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Leadership in the Workplace
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Special Issue "Leadership in the Workplace"

A special issue of Merits (ISSN 2673-8104).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2023 | Viewed by 6786

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. James Stuart Pounder

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Rectors Office, De Montfort University (Kazakhstan), Almaty, Kazakhstan
Interests: transformational leadership; instructor leadership; workplace engagement; meta-analysis; university performance; organizational effectiveness; leadership and gender; causal studies

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to submit manuscripts addressing the issue of leadership in the workplace. Leadership has been a major preoccupation in management research for many years, but despite its popularity as an area of study, we have yet to reach a consensus of what constitutes effective leadership. A promising contribution was made in the early 1990s with the development of the full-range leadership model, which purported to convey the variety of leadership practices common within organizations. Full-range leadership specifies three leadership approaches, ranging from the most positive to the least positive style, i.e., transformational leadership, transactional leadership and laissez faire leadership, with the latter describing a total abrogation of leadership responsibility.

Transformational leadership in particular promises  a universal conceptualisation of excellent leadership, considering the many studies that have produced positive results for this style across national cultures and organisational types. However, recent research has begun to spawn alternative, equally promising models of leadership, e.g., authentic, servant, ethical, and empowering leadership.

Compounding the problem of identifying a generally agreed model of effective leadership is the issue of deciding on the positive or negative effects of leadership on those being led. Leadership studies indicate a vast array of leadership effects. Paramount among these, in a workplace setting, is the notion of workplace engagement. In simple terms, it might be possible to decide on the most effective leadership style if studies were able to demonstrate the style that exceeds all other styles in engendering an engaged workforce, given studies indicating that an engaged workforce has a positive effect on a company’s ‘bottom line’. However, the analysis complexifies when we consider that there is more than one conceptualisation of workplace engagement. Additional complexity is added when, in attempts to arrive at the effect of a particular leadership style on a particular workplace outcome, such as engagement, endogeneity issues render any results suspect.

Considering the above background, we seek contributions that address one or more of the following areas:

  • Evaluation of transformational leadership as a relevant model of effective leadership;
  • The value of alternative models of positive leadership to the transformational leadership model;
  • Validity and reliability issues in leadership studies;
  • Meta-analyses in leadership research and the endogeneity issue;
  • Brand new leadership prototypes;
  • Leadership and contexts, e.g., business, education, non-profit, churches, etc;
  • The measurement of leadership effects;
  • Alternatives to workplace engagement as the critical outcome of leadership;
  • Evaluation of alternative conceptualisation of workplace engagement;
  • Leadership and national cultures;
  • Identification of instrumental variables in leadership—workplace outcomes causal studies;
  • The potential for randomised control trials in leadership studies;
  • Instructor transformational leadership—measurement and effects;
  • Teacher leadership;
  • Leadership and ethics;
  • Leadership development;
  • Leadership and EQ.

Prof. Dr. James Stuart Pounder
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Merits is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • leadership
  • workplace
  • transformational leadership
  • authentic leadership
  • servant leadership
  • ethical leadership
  • empowering leadership
  • instructor transformational leadership
  • workplace engagement
  • meta-analyses
  • endogeneity
  • leadership and culture

