C. Lakshman

Organizational knowledge leadership: a grounded theory approach

Purpose – Leadership theory and research has not addressed the role of leaders in knowledge management, despite its importance to organizations. Consequently, information and knowledge management as key leader functions have not been explored. This study is an attempt to generate a preliminary theory of the role of leaders in knowledge management through a grounded theory approach.Design/methodology/approach – This study builds a grounded theory of the role of leadership in knowledge management by comparatively analyzing 37 in‐depth interviews of CEOs. Combining deductive and inductive methods, this study establishes the key role of top executive leaders of organizations in knowledge management.Findings – The data from the interviews suggest that leaders are acutely aware of the role of information and knowledge sharing and design knowledge networks that serve to maximize organizational effectiveness. Moreover, leaders use information technology and knowledge management to better focus on key internal and...

Organizational knowledge leadership

Purpose – Knowledge management as a key top executive function has not been sufficiently explored in the leadership literature. This study seeks to examine the role of top executives in knowledge management by first building theoretical hypotheses and subsequently testing them. Hypotheses are developed through the integration of the knowledge management and leadership literatures and tested using CEO interviews published in Harvard Business Review.Design/methodology/approach – Using the method of structured content analysis developed by Jauch et al., this study uses these HBR interviews and develops questionnaire instruments through which data are collected from respondents in a structured fashion. This innovative method involves the distribution of these published interviews with top executives of organizations (such as CEOs) to multiple groups of respondents, who then carefully read the interviews and responded to the structured questions developed for the purpose of assessing the relevant constructs in...

Top executive knowledge leadership: Managing knowledge to lead change at general electric

Abstract Using a single case study approach, this article highlights the role of Jack Welch as a knowledge leader. It provides a description of Welchs role as CEO, focusing exclusive attention on knowledge management as an essential component of his leadership. Combining qualitative and quantitative sources of data, this study demonstrates the role of top executive leaders in knowledge management and its importance to organizational performance. The results establish knowledge leadership as an integral aspect of the executive leadership of Welch. These results are discussed in light of the literature along with implications for future research and limitations of this study.

Leveraging human capital through performance management process: the role of leadership in the USA, France and India†

This paper examines the role of human capital and leaders knowledge in performance management in three countries from different continents. We contribute to the relevant literatures by examining crucial, hitherto unexamined processes of leveraging human capital, focusing on the conversion of tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge. The paper also contributes by demonstrating the applicability of these processes and a general strategic human resource management framework to differing cultures. Using data from employee samples in these three countries, this study shows a strong positive impact of managerial human capital on key processes of leveraging such capital such as performance enhancement strategies and critical interactive behaviors, eventually leading to strong perceptions of leadership. These processes seem to be applicable across the three countries studied. These results are discussed in the context of cultural variations, pressures for globalization and associated HRM practices in these contexts. Future directions, limitations and managerial implications are discussed.

Structured content analysis in leadership research: a new method for international contexts

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate structured content analysis (SCA) in leadership research by examining and contrasting it with traditional content analysis (TCA) and case survey methodology. SCA is presented as a variation of TCA, and is characterized as one that is more likely to be used by leadership researchers because of its more quantitative bent than TCA, but yet does not lose its capability to investigate inherently qualitative processes of leadership.Design/methodology/approach – The paper systematically compares features of SCA as proposed by the seminal authors to the more sophisticated SCA proposed here. This is accomplished by clarifying and strengthening some of the inadequacies of SCA as initially conceptualized. The new SCA is first described in terms of its components and typical procedures. Using relevant leadership literature, the paper: clarifies the selection of data sources used in such analyses to enhance and verify source validity; identifies additional means to es...

Attributional theory of leadership: a model of functional attributions and behaviors

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a positive and functional attributional model of leadership, using both leadership perceptions and leadership effectiveness as criteria. Drawing from cognitive complexity theory, and attributional complexity theory, this article identifies attributional accuracy of managers as the fundamental component of the functional model developed here. The model of leadership developed here focuses on such key leadership constructs as leader information processing using complex schemata, leader attributions and their accuracy, leader behaviors that follow their attributions, mediating variables such as subordinate self‐efficacy, satisfaction, and motivation, and outcome variables such as leadership perceptions and subordinate performance. These variables are linked in a process model.Design/methodology/approach – The article depends on a critical review of the literature to build a theoretical model consistent with theory building guidelines.Findings – Accurate attri...

