Leadership Annotated Bibliography

Resources:

National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs (NCLP) Resources List

At its roots, NCLP is a place for leadership educators to share insights and resources with one another. Over the years they have curated various resource lists for program and course design, assessment and research, and continued education and development experiences for leadership educators and students alike.

Bibliography

Ansoff, H. I. (1965). Corporate strategy. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Coming soon. 

Bass, B. M. (1999). Two decades of research and development in transformational leadership. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 8(1), 9-32.

In “Two Decades of Research and Development in Transformational Leadership”, Bernard M. Bass (1999) reflects on key points that have emerged from two decades of research on transformational leadership. He argues that transformational leadership inspires followers and develops an answer to why transformational leadership is more preferable than transactional leadership in some professions because it calls on the leader and followers to look towards the success of the organization to guide them, versus letting the success of their person guide them (p. 9).

Bolman, L.G., & Deal, T. E. (1984). Modern approaches to understanding and managing organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc.

Coming soon. 

Carless, S. A., Wearing, A. J., & Mann, L. (2000). A short measure of transformational leadership. Journal of Business and Psychology, 14(3), 389-405.

The authors reviewed relevant research to find seven behaviors that define a transformational leader. Among the seven behaviors, the authors consider “communicat[ing] a vision” to be the most important behavior (p. 390). In their words, “transformational leaders develop an image of the future of their organization and communicate this vision to their subordinates, often by frequent statements” (Carless, Wearing, & Mann, 2000, p. 390). Secondly, they also found ‘empowerment’ to be a significant behavior that transformational leaders practiced by involving “team members in decision making” and providing “autonomy”(p. 391). Third, they list “leading by example” as a means to communicate “beliefs and values” (p. 392) to a team. Lastly, the authors agree with Bass (1999) that communicating a vision is considered a transformational activity, followed by “leading by example” in order to communicate “beliefs and values” (Bass, 1999, p. 392). The authors add that transformational leaders empower their followers with choices and involve them in decision making (p. 391).

Chang, R. Y. (2006). Being an effective transformational leader. Chief Learning Officer, 5(8), 17.

The authors presents his “VITAL” transformational leadership model (p. 17). The “V” in “VITAL” stands for “visioning” a clear future. Chang (2006) believes that “embracing an organization-wide vision” gives leaders and teams a common goal for which to contribute. The “I” stands for the “inspiring” transformational leaders must do with their team to “motivate others toward success” (p. 17). According to Chang, “teaming” (T) is achieved when leaders adjust their management style to guide to the “diverse communication styles” (p. 17) on their team. The author suggests developing a “measurement scorecard” in order to measure the achievement (A) of the team. Finally, Chang (2006) discusses “leveraging” (L) one’s team in order to keep costs down. The author agrees with Bass (1999) and Carless, Wearing, and Mann (2000) that a vision is an important tool for transformational leaders to start with.

Christensen, C. R., Andrews, K. R., Bower, J. L., Hamermesh, R. G., & Porter, M. E. (1982). Business policy. Homewood, Illinois: Irwin.

Coming soon. 

Cowen, T. (2013). Average is over: Powering America beyond the age of the great stagnation.

How can higher education institutions helps students to prepare for their lives in the future? Tyler Cowen is an economist, writer, and professor who makes predictions about the future of America. He suggests that “high earners” are taking ever more advantage of computers, while most business sectors rely less on manual labor for “high-value” jobs. What does this mean for future citizens? What can they expect the career landscape to look like in 20-30 years? The chapter on “relearning education” is particularly insightful. 

Crawford, C. B., Gould, L. V., & Scott, R. F. (2003). Transformational leader as champion and techie: implications for leadership educators. Journal of Leadership Education, 2(1), 1-12.

In “Transformational Leader as Champion and Techie: Implications for Leadership Educators”, C. B. Crawford, Lawrence V. Gould, & Robert F. Scott (2003) examine the effects of technological innovation on transformational leadership. The authors look to previous research to draw conclusions. Crawford, Gould & Scott (2003) identify that “transformational leadership is needed in an evolving technological society” (p. 61). By adapting to this evolution in “attitude and behavior”, leaders can “reform fear into motivation” (p. 61).

DiMaggio, Paul, et al. “Social implications of the Internet.” Annual review of sociology (2001): 307-336.

How has the Internet altered society? What were the predictions for how the Internet would alter society? DiMaggio focuses on the Internet’s impact on society across five different domains: 1) digital divide, 2) community and social capital, 3) political participation (from users), 4) organizational impact, and 5) cultural participation and diversity. After compiling a list of research that indicates how each of these area is impacted by the Internet, he makes many arguments for why sociologists should not only continue to study the Internet, but must become more tech-savvy in order to do so effectively. 

