Russell W. Clayton

Lillian McMurry of Trumpet Records: Integrity and Authenticity in the Charismatic, Constructive Narcissist Leader

Although the emerging construct of authentic leadership has received considerable attention recently, there are still diverse and competing theoretical perspectives. Common with nascent theory, many have suggested that researchers attempt to craft expanded and more nuanced conceptions of current and potential components, antecedents, and outcomes associated with the conduct and attribution of leader authenticity. Although such theoretical advancement is essential to the maturation of the paradigm, management historians recognize the important role the historical record can play in the progression of contemporary frameworks. During archival research of the business proceedings of Trumpet Records, a 1950s independent record label, we encountered the compelling story of an entrepreneurial leader whose extraordinary integrity and authenticity appeared inconsistent with certain aspects of the principal authentic leadership definitions beginning to converge in the literature. Accordingly, we examined the life and writings of Lillian McMurry, the founder of Trumpet Records, to propose a framework by which leader integrity initiates the conduct and attribution of authentic leadership to transcend charismatic and narcissistic tendencies and diminish the abuse of symbolic status.

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.

Towards the augmenting role of authenticity: Xenophon as leadership theorist

Abstract The current literature is replete with calls for greater discernment of more positive forms of leadership. In particular, leader authenticity has been proposed as a significant predictor of follower satisfaction and performance and proponents have suggested researchers attempt to theoretically integrate the construct of authentic leadership with other related leadership literatures. While theoretical advances are critical to the discipline, management historians recognize the latent value of ideas presented in classical writings for contemporary theory development. Accordingly, we interpret the historical meanings conveyed by the works of the ancient Athenian Xenophon (c.430–354 BC), a pupil of Socrates, to propose a process by which leader authenticity augments transformational leadership to transcend hedonic satisfaction and promote eudaemonic follower well-being.

Commemorating Chandler through the lens of his revisionists

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to commemorate Alfred Chandler, a truly outstanding business historian, through the unique lens of his revisionists.Design/methodology/approach – By developing a classifying framework, Chandlers revisionists is analyzed based on the extent to which they critique Chandlers interpretation of the role of managers in large organizations.Findings – The revisionist critiques of Chandlers works is traced and examine how they can contribute to the intent of commemorating Chandler and his works.Practical implications – The most relevant revisionists of Chandlers works are highlighted in a manner that might be valuable for the understanding of how Chandlers revisionists can be interpreted within both functional and critical paradigms.Originality/value – The unique contributions of this study is its focus on providing a specific form of commemoration through the lens of Chandlers revisionists and thus putting “Chandler in a larger frame” of management history.

Viewing the work of Lillian M. Gilbreth through the lens of critical biography

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the significant contributions of Lillian M. Gilbreth through the lens of critical biography to put her work in the context of her life events, her key roles, the turning points in her life and the societal context within which her contributions to management thought were made. Design/methodology/approach – Critical biography examines the interaction of a person’s life events with the social, economic and political contexts surrounding his or her life and draws inferences as to why the person made specific decisions and contributions. Findings – Key contributions to management thought made by Lillian M. Gilbreth are linked to her biographical events, including the multiple roles she played as daughter, student, wife, mother, author, engineer, psychologist, breadwinner, domestic scientist and teacher. Various turning points in her life are identified, including being allowed to go to college, taking her first psychology course, marrying Frank Gilbreth, publi...

In extremis leadership of Sartrean authenticity

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to extend the body of knowledge of authentic leadership in extreme contexts by developing a framework grounded in the Sartrean existentialist perspective on authenticity and illustrating this framework using the works of Xenophon. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use Sartre’s existential view of authenticity to develop a framework of authentic leadership in extreme contexts. They then use this framework to examine Xenophon’s recount of the retreat of the 10,000 in the classic work, Anabasis. For this analysis, the authors iterate between the ideas of the past and the concepts of the present to understand how this classic has influenced and informed the current body of knowledge about leadership. Findings – Using a Sartrean existentialist lens, “in extremis” authentic leaders exhibit an awareness of context extremity, responsibility in leading and following to share risks in extreme contexts and self-determination that inspires mutual trust and loyalty. Pract...

Barnard's model of decision making: a historical predecessor of image theory

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine Chester Barnards decisional model utilizing the lens of image theory. The main claim is that the individual decision‐making model proposed by Barnard in his Notes on the Significance of Decisive Behavior can be evaluated within the framework of image theory.Design/methodology/approach – The paper performed a comparative analysis of Barnards and image theorys models of decision making to outline congruence and incongruence between Barnards early conceptualization of individual decision making and the contemporary understanding of image theory.Findings – The findings provide support to the claim that image theory is an appropriate framework to describe Barnards model.Originality/value – The unique contribution of this study is that it provides the first theoretical analysis of Barnards model of individual decision making. Barnards model of individual decision making is little known because it was posthumously published in his Notes on the Significance...

The impact of small business B2B virtual community commitment on brand loyalty

In effort to focus research attention on emerging business-to-business (B2B) virtual communities (VCs), we review and extend business-to-consumer (B2C) literature, resource-advantage theory and relationship marketing to describe how community-hosting organisations build brand loyalty in B2B markets. We explain how functional usefulness, system quality, business opportunity, dialogue initiation and response frequency impact B2B VC commitment and brand loyalty towards the community-hosting organisation. Results of this study support hypotheses that B2B VCs critically impact relationship marketing. Further, functional usefulness, system quality, business opportunity, dialogue initiation and response frequency impact B2B community commitment and brand loyalty.

Chandler as a biographer: content thematic analysis of Chandler's biography of Henry Varnum Poor

Purpose – This paper analyzes Chandlers biography of Henry Varnum Poor to assess Chandlers contribution to management history as a biographer.Design/methodology/approach – Using Winters content thematic analysis, measure Poors motivational needs for achievement, affiliation‐intimacy, and power, as they are depicted by Chandler throughout the stages of Poors career as a business editor, analyst, and reformer.Findings – Our analysis shows that Chandler views Poors motivation as stable throughout Poors three professional roles. This paper found that Chandler views Poor as primarily driven by his need for power, followed by a significant need for achievement, and a minor need for affiliation throughout his working life.Originality/value – This research is unique because it provides the first social‐scientific assessment of Chandlers contribution to management history as a biographer.

History Is Not Boring: Using Social Media to Bring Labor History Alive:

This article features an innovative and engaging assignment to help students learn about labor history events. Labor history is more than just a collection of dates, facts, and figures. Rather, it is the study of the men, women, and children who fought for a workplace that many of today’s employees take for granted: paid leave, a 5-day workweek, potential legal representation of a union, and pensions. By imagining the key stakeholders with access to social media during the time of their chosen historical event, students develop a deeper understanding of the event’s impact and relationship to current practices. Educators seeking an alternate way of tasking students to examine stakeholder theory may also find this assignment useful. We leverage social media to counter the perception among some management students that history is boring with little to no connection to their lives.