Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of interaction in the process of leadership. Interaction has been claimed to be a leadership competence in earlier research into leadership in the Royal Navy. The aim of this research is to define how interaction works within naval teams. Design/methodology/approach – The research uses Grounded Theory. Following a series of leadership discussions in separate focus groups, discussion topics were coded and subjected to recursive qualitative analysis. The grounded approach is used to synthesise and develop existing leadership theory strands as well as to extend the trait-process approach to leadership. Findings – The research discovers the key interaction behaviours of engagement, disengagement and levelling. Our findings support recent developments in follower-centric perceptions of leadership and in interaction specifically. The authors develop engagement theory by combining it with the less well researched area of leadership resistance. The authors then re-frame resistance as social levelling, a more comprehensive interaction mechanism. Research limitations/implications – The research is highly contextual because of its qualitative approach. Some of the detailed reactions to leadership behaviours may not found in other naval or military teams and are unlikely to be generalisable to non-military environments. However, the mechanism described, that of engagement, disengagement and levelling is considered highly generalisable if not universal. Rather than develop new theory fragments in an already confusing research environment, the authors fuse engagement and resistance theory to extend trait-process theories of leadership. The result is a coherent and integrative model of leadership dynamics which frames leadership in the mundane interaction of leaders and followers. Practical implications – Interaction as a competence is strongly supported as is the encouragement of cultures which promote interaction. Selection procedures for future leaders should include interaction skills. The use of subtle methods of resistance are highlighted. Such methods may indicate poor interaction long before more overt forms of resistance are apparent. Social implications – The continual monitoring of leaders and implied ambivalence towards leadership could be critical to our understanding of leadership. A dynamic feedback circle between leaders and followers may be a more useful paradigm for the characterising of leadership throughout society. A better understanding of the power of followers to frame and re-frame leadership would help to manage the expectations of leaders. Originality/value – This research uniquely uses Grounded Theory to extend current theories (competence based leadership and trait-process theories of leadership), explaining the complexity of leadership interaction. The research also synthesises and develops engagement and levelling (resistance to leadership) theories for the first time. As such the project suggests a full range model of follower response to leadership including subtle forms of resistance to power. The value of group-level analysis using focus groups is recommended, especially for other collective leader-follower approaches to leadership. The research is of interest to those studying leadership process theories, competencies, leader-follower traditions, engagement and power/resistance research.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the impact the pandemic had on higher education institutions (HEIs), the opportunities they were able to harness, and whether they are better prepared to deal with future disruptions as a result.Design/methodology/approachThe authors do this by presenting a reflective case study using a combination of crisis and resilience theories as their analytical framework. Case studies are flexible research instruments allowing researchers to draw on both subjective experience and also established theoretical frameworks. Case studies can be used to intensively analyse a specific case from an organisation, sector, or personal perspective. Although the results are not usually generalisable, they can be insightful (Bell et al., 2022).FindingsThe authors found that, in this case, a continuity strategy relevant to the sector, already existed. However, a lack of knowledge meant that the strategy was not used straight away. This was costly in terms of staff and student well-being but, ultimately, HEIs adapted by converging on a practical solution, showing inherent resilience. Further research is necessary to ascertain whether robust business continuity plans would have made the transition smoother.Originality/valueThis paper specifically investigates higher education teaching from a crisis and resilience perspective, using a theoretical framework not previously used for the analysis of Covid-19 in HEIs.

Institutions such as the military aim to respond efficiently to complex logistical challenges using a strictly hierarchical structure, where leaders are assigned a rank by senior colleagues and team members are trained to obey leader commands. Anthropologists have observed that leadership status outside of these top-down hierarchical institutions is often affected by the attribution of prestige by non-leaders. Here we show that even in the strictly hierarchical institutional context of the Royal Navy, informal prestige networks play a functional role in leadership efficacy and group-level dynamics. Specifically, a team leader's informal prestige is a far stronger predictor of team performance and rate of information transmission during training exercises at sea than their formal rank. We find that the more decentralised the prestige network the more efficient it is for disseminating information. The implications of our findings for traditional conceptions of leadership in hierarchical institutions and the effects of prestige on group-level behaviour are discussed.

The Covid-19 pandemic has blown through the Higher Education sector like a Schumpterian ‘gale of creative destruction’ (Schumpeter, 1934), accelerating the pace of change, disrupting entrenched pedagogical approaches, and revealing glimpses of the future of teaching. This study identifies how university-based early adopters responded to this ‘gale,’ successfully implementing the rapid change required to pivot to online teaching while addressing institutional requests to support the reluctant majority. Adopting an innovative interdisciplinary framework, this study advances understanding about the criticality of early-adopter behaviour in implementing change. The triggers, dynamics and impact of early-adopter behaviours are identified, as are the resultant implications for institutions for resourcing, recognising, and rewarding early adopters. The research design is underpinned by polyphony (Belova, 2010). Theoretical aspects from entrepreneurship (Stevenson, Roberts & Grousebeck, 1989) and networked learning (Dohn, Cranmer, Sime, De Laat & Ryberg, 2018) are also incorporated, relating early adopter behaviour to the entrepreneurial process in the context of virtual learning communities. This study uses vignettes from early adopters who have pivoted to online teaching in a university, identifying their experiences of instigating and supporting change. The findings highlight the facilitators of, and constraints on, early adopter behaviour, identifying the contextual characteristics necessary to challenge preconceived institutional notions and develop intrapreneurial mindsets that more readily support and implement early-adopter behaviours.

