<scp>K</scp>urt <scp>L</scp>ewin's Leadership Studies and His Legacy to Social Psychology: Is There Nothing as Practical as a Good Theory?

Billig, Michael

doi:10.1111/jtsb.12074

Cited by 63 publications

(38 citation statements)

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“…Some are concerned that the scope accorded to the leader by Lewin can result in the abuse of democratic participation as a means of engineering the outcomes desired by those in power (Graebner, 1986(Graebner, , 1987Billig, 2015). One difficulty is that Lewin does not offer any idea as to how to differentiate strong democratic leadership from the "excessive strength" that "might tip the balance towards improper pseudo-democratic, manipulative, or authoritarian methods" (Graebner, 1987: 143).…”

Section: A Unitarist Versus Plural View Of Organization?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is argued in the absence of proper representation, that democratic methods can operate as a control technique for management. Billig (2015) summons attention to how apparently neutral phraseology of the kind used by Lewin and his associates, such as "would you like to?...) conveys a "preference structure" for agreement, such that agreement is invited and disagreement can be problematic (Pomerantz, 1984).…”

Section: A Unitarist Versus Plural View Of Organization?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Democracy and worker representation in the management of change: Lessons from Kurt Lewin and the Harwood studies

Desmond

Wilson

2018

Human Relations

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This article revisits the famous Harwood studies overseen by Kurt Lewin to include the neglected union perspective that differs markedly from conventional accounts. We explain this discrepancy as arising from unitarist and pluralist views, which assume very different understandings of organization. The researchers framed the Harwood organization from a unitarist perspective as monolithic, assuming its members are bound by allegiance to a common cause represented by management. This helps explain their relative indifference to unions and framing of concepts in a manner conducive to management that was incomprehensible from a union perspective. From this we contend that the Harwood studies are best understood as a cautionary tale against the assumption of a monolithic view that equates the interest of management with that of the organization. This is especially relevant given the dominance of a unitarist perspective across several fields of organization today, when management are argued to be increasingly authoritarian and union membership in several countries approaches an all-time low. Recognizing that organization is a balance struck between partially conflicting interests represents a more ethical stance to forestall accusations of partisanship and manipulation and to build towards the establishment of a fairer and more sustainable workplace for all.

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Section: A Unitarist Versus Plural View Of Organization?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A Unitarist Versus Plural View Of Organization?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Democracy and worker representation in the management of change: Lessons from Kurt Lewin and the Harwood studies

Desmond

Wilson

2018

Human Relations

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“…However, it was observed that children behaved in a way that they tended not to consume much energy when autocratic and laisses fair leadership behaviours were shown to group members. In the long term, democratic leadership style was found to be most contributing to the production (Billig, 2015).…”

Section: Blake-moutonmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…In laisses fair leadership, employees are never interfered and never intervened (Harrison, 2018). Kurt Lewin and his team observed in their research conducted on mask producing children that autocratic leadership style significantly increased production in the short term (Billig, 2015). However, it was observed that children behaved in a way that they tended not to consume much energy when autocratic and laisses fair leadership behaviours were shown to group members.…”

