Sooksan Kantabutra

The Power of vision : statements that resonate

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to identify characteristics of visions that are associated with desirable performance outcomes.Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines findings from various vision studies in American, Australian and Thai businesses to derive characteristics of effective vision statements.Findings – Effective visions are characterized by conciseness, clarity, abstractness, stability, future orientation, challenge and desirability or ability to inspire in Australian, Thai and US businesses. Such visions are associated with higher performance outcomes.Originality/valueWhile vision is emphasized by authors and consultants as critical to superior performance, little is known about what characterizes effective vision. This study uncovers this unknown.

Vision effects in customer and staff satisfaction: an empirical investigation

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to examine the relationships between vision attributes (of brevity, clarity, challenge, stability, abstractness, future orientation, and desirability or ability to inspire) and content (relating to customer and staff satisfaction imageries), and customer and staff satisfaction in Australian retail stores, taking into account vision realisation factors of vision communication, organisational alignment, motivation, empowerment and a staff personal factor comprised of staff emotional commitment to and use of the vision. Design/methodology/approach – Variables of vision attributes and content, vision communication, organisational alignment, motivation, empowerment and staff personal factor were derived from the literature. Data were from store managers, staff and customers of 101 apparel stores in Sydney. These variables were tested for significant relationships through chi‐square and regression analyses. Findings – Findings endorse the importance of espousing a vision containing reference to customer and staff satisfaction, although the seven attributes variable was not significant in this study. Empowerment of staff and staff personal factor were directly predictive of enhanced customer satisfaction, while motivation and empowerment of staff, and staff personal factor were directly predictive of enhanced staff satisfaction. Practical implications – Retail store managers should develop a store vision containing reference to customer and staff satisfaction. They should communicate their vision, align organisational components with the vision, empower and motivate staff. Staff should also use the vision to guide their work and emotionally commit to the vision. Original/value – While vision is core to vision‐based leadership theories, little is known about what characterises an effective vision. This study attempts to uncover this unknown.

Toward A Behavioral Theory Of Vision In Organizational Settings

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a behavioral theory of organizational vision.Design/methodology/approach – Based on existing theoretical concepts and empirical evidence, this new theory development compares a diverse set of plausible logical, empirical, and/or epistemological conjectures so that highlighting occurs to form the substance of the new vision theory.Findings – The approach takes the form of an emerging vision theory, which explains how vision attributes create an impact on organizational performance.Originality/value – While vision is core to the prevailing vision‐based leadership theories, little is theoretically and empirically known about attributes for effective vision. Moreover, there is no existing leadership theory, which explains the process by which vision attributes create positive effects on organizational performance. The paper proposes a vision theory to fill this gap.

Vision effects in Thai retail stores: practical implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between vision attributes and content, and customer and staff satisfaction in Thai retail stores, taking into account vision realization factors of vision communication, organizational alignment, motivation of staff and empowerment of staff.Design/methodology/approach – Variables of vision attributes and content, vision communication, organizational alignment, motivation of staff and empowerment of staff were derived from the literature. Data were from store managers, staff and customers of 126 apparel stores in Bangkok. These variables were tested for significant relationships through regression analyses.Findings – Vision attributes is an indirect predictor of improved staff and customer satisfaction. Visions containing images about leadership were positively correlated with customer satisfaction. Motivation of staff is the only direct predictor of enhanced staff satisfaction, while vision, empowerment of staff, organizational alignment,...

Improving Public School Performance through Vision-Based Leadership.

While vision-based leadership, frequently referred to as transformational leadership in the education literature, is widely regarded as critical to successful organization transformation, little research has been conducted into the relationship between vision-based leadership and public school performance in Thailand. Derived from substantial literature, a model is proposed to investigate if vision attributes (brevity, clarity, future orientation, stability, challenge, abstractness, and desirability or ability to inspire) and content (relating to teacher and student satisfaction, and efficiency) are associated with higher public school performance, while taking into account Principal, Teacher, & Organizational Factors. Future research directions and managerial implications are also discussed.

