An Exploratory Study into the Understandings and Awareness of Leadership Ethos and Its Inherent Critical Success Factors by Public Sector Officials in the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Ministry of the National Economy (ECONAT)

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to examine the understandings of public sector leaders about Leadership Ethos (LE) and its inherent Critical Success Factors(CSFs) looking at their application in the public policy implementation process. The study applied an adapted theoretical paradigm on leadership that borrows from the Western and African contexts. In the light of the aim and objective of the study, both the interview schedule and survey questionnaires were used to gather information with regard to LE and its inherent CSFs. In this view, a semi-structured interview schedule was used to guide both interviews with senior public officials - one in the DTI and one in the ECONAT. A survey questionnaire was administered to public officials at middle and lower management levels working and reporting directly to the interviewed senior public officials. The purpose of the questionnaire was to reduce personal biases inherent in the responses of the senior officials, which appear to be a challenge emerging from self-perception assessments. Research findings suggest that leaders at the DTI and the ECONAT do not sufficiently demonstrate an awareness of LE and its inherent CSFs in the practice of leadership. LE enables leaders garner followers’ trust and obtain their consent; encourage followers’ commitment to organisational goals; and introduce and encourage participatory decision making processes as key factors to successful public policy implementation.     

Do Employees Feel Comfortable Blowing the Whistle When Their Supervisors Practice Transformational Leadership?

Although public organization literature is replete with studies examining whistleblowing, scholars have generally neglected the connection between leadership styles and whistleblowing. Furthermore, no study was found that examined the relationship between whistleblowing and the most often studied leadership style, transformational leadership. This article fills this void in the literature by examining the relationship between transformational leadership and whistleblowing in government agencies. After controlling for employee commitment and several power-dependency factors, the results revealed that employees were more comfortable blowing the whistle when they perceived organizational leaders and managers were practicing transformational leadership than when they perceived they were not. In fact, transformational leadership was the most important predictor. Employees were also most comfortable when they exhibited high levels of commitment and job satisfaction. On the other hand, minority employees were less at ease reporting wrong-doing to their supervisors than Caucasian employees. The implications of these results are thoroughly discussed in the article.     

The Relationship between the Leadership Effectiveness and Emotional Competence of Managers in the Public Sector

This article reports on the perceived relationship between leadership effectiveness and the emotional competencies of managers in the public sector, and the impact of this relationship on service delivery. In the light of continual protests over government’s poor service delivery to the public, doubts are raised about the leadership effectiveness of public officials. Research has identified the leadership effectiveness of managers in the public service as crucial for quality service delivery. Industrial psychologists have also identified leadership effectiveness and emotional competencies as important ingredients for success in organizations. This is due to the facts that effectiveness and efficiency can be attained only if an appropriate leadership style and manager’s emotional competencies or abilities are in place. Findings from the research indicate that currently managers in the public sector possess insufficient emotional competencies to subdue emotional outbursts and achieve effective leadership. Based on the findings and the literature, the conclusion is that it is imperative for managers of public entities to acquire effective leadership skills and become emotionally competent. Relevant training and interventions, and a comprehensive management recruitment process, should be put in place.     

Strengthening local political leadership through institutional design: how and why

ABSTRACT

Over recent decades, the institutions of political leadership have been criticised for being caught up in outdated designs that are not adapting to societal changes. In many western countries, this diagnosis has spurred design reforms aimed at strengthening political leadership at the local level. Based on a study of reforms in Norwegian and Danish municipalities, this article first develops a typology of reforms aimed at strengthening local political leadership. Leadership reforms are categorised into four types aimed at strengthening Executive, Collective, Collaborative, or Distributive political leadership. The typology is used to map the prevalence of the different types of reforms in the two countries. The results show that design reforms as such are more widespread in Danish than in Norwegian municipalities. In particular, reforms aimed at strengthening Distributive political leadership are used more extensively in Denmark than in Norway. The article discusses the contextual differences that may explain this variation.     

