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Article
Publication date: 31 December 2009

Roger Gill

Recent criticism of the UK's public sector has rekindled the debate about public service leadership in comparison with the private sector, particularly in the context of the…

Abstract

Recent criticism of the UK's public sector has rekindled the debate about public service leadership in comparison with the private sector, particularly in the context of the financial austerity we face for years ahead. This article first reviews recent research on leadership and compares the public and private sectors, finding both commonalities and differences. The article then considers the kind of leadership required of public service leaders in the present economic climate and to handle crises and emergencies. The place of individual leadership and collective leadership and consensus is discussed, with a suggestion that charismatic individual leadership may play a more important role in the public sector than it typically has done in less turbulent times in the past. The public sector is becoming more like the private sector in this respect. The article ends with key implications of the analysis for leadership in practice.

Details

International Journal of Leadership in Public Services, vol. 5 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-9886

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 October 2023

Richard T. Marcy

This paper explores some of the gaps and contradictions that can often be found in public sector leader development approaches and then examines some of the theoretical…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper explores some of the gaps and contradictions that can often be found in public sector leader development approaches and then examines some of the theoretical assumptions related to these gaps and contradictions. The purpose of this examination is to further identify and define some corresponding gaps within public sector leadership development theory, as well as to encourage future theory development.

Design/methodology/approach

Using three common examples of contradictions often found within the leadership literature, gaps within public sector leadership development theory are identified and then linked to relevant components of leader development models found within other disciplines. As they were developed in other contexts, these components were then further reviewed to determine their potential applicability in speaking to the gaps often found in public sector leader development theory.

Findings

Proposals are made to address some of the common gaps and contradictions often identified in some public sector leader development approaches, along with the detailing of future research directions for the further development of theory.

Originality/value

This exploratory review highlights some of the central assumptions and gaps in the literature for the purpose of clarifying future directions of research into public sector leadership development theory.

Details

International Journal of Public Leadership, vol. 19 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4929

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 January 2022

Khawaja Fawad Latif, Iftikhar Ahmed and Suhaib Aamir

The objectives of the study are threefold. First, it offers the development and validation of a scale to measure public sector servant leadership. Second, the study assesses the…

Abstract

Purpose

The objectives of the study are threefold. First, it offers the development and validation of a scale to measure public sector servant leadership. Second, the study assesses the mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship of servant leadership with life satisfaction. Finally, based on the tenets of complexity theory, fsQCA was utilized to identify the causal recipes that could lead to improved self-efficacy and life satisfaction in public sector employees.

Design/methodology/approach

Following a cross-sectional research design, data were collected from 352 public sector employees in Pakistan. CB-SEM and fsQCA techniques were used for data analysis.

Findings

Results revealed that leadership is a multidimensional construct having dimensions: authenticity, behaving ethically, development, emotional healing, humility and wisdom. Furthermore, the results showed a significant inter-relationship of servant leadership with self-efficacy and life satisfaction. Self-efficacy mediated the relationship between servant leadership and life satisfaction. The results showed various configurations of servant leadership dimensions leading to improved self-efficacy and life satisfaction.

Originality/value

This is one of the first studies to conceptualize the SL in the public sector and to develop a multidimensional scale for measuring and assessing its psychometric properties. The research contributes to existing knowledge by examining the role of servant leadership in promoting employee life satisfaction through self-efficacy. As a methodological contribution, the study is one of the first to use fsQCA in SL literature. Due to the greater emphasis on symmetric methods, there is a significant lack of research studies on causal configuration in public sector organizations.

Details

International Journal of Public Leadership, vol. 18 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4929

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 May 2016

Evert Lindquist and Richard Marcy

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the competing values framework (CVF) could be used by public service leaders to analyze and better understand public sector leadership

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the competing values framework (CVF) could be used by public service leaders to analyze and better understand public sector leadership challenges, thereby improving their ability in leading across borders and generations.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper applies the CVF, originally developed for understanding leadership in the private sector and shows how it can be adapted for analyzing and developing skill in addressing different leadership challenges in public sector contexts, including setting out specific learning exercises.

