Distributing leadership and cultivating dialogue with collaborative EBIP

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the efficacy of collaborative evidence based information practice (EBIP) as an organizational effectiveness model. Shared leadership, appreciative inquiry and knowledge creation theoretical frameworks provide the foundation for change toward the implementation of a collaborative EBIP workplace model. Collaborative EBIP reiterates the importance of gathering the best available evidence, but it differs by shifting decision-making authority from "library or employer centric" to "user or employee centric". University of Colorado Denver Auraria Library Technical Services department created a collaborative EBIP environment by flattening workplace hierarchies, distributing problem solving and encouraging reflective dialogue. By doing so, participants are empowered to identify problems, create solutions, and become valued and respected leaders and followers. In an environment where library budgets are in jeopardy, recruitment opportunities are limited and the workplace is in constant flux, the Auraria Library case study offers an approach that maximizes the capability of the current workforce and promotes agile responsiveness to industry and organizational challenges. Collaborative EBIP is an organizational model demonstrating a process focusing first on the individual and moving to the collective to develop a responsive and high performing business unit, and in turn, organization.

‘Doing’ social justice in early childhood : the potential of leadership

Early childhood education has long been connected with objectives related to social justice. Australian Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) has its roots in philanthropic and educational reform movements prevalent at the turn of the 20th century. More recently, with the introduction of the National Early Childhood Reform Agenda, early childhood education has once more been linked to the achievement of aims associated with redressing inequality and disadvantage. According to Jean-Marie, Normore and Brooks (2009), educational leaders have a moral and social obligation to foster equitable practices through advocating for traditionally marginalised and poorly served students while creating a new social order “...that subverts the long standing system that has privileged certain students while oppressing or neglecting others” (p.4). Drawing on extant literature, including data from two previously reported Australian studies in which leadership emerged as having a transformational impact on service delivery, this paper examines the potential of early childhood leadership to generate ‘socially just’ educational communities. With reference to critical theory, we argue that critically informed, intentional and strategic organisational leadership can play a pivotal role in creating changed circumstances and opportunities for children and families. Such leadership includes positional and distributed elements, articulation of values and beliefs, and collective action that is mindful and informed.

The centrality of ethical leadership

Purpose The central argument in this paper is that ethical school leadership is imperative in a context of increasing performance-driven accountability. The purpose of this paper is to focus on school principals’ perceptions of how they understand ethical leadership and how they lead the ethical use of data. Design/methodology/approach This study utilises semi-structured interviews with six state school principals (one primary and six secondary) to explore their perceptions of ethical leadership practices; and how they balance current competing accountabilities in a context of performance-driven accountability. Findings There were four key findings. First, principals used data to inform and direct their practices and their conversations with teachers. Second, while ethics was a central consideration in how principals’ led, practising in an ethical manner was identified as complex and challenging in the current context. Third, Starratt’s (1996) ethical framework proved to be relevant for interpreting principals’ practices. Finally, all of the principals referred to dilemmas they faced as a result of competing priorities and all used a variety of strategies to deal with these dilemmas. Originality/value While there is a small body of research that explores school leaders’ understandings of ethical tensions and dilemmas, there is little research that has focused on school leaders’ understandings of the ethical use of data. This study, then, contributes to this area as it provides a discussion on school principals’ leadership practices in the current climate driven by data use.

Building a Globally Distributed Historical Sheet Map Set

This paper describes the procedures used to create a distributed collection of topographic maps of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Spezialkarte der Öesterriechisch-ungarnischen Monarchie, Masse. 1:75,000 der natur. This set of maps was published in Vienna over a period of years from 1877 to 1914. The part of the set used in this project includes 776 sheets; all sheets from all editions number over 3,665. The paper contains detailed information on how the maps were converted to digital images, how metadata were prepared, and how Web-browser access was created using ArcIMS Metadata Server. The project, funded by a 2004 National Leadership Grant from the Institute for Museums and Library Science (IMLS), was a joint project of the Homer Babbidge Library Map and Geographic Information Center at the University of Connecticut, the New York Public Library, and the American Geographical Society’s Map Library at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.

Leadership and the negotiation of order in small groups

This thesis is focussed on the role differentiationhypothesis as it relates to small groups (Bales, 1958). The hypothesis is systematically examined, both conceptually and empirically, in the light of the Equilibrium Hypothesis (Bales, 1953) and the Negotiated Order Theory of leadership (e.g. Hosking, 1988). Chapter 1 sketches in a context for the research,which was stimulated by attempts during the 60s and 70s to organise small groups without leaders (the leaderless group, based on isocratic principles). Chapter 2 gives a conceptual and developmental overview of Bales' work, concentrating on the Equilibrium Hypothesis. It is argued that Bales' conceptual approach, if developed, can potentially integrate the disparate small groups and leadership literatures. Chapters 3 and 4 examine the concepts `group', `leader' and `leadership' in terms of the Negotiated Order perspective. In chapter 3 it is argued that two aspects of the concept group need to be taken separately into account; physical attributes and social psychological aspects (the metaphysical glue). It is further argued that a collection of people becomes a group only when they begin to establish a shared sense of social order. In chapter 4 it is argued that leadership is best viewed as a process of negotiation between those who influence and those who are influenced, in the context of shared values about means and ends. It is further argued that leadership is the process by which a shared sense of social order is established and maintained, thus linking the concepts `leadership' and `group' in a single formulation. The correspondences with Bales' approach are discussed at the end of the chapter. Chapters 5 to 8 present a detailed critical description and evaluation of the empirical work which claims to show role differentiation or test the hypothesis, both Bales original work and subsequent studies. It is argued here, that the measurement and analytical procedures adopted by Bales and others, in particular the use of simple means as summaries of group structures, are fundamentally flawed, and that role differentiation in relation to particular identifiable groups has not been demonstrated clearly anywhere in the literature. Chapters 9 to 13 present the empirical work conducted for the thesis. 18 small groups are examined systematically for evidence of role differentiation using an approach based on early sociometry (Moreno, 1934). The results suggest that role differentiation, as described by Bales, does not occur as often as is implied in the literature, and not equivocally in any case. In particular structures derived from Liking are typically distributed or weak. This suggests that one of Bales' principal findings, that Liking varies independently of his other main dimensions, is the product of statistical artifact. Chapter 14 presents a general summary of results and presents some considerations about future research.

