Robert G. Hamlin, Hye-Seung Kang, Dae Seok Chai and Sewon Kim
This study aims to identify people’s perceptions of what behaviourally differentiates effective managers from ineffective managers within a South Korean (SK) public sector…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to identify people’s perceptions of what behaviourally differentiates effective managers from ineffective managers within a South Korean (SK) public sector organization, and the extent to which the findings are similar or different to those of an equivalent previous study in the SK private sector.
Design/methodology/approach
Adopting the “pragmatic approach” and assuming a post-positivist ontology and constructivist–interpretivist epistemology, examples of “effective” and “ineffective” managerial behaviour were collected from managers and non-managerial employees in an SK central government Ministry using the critical incident technique. The collected critical incidents were coded, classified and reduced to a smaller number of behavioural categories. These were then compared against equivalent findings from a previous SK private sector replication study using open, axial and selective coding to identify generic behavioural criteria (GBCs)
Findings
High degrees of convergence point towards the emergence of a “two-factor” SK behavioural taxonomy of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness comprised of positive (n = 11) and negative (n = 4) GBCs of effective and ineffective managerial behaviour.
Practical implications
The GBCs constituting the deduced SK behavioural taxonomy could be used by HRD practitioners to critically evaluate the efficacy of extant management and leadership development (MLD) programmes, or to inform/shape the creation of new MLD programmes. Additionally, they could be used by other HR professionals to critically evaluate the relevance and efficacy of the assessment criteria used for existing management selection, 360-degree feedback and formal performance appraisal systems.
Originality/value
The emergence of an SK behavioural taxonomy through Type 3 (emic-as-emic) and Type 4 (emic-and-etic) indigenous research is a rare example of Eastern mid-range theory development.
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Carlos Enrique Ruiz, Robert Hamlin and Luis Eduardo Torres
The purpose of this qualitative study is to compare the perceptions of employed people in Mexico and Colombia about managerial and leadership behavioural effectiveness.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this qualitative study is to compare the perceptions of employed people in Mexico and Colombia about managerial and leadership behavioural effectiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative multiple cross-case and cross-nation comparative analysis of findings obtained from the two past emic replication (Mexico and Colombia) studies was conducted.
Findings
The study suggests that people within Mexican and Colombian organizations perceive “managerial and leadership behavioural effectiveness” in very similar ways. The findings support those researchers whose studies indicate that culture may not, as previously thought, play a significant role in the way managers should manage and lead their subordinates.
Research limitations/implications
The authors acknowledge two main limitations related to the sample size and scope of the two compared sets of empirical source data. The number of critical incidents about perceived managerial behavioural effectiveness obtained from the two compared studies was unbalanced (318 from the Mexican study and 267 from the Colombian study). Thus, the authors suggest more indigenous replication managerial behaviour studies be carried out in both Mexico and Colombia with the objective of identifying (if possible) the existence of critical incidents that could lead to different findings. Furthermore, the authors suggest conducting replica studies focused on specific industries rather than a diverse range of organizations to test the generalizability of the findings.
Practical implications
The findings of the comparative study are relevant to those human resource development professionals in international companies with operations in Mexico and/or Colombia when preparing their executives for international assignments in these Latin American countries.
Originality/value
The comparative study attempts to generate new insights and better understanding within the context of “managerial and leadership behavioural effectiveness” research, which the authors hope will make a useful contribution to the existing small body of knowledge regarding similarities and differences in managerial practices across culturally diverse Latin American countries.
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Robert P. Hamlin, Michael Gin, Fiona Nyhof and Joe Bogue
The purpose of this paper is to establish whether consumer focus groups can generate reliable data when used as a consumer research input to copy/graphic design development for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to establish whether consumer focus groups can generate reliable data when used as a consumer research input to copy/graphic design development for retail food packaging.
Design/methodology/approach
Six focus groups of six consumers each (n=36) were used to assess four concept designs for a manuka honey cordial product. The focus groups were used to rank the design concepts and to generate specific consumer-driven recommendations to develop/improve each of the designs. A new version of each design was then developed using these recommendations. The eight designs (four original and four improved) were tested together, using a quantitative field experiment at a supermarket in the area from which the focus group sample was drawn.