Findings

The paper has four parts. The first provides an overview of the origins, logic, and evolution of the CVF. The second part shows how the CVF is relevant and useful for assessing management and leadership values in the public sector. The third part identifies specific leadership challenges and learning exercises for public sector leaders at different stages of development. The final part concludes by reflecting on the CVF and similar frameworks, and where future research might go.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the chosen research approach, propositions within the paper should be tentatively applied.

Practical implications

This paper provides guidance for the better understanding of complex leadership challenges within the public sector through the use of the CVF.

Social implications

The social implications of the paper could include the more widespread use of the CVF within the public sector as a tool to lead more effectively.

Originality/value

This paper adapts and extends an analytical tool that has been of high value in the private sector so that it can be used in the public sector.

Details

International Journal of Public Leadership, vol. 12 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4929

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 February 2014

Mohammad Mohabbat Khan and Md. Shahriar Islam

The story of the Bangladesh public sector is not a happy one as it has often failed to uphold efficiency and equality in delivering services to the people. Hence leadership has a…

Abstract

Purpose

The story of the Bangladesh public sector is not a happy one as it has often failed to uphold efficiency and equality in delivering services to the people. Hence leadership has a critical role to play to ensure equality, effectiveness and efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the present condition and future prospect of leadership development in the Bangladesh public sector by focusing on the efforts initiated both by the government of Bangladesh and international organizations during the last ten years.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper has reviewed available literatures on theories of public sector leadership development and its application in Bangladesh to identify the state and future prospect of public sector leadership development utilizing available theories.

Findings

The analysis shows that partisan politics, dominance of generalists, absence of long-range feedback and monitoring systems and lack of efficient and knowledgeable trainers are the major impediments to public sector leadership development. International organizations provide proposals, frameworks, technical assistance along with funds to develop the public sector leaders but in implementing the schemes they have a very limited role in the implementation process.

Research limitations/implications

This paper does not offer much empirical evidence on public sector leadership development in Bangladesh, but creates the platform for further research on public sector training and leadership development with empirical data. Significant variables can be drawn out of this piece of work to design future research on this very important issue.

Originality/value

This paper will help the interested individuals involved in the public sector leadership development in Bangladesh to understand the divergence between the efforts put in by the government and international agencies in developing public sector leadership.

Details

The International Journal of Leadership in Public Services, vol. 10 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-9886

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 May 2010

Patricia Lustig, John Reynolds, Gill Ringland and Richard Walsh

This paper describes the ways in which the next decade will be different from the last. Times are becoming more and more turbulent and a new kind of organisation is needed to…

Abstract

This paper describes the ways in which the next decade will be different from the last. Times are becoming more and more turbulent and a new kind of organisation is needed to survive and thrive in these times ‐ what we call a purposeful self‐renewing organisation (PS‐RO). This, in turn, requires a different style of organisational leadershipleadership as a quality that is dispersed across the organisation not confined solely to the cadre of senior managers listed on an organisational chart.

Details

International Journal of Leadership in Public Services, vol. 6 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-9886

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2008

Smita Tripathi and John Dixon

At the heart of any publicsector reform discourse are the conflicting contentions about what constitutes good public leadership. The battles fought ‐ and to be fought ‐ over…

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Abstract

At the heart of any publicsector reform discourse are the conflicting contentions about what constitutes good public leadership. The battles fought ‐ and to be fought ‐ over publicsector reform are over the appropriate role of the state. These contending perspectives are the traditional hierarchical model and the neo‐liberal managerialist model of public administration. The aspiration to build a responsive and cost‐effective public sector that appropriately balances public and private interests inevitably confronts the challenge of how best to impose neo‐liberal managerialist values and practices onto a hierarchical politico‐administrative system, grounded on the premise that the state is best placed to determine, protect and promote the public interest, without inevitably creating a counter‐productive paradoxical public‐management environment. In this publicsector reform scenario, it is necessary to foster a form of leadership ‐ both political and organisational ‐ that demands of itself that it be capable of perpetual adaption in the face of ambiguity and which change. That is a great deal to ask of both shrewd politicians and consummate bureaucrats.

Details

International Journal of Leadership in Public Services, vol. 4 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-9886

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 July 2019

Ahmad Raza Bilal, Tehreem Fatima and Muhammad Kashif Imran

The purpose of this paper is to advance the theoretical perspective of complexity leadership paradigm to introduce shared leadership style as a precursor of taking charge behavior…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to advance the theoretical perspective of complexity leadership paradigm to introduce shared leadership style as a precursor of taking charge behavior in public sector higher educational institutions (HEIs) of Pakistan. Moreover, this study unveils the underlying mechanisms of the climate of initiative and psychological safety for clarifying the link of shared leadership and taking charge.

