Title: Leadership and organisational behaviour – similarities between three award-winning organisations

Authors: Johan Larsson, Ingela Backstrom, Hakan Wiklund

Addresses: Department of Engineering and Sustainable Development, Mid Sweden University, SE-831 25 Ostersund, Sweden. ' Department of Engineering and Sustainable Development, Mid Sweden University, SE-831 25 Ostersund, Sweden. ' Department of Engineering and Sustainable Development, Mid Sweden University, SE-831 25 Ostersund, Sweden

Abstract: Leadership behaviour has proved to be an important factor in order to create successful and healthy organisations. In addition, incorporating health and working environment into leadership and organisational behaviours has been shown to increase productivity. Three organisations, all of which have received a national award as |Sweden|s number one workplace|, were researched in order to explore, identify and summarise common organisational and leadership behaviours. The national award reviews leadership, internal partnership, working environment and organisational effectiveness. The organisations studied were two manufacturing companies and a hospital. Eight groups of behaviours were identified and labelled: Strategic and Visionary, Communication and Information, Authority and Responsibility, Learning Culture, Worker Conversations, Plainness and Simplicity, Humanity and Trust and Walking Around. The results were discussed in relation to existing theory, and a relationship identified between leadership behaviours, health, customer satisfaction and profitable and effective organisations – a leadership chain model is then suggested and presented.

Keywords: leadership; successful organisations; quality management; organisational effectiveness; organisational behaviour; workplace health promotion; management practice; work environment; hospitals; manufacturing; Sweden; corporate strategy; corporate vision; communication strategies; learning culture; worker conversations; management by walking around; customer satisfaction; leadership chain modelling; Best Workplace in Sweden award.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMP.2009.026960

International Journal of Management Practice, 2009 Vol.3 No.4, pp.327 - 345

Published online: 11 Jul 2009 *

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