Findings
The results showed that the focus group rankings of the four original designs were largely predictive of the outcomes of the field trial. The improved designs also consistently outperformed their original equivalents in the field trials. Very large improvements were recorded with respect to the weaker original designs.
Research limitations/implications
The research only studied a single product type. However, the results demonstrate that focus group outcomes can be extended onto larger populations if the focus group sample is large enough.
Practical implications
These results support the use of consumer focus groups as a research input to package graphic design development.
Originality/value
Focus groups are used regularly in research where the applicability of their results to larger populations is assumed. This is the first research to formally test that assumption.
Robert G. Hamlin and Susan A. Serventi
The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a “partnership‐research” study of effective and ineffective managerial behaviour within the “local government” setting of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a “partnership‐research” study of effective and ineffective managerial behaviour within the “local government” setting of the Wolverhampton City Council Social Care Department, and to describe how the research supports and challenges the organisation's existing “leadership and management behavioural competency framework”. Additionally, it reveals and discusses the extent to which the results are consistent with equivalent and comparable findings from an equivalent study within a “central government” department.
Design/methodology/approach
Concrete examples of effective and ineffective managerial behaviour were collected using the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) of Flanagan, and the obtained data were analysed using content and thematic analytic methods.
Findings
The paper finds that from a total of 218 usable critical incidents 50 discrete behavioural items were identified, of which 25 were examples of “effective” and 25 of “ineffective” behaviour. A comparison against equivalent findings from the “central government” study revealed high degrees of overlap with 92 per cent of the “effective” and 96 per cent of the “ineffective” behavioural items being the same as, similar to, or containing some congruence of meaning.
Research limitations/implications
Although the number of CIT informants (n=40) falls at the top end of the typical sample range for qualitative research, it is possible that data collection “saturation” has not been reached. Whereas the subject of the present “local government” study was first line and middle managers, the focus of the compared “central government” study also included senior managers.
Originality/value
The results of this replica research lend additional empirical support to those who believe in “generic” and “universalistic “ explanations of managerial and leadership effectiveness.
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Robert G. Hamlin and Taran Patel
This paper aims to report the results of a replication study of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness within a Romanian public sector hospital, and to discuss the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to report the results of a replication study of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness within a Romanian public sector hospital, and to discuss the extent to which they are similar to and different from findings from equivalent studies carried out in two British NHS Trust hospitals.
Design/methodology/approach
Concrete examples (critical incidents) of effective and ineffective managerial behaviour were collected using Flanagan's critical incident technique (CIT). The critical incidents were content analyzed to identify a smaller number of behavioural statements (BSs). These were then compared and contrasted against two British BS data sets using realist qualitative analytic methods, and deductively coded and sorted into extant behavioural categories.
Findings
A total of 57 BSs were identified of which 30 were examples of effective and 27 of least effective/ineffective managerial behaviour. The multi‐case/cross‐nation comparative analysis revealed high degrees of commonality and relative generalization between the Romanian and British findings.
Research limitations/implications
Data saturation may not have been achieved during the CIT collection phase of the study. The relevance and transferability of the findings to other public sector hospitals in Romania have yet to be demonstrated empirically. The results have potential as “best evidence” to inform and shape “evidence‐based HRD” initiatives designed to train and develop effective managers and leaders within the health services sector of Romania and the United Kingdom.
Originality/value
The study is a rare example of indigenous managerial behaviour research in a non‐Anglo country. The results lend strong empirical support for universalistic explanations of the nature of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness.
