from LISREL, which was also used to test the degree‐of‐fit between the CVF roles and quadrants as well as to examine the relationships between personality traits and leadership roles.

The results produced a remarkable synthesis of two separate fields of study within a single competing quadrants grid confirming the causal paths from traits to the compressed CVF latent variables.

This study raises important questions about the causal effects of personality traits and situational contingencies on the choice of leadership roles.

The new awareness of precursors to CVF roles calls for significantly shifting the focus of leadership training and education efforts. Leadership development strategies designed to improve current managerial strengths must also target specific weaknesses and their psychological underpinnings.

The paper demonstrates the efficacy of the CVF and at the same time draws more robust conclusions about how traits affect the choice of leadership roles, how they influence the extent of managerial effectiveness and to what extent managerial choice of roles is conscious or just a stimulus response.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation has led to the emergence of virtual teams in all organizations, and the role of leadership has become more pertinent. The current research focuses on understanding the factors for better team performance in virtual teams. Based on the contingency perspective, the behavioral complexity in leadership (BCL) theory is the most appropriate as BCL requires the leader to demonstrate multiple contrasting leadership behaviors according to the situation. Both internal as well external roles were explored, which could facilitate better communication quality and role clarity to increase interpersonal trust and leadership effectiveness in the current crisis.

Data were collected from employees who have worked in virtual teams during the crisis and who have experience of working in a virtual team environment. A total of 200 questionnaires were distributed, and 175 were received. A path model was built applying partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

Communication quality has come as a partial mediator for the relationship between internal and external leadership roles and trust. Role clarity fully mediated the relationship between external leadership roles and conflict. Internal and external leadership roles showed a significant effect on leadership effectiveness, which were further related to team performance in virtual teams. Additionally, synchronous technology was used more by virtual teams.

The study did not examine cultural differences or cultural adaptation in virtual teams. Instead of the BCL theory, future research may apply attribute-based or relational-based theory to examine leadership roles in virtual team performance.

Using the BCL theory, the current study contributes to an understanding of virtual team performance and the internal as well as external role of leaders. This is relevant in an environment of extreme ambiguity such as COVID-19.

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.

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to provide a theoretical explanation for the persistence of the glass ceiling keeping women from assuming leadership positions.

The methodological approach of this paper is to compare and contrast social role theory and expectation states theory as theoretical underpinnings to explain the persistence of a glass ceiling for women leaders.

Both social role theory and expectation states theory belong to the structural/cultural models describing differences between the genders. Social role theory and expectation states theory explicate diverse reasons for the emergence of these differences. However, both theories propose that gender differences will result in evaluation bias against women.

As a result of evaluation bias against women, the glass ceiling phenomenon keeping women from assuming top leadership positions continues to occur.

This paper is being written on the 20 year anniversary of the term glass ceiling being coined. It adds to the body of literature by closely examining two structural/cultural theories as possible causes to an invisible barrier which keeps women leaders from entering top level management positions.

The extant literature on leadership in the Arab world reflects the traditional bias of leadership being a male domain. Arising out of a patriarchal social structure, men assume leadership in organizations while women are often confined to work at home. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the emergence of women leaders in UAE organizations by going beyond biological sex role biases to identify leadership as masculine or feminine gendered role stereotypes in organizations.

The data collected over two periods comprised two sets of Schein Descriptive Index (SDI) together with those of leadership intention and behaviour style; correlations thereof were computed to test hypotheses constructed from the literature.

The findings indicate that within organizations in the UAE, employee feedback highlights gender‐role stereotypes as defining leadership roles, rather than individual biological sex and their traditional family and social role. The findings reveal that in the UAE, gender stereotypes influence leadership intention and behaviour rather than individual biological sex and related traditions. Accordingly, women leaders having higher proportions of “agentic” characteristics of male gender stereotype together with lower proportions of “people orientation” of female gender stereotype, which makes successful leaders in the UAE break the proverbial “glass ceiling”. This explains the emergence of an increasing number of women leaders in the UAE.

Generalizability of the findings is limited by non‐representation of countries with high gender egalitarianism, as well as the geographical limitation of the study to the UAE only. In the context of traditional male‐dominated organizations in the UAE, the findings on gender‐role stereotypes of leaders in these organizations cannot only help organizations take informed decisions in choosing leaders without the “glass ceiling” biases, but can go further to identify and nurture potential leaders, including women leaders, within organizations. These findings are of considerable significance to the Middle East and the Arab world in general, in the wake of the developments witnessed there.

The paper explains women leadership in organizations in the UAE, a part of the Arab world of the Middle East, from the perspective of gender‐role stereotypes, as opposed to traditional sex‐role biases, to bring women leaders there into the mainstream gender literature.

This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.