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i n t e r n A t i o n A l l e A d e r s h i p J o u r n A l

WINTEr 2012

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1

A refereed, online journal

published thrice yearly by

Thomas Edison State Collegei l J

101 W. State St.

Trenton, N.J. 08608

www.tesc.edu/ilj

in this issue

Articles

Nice Guys (and Gals) Finish First:

Ethical Leadership and Organizational Trust, Satisfaction, and Effectiveness

Craig E. Johnson, Paul M. Shelton, and Laurie Yates

Profiling and Managing Time Perspectives: A Systematic Approach

Charles D. Kerns

Barriers to the Attainment of Global Leadership Competencies

Barry L. Boyd, Lori L. Moore, Jennifer Williams, and Chanda D. Elbert

Planning for an American Higher Education Leadership Crisis:

The Succession Issue for Administrators

Gaye Luna

Leadership in the New Israeli Labor Union—The Histadrut:

Coping with the Problem of Organizational Decline

Yaffa Moskovich

International Leadership Journal

Contents

Volume 4, Issue 1, Winter 2012

From the Editor

Joseph C. Santora .................................................................................................................. 2

ARTICLES

Nice Guys (and Gals) Finish First: Ethical Leadership and Organizational Trust, Satisfaction, and Effectiveness

Craig E. Johnson, Paul M. Shelton, and Laurie Yates ............................................................ 3 Profiling and Managing Time Perspectives: A Systematic Approach

Charles D. Kerns ..................................................................................................................... 20 Barriers to the Attainment of Global Leadership Competencies

Barry L. Boyd, Lori L. Moore, Jennifer Williams, and Chanda D. Elbert .................................. 41 Planning for an American Higher Education Leadership Crisis: The Succession Issue for Administrators

Gaye Luna ............................................................................................................................... 56 Leadership in the New Israeli Labor Union—The Histadrut: Coping with the Problem of Organizational Decline

Yaffa Moskovich ...................................................................................................................... 80

International Leadership Journal Winter 2012

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From the Editor February 2012 Welcome to this 11th issue of the International Leadership Journal, an online, peer-reviewed journal. This issue contains five articles. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Dr. Darren Hanson, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore Business School University, to the editorial board. You may have read an article co-authored by Dr. Hanson in the Fall 2011 issue of this journal. Two articles focus on different aspects that impact effectiveness in the workplace. Johnson, Shelton, and Yates challenge the age-old adage of nice guys finishing last by examining the relationship between ethical leadership and organizational trust, satisfaction, and perceived effectiveness for both direct supervisors and upper management. Kerns provides real-world examples of how time perspectives affect work performance and happiness, and then shares a practical, seven-step method for helping leaders identify and manage their time perspectives to become happier high performers and train their direct reports to do the same. Two more articles tackle the world of higher education. Boyd, Moore, Williams, and Elbert attempt to identify barriers that prevent college graduates from attaining global leadership competencies, but find no consensus across institutions. Luna focuses on higher education administration by determining what leadership-preparation strategies and success plans exist for mid- to high-level administrative positions in colleges and universities. Finally, Moskovich explores how changing leadership in the Histadrut, the Israeli organization of trade unions, dealt with the problem of organizational decline. Please let us know your thoughts about the articles in the journal and feel free to submit articles for review. Enjoy! Joseph C. Santora

Editor


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ARTICLES

Nice Guys (and Gals) Finish First: Ethical Leadership and Organizational Trust,

Satisfaction, and Effectiveness

Craig E. Johnson and Paul M. Shelton George Fox University

Laurie Yates

Eastern Oregon University In this study we examined the relationship between ethical leader behavior and organizational trust, satisfaction with organizational outcomes, and perceived organizational effectiveness. A survey of working adults revealed that perceptions of ethical leadership are positively related to collective trust levels. Those who believed that their leaders acted as moral persons and moral managers rated their organizations as more competent, open, concerned for employees, and reliable while identifying more strongly with their employers. They also reported higher satisfaction with organizational outcomes and considered their organizations to be more effective. Direct supervisors were perceived as more ethical than CEOs. These findings provide further evidence that ethical leaders also function as effective leaders. Implications for the study and practice of leadership are identified. Key words: effectiveness, ethical leadership, satisfaction, trust Ethics and effectiveness are often treated as incompatible. Convinced that “nice

guys finish last,” many believe that leaders have to set aside their ethical

standards to succeed in the rough-and-tumble world of business (Brown, 2007).

To support their position, they point to the example of prominent executives like

Oracle’s founder and CEO, Larry Ellison. The billionaire has been described as a

“first-class SOB” for his ruthless treatment of employees, customers, and

competitors alike (Mendleson, 2010, 28).

While unethical leaders do succeed, a growing body of evidence suggests that

ethical leaders are frequently more, not less, effective than their less ethical

counterparts. Ethical leaders are rated as more promotable and effective (Brown,

2007; Rubin, Dierdorff, & Brown, 2010). Their employees are more satisfied and

committed to the organization, more willing to put in additional effort, more willing


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to report problems to management, and more productive (Avey, Palanski, &

Walumbwa, 2011; Brown & Mitchell, 2010; Khuntia & Suar, 2004; Mayer, Kuenzi,

Greenbaum, Bardes, & Salvador, 2009; Piccolo, Greenbaum, Den Hartog, &

Folger, 2010; Ponnu & Tennakoon, 2009; Toor & Ofori, 2009; Walumbwa et al.,

2011). Groups led by moral leaders are less likely to engage in theft, sabotage,

and other deviant behaviors, while demonstrating higher levels of organizational

citizenship behavior that goes beyond the requirements of the job (Brown &

Trevino, 2006b; Walumbwa et al., 2011). In addition, ethical leadership enhances

perceptions of ethical climate, which encourages job commitment and

satisfaction (Neubert, Carlson, Kacmar, Roberts, & Chonko, 2009).

The objective of this study was to add to our understanding of the relationship

between ethical leadership and effective leadership by determining if ethical

leader behavior is linked to organizational trust. Establishing such a connection

would be significant because trust has emerged as one of the most important

variables in organizational research. Investigators in a variety of social science

disciplines have demonstrated the benefits of trust in the organizational context

(Kramer & Lewicki, 2010). Trust fosters accurate communication and

cooperation; lowers transaction and litigation costs; reduces turnover;

encourages innovation, organizational learning, and work effort; and fosters

satisfaction and commitment (Bruhn, 2001; Driscoll, 1978; Grant & Sumanth,

2009; Kramer, 1999; Shockley-Zalabak & Ellis, 2006; Shockley-Zalabak,

Morreale, & Hackman, 2010; Tan & Tan, 2000). High trust levels are also related

to improved economic performance (Shockley-Zalabak et al., 2010).

Not only is trust essential to organizational success, but leaders also play a

critical role in the development of organizational trust or distrust (Bruhn, 2001).

Followers pay particularly close attention to the words and actions of leaders who

have significant power to shape the organization’s climate and culture (Kramer,

2010). Trustworthy leaders encourage greater follower commitment, reduced

turnover, better job performance, and more frequent citizenship behaviors (Davis

& Rothstein, 2006; Davis, Schoorman, Mayer, & Tan, 2000; Dirks & Ferrin, 2002;

Dirks & Skarlicki, 2004; Krosgaard, Brodt, & Whitener, 2002). When followers


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trust their leaders, they are also more likely to trust their organizations (Tan &

Tan, 2000). Engaging in moral behavior may be one way for leaders to

demonstrate their trustworthiness while creating trusting climates. Those working

under ethical leaders might also be more satisfied and more likely to rate their

organizations as effective.

This article describes a project designed to test the relationship between ethical

leadership and three positive organizational outcomes: organizational trust,

satisfaction with organizational outcomes, and perceived organizational

effectiveness. The study findings add to the growing body of evidence

demonstrating that ethical leaders are also effective leaders.

Ethical Leadership and Organizational Trust Trevino and her colleagues surveyed senior executives and ethics officers to

determine how executives develop a reputation for ethical leadership (Trevino,

Brown, & Hartman, 2003; Trevino, Hartman, & Brown, 2000). They concluded

that ethical leadership consists of “the demonstration of normatively appropriate

conduct through personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and the

promotion of such conduct to followers through two-way communication,

reinforcement, and decision-making” (Brown, Trevino, & Harrison, 2005, 120).

According to this definition, the practice of ethical leadership is a two-part

process. To begin, ethical leaders function as moral persons who behave

ethically while carrying out their leadership responsibilities. They are perceived

as honest, caring, and principled individuals who make equitable decisions.

However, personal morality is not enough to create an ethical culture. Distant

followers don’t have first-hand knowledge of the personal reputation of top

managers. Messages about ethics will be drowned out by other priorities like

making a profit unless leaders make them salient. As a result, ethical leaders

must also function as moral managers who promote ethical conduct in followers

through modeling desirable behavior, instituting equitable policies, and

reinforcing appropriate behavior through rewards and punishments (Brown &

Trevino, 2006a).


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In this project, organizational trust is defined as the collective set of positive

expectations members hold about the intents and behaviors of multiple

organizational stakeholders, which are based on roles, experiences,

relationships, and interdependencies (Shockley-Zalabak, Ellis & Winogard,

2000). These expectations shape how vulnerable individuals and groups will be

when interacting with one another (Shockley-Zalabak, Ellis, & Cesaria, 2000).

Together, organizational members develop a shared or aggregate level of trust

expectations that become part of the group’s culture.

Individuals may enter organizations with a predisposition to trust based on

(a) their identification with other in-group members, (b) expectations that others

in the group will reciprocate their trust, (c) belief that those occupying

organizational roles have expertise, and (d) the presence of formal rules that

govern behavior (Kramer, 2010; Kramer, Brewer, & Hanna, 1996; Kramer &

Lewicki, 2010). Once they join the group, they determine if the presumption of

trust is warranted through their interactions with peers, supervisors, and top

leaders.

Collective trust is composed of several factors or dimensions. Cummings and

Bromiley (1996) identify three components of organizational trust. Members

judge an organization to be trustworthy if the group (1) makes good faith efforts

to keep its commitments, (2) is honest when negotiating such commitments, and

(3) does not take unfair advantage of members even when provided with the

opportunity to do so. Shockley-Zalabak, Morreale, and Hackman (2010) identify

five dimensions of organizational trust climates: competence, openness, concern,

reliability, and identification. Competence is the collective perception that

leadership (both supervisory and top management) is effective and that the

organization can survive. Organizational survival depends on such factors as the

ability to create new products rapidly, meet competitive pressures, and find new

markets. Openness or honesty is strongly linked to trust in organizational

leadership. Employees who believe that management shares information and is

sincere are much more likely to put their trust in the organization as a whole.

Concern reflects caring and empathy. Concerned leaders (and followers) don’t


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take advantage of the vulnerability of others. Reliability describes perceptions of

consistent and dependable behavior. Those organizations that match their words

and actions generate trust; those that fail to “walk the talk” undermine trust.

Identification describes the feeling of affiliation and association with the

organization.

Hypotheses There is reason to expect that ethical leadership is tied to several dimensions of

organizational trust. To develop a reputation as an ethical leader, an individual

must be seen as trustworthy—honest, consistent, and considerate (Brown,

Trevino, & Harrison, 2005). Acting as moral managers, ethical leaders establish

positive connections with followers, expressing concern and practicing two-way

communication. They are seen as approachable, provide information about the

values and principles behind important organizational decisions, solicit input, and

practice effective listening skills (Trevino et al., 2003). These behaviors appear

closely tied to the openness, concern, and reliability dimensions of organizational

trust. Walumbwa et al. (2011) also found that ethical leadership is positively

related to identification with the organization.

Ethical leaders also appear to foster organizational trust by acting as moral

managers who model desirable behavior while setting equitable polices and

reinforcing moral behavior. Followers can count on their leaders to act with

integrity, to “walk their talk.” Consistent behavior should foster perceptions of

reliability and openness (honesty) and reinforce the perception that the

organization will honor its commitments. Fair policies and consistent punishment

of ethical misbehavior signal that the organization will not take advantage of

members and can be relied upon to carry out its promises. Such strategies also

enhance perceptions of organizational justice. Employees who believe they are

fairly treated respond with greater trust in their leaders, particularly their direct

supervisors (Aryhee, Budhwar, & Chen, 2002), which contributes to trust in the

organization. For the reasons cited above, the following hypothesis was

proposed:


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Hypothesis 1: Ethical leadership is positively related to organizational trust.

Previous investigations have demonstrated positive relationships between

organizational trust and satisfaction with organizational outcomes and

effectiveness (Ellis & Shockley-Zalabak, 2001; Hackman & Shockley-Zalabak,

2008; Shockley-Zalabak, Ellis, & Winogard, 2000). The higher the level of

aggregate trust the more likely that members will be satisfied with such factors as

their pay and their progress and future in the organization. They also perceive

that their organizations demonstrate concern for employees, communicate

effectively, and produce quality goods and services. At the same time, those

working in high trust climates rate their organizations as more effective on such

indicators as productivity, creativity, and performance. We hypothesize that a

similar relationship will exist between ethical leadership and satisfaction with

organizational outcomes and ratings of organizational effectiveness.

Hypothesis 2: Ethical leadership is positively related to satisfaction with

organizational outcomes.

Hypothesis 3: Ethical leadership is positively related to perceptions of

organizational effectiveness.

According to construal level theory, psychological distance (temporal, spatial,

social) influences moral judgment (Eyal, Liberman, & Trope, 2008). More distant

situations and behaviors are framed in abstract terms while proximal events are

evaluated in a more detailed manner. As a consequence, moral judgments of

distant situations and actors are more extreme or harsh than evaluations of less

distant people and events (Agerström & Bjorklund, 2009; Mencl & May, 2008).

Evaluators are more lenient when judging those they know because they are

more likely to take into account such factors as the context and the motivations of

the individual. Construal level theory provides one explanation for why survey

respondents may rate their organizational leaders as much more ethical than

corporate leaders in general. In the only previous study that specifically

examined the relationship between social distance and ethical leadership,

evaluators gave higher ethical leadership ratings to leaders who were personal


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acquaintances than to leaders they did not know (Tumasjan & Strobel, 2010).

Based on this evidence, the following hypothesis was proposed.

Hypothesis 4: Direct supervisors are perceived as more ethical than top

managers.

Method

Sample The study used surveys from 181 working adults in the Northwestern United

States. Participants were either currently enrolled in a master’s degree program

at one university or were MBA alumni of a second university. Survey packets

were completed during class time and through an online survey. Of the

participants who identified their gender, 83 (45.9%) of the respondents were

female, and 89 (53.6%) were male. The majority of participants—82.9% of the

sample—ranged in age from 30 to 59, and 91.5% had been employed by their

current organization for over six months. Participants worked in a variety of

sectors, including business, government, education, health care, military,

religious, and nonprofit.

Measures Organizational Trust Inventory. This instrument generates an overall trust

score as well as scores on each of the five dimensions of organizational trust:

competence, openness/honesty, concern, reliability, and identification. On a five-

point scale (1 = very little, 5 = very great), participants indicated how much they

trusted their organization. For more information on the development of this scale,

see Shockley-Zalabak & Ellis (2006) and Shockley-Zalabak et al. (2010).

Satisfaction with Organizational Outcomes. A five-point Likert-type scale

(1 = very little to 5 = very great) measured satisfaction with organizational

outcomes by asking respondents to rate satisfaction on 17 organizational

outcomes: job, pay, his or her progress in the organization, opportunity to make a

difference, the organization’s concern for members’ welfare, communication

efforts of the organization, the organization compared to similar organizations,


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efficiency, quality of products/services, capacity of the organization to obtain its

objectives, use of technology, management, capacity of the organization to

change, the future of the organization, his or her future in the organization,

organizational strategy, and capability of employees. This scale has been used

previously in organizational trust research (Ellis & Shockley-Zalabak, 2001).

Perceived Organizational Effectiveness. The Organizational Effectiveness

Scale (OES) is composed of indicators drawn from organizational effectiveness

literature (Morley, Shockley-Zalabak, & Cesaria, 1997). These include

productivity, adaptation, creativity, performance, employee satisfaction, growth,

profit, survival, quality, strategic planning, goal achievement, customer/client

satisfaction, and resource utilization. Respondents indicated on a scale of

0 (completely unachieved) to 4 (completely achieved) how well their organization

had met each objective.

Ethical Leadership Scale. Perceptions of ethical leadership were measured

through the Ethical Leadership Scale (ELS) (Brown et al., 2005). The ELS

consists of 10 items that measure perceptions of leaders as moral individuals

(e.g., “Sets an example of how to do things the right way in terms of ethics.”) and

as moral managers (e.g., “Disciplines employees who violate ethical standards.”)

on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Participants completed

two versions of the instrument, one with their organization’s CEO as referent, the

other with their direct supervisor as referent.

