Leadership Climate Research Articles

‘Alone’, ‘constant’ and ‘(in)visible’: Staging leadership in <i>Coriolanus</i>

Italo Calvino’s propositions frame my approach to discussing the reception and interpretation of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus today in the light of its inclusion in the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) school curriculum. I offer a dual-focus reading of Coriolanus that is informed by Gill Marcus’ notions of effective global leadership in the contemporary socio-economic climate intertwined with Brecht’s foregrounding of plebeian perspective and interests. The action of the play overtly confounds the ‘ideal leader’ described by Marcus through its dramatisation of a hero who is a model of volatility in expression, behaviour and allegiance. It nonetheless introduces complex considerations of relations between leader and collective inviting the twin focus of this paper. The agitating issues of radical socio-economic disparity and imperatives of economic and cultural transformation in South African suggest the importance of making theoretical formulations of dominance, authority and distinguishing between hero and leader. Drawing on Lucy Hughes-Hallett’s Heroes: Saviours, Traitors and Supermen (2004), I pursue three intertwined motifs that converge in the figure of the eponymous hero: mutability as an antithesis of the steadfastness and constancy which Coriolanus values; the tension generated between singularity and the state of being ‘alone’ in contrast to being situated within a collective (arguably a central motif of the play); and, finally, the degree to which visible presence as opposed to absence (or exile) impacts effective leadership. I conclude by arguing the merits of pursuing ‘lessons from Brecht’ to offer a template for reading the play (and its presentation) in a way that seeks out local correspondences.

Emergence of team engagement under time pressure: role of team leader and team climate

PurposeThis paper aims to identify the determinants of team engagement emerging as a collective team-level phenomenon under time pressure context. The paper particularly explores how teams working under time pressure conditions use their social resources to develop into highly engaged teams.Design/methodology/approachThe paper develops a conceptual framework along with related propositions by integrating diverse literature from the field of team processes, leadership and engagement. The arguments are theoretically embedded into the job demands-resources (JD-R) model to explain the emergence of team engagement under time pressure conditions.FindingsThe suggested conceptual model based on the JD-R model reveal that teams working under time pressure conditions view it as a challenging job demand and, hence, use their social resources as a coping mechanism, thereby developing into highly engaged teams. However, the paper finds that for team engagement to emerge under time pressure, teams require two important determinants. These two main determinants are team leader engaging behaviors and team climate. Engaging team leader’s behaviors include four sub-components: emotional agility, use of humor, efficient delegation and quality of feedback. Team climate constitute three sub-components: open communication, fun at work and compassion within the team. Only teams which have a strong team climate and team leaders’ engaging behaviors tend to have high team engagement under time pressure contexts.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper offers implications for both HR and line managers in team-based organizations to promote factors that enhance team engagement, for teams to perform under time pressure situations.Originality/valueThe paper identifies determinants of team engagement under time pressure context and further adds to the understanding of team processes by theoretically exploring how time pressure as a job demand can be channeled in a positive manner for promoting team engagement by using teams’ social resources: team leader’s engaging behaviors and team climate.

Climate policy and leadership in a metropolitan region: Cases from the United States

In the absence of a cohesive national approach to address climate change, the burden of climate policy making has been borne by subnational governments in the United States. This article discusses the conditions and initiatives that contributed to the ways in which local municipalities have become important centres for climate policy making in the United States and explores the challenges and opportunities for planning for climate change at the local and regional level in this policy context. In particular, the article focuses on the role of leadership in regions for contributing the necessary political support for policy action and the technical capacities needed for carbon accounting. The article focuses on two case studies in the midwestern region of the United States and discusses the differences in bureaucratic commitment to climate policy, the roles of various entities from the non-governmental sector and the important role of citizen activism in advocating for robust climate policy. While leadership in the governmental and civil society sectors is important for agenda setting and carbon accounting for local policy-makers, minimal intra-regional planning and regulatory power over key utility provision can limit climate action. The article concludes with a critical assessment of the efficacy of local climate planning in the United States.

Where the need is greatest: a comparison of the perceived working conditions of social workers in Swedish metropolitan low,- middle-and high-income areas in 2003 and 2014

This study is the third in a series of studies comparing the development of the working conditions of child welfare social workers in Sweden during the last decade. The same questionnaire was distributed in 2014 (n = 349) to the social workers handling investigations of children and youth who were working with the same types of tasks in the districts previously investigated in 2003 (n = 309). The questionnaire (QPS Nordic) contained questions about their job content, role conflicts, demands, organisational climate, job satisfaction and intention to leave the workplace or change profession. The aim of the present study was to analyse this development in relation to the low-income, middle-income and high-income districts where the social workers were employed. The results reveal two different patterns. The first concerns the social workers’ perception of their work tasks where the situation seems to have deteriorated in all three income areas but more so in the low income areas. Furthermore, the social workers’ intention to leave the workplace and health problems had increased overall, but were more pronounced in the low income areas. The second pattern concerns the differences in the social workers’ perception of their workplace in terms of support, leadership and organisational climate. In the low-income areas the social workers today are significantly less satisfied with how their organisations function than their colleagues were in 2003, whereas the social workers in the other areas today seem significantly more satisfied than in 2003. The consequences of these changes and their probable background are discussed.