Evaluating authentic behaviour change in leadership development programmes

The global economic crisis that hit the western countries strongly has emphasised the need to abandon the economic-performance significance of leadership and return to a meaning-making significance. While a lot of research has been done in the field of leadership and management disciplines, little has been done on how to develop leadership. This study evaluated the degree in which leadership training in the market-place today was effective at developing authentic leadership and, therefore, at changing individual behaviour. Since none of the leadership theories address how behavioural change is actually achieved, theories of change were integrated in the current study. A conceptual model combining Authentic Leadership Development (ALD) theory and the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was proposed. Furthermore, this study explored the relationship between a positive contemplation of change and the actual change observed in individuals after the leadership intervention. In order to test this conceptualisation, a longitudinal quasi-experimental study was conducted. Leaders were surveyed in this study one month before and one month after the programme. Three complementary questionnaires were distributed to participants in one of four leadership development programmes (two corporate initiatives and two business-school programmes). Analyses showed that leaders who attended a leadership intervention (as compared to a control group) developed higher levels of authentic leadership, as rated by them-selves and others in their working environment and controlling for baseline scores. The results also indicated that intentions were developed through the interventions and that the development of such intentions translated into changes in authentic behaviour. Intentions mediated the relationship between attitude and authentic leader-ship. In addition, when contemplation of change was high and attitudes towards authentic leadership were positive, the development of intentions was stronger. The implications of these findings for the theory and practice of leadership development programmes and the impact on organisational performance are discussed.

A study of the relationship between employee virtuality and technology deviance as mediated by leadership and employee perceptions

Recent studies found that organizations have been investing significant capital in developing teams and employees in geographic areas where labor and resources are considerably cheaper. Furthermore, organizations are moving core operational activities such as research and development and back-office processes to globally distributed teams. ^ However, several factors that are inherent to these virtual teams can have a negative impact on employee perceptions and engagement; specifically, the physical and temporal differences between employees and their supervisors, the lack of meaningful social interaction intrinsic to working relationships, and cultural biases that can be fostered when close, daily interactions is not there to help bridge the dissimilarity. ^ When strategies are not in place to mitigate these deficiencies, it can cause virtual employees to disengage emotionally and intellectually from the organization, or lead them to feel justified in working against the best interest of the company. ^ Past research indicates that although deviant behavior in the workplace is not new, transgressions committed by employees have been increasing significantly every year. Beyond the focus of why employees are motivated to act against the organization, to what extent do the recent changes to the organization’s structure influence this type of behavior through their actions at the macro (organizational) and micro level (leadership). ^ In addition, there is a related phenomenon that has aided the transformation of the workplace—namely, the ubiquity of technology. In the context of workplace deviance, established research has documented an increasing trend of employees utilizing company technology as a medium and amplifier when harming the organization. It is important to understand whether technology has facilitated or hindered workplace deviance by virtue of the technology itself (as a means), and as part of the new employee roles created by the evolving technology (i.e., virtual employees). Therefore, it is important to identify how individual attitudes and behaviors can be affected by an employee’s degree of virtuality. ^ This study will add to the understanding of how social interaction and physical proximity, leadership and other perception factors contribute to the changes organizations are experiencing as their structure evolves and adapts to compete in the new global environment. ^

A Study of the Relationship between Employee Virtuality and Technology Deviance as Mediated by Leadership and Employee Perceptions

Recent studies found that organizations have been investing significant capital in developing teams and employees in geographic areas where labor and resources are considerably cheaper. Furthermore, organizations are moving core operational activities such as research and development and back-office processes to globally distributed teams. However, several factors that are inherent to these virtual teams can have a negative impact on employee perceptions and engagement; specifically, the physical and temporal differences between employees and their supervisors, the lack of meaningful social interaction intrinsic to working relationships, and cultural biases that can be fostered when close, daily interactions is not there to help bridge the dissimilarity. When strategies are not in place to mitigate these deficiencies, it can cause virtual employees to disengage emotionally and intellectually from the organization, or lead them to feel justified in working against the best interest of the company. Past research indicates that although deviant behavior in the workplace is not new, transgressions committed by employees have been increasing significantly every year. Beyond the focus of why employees are motivated to act against the organization, to what extent do the recent changes to the organization’s structure influence this type of behavior through their actions at the macro (organizational) and micro level (leadership). In addition, there is a related phenomenon that has aided the transformation of the workplace – namely, the ubiquity of technology. In the context of workplace deviance, established research has documented an increasing trend of employees utilizing company technology as a medium and amplifier when harming the organization. It is important to understand whether technology has facilitated or hindered workplace deviance by virtue of the technology itself (as a means), and as part of the new employee roles created by the evolving technology (i.e, virtual employees). Therefore, it is important to identify how individual attitudes and behaviors can be affected by an employee’s degree of virtuality. This study will add to the understanding of how social interaction and physical proximity, leadership and other perception factors contribute to the changes organizations are experiencing as their structure evolves and adapts to compete in the new global environment.