Dionne, S. D., Yammarino, F. J., Atwater, L. E., & Spangler, W. D. (2004). Transformational leadership and team performance. Journal of organizational change management, 17(2), 177-193.

The authors investigate the link between transformational leadership and team performance. The authors look to “idealized influence, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration” (p. 177) to help transformational leaders “positively affect team communication, cohesion and conflict management” (p. 177). 

Drucker, P. F. (1974). Management: Tasks, responsibilities, practices. New York, New York: Harper & Row, Publishers.

Coming soon. 

Florida, R. L. (2012). The rise of the creative class, revisited. New York: Basic Books.

How do we decide where to live and work? Why should colleges care about this question? Does the importance of place play a role in the purpose of higher education institutions? Florida argues that “the real driving force is the rise of human creativity as the key factor in our economy and society” (p. 5). Florida draws on Jane Jacobs to examine the importance of place in people’s lives. There are possibly many ties between this examination and the importance that place plays in the role of higher education institutions. Florida examines the linkages between human capital theory and regional growth. I wonder, however, about the linkages of ‘learning capital’ and regional growth, again pointing to the role that institutions play in their surrounding areas and vice versa. Part of Florida’s argument is the introduction of the “creative class” and the kinds of education, jobs, and environments preferred by individuals in the creative class. 

Gachter, S., Nosenzo, D., Renner, E., & Sefton, M. (2009). Who makes a good leader? Social preferences and leading-by-example.

The authors explore the notion that leaders may influence followers “through leading by example” (p. 2). They created a simple leader-follower game to “examine the effects of social preferences and beliefs about the social preferences” (p. 1). This study identifies reciprocity as an influential factor in the leader-follower relationship. Their conclusions indicate that if both parties believe the other is contributing their best, they will most likely follow suit. 

Jantsch, Erich. Technological forecasting in perspective. OCDE, 1967.

What framework can higher education institutions use to evaluate the possible effects of technology on teaching, learning and society? As a consultant for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Jantsch drafted this framework for technological forecasting. At the time of this report in 1967, Jantsch noted that “technology is gradually invading many other sectors, such as education”. Technological forecasting is a technique used to predict future trends in technology, and thus can be used in higher education. Higher education institutions could use this framework as a base to start from during their short-term and long-term strategic planning. Jantsch examines different structure in industry, but recommends “look-out” institutions or individuals within institutions to “evaluate alternative feasible futures” (p. 20) for long-range planning.

Jantsch, Erich. “Technological planning and social futures.” (1972).

What is higher education’s role in our social future? How could higher education shift from “passive servant” to a strategic space that investigates the boundaries of technology and society? Jantsch argues for “increasing sophistication in strategic planning” (p. 4) with integrative thinking in order to examine the functions of technology in a societal context. The book presents a framework for long-range thinking in regards to technology and corporate planning. He suggests strategies for shifting from ‘product-oriented’ to ‘function-oriented’. He closes the book with some big-picture ideas- if technology and science are to be utilized for a long-range purpose of mankind. One of these is to shift the university to from “a passive servant” …“into an active institution in the process of planning for society” (p. 241). This is the first time I have seen Jantsch refer to this role as one of “service”. 

Jarvis, J. (2009). What would Google do?. New York, NY: Collins Business.

What can organizations learn from companies that have had to adapt to the information era? What do the new needs and opportunities of the knowledge era tell higher education? Jarvis examines many scenarios in which industries have had to adapt to the the needs and opportunities of the information era. Examining how companies have adapted (Google, Facebook, About.com, some newspapers) or not adapted (Kodak, Yahoo!, Dell). He argues that Google is an exemplar company that operates “by new rules of a new age” (p. 3) in which they elegantly organize open networks, versus trying to “control content and distribution” (p. 5). Jarvis argues that companies must talk with their customers (p. 16), should live in the public (p. 45), should bring elegant organization to their customers (p. 49), and should explore their identity crisis of what kind of company they really are (p. 81). 

Kaplan, R.S., & Norton, D.S. (2001). The strategy focused organization: How balanced scorecard companies thrive in the new business environment. Harvard Business School Press.

Coming soon. 

Mintzberg, H. (1994a). The rise and fall of strategic planning. New York: The Free Press.

Coming soon. 

Piccolo, R. F., & Colquitt, J. A. (2006). Transformational Leadership and Job Behaviors: The Mediating Role of Core Job Characteristics. Academy of Management journal, 49(2), 327-340.