Establishment of an optimal occupant behavior considering the energy consumption and indoor environmental quality by region

Reducing a building’s energy consumption and providing better indoor environmental quality (IEQ) are the two major issues that building professionals are facing all over the world. It is not easy, however, to simultaneously address both issues. Therefore, this study aimed to establish the optimal occupant behavior that can simultaneously reduce total energy consumption and improve the IEQ, using an energy simulation and optimization tool. This study also developed an integrated IEQ score by combining three different IEQ indices (i.e., thermal comfort, indoor air quality (IAQ), and visual comfort) for building users to easily understand the IEQ condition. To analyze the effects of occupant behavior by region, the education facility was selected as the target facility, and five target regions were selected considering the Köppen climate classification system and the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. Finally, a total of 5×1.01×1022 occupant behavior combinations can be generated in the five target regions. As a result, among the four target variables (i.e., total energy consumption, thermal comfort, IAQ, and visual comfort), the total energy consumption of the optimal solution was found to have changed most dramatically compared to that of the basic condition in terms of percentage (94.7%), due to its strong correlation with the overall occupant behavior (the highest correlation coefficient: 0.879). Therefore, it is shown that occupant behavior has more influence on the total energy consumption than on the three IEQ indices. Among the three IEQ indices, the IAQ of the optimal solution decreased most significantly compared to that of the basic condition (the highest reduction ratio: 4.04% in Ulsan), which indicates that the IAQ has more influences on the integrated IEQ score than thermal and visual comfort. The facility manager and the building user can operate the building for reducing total energy consumption and improving the IEQ considering occupant behavior, which can be used as the building management guideline in various regions.

The European Commission’s Shifting Climate Leadership

The European Commission has played a crucial role in promoting ambitious EU climate targets and policies that boost the credibility of EU leadership-by-example efforts internationally. The approach has gradually shifted from leadership toward more strategic behavior that reflects the preferences of the member states. Reduced uncertainty concerning member-state preferences and solutions accounts for much of the change in leadership. Uncertainty has decreased as climate policies have become more mature and member states have gained experience from implementing them. Asymmetries in member-state preferences, decision-making procedures, and impatience caused by the international context are all important conditions for the European Commission’s leadership. These observations lend support to apparently contradictory theories that have seen EU climate policy as propelled either by autonomous supranational institutions or by increasingly ambitious member states.

Unlocking the Mask: a Close Look at how Servant Leaders Influence People

Given the widespread use of servant leadership in organizations, the purpose of our study was to examine the relationship between servant leadership, creativity, feedback-seeking behavior, and affective climate. We hypothesized that servant leadership promotes creativity through encouraging employees’ feedback-seeking behavior. Additionally, affective climate can moderate the mediated relationship. Based on a sample of 388 full-time employees and their supervisors from a Chinese high-tech company, the results indicated that servant leadership can predict employees’ creativity, mediated by feedback seeking. The moderating effect of affective climate on the mediated relationship, however, was not supported in our sample.

State and Local Climate Leadership in the Trumpocene

State and Local Climate Leadership in the Trumpocene

European climate leadership in question: policies toward China and India

European climate leadership in question: policies toward China and India

Life cycle human health and ecotoxicological impacts assessment of electricity production from wood biomass compared to coal fuel

Analyzing human health and ecotoxicological impacts is crucial in the development of sustainable energy products and technologies. In this research, the human health and ecotoxicological impacts of electricity production from wood biomass were compared to coal fuel. Four bioenergy pathways based on forest residue, round wood chips, and wood pellet feedstocks were compared to direct-fired coal combustion pathway using a novel life cycle assessment approach. Bioenergy pathways significantly reduced both human health and ecosystem quality, when compared to coal fuel combustion. The reduction in toxicity ranged from 89 to 95% for carcinogenics, 68–81% for non carcinogenics, and 66–76% for ecotoxicity impacts, when compared to coal-fired electricity. Use of forest residue feedstock is the absolute option to reduce both human toxicity and ecotoxicity impacts. On the other hand, the respiratory effect of coal fuel was lower by approximately 60–72%, when compared to bioenergy pathways. The respiratory effects impact of all energy pathways is primarily a result of fuel combustion at power plant. Improvements in power plant efficiency, silviculture management, and reduced transport distance have the potential to reduce the respiratory effects of bioenergy systems. Bioenergy can assist Alberta’s Climate Leadership plan in the production of sustainable electricity.

