The majority of psychological research investigating leader integrity has relied on self or other report methods as the primary means of data collection. While such an approach has advanced the literature, due to the theorised deceptive and manipulative nature of leaders lacking in integrity, prominent theorists (Barling, Christie and Turner, 2008) have called for alternative measures that are less prone to socially desirable responding. As no prior research had examined the integrity of sporting leaders, the present thesis began by examining the antecedent cognitive processes of expert football managers. Building upon this exploration, an implicit association test was developed within studies two and three. Results suggest that the instrument is capable of assessing automatic attitudes towards leader integrity, is more sensitive than existing measures, offers support for concurrent and convergent validity, demonstrates good test-retest reliability, good internal consistency, and is a predictor of player reported commitment. In sum, the present research has sought to understand the phenomena of leader integrity from the perspective of social cognition. The result of these investigations is a robust, sensitive, and complimentary measure of leader integrity, which will assist researchers to better understand the processes that underpin leader integrity.

A leadership crisis continues within the education sector (Rhodes et al., 2008; Howson & Sprigade, 2011). This research synthesises the experiences of twenty head teachers, within their first five years of headship. A social survey methodology using a semi-structured interview method was used. This research draws upon established models of leadership development by, among others, Day & Bakioglu (1996) Gronn (1999), Ribbins (2003), Browne-Ferrigno (2003) and Earley & Weindling (2007). Emergent findings that make a contribution to new understandings are based upon aspects of motivation, personal capacity, self-belief, talent spotting to support leadership development, the role of career-coaching and the notion of affirmation of readiness for headship. Findings support a revision of the Browne-Ferrigno (2003) model of leadership transformation with a new conceptualisation of this model along with a new conceptualisation of personal capacity as an important element in leadership transition. These new conceptualisations will be of interest to current and aspiring leaders, those with responsibility for talent management, succession planning and leadership development. This work is also highly relevant to researchers and others interested in leadership transition within the education sector.

Multinational teams (MNTs) have traditionally consisted of members from different nationalities, and such teams have attempted to capitalise on the diversity of the members to create innovative solutions. Currently, dynamic capabilities, by which is meant the ability to integrate, coordinate and upgrade capabilities to respond to environmental changes and dynamic demands, have been urged on multinational companies. However, very limited attention has been paid to how functional MNT leaders utilise team capabilities, including the diversity of the members, to enhance team effectiveness in organisational processes. To address that research gap, this study investigates functional MNT leadership skills aligned with dynamic capabilities and McGrath’s Input–Process–Output (IPO) model. First, it explores organisational processes and roles of functional MNT leaders from a perspective of dynamic capabilities. Second, it examines the mediation effect of functional MNT leadership skills by testing the proposed IPO model, and investigates similarities and differences between functional MNTs in two locations, Japan and Germany. The findings show that the right combination of functional MNT leadership skills – intra-team and extra-team relational skills, communication skills, setting clear goals, managing differences of national cultures, and technical competences – is required depending on the type of functional MNT and the location.

Academies may represent one of the most significant British educational reforms in recent history. However in reviewing the current research, little consideration has been given to investigating the culture of academies and acknowledging the significant role this can have in judging their effectiveness. One method of examining an organisation’s culture is the cultural web model and it was subsequently the purpose of this thesis is to assess this model, as a tool for analysing an academy’s culture. In order to achieve this, a complementary mixed-method case study approach was utilised for the teaching and non-teaching staff at an academy. This included questionnaires to Staff with No Responsibility (SNR), focus groups on Staff with Management Responsibility (SMR) and interviews with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT). Findings from this research successfully demonstrate the model’s ability to offer valuable insight into an academy’s culture as well as identifying improvements to its practice. This has also been supplemented with a new method for selecting an organisational culture model and modifications to the future deployment of the cultural web, for both a generic and education setting. Consequently, this thesis may be valuable to those practitioners wishing to analyse the culture of other academies and organisations.

Today’s business requires managers who can make an impact by competing successfully in the context of globalisation. Organisational learning contributes to a firm’s ability to compete. However, particularly in small and medium enterprises, research into managers’ approaches to transferring and encouraging learning in the organisation remains inadequate. This study examines the relationship between managers’ learning and leadership styles and sustaining learning in the organisation, and consequently increasing organisational effectiveness. Small retail tyre firms in north east Thailand are taken as a case study. Mixed research methods were applied. Pilot studies were tested to ensure reliability and validity. In a quantitative approach, questionnaires were used to collect data, and different statistical methods were used to analyse the data. Questionnaires were distributed to the managers of small tyre firms covering demographics, learning styles, leadership styles and organisational effectiveness. A qualitative approach of semi-structured interviews was used to gather further, more detailed, data. The results suggest that the Reflector and Pragmatist learning styles and the Transformational and Transactional leadership styles are the most effective. Results from the interviews suggest more specific ways of encouraging learning in the organisation, in terms of organisational management, leadership roles and learning and experience.

This thesis contributes to the extant body of knowledge of trust and distrust offering insights into influencing factors in intra-organisational relationships. Drawing on interviews with 50 participants from top UK and USA consulting companies, Mayer, Davis, and Schoorman' s ( 1995) trustworthiness dimensions and trustor associated factors are extended; additional adjuvant trust factors that facilitate and reinforce trust development are identified. These findings also advance understanding of trust by distinguishing between person- and task focused natures of trust. Factors influencing distrust are found to be associated with the distrustor, distrustee's distrustworthiness and adjuvant distrust factors which moderate the distrust development. Questions surrounding the relationship between trust and distrust are raised and considered, revealing trust and distrust as separate but highly associated constructs. Highlighting culture as one of the factors influencing trust and distrust, the thesis also explores these relationships. Following a systematic review, insights gained from empirical research are offered. Building on Chao and Moon's (2005) cultural mosaic, a dynamic conceptualisation and operationalisation of culture is discussed, emphasising particularly the importance of additional associative cultural tiles within the global and diverse organisational contexts. The implications of the findings for future research and practice are discussed.