The relationship between MNCs’ strategies and executive staffing

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship of business strategies with executive staffing of multinational companies (MNCs). Design/methodology/approach Based on in-depth interviews conducted with top executives of 22 MNCs’, the authors identify important connections between international business strategies and staffing orientation. The authors used the qualitative research approach of building theory from interviews; thus, creating theoretical propositions from empirical evidence. Findings The authors find that when the pressure for global integration is high, MNCs use more parent-country national (PCNs) (ethnocentric staffing) as against the use of host-country managers (HCNs) (polycentric staffing) when this pressure is low. Additionally, MNCs using a global strategy are more likely to use an ethnocentric staffing approach, those using a multi-domestic strategy use a polycentric approach and firms using transnational strategy adopt a mix of ethnocentric and polycentric approaches. Research limitations/implications Although the authors derive theoretical patterns based on rich qualitative data, their sample is relatively small and comprises mostly of French MNCs. Generalizability to a broader context is limited. However, the authors’ findings have critical implications for future research. Practical implications The authors’ findings provide critical managerial implications for MNCs in matching their HR strategies with business strategies. These are important for effective strategy implementation. Originality/value Although MNC staffing orientations have been studied for a long time, their relationship to international business strategies is still not clearly understood. The authors contribute to the literature by investigating the relationship between MNCs’ business strategy types with staffing orientations.

Corporate governance scandals in the Indian Premier League (IPL): implications for labour

This article investigates the corporate governance issues in the context of the rapidly growing and successful business model of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket league in India. Our analysis of the governance issues and the related recent scandals in this league reveal a number of startling conclusions and the need for serious reforms. We find that a weak institutional environment for corporate governance in India, combined with the very rapid success of the IPL business model, within a few years of its birth contribute to the munificent environment within which greed-mongering has proliferated. The number of inconsistencies and loopholes within the governance mechanisms of the IPL are identified and situated within the broader literature on corporate governance and the more specific literature within sport business. We discuss implications for labour, sport as a business and its internationalisation in the context of cricket.

Attributional complexity and leadership Test of a process model in France and India

Despite the importance of attributional complexity (AC) of managers in cross-cultural contexts, empirical tests of the relationship between AC and the degree to which managers make isomorphic (accurate) attributions are absent. This study provides a crucial contribution to the literature by focusing on the hitherto unexamined empirical link between AC and accurate attributions. This study also contributes to the literature by drawing on the psychological and leader attribution literature to delineate the processes resulting from the information processing of attributionally complex individuals who use complex schemata and then linking these processes to leadership in cross-national contexts. This article tests the theoretical propositions of the model focusing on the process through which AC of managers affects the accuracy of their attributions, subsequently leading to their behaviors that create the climate for leader effectiveness. We provide an empirical test with data from manager–subordinate dyads in France and India. The following hypotheses are supported: AC of managers is linked to accuracy of attributions, as perceived by subordinates and performance enhancement strategies of managers are linked to isomorphic attributions and to key outcome variables (subordinate satisfaction and leadership perceptions), with power distance being a critical moderator. By examining and showing evidence for the moderating impact of power distance, we also contribute to the cross-cultural management literature on leadership. Results are discussed, along with limitations/directions for future research.

Flexibility Oriented HRM Practices and Innovation: Comparative Evidence from China and India

The importance of flexibility as a characteristic of HR systems has been long recognized. Yet, very little work has attempted to conceptualize and measure it for examining desirable outcomes such as innovation. Additionally, our understanding of the ‘black box’ between HR systems and organizational outcomes is still very limited. We contribute by theorizing and empirically examining the influence of Flexibility- oriented HRM (FHRM) systems on intellectual capital, and by examining the mediating role of intellectual capital in the relationship between FHRM and innovativeness. We test our model using samples from China and India and show support for the hypotheses. Our findings show a specific set of relationships between two FHRM components –Coordination-flexibility-oriented HRM and Resource-flexibility oriented HRM –and the three components of intellectual capital –human, social, and organizational capital. We also find that intellectual capital mediates the relationship between FHRM and firm innovativene...