Results All four instruments demonstrated high reliability, generating the following

Chronbach alphas: Organizational Trust Inventory (.949), Satisfaction with

Organizational Outcomes (.937), Perceived Organizational Effectiveness (.908),

and Ethical Leadership Scale (.949). Alphas above .90 are generally considered

to be excellent (Gliem & Gliem, 2003).

Hypothesis 1 was supported (see Table 1). There is a significant positive

relationship between ethical leadership and organizational trust (p. < .01). Those

serving under ethical leaders reported a higher level of positive expectations.


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They were more willing to be vulnerable in their interactions with other

individuals, groups, or the organization as a whole. Further, the effect size of the

relationship (R2) was large, accounting for 63.4% percent of the variance.

Hypothesis 2 was supported (see Table 1). Ethical leadership is positively

related to higher satisfaction with organizational outcomes (p < .01).

Respondents who rated their leaders as ethical also expressed greater

satisfaction with their individual standing within the organization (pay, progress,

future) as well as the standing of the entire organization (capacity, quality of

goods and services, strategy). The effect size for this relationship was also large,

accounting for 44.9% of the variance.

Hypothesis 3 was supported (see Table 1). Ethical leadership is positively

related to higher evaluations of organizational effectiveness. Respondents who

rated their leaders as ethical were also more likely to give high marks to their

organization’s overall performance on such factors as growth, customer

satisfaction, creativity, and productivity. The relationship between ethical

leadership and organizational effectiveness generated a small effect size,

accounting for 20.6% of the variance (see Table 1).

Hypothesis 4 was supported. The Ethical Leadership Scale (ELS) score of

direct supervisors (M = 3.81) was significantly higher than that of CEOs (M =

3.59, t = 2.905; df = 152, p < .01), so respondents rated their immediate

managers as more ethical than top management. Further, the correlations

between ELS and the five dimensions of organizational trust were stronger for

supervisors than for CEOs, with the exception of identification with the

organization (see Table 2).

Table 1: Correlations among Variables

(ELS, Trust, Satisfaction, and Effectiveness) Variable ELS Trust Satisfaction Effectiveness ELS 1 .796** .670** .454** Trust .796** 1 .837** .598** Satisfaction .670** .837** 1 .673** Effectiveness .454** .598** .673** 1

**Significant at p < .01


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Table 2: Correlations among ELS and Trust Dimensions Variable M SD Competence Honesty Concern Reliability ID CEO 3.59 .897 .546** .663** .513** .600** .640** Supv. 3.81 .913 .721** .742** .705** .699** .632**

**Significant at p < .01

Discussion The results of this study further demonstrate that ethical leaders can also be

highly effective. We hypothesized that ethical leadership would be correlated to

the set of positive expectations members hold toward the organization as a

whole. This hypothesis was confirmed. Evaluations of the ethical behavior of

leaders were positively related to ratings of the competence, openness, concern,

reliability, and identification dimensions of organizational trust. As anticipated,

leaders who behave ethically when carrying out their duties (act as moral

persons) and promote ethical conduct to followers (act as moral managers) also

have the most trusting followers who are willing to be appropriately vulnerable in

their interactions. We also hypothesized that ethical leadership would be directly

linked to two direct measures of leader effectiveness: satisfaction with

organizational outcomes and perceptions of organizational effectiveness. These

predictions were also confirmed. Followers who perceive that their leaders are

ethical are more likely to report that they are satisfied with their individual

standing in the organization (pay, job, progress, opportunity to make a difference)

as well as with the organization as a whole (how the organization compares to

other organizations, management, the organization’s future, employee

capability). In addition, ethical leadership is linked with organizational

effectiveness based on a variety of indicators ranging from productivity,

adaptation, and performance to customer/client satisfaction and resource

utilization.

Respondents in this study perceived that their immediate supervisors are

significantly more ethical than their organizations’ top leaders. We argue that this

difference is the result of the impact of social distance on evaluations of moral

actors. However, there may be alternative explanations. According to social

exchange theory, the norm of reciprocity operates in leader-follower


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relationships. Followers in high-quality (LMX) relationships exert more effort in

response to the greater confidence placed in them by their supervisors (Wayne &

Green, 1993). Walumbwa et al. (2011) report that the quality of the LMX

relationship mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and follower

performance. The better the relationship, the more likely it is that followers will

respond to ethical leadership with higher performance. Followers in high-quality

relationships may also reciprocate by giving their supervisors higher moral

evaluations.

In addition to receiving higher ethics ratings, direct supervisors apparently had

a greater influence on perceptions of organizational trust. The correlations

between the competency, honesty, concern, and reliability dimensions of

organizational trust were stronger for supervisors than for CEOS. However, Ellis

& Shockley-Zalabak (2001) found that top managers, rather than direct

supervisors, have the strongest influence on employee trust evaluations. Thus,

the question of who exerts the most influence over the positive expectations of

employees—CEOs or direct supervisors—merits further investigation.

This investigation was narrow in scope. We limited our focus to identifying links

between ethical leadership, trust, satisfaction, and organizational effectiveness.

Future investigators will need to determine the exact nature of those

relationships. We expect that ethical leadership builds organizational trust, which

then contributes to a variety of positive outcomes such as satisfaction and

effectiveness. The fact that ethical leadership was more strongly related to trust

than to the other variables in our project suggests that this is the case. There

may also be variables that moderate the relationship between ethical leadership

and trust. Follower self-esteem, which has been found to lessen the effects of

ethical leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior and deviant behavior

(Avey et al., 2011), might be one such variable. Confident followers may be less

susceptible to the influence of ethical leadership on trust, satisfaction, and

effectiveness.

Despite its limited scope, this project has several implications for the study and

practice of leadership. First, the findings highlight the importance of ethical


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leadership. Ethical leader behavior is connected to trust, one of the most

researched and significant variables in organizational studies. Ethical leadership

is also positively related to satisfaction with the organization and perceptions of

the organization’s effectiveness. These variables can be added to the growing list

of positive organizational outcomes produced by ethical leaders.

Second, there are significant differences in how followers perceive the ethical

behavior of direct supervisors and CEOS. Direct managers were seen as

significantly more ethical than top managers and had a greater influence on trust,

satisfaction, and effectiveness evaluations of organizational trust. In order to

maximize the benefits of ethical leadership, organizations should focus more of

their efforts on lower-level managers, introducing them to the key elements of

ethical leadership, providing ethics training, supporting their attempts to reinforce

moral behavior, and so on (Dirks & Ferrin, 2002).

Third, moral leadership appears to be an important path to leadership success.

By making ethics a priority through modeling moral behavior, demonstrating

concern, reflecting high character, setting a positive example, making ethics

messages salient, and reinforcing ethical behavior, leaders improve the

performance of their followers and their organizations.

Conclusion When it comes to leaders, this investigation indicates that nice guys (and gals)

finish first, not last. Ethical leadership is positively related to trust, follower

satisfaction with organizational outcomes, and perceptions of organizational

effectiveness. These findings can be employed by teachers and trainers to help

convince cynical business leaders that they should make ethics a top priority.

Modeling moral behavior, making ethics messages salient, instituting just human

resource policies, and rewarding ethical behavior can boost the bottom line.

Acting ethically is not only the right thing to do; it can also be the most profitable

thing to do.


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Craig Johnson, PhD, is a professor of leadership studies and director of the Doctor of Business Administration program at George Fox University. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in leadership, ethics, and research methods. He is the author of Meeting the Ethical Challenges of Leadership (2012) and Organizational Ethics: A Practical Approach (2012) and coauthor of Leadership: A Communication Perspective (2008). Dr. Johnson can be reached at [email protected] Paul M. Shelton, PhD, is an assistant professor of management at George Fox University. He earned his PhD from Colorado State University and an MBA from Azusa Pacific University. He has over 10 years of experience in the federal government. Dr. Shelton actively consults with for-profit and not-for-profit organizations in the areas of leadership, change management, group dynamics, and cross-cultural competence. His research interests include trust, leadership, group potency, and developmental leadership. He can be reached at [email protected]. Laurie Yates, DBA, is an assistant professor in the College of Business at Eastern Oregon University and holds a Doctor of Business Administration in Management from George Fox University and an MBA from the University of Oregon. Dr. Yates has an extensive background in small business management and entrepreneurship as well as previous experience in larger corporations across a variety of industries. Her areas of expertise include leadership, management, organizational behavior, and human resources. She can be reached at [email protected] [email protected]


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Profiling and Managing Time Perspectives:

A Systematic Approach

Charles D. Kerns Pepperdine University and Corperformance, Inc.

A managerial leader's perspective on time will affect work preferences. Managing time perspectives may help enhance happiness and performance in organizational settings. This article offers a practical and systematic approach to focusing on and managing time perspectives. After defining time perspective, offering a time profile framework, and presenting a Time Perspective Management Cycle, the author presents a practical seven-step approach to applying this process in the workplace. He also describes a real-world application of this approach with an executive. Finally, he reviews the positive outcomes of this application, as well as challenges for and benefits from the practice of profiling and managing time perspectives. Key words: challenges, seven-step coaching approach, time profile, time perspective management, time perspective management cycle, value of managing time perspectives A person's orientation toward time—the past, present, and future—affects his or

her work preferences and performance. This orientation is referred to as one's

perspective on time, or time perspective. Managerial leadership research and

practitioner-oriented resources targeting the topic of time are sparse, while the

exploration of the role of time perspectives in helping managerial leaders drive

happier high performance is practically nonexistent. Yet this is an area of practice

that seems to hold significant promise as one way to improve the effectiveness of

managerial leaders, especially as it relates to driving happier high performance in

the workplace.

Over the years, the nature of time and dimensions related to time have been

discussed and debated by philosophers, physicists, and social psychologists.

Recently, some light has been shed on time in the context of managerial

leadership. Zimbardo and Boyd (2008) provide some useful and important ways

for us to look at perspectives on time from a psychological viewpoint. Others

have more explicitly made the connection between time perspective and

managerial leadership effectiveness (Mohammed & Nadkarni, 2011; Lee &

Liebenau, 1999; Thoms, 2004).


21

This article extends the rather limited attention given to time perspective and

leadership by offering an approach for practitioners to adapt, using information

collected from the “real world.” Locke and Cooper (2000) note that qualitative

data gleaned from a variety of available sources, including interviews, field

observations, and other less quantitative methods of inquiry, can legitimize an

approach that is based on the integration of real-world facts. This article can help

practitioners more effectively use and manage time perspective in their work, and

may serve as a springboard for further investigation—including quantitative data

and analysis by applied researchers.

The approach presented in this article is embedded within a broader program

of applied study that investigates five managerial roles, including a “Happier

Role.” The work presented focuses on one specific practice—profiling and

managing time perspectives—that seems to hold promise for helping managerial

leaders to help themselves and their people enhance their performance and

happiness at work.

Managerial leaders who more fully understand their orientation toward time and

effectively manage time perspectives can potentially enhance their own

performance and have the potential to enhance the happiness and performance

of the people they lead. The author's evolving work with his colleagues in this

area is encouraging and has yielded a number of useful frameworks and tools to

support the practice of profiling and managing time perspectives of managerial

leaders. Developing a “time profile” to represent individual differences among

people in the workplace along relevant temporal dimensions, along with

integrating key elements of time perspective into a coherent management cycle,

have advanced our work in this area and are offered here. The author also notes

some specific benefits of systematically understanding and managing time

perspectives for managerial leaders and their organizations.

The Time Perspective How a person is oriented to the past, present, and future in relationship to

various temporal dimensions is referred to as his or her perspective on time.


22

Does this person tend to live more in the past, the present, or the future?

Perspectives on time influence an individual’s experience, motivation, thought

process, and behavior (Boniwell, 2009). To understand what a person's

preferences are for this purpose, it is useful to view his or her orientation to the

past, present, and future along the following five dimensions:

1. Frequency of use: To what extent does a person focus on the past,

present, and/or future? Does he or she show a preference for one

dimension of time over the others? Or does this person have a more

balanced perspective on time?

2. Span: How much time does the past, present, and future encompass for

this person? For example, some people may look at the future as

encompassing a span of 20 years, while others may see the future as a

timeframe of 5 years.

3. Positivity: To what extent does this person view each of the past, present,

and future as positive, negative, or neutral, respectively?

4. Intensity: How intensely does this person view “significant events” in the

past or present, as well as events that are anticipated in the future?

5. Alignment: To what extent does this person see the past, present, and

future as being interconnected? To what extent does he or she view the

past, present, and future as being aligned in a coherent pattern?

Through the author's extensive fieldwork, these five dimensions have surfaced as

important variables that define a managerial leader's time perspective and are

used to establish his or her time profile. In working with executive coaching

clients, the author developed a “Time Profile” to facilitate a managerial leader in

thinking about his or her orientation or perspective with regard to time across the

five dimensions discussed above. The generic components of the time profile are

noted below in Table 1. Managerial leaders vary widely on all five components.


23

Table 1: Time Profile Components Orientation Usage Perceived Span Positive/Negative/Neutral Intensity Alignment Past _____% ___Days/Mos./Yrs ___%P ___%Nv ____%Nu Low

Moderate High

Low Moderate High

Present _____% ___Days/Mos./Yrs ___%P ___%Nv ____%Nu Low Moderate High

Low Moderate High

Future _____% ___Days/Mos./Yrs ___%P ___%Nv ____%Nu Low Moderate High

Low Moderate High

Further study of the impact of these dimensions on time orientation is needed to

inform the practice and expand the knowledge of time perspectives applied to

managerial leadership. While work in this area is in its infancy, some interesting

findings are emerging from research and practice. For example, a significant

relationship between the amount of effort needed to complete a project and the

perceived temporal distance from the “present” has been found. It seems that the

perception that a large amount of effort is needed in a project may signal that

there is little time to complete the project; these perceptions of time may produce

“more adaptive actions.” Activities requiring more effort are perceived to be

“temporally closer” to the present than tasks requiring less effort (Jiga-Boy, Clark,

& Semin, 2010).

In collaboration with colleagues, the author is developing assessment tools to

measure the dimensions shown in Table 1, including a Time Perspective Profiling

Questionnaire (TPPQ), to help leaders and their team members identify their

orientation to time and their position along the five dimensions. This assessment

instrument and related tools are targeted for managerial leaders and individuals

in workplace settings (Kerns, 2011). It should be noted that others have offered

dimensions and assessments of time perspective, including Boniwell (2009);

Cottle (1967); McGrath (1988); Mohammed & Nadkarni (2011); Thoms (2004);

and Zimbardo & Boyd (1999).

The Time Perspective Management Cycle In managing time perspective, managerial leaders seek to identify their own

personal time perspective and help their people identify their time perspective


24

profiles using a working knowledge of the five dimensions associated with time

orientation. Once a person's time perspective orientation has been identified, a

managerial leader can use that information in project staffing decisions. The

managerial leader can also use this information to coach his or her people to be

more effective in achieving key results, using techniques like coping skills, being

adaptive, and working against natural tendencies that may interfere with

productivity. Using time perspective profiles is one dimension a managerial

leader can incorporate into efforts to help his or her people become happier high

performers. The Time Perspective Management Cycle depicted below helps

“operationalize” this definition and process.

Phase I: Identifying–Clarifying

Phase II: Affirming–

Understanding

Phase III: Optimizing–Integrating

Phase IV: Measuring–Evaluating

Time Perspective Profiling Questionnaire (TPPQ)

Time profile development

Time profiling

Consult others Ask strategic

questions Reflect on good fit

situations Reflect on bad fit

situations

Integrate into performance profile

Gain experience and practice

Situational adjustments for “best fit”

Acquire knowledge Obtain feedback

Assess key results Review key

impacts Measure happy

high performance Make adjustments

regarding time profile targets

Optimize time profile

Figure 1: The Time Perspective Management Cycle © Copyright © 2011 Charles D. Kerns, Ph.D. Phase I. As previously noted, various assessment instruments are available for

identifying and clarifying one’s time perspective in Phase I; however, most of

these instruments were not designed for practicing managerial leaders and do

not address the components in Table 1 in an integrated manner. With this target

group in mind, additional assessment tools, such as the Time Perspective

Profiling Questionnaire (TPPQ), are being developed to help leaders and their

team members identify and clarify their time orientation and related dimensions

The Time Perspective Management Cycle ©


25

to drive happier high performance.

Phase II. Once one’s time profile has been identified, it is important that this

information be affirmed and understood. The process of affirming and

understanding involves seeking input from others to confirm agreement with the

identified “time profile.” These consultations should be with trusted others who

know the individual well and are willing to give frank, honest feedback. This

dialogue should help the individual better understand how his or her time profile

may be reflected in his or her behavior and performance on the job. Also, in

affirming the contents of one’s time profile, strategic questions such as “Do I feel

most confident when making decisions about the past, present, or future?”

should be asked. Reflecting on various situations in which one’s time perspective

matched the demands of a particular situation well, and on situations in which the

match was poor, is another useful way to help affirm and more fully understand

one’s perspective on time. Reassessment may be needed if work during this

phase reveals a disconnect between a person's own perceptions and the

feedback received; in this case, starting again at Phase I would be appropriate.

