Hsing‐Chau Tseng, Hui‐Lien Tung and Chi‐Hsiang Duan
The purpose of this paper is to explore and map the intellectual structure of leadership studies during 1997‐2006. This paper also attempts to help researchers identify the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore and map the intellectual structure of leadership studies during 1997‐2006. This paper also attempts to help researchers identify the important publications and the influential scholars as well as the correlations among these publications using citation and co‐citation.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, co‐citation analysis and social network analysis techniques are used to research knowledge network of the leadership literature by analyzing 31,232 cited references of 2,322 articles from two leadership related journals in social science citation index and science citation index databases.
Findings
Four factors emerged in this paper: effectiveness of leadership style, leadership theory and development, leadership categorization, and current issues of leadership research.
Originality/value
This paper provides management researchers a tool for evaluating leadership publications and provides a systematic and objective means of determining the relative importance of different knowledge nodes in the development of the leadership research.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to describe the methodologies of researching literature in leadership studies.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the methodologies of researching literature in leadership studies.
Design/methodology/approach
Objectives are achieved through a series of research techniques, including bibliometrics (citation and co‐citation research), social networking, mapping and cross‐referencing. The most influential authors, journals and articles in leadership studies were identified from 1997‐2006.
Findings
Certain authors provide the core theories of leadership studies, and very few authors in the field are co‐cited in other articles.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should not be limited to the Leadership Quarterly and Educational Learning journals used for this study.
Practical implications
Practical outcomes include greater understanding, nurturing and training of leadership talent in organizations.
Originality/value
The paper outlines a coherent research methodology for literature review in a given field of study, while also providing a helpful bibliography of influential work in leadership studies.