Management Tools for Quality Performance Improvement in Italian Hospitals

ABSTRACT

Leadership plays a decisive role in improving the quality performance in healthcare organizations. Research examines how Italian hospitals generate conditions to support leadership, at both top management and department/unit level, in improving quality. It focuses on the role of the management in processes for the delegation of responsibilities, and tools implemented to facilitate clinical leadership. Data show that: mandate is linked to full accountability; top management supports leadership for reinforcing outputs; and evaluation processes are systematically implemented. Furthermore, data show that leaders require performance systems to enhance clinical professionalism and to commit to improving performance.     

Leadership Styles,Workplace Politics and Moral Identity of Ugandan Public Procurement Staff

The study predicts the moral identity of Ugandan public procurement staff using situational factors like leadership styles, social interactions, organizational politics and personal isomorphism, largely ignored in documented empirical literature. This study builds upon previous studies which assert that much remains to be learned about moral identity. Data were collected from staff handling the public procurement function in 105 randomly selected procuring and disposing entities (PDEs). Data relating to the study constructs were collected using self-administered questionnaires and an interview guide. The study established that workplace factors singularly and/or interactively predict moral identity of procurement staff in PDEs in Uganda. These findings have both policy and managerial implications which we discuss and present in this article.     

Recasting Leadership Reform in Australian Local Government: A Typology from Political Theory

Changes to elected leadership in Australian local government have seen greater authority assigned to mayors in several jurisdictions. A Discussion Paper recently released under the auspices of the Australian Centre for Excellence in Local Government (ACELG) has recommended further reforms, arguing inter alia that mayors ought to enjoy a personal mandate and a stronger strategic role. This paper places these suggested reforms into context by developing a typology of local government leadership from political theory. We argue that this quadrilateral typology provides a critical portrait of recommendations for stronger leadership which, in this instance, have been transposed from two unitary systems of government (England and New Zealand) to the Australian federal system, without due consideration of the literature examining stronger mayoral roles. It is argued that caution should be exercised when redrafting legislation governing mayoral authority, a process presently underway in New South Wales (NSW).     

Facilitative Mayors in Complex Environments: Why Political Will Matters

Under certain circumstances the style of leadership of mayors can be the result of their context perceptions and their sense of political autonomy and efficacy. This assessment indicates that the political action of the mayor discloses a particular style of leadership that derives from his/her political will. This article suggests an analysis of political will that intends to explain why local leaders adopt facilitative styles of leadership. In this formulation, the leadership facilitative style is a consequence of the political will to act accordingly, and this is explained by three main determinants: the leaders’ awareness of their complex and networked context, their independent sense of autonomy and their belief about their own political efficacy. Results from case studies, with extensive interviews with mayors, conducted in Portuguese municipalities, will be presented to reinforce and explore these hypotheses and to discuss the feasibility of this framework.     

Collaborative Crisis Management and Leadership in the Public Sector

The goal of this article is to discover how leadership competencies affect the perceived effectiveness of crisis management. The study, based on a self-reported survey of executive public leaders in Turkey, found that the core leadership competencies have a positive relationship with the effectiveness of crisis management. Among task–oriented, people–oriented, and organization-oriented categories of leadership behaviors, task-oriented leadership behaviors were found with the highest level of impact on the effectiveness of crisis management. The study demonstrated the importance of the core leadership competencies in the effectiveness of crisis leadership. The hypothesis testing with the covariance structure model supported the positive impact of the core leadership competencies on the effectiveness of crisis management. This study contributes to the literature on leadership during crisis situations, and also provides proposals for public managers and practitioners to increase their effectiveness in leading their organizations during crises.     