Phase III. After identified time profiles have been affirmed, many useful things

can be done to help optimize and integrate the time perspective into one’s work.

For example, conducting situational analysis to determine the circumstances in

which a managerial leader's time perspective preferences can be matched to

impending work situations can be useful. For instance, when forward thinking is

needed to determine strategies for penetrating new market segments, a strong

“future orientation” is preferred. In contrast, if a supply chain problem requires an

understanding of past performance data, an individual with a “past orientation”

may be the best match to perform this review and analysis. In addition, the

acquisition of knowledge and enhancement of skills related to one’s management

of time perspectives—for example, in running project meetings—are key

optimizing tactics. Obtaining useful feedback on how effectively one is managing

time perspectives is also important to optimizing and integrating the development

of time perspective management at work.

Phase IV. Measuring and evaluating the impact that one’s efforts in managing


26

time perspective has on the attainment of key results and other important

outcomes is a key component in the cycle. Measuring and evaluating

performance and happiness are especially important to determining the extent to

which an individual has become a happier high performer by effectively

managing his or her time perspective. (Kerns, 2008; Kerns & Ko 2010).

Feedback gleaned from this measurement and evaluation process also indicates

necessary behavioral changes and/or adjustments to better optimize and

integrate time perspective management at work (Phase III).

The Value of Managing Time Perspectives The process of systematically understanding and managing time perspectives

offers substantial benefits in many areas for managerial leaders and their

organizations. Well-being and happiness are increasingly linked to management

of time perspective (Boniwell, 2005, 2009; Drake, Duncan, Sutherland,

Abernethy, & Henry, 2008). Of particular value is the finding that a balanced time

perspective may contribute to well-being more than operating within one’s

preferred time perspective to the exclusion of the other two perspectives

(Boniwell, Osin, Linley, & Ivanchenko, 2010; Gao, 2011). Rather than

predominantly operating in one dimension, with a balanced time perspective, one

would appreciate the past, focus on what's important that can be influenced in

the present, and plan for the future. Managerial leaders, who are able to

demonstrate flexibility in this way, managing across time perspectives, are likely

to enhance happiness for themselves and for those they manage. Discerning the

best fit between the situation at hand and the time perspective needed, then

filling positions and assigning tasks and projects based on this fit, positively

impacts the managerial leader and his or her people and their productivity.

The author’s work in helping managerial leaders manage time perspectives

with groups, teams, and projects reinforces the idea that managerial leaders who

can show flexibility in working across time perspectives enhance happier high

performance (Kerns & Ko, 2010). He and his colleagues have observed that

teams and project members function more effectively when their leader is

practicing effective time perspective management. Lessons learned from the field


27

were recently buoyed by the findings of Mohammed and Nadkarni (2011) in one

of the first empirical studies of team “temporal leadership”; they found that

leadership effectiveness in this practice area had a direct positive impact on team

outcomes. Meeting management is also an area where effectively managing time

perspectives can lead to more productive and effective meetings. For example,

the cost to the well-being and productivity of meeting participants who endure

one member’s frequent negative reflections on past events and missed

opportunities is substantial. It is refreshing, however, to observe managerial

leaders who have been trained to manage time perspectives skillfully transition

past negative reflections to proactive future actions. This type of intervention

contributes to happier high performance among group members, including the

leader.

Effective time perspective management can also aid the successful

development, documentation, and communication of an organization’s strategic

direction. This type of strategy formulation also benefits from a balanced time

perspective. Past relevant information and projects need to be reviewed; present

circumstances, especially resources, need to be considered; and visions and

projections of the future need to be part of the strategy. A managerial leader who

is both aware of his or her time perspective strengths/bias and those of the other

strategy team members will likely be at a competitive advantage when it comes

to formulating and executing a strategic direction for his or her organization. In a

related area, Thoms, Warner, and Totleben (2006) have shown how time

perspective can impact the formation of alliances. Given the increasing

importance of strategic alliances to organizations, this is another valuable area

where effective time perspective management may have strategic significance

for a company.

Successfully managing time perspectives can likely help drive key results

across all functional work areas and with external stakeholders. For example,

understanding and managing time perspectives in sales management can drive

happier high performance. (Harris, 2009). We know from the extensive research

reviewed by Zimbardo and Boyd (2008) that an individual’s decision making is


28

influenced by his or her time perspective. Sales managers wanting to take

advantage of immediate opportunities with specific customers or capitalize on a

unique short-term market condition will call upon salespeople who are

comfortable performing in a present time-oriented mode. If there is a need to

analyze past performance with problem customer accounts, then a salesperson

who is willing and able to apply a past-oriented perspective would likely best fit

the needs of this situation. A sales manager looking to diversify into new

geographical territories over the next several years would likely do best by

assigning more future-oriented salespeople to this strategic project. (It is also

helpful to understand and match salespeople’s time perspectives to industries,

marketplace conditions, and where customers are in the sales cycle. The author

is currently working in this area with consulting clients and developing useful

frameworks and tools to increase happier high performance. However, further

discussion of this work is beyond the scope of the current article.)

When leaders are able to optimize and integrate their skill at managing time

perspectives at work, they improve the likelihood of increasing happier high

performance for themselves and their people. Some executives who have

applied the approach offered in this article have observed improved performance

and enhanced happiness for themselves and other individuals and groups. While

further support is needed, it is a promising prospect if practicing time perspective

management at work can help one be more effective and happier.

A Seven-Step Coaching Approach To add further utility to the concept of managing time perspectives, the Time

Perspective Management Cycle can be effectuated using the following seven-

step approach. Developed to help key executives focus on time perspectives,

this time perspective management tool provides one avenue by which

organizational leadership may become, and/or lead their people to become,

happier high performers. To help clarify the approach, a real-world example of

implementing the approach follows.

Step 1: Positioning Time Perspective Management. The first step in the


29

seven-step process is intended to serve as the executive coach's “motivating

preamble” to the client to initiate a time perspective management program. The

coach reviews some of the benefits of this approach, orients the client to this

systematic and interactive process, and seeks to gain client commitment to use

the approach.

Step 2: Identifying and Clarifying Time Profile. Using appropriate

assessment instruments, which may include those previously noted such as the

Time Perspective Profiling Questionnaire (TPPQ) under development, the coach

facilitates the client in identifying and clarifying his or her time profile. The coach

and client then discuss each component in that time profile.

Step 3: Affirming and Understanding Time Profile. Once the time profile has

been identified and is understood, the client does at least two things to affirm that

these time perspective dimensions accurately represent his or her perspective on

time. This affirmation process helps the individual better understand his or her

time profile. First, the client shares the time profile with several “significant

others,”—people who know the client well—and seek frank and honest feedback

regarding how much they agree whether specific dimensions represent the

individual. Second, the client answers a number of strategic questions for each of

the components in the time profile, including “How much is this dimension really

you?” and “How comfortable are you when you do this?” The goals for this step

are for the client to (1) affirm that the identified time perspectives are indeed his

or her perspectives, and (2) understand those perspectives so they can be used

to increase happy high performance.

Step 4: Developing “Good Fit” Stories. The coach next asks the client to

develop one or two “good fit” stories. These stories relate specific situations in

which the client effectively used his or her time perspective in addressing an

important organizational matter. If the client has had little experience in applying

time perspective strategies at work, which is often the case, the coach facilitates

him or her to generate stories of how these time perspectives could be applied in

specific situations in the future. This step is important to help individuals further

affirm and understand their time profile as well to optimize and integrate their


30

perspectives. During this step, the coach focuses the client on situations in which

he or she can effectively match time perspectives to the needs of the situation.

Step 5: Developing “Bad Fit” Stories. In Step 5, the coach asks the client to

recall and relay one or two “bad fit” stories that exemplify how he or she has used

time perspective ineffectively. As in Step 4, if the client does not have experience

in applying time perspectives at work, the coach asks him or her to develop

stories of how these time perspectives could be employed in specific situations in

the future. During this step, the coach encourages discussion with the client

around circumstances where there is a mismatch between the needs of the

situation and the time perspective being applied. The coach reviews negative

impacts on enhancing performance, and asks the client to consider how each of

these bad fit situations could be adjusted to yield a positive impact. Step 6: Design a Performance Profile or Performance-Based Job Description. The coach facilitates the client in developing a one- to two-page

performance profile or performance-based job description for his or her current

position (Kerns, 2001), integrating the individual’s time perspectives into this

performance management document. This step helps to focus and further

optimize the individual’s work in managing his or her time perspectives. It

especially helps in the integration of time perspective into the current work role.

Step 7: Execute, Coach, and Connect to a Happy High Performance Organizational Culture. Using a self-coaching or executive coaching approach,

the coach introduces the client to the Time Perspective Management Cycle and

asks him or her to regularly review and evaluate how well he or she is managing

time perspectives at work, both for himself or herself and for those the client

manages. This evaluation includes a progress review of the attainment of key

results and achievement of status as a happy high performer (Kerns, 2008).

Applying the Seven-Step Coaching Approach: An Example To illustrate and assist in putting the Seven-Step Coaching Approach into use,


31

the following example is offered.1 George is the president of a manufacturing-

oriented division within a large international organization. He has five key reports,

and he reports to the CEO for international operations. What follows is the

adaptation/customization of the Seven-Step Coaching Approach to Time

Perspective Management to George’s situation in his role as division president.

This program was part of a larger strategic consulting initiative within George’s

division.

Step 1: Positioning Time Perspective Management. The executive coach

oriented George to the overall Seven-Step Coaching Approach and highlighted a

number of benefits that this approach offered him, including the following:

George would be able to identify his time profile and have a systematic way

to focus on managing it.

This is a cutting-edge area of managerial leadership practice that can be

used to enhance performance.

With coaching, George could learn to apply this approach with his five key

reports.

This approach would help directly drive his key result of increasing the

number of happier high performers in his division, starting with himself.

After reviewing each of the program steps, George was probed for his level of

commitment to completing this program. His commitment level was extremely

high, and he was especially interested in exploring how he could apply this

process to his key reports.

Step 2: Identifying and Clarifying George’s Time Profile. George was asked

to complete the TPPQ (Kerns, 2011). In consultation with the executive coach,

George identified the following dimensions of his time profile:

Orientation: Future-oriented

Span: Future→10 years; Present→3 months; Past→3 years

Positivity:

1 This example is drawn from the author's work with a key executive. For confidentiality purposes, identifying information has been changed.


32

(a) Past: 70% Positive; 10% Negative; 20% Neutral

(b) Present: 70% Positive; 10% Negative; 20% Neutral

(c) Future: 80% Positive; 10% Negative; 10% Neutral

Usage: Future 75%; Present 15%; Past 10%

Intensity: Future = High; Present = Low; Past = Low

Alignment: High

With this profile in hand, George worked to affirm and better understand his time

perspective management. The responses provided in the time profile serve as a

springboard for an important feedback exchange between the coach and client. It

is also at this stage that clients typically offer useful self-observations about some

or all of their responses to the five dimensions covered in the TPPQ. In response

to the usage and intensity questions in the TPPQ, George, for example,

disclosed that he often forgets to recognize his key reports for their

accomplishments because he is typically focusing heavily on future plans and

formulating strategic directions. George also noted that he gets most excited

about anticipating significant events in the future (supported by his high intensity

rating for the future and low intensity ratings for both the past and present).

Related to his focus on the future, he also observed that he does not keep up

with completing performance reviews of his people (reflections on the past).

These patterns were discussed in terms of how they assisted or detracted from

attaining the key result of driving happier high performance.

Step 3: Affirming and Understanding Time Profile. While George was

reasonably confident that he had identified his time profile accurately and

understood it, he was asked to do two things to affirm and to even more fully

understand this profile. First, he asked several trusted individuals who knew him

well to comment on whether they saw the time profile as an accurate reflection of

him. He sought input from his boss, his key reports, and a peer from another

division within his company. Second, he answered (using a rating scale of 0 to

10, with 10 being the highest) several questions regarding time dimensions in his

profile including:

Q1: To what extent does this time profile really represent you?


33

Q2: How flexible are you in shifting your time perspective to match the needs of

the situation?

Q3: How effective are you at connecting the past, present, and future to offer a

coherent picture?

Q4: To what extent do you react to significant events in the past and present

and those anticipated in the future with high intensity?

His consultations with “significant others” in the workplace and his responses and

associated comments to the strategic questions affirmed that all the dimensions

in George's profile were accurate. He and his “significant others” recognized that,

given his strong orientation toward the future, he was often inflexible in shifting

focus from the future to the past or present. He reports that he spends about

75% of his time focusing on future matters which, as previously noted, causes

him to be remiss in effectively executing current tasks, including recognizing

others' accomplishments.

With this step completed, George moved to Step 4 with increased self-

awareness and a better understanding of his time profile.

Step 4: Developing “Good Fit” Stories. George reflected on situations in

which he had used his future-oriented time perspective effectively. In one

situation, he conducted a series of strategic projects to help his organization

develop a plan for acquiring competitors. He spearheaded an industry segment

review, developed decision making criteria to use in the analysis of future

acquisition candidates, and outlined an acquisitions plan for the corporate board

to consider.

After engaging in this step, George compiled a list of situations in which he

could effectively apply his time perspective skills. These included strategic

planning, developing marketing segmentation strategies, and working with a new

product development steering committee that would help drive future profitable

sales growth in targeted global markets.

Step 5: Developing “Bad Fit” Stories. To help optimize, integrate, and further

affirm his time perspective management skills, George described several

situations that indicate how his time perspective at work caused his performance


34

to lag. Because he is optimistic, forward thinking, and spends little time focusing

on the past, this task was more challenging for him.

One of the “bad fit” stories that he shared and linked to his time profile

concerned a major quality assurance project that he led. This project required

him to provide large amounts of historical data and to proactively communicate

weekly progress to all key stakeholders. He went on to describe how he became

bored with the project and let the timeline for reporting data and communicating

updates slip. He also noted how he especially disliked reporting weekly progress.

Another “bad fit” story was about his failure to effectively recognize the

accomplishments of his people. Both of these situations required some degree of

attention to the past and routine present responsibilities.

Step 6: Design a Performance Profile or Performance-Based Job Description. As part of a performance management system, George and all

other employees in his division had previously prepared performance-based job

descriptions for themselves. The performance-based job description specifies the

key results, key actions, and necessary people and technical skills for success in

the relevant position.

As part of Step 6, George took the earlier version of his performance-based job

description and fine-tuned the description of a number of key actions that were

aligned with his agreed-upon key results to account for time perspective. For

example, he added “managing time perspectives” and “balance future orientation

with the past and present” to his performance-based job description as key

actions designed to drive his key results. These two areas in particular helped

strengthen his key actions associated with his key result of increasing the

number of happy high performers within his division.

Step 7: Execute, Coach, and Connect to a Happy High Performance Organizational Culture. George reviewed the Time Perspective Management

Cycle with his coach, emphasizing the optimizing and integrating and measuring

and evaluating components. The coaching assignment was expanded to coach

George to apply the Seven-Step Coaching Approach with his five key reports,

especially on affirming and understanding their time profiles and on the


35

development of ways to more effectively staff and manage projects based on

those profiles. As part of Step 7, George and his coach regularly evaluated how

he was doing in applying time perspectives and how these efforts were impacting

his key result areas, especially relating to increasing the number of happy high

performers.

This Seven-Step Coaching Approach is straightforward and provides a

systematic method for enhancing an individual’s skill at managing time

perspectives to improve workplace performance and happiness. It is also

emerging from work in the field that this process can be delivered in a “coach the

coach” format, as was done with George as he worked with his key reports with

the support of his executive coach.

Some Challenges The practice of managing time perspectives is not without challenges. There is a

need to have useful assessment instruments for executives to identify and clarify

their time perspective profile. In addition to being psychometrically sound, these

tools must present time orientations and their associated dimensions in ways that

have face validity for business practitioners. To date, most attempts to measure

time perspective fall short because they are psychometrically suspect or focus on

only one temporal zone (Boniwell, 2009). The future orientation seems to have

been given the most attention thus far. However, very little attention has been

given to profiling and measuring time perspective among managerial leaders

irrespective of time orientation. The TPPQ is being developed to further address

this need and currently addresses the dimensions noted in Table 1. This

questionnaire provides a single integrated assessment tool for managerial

leaders to explore their time perspectives. The author is optimistic that it will

continue to provide useful information for coaching managerial leaders to

effectively manage time perspectives and furthering applied research efforts.

Efforts to enhance the managerial leadership practice of managing time

perspectives are challenged to connect the relatively soft processes of

identification and clarification and affirmation and understanding with more


36

rigorous business metrics and key results. The emerging research showing the

connection between time perspectives, performance, and happiness should

stimulate the development of systematic approaches to managing time

perspectives that link the “softer” measures with “harder” business metrics

(Boniwell, 2005; Luthans, 2002; Mohammed & Nadkarni, 2011). The Time

Perspective Management Cycle attempts to display this connection between

“softer” and more quantitative business metrics to address this challenge.

