This is an empirical study of leaders and how they affect organizational performance. Its context is the research university as a knowledge intensive organization. It appears to be the first of its kind. The thesis explores whether the characteristics of a leader in position today can tell us about the future success of their institution. It asks the question: Should research universities be led by top scholars? One reason why universities are an interesting case is that, unusually for knowledge-intensive organizations, their leaders' technical expertise can arguably be measured reasonably objectively. Using cross-sectional analysis, the first approach adopted in this thesis is to identify whether accomplished scholars are currently leading the world's top universities and business schools. It demonstrates -- using a variety of data sets, and in a variety of settings, including a check on the role of outliers -- that better universities and business schools are led by presidents and deans with systematically higher numbers of life-time scholarly citations. Next the dissertation attempts to go beyond simple cross-sectional patterns to address the question of causality. It does so in a longitudinal study that follows the performance of a panel of 55 universities over a nine-year period from 1992 to 2001. Using regression analysis, this thesis uncovers some evidence that is consistent with the existence of a causal relationship between the research ability of a leader and the future achievement of their institution. The results suggest that a university tends to improve in the UK Research Assessment Exercise if its leader has been a successful scholar. Qualitative evidence in the form of interviews with university leaders then motivates a theory of strategic leadership that might explain the statistical patterns. It is argued in the thesis that scholars may make effective leaders for reasons that are both internal and external to the individual. A scholar-leader, it is suggested, influences performance because of an inherent knowledge of the core business of a research university, and also through the extension of powers acquired by being viewed as credible by followers. Finally, the thesis concludes by asking whether university governing bodies appoint the right people. The central argument being made in this thesis is that where expert knowledge is the key factor that characterises an organization it is expert knowledge that should also be key in the selection of its leader.

Whilst the need for leadership in healthcare is well-recognised, there is still a lack of understanding about how leadership contributes to improving healthcare services. The body of knowledge concerning improvement has grown significantly in recent years, but evidence about links between leadership and health services improvement remains poor, especially within the UK National Health Service. It remains unclear how and why leadership is important to service improvement. This thesis describes aspects of a broader study commissioned by The Health Foundation. Firstly, the work aimed to explore the extent to which different types of service improvement require different types of leadership behaviour. Secondly, it aimed to investigate the nature of any links between leadership behaviour and improving services. The work draws on theoretical models and concepts of leadership and improvement in the literature, as well as empirical research in these areas. A typology of healthcare improvement was developed in order to classify different types of improvement work. Data about leadership behaviours were derived from semistructured interviews and using Q-Sort methodology. The study provides insights into which aspects of leadership are used for different types of improvement work. It makes an original and NHS-specific contribution to the literature, providing empirical evidence of how NHS leadership is associated with service improvement. Results highlight the importance of the relational aspects of leadership behaviour in improving NHS services, reinforcing trends in the literature which promote shared and distributed leadership approaches. A model of improvement leadership is proposed, based on the concept of ‘interdependence’. This model could provide the basis for an alternative emphasis in developing leadership in healthcare organisations, away from teaching skills to individuals, towards a collective, team-based approach to leading services with a shared purpose.

In common with many other countries including small island developing states (SIDS), the criteria for appointment as a head teacher in the Seychelles were not formalised but, in practice, promotion was based mainly on teaching qualifications and experience, level of commitment shown to education, and contributions made to public life. Since 2002, educational leadership training has been offered to senior school leaders through a partnership between Seychelles and UK universities but it is not clear whether these qualifications enable head teachers to lead their institutions effectively. In practice, the acquisition of such training is being considered in the selection and appointment of senior school leaders but this is not yet an official policy. This thesis reports research focused on people in headship and other senior leadership positions in Seychelles who have followed one of these programmes. The research is an evaluation of the leadership development project designed to inform senior ministry officials of its impact. It presents a critical view of leadership development and its impact in a specific context, a SIDS with a centralised education system. In a survey involving 100% of these trained leaders, the interview responses highlight issues related to the basis of their selection for training and subsequent appointment in post; their training experiences, the extent to which they have been able to put into practice what they have learnt, and how their learning has impacted on their respective school. Responses obtained from senior Ministry officials show how the trained leaders’ performance after training is perceived within the Ministry. A case study of a primary school examines in depth observable changes in leadership practices impacting on school outcomes that are attributed to leadership training and development. The research shows that the Seychelles education system was very successful in preparing its leaders through partnerships with HE education bodies; with more than 90% of senior school leaders (heads and deputy heads) achieving a master’s qualification. The findings also show a positive impact in terms of leaders’ satisfaction with the course, changes in their knowledge, disposition and skills; changes in their leadership practices and, to some extent, improved school outcomes. The findings revealed a lack of established structures and comprehensive programmes for induction and mentoring of leaders; the lack of formal criteria and procedures for the selection of leaders for training, appointment, promotion and deployment; and limited provision for on-going support and continuous professional development. Central selection prevails with female domination of leadership positions at system and institutional levels. The significance of this research is mainly in its originality as the only study of leadership development, and its impact on school outcomes, in Seychelles.

