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Few things have been better documented over the past decade than the decline of formal—read big and heavily‐staffed—strategic planning departments. Recently, however, there seems to be a planning renaissance of sorts with smaller, stream‐lined departments cropping up in U.S. companies (see “The New Lean Planning Machine” Business Strategy, July/August 1994). Now there are some new data that are guaranteed to warm the down‐sized, down‐trodden hearts of corporate planners everywhere—especially those looking to keep those seedling departments alive. The results of some recent research (by the authors of this piece) suggest that a key aspect of strategic planning—getting senior executives to agree on, and put into writing, a definition of the purpose and scope of the company—can actually translate into profits.

The Donner expedition to California in 1846‐1847 is one of the darkest tales of the great migrations west. While much has been written about the tragedy, a group analysis based on business research has not been undertaken. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that the story of the Donner Party is primarily a group failure, with implications for practicing managers employing temporary groups in uncertain situations.

Group theories concerning the nature of temporary work groups, interdependence, diversity, social identity, and leadership are employed to explain how negative group processes likely contributed to the disaster.

Based on books and a film about the incident, the Donner Party suffered a social breakdown based on: the changing nature of the goals of the expedition in mid‐course, which is difficult for temporary teams to handle; destructive forms of diversity based on cultural background and social status; and a lack of critical skills and effective leadership. The story also illustrates that small, cohesive groups had a better survival rate than individuals.

While only a single case, this study demonstrates the special nature of temporary groups and demonstrates that not all diversity is positive. Both issues require strong leadership. Furthermore, the study demonstrates the importance of considering context in group research.

This is an original analysis of the Donner Party using group theories. This study reminds managers of the fragility of temporary groups, and stresses the need to consider the possibilities of accidents/disasters when undertaking large projects.

This paper's aim is to compare and contrast two ancient philosophies to determine their contribution to leadership. Fresh aspects to inclusiveness and resilience in leadership are to be examined.

The paper uses a conceptual analysis as the basis for future empirical testing. The respective contribution of Sun Zi's Art of War and the Bhagavad Gita to academic and practitioner literature is examined before key traits on leadership that are common in both documents are collated. These features are then investigated on their practical application to business. Based on the research gaps and shortcomings identified, new areas for further research are recommended.

These two ancient texts have contrasting ideas, yet there are areas of complementarity to suggest that Indian and Chinese leaders can learn from each other.

Future research may explore how in different forms of ownership including joint ventures or host country operations the perspectives of leadership can impact on the behaviour of managers towards employees of a different culture.

Both Chinese and Indian cultures are growing in importance. This paper helps leaders from each culture to better understand the different mind‐sets.

Previous research has focused on the contrasts whereas this research focuses on the synergies between the Art of War and the Bhagavad Gita.

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain if age, gender, management experience and government work experience actually make a difference in the ethical development of respondents in Vietnam, an emerging economy in Southeast Asia.

A quantitative self-administered survey was conducted with a convenience sample of Vietnamese working adults obtained through educational institutions, businesses and entrepreneurs and private and public sector organizations. This study used Clark and Clark’s (1966) Personal Business Ethics Scores measure. The Vietnamese version questionnaire was distributed, and a total of 704 surveys were fully completed and analyzed.

Statistically significant differences were found in the variables of age, gender and government work experience. Management experience did not lead to any significant differences. Consequently, Kohlberg’s moral development theory regarding ethical development is partially supported.

This study used a convenience sample population. Future studies can compare specific populations in different parts of the country with similar working backgrounds and demographic variables. The small sample size is not necessarily representative of an entire country or the culture in Vietnam. Furthermore, it would be meaningful to investigate the relationship between ethical development and the demographic variables among other Asian countries near Vietnam. Finally, longitudinal studies can be implemented by future researchers to investigate the effects of changes in demographic variables on moral development.

Females should be studied more to determine the factors that they consider when making decisions that impact others. Having longer time “socializing” with organizational values might be a stronger influence on ethical behaviors of a person. Vietnamese people are less tolerant for unethical behaviors when they are much younger and when they are much older.

The importance of ethics education programs at the national and organizational levels is underscored as a key element to combat corruption. Several specific recommendations on how to enhance the fight against corruption and bribery were provided.

This study contributes to the moral development theory research and sheds light on the impact of age, gender, government work experience and management experience gained through the development process on ethical decision-making of Vietnamese people. Academicians, managers, practitioners, government leaders and the like can benefit from the findings of this paper.

The purpose of this paper is to review approaches to Authentic Leadership and Mindfulness and to Global Competencies from the Buddhist perspective of Leadership Rajadhamma. It considers the parallel approach of Adam Smith's Moral Leadership.

The emphasis of this paper is a critique of the limitations of current teaching and practices in developing ethics and moral conduct in MBA programs and Global Leadership programs.

There is insufficient attention given to the Buddhist thought and practice of Leadership. Rajadhamma emphasizing the “Right Mind” and “Right Conduct.” Because of his moral philosophy Adam Smith is offered as of an exemplar of Bodhisattva whom business executives would respect and emulate.

This study is metatheoretical. The implications of this approach are to design Global Leadership Competencies with a greater emphasis on morality and ethical conduct. The practical wisdom of the Bodhisattva can provide a positive foundation for this design.

From the metatheoretical perspective the Theory of Moral Sentiments of Adam Smith has very interesting parallels with Buddhist practice in the twenty-first century with guidance for Global Leaders.