Mario Hayek

Alfred D. Chandler, Jr: historical impact and historical scope of his works

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to summarize the life and works of Alfred Chandler and highlight the impact of his thoughts on organizational theory, strategy and history.Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyzes Alfred Chandlers life and the lasting contributions his works have provided to many disciplines as well as the work of his revisionists. Furthermore, the paper analyzes his contributions to the understanding of US business history and global business history.Findings – Chandlers conceptualization of the growth of large business and management practices have shaped business history by transitioning from an American exceptionalist view to a more global comparative perspective.Practical implications – The paper provides Chandlers insights as well as those of his revisionists regarding USA and comparative global business history.Originality/value – The paper highlights Chandlers cross‐disciplinary impact and analyzes Chandlerian and revisionist perspectives in both the American exce...

Ending the denial of slavery in management history

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to further fill the void of American slavery within management history and leadership studies by presenting the unique case of Joseph E. Daviss paternalistic leadership.Design/methodology/approach – This case was selected because of Daviss attempt to transplant Robert Owens utopian practices of social harmony in an industrial, textile‐mill setting to the backdrop of his slavery plantation. The method used is the historical method of analyzing both primary and secondary sources of data about Joseph E. Davis, a Mississippi planter, during the time periods of antebellum and reconstruction.Findings – This analysis indicates that Joseph E. Davis exhibited benevolence, authoritarianism, and, to a degree, moral paternalistic leadership with his slaves. Yet, due to his ideology and the context, he still defended slavery and Southern rights.Research limitations/implications – Historical knowledge about paternalistic leadership during the antebellum slavery and reconstructi...

The collective endorsement of James Meredith: Initiating a leader identity construction process

DeRue and Ashford (2010) proposed a social process of leadership identity construction, asserting that leadership identity is co-constructed by way of claims and grants of leader and follower identities. In addition, these authors suggested that the collective endorsement of the broader social context might serve as a catalyst to initiate the leader identity construction process. As a result, they called for qualitative studies to further develop this idea. During archival research of James Meredith’s historic integration of the University of Mississippi, we discovered evidence to support and extend their theoretical arguments. Accordingly, we interpret the archival evidence of support and opposition of Meredith’s defiant integration to contrast the leader identity construction processes of Meredith with his contemporary antagonist, former Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett. We use this analysis to illustrate how the distinctive social context broadly recognized the key element of defiance and collectively endorsed Meredith as a leader, thereby initiating his leader identity construction process.

Servant leadership and followership creativity: The influence of workplace spirituality and political skill

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how servant leadership and political skill combine to impact workplace spirituality and employee creativity. Design/methodology/approach Participants were working adults recruited by graduate and undergraduate students from a US public regional comprehensive university. Data were collected across three time periods, with a final sample size of 280 participants. Findings The authors’ findings suggest that servant leaders impact employee creativity by fostering an environment that promotes workplace spirituality. Furthermore, this relationship is strengthened to the extent that the servant leader possesses high levels of political skill. Research limitations/implications This study provides a foundation for the interplay between servant leadership and political skill. Therefore, the data collection procedures undertaken in this study (i.e. from sources in multiple organizations) are beneficial. A limitation to this study is the use of a single informant to measure all of the constructs, which may cause a bias in the results. Practical implications This study provides a foundation for the interplay between servant leadership and political skill. Therefore, the data collection procedures undertaken in this study (i.e. from sources in multiple organizations) are beneficial. Originality/value Although servant leadership research continues to receive increased attention in the extant literature, researchers have tended to focus on the relational aspects of servant leadership. Curiously, the “leader” side of servant leadership has been largely neglected. As a result, some have questioned the construct as a viable leadership model. Greenleaf (1977), however, noted that servant leaders also possess conceptual skills; yet, these skills are rarely included in servant leadership measurements or empirical studies. The authors argue that political skill captures the essence of these abilities, and that including it strengthens the servant leader’s impact on workplace spirituality, ultimately influencing employee creativity.

Shifts in corporate accountability reflected in socially responsible reporting: a historical review

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze how social power and pressures over the past century have shifted the audience towards which organizations find themselves accountable, as reflected in their social responsibility reporting.Design/methodology/approach – The authors use historical analysis to analyze qualitatively the annual reports of prominent US organizations between the 1900s to the early 2000s. Adopting an integrationist perspective, the authors ground their research in stakeholder theory and reviewed passages in annual reports identifying the audiences of socially responsible organizational initiatives.Findings – The study revealed that the degree and focus of corporate accountability shifted over the course of the 1900s, and that this change was due to shifts in influence and power stemming from different stakeholders. During the early 1900s, organizations were more concerned with pleasing internal stakeholders (i.e. employees); however, economic and social events shifted this attent...