Another challenge is to get practitioners and applied researchers to focus less

on the mechanics and tactics of time management and more on the strategic

value in practicing and researching important dimensions associated with

managing time perspectives. This is especially important because evidence

shows that time management training that focuses on the physical nature of time

has little to no effect on time management behavior, job satisfaction, or

performance (Macan, 1994, 1996). While the practice of managing time

perspectives at work has been largely neglected by practitioners and applied

researchers, it holds significant promise for positively impacting the practice of

managerial leadership across organizational settings.

The investigation and development of time perspective management in the

workplace needs to address the challenge of finding the best fit between an

individual’s time perspective profile, temporal skills, and the organizational

situation. There are organizational situations that can be best addressed by

managerial leaders who have a particular time perspective and the associated

skills to effectively deal with a specific circumstance. For example, a company

experiencing rapid change within a dynamic industry may be best served by a

leader who has strategic vision (future orientation), skills in strategic direction

setting, and an understanding of how to manage time perspectives across a

project team composed of members possessing diverse time perspectives. Some

recent research attempting to use personality factors to predict time perspectives

may also help to address this challenge (Dunkel & Weber, 2010; Thoms, 2004).

Perhaps individual differences in personality facets like openness, positivity, and

achievement will help define a best fit between organizational situational needs


37

and managerial leadership time perspective requirements.

Addressing the challenges of assessment, indexing business outcomes, and

managing individuals with diverse time profiles across organizational situations

will advance the practice of managing time perspectives. As more attention is

given to this area of managerial leadership, additional challenges for practitioners

and opportunities for applied research will be presented. This is an exciting area

and holds promise in helping to increase the number of happy high performers

found in the workplace.

Summary Remarks The development and implementation of time perspective management

programs for managerial leaders may be beneficial to individuals, groups, and

organizations. These efforts will be advanced by systematic approaches that

guide individuals through the “softer” processes of identification and clarification

and affirmation and understanding of one’s time profile to the “harder” sides of

measurement and evaluation of business outcomes and impacts. As this work

progresses, there will be a need for useful assessment tools, a balanced view of

time perspectives, and applied research that informs the development of

frameworks and tools to help practitioners effectively profile and manage time

perspectives at work. These efforts may advance managerial leaders and their

people toward happier high performance.

It is the intent of this article to encourage and help managerial leaders, as well

as executive coaches, execute practices that effectively use and manage time

perspectives to enhance performance. It is also intended that the systematic

seven-step approach motivate applied researchers to further investigate this

program’s impact across different organizational settings as well as encourage

the empirical examination of the effects on the five time profile dimensions on

time orientation.

References Boniwell, I. (2005). Beyond time management: How the latest research on time

perspective and perceived time use can assist clients with time-related


38

concerns. International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, 3(2), 61–74.

Boniwell, I. (2009). Perspectives on time. In S. J. Lopez & C. R. Snyder (Eds.),

Oxford handbook of positive psychology, 2nd edition ( pp. 295–302). New York: Oxford University Press.

Boniwell, I., Osin, E., Linley, P. A., & Ivanchenko, G. (2010). A question of

balance: Examining relationships between time perspective and measure of well-being in the British and Russian student sample. Journal of Positive Psychology, 5(1), 24–40.

Cottle, T. J. (1967). The circles test: An investigation of temporal relatedness and

dominance. Journal of Projective Techniques and Personality Assessment, 31(5), 58–71.

Drake, L., Duncan, E., Sutherland, F., Abernethy, C., & Henry, C. (2008). Time

perspective and correlates of well-being. Time & Society, 17(1), 47–61. Dunkel, C. S., & Weber, J. L. (2010). Using three levels of personality to predict

time perspective. Current Psychology, 29, 95–103. Gao, Y. (2011). Time perspective and life satisfaction among young adults in

Taiwan. Social Behavior and Personality, 39(6), 729–736. Harris, B. (2009). Time perspective: Selling in the past, present, and future.

American Salesman, 54, 3–5. Jiga-Boy, G. M., Clark, A. E., & Semin, G. R. (2010). So much to do and so little

time: Effort and perceived temporal distance. Psychological Science, 21(12), 1811–1817.

Kerns, C. D. (2001). The power of performance profiling: Eight good reasons to

concentrate on results, Graziadio Business Review, 4(1): Retrieved from http://gbr.pepperdine.edu/011/performance.html

Kerns, C. D. (2008). Putting performance and happiness together in the

workplace. Graziadio Business Review, 11(1). Retrieved from http://gbr.pepperdine.edu/081/performance.html

Kerns, C. D. (2011). The time perspective profiling questionnaire (TPPQ).

Unpublished manuscript.


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Kerns, C. D., & Ko, K. (2010). Exploring happiness and performance at work.

Journal of Organizational Leadership and Business, 1(5), 68–81. Lee, H., & Liebenau, J. (1999). Time in organizational studies: Toward a new

research direction. Organization Studies, 20(6), 1035–1058. Locke, E. A., & Cooper, C. L. (2000). Conclusion: The challenge of linking theory

to practice. In C. L. Cooper & E. A. Locke (Eds.), Industrial and organizational psychology: Linking theory with practice (pp. 335–341). Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Luthans, F. (2002). Positive organizational behavior: Developing and managing

psychological strengths. Academy of Management Executive, 16(1), 57–72. Macan, T. H. (1994). Time management: Test of a process mode. Journal of

Applied Psychology, 79(3), 381–391. Macan, T. H. (1996). Time-management training: Effects on time behaviors.

Journal of Psychology, 130(3), 229–237. McGrath, J. E. (1988). Time perspective and social psychology. In J. E. McGrath

(Ed.), The social psychology of time: New perspectives (pp. 134–148). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Mohammed, S., & Nadkarni, S. (2011). Temporal diversity and team

performance: The moderating role of team temporal leadership. Academy of Management Journal, 54(3), 489–508.

Thoms, P. (2004). Driven by time: Time orientation and leadership. Westport, CT:

Praeger. Thoms, P., Warner, A. G., & Totleben, J. A. (2006). Individual time perspective

and alliance formation behavior. Journal of Business & Economics Research, 4(10), 83–92.

Zimbardo, P. G., & Boyd, J. N. (1999). Putting time in perspective: A valid,

reliable individual differences metric. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 1271–1288.

Zimbardo, P. G., & Boyd, J. N. (2008). The time paradox: The new psychology of


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time that will change your life. New York: Free Press. Charles D. Kerns, Ph.D., is an associate professor of applied behavioral science at the Graziadio School of Business and Management. He has more than 30 years of business, management, and consulting experience. Through his private consulting firm, Corperformance, he has implemented management and organizational development programs and systems to help companies from many industries maximize their results. Since 1980, he has taught in almost every program in the Graziadio School, first as an adjunct faculty member, and as a member of the full-time faculty since 2000. He has also served as the associate dean for academic affairs. Dr. Kerns holds a Diplomate, ABPP, in both Industrial-Organizational Psychology and Organizational-Business Consulting Psychology. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland. His research and work focuses on helping managerial leaders and their organizations boost performance through "happier high performance" and other performance-enhancing behavioral science tools and frameworks. He can be reached at [email protected]


41

Barriers to the Attainment of

Global Leadership Competencies

Barry L. Boyd, Lori L. Moore, Jennifer Williams, and Chanda D. Elbert Texas A&M University

The researchers employed a modified Delphi method to identify barriers that prevent college graduates from attaining global leadership competencies, specifically through their college leadership program, that will enable them to be successful in global organizations. They used the same technique to attempt to reach consensus on those barriers. A panel of experts in global leadership identified more than 32 barriers that prevent college graduates from attaining the global leadership competencies needed for entry-level jobs in global organizations. However, the panel could not reach consensus on any of the identified barriers, leading the researchers to conclude that none of the identified barriers exist consistently across all institutions. Another possibility is that all of the identified barriers may exist to some degree at all institutions. Leadership educators may need to examine their specific programs and students to identify the barriers impacting the attainment of global leadership competencies. Key words: barriers, competencies, global, leadership In 2000, Morrison asserted that “globalization, for all its benefits and challenges,

is here to stay” (117). A decade of scholarly work and observations has proved

his statement correct. Just two years later, Siava (2002) noted that “knowledge of

the international system, intercultural skills, and the flexibility to function in

diverse environments is no longer the purview of just a few area studies or

international relations majors. These are skills and knowledge essential for every

undergraduate” (14).

Adler (2001) explained the distinction between domestic leaders and global

leaders:

Global leaders, unlike domestic leaders, address people worldwide. Global leadership theory, unlike its domestic counterpart, is concerned with the interaction of people and ideas among cultures, rather than with either the efficacy of particular leadership styles within the leader’s home country or with the comparison of leadership approaches among leaders from various countries—each of whose domain is limited to issues and people within their own cultural environment. A fundamental distinction is that global leadership is neither domestic nor multidomestic; it focuses on cross-cultural interaction rather than on either single-culture description or multi-country comparison. (77)


42

Many leadership theory texts limit globalization or culture to a chapter and fail to

incorporate global competencies in westernized theory. Conner (2000), however,

concluded that “to remain competitive, companies must continually develop their

people by identifying their very best and preparing them for tomorrow’s global

challenges” (156). In fact, Sloan, Hazucha, and Van Katwyk (2003) noted that

managing the global leadership gap should be one of the major concerns of

global organizations.

Many other scholars have also identified the need for leaders with global

leadership competencies if organizations are to be successful in the global

economy (Bueno & Tubbs, 2004; Deal, Leslie, Dalton, & Ernst, 2003; Hofmeister

& Parker, 2003; Muczyk & Holt, 2008). Quinn and Van Velsor (2010) summarized

this need, writing that ,“our world is at a crossroads at many junctions, and one of

them is leadership and how to run an organization that makes the world a better

place for all” (374). DiStefano and Maznevski (2003) also noted that with

globalization comes an increase in the number of individuals with significant and

increasingly complex international demands at work. Thus, “the challenge for HR

professionals, training and development specialists and academics is to help

prepare more managers, more thoroughly, for these demands” (DiStefano &

Maznevski, 2003, 343).

Yeung and Ready (1995) examined leadership capabilities needed for effective

global competitiveness in an international study involving 10 major corporations

in eight nations. The authors identified five universally valued leadership

capabilities including “the capacity to articulate a tangible vision, values, and

strategy; to be a catalyst for strategic and cultural change; to achieve results; to

empower others; and to exhibit a strong customer orientation” (543).

Several additional studies have identified competencies leaders in global

contexts need to be successful (Bueno & Tubbs, 2004; Caligiuri & Tarique, 2009;

Gregersen, Morrison, & Black, 1998; Rosen, Digh, Singer, & Phillips, 2000).

These competencies include the capacity for continuous learning, being open to

challenges, and cultural competence. However, despite multiple studies

concerning global leadership competencies, Osland (2008) concluded that


43

“everyone agrees that more global leaders are needed; there is less consensus

on what global leaders do and the competencies they should possess” (53).

According to a 2004 report by the National Association of Universities and

Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC) Task Force on International Education, “for

students to contribute and succeed today, they must not only have a broad

knowledge of the world, its people, politics, and cultures, but more importantly,

have developed the skills to comprehend, analyze, and evaluate that

knowledge” (8). Unfortunately the task force found that “the United States falls

short on virtually all indicators of international knowledge, awareness, and

competence” (3).

Boyd, Moore, Williams, and Elbert (2011) focused on identifying competencies

leadership education students should possess upon graduation to be successful

in entry-level jobs within global companies. They identified 58 specific

competencies grouped into nine themes: International Experience; Global

Perspectives/Worldview; Knowledge of Global Politics and Geography; Cultural

Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes; Communication; Technical Knowledge;

Intrapersonal Skills; Critical Thinking; and Interpersonal Skills. Their focus shifts

the impetus for gaining global leadership competencies from the domain of

corporate HR offices to academia. Andenoro, Murphrey, and Dooley (2008) were

already in agreement, noting that “leadership education and global leadership are

analogous and as such, leadership educators will be forced to address global

paradigms and develop competencies which can be enhanced within our

students to promote effective leadership for the future of ever dynamic societies”

(92).

However, higher education does not seem to be producing graduates with many

of the global leadership competencies needed (Irani, Place, & Friedel, 2006).

According to the NASULGC Task Force on International Education (2004),

“efforts of U.S. colleges and universities to redress these failures by encouraging

education abroad and foreign-language study have been largely inadequate and

sporadically effective” (3), adding that “in a world that is both more competitive


44

and less secure, higher education cannot fail in its responsibility to educate for

the future—an international future” (4).

DiStefano and Maznevski (2003) noted that academics need to both identify

new knowledge needed by global managers and discover the most effective

methods of helping global managers develop this new knowledge and

accompanying skill sets. In attempting to identify methods of helping global

leaders develop new knowledge, skills, and abilities, it is equally important to

identify barriers that inhibit knowledge, skill, and ability development. The

NASULGC Task Force on International Education (2004) identified several

possible reasons why only 3 percent of U.S. college students participate in

foreign study. According to the report:

Many believe that higher education itself gets in the way through inattention to the needed international dimension of curricula, failure to allocate university resources to internationalization, and overly constrained degree requirements that leave no room for international content and experiences. Neglect by faculty and advisors in educating students about the need to develop international perspectives and understanding is also a frequent problem (Hudzik, 2004, 3).

No studies could be found that identified specific barriers that prevented

undergraduate leadership students from developing global competence. The

researchers undertook this study in an attempt to fill this void in the literature by

identifying barriers that prevent college graduates from attaining global

leadership competencies, specifically through their formal college leadership

programs, that will enable them to be successful in global organizations.

Method Because of the lack of research on the subject of global leadership

competencies, a Delphi study was constructed to survey experts in collegiate

leadership development. Dalkey (1969) defines the Delphi method as “a method

of eliciting and refining group judgments” (v). The findings reported in this study

were part of a larger study that used a modified Delphi method to identify global

leadership competencies required by future leadership graduates and barriers to

the acquisition of those competencies.


45

A panel of experts in global leadership education was asked to identify the

global leadership competencies required for leadership graduates seeking entry-

level positions in global organizations, as well as barriers to the attainment of

those competencies. Purposive sampling was used to identify persons with

specific credentials important to this study. Purposive sampling identifies those

persons who can best help answer the research question (Erlandson, Harris,

Skipper, & Allen, 1993). The following four criteria were used to vet candidates

for the expert panel. Candidates had to meet three of the four criteria:

Involved in undergraduate leadership education

Had international experience (led study abroad, consulted internationally,

lived or worked abroad)

Consulted with global companies, governmental and nongovernmental

agencies, etc.

Published articles on global leadership (broadly defined)

An initial pool of 33 experts was identified and contacted about participating in

the study; 22 of the experts responded positively and were e-mailed the initial

questions.

Round 1 The panel members were asked to respond to the following open-ended

statement during the first round of the study:

Please identify any barriers that you believe prevent students from attaining the

competencies in global leadership that will make them successful in entry-level

positions in global organizations.

Of the 22 panelists, 19 responded to Round 1. Dillman’s Tailored Design Method

(2000) was used for non-response follow-up. Dalkey (1969) found that when the

size of the panel is greater than 13, mean correlations are greater than 0.80,

satisfying questions of process reliability. The 19 respondents represented 18

institutions or organizations.


46

The respondents identified 47 barriers or reasons why college graduates do not

attain global leadership competencies while in college. All barriers were reviewed

by the four researchers, who used the constant comparative method to compare

and combine similar items and categorize them into common themes (Erlandson

et al., 1993). This process resulted in 32 barriers being sent out for review in

Round II of the Delphi method. These barriers were grouped into six categories:

Inexperience of Faculty Members, Students’ Lack of Travel Outside of the U.S.,

Curriculum Not Globalized, Funding and Other Resources, Worldview, and

Opportunities Not Available or Lack of Knowledge of Opportunities.

Round 2 In Round 2, panelists were asked to rate their level of agreement that each of

these reasons was indeed a barrier to acquiring global leadership competencies

for college students. The panelists rated their responses using a Likert-type scale

of 1 to 6, where 1 = Strongly Disagree and 6 = Strongly Agree. In this round, 16

panel members responded. The 32 barriers and the panelists’ responses are

outlined in Table 1. Each reason was to be prefaced with “Students have

difficulty obtaining these competencies because . . . .”

