The democratisation made possible by social media presents leadership studies with an opportunity to re-evaluate the often-neglected role of power in leader–follower dynamics. Drawing on Critical Leadership Studies and using a hybrid qualitative methodology, we discover that relationships between social media leaders and followers are co-produced and largely accompanied by continuous shifts and re-negotiation of power between social media leaders and social media followers. We show that social media platforms and their metrics play an important role in such power shifts by granting equal access to communication whilst potentially tilting information asymmetries in favour of the follower. The study also shows how these relationships can affect and even pervert the leaders’ problematic search for a ‘true self’. From this observation we draw attention to wider challenges in the social media context, which poses important questions for the leadership field.
PurposeFor several years, the domestic markets of manufacturing organizations have started to reach maturity and companies have sought to expand their international operations in order to grow. This has meant that there has been an increasing emphasis on the debate on whether companies should remain global or localize their marketing mix, and to what extent each element should be adapted or standardized. The paper aims to explore the degree to which manufacturing organizations need to standardize or adapt elements of their marketing mix. It demonstrates how a balance can be created between global and local approaches.Design/methodology/approachThe paper defines the key concepts of adaptation and standardization and outlines contrasting viewpoints in the literature. It uses existing frameworks as a basis for analysis. The use of case study examples that demonstrate both international brand failures and brand successes shed light on balancing local and global markets.FindingsThe paper provides insight into the different approaches that manufacturing organizations can follow when expanding into international markets. The paper argues against the statement “manufacturing organizations are either mindlessly global or hopelessly local” and demonstrate that manufacturing organizations can successfully combine a global and local approach if they carefully choose the elements that they adapt or standardize.Originality/valueThis paper is based on previous research between manufacturing companies operating in Europe and the Middle East. It is therefore vocationally original. It is of value to manufacturing companies, which need to understand how they can balance global and local markets.
Whilst Day's (2000) description of leadership development as an investment in social capital has been widely cited, there has been little subsequent empirical or theoretical work to explore and articulate the nature and purpose of this ‘social capital’ or how it changes over time. This paper revisits this issue by presenting findings from a qualitative in-depth longitudinal evaluation of a corporate leadership development programme. The study explored the multi-faceted and shifting nature of social capital during and after the programme, with particular attention given to how different aspects of social capital were perceived and engaged with by key stakeholders over time. Findings reveal differing perspectives on the nature and purpose of social capital and illustrate the impact of changing organizational contexts on programme aims and outcomes and how these are evaluated. The paper concludes by outlining implications for the evaluation of leadership development, advocating the value of a pluralistic approach that incorporates criticality alongside the logics of accountability, development and knowledge that characterise most current approaches to evaluation Kennedy, Carroll and Francoeur (2013) .
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make a significant contribution to the UK economy, accounting for 60% of all private sector jobs and 47% of revenue. Whilst previous research has highlighted the importance of innovation for economic growth, productivity and success within larger organisations, this has been largely under-explored within smaller organisations. This is arguably more important than ever before as there is a distinct need for SMEs in the UK to innovate to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated economic crisis. However, without a leadership presence, there is little or no focus for an organisation to innovate, nor is there an individual or group to lead the way forward, and to motivate fellow employees to innovate. This paper investigates the role of leadership as a means of cultivating innovation within SMEs in the UK. Certain behaviours and leadership attributes are found more likely to support and encourage innovation in a variety of different types of leaders, regardless of their actual leadership style. However, we suggest that authentic, entrepreneurial, transformational and ambidextrous leadership approaches, have the potential to be particularly valuable in cultivating innovation within SMEs, and that this could be particularly pertinent for business recovery post-pandemic.
The representation and progression of women in leadership roles is a global issue, but research insights on the enactment of leadership by women stem from a predominantly Western perspective. As leadership is inherently context-dependent, we focus on a specific ‘place’ of leadership enactment and provide a more situated and contextual understanding of the challenges women in Iran face in entering and enacting leadership roles. This study contributes to the understanding of leadership and place by considering the dynamics of place as occurring at multiple levels – societal norms (including religion), organisational and physical (including geographical). For this in-depth inductive study 24 semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed through Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Through the intersection of different spheres of place particular challenges for women arise. The women within our study had to negotiate the complex dynamics of doing gender well and being seen to act in line with the normative conceptions of femininity with dominant masculine expectations of what leadership and how it should be done. While also women Western contexts are constrained and / or supported by cultural (national, societal and organisation) factors as well as place in a physical and geographical sense, the specific nuances in national and societal cultural norms and the ‘harsh’ physical environment in our study provide additional challenges for women to negotiate. This study affords female leaders in Iran a voice and extends previous work on the lived experiences of women in the Middle East and North Africa Region in the under-researched context of Iran.
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