Sustainable leadership in a Thai healthcare services provider

PURPOSE Rhineland leadership practices contrast sharply with the prevailing Anglo/US business model of short-term maximization of profitability, and are said to lead to greater corporate sustainability, at least in highly developed economies. However, the applicability of Rhineland leadership to less developed economies has not yet been demonstrated. This paper sets out to compare the business practices of a social enterprise that delivers healthcare services in Thailand and Averys 19 sustainable leadership practices derived from Rhineland enterprises. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH Adopting a case study approach, multi-data collection methods included non-participant observations made during visits to the enterprise, and reference to internal and published documentation and information. Semi-structured interview sessions were held with many stakeholders, including top management, staff, patients and a former consultant. FINDINGS In the Thai healthcare organization studied, evidence was found for compliance with 15 of Averys 19 sustainable leadership elements, but to varying degrees. The elements were grouped into six core sets of practices: adopting a long-term perspective, staff development, organizational culture, innovation, social responsibility, and ethical behavior. One element was found to be not applicable, and no evidence was found for conformity with Rhineland principles on the remaining three sustainable practices. The paper concludes that Averys 19 Rhineland practices provide a useful framework for evaluating the corporate sustainability of this Thai enterprise. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS Healthcare enterprises in Thailand and possibly in other Asian countries that wish to sustain their organizational success could adopt Averys 19 Sustainable Leadership Grid elements to examine their leadership practices, and adjust them to become more sustainable. ORIGINALITY/VALUE The relevance of Rhineland sustainable leadership principles to enterprises in less developed economies remains to be investigated. This study attempts to uncover this unknown.

Sustainable leadership at Siam Cement Group

Purpose – This study examines the question of whether sustainable leadership principles, also known as Rhineland leadership, can apply to a listed business in an emerging economy.Design/methodology/approach – Averys sustainable leadership grid provided the framework for analysis of a major publicly‐listed Thai enterprise, the Siam Cement Group (SCG). A multi‐method case study used semi‐structured interviews with various stakeholders, observations, and internal and external documentation. The Rhineland principles were grouped into six categories for analysis: long‐term perspective, investing in people, organizational culture, innovation, social and environmental responsibility, and behaving ethically.Findings – Overall, data showed moderate to strong evidence for 18 of the 19 grid practices at SCG, the exception being the CEO serving as speaker of the top team rather than being a heroic leader. Moderate evidence was found for consensual and devolved decision making and self‐governing teams. All 16 other e...

Vision effects: a critical gap in educational leadership research

Purpose – Although leaders are widely believed to employ visions, little is known about what constitutes an “effective” vision, particularly in the higher education sector. This paper seeks to proposes a research model for examining relationships between vision components and performance of higher education institutions, as measured by financial stability, student satisfaction and growth, process improvement, and learning and faculty satisfaction. The model proposes that vision attributes of brevity, clarity, abstractness, challenge, future orientation, stability, and desirability, and vision content relating to financial stability, student satisfaction and growth, process improvement, and learning and faculty satisfaction can affect performance through four vision realisation variables.Design/methodology/approach – Based on a critical review of existing theoretical concepts and empirical evidence, a new research model, as well as research hypotheses, are developed for future research.Findings – With futu...

Vision‐based leadership: relationships and consequences in Thai and Australian retail stores

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine relationships between vision‐based leadership components, and customer and staff satisfaction in Thai and Australian retail stores.Design/methodology/approach – Two models are derived from the literature. The first model expressing relationships among vision, store manager passion and staff vision sharing and staff and customer satisfaction is tested in Thai retail stores. The second model expressing relationships among vision attributes, motivation of staff and store manager passion, staff vision guiding and staff and customer satisfaction is tested in Australian retail stores. Regression analyses are adopted.Findings – Store visions characterize by brevity, clarity, future orientation, stability, challenge, abstractness and ability to inspire and containing references to sales, customer, employee and leadership indirectly predict improved customer satisfaction in Thai retail stores. In Australian retail stores, visions with the same characteristics as we...

Sustainable leadership: Honeybee practices at Thailand's oldest university

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to adopt Avery and Bergsteiners 23 sustainable leadership practices derived from sustainable organizations as a framework to examine the leadership practices of Thailands oldest university.Design/methodology/approach – Avery and Bergsteiners principles were grouped into six categories for analysis: long‐term perspective, staff development, organizational culture, innovation, social responsibility, and ethical behavior, providing the framework for analysis of the university. Adopting a multi‐data collection approach, research teams supplemented case study data with participant observations, and reference to documentation and information supplied by, or published about the university. Semi‐structured interviews were held with multiple stakeholders.Findings – Six core sets of practices consistent with 21 sustainable leadership practices are identified: a focus on a long‐term perspective, staff development, a strong organizational culture, innovation, social and environme...