The outsourcing of IT services is a significant and well-established business activity in service management for many companies worldwide. IT outsourcing has gradually increased in recent times but, although much has been written about this phenomenon, there is little in existing literature that studies the IT outsourcing process in its entirety in the German automotive industry. The objective of this research is to develop a new process model for IT outsourcing in the German automotive industry. The research is exploratory in nature and is based on a qualitative case study methodology. An overarching process model based on nine sub-processes is constructed, reflecting the main stages in IT outsourcing operations, and a number of aspects of each sub-process are researched. Through interview analysis that complements a detailed literature review, the main stakeholders and success factors are established, and key steps and activities are identified. A range of different practical applications in each sub-process are also developed. The outcome of this research provides the basis for a range of analytical materials to complement the existing literature, and these also provide the basis for further research and development. The results and associated applications will also of value to practitioners working in this field.

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This thesis investigates the relationship of trade unions to the American political system from 1919 to 1924. It does so by Studying the state of industrial relations and the effects of contemporary events on their conduct. The President's First Industrial Conference is employed to examine the state of industrial relations at the end of the First World War. Changes caused by the rise of the Engineering movement, the Open Shop Campaign, the recession and recovery and by successive crises are then traced to reveal the nature of the problem with which politicians had to wrestle. The rest of the thesis studies the response of Congress and the administration of Wilson, Harding and Coolidge to what was known euphemistically as the 'labor problem' and analyses any trends in political outlook occasioned thereby. The research relied heavily on the private papers of contemporary politicians and official government, business and union documents falling within the dates which delineate the thesis and concentrates on the relationship aspect rather than purely political or labour issues. The thesis contributes to knowledge of the period by emphasising the complexity of the political landscape. It contributes to the understanding of trade unionism's role within politics. The major themes are the continuing development of progressivism during the early twenties, the consequent diminution of the importance of traditional partisanship and the political climate which resulted. The other major theme is the debate among unionists regarding their movement's political implications and the effect of this on the nature of unionism's relationship with progressives. The conclusions are that progressives remained a force in these years and drifted leftwards as Progressives understood and expounded the economic power struggle underlying industrial disputes. Unionists had many friends; economic factors, not political hostility, were its most damaging enemy. But the friends and enemies policy submerged unionism's political identity, hurting its own cause by contributing to the. ambivalence between unionism and progressives and thus aggravating the political confusion between 1919 and 1924.

A fundamental assertion of the resource-based view (RBV) is that a firm gains competitive advantage through the exploitation of developed or acquired resources that are valuable, rare, in-imitable, and non-substitutable (VRIN). The purpose of this study is to examine the micro-foundations of the individual level precursor process in resource development prior to gaining competitive advantage. The study does not claim to explain a causal link between resource and competitive advantage. The study explores the process of embedding individual level managerial attributes or capabilities of competency and confidence in human capital resource in the knowledge intensive Canadian medical healthcare sector. The medical healthcare setting provided a unique and important setting to investigate and empirically test the micro-foundations of RBV. The study investigated the impact of management training and education of Canadian medical professionals’ self-reported confidence and competency on various clinical and management tasks. The results of the study indicated that, first, for a number of management tasks; there is a statistically significant increase in self-reported competency if the medical professionals had some form of formal management education and/or training. Second, a high degree of competency and confidence in clinical tasks was observed and was not affected by management education. Third, different types of management training can produce small but statistically significant differences in the level of self-rated competency in management tasks. The primary conclusion of the study was first, in the micro-foundation investigation, that individual level attributes or managerial capabilities of confidence and competency can be embedded in the development of the human capital resource through management training and education. Second, the individual level attributes or managerial capabilities of medical professionals, once embedded through management training in the medical healthcare setting, fulfill the VRIN criteria as set by the RBV for a firm to gain competitive advantage. The study further offers a mixed methods approach template to study the micro-foundation of the RBV. Finally, the study, through empirical findings, makes a mid-level theoretical contribution supporting the underpinnings of the resource-based view concepts related to human capital resource development.