The first documents of emancipated African American management

Purpose – This paper aims to trace the historical roots of African American management by examining managerial practices and experiences described in the letters of Benjamin Thornton Montgomery, a former slave who eventually became manager and, ultimately, owner of the Hurricane plantation.Design/methodology/approach – The method used is the historical archival method of analysis, primarily the examination of a series of letters written by Montgomery during the 1865‐1870 time periods. These letters, which document the foundation and emergence of African American management during the Emancipation age, are for the first time presented as a source of management history.Findings – Contrary to traditional thoughts of the insignificance of the plantation era to the history of management, the analysis indicates that Montgomerys management practices were quite sophisticated as they incorporated classical management principles of planning, delegation, leadership, and control.Practical implications – This paper p...

Integrating Barnard's and contemporary views of industrial relations and HRM

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to juxtapose the contemporary views of industrial relations (IR) and human resource management (HRM) with the ideas expressed by Chester Barnard.Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyzes Chester Barnards views along the four premises that underlie contemporary perspectives on the fields of IR and HRM.Findings – Barnards main points: that sincerity and honesty of management is crucial to developing an individual employees will to collaborate, and that collective cooperation is superior to collective bargaining are found to resonate well with the contemporary views and provide a clear indication for Barnards preference of human resource perspective to the IR perspective.Practical implications – This paper provides Barnards practical insights into why managing IR and HR by policies leads to poor management.Originality/value – This paper is the first to recognize Barnards unique contribution to contemporary perspectives on IR and HRM disciplines.

Leaping innovation barriers to small business longevity

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address the challenges faced by small businesses and to explain the importance of using strategic innovation to achieve long-term sustainability and viability. Design/methodology/approach This study of small business innovation includes reviewing the types and determinants of innovation as well as strategies to overcome innovation barriers. In addition, the authors developed a model that portrays elements needed for strategic innovation that supports the long-term viability of small businesses. Findings Small businesses serve as the economic foundation for many nations because they stimulate innovation, provide jobs, foster competitiveness and support overall economic growth. Small businesses can rapidly adapt to change, adopt new strategies and provide flexibility that supports strategic innovation. As a result, strategic innovation is a key driver of sustainable competitive advantage for small businesses. Practical implications Small business leaders need to integrate strategic innovation with their strategic planning to remain competitive. The strategic innovation model presented in this paper can assist them in understanding elements needed for successful strategic innovation and long-term viability. Social implications Globally, small businesses exert a strong influence on economic growth and create opportunities, employment and technological development. This paper will assist small business leaders as they strive to use strategic innovation to strengthen their competitive capabilities. Originality/value The unique strategic innovation model that the authors developed can help small businesses to achieve long-term sustainability and viability in the competitive marketplace.

Disharmony in New Harmony: insights from the narcissistic leadership of Robert Owen

Purpose The purpose of this study is to narratively explore the influence of leader narcissism on leader/follower social exchange. Moreover, while researchers acknowledge that narcissistic personality is a dimensional construct, the preponderance of extant literature approaches the concept of narcissistic leadership categorically by focusing on the reactive or constructive narcissistic extremes. This bimodal emphasis ignores self-deceptive forms of narcissistic leadership, where vision orientation and communication could differ from leaders with more reactive or constructive narcissistic personalities. Design/methodology/approach The authors argue that they encountered a compelling example of a communal, self-deceiving narcissist during archival research of Robert Owen’s collective experiment at New Harmony, Indiana. To explore Owen’s narcissistic leadership, they utilize an analytically structured history approach to interpret his leadership, as he conveyed his vision of social reform in America. Findings Approaching data from a ‘history to theory’ perspective and via a communicative lens, the authors use insights from their abductive analysis to advance a cross-paradigm, communication-centered process model of narcissistic leadership that accounts for the full dimensional nature of leader narcissism and the relational aspects of narcissistic leadership. Research limitations/implications Scholars maintaining a positivist stance might consider this method a limitation, as historical case-based research places greater emphasis on reflexivity than replication. However, from a constructionist perspective, a focus on generalization might be considered inappropriate or premature, potentially hampering the revelation of insights. Originality/value Through a multi-paradigmatic analysis of the historical case of Robert Owen and his visionary communal experiment at New Harmony, the authors contribute to the extant literature by elaborating a comprehensive, dimensional and relational process framework of narcissistic leadership. In doing so, the authors have heeded calls to better delineate leader narcissism, embrace process and relational aspects of leadership and consider leader communication as constitutive of leadership.

Narrative analysis of Dale Carnegie's How to Stop Worrying and Start Living

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how one of Dale Carnegies historically best selling self‐help books, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, resonates with the contemporary conceptualization of psychological capital (PsyCap).Design/methodology/approach – The authors use a narrative historical interpretation to analyze Dale Carnegies book How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. Initially, two of the co‐authors independently identified passages mirroring each of the four PsyCap capacities, while in the final stage a consensus on the interpretation was reached with the remaining co‐authors.Findings – The components of the PsyCap construct resonate well with the prescriptions that Carnegie narrated and outlined in his best selling book How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.Research limitations/implications – The findings of this study should be interpreted with a recognition that an alternative critical approach to narrative analysis could have been conducted based on the narrative logic of ...