Design/methodology/approach

The multi-source and multi-wave data were analyzed by employing double mediation analysis (PROCESS Model 4); using 282 valid responses obtained from a proportionate stratified sample of faculty members working in public sector HEIs of Pakistan.

Findings

The result indicates that shared leadership is a suitable style for governing the public sector HEIs and it fosters taking charge behavior in teaching faculty. Additionally, shared leadership creates climates that support initiatives and are psychologically safe that set stage for taking charge behaviors in teaching faculty of public sector HEIs of Pakistan.

Originality/value

This research has filled the gap of focusing on more collaborative leadership styles instead of traditional vertical leadership practices in public sector HEIs of Pakistan. Theoretically, this study suggests new insights into the contextual antecedents and mediating mechanisms of taking charge behaviors.

Details

International Journal of Public Leadership, vol. 15 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4929

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 6 May 2020

Barbara Rebecca Mutonyi, Terje Slåtten and Gudbrand Lien

This study clarifies the factors that foster individual innovative behaviour in the public sector by examining the effects and roles of empowering leadership, work group…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study clarifies the factors that foster individual innovative behaviour in the public sector by examining the effects and roles of empowering leadership, work group cohesiveness and individual learning orientation. This study also explores the direct effect of empowering leadership on work group cohesiveness and individual learning orientation, the influence of work group cohesiveness on individual learning orientation and the mediating roles of work group cohesiveness and individual learning orientation.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from an online survey of respondents working in a public sector organization. Partial least squares structural equation modelling and mediation analysis by the bootstrap method were used for the data analysis.

Findings

Empowering leadership and individual learning orientation had significant direct effects on individual innovative behaviour. Both empowering leadership and work group cohesiveness have significant direct effects on individual learning orientation. Empowering leadership was positively related to work group cohesiveness. The mediation analysis revealed that individual learning orientation mediates the relationships between empowering leadership and individual innovative behaviour and between work group cohesiveness and individual innovative behaviour.

Research limitations/implications

The study focuses on three factors that foster individual innovative behaviour in a public sector organization.

Originality/value

This study offers new insights into the factors that foster individual innovative behaviour in the public sector. The findings reveal the importance of using a balanced leadership style and encourage learning in the workplace for individual innovativeness by public leaders.

Details

International Journal of Public Leadership, vol. 16 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4929

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 May 2016

Kwasi Dartey-Baah

The purpose of this study was to present a conceptual analysis of how the issue of corruption in Ghana’s public sector can be curbed through an integration of individual (public

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to present a conceptual analysis of how the issue of corruption in Ghana’s public sector can be curbed through an integration of individual (public sector worker) and organisational goals (the public sector itself). It further sought to explain this possibility by focusing on a goal integration process through transformational leadership.

Design/methodology/approach

To meet this end, the study conducted a review of literature on goal, goal-setting, corruption, employee motivation and transformational leadership to develop a conceptual framework to explain this link between goal integration through transformational leadership and corruption reduction.

Findings

Findings from this study showed that dissatisfaction with work (especially pay) amongst Ghana’s public sector workers is a major factor necessitating the emergence of corruption in the country. It is also shown in the study that through the transformational leadership approach, individual worker concerns such as concerns with pay (a facet of job satisfaction) when treated as an institutional concern and appropriately dealt with could curb corruption in the public sector.

Research limitations/implications

Based on these findings, the study recommends that leaders in Ghana’s public sector (both political and administrative) must exhibit qualities of transformational leaders to foster individual and organisational growth as a means to curb corruption in the sector. The study also recommends that training programmes be organised for leaders to equip them with the needed knowledge and practice of transformational leadership. Furthermore, the study recommends that further studies could be done by other researchers on the training programmes that could be useful in equipping these leaders, as well as how and when to organise these programmes.

Originality/value

The study is novel in that it demonstrates the relevance of integrating individual and organisational goals through the application of the transformational leadership concept as a tool for reducing corruption in Ghana’s public sector.

Details

Journal of Global Responsibility, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2041-2568

Keywords

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