The supply of climate leaders must grow

To catalyse climate transformation, we need leadership everywhere. It is time for more of us to take the first steps to lead actively.

The search for most cost-effective way of achieving environmental sustainability status in electricity generation: Environmental life cycle cost analysis of energy scenarios

Over 80% of Alberta's electricity supply comes from fossil fuels; coal fired plants made up 43%. Alberta has announced its climate leadership plan, in which it is going to end electricity from coal and move towards sustainable power production. All categories of renewable energy sources, including bioenergy are expected to significantly contribute to the transition and transformation of Alberta's fossil-intensive electricity. As Alberta searches for measures to phasing out coal power plants, understanding the environmental and economic impact of alternatives can support decision-making. The main purpose of this research was to determine a cost-effective way of achieving environmental sustainability status in electricity generation. An environmental life cycle costing approach was applied to compare three biomass-based alternative scenarios, which represented energy transition and transformation in Alberta's electricity sector, with the prevailing scenario of coal-fired energy.All alternative energy scenarios showed environmental life cycle improvement from 47 to 92% for global warming, 46–90% for human health, and 47–91% for ecosystem impacts, when compared to a reference coal-fired generation scenario. On the other hand, the coal-fired electricity generation scenario demonstrated approximately 63–83% lower life cycle cost impact than alternative scenarios. The life cycle cost of wood biomass-based alternatives demonstrated 83–87% and 22–45% lower than the maximum and minimum average historical electricity generation cost for Alberta, respectively. Bioenergy can support the transition and transformation of coal power plants to a more sustainable power production.

Responding to Environmental Challenges in Alberta

Climate change and the myriad of challenges that come with it are a reality the entire world must face. However, for Canadian province, Alberta, the stakes are especially high. Oil and gas mining made up 18.3% of Alberta’s GDP in 2015 and therefore plays a significant role in its economy. Alberta has also been subject to degrading air quality and natural disasters like the recent Fort McMurray Fire. Provincial and municipal governments have, however, taken many steps to addressing the array of environmental challenges Alberta faces including releasing its Climate Leadership Report to Environment Minister Shannon Phillips, which outlines concrete goals and objectives. This paper discusses some of targets as well as legislation that have come out of the Climate Leadership Report. Furthermore, this paper explores how individuals have influenced the climate change discussion and how they can continue to spread environmental messages.

Towards low carbon based economic development: Shanghai as a C40 city

As a result of its rapid industrialization process, China has become the greatest emitter of carbon dioxide world-wide. Consequently, Shanghai – the most industrialized city in China – is facing serious challenges arising from carbon emissions and climate change in general. The main question of this paper is: How can Shanghai continue its economic growth, while controlling the negative consequences of its energy use and production in a responsible way? For the approach, it explores the use of the C40 framework, as an application and specification of new synergy seeking approaches, such as Value Sensitive Design. The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group is a global city-level network to address climate change and promote world-class projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In this paper, a quantitative analysis of Shanghai's energy trends is made as well as a SWOT analysis to map and evaluate its current environmental, social, economic and political characteristics. Three main challenges are presented, related to institutional inclusiveness, global relations, and long-term innovation. In view of the initiatives, targets, and the whole network of the C40 movement, this paper concludes that Shanghai is strongly recommended to fully use the C40 framework in creating a sustainable and responsible future.

Tooth-to-Tail Greening: Energy and Climate Leadership and Policy Change at the Department of Defense

Tooth-to-Tail Greening: Energy and Climate Leadership and Policy Change at the Department of Defense

The Effects of Diversity and Transformational Leadership Climate on Organizational Citizenship Behavior in the U.S. Federal Government: An Organizational-Level Longitudinal Study

ABSTRACTAlthough interpersonal conflicts caused by social categorization processes in diversified workforces impede organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), little empirical research has been conducted on managing employee diversity in public sector organizations. Using panel data from the U.S. federal government, this article examines how bio-demographic (i.e., gender and race) and job-related (i.e., functional background and tenure status) diversity affect OCB at the organizational level and how a transformational leadership (TFL) climate moderates these relationships. The results showed that gender and functional diversity are negatively associated with OCB. When moderated by TFL, relationships were weakened. However, both racial climate and tenure diversity and their interactions with TFL climate yielded mixed results. Overall, this article provides evidence for the significant role of TFL climate in encouraging diverse employees to perform beyond their job roles.

