A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of Witwatersrand, in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Management (in the field of Governance and Public Leadership). October, 2016 / There is mounting evidence that the effective functioning of any organisation or public sector is determined by the quality of leadership. The author of the research investigated the challenge of leadership in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry. More than 70 percent of the Namibian population directly or indirectly subsist on Agriculture for their livelihood. Agriculture remains the backbone of the Namibian economy. Hence the relevance of great and strong leadership. Evidence from the investigation, observes that communication, lack of policy enforcement, co-ordination, change management, leadership styles and strategic alignment are the major leadership challenges and thus cause lack of performance in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry. The author observed pockets of excellence in the quality of leadership too. There have been investments in the aspects of human development and policy formulation, but there is more work that needs to be done in the aspects of sectoral unification of strategies, enhanced sectoral co-ordination, policy enforcement and to ensure effective communication between the public and private sector. There are endless possibilities in improving agricultural production, productivity and competitiveness in the sector if it adopts new economic values such as collaboration and co-creation. There is a need to induct board members and senior management in the legislative instruments such as acts, policies and strategies so that the leadership team can subscribe to common policies with shared values and meaning. Investing in capacity development will drive the sector to be a leaderful sector that delivers public value; a sector that delivers to an extent where stakeholder expectations are mate. The research findings show that great leaders are those who have the ability to build strong teams, manage change, alter organisational values, craft leaders across all levels of the organisation, inspire trust and respect from the team, are able to create thinking environments in the workplace and build strong sustainable organisations. / GR2018

This dissertation explored a type of qualitative case study based on the experiences of 11 graduates from Leadership Collier, a Naples, Florida-based leadership program, who had run for public office after completing the program. The researcher assessed the program goals, participant experiences and motivation with regard to community involvement and running for elected office. It was the belief of the researcher that there was a need for more qualified and effective leaders to run for public office at the local, state, and national levels of government. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation study was to understand what leadership experiences gained through participating in a leadership training program could empower and motivate a person to run for public office. Information provided in this dissertation includes an introduction, the study’s purpose and research questions, methodology, critical terms, an examination of the literature review, study findings, researcher reflections, and recommendations for future studies. Data analysis codes in this study include sense of community, social capital, program design, confidentiality, diversity, bonding, empowerment, and motivation. Research findings showed that Leadership Collier has motivated and empowered select citizens to run for public office by providing experiences that have enabled individuals to develop leadership skills, become aware of community issues, develop confidence and a sense of community, expand social capital, and increase engagement in the community. Keywords: leadership, public office, empowerment, motivation / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013.

The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze two factors contributing to child labor in Ghana, one of the world's largest producers of cocoa. These two factors are: poor countries economic and political dependency on the rich countries, political leader’s ambitions and decisions. We will also describe and analyze the UN's efforts and measures to combat child labor. The method we used was a case study of child labor in Ghana‘s cocoa industry together with interviews. Questions to be answered were: How is poor countries economic and political dependency towards rich countries a contributing factor to child labor? How do political leader’s ambitions and decisions affect child labor? Despite UN efforts to combat child labor it does not diminish in some parts of the world such as West-Africa, why? The theories used were the Dependency Theory and Political Leadership Theory. Our results show that dependency theory can contribute to child labor. It does that because of colonialisms effects still are showing in poorer countries. This in turn leads to that children need to work to help their family economically. UN broad actions and measures to combat child labor did not help to reduce child labor. UN must specify its policies and actions in each country depending on what kind of child labor it is. Political leadership was important to ensure that child labor should decrease. The political leader should have understood the issue and ensured the protection of children under 15 from hazardous work, this by ensuring that there were laws that protected them, but also by accepting the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

Thesis (D.P.A.)--University of La Verne, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 213-227).

Thesis (D.P.A.)--University of La Verne, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 213-227).

This thesis analyses the changing role of central government strategy units in the devolved UK polity using a lifecycle model. At each stage of the lifecycle the units develop a different aim, undertake different tasks and follow different working approaches. At different stages agency, in the person of the Prime/First Minister, existing structures, or culture and attitudes, particularly around the concept of a corporate centre, form the main influence on change. Following through the lifecycle, it becomes apparent that such central strategic units have a defined life trajectory tending towards their demise through bureaucratic capture or ideological marginalisation. Divergence or convergence between the units is primarily based on leadership style rather than pre-existing structures or constitutional arrangements. Adopting a lifecycle approach, more commonly associated with the business world, provides an alternative conceptual approach to examining the maintenance of governmental organisations. It is a logical progression from the borrowing of business ideas on management and organisation generally categorised as New Public Management. It provides a more appropriate framework of analysis in a situation whereby government is less dependent on traditional polarised ideological positions and instead adopts a strategic, managerial approach to government. As governmental organisations copy the modes of operation of large corporations, the tools of the business world add additional insights into formation, development, change and decline in such organisations not clearly revealed by more commonly adopted political science models.

Special Issue on Institution Design for Conflict Resolution and Negotiation : Theory and Praxis (February 1-2, 2014, Nagoya, Japan)

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2006 / Pacific Islands Studies

Leadership has been an active area of scientific research since the Second World War, with scholars developing different perspectives on antecedents, processes, and outcomes. Since the founding of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) in 1949, the political party has been subjected to many leadership challenges and crises which have many a time threatened its unity and the interests of the party and members. Of interest will be the understanding of the attributes of leadership which the members would prefer. If these preferences of the members can be examined in the context of consumer/voter behaviour or decision in the electoral marketplace based on the contention that the leaders are products and services, we can bring marketing concepts and tools to the study of voter behaviour or decision (in elections) and so take a step towards an understanding of leadership while providing new evidence concerning MCA members' preferences for their President. Consumer behaviour theory can indeed be applied to voter behaviour in the electoral context. / One of the marketing tools available for this purpose is the use of conjoint analysis as a method for predicting choice of leadership, although it is considered exploratory and unprecedented as there are little or no attempts having been made to apply conjoint analysis for such study. Since the mid-1970s, conjoint analysis has been used as a method to realistically simulate consumer decisions in the context of trade-offs among multiple-attribute products and services in the product development and marketing domains. The reliability and validity of this method have been well documented in the literature. The application of conjoint analysis in the Leadership Studies domain will open up a new dimension of its robustness and dynamics as a method for predicting choice. / Consumer behaviour marketing has much to contribute to the broader interdisciplinary interest in politics and the functioning of the democratic process. This research was carried out in three stages: 1) to explore the leadership attributes model construct in a review of literature; 2) using a focus group study, to develop a final leadership attributes construct considered relevant, applicable and meaningful for the study of the members' preferences for their President; and 3) using web-based Adaptive Conjoint Analysis as a method for predicting choice, to operationalize the leadership attributes construct by subjecting them to voter behaviour (decision-making) during elections in the electoral marketplace. The results from the conjoint study show that Decisiveness, Vision, Openness, Inspirational Motivation, and Relational/Network are the top five attributes for the MCA members' preferences for their President whereas Charismatic (Idealized Influence), Intellectual (Basic Qualification), Communication Language Proficiency, Analytical, and Good Performance Record are the bottom five attributes for the preferences for the leadership. This is important because a significant part of political marketing is candidates and parties spending large amounts of money on targeting voters to influence their decisions as experienced by the MCA in the past especially during the leadership struggles. More importantly, the leadership struggles can be very costly and damaging to the interests of the party and its members if unchecked or moderated. The result of the research is not expected to be the solution to the leadership struggle but the implications for a new evidence of MCA members' preferences for the President as discussed may serve as guidance to the future leadership, as are directions for future research. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2005.

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 54-59). Also available in electronic version.