<p> We developed and tested procedures to rank the performance of security analysts according to the timeliness of their earning forecasts. We compared leaders and followers among analysts on various performance attributes, such as accuracy, boldness, experience, brokerage size and so on. We also use discriminant analysis and logistic regression model to examine what attributes have an effect on the classification. Further, we examined whether the timeliness of forecasts is related to their impact on stock prices. We found that the lead analysts identified by the measure of forecast timeliness have a greater impact on stock price than follower analysts. Our initial sample includes all firms on the Institutional Brokers Estimate System (I/B/E/S) database and security return data on the daily CRSP file for the years 1994 through 2003.</p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

This study was initiated for the purpose to further understand the theoretical relationship between followers trust of the closest bound perceived servant leader and the predictability of the  followers organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Specifically, this study looked at the modifying effect of the followers prosocial motivation—the desire to benefit other people (Grant, 2008) on multilevel dimensions of trust (i.e. affect- and cognition-based trust) and how this could possibly predict if at all followers OCB. There is far less research specifically about servant leaders than those implementing transformational leadership theory (Joseph &amp; Winston, 2005; van Dierendonck &amp; Nuijten, 2011). There are numerous studies using transformational leadership based on the well-defined parameters that are proven to be a relatively strong predictive variable in a variety of theoretical fields (N. Eva, Sendjaya, &amp; Prajogo, 2015). Zhu and Akhtars’ (2014) study on transformational leadership behavior and multi-levels of trust is the inspiration to the current research project. The current research project is a close replication of Zhu and Akhtars’ (2014) model with the replacement of transformational leadership with servant leadership. Data were collected from 39 followers and four leaders from seven different facilities in the greater Stockholm area. The results showed that affect-based trust mediated the relationship between servant-based leadership and followers OCB. In addition, affect-based trust mediated the relationship between servant leadership and followers OCB only with those with high prosocial motivation. As for cognition-based trust, there seems to be some interaction between cognition-based trust and the relationship between servant leadership and followers with low prosocial motivation. These results strengthen the conclusions of the original study by Zhu and Akhtar (2014). Finding that servant leadership does not predict follower’s organizational citizenship behaviors alone. To reach a better understanding on followers OCB and their interaction within a servant leadership organization one must look at the individual followers’ level of trust and prosocial motivation variables to further our understanding on how to encourage OCB.

During the last years, due to the globalization markets become more and more involved in an international level. Cultural diversity in the workplace is something common nowadays, it involves countless benefits for the companies and the other professional contexts. While simultaneously, it involves conflicts and misunderstandings therefore it is more and more required to get people able to deal with different cultures. The main purpose of our Thesis is to study the process through which an individual becomes able to deal and work with different cultures. In other words, we pretend to discover how someone can become culturally intelligent. This thesis has been conducted using the Grounded Theory method. By analyzing the data we have collected throughout eight interviews from different culturally intelligent people and the data we have obtained by reading literature, we came with the idea that the process for becoming culturally intelligent is composed by three elements: the first one is related with the individual, the second one is related with the interaction of the individual within a multicultural group and the third one is related with the benefits and disadvantages that emerged while someone is working with different cultures.

The aim of this study is to broaden existing theories on self-leadership in response to unprecedented challenges and job demands in the emerging economy of the 21st century. The Austrian marketing sector is used as an illustrative example for gaining a more nuanced conception of leaders’ understanding and enactment of self-leadership within a creative environment. The approximation with grounded theory allowed gauging the gap in scientific research with respect to studying self-leadership within organisational settings, as suggested by other scholars. Perceptions on the current work environment and implications for business dealings and leadership at a broader level are disclosed firstly. The study then approximates the concept of self-leadership, underlining some of the dominant notions thereto, as may also be found in prominent research and proposing a conceptualized model for the multiplex relationship of viewing oneself as a starting point in leading others. Possible elements thereto are subsumed into the rubrics of behavioural, emotional and cognitive strategies, continuous learning, authentic role modelling and critical reflection, all of which allow leaders to transcend to an external meaning and ultimately inspire self-leadership among their followers. In the near aftermath, selfleadership shows a positive influence on work performance of both leader and followers, on developing creative potential and deriving meaning for oneself. The findings shall serve as a source of inspiration for leaders within their intuitive learning journey of selfleadership and encouraging the same among their followers. Furthermore, this research constitutes the base for future studies that attempt to shed more light onto the practical applicability of self-leadership within a business context.

This thesis aimed to explore the coping strategies of leaders in situations in which their authenticity is put out of balance. Specifically, this means that this thesis describes the different actions shown by the leaders in order to deal with these particular situations. The literature suggests that leaders either stay with their own values and try to persuade them to the followers (Eagly 2005) or adapt to the group values and avoid showing damaging emotions (Gardner et al. 2005). As expected, this thesis shows that the leaders’ behavior does not simply fit into one group or the other. Instead, this research found that there are more nuances in how leaders respond to situations in which their values are challenged. The first action taken by leaders consists of learning, during which leaders discover and try to make sense of the new environment. Subsequently, roughly five categories of actions could be distinguished from the data. Leaders tend to adapt to small differences, adapt to large differences, avoid relationships, try to change followers or break relationships. Although these are five clearly defined categories, this does not imply that one leader only adopts one kind of strategy. This research found that the kind of strategy chosen by the leader highly depends on the conditions surrounding the leader. The coping strategy chosen has an effect on the relationship between the leader and the followers, and the leader’s emotions. Furthermore, it should be noted that in this research it is stated that leaders choose or decide upon certain actions leading from conditions; this does mean that the decision for actions can be taken both intentionally or unconsciously.