Section: Blake-moutonmentioning

confidence: 99%

General Overview to Leadership Theories from a Critical Perspective

Uslu¹

2019

MMI

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Leadership still seems to be a popular theme among various disciplines and researchers as it was in the past. A growing body of research has been produced in the leadership field until now. Although increased studies and publications help to build up the leadership theory, leadership theory has not been integrated yet. The theoretical studies related to a specific field in a specific time seem to be useful in related field's advancement. With this rationale in this study, it is aimed to examine the prominent leadership theories in the literature. It is possible to specify the theories examined in the study as the Great Man Theory, Trait Theory, Behavioural Theory and Contingency Theory. So, firstly leadership theories have been divided into two as universal and contingency, and then, the basic assumptions and criticisms of each theory have been presented. Moreover, the findings of the models and researches that make up the theories have been presented in detail. In particular, comments on the criticisms of the theories have been made and a critical point of view has been tried to be reflected. According to findings, Great Man theory and Trait Theory were found to be clearly distinct theories from each other even they were considered together in most part of literature. Great Man Theory has been criticized since it has a gender-based prejudice. This was found very heavy criticism due to the nature of time in which women were not as active as men. Although Great Man and Trait Theories are criticized for lack of scientific research, they are accepted as the first theories in which leadership was examined scientifically. In fact, this is also a subject for major criticism. Because it is a great contradiction to scientifically judge these theories, which are supposed to be the first theories to examine leadership scientifically. Moreover, when all the theories including contingency theory are examined, the biggest criticism can be directed to the fact that a huge proportion of the leadership theories are of North American origin. The assumption that the findings of these researches in North American origin are valid in all parts of the world requires considering all theories with suspicion. In addition, there may be more than one hundred leadership styles today. Most of these new types of leadership, in fact, do not say much about anything new outside of the old ones and are repeating each other. A general overview of prominent leadership theories from a critical perspective has been presented in the study. Thus, it is expected to contribute to leadership, organizational behaviour and management literature.

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“…En el corazón de las propuestas de la investigación acción y el maoísmo, se encuentra presente la idea hegeliana de Aufhebung: la superación de tensiones llevadas hacia un nuevo nivel. En Lewin la superación es vista como un logro grupal, obtenido gracias a que fuerzas opuestas pueden ser estabilizadas a través de un determinado arreglo entre los participantes (Billig, 2015). En cambio, en Zendog la superación es concebida como el modo en que las contradicciones en el seno del pueblo son resueltas a través del empleo de la dialéctica en la política (Zendog 1975, p. 143).…”

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Estudio comparativo de la ética ante lo nuevo en la investigación acción y el maoísmo

Pérez

Jaso

2020

Telos

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En el presente artículo, se expone un estudio comparativo de corte cualitativo, de dos formas de indagación grupal: a) La investigación acción, cuyo pionero fundador fue Kurt Lewin (1973) en Estados Unidos, misma que posteriormente sería desarrollada en el campo de la educación (Stenhouse, 2007, Elliot, 2000, 2018, Shön, 1992, Brockbank y McGill, 2002, Wenger, 2001, Wittrock, 1989), b) El maoísmo, que tuvo su origen en la doctrina de Mao Zendog promovida durante la Revolución China (Paternostro, 1972, Mehnert, 1973, Nee y Peck, 1975), así como durante la Revolución Cultural China (Piao, 1975; MacFarquhar y Schoenhals, 2009). El propósito de la investigación fue estudiar y evaluar el componente ético de ambas, entendido como la capacidad de hacer frente a lo nuevo (Badiou, 2010a), donde de manera potencial surgen o se reformulan determinados compromisos y figuras de autoridad. Para ello, se siguió la metodología de comparación de tendencias espontáneamente desarrolladas, lo cual se dio desde el diseño organizativo de un mismo punto de partida en el tiempo. Es decir, como primer paso se organizó un solo curso taller con alumnas educadoras que trabajan con niños de nivel preescolar, donde se promovió la indagación acerca de las intervenciones a niños con alteraciones en su desarrollo. Y como segundo paso, se fueron realizando observaciones etnográficas a lo largo del proceso destinadas a obtener datos sobre los compromisos y figuras de autoridad. Del proceso surgieron dos subgrupos: uno más próximo al maoísmo y el otro a la investigación acción. Las aportaciones destacan la importancia de la ética frente a lo nuevo, desde un fuerte compromiso en la resolución de los problemas, lo cual exige trascender la obediencia mecánica a la norma, para en cambio aceptar plenamente la autoridad emergida del exceso del encuentro amoroso.

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Kurt Lewin's Leadership Studies and His Legacy to Social Psychology: Is There Nothing as Practical as a Good Theory?

Cited by 63 publications

References 55 publications

Democracy and worker representation in the management of change: Lessons from Kurt Lewin and the Harwood studies

Democracy and worker representation in the management of change: Lessons from Kurt Lewin and the Harwood studies

General Overview to Leadership Theories from a Critical Perspective

Estudio comparativo de la ética ante lo nuevo en la investigación acción y el maoísmo

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