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Journal of Education for Business
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
A Review of “The Business of Leadership: An
Introduction”
James L. Morrison
To cite this article: James L. Morrison (2013) A Review of “The Business of
Leadership: An Introduction”, Journal of Education for Business, 88:2, 125-126, DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2011.647116
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08832323.2011.647116
Published online: 04 Dec 2012.
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JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR BUSINESS, 88: 125–126, 2013 CopyrightC Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 0883-2323 print / 1940-3356 online DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2011.647116
Book Review
Bowerman, K. D., & Van Wart, Montgomery.The Business of Leadership: An Introduction. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe. (2011). 393 pp. ISBN: 978-0-7656-2140-5.$90.
VERY BASIC YET THOROUGH
Leadership is a topic of significant interest in business pro-grams across the country. Whereas, some view the term man-agement as equivalent with that of leadership, others see the two disciplines as somewhat related, but also distinguishable. Bowerman and Van Wart, the authors, perceive the two disci-plines as complementary, with each having its own function. In this regard, managers are viewed as the doers in that their charge is to get things done. On the other hand, leaders are perceived as change makers in that their role is to set organi-zational direction by inspiring others to follow their lead.
This text is designed for upper division undergraduate busi-ness students who are seeking an opportunity to refine their soft skills in an effort to possibly accelerate their careers upon graduation. In this regard, the text may serve as a preprofes-sional development tool that enables the business major to develop leadership competencies for becoming an organiza-tional change agent. Therefore, Bowerman and Van Wart tar-get the undergraduate business students who aspire to move from supervisory positions to advanced leadership roles in upper management.
With expectations on the part of the Association to Ad-vance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) that leader-ship development becomes a more integral part of business programs, the text can be helpful in assisting both faculty and students achieve this overarching objective. The text presents information that provides a comprehensive theoretical analy-sis for the study of leadership while at the same time asanaly-sisting students in learning specific competencies that will enable them to lead effectively in the future.
After providing an introduction to the field of leadership in the initial chapter, the text is divided into four discrete parts. Part I provides an overview of basic leadership theo-ries that demonstrates a framework for gaining a perspective on varying viewpoints when analyzing individual styles and strategies. In this regard, Chapter 2 directs the attention of the reader to the important responsibility of leaders, which is to direct and support followers in achieving specific goals. Bowerman and Van Wart view leaders as individuals who use their authority to get followers to perform according to
organizational expectations. A causal-chain model is intro-duced for comparing different types of theories based on expected outcomes. Four groups of theories are identified for study, including descriptive (reality), prescriptive (effective-ness), universal (one-best way), and contingency (situational-oriented). Ten leadership styles are then presented in terms of purpose and effect, being laissez-faire, directive, support-ive, participatsupport-ive, delegatsupport-ive, achievement-oriented, inspira-tional, strategic, collaborative, and a combination of these. In Chapter 3 the authors introduce the reader to a classical analysis of followership. As a basis for studying the rela-tionship between leaders and their followers, Bowerman and Van Wart compare principles of scientific management, trait theory, behavioral theory, situational leadership, path-goal theory, and leadership-exchange theory.
Part II connects the likelihood for business students to initially serve in the role of supervisors and then as man-agers as their careers progress toward executive levels. In Chapter 4, the authors introduce a number of specific traits and skills that effective leaders possess; three categories of traits are clarified. Categorized as personality traits are self-confidence, decisiveness, resilience, energy, flexibility, and emotional maturity, willingness to assume responsibility, need for achievement, personal integrity, and service mental-ity. Grouped as classical motivational traits are willingness to assume responsibility and need for achievement. Finally, leadership traits reflecting personal values are identified as personal integrity and a service mentality. Then, leadership skills identified as being critical for effective leadership are those related to communication, analytics, influence, and so-cial, among others.
In Chapter 5, using the term managerial leadership, Bowerman and Van Wart state that leaders must also be effec-tive at performing tasks expected of managers who plan, or-ganize, control, and assess daily operations. They label man-agerial leadership as being task-oriented leadership. Their message here is that leaders behave differently depending on their level of responsibility, the task at hand, and the kinds of followers they are influencing. In this regard, the authors focus on leaders also being in command of task-oriented competencies such as coordinating, informing, delegating, problem solving, and assessing. Correspondingly, in Chap-ter 6, people-oriented behaviors are introduced as a balance to task-oriented competences discussed in the prior chap-ter. In this regard, the seven people-oriented competencies
126 BOOK REVIEW
that are basic to effective leadership are consulting, orga-nizing personnel, motivating, managing teams, developing staff, managing conflict, and leading change. The authors label these competencies as being at the core of leadership behavior, thus being instrumental in influencing others to perform effectively and efficiently.
