Scott Snook

Identifying and Assessing Tacit Knowledge: Understanding the Practical Intelligence of Military Leaders

Abstract Tacit knowledge (TK) is knowledge drawn from everyday experience that helps individuals to solve real-world, practical problems. This study applied a method for identifying and assessing TK to the domain of military leadership in order to understand why some leaders are more successful than others. Interviews were conducted with Army officers at three levels of leadership in order to identify the type of practical, experience-based knowledge that is not necessarily part of formal training or doctrine. Subsequently, the Tacit Knowledge for Military Leaders (TKML) inventory, consisting of a series of leadership scenarios, was developed to assess the amount of knowledge leaders possess. Three versions of the TKML were administered to a total of 562 leaders at the platoon, company, and battalion levels. At all three levels, TKML scores correlated with ratings of leadership effectiveness from either peers or superiors, and the scores explained variance in leadership effectiveness beyond a test of general verbal ability and a test of TK for managers. These results indicate that domain-specific TK can explain individual differences in leadership effectiveness and suggest that leadership development initiatives should include efforts to facilitate the acquisition of TK.

Big five personality factors, hardiness, and social judgment as predictors of leader performance.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the influence of psychological hardiness, social judgment, and “Big Five” personality dimensions on leader performance in US military academy cadets at West Point.Design/methodology/approach – Army cadets were studied in two different organizational contexts, i.e. summer field training and during academic semesters. Leader performance was measured with leadership grades (supervisor ratings) aggregated over four years at West Point.Findings – After controlling for general intellectual abilities, hierarchical regression results showed leader performance in the summer field training environment is predicted by Big Five extroversion, and hardiness, and a trend for social judgment. During the academic period context, leader performance is predicted by mental abilities, Big Five conscientiousness, and hardiness, with a trend for social judgment.Research limitations/implications – Results confirm the importance of psychological hardiness, extroversion, and consc...

Comments on Glenn Hubbard's Business, Knowledge, and Global Growth

We are grateful to have this opportunity to comment on Dean Hubbard’s remarks about the role of business and business education in the world. We read Dean Hubbard’s article with great care. We see him as making the following four points:(1) Many recent critiques of business education are simply disguised forms of a broader anti-business sentiment.(2) Much of human progress since 1750 can be traced to the powerful contributions made by “business institutions.”(3) The purpose of business schools is to foster economic growth.(4) The primary benefits of an MBA education are: a significant financial return, an insurance policy that reduces “some of the uncertainty of the business landscape,” valuable analytical and technical skills, such as “the ability to assess valuations and conduct negotiations” and a degree that offers its students a wide range of choices as to where to apply the skills they acquired while in school.We address each of these points in turn.This paper is a comment on Business, Knowledge, and Global Growth by R. Glenn Hubbard which can be found at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2205909.

Leading with Purpose: the New Corporate RealitiesLeading with Purpose: The New Corporate Realities, by EllsworthRichard R. Stanford, CA: Stanford Business Books, 2002.

This book explores corporate purpose a companys expressed overriding reason for existing and its effect upon strategy, executive leadership, employees, and, ultimately, on competitive performance. The author challenges the conventional wisdom that corporations should be dedicated to shareholder wealth creation, and argues that instead the path to competitive advantage and outstanding long-term financial performance lies in a customer-focused corporate purpose.