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Andrea D. Ellinger, Robert G. Hamlin and Rona S. Beattie
The concept of managers assuming developmental roles such as coaches and learning facilitators has received considerable attention in recent years. Yet, despite the growing body…
Abstract
Purpose
The concept of managers assuming developmental roles such as coaches and learning facilitators has received considerable attention in recent years. Yet, despite the growing body of expert opinion that suggests that coaching is an essential core activity of everyday management and leadership, the literature base remains largely atheoretical and devoid of empirical research. While there is some consensus about what effective coaching looks like, little if any empirical research has examined ineffective coaching behaviours. The purpose of this paper is to compare the empirical findings from three separately conducted studies to derive a comprehensive understanding of the ineffective behaviours associated with managerial coaching.
Design/methodology/approach
The current study adopted a cross‐national “etic” methodology based on the empirical findings generated by three previously conducted and purposefully selected “emic” studies. Drawing on Berry's and Lyons and Chryssochoous' “emic‐etic” approach and cross‐cultural comparisons, the researchers employed Guba and Lincoln's file card approach to analyze and compare the three behavioral datasets of the previously conducted studies.
Findings
The findings from this cross‐national comparative “etic” study revealed that the vast majority of ineffective coaching behaviours previously identified in the emic studies were held in common with each other. The predominant ineffective behaviours included using an autocratic, directive, controlling or dictatorial style, ineffective communication and dissemination of information, and inappropriate behaviours and approaches to working with employees. Of the 17 ineffective behaviours that were compared only three were not held in common.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations associated with this cross‐national study included minor variations in the use of data collection approaches and samples of managers in the previously conducted emic studies.
Practical implications
The ineffective managerial coaching behaviours derived from the cross‐national comparisons can be integrated as diagnostic tools into coaching training programmes and management and leadership development programmes to improve the practice of managerial coaching. They can also be used to increase managers' awareness of the behaviours that impede their coaching interventions with their respective employees.
Originality/value
The literature base on coaching in general and managerial coaching in particular has been criticized for not being research‐informed and evidence‐based, but rather predominantly practice‐driven and guru‐led. The findings from the current cross‐national etic study not only add to a sparse base of empirical research on managerial coaching, but also illuminate an underdeveloped area, namely that of ineffective managerial coaching practice. Furthermore, the findings provide a foundation on which to compare and contrast future empirical research that may be conducted on managerial coaching behaviours.
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Carlos E. Ruiz, Jia Wang and Robert G. Hamlin
The aim of this study was to identify what people in Mexican organizations perceive as effective and ineffective managerial behavior.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study was to identify what people in Mexican organizations perceive as effective and ineffective managerial behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative study based on the grounded theory approach was conducted. Interviews using the critical incident techniques were conducted with 35 participants from six different companies located in Yucatan, Mexico.
Findings
Results suggest that effective managers in Mexico are considered approachable, democratic, fair, considerate, understanding, supportive, caring, and hard working with problem solving skills.
Research limitations/implications
This study is based on the responses of participants located in one region of Mexico. This study focused on the perceptions of Mexican participants only.
Practical implications
Findings of this study have practical implications for human resources professionals, Mexican managers, and expatriates who manage operations and manage people in Mexico. Human resources professionals can use the findings of this study to develop programs for leadership and management development. For Mexican managers, this study set parameters of what is considered effective or ineffective management behavior. Also, the findings of this study can help multinational companies better prepare expatriates for their international assignments in Mexico.
Originality/value
The article explores leadership practices internationally.
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Robert P. Hamlin and Victoria Watson
This paper examines the attitudes of the New Zealand wine industry towards the proposed New Zealand ‘Registered Origin’ appellation policy. Existing appellations are reviewed…
Abstract
This paper examines the attitudes of the New Zealand wine industry towards the proposed New Zealand ‘Registered Origin’ appellation policy. Existing appellations are reviewed, including the motives for their establishment, their performance, and their relationship with the marketing activities of wine producers. The review concludes that existing appellations could be divided into two groups, the ‘active’ appellations of the Old World, and the ‘passive’ appellations of the New World. Passive appellations make assumptions as to industry behaviour. These assumptions are identified. These assumptions have to be both understood and supported by an industry if they are to adequately support a passive appellation policy. An interview survey of New Zealand wine producers examines the industry's understanding of the proposed passive appellation. The results suggest that the level of understanding is low, at around 25% of those interviewed, which has negative implications for the proposed appellation.