Social media have become more and more present in the daily life. At the same time, online communities were created about all kinds of topics and the number of opinion leaders increased. With time, those leaders attract followers, starting from nothing to millions of them. Through this thesis, I studied the evolution of the relationship between followers and opinion leaders on social media. This study aims to contribute to the understanding of followers-opinion leaders relationship and simultaneously fill gaps within the leadership field.In order to study this relationship, several methods of data gathering has been used. Both sides has been interviewed, the followers via qualitative questionnaires and face-to-face interviews and the opinion leader only via qualitative questionnaire. Additional data has been collected on the social media platforms used by the interviewed opinion leaders.To conclude my thesis, I described the evolution with the garden metaphor. It highlighted the different phases which opinion leaders and followers are going through.

Language is power. Especially among preschool children, where one of the most coveted identities sought during social interactions is that of the leader. Leadership is not taken; it is given when individuals accept instructions from someone else and let them lead. These individuals then become followers. I decided, after reading various literature and scientific research about children’s peer talk and linguistic interactions, to study how preschool children use linguistic interactions and strategies to form the identities of leaders and followers during free play; scheduled points during the day where activities are based on the children’s interests and not led by preschool teachers, which aids in trying to see things from the children’s perspective. I did a video-enabled microethnographic study over the course of a week as a complete observer to capture the strategies used by five children (ages 5 to 6) to form the identities of leaders and followers during their peer talk and peer group interactions. After transcribing the recorded material where these social interactions were most apparent, I then analyzed at which points the children were given these identities and what strategies were used as resources from a sociolinguistic perspective. Three primary strategies were identified; speech genres, code-switching and language play. I also discovered that the children were inspired by their surroundings and the available materials in choosing what to play and base their linguistic interactions on. I concluded that leadership is closely related to expertise about various subjects and that followers allow individuals with more expertise than them to lead. This is how our society typically works. The children used their various levels of expertise regarding the subject matter and strategies like speech genres, code-switching and language play as resources to raise their own status and attempt to lower the status of others, forming the identities of leaders and followers.

Influencer marketing is today a well-known marketing strategy used by many companies and the phenomenon is growing day by day. This is mostly a strategy with the spotlight on how the company can reach their consumers through famous people on social medias, not with focus on what relationship is created between all the parties. This study has the purpose to create a better understanding of how influencers use a marketing communication strategy to build a relationship with their target groups. To delimitate the research the focus will be on Instagram as a platform for influencers to work on. To get an answer on the purpose, a qualitative case study consisting of three interviews with influencers, together with three complementary content studies have been executed. The theories used in the study are influencer marketing along with a marketing communication strategy and relationship marketing model. These are the foundation and the theoretical framework for the study and used to investigate the influencer - follower relationship from the perspective of the influencer. The collected data presents a result that shows that influencers are concerned about their relationship to the followers and are dedicated to improve this. They all see a meaningful gain in creating a long-term relationship with respect and trust shown from both parties. The influencers are in some ways conscious about their usage of marketing communication strategies and in some ways not. We can see similarities and differences between all the influencers regarding all theories. The differences can depend on various nationalities among the respondents and inequality in the number of followers. As a conclusion and theoretical contribution from this study we claim that several parts of the marketing communication strategy used can have a direct impact on specific parts of the relationship marketing model used in this research. Influencers and companies who are aware of these factors may have a bigger chance of success.

As the signs of the impending ecological crisis become more apparent, the issue of sustainability comes to the forefront in many studies. However, there appears to be a substantial lack of focus on the individual level which can be considered a major shortcoming due to the fact that sustainability can only be obtained through joint efforts of each and every person. A significant part of sustainability work lies on the shoulders of companies and organisations as they are not only legally obliged to reduce the environmental footprint of their activities but also bear a huge responsibility in the face of the whole society. As employees often carry the main burden when it comes to implementing new initiatives, we decided to gain a better understanding of their perspective. In the presented research we explore the sensemaking of employees in relation to sustainability in order to determine their role as followers in company’s or organisation’s sustainability work. Our ambition for the research was to contribute to closing the gap in existing studies by suggesting a theoretical model which would describe various roles which employees enact when faced with sustainability issues. We carried out a qualitative study based on an inductive approach and case study research method. For the purpose of the study we conducted interviews and analysed data looking for recurrent themes, patterns and more importantly variations in the ways employees make sense of sustainability. As a result, we presented four roles which employees enact in the context of sustainability, namely movers and shakers, happy campers, truth-seekers and distant observers, and provided the description of main distinctive characteristics inherent in these roles.

Millennials in retail account for a large portion of the U.S. workforce and have the highest number of body image modifications from tattoos, piercings, and/or gauges. Following Moustakas concept of perception, the purpose of this transcendental phenomenology study was to explore how Millennial-aged retail employees describe and experience leaders with body image modifications from tattoos, piercings, and/or gauges. Participants were sought from various retail locations and were required to be born between 1981 and 1996. Data were collected through interviews with 6 participants and the data were analyzed using Moustakas modification of the Van Kamm Method. The results showed that employees typically felt good about their experiences with their leaders, yet varied on how effective and personable their leaders were; however, employees did not ascribe any impact on leadership effectiveness to the body image modifications of their leaders. Implications of this result extends to an increased openness towards traits that make others different, theoretical changes that note visual cues are important for ideal leader categorization, and increased understanding of follower views in relation to leader-follower relationship development.