One-Stop Shopping for Government Services: Strengths and Weaknesses of the Service Tasmania Experience

Government service delivery in Tasmania has undergone a customer-orientated shift, changing the nature of the relationship between the Government and the community. A Tasmanian State Government initiative named Service Tasmania utilizing information technologies and private sector style business administration values offers new possibilities in service delivery through its integrated whole-of-government approach. This initiative facilitates cross-agency customer-centered service delivery within the overall government framework. This article introduces an empirically based qualitative investigation into the implementation of Service Tasmania’s One-Stop-Shops. Particular interest is placed on identifying the strengths and weaknesses of implementing the Service Tasmania service delivery model. Data were analyzed by using a grounded theory approach comprising open, axial, and selective coding. Findings indicate that whilst some weaknesses in the approach have been uncovered the numerous strengths outweigh them. Some practical implications are identified for policy-makers and practitioners engaged in service delivery reform projects.     

Contributors

Abstract

Socioeconomic data supplied by the FBI on the backgrounds of 280 known right‐ and left‐wing terrorists active in the United States during the late 1960s and early 1970s was tabulated. Isolating for right‐left affiliation, membership status, and gender, seven variables were examined and used to confirm prevailing assumptions regarding the socioeconomic status of right‐ versus left‐wing terrorists active during this period. Findings support clear socioeconomic differences between right‐wing and left‐wing terrorists and emphasize the dominant position of women within left‐wing organizations. Surprising evidence revealed that considerable class differences exist within right‐wing groups between rank‐and‐file members and the leadership core.     

Low-Hanging Fruit: Leadership,Perceived Prosocial Impact,and Employee Motivation

Transformational leadership affects public service motivation, but little is known about the context dependency of this association. If citizen contact and, therefore, relative perceived impacts on others and society differ, the association between transformational leadership and motivation is also expected to differ. Analyzing public employees and their leaders from four organizational contexts, we find that employees have relatively higher perceived impact on others and are more user-oriented in contexts with high citizen contact. The association between transformational leadership and employee motivation also depends on employees’ perceived impact, implying that some fruit hangs lower than other when leaders try to increase employee motivation.     

The Impact of Ethical Leadership on Police Officers’ Code of Silence and Integrity: Results from the Turkish National Police

This study aims to investigate the perceived seriousness of integrity violations and the impact of ethical leadership on integrity and the code of silence by using structural equation modeling. The results suggested that integrity violations are regarded by Turkish officers as serious offenses, as they are perceived by their colleagues in other countries. The study also revealed the existence of the code of silence among police officers. Finally, it suggested that leadership positively affects the integrity of police officers and has a significant effect on breaking the code of silence in Turkey. Based on the findings, policy implications were discussed.     

Mobilizing Change in Public Services: Insights from a Systems Leadership Development Intervention

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the mobilization of systems change through analysis of a place-based ‘systems leadership’ development intervention aimed to develop the capacity of cross-sector partnerships to tackle ‘wicked’ health and social care challenges. Particular attention is given to the role of independent ‘enablers’ in opening up ‘adaptive spaces’ where partners can navigate competing priorities and develop new ways of working. This paper contributes to existing literature by providing an overview of recent developments in the field of public leadership, applying these to the challenge of developing systems leadership capacity and considering implications for future research, development and practice.     

Recognizing Innate Transformational Traits in Public Administrative Services: Are We Doing Right?

ABSTRACT

With shifting paradigm, public administration needs even more transformational leaders. A large part of an individual’s leadership potential refers to innate personality traits which are brought out by relevant nurturing processes. Environment, favorable or unfavorable, interacts with these processes and impacts the flourishing of natural potential. Experience promotes the positive growth of innate potential that one possesses. Using data from India, this article looks into the systematic impact of public administrative training institutes on the development of top-tier civil servants. By comparing the performance of officers in public administration training academy possessing innate personality traits suitable for transformational leadership vis-à-vis innate personality traits suitable for transactional leadership, we test whether current training evaluation promotes transformational innate personality traits and suggests the implications. Interestingly, our mix-method study evaluating the entry-level induction training of public administrative leaders reveals that there is a gap between theory and praxis.     

The personal social services

The Future of London's Government: Research and Consultation Project by the Greater London Council, GLC, March 1986, pp.240. (Free ‐ available from Room 708, London Strategic Policy unit,. Middlesex House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SB.)