Part III switches attention to executive leadership and its role for promoting a working environment that promotes change as a good thing. Executives are described as both long-term strategists and transformational reformists in that they are more organizationally focused than specific tasks-oriented. In this regard, Chapter 7 emphasizes the charismatic aspects of leadership and their impact on inspiring others to change. Theories introduced for illustrating the significance of being charismatic as a leader are those developed by Con-ger and Kanungo, Kouzes and Posner, and Bass. Transforma-tional leadership focuses on the executive leader transcending beyond self-interest in favor of organizational success. Chap-ter 8 continues expanding the transformational perspective of leadership by introducing visionary-oriented leadership, and the authors define vision as an image of a desired future for an organization. A series of new visionary competencies required by executive leaders are introduced including scan-ning environmental factors, articulating a vision, partnering with others, and leading organizational change. Chapter 9 concludes this part of the text by emphasizing the need of executive leaders to be capable of setting dynamic and clear goals that are based on accurate data. Included here is a dis-cussion of the need to be creative, realigning of resources for enabling others to perform, generating cohesiveness among varying units and levels in an organization, and aligning with external stakeholders such as customers, suppliers and gov-ernment officials. Bowerman and Van Wart emphasize that being effective at prioritization and goal setting is critical to being successful as an executive leader.
Part IV of the text targets issues that directly impact on the capacity of executives to inspire others to accept a new di-rection for products and services being marketed. Therefore, the authors state that a leader must be sensitive to apply-ing basic human capital theory in order to be effective. The term, human capital, refers to a process of investing in peo-ple so they can enhance their individual capacity to perform at a higher level. Moreover, the theme here is that the re-silience of human capital makes the difference between an organization succeeding or failing. To the authors, leadership cannot ignore investing in its people. Chapter 10 discusses the importance of a leader building coalitions among a di-verse workforce, and the authors emphasize how gender, cultural background, and ethnicity must be integrated into a united workforce with all working towards the same goals. Chapter 11 discusses the necessity for leaders to behave eth-ically, especially as changes are proposed whereby employ-ees are moved about, promoted, or released. Bowerman and Van Wart use an ethics-based framework for discussing the ramifications of the change process. They suggest that it is essential for the leadership in an organization to lead both
creatively and wisely in the face of challenge, as this sets the tone in regards as to how others may behave when issues arise and need to be addressed. Leaders with a creative per-sona may seize innovative opportunities that set the stage for organizational growth and distinction.
Finally, Chapter 12 presents leadership development in terms of enhancing individual capacity to lead: The au-thors promote personal leadership development through a three-pronged approach. The first prong is self-development whereby the challenge is for each business student to want to enhance an individual capacity to lead. This process in-cludes a self-study for identifying an individual’s strengths and weaknesses. The second prong of leadership develop-ment is generating an individual capacity to stay current on market trends and new leadership strategies by enrolling in formal educational programs. Being on the cutting edge of new organizational frameworks is what separates exec-utive leadership from the doers. The third prong is learn-ing from everyday experience through feedback mechanisms that are designed to assist individuals in identifying personal strengths and weaknesses. To the authors, learning from ex-perience is fundamental to unleashing leadership potential.
The strength of the text is the integration of theory with the development of those competencies required to succeed in leading others on a path of success. In this regard, the read-ers are actively engaged in identifying and applying a variety of leadership styles that can be selected in both supervisory roles as well as those identified with executive leadership. Another strength is the connecting of the reader to numerous feedback opportunities. For example, an excellent leadership feedback instrument at the conclusion of the text enables the reader to perform a self-analysis. Finally, the instruc-tional resources available to faculty are considerable. They include an instructor’s manual with exam banks, PowerPoint slides and a variety of auxiliary instructional materials to sup-plement instruction There are other integrated learning tools interwoven into each chapter. These include discussion ques-tions, suggested classroom activities, and case studies. The case studies discuss leadership issues surrounding existing organizations such as Union Carbide, Whirlpool, and 3M. Also integrated throughout the text are numerous exhibits that summarize key points in each chapter.
Faculty will find this text extremely helpful in provid-ing the foundation for effectively introducprovid-ing and studyprovid-ing important leadership principles. The authors state that leader-ship is about achieving results while at the same time inspir-ing change. Followinspir-ing their own example, the authors have produced a results-driven text in that the student is required to become actively engaged in applying what is read in each chapter. Faculty in business schools should fine this text an extremely valuable tool for introducing business students to the business of leadership.
James L. Morrison
University of Delaware Newark, Delaware, USA
