William L. Gardner

Impression Management in Organizations

Evidence of the process through which organizational members create and maintain desired impressions is provided by this review of social psychological and relevant management research on impression management. Propositions regarding the stimuli and the cognitive, motivational, and affective processes related to impression management and audience responses are advanced. Finally, directions forfuture research into impression management in organizational settings are suggested.

Perceptions of leader charisma and effectiveness: The effects of vision content, delivery, and organizational performance

Abstract This study examined the effects of vision content, delivery and organizational performance on perceptions of leader charisma and effectiveness. Subjects included 304 undergraduates who were presented videotaped speeches by a bogus CEO of a software company. A 2 × 2 × 2 design was employed in which message content (visionary/non-visionary), delivery (strong/weak), and organizational performance (high/low) were manipulated. A modified, 7-item version of Meindl and Ehrlichs (1988) Romance of Leadership Scale (RLS-D) served as a covariate. A MANCOVA analysis indicated significant effects of delivery, content, and organizational performance on both perceived leader charisma and effectiveness. The RLS-D was unrelated to either dependent variable as a covariate. The results suggest that strength of delivery is an especially important determinant of perceptions of leader charisma and effectiveness. Although speech content and organizational performance cues likewise accounted for variance in these perceptions, their effects were at times offset by those of delivery.

Ten years of The leadership quarterly: Contributions and challenges for the future

This article reviews the founding of The Leadership Quarterly (LQ) and the 188 articles published in its first decade. Multiple methods were used to prepare this review including interviews with former and current LQ editors; quantitative techniques; and qualitative analysis to examine the themes, methods, and contributions of the journal during its first decade. Directions for future research are provided, which integrate a decade of LQ author directives with interviews of prominent leadership scholars and the current authors’ opinions grounded in the literature review.

Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to Study Managers: A Literature Review and Research Agenda

This paper provides a review of research into the relationships between psychological types, as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), and managerial attributes, behaviors and effectiveness. The literature review includes an examination of the psychometric properties of the MBTI and the contributions and limitations of research on psychological types. Next, key findings are discussed and used to advance propositions that relate psychological type to diverse topics such as risk tolerance, problem solving, information systems design, conflict management and leadership. We conclude with a research agenda that advocates: (I) the exploration of potential psychometric refinements of the MBTI, (2) more rigorous research designs, and (3) a broadening of the scope of managerial research into type.

Toward a political theory of leadership

Abstract Leadership has been an active area of scientific investigation for over half a century, with scholars developing different perspectives on antecedents, processes, and outcomes. Conspicuous in its absence has been a conceptualization of leadership from a political perspective, despite appeals for such a theory and the widely acknowledged view of political processes in organizations. In this article, we develop a model of a political theory of leadership in an effort to address this need, and to demonstrate the versatility of such a conceptualization for understanding both leadership and social influence processes in organizations. Because we define politics in organizational leadership as the constructive management of shared meaning, we demonstrate how a political perspective does not necessarily cast leaders in a personally ambitious, manipulative role. We proceed to show how this political perspective can contribute to effectiveness through both enhanced leader outcomes and the constituencies consequences to which leaders are directing their efforts. The implications for a political theory of leadership are discussed, as are directions for future research.

Beyond Structured Observation: Methodological Issues and New Directions

Structured observation studies of managers and supervisors completed before Mintzberg (1068), Mintzbergs work (1968, 1973), and recent contributions are reviewed. Integration of the results of this body of literature reveals several severe limitations with methods currently in use. Methodologies are suggested that complement or build on structured observation as a technique for understanding the nature of managerial work.

Impression Management: An Observational Study Linking Audience Characteristics with Verbal Self-Presentations

This study used direct observation to investigate the relationship between audience characteristics and the verbal self-presentational behaviors of 34 school principals. The results revealed that the principals presented themselves differently with high- and low-status, familiar and unfamiliar, and internal and external audiences. Differences in the principals self-presentations during dyadic and group interactions were also observed. The implications of these findings for research on impression management behaviors and management theory are considered.

Work Values Among Lebanese Workers

Abstract On the basis of a review of the existing literature, the authors tested 4 hypotheses to determine the applicability of work values in Arab societies to employees in Lebanese organizations. Only 1 hypothesis was supported: Organizational policies that ran counter to the workers religious values had an adverse effect on job satisfaction. There was no support for the hypotheses (a) that workers religiosity is inversely related to positive attitudes toward womens involvement at work, (b) that employee satisfaction is related to a mechanistic organizational design, or (c) that workers with an internal locus of control experience higher job satisfaction. The Lebanese workers, thus, did not appear to share some of the attributes claimed to exist in Arab societies.

A Network Analysis of Leadership Theory The Infancy of Integration

We investigated the status of leadership theory integration by reviewing 14 years of published research (2000 through 2013) in 10 top journals (864 articles). The authors of these articles examined 49 leadership approaches/theories, and in 293 articles, 3 or more of these leadership approaches were included in their investigations. Focusing on these articles that reflected relatively extensive integration, we applied an inductive approach and used graphic network analysis as a guide for drawing conclusions about the status of leadership theory integration. All 293 articles included in the analysis identified 1 focal theory that was integrated with 2 or more supporting leadership theories. The 6 leadership approaches most often appearing as the focal theory were transformational leadership, charismatic leadership, strategic leadership, leadership and diversity, participative/shared leadership, and the trait approach to leadership. On the basis of inductive reflections on our analysis, we make two key observations. First, the 49 focal leadership theories qualify as middle-range theories that are ripe for integration. Second, drawing from social network theory, we introduce the term “theoretical neighborhood” to describe the focal theoretical networks. Our graphical inductive analyses reveal potential connections among neighboring middle-range leadership theories that merit investigation and, hence, identify promising future directions for achieving greater theoretical integration. We provide an online supplement with 10 additional leadership theory graphs and analyses: leadership in teams and decision groups, ethical leadership, leader and follower cognitions, leadership emergence, leadership development, emotions and leadership, implicit leadership, leader-member exchange, authentic leadership, and identity and identification process theories of leadership.

Practicing Management in the Classroom: Experience Is the Best Teacher

Because management and organizational practices are a pervasive element of everyday life, instructors of management courses are presented with enviable opportunities to illustrate course concepts. One of the most powerful pedagogies for capitalizing on these opportunities is the &dquo;Classroom as an Organization&dquo; approach to instruction (i.e., Cohen, 1976). By structuring the classroom as an organization, the instructor can explicitly demonstrate a variety of aspects of organizational life such as division of labor, coordination, leadership, group processes, performance appraisal, formal and informal communication, and control. Students’ understanding of course concepts is greatly enhanced since they are able to immediately apply theory to practice. However, treating the classroom as