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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Article
Charting the Journey of Young Leaders: A New Model of Transferability of Skills
by
Despoina Karagianni
,
Olga Lainidi
and
Anthony Montgomery
Merits 2023, 3(1), 206-229; https://doi.org/10.3390/merits3010013 - 20 Mar 2023
Viewed by 941
Abstract
Globally, adolescents and young adults are calling for action from governments on global humanitarian crises, taking on leadership roles that have contributed to redefining leadership in terms of behavior and action rather than qualities and status. However, there is a significant gap with [...] Read more.
Globally, adolescents and young adults are calling for action from governments on global humanitarian crises, taking on leadership roles that have contributed to redefining leadership in terms of behavior and action rather than qualities and status. However, there is a significant gap with regard to the conceptual and theoretical understanding of how adolescents and young adults experience leadership. In this paper, we present the results of two qualitative studies that examined the phenomenon of leadership among adolescents and young adults. Study 1 involved interviews with young adult leaders to analyze the fit between traditional leadership theories and their experience of leadership. Following this, Study 2 utilized the results from Study 1 to design a diary study of adolescents attending a leadership program. Both studies revealed that leadership is experienced as a pathway that involves three mechanisms of transferability: sensemaking, action and reflection. The findings of the studies are contrasted with traditional models of leadership that underrepresent the developmental nature of leadership and the transferability of leadership skills across different environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Leadership in the Workplace)
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Article
Developing Women’s Authenticity in Leadership
by
Yoshie Tomozumi Nakamura
,
Jessica Hinshaw
and
Rebecca Burns
Merits 2022, 2(4), 408-426; https://doi.org/10.3390/merits2040029 - 15 Nov 2022
Viewed by 1499
Abstract
In this exploratory case study, we examined women’s lived experience as leaders and their participation in an in-person leadership development program. More specifically, we studied how women perceived an in-person leadership development program through a lens of authentic leadership. Our method for gathering [...] Read more.
In this exploratory case study, we examined women’s lived experience as leaders and their participation in an in-person leadership development program. More specifically, we studied how women perceived an in-person leadership development program through a lens of authentic leadership. Our method for gathering information included individual interviews, field observation, and archival data. The interviews focused on particular episodes and stories of the participants’ leadership experiences in their professional life and learning experiences through the leadership development program. The findings from this study indicated the importance of self-awareness of leader identity and increased confidence, building their authentically balanced approach, and creating a social network through collective learning. This paper concludes with future research and practical implications for women leaders, senior human resource development professionals, and senior managers who design and develop women leadership training programs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Leadership in the Workplace)
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Article
Public Leadership Challenges in a Complex Context
by
Elisabete Fialho
,
Maria José Sousa
and
Ana Moreira
Merits 2022, 2(4), 362-373; https://doi.org/10.3390/merits2040025 - 02 Nov 2022
Viewed by 1027
Abstract
The objectives of this study are to identify the importance of teleworking during the COVID-19 pandemic and, evaluate the future development of this working form, characterize the process, identify its benefits and challenges, and present some solutions to deal with telework. To this [...] Read more.
The objectives of this study are to identify the importance of teleworking during the COVID-19 pandemic and, evaluate the future development of this working form, characterize the process, identify its benefits and challenges, and present some solutions to deal with telework. To this end, the following research questions were formulated: (1) What areas of telework had the most significant impact during the COVID-19 pandemic? (2) What is the impact of telework on productivity? (3) What are the positive and negative aspects of teleworking? (4) What solutions do leaders propose for telework to intensify in the future? The sample for this study consists of 159 participants holding managerial positions. The data analyses were completed and allowed us to study the challenges of leadership in teleworking in direct public administrations. The results indicate that productivity is maintained, although productivity has decreased in the education sector. The positive aspects found were flexibility, better time management, that communication became simpler, and greater motivation. As negative aspects, we found changes in leadership, communication, and lack of material. To minimise the negative aspects of teleworking, the leaders essentially mentioned mixed-work (face-to-face and teleworking), distribution of appropriate material, training, teleworking regulation, and productivity control. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Leadership in the Workplace)
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Review

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Review
Challenges Women Experience in Leadership Careers: An Integrative Review
by
Enkhzul Galsanjigmed
and
Tomoki Sekiguchi
Merits 2023, 3(2), 366-389; https://doi.org/10.3390/merits3020021 - 19 May 2023
Viewed by 1266
Abstract
A part of diversity management is working to achieve gender equality and create a comfortable working environment for women. However, in many organizations, gender biases and stereotypes frequently occur, consciously or unconsciously, regardless of whether women take on leadership roles. In addition, women [...] Read more.
A part of diversity management is working to achieve gender equality and create a comfortable working environment for women. However, in many organizations, gender biases and stereotypes frequently occur, consciously or unconsciously, regardless of whether women take on leadership roles. In addition, women must overcome a variety of challenges when taking on leadership roles or aspiring to become leaders. Based on the above background, we review and integrate the literature on management and career studies related to the challenges that women face in the process of advancing to leadership positions in organizations. Specifically, we examine the external and internal factors that create the various obstacles that women who aspire to leadership positions in structured organizations face from a gender perspective. Based on the integrative review, we discuss the implications for practices to increase the number of female leaders. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Leadership in the Workplace)
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Other

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Hypothesis
Meaning, Needs, and Workplace Spirituality
by
Elisabeth Nöhammer
Merits 2023, 3(1), 1-20; https://doi.org/10.3390/merits3010001 - 20 Dec 2022
Viewed by 1470
Abstract
Human resource management and leadership are often required to create, sustain, and manage meaning in the workplace. Spirituality in the workplace is a focal idea in this context but lacks conceptual clarity. This article examines the general logic of the concept by analyzing [...] Read more.
Human resource management and leadership are often required to create, sustain, and manage meaning in the workplace. Spirituality in the workplace is a focal idea in this context but lacks conceptual clarity. This article examines the general logic of the concept by analyzing its prevalent definitions and their implications, investigating its legitimization, examining links to the psychological contract and examining potential outcomes. Inherent paradoxes and ethical and practical issues are shown that call for a re-evaluation of the concept, for which alternative routes are outlined. Practical and philosophical questions requiring further investigation are highlighted to structure future research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Leadership in the Workplace)
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