The authors performed a study that supports a relationship between transformational leadership and how employees view their jobs as “challenging and important” (p. 334). They propose a new way to examine transformational leadership: how the follower views their job. The results of their study concluded that followers enjoyed being given more responsibility and harder tasks to perform and appreciated leaders who communicated with “meaning” (p. 337). 

Schraeder, M., Tears, R. S., & Jordan, M. H. (2005). Organizational culture in public sector organizations: Promoting change through training and leading by example. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 26(6), 492-502.

The authors propose that “leading-by-example” can improve cultural awareness within an organization and promote cultural change that may need to take place. They identify the fact that organizations with strong identities and transformational leaders who are culturally aware are more prosperous than those with weak cultures. They suggest that leaders who model a ‘culturally aware attitude’ in their communication and actions influence their followers to also respect their organization’s specific cultural values. 

Shirky, C. (2009). Here comes everybody: The power of organizing without organizations. New York: Penguin Books.

How does the organizing potential of communications technology and the Internet change the workplace and, therefore, the purpose of higher education? Clay Shirky, an Interactive Telecommunications professor at NYU, examines the potential of communications tools that are robust enough to match our social potential. The Internet allows us to share and cooperate with one another and to take collective action outside of formal institutions. As much as it was predicted and studied that the Internet would divide people and isolate them, Shirky argues that it has empowered them to connect with others who are just as passionate as they are in a more efficient way. The Internet is not only a connector, it is a creation space where people can come together and collaborate. Terms: systems theory, entropy.

Tichy, N. M., & Ulrich, D. O. (1984). The leadership challenge–a call for the transformational leader. Sloan Management Review, 26(1), 59-68.

The authors propose that transformational leadership is exactly the kind of leadership that is needed to revitalize large U.S. corporations and is crucial for saving the American economy (p. 59). The authors highlight Lee Iacocca, chairman of Chrysler in the early 1980s, as an example of how transformational leaders must first signal a change. Iacocca transformed the internal culture through “internal communication as a vehicle to signal change” (p. 60). Secondly, Iacocca increased his visibility at private and public events in order to “reinforce these changes” (p. 60).

Toffler, A. (1972). The futurists. New York: Random House.

What is futures theory? How can higher education utilize futurism to plan for its future? Edited by Alvin Toffler, a world-renowned futurist, The Futurist is a brief introduction to futurists and futurism. Toffler says that he worked on this compilation for the purpose of making available the best work and knowledge of the futurists of the day. Many individual articles detail the thoughts of and refer to Erich Jantsch. Incredibly, there is a twenty-page interview with Jantsch in the book addressing his thoughts on technological futures. 

Valikangas, L. (2010). The resilient organization: How adaptive cultures thrive even when strategy fails. New York: McGraw-Hill.

What tools can higher education institutions use to bounce back from downturn in their traditional target markets? Valikangas, professor of innovation management at the Aalto University in Finland, details how an organizations can rebuild their foundation using four basic tools that are derived from systems and resilience thinking. Creating a culture of resilience will prove to be important for institutions as the knowledge era continues to affect them in the upcoming years. 

Weinberger, D. (2011). Too big to know: Rethinking knowledge now that the facts aren’t the facts, experts are everywhere, and the smartest person in the room is the room. New York: Basic Books.

How will universities adapt and contribute to new open and public Web? Weinberger details the crisis of knowledge that we are in. In this age of abundance, it may be the new role of the university to step up to become curators and to form the important links for their students, and teach them to do the same. Secondly, new knowledge permissions may be a characteristic that defines one university from another- how will they allow or not allow their faculty and students to utilize public knowledge on the Web? Finally, and most importantly, what will the role of universities be, if any, in co-creating a better Web?

Yukl, G. (2009). Leading organizational learning: Reflections on theory and research. The Leadership Quarterly, 20(1), 49-53.

The author explores ways in which leaders can influence learning in an organization. While Yukl (2008) specifically addresses how leaders can encourage learning in an organization through actions, he also examines how leaders can influence through modeling. Yukl’s (2008) conclusions are not unlike those that have come before him in this paper. He also lists the idea of working towards and articulating “an inspiring vision” (p. 50) with employees. He also addresses how idealized influence such as “leading by example” can create a culture that respects “traditional values” (p. 51). In times of change, stakeholders could disagree about a shared vision. It’s important for leaders to strive towards and to live a culture of shared values (p. 52). Finally, Yukl (2008) also points to increased communication among leaders and followers as it can diffuse knowledge more readily in an organization (p. 53). Through communicating and working according to a unified vision and values, leaders can have a great impact on organizational learning. 

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