The recent economic crisis as well as other disasters such as the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico or the nuclear disaster in Japan has fanned calls for leaders who do not deny responsibility, hide information, and deceive others, but rather lead with authenticity and integrity. In this article, we empirically investigate the concept of authentic leadership. Specifically, we examine the antecedents and individual as well as group-level outcomes of authentic leadership in business (Study 1; n = 306) as well as research organizations (Study 2; n = 105). Findings reveal leader self-knowledge and self-consistency as antecedents of authentic leadership and followers' satisfaction with supervisor, organizational commitment, and extraeffort as well as perceived team effectiveness as outcomes. The relations between authentic leadership and followers' work-related attitudes as well as perceived team effectiveness are mediated by perceived predictability of the leader, a particular facet of trust. We discuss the implications of our findings for theory and practice and provide suggestions for advancing theory and research on authentic leadership in the future.

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Even though mission statements are standard tools in organizations, their effectiveness is subject to substantial skepticism. This review integrates hitherto published research based on a broad range of objective and subjective effectiveness criteria above and beyond financial performance in for-profit as well as not-for-profit organizations. We conclude that the distal outcome effectiveness of mission statements depends on the following antecedents and intermediate outcomes: (1) the rationale underlying their development; (2) the process of their development and implementation; (3) their content and form; and (4) individual attitudes toward the mission statement. We thereby clarify preconditions of mission statement effectiveness in organizations, and reveal shortcomings in current research.

Even though mission statements are standard tools in organizations, their effectiveness is subject to substantial skepticism. This review integrates hitherto published research based on a broad range of objective and subjective effectiveness criteria above and beyond financial performance in for-profit as well as not-for-profit organizations. We conclude that the distal outcome effectiveness of mission statements depends on the following antecedents and intermediate outcomes: (1) the rationale underlying their development; (2) the process of their development and implementation; (3) their content and form; and (4) individual attitudes toward the mission statement. We thereby clarify preconditions of mission statement effectiveness in organizations, and reveal shortcomings in current research.

No abstract