Okul Yöneticilerinin Dönüşümcü Liderlik Rolleri İle Örgüt İklimi Arasındaki İlişkinin İncelenmesi

Bu arastirmada, ilkogretim kurumlarinda gorev yapan ogretmen algilarina gore, orgut iklimi ile okul yoneticilerinin donusumcu liderlik davranislari arasindaki iliski incelenmistir. Arastirmanin orneklemi 2012-2013 egitim-ogretim yilinda Erzurum ili Yakutiye ilcesindeki Milli Egitim Bakanligina bagli devlet ilkogretim kurumlarinda gorev yapmakta olan 258 ogretmenden olusmaktadir. Arastirmada veri toplama araci olarak, “Orgutsel Iklim Olcegi” ile “Donusumcu Liderlik Anketi” kullanilmistir. Betimsel bir calisma olan bu arastirmada verilerin cozumlenmesinde standart sapma, ortalama, Pearson Momentler Carpim korelasyonu ve coklu dogrusal regresyon analizinden faydalanilmistir. Arastirmanin sonuclarina gore, ilkogretim okul yoneticilerinin donusumcu liderlik ozellikleri ile orgut iklimi arasinda orta duzeyde anlamli bir iliski bulunmustur. Regresyon analizi sonuclari, donusumcu liderligin ideallestirilmis etki, esin kaynagi olma, bireysellestirilmis ilgi boyutlarinin orgut ikliminin destekleyici mudur davranislari boyutunu pozitif yonde ve anlamli duzeyde yordadigini gostermistir. Orgut ikliminin emredici mudur davranislari ve umursamaz ogretmen davranislari boyutlari donusumcu liderligin esin kaynagi olma boyutu tarafindan yordandigini gostermistir.

Leading Under Adversity: Interactive Effects of Acute Stressors and Upper-Level Supportive Leadership Climate on Lower-Level Supportive Leadership Climate

While supportive leadership has been shown to help employees cope with stressful circumstances, little is known about how stressors impact leaders themselves and their ability to offer support to those they lead. Drawing on the transactional model of stress and stress rigidity theory, we thus examine linkages between acute stressors and upper- and lower-level supportive leadership climates for teams of leaders. Employing survey data collected by the U.S. Army from military leaders and their subordinate soldiers in combat, we found support for a negative relationship between acute stressors and lower-level supportive leadership climate. Additionally, upper-level supportive leadership climate moderated the stressors-supportive leadership linkage, such that when upper-level supportive leadership climate was low, there was a more negative relationship between acute stressors and leaders providing supportive leadership to followers. In turn, this lower-level supportive leadership climate resulting from the acute stressors and upper-level supportive leadership climate interaction promoted followers' social cohesion.

Après Paris: Breakthrough innovation as the primary moral obligation of rich countries

While the notion of differentiated responsibility has always included an element of technological transfer, the growing disparity between the deployment of non-scalable renewable energy sources in the rich countries and the massive expansion of fossil infrastructure elsewhere has brought new urgency to issues of climate leadership. Breakthrough innovation into technologies capable of providing an abundance of clean energy now appears necessary not only to broaden energy access but also to ensure that fossil fuels are quickly displaced globally (including in those countries that have failed to take climate change seriously). Moreover, it is reasonable to expect that a climatechanged world in itself will demand abundant energy to facilitate everything from carbon dioxide removal to mass desalination for agriculture and other adaptation measures. Considering the moral and political impossibility of treating sustained poverty as the “solution” to the climate crisis, this paper suggests that rich countries have a moral obligation to invest in breakthrough innovation into technologies that are compatible with a future global economic convergence around OECD-levels.

Transformational Leadership and Organizational Climate of Educational Institutions Along Thai-Cambodian Borders

The purpose of this research was to study the Transformational Leadership and Organizational Climate of educational institutions along Thai-Cambodian borders, preparing for the integration into the ASEAN economic community. The simple random sample chosen for the study were administrators and teachers with the sample size of 384 based on Krejcie Morgan table. Questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents and the statistical tools used in the study were Mean, T-Test and Pearson’s Simple Correlation. The variables gender, size of school and working status were considered for the study to find out the significant differences towards transformational leadership and organizational climate. And the relationship between two variables was measured i.e. transformational leadership and organizational climate. The result confirmed that there is a significant difference among the gender, size of school and working status towards transformational leadership and organizational climate. Moreover, it has shown the differences with female respondents, medium-sized school and administrators towards transformational leadership and organizational climate. The result of correlation revealed that there was a positive moderate relationship between transformational leadership and organizational climate at .639. However, the strong association between the individual dimensions was not found. Further, to probe, the educational institutions need to develop transformational leadership to create good organizational climate to compete in ASEAN economic community. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n3s1p470