Table 1: Barriers to the Attainment of Global Leadership Competencies—Round II

Barrier Strongly Disagree

Disagree Somewhat Disagree

Somewhat Agree

Agree Strongly Agree

Inexperience of Faculty Members

Of the lack of faculty who have lived and worked for an extended period in another culture

0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 31.3% (5) 18.8% (3) 18.8% (3) 31.3% (5)

Of the lack of faculty with global experiences and exposure

0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 31.3% (5) 12.5% (2) 31.3% (5) 25.0% (4)


47

Of the limited conceptualization of the world by professors, administrators, and others who serve as role models and keepers of the norm

0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 25.0% (4) 12.5% (2) 31.3% (5) 31.3% (5)

Students’ Lack of Travel Outside of the U.S.

Most have not traveled abroad nor been exposed to various cultures where they can gain these skills before joining the global market

0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 12.5% (2) 31.3% (5) 25.0% (4) 31.3% (5)

Of the lack of opportunities to study abroad in individualized programs for periods of time that are longer than three months

6.3% (1) 12.5% (2) 12.5% (2) 31.3% (5) 31.3% (5) 6.3% (1)

Of the length of international education experiences—very few students get to do an actual "study abroad" for a semester or more; a lack of immersion

6.3% (1) 6.3% (1) 18.8% (3) 6.3% (1) 31.3% (5) 31.3% (5)

Of the lack of experience working abroad

6.3% (1) 6.3% (1) 18.8% (3) 12.5% (2) 43.8% (7) 12.5% (2)

Of the lack of exposure to other cultures due to rural childhood

6.3% (1) 0.0% (0) 31.3% (5) 18.8% (3) 25.0% (4) 18.8% (3)

Of the lack of immersion in a totally "foreign" culture other than their own—it could be organizational or cultural as in language, community norms, food, rituals, etc.

0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 12.5% (2) 12.5% (2) 43.8% (7) 31.3% (5)

Curriculum Not Globalized


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Global issues are not truly integrated throughout the curriculum

0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 31.3% (5) 43.8% (7) 25.0% (4)

Of the lack of exposure—a lack of vision within some of our collegiate courses

6.3% (1) 0.0% (0) 6.3% (1) 25.0% (4) 50.0% (8) 12.5% (2)

Few undergraduate leadership programs have courses that specifically address the limitations of Western ideas of leadership in non-Western cultures

6.3% (1) 0.0% (0) 12.5% (2) 18.8% (3) 25.0% (4) 37.5% (6)

Of the lack of classes that discuss business behaviors in different countries around the world

6.3% (1) 0.0% (0) 12.5% (2) 18.8% (3) 37.5% (6) 25.0% (4)

There are a limited number of courses with global content

0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 6.3% (1) 31.3% (5) 50.0% (8) 12.5% (2)

Of the inadequacies/ lack of rigor/lack of robustness in program “tracks”

0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 12.5% (2) 50.0% (8) 6.3% (1) 31.3% (5)

Of the lack of foreign language competencies

6.3% (1) 6.3% (1) 12.5% (2) 37.5% (6) 12.5% (2) 25.0% (4)

Of the lack of geographic training, especially in regional studies

0.0% (0) 6.3% (1) 12.5% (2) 31.3% (5) 18.8% (3) 31.3% (5)

Funding and Other Resources

There are limited financial resources to participate in overseas studies or work. The best way to “globalize” oneself is through travel and experiencing different countries and cultures

6.3% (1) 6.3% (1) 12.5% (2) 25.0% (4) 18.8% (3) 31.3% (5)

They have financial concerns (travel opportunities reduced by need to work to support self)

6.3% (1) 6.3% (1) 18.8% (3) 12.5% (2) 25.0% (4) 31.3% (5)

Worldview


49

Undergraduate students do not see and understand the need for these competencies

0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 6.3% (1) 12.5% (2) 43.8% (7) 37.5% (6)

Faculty do not see and understand the need for these competencies

0.0% (0) 6.3% (1) 6.3% (1) 12.5% (2) 50.0% (8) 25.0% (4)

Of lack of exposure to different worldviews

0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 25.0% (4) 50.0% (8) 25.0% (4)

Of ignorance of how interconnected the world is and what the repercussions can be of what they see as simple, straightforward actions

0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 18.8 (3) 43.8% (7) 37.5% (6)

Of an attitude of why should I be concerned with what is outside my state or country and why should I want to go there or learn more (This kind of goes with the first point but isn't quite the same.)

0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 6.3% (1) 12.5% (2) 37.5% (6) 43.8% (7)

Of a lack of a clear message from administration, government, and other "authority" figures that a global mindset and skills are important

0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 6.3% (1) 43.8% (7) 25.0% (4) 25.0% (4)

Of a lack of true interest in learning about culture, business models, and leadership theory base utilized in international organizations

0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 25.0% (4) 43.8% (7) 25.0% (4) 6.3% (1)

Of an overbearing U.S.-centric culture in this country that is perpetuated by the media

6.3% (1) 6.3% (1) 6.3% (1) 25.0% (4) 18.8% (3) 37.5% (6)

There is limited relevance of global content to students’ lives

12.5% (2) 12.5% (2) 0.0% (0) 25.0% (4) 37.5% (6) 12.5% (2)

Opportunities Not Available or Lack of Knowledge of Opportunities


50

Of the lack of opportunity for students to travel abroad

18.8% (3) 6.3% (1) 12.5% (2) 31.3% (5) 18.8% (3) 12.5% (2)

Of the lack of opportunity for students to engage with international students and/or organizations—to meet them, work with them, really engage

12.5% (2) 18.8% (3) 12.5% (2) 12.5% (2) 37.5% (6) 6.3% (1)

Of the lack of knowledge about global opportunities and limited networking for international internships

6.3% (1) 6.3% (1) 6.3% (1) 25.0% (4) 31.3% (5) 25.0% (4)

Of the limited opportunities to gain first-hand overseas experience

18.8% (3) 6.3% (1) 6.3% (1) 25.0% (4) 18.8% (3) 25.0% (4)

The researchers made an a priori determination that 75% of the panelists must

either agree or strongly agree that an item is a true barrier for that item to be

included in the next round. Of the 32 barriers in Round II, only 6 were retained for

the third round.

Round 3 The purpose of Round 3 was to begin the process of developing consensus

among the panel. Panelists were again asked to rate their level of agreement that

each of these reasons was a barrier to acquiring global leadership competencies

for college students. The panel members rated their responses using the same

Likert-type scale of 1 to 6, where 1 = Strongly Disagree and 6 = Strongly Agree.

Eighteen panelists responded to Round 3.

Results The six barriers and the panelists’ responses from Round 3 are provided in

Table 2. As in Round 2, each statement is prefaced with “Students have difficulty

obtaining these competencies because. . . .”


51

Table 2: Barriers to the Attainment of Global Leadership Competencies—Round III

Barrier Strongly Disagree

Disagree Somewhat Disagree

Somewhat Agree

Agree Strongly Agree

Of the lack of immersion in a totally "foreign" culture other than their own—it could be cultural as in language, community norms, food, rituals, etc.

0.0%(0) 0.0%(0) 11.1% (2) 27.8% (5) 27.8% (5) 33.3% (6)

Undergraduate students do not see and understand the need for these competencies

0.0%(0) 0.0%(0) 11.1% (2) 27.8% (5) 44.4% (8) 16.7% (3)

Faculty do not see and understand the need for these competencies

0.0%(0) 0.0%(0) 22.2% (4) 33.3% (6) 33.3% (6) 11.1% (2)

Of lack of exposure to different worldviews

0.0%(0) 0.0%(0) 5.6 % (1) 22.2% (4) 38.9% (7) 33.3% (6)

Of ignorance of how interconnected the world is and what the repercussions can be of what they see as simple, straightforward actions

0.0%(0) 0.0%(0) 11.1% (2) 16.7% (3) 33.3% (6) 38.9% (7)

Of an attitude of why should I be concerned with what is outside my state or country and why should I want to go there or learn more

0.0%(0) 0.0%(0) 11.1% (2) 16.7% (3) 44.4% (8) 27.8% (5)

The same a priori level of agreement used in Round 2 (at least 75% agree or

strongly agree) was used to determine if consensus could be reached on the six

barriers listed in Round 3. Consensus could not be reached on any of the

barriers, as fewer than 75% of the panelists agreed or strongly agreed with any

of the barriers.


52

Conclusion A panel of experts in global leadership identified more than 32 barriers to college

graduates attaining the global leadership competencies needed for entry-level

jobs in global organizations. However, the panel could not reach consensus on

any of the identified barriers, leading the researchers to conclude that none of the

identified barriers consistently exist across all institutions. Each institution

represented by the panelists may have its own unique set of barriers that were

not common across all organizations represented. Students may lack a broad

worldview at one institution, but that condition may not exist as strongly at

another. Institutions, and often colleges within those institutions, also differ on

their study abroad policies, globalization of curriculum, and implementation of

global initiatives. The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and

Environmental Sciences has been operating under the “Deans’ Promise,” which

has a large globalization component (and support for such), while the College of

Pharmacy has no international curriculum requirements or support for faculty-led

study abroad opportunities. Some of the identified barriers could be interpreted in

different ways by different experts, given their mental model of said barrier.

Further refinement and reclassification might lead to a change in agreement of a

statement. Another possibility is that all of the identified barriers may exist in

varying degrees at all institutions. Leadership educators may need to examine

their specific programs and students to identify institution-specific barriers

impacting the attainment of global leadership competencies.

While several research studies have examined the perceived student barriers

of participating in study abroad opportunities (Andreasen, 2003; Briers, Shinn, &

Nguyen, 2010; Irani et al., 2006), none have asked leadership educators their

perceived barriers in global leadership experiences. More research on global

leadership experiences should be conducted to deduce the strengths and

weaknesses of these experiences from the students’ and faculty’s perceptions.

The addition of research on students who have developed skills found to be

useful in global competence and their impact on organizations would add to this

body of knowledge.


53

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T. M. Kühlmann, & G. K. Stahl (Eds.), Developing global business leaders: policies, processes, and innovations (pp. 73–97). Westport, CT: Quorum Books.

Andenoro, A. C., Murphrey, T. P., & Dooley, K. E. (2008). Globalizing leadership

curriculum: A priority for the development of international leaders. Journal of Business & Leadership: Research, Practice and Teaching, 4(1), 87–94.

Andreasen, R. J. (2003). Barriers to international involvement. Journal of

International Agricultural and Extension Education, 10(3), 65–69. Briers, G. E., Shinn, G. C., & Nguyen, A. N. (2010). Through students’ eyes:

Perceptions and aspirations of College of Agriculture and Life Sciences students regarding international educational experiences. Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education, 17(2), 5–20. Retrieved from http://www.aiaee.org/attachments/475_briers.pdf

Boyd, B. L., Moore, L. L., Williams, J., & Elbert, C. D. (2011). Entry-level

competencies needed for global leaders. International Leadership Journal, 3(1), 20–39. Available online at http://www.tesc.edu/files/ILJ_Winter_2011_final.pdf

Bueno, C. M., & Tubbs, S. L. (2004). Identifying global leadership competencies:

an exploratory study. The Journal of American Academy of Business, 5(1), 80–88.

Caligiuri, P., & Tarique, I. (2009). Predicting effectiveness in global leadership

activities. Journal of World Business, 44(3), 336–346. Conner, J. (2000). Developing the global leaders of tomorrow. Human Resource

Management, 39(2/3), 146–157. Dalkey, N. C. (1969). The Delphi method: An experimental study of group

opinion. Santa Monica, CA: Rand. Deal, J. J., Leslie, J., Dalton, M., & Ernst, C. (2003). Cultural adaptability and

leading across cultures. Advances in Global Leadership, 3, 303–340. Dillman, D. A. (2000). Mail and Internet surveys: The total design method. New

York: John Wiley & Sons.


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DiStefano, J. J., & Maznevski, M. L. (2003). Developing global managers:

Integrating theory, behavior, data and performance. Advances in Global Leadership, 3, 341–371.

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naturalistic inquiry. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Gregersen, H. B., Morrison, A. J., & Black, J. S. (1998). Developing leaders for

the global frontier. Sloan Management Review, 40(1), 21–32. Hofmeister, J., & Parker, S. (2003). Creating and sustaining balance in global

business: A practitioner view. Advances in Global Leadership, 3, 275–301. Irani, T., Place, N. T., & Friedel, C. (2006). Beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, and

barriers toward international involvement among College of Agriculture and Life Science students. Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education, 13(2), 27–37.

Morrison, A. J. (2000). Developing a global leadership model. Human Resource

Management, 39(2/3), 117–131. Muczyk, J. P., & Holt, D. T. (2008). Toward a cultural contingency model of

leadership. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 14(4), 277–286. National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC)

Task Force on International Education (2004). A call to leadership: The presidential role in internationalizing the university. Retrieved from http://www.aplu.org/NetCommunity/Document.Doc?id=340

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Mendenhall, J. S. Osland, A. Bird, G. R. Oddou, & M. L. Maznevski (Eds.), Global leadership: Research, practice, and development (pp. 34–63). New York: Routledge.

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the United States. Boston: Boston College Center for International Higher Education. Retrieved from http://www.bc_org/avp/soe/cihe/newsletter/News26/text009.htm

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of global leadership talent. In W. H. Mobley & P. W. Dorfman (Eds.), Advances in global leadership (Vol. 3, pp. 235–274). New York: JAI.

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Barry L. Boyd is an associate professor of leadership education at Texas A&M University. He teaches courses in personal leadership development, survey of leadership theory, applied ethics in leadership, and leading volunteer organizations. He is a former president of the Association of Leadership Educators, a professional organization of leadership educators from across North America and the editor of the Journal of Leadership Education. His research focuses on leadership pedagogy and leading in global contexts. He can be reached at: [email protected] Lori L. Moore is an assistant professor of leadership education at Texas A&M University. From 2003 to 2008, Dr. Moore was on the faculty at the University of Idaho, where she conducted research in leadership. At Texas A & M, Dr. Moore teaches courses in leadership theory and adult education and is the co-coordinator of the Freshman Leadership Living-Learning Community, a program consisting of academics and residence life dedicated to “developing global leaders one class year at a time.” Dr. Moore’s research focuses on leadership pedagogy and assessing the impact of leadership learning communities. She can be reached at: [email protected] Jennifer Williams is an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications at Texas A&M University, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in leadership theory and application. Dr. Williams’ research is in the pedagogy of leadership; she has published numerous articles on alternative pedagogy for teaching leadership. She is also the director of the Dr. Joe Townsend Leadership Fellows Program at Texas A & M. She can be reached at: [email protected] Chanda D. Elbert received her PhD in Agricultural and Extension Education from Pennsylvania State University in 2000 and joined the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications at Texas A & M University that same year. Dr. Elbert has worked on integrating teaching, research, and service by exploring and working on various projects involving distance education technologies, evaluation processes, leadership, and underrepresented groups. She continues to support the current and emerging trends in the broad field of agricultural education. She serves as a joint faculty member with Texas Tech University, working with the Doc@Distance program offered by TTU and TAMU. She can be reached at: [email protected]


56

Planning for an American Higher Education

Leadership Crisis: The Succession Issue for Administrators

Gaye Luna

Northern Arizona University Higher education has changed with the Great Recession in the United States, causing challenges to exacerbate a leadership question facing education—who will lead? The author conducted a study to determine what leadership-preparation strategies and plans exist for mid- to high-level administrative positions in colleges and universities. In order to validate succession-planning theory, the author utilized open-ended interview questions and analyzed qualitative data using a grounded theory approach of theoretical frameworks from succession planning in business and industry. The study results show that talent-management opportunities in academe are prevalent for mid- to high-level administrative positions, though formalized succession planning was rare. The data revealed agreement from higher education administrators that leadership planning could be successful if the workplace environment included a succession culture of trust, communication, and support as well as shared governance of succession-planning processes and relationships with faculty. To prepare for the leadership crisis, educational institutions need to recognize the importance of succession planning and adapt strategies and plans to deal with the loss of leadership experience and talent. Keywords: administrators, faculty, leadership, succession, talent management Dealing with ambiguity and the unknown is now part of the daily routine for

colleges and universities. With the new Great Recession, the academy in the

United States stumbled into a present-day reality of limited resources, scrutiny by

stakeholders, and a cacophony of diverse voices with concerns about higher

education (Carlson, 2011; Skinner, 2010). In this new landscape, much has

changed for educational institutions—colleges and universities became

economically, politically, and legislatively vulnerable; endowments shrank; state

appropriations were reduced; and federal funding slowed. Academic first-

responders to the situation were administrative leaders, countering or justifying

transformation due to educational meltdown (ModernThink, 2010; Schrecker,

2010).

While higher education is confronting a plethora of new challenges, many

wonder, “Who will lead these institutions in the future?” There have been


57

numerous warnings that a decreasing pipeline of leaders would create a

leadership gap (Bornstein, 2010; Ross, 1998). Along the way, others sounded

the alarm louder: “Every school out there should be looking to people to prepare

for leadership . . . if we don’t address the leadership vacuum, we are going to

have a crisis in the future” (Polonio, as cited in Moser, 2008, B8). With imminent

leadership tipping points, headlines continued with “Higher Education’s Coming

Leadership Crisis” (Appadurai, 2009) and “Where will You Find Your Future

Leaders?” (Barden, 2009).