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This study seeks to examine the managerial behavior of Chinese managers, as observed by their superiors, subordinates, and peers in a state‐owned enterprise in China…
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to examine the managerial behavior of Chinese managers, as observed by their superiors, subordinates, and peers in a state‐owned enterprise in China. Specifically, this study aims to explore two questions. First, what managerial behaviors are perceived as being effective in the Chinese state‐owned enterprise? Second, what managerial behaviors are perceived as being least effective or ineffective in the Chinese state‐owned enterprise?
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory qualitative study was conducted using critical incident (CI) interview techniques. From 35 managers of one large state‐owned telecommunication company in Western China, 230 usable CIs were collected. In total, 31 themes were identified from the thematic analysis, of which 14 related to effective managerial behaviors and 17 related to ineffective behaviors.
Findings
An effective Chinese manager is perceived as being supportive, caring, fair, engaging, self‐disciplined, unselfish, responsible, and knowledgeable. While findings of the study highlight the continuing influence of the traditional Chinese culture on the perceived effectiveness of managerial behaviors, they also suggest a clear shift from traditional values that emphasize authoritarian management to Western values that encourage participative management.
Research limitations/implications
While the small sample may limit the generalizability of the study, findings expand the current knowledge base of Chinese management and can be useful for further empirical testing.
Practical implications
This study provides some parameters for benchmarking and evaluating Chinese managerial practices. The identified indicators of effective and ineffective managerial behaviors can be incorporated into the development of a Chinese management competency model or instrument, and a more targeted management development intervention.
Originality/value
This study taps an under‐explored research territory – China, and is one of the first attempts at identifying effective managerial behavior indicators of Chinese managers using the CI technique. By adopting an inductive approach this study provides rich qualitative data that can be useful for developing an indigenous tool appropriate in the Chinese context.
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This chapter seeks to increase our understanding of health care employees' perceptions of effective and ineffective leadership behavior within their organization.
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter seeks to increase our understanding of health care employees' perceptions of effective and ineffective leadership behavior within their organization.
Design/methodology/approach
Interviews were conducted with 59 employees working in a diversity of positions within the case study hospital. Interviewees were asked to cite behaviors of both an effective and an ineffective leader in their organization. They were also asked to clarify whether their example described the behavior of a formal or informal leader. Grounded theory data analysis techniques were used and findings were interpreting using existing leadership behavior theories.
Findings
(1) There was a consistent link between effective leadership and relationally oriented behaviors. (2) Employees identified both formal and informal leadership within their hospital. (3) There were both similarities and differences with respect to the types of behaviors attributed to informal versus formal leaders. (4) Informants cited a number of leadership behaviors not yet accounted for in the leadership behavior literature (e.g., ‘hands on’, ‘professional’, ‘knows organization’). (5) Ineffective leadership behavior is not simply the opposite of effective leadership.
Research implications
Findings support the following ideas: (1) there may be a relationship between the type of job held by employees in health care organizations and their perceptions of leader behavior, and (2) leadership behavior theories are not yet comprehensive enough to account for the varieties of leadership behavior in a health care organization. This study is limited by the fact that it focused on only those leadership theories that considered leader behavior.
Practical implications
There are two practical implications for health care organizations: (1) leaders should recognize that the type of behavior an employee prefers from a leader may vary by follower job group (e.g., nurses may prefer relational behavior more than managerial staff do), and (2) organizations could improve leader development programs and evaluation tools by identifying ineffective leadership behaviors that they want to see reduced within their workplace.
Social implications
Health care organizations could use these findings to identify informal leaders in their organization and invest in training and development for them in hopes that these individuals will have positive direct or indirect impacts on patient, staff, and organizational outcomes through their informal leadership role.
Value/originality
This study contributes to research and practice on leadership behavior in health care organizations by explicitly considering effective and ineffective leader behavior preferences across multiple job types in a health care organization. Such a study has not previously been done despite the multi-professional nature of health care organizations.