Behavioural criteria of managerial and leadership effectiveness within Egyptian and British public sector hospitals: an empirical case study and multi-case/cross-nation comparative analysis

Deducing an emergent South Korean behavioural taxonomy of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness

Purpose

This study aims to identify people’s perceptions of what behaviourally differentiates effective managers from ineffective managers within a South Korean (SK) public sector organization, and the extent to which the findings are similar or different to those of an equivalent previous study in the SK private sector.

Design/methodology/approach

Adopting the “pragmatic approach” and assuming a post-positivist ontology and constructivist–interpretivist epistemology, examples of “effective” and “ineffective” managerial behaviour were collected from managers and non-managerial employees in an SK central government Ministry using the critical incident technique. The collected critical incidents were coded, classified and reduced to a smaller number of behavioural categories. These were then compared against equivalent findings from a previous SK private sector replication study using open, axial and selective coding to identify generic behavioural criteria (GBCs)

Findings

High degrees of convergence point towards the emergence of a “two-factor” SK behavioural taxonomy of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness comprised of positive (n = 11) and negative (n = 4) GBCs of effective and ineffective managerial behaviour.

Practical implications

The GBCs constituting the deduced SK behavioural taxonomy could be used by HRD practitioners to critically evaluate the efficacy of extant management and leadership development (MLD) programmes, or to inform/shape the creation of new MLD programmes. Additionally, they could be used by other HR professionals to critically evaluate the relevance and efficacy of the assessment criteria used for existing management selection, 360-degree feedback and formal performance appraisal systems.

Originality/value

The emergence of an SK behavioural taxonomy through Type 3 (emic-as-emic) and Type 4 (emic-and-etic) indigenous research is a rare example of Eastern mid-range theory development.

Critical Review of Global Leadership Literature: Toward an Integrative Global Leadership Framework

The purpose of this research is to critically examine the literature on global leadership competencies and behaviors, and present an integrative global leadership framework. For the literature review, we examined 14 global leadership competency models and 11 indigenous studies on effective leader and manager behaviors in various countries published between 1995 and 2016. We adopted Yukl’s effective leader behavior framework, which identified four meta-categories (i.e., task, change, relation, and external conditions) and 15 specific behaviors within each category (e.g., planning, scheduling, monitoring, and problem-solving for the task-orientation). By reviewing the competency models, we found five research themes: intercultural, interpersonal, global, change and vision, and personal traits and values, which included ethics and openness/flexibility. Finally, we proposed a conceptual framework based on our review which demonstrates core dimensions, competencies, and behaviors of effective global leaders.

Perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness in Colombia

Purpose

– The purpose of this study was to identify what Colombians perceive as effective and least effective/ineffective managerial behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

– This study was conducted following a qualitative methodology based on the philosophical assumptions of pragmatism and the “pragmatic approach” (Morgan, 2007). The critical incident technique was used to generate data from a purposive sample of 27 managers and non-managerial employees located in Medellin and Bogota, Colombia.

Findings

– The results of this study suggest that effective managers in Colombia are those who are supportive, caring, considerate, participative, understanding, communicative and flexible, and are also good problem solvers.

Research limitations/implications

– This study focused on the perceptions of Colombian managers and non-managerial employees only. Therefore, the description of effective and least effective/ineffective managers in Colombia could be highly value-laden from the national cultural perspective. Hence, it is recommended that further research should be carried out to explore the perceptions of international managers who have frequently interacted or worked with Colombian managers.

Originality/value

– The results of this study have practical implications for Colombian managers and international managers who manage the Colombian workforce. For Colombian managers, this study provides insight into what is considered effective or least effective/ineffective managerial and leadership behavior. The findings provide useful information on foreign multinational corporations (MNCs) that have operations in Colombia. MNCs can use the results of this study to create effective management development models for their expatriates in Colombia.

"What you see depends on where you stand" exploring the relationship between leadership behavior and job type in health care

PURPOSE

This chapter seeks to increase our understanding of health care employees' perceptions of effective and ineffective leadership behavior within their organization.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH

Interviews were conducted with 59 employees working in a diversity of positions within the case study hospital. Interviewees were asked to cite behaviors of both an effective and an ineffective leader in their organization. They were also asked to clarify whether their example described the behavior of a formal or informal leader. Grounded theory data analysis techniques were used and findings were interpreting using existing leadership behavior theories.

FINDINGS

(1) There was a consistent link between effective leadership and relationally oriented behaviors. (2) Employees identified both formal and informal leadership within their hospital. (3) There were both similarities and differences with respect to the types of behaviors attributed to informal versus formal leaders. (4) Informants cited a number of leadership behaviors not yet accounted for in the leadership behavior literature (e.g., 'hands on', 'professional', 'knows organization'). (5) Ineffective leadership behavior is not simply the opposite of effective leadership.

RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS

Findings support the following ideas: (1) there may be a relationship between the type of job held by employees in health care organizations and their perceptions of leader behavior, and (2) leadership behavior theories are not yet comprehensive enough to account for the varieties of leadership behavior in a health care organization. This study is limited by the fact that it focused on only those leadership theories that considered leader behavior.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

There are two practical implications for health care organizations. (1) leaders should recognize that the type of behavior an employee prefers from a leader may vary by follower job group (e.g., nurses may prefer relational behavior more than managerial staff do), and (2) organizations could improve leader development programs and evaluation tools by identifying ineffective leadership behaviors that they want to see reduced within their workplace.

SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS

Health care organizations could use these findings to identify informal leaders in their organization and invest in training and development for them in hopes that these individuals will have positive direct or indirect impacts on patient, staff, and organizational outcomes through their informal leadership role.

VALUE/ORIGINALITY

This study contributes to research and practice on leadership behavior in health care organizations by explicitly considering effective and ineffective leader behavior preferences across multiple job types in a health care organization. Such a study has not previously been done despite the multi-professional nature of health care organizations.

Identity Matters

Conversations about leadership that primarily consider dominant identity groups (e.g., White people, heterosexuals, men, the able-bodied, etc.) may be less productive than those that think about leadership from the perspective of the diverse groups of people that make up our workforces. HRD’s history is gendered and has demonstrated reluctance to discuss topics critically oriented toward individuals with minority-status identities. Presently lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) identity has not been addressed in the HRD leadership literature. Utilizing prior HRD leadership literature synthesized via an integrative literature review method, a popular ally development model, and six strategies for being critical in HRD, the purpose of this article is to synthesize an LGB-inclusive definition of leadership in HRD.