All indicators pointed to two scenarios impacting future leadership:

(1) administrators leaving their positions through retirement or reassignment and

(2) fewer qualified and interested leadership candidates existing within higher

education. For the former, the aging and graying administration in higher

education—a single generational cohort of leaders now contending with

academic crises—has been recognized as the first to leave (Eckel, Cook, & King,

2009; Leubsdorf, 2006). As for the latter, McMahan and Masias (2009)

concluded in their work on developing and implementing a succession plan that

higher education has four options for future leadership:

“buy it” by recruiting outside of the organization or through a contractor;

“buy it to grow” by hiring . . . [individuals] at one level with the expectation

that they will grow into the position;

“grow it” with existing . . . [individuals] through training and professional

development; or

“borrow it” from . . . [individuals] on a temporary or rotating basis (30).

With a leadership dilemma in academe, the purpose of this study was to examine

leadership planning and succession in universities and colleges. Following the

literature review and description of the methodological approach to the study, this

article shares perspectives and concerns of top-level administrators about

leadership succession in American higher education, guided by questions of

institutional efforts toward talent management of current employees for mid- to

high-level administrative/leadership positions and succession plans or strategies

for these same academic positions. With future leadership in higher education


58

called into question, this study provides an understanding that leadership

development and succession planning are important topics for universities and

colleges to address. The study uncovered real concerns of experts in a relevant,

meaningful way that will capture the attention of stakeholders and inform

succession planning in higher education.

Literature Review

Rationale for Leadership Planning: Pipeline in Academe Based on trends of increased population growth of 18- to 24-year-olds, greater

proportions of high school graduates attending college, and adult learners

entering higher education for career opportunities and updating of their

professional skills, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2007) projected that

662,000 faculty jobs would be needed from 2006 to 2016 (382,000 jobs as new

faculty positions and 280,000 as replacement positions). This increase in higher

education faculty positions is expected to reduce the number of individuals

interested in and available for leadership positions.

Adding to demographic patterns, several faculty trends have also disrupted the

academic leadership pipeline: (a) faculty remaining in their positions longer, with

no mandatory retirement age (Dorfman, 2009); (b) altered retirement plans due

to the recession (Masterson, 2011); (c) increased reliance on part- and full-time

contingent faculty members (Miller, 2010; Schrecker, 2010); (d) younger and

minority faculty dominating lower ranks within the professoriate (National Center

for Education Statistics, 2009a, 2009b); and (e) an increase of time for

completing a doctoral degree at a university (Council of Graduate Schools, n.d).

Equally impactful, heavier workloads, as well as increasing bureaucracy, have

discouraged faculty from considering leadership as a career option (Focht, 2010;

Hargreaves & Fink, 2006). The traditional model of preparing academic leaders,

as King (2008) argued, needs to be changed to

bring more young people through graduate school into the permanent faculty, advancing them through the academic ranks more quickly and altering the career ladder so that people can skip rungs and rise to the presidency with


59

fewer years of experiences, or become more open to individuals with career paths other than the traditional academic route (7).

For faculty, values and expectations have changed. A work-life balance is

important for juggling work, personal responsibilities, and family obligations

(Finkel & Olswang, 1996; Halpern, 2005, 2006, 2008; Johnsurd & Des Jarlais,

1994; Major, Fletcher, Davis, & Germano, 2008; Mintz, 1992; Philipsen, Bostic, &

Sorcinelli, 2008; Wilson, 2000). An academic environment that depletes

individuals’ time and energy is not as attractive as it once was. Faculty

satisfaction can be contingent upon institutional resources and policies, such as

employee health and wellness programs, child and elder care, and

telecommuting (“Great Colleges,” 2009; ModernThink, 2010; Selingo, 2008), and

there is evidence that family-friendly policies make a difference in faculty

members remaining committed to their institutions and having less stress in the

workplace (Halpern, 2005, 2006).

Theoretical Framework of Leadership Planning Finding limited studies on succession planning in higher education, I approached

the study by examining leadership-planning studies conducted in business and

industry settings. This section provides a brief review of representative research

on organization leadership and succession planning, followed by a review of

succession planning in academic settings.

Business Models. The story of leadership planning in American business is

juxtaposed with complex and difficult challenges, and business literature

provided a wealth of effective constructs for maximizing leadership to deal with

challenges, with a strong emphasis on developing new leaders as a strategy tied

to the success and profitability of companies. As Fulmer and Conger (2004a)

point out, “accuracy in diagnosing the developmental needs of people (and the

organization) and typing development activities to the emerging strategic focus of

the firm . . . [are] essential for the organization to compete effectively” (41). For

education, less research can be found where strategic leadership practices and

models have been formally developed and evaluated. As Mead-Fox (2009) puts

it, “virtually all innovation in the leadership-development arena has come from


60

outside higher education, which is strange, given the many business and

education schools across academe offering courses and programs on leadership

and management” (para. 21).

In business literature, frameworks consisting of principles, components,

strategies, and practices explained leadership preparation and planning. For

companies to create a competitive edge, leadership design was organized

through (a) leadership development, (b) training, (c) career planning,

(d) professional development, and (e) succession planning (Eastman, 1995;

Galagan, 2008). Closely aligned with future-oriented leadership and the focus of

this study, succession planning is defined as a systematic, long-term process of

determining goals, needs, and roles within an organization and preparing

individuals or employee groups for responsibilities relative to work needed within

an organization (Fulmer & Conger, 2004a, 2004b; Rothwell, 2005). Studies

suggest that successfully implemented succession planning provokes confidence

in an organization (Bolt, 1989), with cultural buy-in to the process by individuals

and groups of employees (Clunies, 2007).

Constructs of Succession Planning. Organizational succession planning

requires a systematic approach for future leadership in terms of recruitment,

retention, and succession of employees. This concept differs from talent

management in business, which focuses on the preparation, development, and

retention of current employees within an organization based on position,

responsibilities, and tasks. Although there is a body of literature on succession

planning, few theories have been fully developed that build on existing models

(Giambatista, Rowe, & Riaz, 2005). Notwithstanding, the following principles

should guide succession planning: (a) understanding the organization's long-term

goals and objectives, (b) identifying the organization’s workforce-developmental

needs, (c) determining workforce trends, and (d) making predictions in direct

relation to the type of institution (Rothwell, 2005).

Avenues for leadership development in organizations are mentoring,

workshops, and seminars; formal education programs; and numerous modes of

training. Although organizations vary in ways that they promote and offer informal


61

and formal leadership activities, the following best-practice components were

addressed in business succession planning: (a) top-level support and

involvement; (b) development and nurturing of a succession culture;

(c) customization to unique organizational needs, mission, and environment;

(d) a real-time process with continuous evaluation and feedback; and

(e) succession-planning processes or programs as part of comprehensive

strategic plans (Carey, Ogden, & Roland, 2000; Eastman, 1995; Fancher, 2007;

Kasper, 2008; Lamoureux, Campbell, & Smith, 2009; Mahler & Gaines, 1983;

Marchese, 1988; McCauley & Wakefield, 2006; Rosse & Levin, 2003; Rothwell,

2005; Sobol, Harkins, & Conley, 2007).

Within succession preparation and planning, Fulton-Calkins and Milling (2005)

synopsized the following best-practice strategies in business and industry:

Establish a committee to provide oversight for the succession planning

process;

Identify key positions within the organization that are critical for the future;

Establish criteria for these positions, determining what skills and traits are

necessary for individuals to be successful in meeting the long-range goals

of the organization;

Identify possibly interested and potentially successful candidates who exist

within the present organization, looking for a diverse population;

Establish a mentor/coaching program for the emerging leaders;

Establish mentors/coaches from with the organization who can offer the

necessary guidance and support and are committed to the succession

plan;

Assist candidates in preparing development plans; and

Evaluate consistently the effectiveness of the succession planning

program (28).

The limitations of and barriers to succession planning in the business arena were

frequently stated as limited or no top-level commitment, little collaboration among

employees, and inconsistent communication within the organization. Senior

leadership who do not devote time and resources and a “siloed” work


62

environment where collaboration is not encouraged characterize a

disconnectedness from comprehensive business strategy (Caldwell, 2007;

Conger & Fulmer, 2003; Drew & Ehrich, 2010; Fulmer & Conger, 2004a).

Succession-Planning Models in Academe. Studies of leadership

development and succession planning indicate that academic leaders are not

aware of succession plans or programs in their colleges and universities nor do

they believe that their institutions are ready for a leadership crisis (Buffone, 2009;

Focht, 2010; Heuer, 2003; Lopez-Molina, 2008; Luzebetak, 2010; Mateso, 2010;

Mercer, 2009; Neefe, 2009; Riccio, 2010; Richards, 2009). When succession-

planning models were documented, they were not aligned or integrated with

strategic or comprehensive plans (Bisbee, 2005; Hull, 2005; Riccio, 2010). The

models were standalone; informal and unstructured in approach; not driven by

policy, vision, or strategy; not fully participated in or supported by top-level

administration; and implemented without academic faculty input or through

shared-governance processes. Further, the models were generally talent-

management components packaged as succession plans for future leaders

(Heuer, 2003; Luzebetak, 2010; Mateso, 2010; Mercer, 2009; Riccio, 2010;

Richards, 2009). Where formal grow-your-own leadership programs were

developed as succession planning, institutional benefits were found to outweigh

institutional investment: retention of organizational memory, maintenance of

institutional knowledge, and commitment to institutional mission and goals in

times of change and uncertainty (Jeandron, 2006).

In succession planning, the private sector has more flexibility in recruiting and

hiring leadership, unlike public higher education, where open employment

practices, including compliance with equal opportunity regulations and

procedures, are required. In academe, planning is more often tied to cultural and

institutional values, whereas organization systems and structures are

predominant in business planning (Slaughter & Rhoades, 2004). When an

individual is groomed as a successor for a particular position in a college or

university, the practice is seen as unfair, violating the egalitarian principles upon

which the academy operates (Bray, Mansson, & Bajer, 2004; Kasper, 2008).


63

National searches for leadership positions often lead to disenfranchisement of

candidates internal to the organization (Barden, 2009). If succession-planning

processes are perceived as clandestine by faculty units, leadership cultivation is

difficult due to perception of profanation of shared governance (Burman, 2006;

Caldwell, 2007; Eastman, 1995). In comparison to business and industry, higher

education professionals regard institutional culture as influential (Tierney, 2008)

and shared governance as a sacred, yet warranted vehicle for decision making in

academe (Cresslin, 2010). Faculty describe their ideal culture as collegial,

inclusive, and transparent, with multiple stakeholders deserving a voice in

leadership decision making (Schein, 2010); moreover, trust in building

relationships is key in leadership preparation (Kezar, 2004).

The position of full-time faculty is often the pipeline entrance for a future

leadership position. In practical terms, however, those who aspire to leadership

positions report that there are no clearly visible career-progression steps (Betts,

Urias, Chavez, & Betts, 2009; Davis, 2008). As Davis (2008) explains:

There is simply no structural focus on leadership [in U.S. higher education]. So, what do colleges do? First they seduce someone into becoming a department chair, then a dean, then a provost or a vice president of academic affairs, and eventually a president. Is there any required management or leadership training in the process? Not consistently. Is there any rigorous and assessment of management ability? Not consistently (A64).

Moreover, the administrative pipeline has been maintained by powerful

collectivity. As Caldwell (2007) clarifies:

Although a number of university leaders have begun to recognize the need to train the next generation of leaders, the literature shows such programs are typically driven by individuals rather by institutions. Some view that changes in leadership at higher educational institutions are often personal and tribal in nature, and that succession decisions are often controlled by Boards or selection committees outside of the department, who can choose whether to maintain continuity and momentum, or make significant changes to institutional direction and focus (4).

Method I designed a qualitative study to determine what future leadership-planning

strategies and models for mid- to high-level administrative positions existed in


64

public higher education institutions. Administrative positions in this study were

defined as those leadership careers above the academic chair level in

universities and colleges. To maximize the potential for uncovering informal and

formal leadership directives and plans, I chose interviews as a way for experts to

discuss talent management and succession planning in their institutions.

Personal interviews with open-ended questions allowed for pursuit of in-depth

information around the study topic with the opportunity for delving into

associative areas and questions. As Patton (2001) notes,

A truly open-ended question allows the person being interviewed to select from among that person’s full repertoire of possible responses those that are most salient . . . [and] to take whatever direction and use whatever words they want to express what they have to say (354).

Research Questions The following research questions were constructed and provided in advance to

give the study participants an opportunity to reflect on the subject as well as

gather any relevant information:

What are your institution’s efforts toward talent management of current

employees for mid- to high-level administrative/leadership positions?

What succession plans or strategies for mid- to high-level

administrative/leadership positions exist in your institution?

Sample, Data Collection, and Analysis. To elicit the views of persons who

had specific expertise and experience in leadership planning in higher education,

a non-random selection of a stratum within a larger population was chosen for

access and purpose. This purposive sampling allowed for expert experience and

insight into talent management and succession planning, ensuring that the

phenomena of the research interest were pursued. E-mails were sent to high-

level administrators (e.g., presidents, chancellors, vice chancellors) at

13 institutions of public higher education in the southwestern United States with a

request to meet with an individual who would have knowledge about leadership

planning within the institution. In some cases, the contacted administrator offered

to be interviewed, and in other instances, a different individual within the


65

institution accepted the interview invitation. Eleven institutions participated in the

study.

In 2010 and 2011, I conducted interviews at places selected by the experts.

The interviews lasted between 45 and 120 minutes and were confidential in

terms of participant name, title or position, university or college name, and

location. The study participants remained anonymous and were not identified by

their institution in data coding. I took detailed notes to record individual

responses to the research questions, with some verbatim statements written in

shorthand. The following definitions were provided in advance of the interview

session:

Talent management: preparation, development, and retention of current

employees as they move along their careers in your organization

Succession planning: implementation of any systematic approach for long-

term institutional leadership in terms of succession, recruitment, and

retention to meet your institution’s mission and goals

Since there is a paucity of empirically based theoretical frameworks of

succession planning in higher education, I selected frameworks in business

succession planning to provide propositions for leadership development and

implementation of succession planning in academe. I analyzed the data using

grounded theory through a very broad, conceptual lens (Glaser & Strauss, 1967;

Strauss & Corbin, 1990) and utilized preexisting concepts from business

leadership planning to organize the content of the interviews. Multiple readings of

the interview transcriptions revealed patterns in the data, with data then coded

into emerging themes or categories; further analysis led to explanations,

meaningful in discovering administrators’ main concerns and resolutions to future

leadership-planning problems. The study findings are not considered

generalizable to all universities and colleges due to institutional variables of size,

location, funding sources, governing bodies, and educational missions.


66

Results and Discussion The study provides insights on how institutions are planning for an expected

leadership crisis. When baby-boomer leaders leave American higher education

through buyouts, golden handshakes, voluntary separation packages, and

phased or final retirement, will institutions have readily available human capital to

lead?

Utilizing two open-ended questions with specified definitions of talent

management and succession planning, I found that individuals were able to

respond to the questions in their own language with their own examples and

experiences, projecting pictures of what was happening in their institutions. In

support of their perceptions, study participants offered documents as well as

published institutional Web sites. Through review of the transcripts, coded data

fell into many categories, but after generating and analyzing concepts, three

categories emerged: (1) leadership development, (2) leadership planning, and (3)

workplace environment.

Leadership Development In determining institutional talent-management efforts for current employees for

mid- to high-level administrative/leadership positions, numerous examples and

explanations were provided that pointed to leadership development opportunities,

including in-house or external conferences, workshops, seminars, and courses.

All administrators explained some type of mentoring plan or program and

perceived mentoring as essential for high-potential employees (those individuals

who would eventually advance to the next leadership level).

The institutions communicated development opportunities to individuals

through e-mail, institutional Web sites, news releases, and newsletters. Ten of

the study participants indicated that institutional talent-management opportunities

were supported by senior leadership, although top leadership was not directly

involved in the activities nor were the opportunities aligned to or integrated with

succession-planning processes, consistent with the findings of Bisbee (2005),

Hull (2005), and Montague (2004). One administrator pointed out that talent-


67

management activities were “the beginning steps to prepare for future leadership

openings.” Noting a report by Greene, Kisida, and Mills (2010), three

administrators spoke of concerns of institutional leadership-development efforts

looking like administrative bloat in American higher education (i.e., spending

more on administration inflates the cost of higher education).

Leadership Planning Succession processes explained by 10 of the 11 study participants were not part

of a long-term, comprehensive program for future leadership and were not linked

to strategic planning in the organization. These findings were consistent with

higher education succession-planning studies by Heuer (2003), Neefe (2009),

and Richards (2009).