Welfare Rights Work in Social Services, Geoff Fimister, Macmillan, 1986, pp.166, £15.00 hardback, £5.95 paperback.

The Structure of Local Government in the European Community and The Structure of Local Government in 20 Arab Countries, compiled by Eileen Martin Harloff, WLA, The Hague, 1986, pp.74 and 64 respectively, each $6.00 IULA members; $10,000 others.

Decentralized Economic Development Activities and their Implications for In‐Service Training, Andrew Coulson, Local Government Training Board, 1986, pp.10, £6.00 (£3.00 for local authorities).

Council Non‐Manual Workers and Low Pay, Nasreen Rahman, Low Pay Pamphlet No. 41, Low Pay Unit, June 1986, £3.00.     

Empowering Leadership and Municipal Service Delivery: A Case Study of a Metropolitan Municipality in South Africa

Since municipal service delivery is a challenge facing many municipalities in South Africa, this paper reports on a study conducted among a convenience sample of managers and employees from the Revenue and Customer Relations Management department of a major metropolitan municipality in South Africa, to address the aforementioned problem. The findings reveal that empowering leadership is strongly correlated with employee work effort, performance and improved service delivery. On the practitioners’ side, the important mediating role of employee work effort and employee performance in the “empowering leadership–improved service delivery” relationship in South Africa’s public sector is also highlighted.     

A Two-Pronged Approach? Combined Leadership Styles and Innovative Behavior

This article examines the relationship between transformational, transactional, and empowering leadership and the innovative behavior of public sector employees. Instead of investigating their association individually, this article focuses on the interaction between different types of leadership. The analysis is based on a survey from one of Denmark’s largest hospitals (n = 1,647). The main result is that empowering leadership, which focuses on employee capacity, moderates the association between transformational leadership, which is directed at motivation, and innovative behavior. The findings emphasize the importance of not only focusing on a single leadership style but also understanding how they work in combination.     

Understanding Local Political Leadership: Constitutions,Contexts and Capabilities

Despite Labour's clear vision of a new form of local political leadership, the impact of the Local Government Act 2000 has been limited - but at the same time diverse. Local authorities have overwhelmingly selected the 'least change' option, but have elaborated the new models in a variety of ways. Drawing on case study data and a new institutionalist framework, the article looks beyond formal structures at the emerging practice of local political leadership. The government's structure-led approach has not delivered its 'ideal type' of local political leadership. The interaction of constitutions, contexts and capabilities is producing diverse experiences of political leadership and an uneven patterning of change and continuity. Future reform efforts should concentrate less upon the specification and imposition of formal structures and more upon facilitating local processes of institution-building.     

Book Reviews

Abstract

Underground movements in a struggle for political independence experience processes of crystallization as well as schism. Many times, severe struggles develop in these groups and focus on issues of leadership, operations, and ideology. The success of these movements in achieving their explicit goals depends on their ability to develop an effective mechanism(s) for inner conflict(s) resolution(s). Such inner conflicts and tensions can change, in the most profound way, the way an underground movement Junctions, its ability to attract and recruit new members, and its survivability. Lehi was one of the three prestate Jewish underground groups in Palestine (the two others were the Hagana and Etzel), struggling against the British and the Arabs with the explicit goal of establishing a new Jewish state. Lehi was established in the summer of 1940 and, in the autumn and winter of 1942, was already in an advanced stage of disintegration due to the British success in arresting or killing most of its members and leadership. In the summer of 1942, two leaders of Lehi—Itzhak Yazernitzky‐Shamir and Eliahu Giladi—escaped from the British detention camp in Mazra and revived Lehi. During 1942, a severe conflict developed between these two leaders, focusing on issues of leadership, operations, and ideology. Consequently, Shamir instructed his men to kill Giladi, who was assassinated in the summer of 1943. This paper traces the development of this conflict in a political and historical context and examines the consequences of the assassination. The main conclusion is that the death of Giladi had a major impact on the reemerging Lehi.