Global Perspectives on Leadership: Insights from India, Malaysia, Native North America, and the Middle East

From the Editor

Dail Fields

This issue of the International Journal of Leadership Studies continues our diverse international offerings covering leadership in the contexts of India, Malaysia, Native North Americans, and the Middle East. Again and again we see that context matters for leadership strategies. At this time of financial melt-down, we have to ask "where were the leaders interested in the basics - customer and employee well-being?" As our studies in this issue show, customer welfare needs to be at the top of the list for long-term success.
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Practitioner's Corner

Derailing Design Thinking

Gary W. Oster

Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, corporations have focused upon operational efficiency. In 2004, Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto, suggested a remarkable new paradigm that complements efficiency efforts. Martin (2004) asserted that businesspeople need to become designers with a designer's attitude and metrics for success. Martin (2004) noted that key differences exist between traditional and "design" firms, including flow of work life, source of status, style of work, mode of thinking, and dominant attitude. The paradigm of design thinking is still in its infancy and has been haphazardly applied by corporations with mixed results. Design thinking is abductive, inclusive, and problem based, and companies that have appropriately used it have achieved substantive gains in innovation and enjoyed success in the dynamic global marketplace. [ more ]

Book Review

Harsh Verma's (2006) The Avatar Way of Leadership

Nathan Harter

Much of the literature on leadership tends to rely on examples drawn from the European and North American experience, as well as from its mythology. In The Avatar Way of Leadership, Harsh Verma (2006) has attempted to reach specifically Indian readers using uniquely Indian examples, especially the wisdom contained in Indian folklore. Westerners who conduct business with Indians and scholars hoping to avoid ethnocentrism have much to learn from this book. [ more ]

Book Review

Juana Bordas' (2007) Salsa, Soul, and Spirit: Leadership for a Multicultural Age

Melissa McDermott

Salsa, Soul, and Spirit: Leadership for a Multicultural Age by Juana Bordas (2007) was written to provide an inside perspective on leadership practices and traditions practiced within Latino, Black, and American Indian communities. The principles that Bordas described in her book can be used to bridge cultural gaps in the United States and in other countries where there may be misunderstandings between different cultural groups. The main themes throughout Bordas' book focus on building communities and organizations that emphasize relationships that are established on mutual respect, understanding, and an appreciation for different cultural traditions. Bordas eloquently described how the Latino, Black, and Native American communities do this and recommended ways for leaders to apply them in their organizations. [ more ]

Relationship of Emotional Intelligence with Transformational Leadership and Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Atika Modassir & Tripti Singh

This manuscript examines the relationship of emotional intelligence (EI) with transformational leadership (TL) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) of the followers. A sample of 57 dyads of managers and their supervisors (i.e., 114 respondents) participated in this study. The reliabilities of the scales were .83 (OCB), .88 (TL), and .86 (EI). EI was significantly correlated to conscientiousness, civic virtue, and altruistic behaviors of followers. The method suggested by Barron and Kenny (1986) was used to test mediation of EI between TL and OCB, but nothing significant was found. The results indicated that EI of leaders enhances the OCB of followers. However, EI of the leader may not be the only factor determining the perception of TL. [ more ]

Tejari.com, “The Middle East Online Marketplace,” Under the Leadership of Sheika Lubna Al Qasimi

Linzi Kemp

Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi is the chief executive officer of Tejari, a premier online business-to-business (B2B) environment, facilitating procurement in the Middle East. The case study describes a personal career that highlights the capacity of women in the Middle East to be recognized globally as entrepreneurs and leaders. [ more ]

Exploring Leadership Influence Behaviors in the Context of Behavior Settings

Chris Francovich

This paper discusses the concept of the behavior setting as applied to questions of structure and agency in coming to terms with the influence aspects of leadership. It suggests that the relationship between leader-follower behavior and the organizations in which they are embedded is similar to the paradoxical relationship of agency and structure in social theory. A brief discussion of agency/structure reveals that current theorizing in leadership studies may be missing a valuable opportunity for research by not including the eco-behavioral science of Roger Garlock Barker in its broader agenda... [ more ]

Profound Simplicity of Leadership Wisdom: Exemplary Insight from Miami Nation Chief Floyd Leonard

David A. Cowan

Native American nations are often overlooked as part of the multinational terrain that informs leadership theory even though they typically hold exemplary status as cultures that embody wisdom. Native American chiefs have been long admired as wise leaders who have sustained the survival of their tribes amid overtly hostile forces... [ more ]

Procedural Justice and Trust: The Link in the Transformational Leadership – Organizational Outcomes Relationship

Oliver E. Ngodo

For over 2 decades now, leadership theory and research have dwelt so much on transformational leadership. All these years, empirical evidence has consistently demonstrated that this leadership approach is capable of producing positive outcomes such as leadership effectiveness, development of organizational citizenship behavior, follower commitment to the leader, and the organization as well as follower satisfaction on the job. But, there remains a need to strengthen the current understanding of the actual processes and mechanisms through which this leadership model impacts so positively on outcomes... [ more ]

Response: Comments on Dannhauser and Boshoff's "Structural Equivalence of the Barbuto and Wheeler Servant Leadership Questionnaire on North American and South African Samples"

John E. Barbuto, Jr., Joana S. Story, & Gregory T. Gifford

Comments and additional discussion are offered in response to a translation attempt of the Servant Leadership Questionnaire (SLQ; Barbuto & Wheeler, 2006), which appeared in an earlier issue of IJLS (Volume 2, Issue 2, 2007; www.regent.edu/ijls). Suggestions for future research are discussed. [ more ]

Rejoinder: Comments on Barbuto, Story, and Gifford's "Response"

Zani Dannhauser & A. B. Boshoff

We are thankful for the comments made and issues raised by our colleagues (Barbuto, Story, & Gifford, current issue) in their "Response" to our article, "Structural Equivalence of the Barbuto and Wheeler Servant Leadership Questionnaire on North American and South African Samples" (2007). The issues that were raised highlight some of the problems encountered when doing intercultural research... [ more ]

IN THIS ISSUE