Only one administrator described her institution’s succession planning as a

formal, holistic program for providing sustainable high-level leadership to the

organization. As she explained, this program originated because of problems of

finding and hiring the right individual for the right leadership position in a scarce

market of leaders. An institutional grow-your-own leadership program

(succession planning) to build talent pools had produced a higher percentage of

leaders promoted from within the organization, as evidenced in mature and

robust business succession planning (Fulmer & Conger, 2004b; Rothwell, 2005).

With succession planning integrated into strategic goals, this institution had

organically developed and implemented executive leadership initiatives. In doing

this, the institution had cast a wide net after analysis of talent mapping (employee

assessments) and determination of gaps between positions and leadership skills

needed in the organization.

Workplace Environment The administrators offered detailed and complex perspectives of succession-

planning conditions, actions, and consequences that led me to identify two

subcategories of the primary theme of workplace environment: succession

culture and shared governance. The culture of each interviewee’s institution

enveloped the discussion of succession planning through elaborations,


68

explanations, and interpretations of workplace environments by the

administrators.

Upon closer examination, I found that institutional succession culture was only

evident in the one institution with a formal succession plan in place to build a

pipeline of future leaders. This succession culture has developed over a decade

in which the institution instituted talent-management processes that evolved into

succession planning for executive leadership (e.g., positions of chancellors, vice

chancellors, provosts, vice provosts, presidents, and vice presidents).

Sanctioned by governing bodies, the institution communicates succession-

planning purpose, philosophy, and opportunities to all employees. In this context,

succession culture is embedded in the institution, and top-level leadership

supports and promotes the process and plan with financial, human, and time

resources.

Where formal succession plans were not present, the administrators stressed

there were informal succession cultures on a micro level within academic

departments and units. As one administrator made clear “with a flatter

organization, decentralization, and without institutional policies, leaders in areas

are utilizing their personal and professional experiences to establish a culture of

nurturing, sponsorship, and advocacy of colleagues for future promotions.”

Stating that “big waves” of retirements were anticipated in comparison to past

stability of leadership within academe, another administrator perceived that

informal succession planning was exemplified through his president’s invitation to

faculty to consider future leadership opportunities.

Administrators believed their senior leadership and governing boards would

support formal succession planning. A culture of fairness, equity, and

inclusiveness would be critical to creating an institutional succession plan, and

the level of faculty engagement and participation would be impacted by these

variables. These findings reflect the work of Tierney (2008) on the influence and

importance of organizational culture. As one administrator noted, institutional

culture was more evident when multiple stakeholders external to the organization

affected the institution’s strategic planning.


69

As viewed by seven of the study participants, succession planning could be

successful through shared governance of the process (i.e., through in-house

faculty senates, councils, unions, and professional organizations working as a

team with administration). These administrators explained two current conditions

influencing comprehensive leadership planning: (1) compartmentalization of

faculties, schools, and colleges within institutions and (2) the traditional model of

reaching into faculty pools and selectively harnessing potential leaders. Through

shared governance and a unified vision, a systemic succession plan could be

developed, implemented, and evaluated within institutional strategic plans.

Administrators named faculty distrust, feelings of disempowerment, and

disrespect as some of the downsides of succession planning if faculties and

administrators do not work together (Del Favero & Bray, 2005). Study

participants indicated a delicate balance between faculties and administration—

when trust and openness were not purposefully nurtured in the work

environment, barriers were created. Honoring faculty rights and responsibilities

and incorporating shared-governance principles were key components to

succession culture and leadership-planning success. These findings correlate

with culturally and structurally rooted shared-governance research in higher

education (Cresslin, 2010; Del Favero & Bray, 2005; Tierney, 2008).

Interestingly and contrary to findings above, two administrators favored top-

down leadership planning, where talent management and succession planning

would be separate entities and would receive limited faculty input, expressing the

beliefs that faculty members did not understand how to craft leadership plans nor

could they come to a consensus on succession-planning processes. Leadership

initiatives in these administrators’ institutions emanated from executive councils

and filtered down to college and school leadership. An administrator pointed out

that pressure to increase faculty productivity suppressed communication on

leadership, affecting a need to reestablish and redefine relationships and trust

within the academic community before any formal succession planning could

ensue. Another administrator stated that the decision to look for leaders from the


70

business and political sectors caused faculty discontent with leadership

initiatives.

All of the administrators agreed that higher education is confronting a complex

situation where doing more (or differently) with less is chronic, and to cope (and

survive) effectively will require finding and developing leadership for the unique

organizational context of American higher education. Administrators commented

that many faculty members with leadership capability are not “up for the battle in

higher education’s surly climate,” as indicated by the lack of interest in applying

for leadership positions advertised internally.

As the majority of study participants asserted, succession planning must belong

to the institution (to all employees), and it is more about building for the future

than retaining the past. The leadership void necessitates casting a wide, diverse

net that must include individuals who have not been visible or seen as leadership

matches (e.g., minority faculty members), aiding capacity building as well as

perpetuating leadership transformation. As the one administrator whose

institution had a formal succession plan noted, “growing one’s own leaders for

the future provided faculty/administrative interrelationships with organizational

confidence, strength, and stability.” A comprehensive, integrative plan for

succession planning with organizational support is believed to be an investment

in people, the fiber of academe, and a succession culture is required for building

relationships and trust, as found in Kezar’s (2004) research on academic

governance.

Summary and Conclusions In the American higher education landscape, where new threats linger while new

opportunities open, institutions need to reshape the choreography of succession

planning and leadership. Succession-planning systems should emphasize the

development of human capital both professionally and personally and focus less

on identification and assessment of targeted individuals. Succession-planning

initiatives need not concentrate solely on senior leadership; practicing succession

planning at all levels and including all employees allows an organization to


71

develop, as Wallin (2007) expresses, “a core of better informed, better-qualified,

more interested and supportive people who understand the institution” (8). From

workplace-environment findings, inclusivity and trust can create shared

ownership of succession planning, and polyvocality can stimulate diverse

approaches to leadership and leadership relationships across the institution.

With respect to the higher education environment, Senge (as cited in Jaworksi,

1996) notes:

Leadership exists when people are no longer victims of circumstances but participate in creating new circumstances. . . . Leadership is about creating a domain in which human beings continually deepen their understanding of reality and become more capable of participating in the unfolding of the world. Ultimately, leadership is about creating new realities (3).

Higher education must adapt strategies to changing influences and integrate

leadership development and planning into institutional comprehensive plans.

Succession planning is not replacement planning, nor is it retaining traditional

organizational lines—administrative ladders will shift as the academy continues

to make sense of what has to be changed and what can stay the same.

Succession planning cannot perpetuate the customary mold of leaders, nor can it

trap a university or college with its institutional memory. Moreover, Croteau and

Wolk (2010) emphasize that there needs to be a paradigm shift where “leaders

need to think strategically about developing talented people and building a

pipeline of future leaders from within their organizations instead of letting talented

staff simply walk out the door” (60). Environments where employees are

encouraged and empowered to develop as leaders allow individuals to make

decisions about their own future, unlocking their own talents.

The literature extols succession planning as a critical aspect of organizational

effectiveness, and the unexpected study finding of creating a succession culture

indicates that clearly communicating succession-planning initiatives and fostering

engagement across academic borders must be championed by top-level

administration. The study findings point to shared-governance processes of

collective wisdom and trust within universities and colleges as important to the

integrity and stability of leadership planning. If succession planning is to evolve,


72

workplace-environment factors and conditions should be studied in relation to

faculty support of and participation in leadership planning and the building of a

succession culture. This study qualitatively validates succession-planning

constructs and models found in business and industry.

The signs point to the inevitability of loss of leadership talent and experience.

Future studies should examine how succession planning fits within the leadership

crisis for universities and colleges. What models, implemented and evaluated, do

we have for leadership development in planning for future leadership in

academe? While there may not be a syllogistic formula for academic succession

planning, engaging in institutional dialogue about leadership planning would be a

start.

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Gaye Luna is a professor of higher education in the Educational Leadership Department at Northern Arizona University in Phoenix, Arizona. Her research examines leadership preparation and planning in higher education settings. She can be reached at: [email protected]


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Leadership in the New Israeli Labor Union—

The Histadrut: Coping with the Problem of Organizational Decline

Yaffa Moskovich

Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee In Israel, the old Histadrut, or organization of trade unions, was founded as a welfare agency; employed about a third of the labor force; and was the dominant health-service provider, primarily funded by insurance premiums. As a socialist entity, the Histadrut was politically and economically linked to the Labor Party, which helped fund it while in power. The old Histadrut was managed on a political basis, and suffered from organizational decline, including huge debts and economic bankruptcy in most of its institutions and assets. In 1994, a new leader, Haim Ramon, was elected to run the organization. Acting against union members, Ramon transformed the Histadrut into a confederation of autonomous labor unions, selling off Histadrut enterprises and assets to private investors, and severed all political ties. He downsized the Histadrut and focused on trade union goals. Keywords: downsizing, goal transformation, organizational decline, privatization, trade union, union leadership The Histadrut (General Federation of Laborers in the Land of Israel) was founded

in 1920. After decades of stability, it underwent an organizational change in 1994

when the Labor Party relinquished its leading role and an outsider, Haim Ramon,

was elected to run the Histadrut. Ramon initiated a process of downsizing and

privatization in the organization. In 1995, as minister of health in Shimon Peres’s

government, he enacted the National Health Law. Under the new law, the

Histadrut no longer owned Kupat Holim Clalit, its health services provider and

Israel’s largest HMO. With taxpayers’ money now going to the government to

provide health care services, rather than to the HMOs, the Histadrut lost its main

source of income, increasing its financial difficulties (Ramon, 1995) and

ultimately leading to total privatization (Reinhart, 1999).

The purpose of this research is to understand and explain the behavior of the

new leader and how his policy affected the Histadrut goal system as it moved

from a super organization dominating most of Israeli society to a confederation of


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labor unions. The research question was: How did the new leader cope with

organizational decline in the Histadrut?

Historical Background on Case Study The Histadrut, an organization of trade unions, was established in 1920 by

Jewish pioneers with the aim of organizing economic activity in pre-state Jewish

society. It founded factories, as well as organizations to help the new

settlements, such as Bank Hapoalim (Laborers’ Bank), and Kupat Holim Clalit

health care services. In addition, it established retail stores open not just to

Histadrut members but also to the general public, as well as construction

companies and social aid services (Bartal, 1989; Shapiro, 1977). The labor

unions were concerned with the well-being of the workers. At the same time, as

the owner of Koor and other manufacturing and service enterprises, the Histadrut

also represented the interest of the management—that is, of itself (Greenberg,

1993).

Before the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the Histadrut was the

administrative mechanism of the dominating party—MAPAI (Hebrew acronym for

Workers’ Party of the Land of Israel).The organization recruited political support

using the resources it received from the Zionistic Federation. After the state’s

establishment, many Histadrut leaders held high positions in government, adding

another element of conflict—this time between the lawmakers and the financially

powerful and influential Histadrut (Shapiro, 1977).

The Histadrut, government, and MAPAI were strongly linked. MAPAI was

dependent on the Histadrut, which helped it recruit new members, resources,

and voters by supplying them with work and accommodation. The Histadrut

needed the government’s help to sanction its activities, and the government was

dependent on the party regarding wages.

The Histadrut dominated the Israeli economy until the mid-1970s. The status of

the labor unions changed when the right-wing Likud Party was elected to

government in 1977. The Likud Party aimed to weaken the Histadrut, and under

the Likud government, the Histadrut did not receive resources and aid during


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crisis. By then the Histadrut was debt ridden, its assets dropping in value and

some even collapsing. From 1980 to 1994, the Histadrut began selling off its

factories to cover its losses and repay debts (Greenberg, 2004). There was a

major change in 1994, when an outsider, Haim Ramon, was elected to run the

Histadrut.

Ramon served as chairman for only one year. Following the assassination of

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, Shimon Peres (Rabin’s successor)

nominated Ramon to be minister of health.

As minister of health, Ramon enacted the National Health Law for national

health insurance, on January 1, 1995 (Admati, 2001). The new law separated the

Histadrut from the health care services that had been the organization’s primary

moneymaker, as most of its resources came from membership payments for

health services.

Theoretical Framework: Globalization, Capitalism Causing Organizational Decline in Trade Unions Globalization and capitalism affect trade unions worldwide, as they carry with

them distribution of similar patterns in mass production, selling of the same

products, and a culture of conspicuous consumption (Iranzo & Patruyo, 2002;

Rainnie, 2006). Liberal economies go hand in hand with conservative

government, and bring about less national and public support (Held & McGrew,

2002). Capitalist policies have also harmed workers’ rights by giving a free hand

to big corporations. One of the outcomes of a liberalized economy is

unemployment, as the unions are powerless and unable to protect the workers

(Western, 1995). Trade unions try to fight globalization by becoming stronger and

more competitive and creating international unions (Dabscheck, 2003; Rainnie,

2006).

Unions suffer from organizational decline and crisis (Samuel, 2009).

Organizational decline is defined as deterioration in the ability of an organization

to adjust to environmental demands (Greenhalgh, 1983). During the decline

process, the organization loses the support and legitimacy of its environment,


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and its resources are damaged. Under these conditions, the organization cannot

continue to supply its services and it stagnates and loses money in the market

(Guy, 1989). Decline is a pathological condition that can lead to organizational

death (Samuel, 2009).

In trade unions, the decline process is manifested by hostility of employers and

liberal governments' policies against the unions. Workers who join a trade union

are threatened with being fired (McCartin, Compa, & Friedman, 2005). Unions

lose public support and cannot recruit new members, and many old members

leave (Banciu, 2009; Craver, 1997; Forrant, 2002; Weil, 2005; Western, 1995).

The decline process is also evident when unions are no longer a part of the

decision-making process in factories and the owners alone determine wages and

benefits. These market conditions demonstrate vulnerability and uncertainty in

workers’ lives, as well as an indication of the decline of unions (Kiely, 2003).

Unions struggle for the survival and maintenance of their organizations. The

union wishes to prevent downsizing and decline by finding common ground

among workers, government, and employees (Rainnie, 2006), and by promoting

reform, increasing organized activities, and recruiting new members. These steps

contribute to the unions’ strength and create intra- and inter-organizational

solidarity (Banciu, 2009; Pierce, 2000; Weil, 2005).

Union Leadership Union leaders play a significant role in the struggles waged between government

and employees to improve the salaries and support of workers all over the world

(Latham & Ditzler, 2010; Melling, 2004; Riddell, 2000). They try to prevent

organizational decline by fighting for the union’s maintenance and survival

(Banciu, 2009; Pierce, 2000; Rainnie, 2006; Weil, 2005; Willis, 1988). Leadership

activity bringing about union revitalization has simply corresponded with

membership growth. But revitalization can also occur by embracing economic

power and achieving improvements in pay and benefits, and by influencing public

policy (Stirling, 2005).


84

Most union leaders tend to have leftist political views. In India, trade union

leaders struggled against the governing Congress Party to improve oppressed

workers’ conditions after World War I. They fulfilled their union's aims by joining

the communist left-wing party (Rao, 2004). In Europe, too, Communist miners’

leaders in Poland and Germany struggled to improve miners’ income; they were

revolutionary trade unionists pursuing strategies to restore the position of the

miners by defending them from cuts and preventing their dismissal (Fishman,

Prazmowska, & Heith, 2006).

Union leadership is usually dominated by left-wing activists in Britain’s National

Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers (Simms, 2007; Taylor & Bain,

2003). Their orientation caused leaders to militantly oppose privatization in

general and express grievances over pay and conditions in particular (Darlington,

2009). Darlington (2009) emphasizes the role of union left-wing activist leaders in

creating material labor conditions by negotiating with employers. Their militant

attitude may lead to conflict with employers by stimulating workers’ awareness of

grievances and the potential for collective action. The effect is the translation of a

political agenda into collective action in the form of strike activity, or even using

threats of strike as a bargaining and solidarity strategy among workers.

(Kimmerling, 1995; Miller, 2005; Shostak, 2006).

On the other hand, there have been some union leaders who have been more

right wing in their orientation. In the United States, between 1880 and 1895, John

McBride was president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) and was

guided by Republican ideology. His approach was rooted in the American

Republican tradition that supported capitalism and saw labor as a means of

economic independence for the workers, while accepting liberal right-wing

government policy (Pierce, 2000).

Method I employed qualitative methods to compare data from two periods. The first

period was during the chairmanship of Haim Haberfeld (1992–1994), and the


85

second was the period of organizational change under the leadership of Haim

Ramon (1994–1995). I used interviews and document analysis to collect data.

Interviews Some interviews were open. In these, I asked the interviewees general

questions, and a friendly conversation ensued. In most cases, however, the

interview was planned, focused, and followed a structured questionnaire adapted

to each interviewee.

