Joseph C. Santora

Building a Climate for Innovation Through Transformational Leadership and Organizational Culture

Research has called for organizations to be more flexible, adaptive, entrepreneurial, and innovative in meeting the changing demands of todays environment. Appropriate leadership to effect such change is required; however, there has been little empirical analysis of the theoretical relationships among the key components that make up such change strategy, including transformational leadership, organizational culture, and organizational innovation. This study examines these linkages in terms of their relationships with climate for organizational innovation in Australian private sector organizations. Structural equation modeling based on responses to a survey of 1,158 managers explores the relationship between transformational leadership and climate for organizational innovation and the extent to which a competitive, performance-oriented organizational culture mediates this relationship. Strategies for building innovative organizations are discussed.

Defining and Measuring Servant Leadership Behaviour in Organizations

This paper examines the development and initial validation of a multidimensional measure of servant leadership behaviour (Servant Leadership Behaviour Scale). Both qualitative and quantitative studies are reported to establish preliminary psychometric properties for the new 35-item, six-dimension measure. The resultant servant leadership model is characterized by its service orientation, holistic outlook, and moral-spiritual emphasis, thereby extending current models of servant leadership and existing works on contemporary leadership approaches. Theoretical contributions, practical implications, and future research directions are discussed in the concluding section of the paper.

The transformational‐transactional leadership model in practice

Explores the nature of transformational and transactional leadership among business executives. Comments reveal that most executives believe there are weaknesses as well as strengths with both leadership constructs in practice. Overall, major leadership strengths are in the role modelling, coaching, and consideration behaviors of executives. Major weaknesses are in failure to motivate and challenge workers beyond the expected outcomes. Other facets of each of the four transformational and two transactional leadership behaviors are examined in this article. Lists leadership strategies and approaches for achieving positive results and implications for future research are also provided.

Leaders and values: a cross‐cultural study

This paper examines the value orientations of executives and their linkages to leadership behaviors. The 181 executives in this study were randomly selected from the top 500 Australian companies. Value orientations of Australian executives compared with their Russian, Japanese, and Chinese counterparts reveal as many similarities as there are differences. In general, transformational leadership styles were most closely related to personal values orientations. The implications of the findings are discussed, and practical suggestions for leadership development and research are proposed.

Leadership vision, organizational culture, and support for innovation in not‐for‐profit and for‐profit organizations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships among leadership vision, organizational culture, and support for innovation in not‐for‐profit (NFP) and FP organizations. It hypothesizes that in NFPs, a socially responsible cultural orientation mediates the relationship between leadership vision and organizational support for innovation, whereas in FPs, a competitive cultural orientation mediates this relationship.Design/methodology/approach – This is an empirical study that draws upon a large survey of 1,448 managers and senior executives who are members of the Australian Institute of Management.Findings – Path analytic modelling provides partial support for the hypotheses. Although the predicted mediation effects occurred in NFPs and FPs, the strength of relationship between leadership vision and the two dimensions of organizational culture did not differ between the sectors. This was despite the observation that NFPs scored higher on a socially responsible cultural orientation th...

Changing Times: Entrepreneurial Leadership In A Community-Based Nonprofit Organization

Executive Summary This paper investigates the issue of organizational change in a Hispanic community-based nonprofit organization. It provides background information on the organization and its leadership. It discusses the ways a newly appointed entrepreneurial leader introduced change into the organization. This paper discusses the need for a visionary and entrepreneurial leader to transform nonprofit organizations. Finally, it concludes with a discussion of implications and applications and raises questions for future research.

The role of coachee characteristics in executive coaching for effective sustainability

– Executive coaching is gaining in popularity as a management developmental activity which facilitates organisational change for sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships among coachee feedback receptivity, pre‐training motivation, learning goal orientation, developmental self‐efficacy, self‐reported job performance improvement, self‐awareness, task performance and affective commitment in terms of executive coaching effectiveness as a form of management development., – A non‐randomised controlled trial research design was conducted to examine the hypothesized relationships among coachee characteristics and executive coaching effectiveness, as reflected in greater levels of individual outcomes in corporate Israel., – A significant interaction between learning goal orientation and pre‐training motivation on improvement in job self‐reported performance was found. Additionally, a negative relationship was found between learning goal orientation and improvement in self‐reported job performance among coachees with low levels of pre‐training motivation. Finally, self‐efficacy demonstrates a positive relationship with job performance improvement., – This research provides greater insights about the type of individual outcomes executive coaching should achieve, and under which conditions coaching is likely to be more beneficial for participants. This research has value for designing and implementing coaching programmes to drive sustainable development and innovation.

Academic background and credibility in executive coaching effectiveness

Purpose – Little empirical research has examined the role of coach characteristics in coaching success. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap in the literature by identifying and testing the relationships between a coachs academic background in psychology and credibility with executive coaching effectiveness as reflected in greater levels of individual outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – These factors were examined through a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design. Participants were drawn from the client bases of four Israeli executive coaching agencies. Findings – A coachs academic background in psychology was positively related to executive coaching effectiveness as reflected in greater improvement in coachee self-awareness and job performance as reported by the direct supervisor. Further, coach credibility was positively related to executive coaching effectiveness as reflected in higher mean scores in coachee self-reported job performance. Originality/value – Findings should assist ...

Leaders and their use of motivating language

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to use Motivating Language Theory (MLT) as a framework in determining leader use of different language styles during times of dynamic change. Design/methodology/approach – This exploratory study of executive members of the Australian Institute of Management examined how MLT may provide a mechanism for analyzing what leaders say in the context of a work setting. Written transcripts of interview data were analyzed to determine leaders’ use of three language styles: meaning-making (locutionary), direction giving (perlocutionary), and empathetic (illocutionary) language. The software program NVivo was used to help aggregate themes emerging from written and interview data into discrete modules to enable more robust and comprehensive analysis of the data. Findings – A range of issues pertinent to the way executives lead and manage their businesses, both in private and not-for-profit organizations, was identified in this study. Direction giving language was most prominent i...

Views from the top: foundation CEOs look at leadership succession

Investigates the issue of succession planning and implementation for chief executive officers (CEOs) at philanthropic organizations. Provides a description, definition and classification for philanthropic organizations: family, operating, community, and company‐sponsored. Selects four foundation CEOs representing some of the four types noted in the typology for research. Gives them the same case study to review, read, and respond to five questions targeted to the case study and to their foundation’s philosophy of succession planning. Discusses unique features and uncovers similar features and analyses reactions. Suggests that no foundation CEO interviewees had experience with succession planning or felt the choices in the study appropriate. Also identifies the need to study the process of grant awarding to uncover additional aspects related to understanding power, leadership, and influence in foundations’ policies for choosing leadership and transferring authority in a planned way.