A measurement tool for the evaluation of organizational leadership capability

Abstract

PurposeCollective concepts of leadership open up some essential aspects of organizational leadership that could be defined as the collective ability of leadership to detect and cope with changes in the external environment by maintaining the primary goals of the organization. The purpose of this paper is to design a tool to evaluate organizational leadership capability.Design/methodology/approachA total of 445 respondents from six Estonian organizations participated by completing a questionnaire about organizational leadership. Next, a quantitative analysis is performed and sets of factors obtained from a partial least squares regression and Cronbach alpha test. Finally, the pattern of individual items (statements) within each of the factors is identified and the results, which indicate organizational leadership capability, are plotted.FindingsDuring the last two decades, leadership on the collective level has come under greater focus. This has arisen from the necessity to transfer leadership capabilities to the strategic assets of organizations that allow them to achieve performance on a daily basis with long‐term success. That means organizational leadership capabilities that are based on the leadership skills and knowledge of organizational members on the one hand, and the extent to which these skills and knowledge are embedded in the structure of an organization on the other. Therefore, the measurement of organizational leadership capability is an important issue for improving organizational performance in the long term.Originality/valueFrom the practical point of view, the measurement tool has many advantages: it is easier to collect answers from a large sample of respondents; it is simple to calculate and analyse the collected answers; it is also possible to measure organizations as a whole or by separate areas or management levels. Also, the measures in the measurement tool provide support to help managers increase the quality and efficiency of management in every day practice.