I interviewed 30 people, representing a wide range of Histadrut activists—

union leaders, leaders of local branches, Knesset (Israeli legislature) members,

and Histadrut administrators—from 2005 to 2007. Among those I interviewed

were Haim Ramon, the chairman who had initiated the organizational change;

MK (member of Knesset) Haim Oron, Histadrut treasurer under Ramon from

1995 to 1996; and former MK Yossi Beilin, one of “Ramon’s Eight”—a group of

eight Knesset members who supported Ramon's leadership.

I validated the information from each interviewee against other sources,

because most of the interviewees were very subjective. All those whose names

are listed above gave permission to be quoted. Others asked to remain

anonymous. I found my interviewees by the “snowball method,” wherein each

interviewee referred me to others. They were: Monia Admati, who had held

several positions in the old Histadrut; Meir Gat, former assistant to Haim

Haberfeld; Eli Nachmias, treasurer of the Haifa branch; Danny Gutwein, Peretz’s

personal advisor when he was the chair of the Histadrut; Shula Cohen, head of

the Carmiel branch; Dalia Kalishevsky, who held many leading administrative

responsibilities; Pini Kabalo, who represented the Bet She’an area in the union;

Ilan Asia, a spokesman in the old organization; Efraim Zilony, chair of the

professional union; Shlomo Avitan, chair of Bina (Histadrut's parliament); and

Haim Zlotnik, another former assistant to Haberfeld.

Documents Most documents were collected from the Lavon Institute—the Histadrut archive.

They included the union’s rules and regulations and minutes of the Central


86

Committee and the Secretariat, as well as minutes of conventions. I analyzed

reports of the Histadrut Inspector and supplemented the information with

newspaper articles describing events at the various conventions.

I also read books written by union members and the Labor party. Monia

Admati’s From the Old Histadrut to the New One (2001) proved a valuable

source of information. Admati was personally acquainted with many union

leaders, and they agreed to be quoted in his book based on these relationships.

Yitzhak Greenberg’s Anatomy of Crisis Foretold: The Collapse of the Labor

Owned Enterprises in the 80s (2004), which describes the collapse of the

Histadrut economic arm Hevrat Haovdim (Society of Workers), supplied me with

important background material on the organization. I analyzed the findings by

examining internal organizational processes and external effects. The

chronological analysis enabled me to follow the leadership policy in the new

Israeli labor union by connecting internal and external factors.

Findings It was Haim Ramon who transformed the old Histadrut into the new organization.

His policy changed the goal system. To understand the changes, one must

understand the goals of each system.

The Goals of the Old Histadrut Up until 1994, the goals of the old Histadrut (Hevrat Haovdim, 1990) were

achieved by its Hevrat Haovdim, the economic arm through which it

supplemented means of livelihood and working, improved workers’ living

conditions, advanced peripheral areas, solved housing problems, and created

economic activity. The Histadrut operated in many fields: manufacturing,

construction, settlements and agriculture, cooperatives, transportation, finance

and development, culture, and activity in Arab and Druze villages. The Histadrut

achieved its goals by several means.

Manufacturing. Histadrut factories were handled by Hevrat Haovdim. The

manufacturing segment of the Histadrut included Koor Industries, a conglomerate


87

operating in cooperation with kibbutz factories. Koor’s 280 plants were

diversified—electronics, electricity, plastics, metals, chemicals, and food.

Agriculture. Tnuva (Produce) was the marketing organization for agricultural

produce. It bought products from the farmers and distributed them for sale to the

public.

Building and Constructing. Solel Boneh (Paver-Builder) was the Histadrut’s

construction arm. Founded in 1924, it constructed roads, ports, and power plants,

both for military and civilian purposes.

Cooperatives. The Histadrut set up public transportation cooperatives (Egged

and Dan), as well as a cooperative of bakeries and a cooperative for building

materials.

Marketing. Food marketing was conducted through chains of supermarkets

and hypermarkets. Hamashbir was the Histadrut-owned and run department

store chain for consumer goods (later renamed Hamashbir Lazarchan).

Finance and Insurance. Bank Hapoalim (Laborers’ Bank) was the financial

body of Hevrat Haovdim. The bank was established in 1921 and has supplied

bank services from pre-state days until the present day. Hasneh, an insurance

company, was established in 1931.

Culture and Education. The 1924 Hevrat Haovdim constitution called for

“establishing a book publishing house, newspapers, and building schools,

libraries, theaters, daily newspaper Davar and institutions for education and

culture” (Histadrut, 1990, 54).

Education. The Histadrut provided technological education for workers,

administrative staff, and youngsters. It had schools nationwide that provided

vocational training for industry, mechanics, and office work. It held special

classes for adults who wanted to complete their studies and receive a high-

school diploma, as well as enrichment courses on the history and geography of

Israel. It also promoted sports activities through Hapoel (The Worker) sports

clubs.

Unionizing. The Histadrut, being a union, fought for workers’ benefits. It sought

to improve working conditions and help and support poor workers.


88

Health Care. Kupat Holim (the Histadrut HMO) provided a large variety of

medical services through its psychiatric services, medical clinics, laboratories,

and testing and examining facilities (Shvarts, 2008).

Social Services. Dor LeDor (Generation to Generation)1 was the fund created

to provide social services for Histadrut members. Its duties were helping elderly

people, widows and widowers, and orphans.

Pension Services. The first such fund, Mivtahim, was established in 1954.

Assisting Elderly People. Mishan, the organization for assisting the elderly,

was established in 1931. Mishan retirement residences are now home to

4,300 people, and the organization also operates as a geriatric hospital.

Culture, Sports, and Leisure for Workers. The Center for Culture and Sports

began its activities in 1975. The center operates six sports and recreation

facilities in various parts of the country.

Women’s Advancement and Care. Na’amat was established in 1921 to

promote women’s rights, provide legal aid for problems in the family and

workplace, and care for abused women and victims of sexual harassment, and

provide legal advice (Histadrut, 2002).

Development of the Arab and Druze Sectors. In 1983, Hevrat Haovdim

established a special unit for developing Arab and Druze villages. Under this

program, the Histadrut built residential units, opened large stores, and offered

Kupat Holim health care services.

Goal Transformation in the New Histadrut under Ramon When Haim Ramon was elected chairman, he created changes in the union

organization. Ramon (1994–1995) wrote:

When I was elected in July 1994, the Histadrut was in worse shape than I imagined. Its stagnation had severed it from society. I initiated reforms to rebuild and change the Histadrut. The Histadrut had been managed politically, this inefficiency brought about many debts, and the debts were the reason for selling off Histadrut assets (3).

1 Interview with Ilan Vikelman, member of BINA (the Histadrut’s representatives body), May 18, 2005


89

Selling Histadrut Assets: A Privatization Process. Ramon accelerated the

process of privatization, and in 1995 it was decided that Hevrat Haovdim would

sell 22.5% of its assets in Koor to the American company Shamrock for

$252 million. Following this transaction, two other companies were sold—Hasneh

Insurance and Ti’us ceased to exist, having been sold to businessmen Yuli Ofer

and David Amar. Construction company Shikun & Binui was sold to Harrison

Investment (Greenberg, 2004).

Other businesses were also sold, including Hamashbir Lazarchan stores and

Arkia Airlines, both retaining 50% ownership, as well as supermarket chains. The

Histadrut sold its service companies, among them Histour (tour operator), Matara

(human resources), Sifri (publishers), and Yachin Hakal and Haargaz, both

transportation companies.

By selling medical facilities (clinics and hospitals), the settlement between the

Histadrut and Kupat Holim helped cover the Histadrut’s NIS 8 million (about

$2 million) debt at the time. But by 1994, the Histadrut had debts totaling $600

million. Ramon (1995) wrote that the Histadrut’s Kupat Holim was in total crisis,

and that many of the insured had left for other HMOs, such as Maccabi. The

Histadrut sold all of Kupat Holim property to the state, and, as the financial

newspaper Globes’ headline read on July 2, 2001: “The State’s Gift to the

Histadrut: A NIS 200 Million Tax Exemption for the Sale of Kupat Holim.”

MK Haim Oron, who served as Histadrut treasurer from 1994 to 1996, told me:

The Histadrut had a huge administration without a source of funding. The organization had used the money that was delivered to Kupat Holim, which was in debt for $1.5 million, because the organization had used its money for Histadrut political aims. In the old Histadrut, some members thought the organization could keep the clinics and hospitals and also cover its debts.

Ramon, the new chairman, said in his interview: “The role of the Histadrut in the

past was to rob Kupat Holim of its money. Some 30 to 40% of Kupat Holim funds

financed Histadrut needs. Members of the Histadrut wanted health care services,

not Histadrut services.”

Ramon said that his duty was to do justice for Kupat Holim members: “Kupat

Holim did not incur losses. The losses were caused by political nominations in


90

the Histadrut, whose 4,000 employees were engaged—directly or indirectly—in

political activity.” Ramon referred to the Histadrut as “the sinking Titanic”

(Ramon, 1995).

According to Meir Gat, assistant to former leader Haberfeld, most Histadrut

employees were against Ramon’s reforms, which called for massive downsizing

of administrative positions. Similar ideas were expressed by Efraim Zilony,

chairman of the professional union, who thought that the new leaders had not

bargained with the state after delivering most of its assets, and the Histadrut still

remained in debt. Eli Nachmias, treasurer of the Haifa branch, criticized Ramon’s

privatization process:

In the past the Histadrut had 4,000 employees. He [Ramon] laid off almost 75% of the administration, a move unprecedented anywhere. Ramon gave very generous retirement settlements to the workers, and by doing so, created heavy debts for the organization. Ramon gave the state a present of 100 clinics and 15 hospitals, and created a debt of $400 million.

Most of the interviewees claimed that in every union the management wants to

empower the organization, not weaken and destroy it. Ramon viewed labor

unions as archaic and redundant, and his political position was close to right-

wing Labor Party circles, including those of Prime Minister Rabin. Ramon and

Rabin acted together out of mutual interest. According to MK Yossi Beilin and

Meir Gat, Ramon and his group were identified with Rabin’s faction.

Professor Danny Gutwein, who was consultant to Amir Peretz, former chairman

of the Histadrut, explained that Ramon's moves toward privatization expressed

his identification with the interests of Israeli capitalists:

Ramon saw the Histadrut as a problem. He came with views of middle-class morality and participated in the policy of privatization in Israel. The policy of the labor unions was to serve the poor and establish a welfare state. He [Ramon] and Prime Minister Rabin acted out of the same interests; they saw the Histadrut as interference, and wanted to weaken the labor unions.

Haim Oron justified privatization:

All Histadrut institutions were bankrupt. The construction firm Shikun & Binui had to sell Histadrut property. Buildings were mortgaged to banks. The Histadrut newspaper Davar had large debts after the Histadrut invested a lot of


91

money in it; the management put $5 million in the newspaper, but eventually it collapsed and was closed.

Other Histadrut institutions were bankrupt as well. In my interview with him, Eli

Nachmias, treasurer of the Haifa branch, told me that the 15 lending libraries

were all closed down. The collapse of the libraries symbolized the general

condition of the Histadrut.

Histadrut pension funds accumulated debts of NIS 10 million; Ramon

announced that the funds would not be able to pay the pensions to their

600,000 members, and the Histadrut and government worked together to seek a

solution. The Histadrut began a process of downsizing and laid off 1,600 people.2

.Histadrut sports services were also privatized. In 1994, the 17th Histadrut

Convention decided to reform the sports system. Leisure sports activities for the

public would continue operating. However, the new Histadrut stopped financing

professional sports, and a new Common Council for Sports (Ramon, 1994–1995)

was established. The professional Hapoel sports teams were sold to private

businessmen.

In addition, many local branches of the Histadrut were closed. Of the

937 branches that had existed before 1994, only 20% remained. Here, again,

most of the employees were laid off.

Discussion Ramon wanted to manage the organizational decline, so he initiated privatization

and downsizing that transformed the goals of the organization. However, there

were external causes that contributed to the Histradut’s organizational decline.

Israeli society had become more ideologically right wing, and politics made the

organizational environment hostile to the Histadrut (Greenhalgh, 1983). The new

atmosphere meant that fewer funds were channeled from the government to the

Histadrut, and a lack of resources forced the organization to implement changes

that transformed the goal system. The old Histadrut leadership managed, until

1994, on a political basis without consideration of the economic cost. 2 Interview with Yoav Klein, chairman of the professional union at the Carmiel branch, May 25, 2005


92

Former leader Haberfeld was reluctant to cut expenses. He did not want to fire

members of the Histadrut, because they and their families would then not support

them in future internal elections. Labor leaders were concerned with being

reelected in the general election, even when the price was maintenance of

inefficiency and stagnation in their organizations and factories (Greenberg, 2004;

Guy, 1989) and organizational decline (Samuel, 2009).

Ramon’s policies affected the process of privatization and downsizing. When

he left the union, he initiated the 1995 national health care legislation that cut the

Histadrut off from its main source of financing, and the problem of resources

became a big threat to its existence.

The economic, political, ideological, and sociological environment had changed

(Bozeman, 2002); Israeli society had become more capitalistic, and right-wing

governments did not protect Histadrut assets (Held & McGrew, 2002). The Likud

government that had taken power in 1977 acted with hostility toward the

Histadrut (Greenberg, 2004; Greenhalgh, 1983). It suffered from decline and

struggled for its survival as did other unions in the world (Forrant, 2002; Samuel,

2009; Western, 1995).

Ramon directed the Histadrut’s goals toward his own ideological and political

ends and needs. Ramon coped with organizational decline by selling most of the

Histadrut’s assets in order to cover its debts, out of conviction for his right-wing

views. Ramon did not try to save the Histadrut from privatization, in fact,

managing to dismantle most Histadrut assets. He and Prime Minister Rabin were

aware of the negative image of the Histadrut—the Israeli public despised the

Histadrut for its corruption and inefficient management. Ramon thought the

destruction of the Histadrut would serve his political aspirations. Ideologically and

politically he was close to Prime Minister Rabin, who gave him tacit permission to

destroy the Histadrut.

Ramon was a different union leader; most union leaders identify with left-wing

beliefs (Darlington, 2009; Heery & Kelly, 1990; Kelly, 2005; Rao, 2004; Simms,

2007; Taylor & Bain, 2003), Ramon’s ideas were right wing (Pierce, 2000) in that

he promoted privatization processes. His leadership was unusual; most union


93

leaders protect and fight for union members’ rights (Riddell, 2000) and strive to

empower their organization (Banciu, 2009; Melling, 2004; Pierce, 2000; Weil,

2005; Willis, 1988). Ramon wanted to destroy the union, and he acted against

the members and leaders in the Israeli Labor unions. He thought that Israeli

society’s animosity toward the Histadrut would serve his political goals. Ramon

saw the union as a means to his end: becoming leader of the Israeli Labor Party.

But his policy backfired; his actions caused many union members to lose their

jobs, so they hated Ramon, and he finally resigned.

The old organization and its leaders had ignored the changes and did not

implement necessary steps, causing the organization to collapse (Greenberg,

2004; Margalit, Mizrahi, & Zarhi, 2000). In a capitalistic environment and times of

globalization, an organization must adjust to new conditions.

This case study reveals processes similar to other trade unions worldwide, as a

result of downsizing (Dolvik & Waddington, 2004; Rainnie, 2006) and decline, but

this case study is unique and different from other unions because of the leader's

attitude—Ramon, who acted against the interests of his union members.

Conclusions Union organization needs public support; when it loses legitimacy, it has

difficulties in recruiting resources from society. The result is a threat to its survival

and organizational decline. The old Histadrut leadership suffered from inefficient

management, who ran the organization on a political basis and brought about

bankruptcy by refusing to conduct necessary changes. Services reached a point

of total collapse, and Ramon, the new elected leader, had the mandate to sell its

assets.

Unions need a leader who believes and identifies with their goals—in these

circumstances, he acts to empower the organization. This did not happen in the

case of the Histadrut, when Ramon removed most of its assets and minimized

the activity of the Israeli labor unions. Ramon, who did not behave as a typical

union leader, coped with organizational decline through privatization and

downsizing, which led to organizational goal transformation, causing the


94

Histadrut to focus on its goals as a union. The events explored in this study were

the result of a combination of Histadrut leadership political interests and

ideological views as well as environmental forces.

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Review, 77(2), 14–21. Yaffa Moskovich, PhD, is a senior lecturer and head of the Department of Sociology department at Kinneret College in Israel whose expertise is in the field of political and organizational sociology. She is the author of articles and a book about the Israeli Likud Party, Disunity in Unity: Power Struggles inside the Likud Party from 1972–2002. This article is part of the findings from the postdoctoral research for her thesis on the Israeli labor union. Her work also involves leadership in political parties, unions, and other organizations. Dr. Moskovich is currently researching leadership in a kibbutz factory and group relations between Arab students and Jews in northern colleges in Israel. She received her PhD from Bar Ilan University. She can be reached at [email protected]

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