This thesis fills the gap in the TQM and public service management literature by providing a more sophisticated understanding of the relationship between TQM, employee satisfaction and service quality within the context of Jordanian public sector organisations. The primary data for this research relied on two sources, survey and semi-structured interviews. These were conducted as part of fieldwork within the public sector of Jordan. The study was based on two samples to achieve the research objectives. Firstly, 420 employees working on the frontline in public service organisations in Jordan were surveyed to diagnose TQM and employee satisfaction issues. 821 customers were surveyed to explore service quality issues. For further clarification and explanation on TQM and employee satisfaction 30 employees were interviewed in parallel to the survey field work. 30 customers were interviewed to explore service quality issues. Qualitative data such as “Excellence” reports were used to support, validate and explain elements of the research model. Findings from Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) reveal the direct impact of TQM on ES, whereas TQM was found to have an indirect impact on service quality (mediated by employee satisfaction). At the same time, employees’ satisfaction has a direct impact on dimensions of service quality, namely reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. The variance of service empathy can be highly predicted by employee satisfaction levels (71%).Interestingly, the outcomes of this research revealed that service employees in the public sector play four roles: enabler, mediator, complementary and collaborator.

The purpose of the thesis is to investigate the quality of higher education (HE) in the business colleges of the Sultanate of Oman. The need for this investigation is rooted in the necessity to upgrade the level of knowledge and skills among the graduates so that they can provide better opportunities for the prosperity of the Omani economy. The thesis takes stakeholder perspective on the quality of HE. Initially, the thesis addresses and analyses the role and impact of stakeholders and culture on the quality of HE based on a comprehensive literature review. The overall idea about the quality of HE has been integrated in a comprehensive conceptual framework to study the role and impact of stakeholders and culture. Qualitative and quantitative studies have been integrated and applied using a mixed method of research to provide an insightful understanding of the issues related to the quality of HE in Oman. To clarify the contextual specifics a chapter on Oman is presented.

Many scholars have addressed the important role that guanxi plays in the Chinese social-economic system. Guanxi is widely accepted in academia as an indigenous construct from China-deeply rooted in Chinese culture and reflected in the behaviour of Chinese people in both the social and institutional environment. During the growing globalisation of Chinese multinational companies, Chinese expatriates have increasingly taken up international assignments and inevitably carried Chinese guanxi to the host country. Research on guanxi in China has been intense. However, how the employees of Chinese multinational companies employ guanxi in the West, how Chinese expatriates develop and use guanxi in the host country, and how these behaviours affect their adjustment remain unclear. My dissertation contributes to this line of study in three ways. I first examined guanxi capitalism theoretically to highlight the features of China's economic system embedded deeply in its cultural-social-political environment and to explore how guanxi emerged, evolved, and subsequently dominated the economic system in China. Based on this analysis, I developed a conceptual framework of the "Guanxi capitalism structure" to illustrate the fundamental role of guanxi as the "invisible hand" in China. Next, I examined empirically how guanxi practice affects intra-firm multicultural group dynamics involving Chinese expatriates, host-country nationals, and host-country Chinese in Chinese multinationals. My study shows how expatriates actively practice guanxi with their homeland counterparts, but they do not do so with host-country nationals and host-country Chinese, and it explores the implications of these dynamics. Finally, I examined the impact of guanxi building on Chinese expatriate adjustment. Based on my analysis, I developed a process model that illuminates that guanxi development alters expatriates' adjustment curve significantly. My findings contribute more generally to shed light on cross-cultural management in terms of Chinese guanxi practice and the process of initiating, building, and utilizing guanxi in the Western context.

Healthcare organisations have struggled to improve safety. Over the last 20 years rates of patient harm have remained at around 10%, despite implementation of various improvement initiatives linked to the patient safety movement. This study identifies key conditions perpetuating this safety ‘implementation gap’: 1) a hierarchical challenge and 2) second victim phenomenon. Employee voice is adopted as a sensitising concept. The aim is to identify conditions which moderate the hierarchical challenge, encouraging the enactment of voice, leading to prevention of further medical errors. This PhD’s original contribution to knowledge is: second victims are key actors in attenuating hierarchical barriers through enactment of positively valenced practices. Adopting a practice-based approach identifying medical errors as break-downs in professional practice, three cases of serious medical error at a single NHS Trust are chosen for comparative analysis. Data collection includes over 100 hours of observations, 50 interviews, and review of 35 documents. Evidence for a climate of silence was found in each case stemming from: a hierarchical culture, blame culture, and futility of voice. Acquiescent or defensive silence contributed directly to each serious medical error. Second victims were found in each case, generally experiencing guilt, shame, anger, and compassion. The recovery trajectory of these second victims varied, with one ‘thriving’ while others ‘survived’ or ‘dropped out’. Positively valenced practice changes, which set the conditions for voice, were enacted by affectively charged individuals, either the second victim themselves, or through a process of emotional contagion, their colleagues. These conditions for voice included: setting expectations for voice, management engendering voice, closer adherence to policy and standard operating procedures, and a reinvigorated sentiment of care. These changes led to development of a voice climate encouraging the enactment of both defensive and prosocial voice. A safety incident model of voice for second victims was developed and transferability discussed.