The starting point for this research project is the high incidence in recent years of problems in the management of opera houses in Europe, especially those of an economic and managerial nature. This thesis concentrates on analysing these issues and suggests that there are inherent tensions in running an opera organisation which cause these difficulties. A key concept in the analyses presented in this thesis is the artistic-economic dichotomy, which describes the dual aim of arts organisations: artistic aims and economic-organisational aims. In creating an analytical framework for this concept, theories by Jurgen Habermas, Jean L. Cohen and Andrew Arato, and Henrik Kaare Nielsen are applied. The theoretical concepts employed include civil society, state and market as defined by Habermas and quality as contextual entity as defined by Nielsen. With the help of these concepts an analytical model is created for analysing the framework in which opera organisations operate. In the course of the thesis five case-study organisations are analysed with the analytical apparatus created. The organisations analysed are: Deutsche Opera Berlin, English National Opera, Finnish National Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Opêra national de Paris. The information presented about the case-study organisations includes a brief organisational history, income and expenditure information, personnel structure and organisational structure. Additionally, programming, pricing and audience information is presented with basic details of the opera houses in which the organisations operate. The key finding of the research process is that a dual organisational structure often exists in opera organisations: the official organisational structure and an unofficial artistic structure. This dual structure, it is argued in this thesis, is the reason for difficulties in managing an opera organisation. Based on this finding, a model describing the artistic-economic framework in which opera organisations need to operate is created at the end of the thesis. This model — incorporating the different value assumptions and quality contexts existing in the framework of opera organisations — is the main result of the research process. It can be applied in the analysis of opera organisations and can, it is argued, assist in academic as well as practical discussion about how opera houses could be better managed in the future.

The study examines the development of arts policy and town planning in the United Kingdom and investigates their relationship in the provision of arts and cultural amenity in urban contexts. The historic evolution of arts planning is taken through the pre and post-Welfare State periods, concentrating on national arts and related environmental, urban and economic policies. The evolution of town planning in Britain is assessed both in terms of urban policy and planning and as they affect arts provision and development. The position of London and the 'regions' is assessed in terms of the distribution of arts resources, in the light of the Arts Council's 'Glory of the Garden' strategy (1984) and subsequent initiatives and this is extended to the increasing influence of European policy through cultural and economic development programmes. The adoption of economic rationales for arts provision and investment is assessed in terms of the shift towards a cultural industries approach to local economic development. Arts-led tourism and the use of cultural attractions as part of inward investment and image improvement strategies are contrasted with the provision of local arts facilities, taking the example of the arts centre and workspace for artist and crafts producer. The application of planning standards for leisure and recreation is evaluated in terms of arts amenity planning and the relative outcomes of arts versus sports provision. Two surveys of London local authorities assess the adoption of arts and urban regeneration measures and the place of arts amenities in local land-use plans. The results are then compared with other citiesin the UK and overseas. A detailed analysis of one London borough, Isli ngton, is made in terms of arts policy and provision in the context of the national planning regimes operating during the 1980s. A local cultural quarter, Clerkenwell, is then investigated in terms of the impact of such policy and planning changes on artist, crafts and other cultural production and premises usage. The thesis develops the case for the utilisation of arts planning standards and the results suggest an integrated policy and planning approach to local arts provision, and to economic and cultural development, at both local and regional levels.

This thesis investigates the provision of orchestral training in Great Britain through the opportunities offered in pre-graduate, undergraduate and postgraduate areas. The research follows on from the 1965 and 1978 Gulbenkian Reports, "Making Musicians" and "Training Musicians" and investigates those conclusions and recommendations of the reports which appertain to this thesis. The research was carried out by surveys, interviews and through literature available to the author. Surveys were carried out by questionnaire and interviews were undertaken in person. The research aimed to prove three particular points. Firstly that British youth orchestras perform a vital task in providing the initial training of orchestral musicians. Secondly, whether the view taken by some of the British professional orchestras that British conservatoires do not devote sufficient curriculum time to complete orchestral training to the standards required by the professional orchestras is accurate. Thirdly that better opportunities for postgraduate orchestral training are required. This thesis thus concentrates on the provision for those students who show ability in playing an orchestral instrument and have attained entry into the higher levels of orchestral performance. Thus the research looks at orchestral provision at county level, conservatoire junior departments, national youth orchestras, conservatoires, universities, postgraduate opportunities and the summer music schools. The conclusions drawn from the research are that, despite serious financial pressures, the provision of orchestral training before entry to higher education is continuing to produce very high quality playing opportunities. In nearly all cases this is a good depth of provision, with young players being offered subsidised orchestral training courses on a regular basis and for many, the opportunity of working alongside professional conductors and tutors. The responses indicate the positive value placed on the training opportunities provided at this level and that they are held in high esteem by the music profession. The research also shows that conservatoires have not yet come to terms with the dilemma of developing high profile master musicians whilst at the same time ensuring that the training of instrumentalists encompasses all aspects of the orchestral profession and other changes in employment opportunities for their students. Postgraduate training that is already available receives high praise, but there are significant findings indicating that a greater provision is necessary.