International Journal of Leadership Studies - Employees’ Perceptions of Lebanese Managers’ Leadership Styles and Organizational Commitment

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 political leadership in Israel, strategic leadership in Africa, full-time and alternative work arrangements in Turkey, leader-follower relationships and executive development in the United States, and leadership preferences of employees in Lebanon. The diversity of the research presented by our authors offers all of us an opportunity to develop global perspectives on the role of leaders and followers in organizations. [ more ]

Practitioner's Corner

Quality Management for Education Reform

Connie Daigle

Principles of quality management have been successful in the business realm, producing quality products and services through a structured and comprehensive delivery system. Standardization reduces the variance of each task and improves overall effectiveness. Performance and attention to the bottom line are the measurement of success. Principles of quality management have been applied to student learning in an effort to produce widespread educational reform, but teachers have reported negative results when it comes to the effect of standardization on their job perceptions. In an effort to quantify how standardization of the American educational system has affected classroom teachers' perceptions of their jobs, a study was done based on data from a sample of 184 elementary teachers (K-6) from 16 different elementary schools in a medium-sized suburban district. Contrary to the rhetoric, some very surprising results were discovered. Teachers who implemented standards-based education to a higher degree reported decreased levels of stress, increased levels of job variety and career commitment, and no effect on job autonomy. [ more ]

Book Review

Peter G. Northouse's (2009) Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practices

Susan Gibbons

For more than 20 years, students have relied on Peter Northouse for expertise and scholarly acumen in the dynamic discipline of leadership studies. Writing now to students and leaders in every profession and at every stage of development, Northouse (2009) makes the complexities of leadership theory practical and applicable to everyone in an interactive and engaging format. [ more ]

Book Review

The Handbook on the Knowledge Economy (2005), Edited by David Rooney, Greg Hearn, & Abraham Ninan

Almarie E. Munley

The purpose of this book review is to introduce the reader to the challenges in putting in place the necessary elements of what may be needed for a knowledge-based economy or organization. [ more ]

Employees' Perceptions of Lebanese Managers' Leadership Styles and Organizational Commitment

Georges Yahchouchi

Using Bass' (1990) framework of transactional and transformational leadership, this research investigated the employees' perceptions of the prevalent leadership style in Lebanon and its impact on organizational commitment. The Lebanese society with its social complexity has much to offer to the understanding of the culture's effect on leadership style and organizational commitment. Moreover, the impact of religion and gender on leadership style and organizational commitment is examined. Data were collected in a survey on a sample composed of 158 respondents chosen among employees working and living in two different areas in Lebanon. Results showed that Lebanese leadership tends to be more transformational than transactional. Evidence supporting a positive relation between transformational leadership and organizational commitment has been found. A significant and curious difference in leadership perception and organizational commitment between religious communities has also been noted. [ more ]

Authoritarian Management Style in the Likud Party Under the Leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu

Yaffa Moskovich

This research examines the management style of Israeli Benjamin Netanyahu in the Likud party after his election to party chairman in 1992 compared with that of Yitzhaz Shamir by analyzing party structures that the leaders created. After Netanyahu's election as party chairman, he initiated organizational change within the Likud. He altered the internal election system, introducing primaries to replace the sevens system in order to weaken both the Central Committee and political rivals. This research used the qualitative method, taking the leadership of Netanyahu as a case study. The study was based on two methods of data collection: analyzing documents and interviews. Netanyahu also altered the party constitution. The Central Committee previously had elected most party positions; under Netanyahu, the party chairman himself nominated members to key administration roles. He created two new bodies within the party (the party bureau and the party management) and appointed their members as well. His changes aroused much opposition but were nevertheless passed by majority vote. The Likud party structure became more centralized under Netanyahu's leadership from 1993 to 1996. The party lost its factional nature; instead, one dominant coalition ruled the party. In conclusion, in this case, we see that democratic management within the Likud party was related to the power of the leader: when the leader was weak, his management style was more democratic because he sought support; when the leader enjoyed wide legitimacy in the party, he could choose to be democratic or oligarchic. [ more ]

Influence of Alternative Work Arrangements on Followers' Perceptions of Leader-Follower Relations and Leader Behavior

Dilek Yılmaz Börekçi

This study analyzed whether alternative work arrangements, positioning followers physically and/or contractually in different ways relative to their leaders, their colleagues, and their companies, influence follower perceptions related to leader-follower relations and leader behaviors. Freelancing and telecommuting work arrangements were used in the study representing contractual and physical positioning, respectively. Univariate general linear model (GLM) analyses were conducted based on the followers' perceptions data coming from 135 sales representatives from the pharmaceutical sector. The study revealed that alternative work arrangements influence perceived leader-follower relations in sharing confidential information dimension but do not influence perceptions of followers related to their leaders' behaviors. [ more ]

A Model of Feedback-Seeking Based on the Leader-Member Exchange and Communication Antecedents

Kristen Campbell Eichhorn

The purpose of this study was to understand the antecedents to the leader-member exchange (LMX) model and provide communication-based predictors of seeking feedback directly from supervisors in the workplace. The results suggest (a) conversational appropriateness and effectiveness are positively related to developing high quality relationship with supervisors, (b) perceptions of communication effectiveness are positively and significantly related to direct feedback-seeking strategies but are mediated by the quality of LMX, and (c) individual assertiveness levels do not necessarily contribute to the LMX nor does assertiveness help explain why subordinates seek direct feedback. Results suggest subordinates' perceptions of supervisors' interpersonal communication competence impact the quality of the subordinate and supervisor relationship and in turn impact how subordinates seek feedback from their supervisor. [ more ]

Cultural Value Orientation, Personality, and Motivational Determinants of Strategic Leadership in Africa

David B. Zoogah

Strategic leadership has been proposed as critical to organizational effectiveness. As African economies transition from socialist to open market states, strategic leadership will be instrumental to the effectiveness of African organizations. Unfortunately, few studies of strategic leadership in African organizations exist. To fill this gap, a model of strategic leadership is proposed here. Strategic leadership is viewed as a behavioral competence that top and lower level employees can develop, a view consistent with extant studies of strategic leadership. In the model, strategic leadership depends proximally on motivation to lead and to follow and distally on personality and cultural value orientation. Theoretical and practical implications for management of organizations in Africa are discussed. [ more ]

The Structure of Role Transition: A Phenomenological Study of Successful Executives from Five Countries

Sheri S. Bebb

Previous studies exploring how leaders make successful promotion transitions overlooked the turn from mid-level to functional management. Little research exists that describes this transition from the experience of successful executives. The goal of the present study was to examine the essential structure of managerial role transition. This article discusses the transition strategies of successful executives from multiple countries who work in a Fortune 20 global technology corporation. Drawing upon previously untested models and conducting qualitative research the writer argues that leader effectiveness in making the transition into executive management requires shifts in four domains: cognitive, relational, behavioral, and role perspective. Within and pertaining to each transitional domain, transitional leaders combine four approaches: releasing, learning, adapting, and adjusting. The researcher provides a testable theory and model of managerial role transition. [ more ]

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