This article explores the unexpected role-shift for early TELT -adopters during the COVID-19 crisis.  In Universities where TELT occurs in the margins of campus-based traditional lectures (e.g. Russell Group Universities), early adopters and experts are accustomed to working in some degree of isolation and exploring digital resources independently.  It will explore the rapid shift in emphasis away from micro-projects to performing in a high-pressure and strategic environment with an unprecedented interest in TELT, and show how, in a very short period of time, a group of early TELT-adopters were empowered to become strategic leaders and policy makers and to produce a robust framework for Blended and Online Learning and Teaching (BOLT) for use in all courses. In April 2020, the Adam Smith Business School (ASBS) made the decision that all learning and teaching for the academic year 2020-21 would move to a blended/online model. In order to action this, a working group of early TELT-adopters from within ASBS was formed, who collaboratively produced a four-part BOLT Framework for use in all courses. Working quickly, and with little time to consult externally, this group drew on their existing knowledge and worked iteratively in order to ensure that colleagues could quickly develop the necessary skill-sets for BOLT. The result is a BOLT strategy where all ILOs are achievable asynchronously, with synchronous sessions used to support students and build learning communities. This article sets out the BOLT Framework: explaining how it was developed, the principles underpinning it and using case studies to show the Framework working in practice. It explains how the sometimes informal, furtive and unstructured self-development of TELT enthusiasts played a key role in the School online pivot and perspectives of TELT changed on both sides of the TELT debate through open and earnest exchanges of ideas and problem-solving.

We have the pleasure to present this special issue of Continuity and Resilience Review on Resilience in a post-pandemic worldhas anything changed?. Never has there been a crisis of such scale and magnitude as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, affecting all parts of the world, having been exacerbated by the globalised nature of business and society, with significant effects still in 2023.The disciplines of risk, resilience and business continuity were suddenly thrust into centre stage of discourse at macro levels of governments, meso levels of organisations and micro levels of individuals. The concept of risk resilience became more prominent in practice and research, with the momentum steadily growing throughout the global pandemic. However, to ensure increased awareness and effective implementation of risk resilience at mesoorganisational levels, there is a need for more empirical research with in-depth and critical consideration of risk resilience and its measurement (Hillman and Guenther, 2021).In this special issue, we analyse the current state of play in relation to risk, resilience and business continuity as we progress through the crisis stages (Fink, 1986) and reflect on the earlier, more chaotic phase, which has just passed. When we started on this journey of putting together a special issue on this topic, we speculated on the (in)adequacy of prior risk and resilience practices and theories and if there were clear and positive shifts in how these disciplines were viewed more broadly. Based on the latter, we considered the challenges posed by the pandemic across various sectors of society.Earlier in the pandemic, predictions around its potential impact on organisational practice, including increased use of risk functions in strategic planning, renewed interest in crisis management and closer links between crisis management and other risk disciplines were made (Deloitte, 2021). In 2022, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported that experts in risk management, resilience and business continuity appeared to be in higher demand because of COVID-19 (Bloom, 2022). Furthermore, the UK Government published its Resilience Framework in 2022, which argues that a strong resilience system at all levels of government and across the public, private and non-profit sectors is now more important than ever.In response to this, this special issue addresses the overarching question on the role and impact of COVID-19 on risk resilience, risk management and business continuity from an organisational perspective. Taking an inclusive approach, we included empirical and theoretical articles from a broad spectrum of disciplines and geographical regions. Articles from academics and practitioners, including reflective and opinion pieces, were also featured in this special issue. Mohamad et al. (2023) present empirical findings from the SME sector, focussed on supply chain risk and business continuity strategies in the Malaysian food industry during the pandemic. Isip et al. (2023) discuss how environmental h...

This case study aims to highlight the ease of use and effectiveness of an escape room game by describing how it was implemented in an undergraduate business course. The case study demonstrates the simplicity of a straightforward text-based game and how this was used in a large course of online students. Our case study aims to present our experience of implementing the escape room game from a practical perspective. We add to our narrative some descriptive statistics from a student survey conducted after the game. The case study builds on existing work in this field by extending its use beyond small face-to-face sessions to a technique suitable for far larger classes in an online format.