CALL FOR PAPERS
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT LEARNING & EDUCATION
FOR 2011 SPECIAL ISSUE
Teaching Leadership
Guest Editors:
D. Scott DeRue, University of Michigan
Sim B. Sitkin, Duke University
Joel M. Podolny, Apple
Leadership is one of the most debated and discussed topics in the social and behavioral sciences, and receives extensive coverage in the popular business press as well. Those who ascribe considerable importance to leadership have tried to specify a number of ways in which leadership matters to organization. They argue that effective leadership can make a positive difference in the lives of people, the functioning of groups, and the success of organizations. Effective leadership has been shown to enhance employees' satisfaction with their jobs, motivation at work, and task performance. Likewise, effective leadership facilitates team processes such as learning and adaptation, and has been shown to improve group and organizational effectiveness. Some scholars have even suggested that effective leadership is essential for societies to progress in positive directions, and without it, the social fabric of our communities and organizations would fall apart.
Even though there are other business and management scholars who doubt the importance of leadership in explaining organizational outcomes, business schools as institutions have taken a strong stand that leadership does matter. One only needs to look at the mission statements of practically any of the leading business schools to see the importance that is ascribed to the teaching of leadership. Considered as a whole, businesses, like business schools, seem to regard the teaching of leadership as fundamentally important. Each year, businesses pledge extensive monetary and non-monetary resources to leadership education and development for employees. Unfortunately, there is very little theory and empirical research to help guide businesses and business schools in the design and delivery of leadership teaching and education.
The purpose of this special issue is to explore the teaching of leadership both theoretically and empirically, and to assess the learning and educational implications of different philosophies, designs, and approaches to the teaching of leadership. We encourage both conceptual and empirical submissions that address leadership teaching and education in academic and/or workplace settings. Consistent with the format of the Academy of Management Learning & Education, empirical and conceptual articles for the Research & Reviews section, and appropriate materials for the Essays, Dialogues, and Interviews section are welcome. Some research questions, issues, and interview topics that contributions might address, among many others, are:
- Can leadership be taught? What aspects of leadership can be taught, and what aspects of leadership cannot be taught? What are the criteria and what is the evidence?
- What are the desired outcomes in teaching leadership? What is the process by which teaching leadership fosters skill development and/or behavioral change? How does the teaching of leadership shape individuals' identities as leaders, or their confidence in their ability to lead?
- What leadership topics are most important to address in business and management education, or organizational training and development programs?
- How does the teaching of leadership differ for different groups (e.g., across geographic region, culture, country, industries, disciplines, or demographic groups)?
- How can the teaching of leadership be tailored to different audiences, including but not limited to undergraduate and graduate students, and adult learners in workplace settings? At what point in their own development are students ready to learn leadership? How should leadership training and development be tailored to individuals' stage of human development?
- What are the most developmental "teaching moments" in leadership education, and how can educators or educational institutions deliberately design experiences that teach leadership and develop more effective leaders?
- What techniques inside and outside the classroom (e.g. lectures, discussions, site visits, guest speakers, simulations, case studies, videos, projects, and on-line activities) are effective in developing leaders? What is the relative validity of these different teaching methods and approaches? How do these different approaches and methods differ in terms of the outcomes they achieve?
- What is the role of the instructor in teaching leadership? Are there personal attributes or characteristics that make for more or less effective instructors in the context of teaching leadership? What are the different approaches that instructors can take to effectively engage students in the teaching of leadership?
- To what extent and how can individuals develop an ability and orientation toward learning leadership? Can individuals be taught to be more mindful of their own developmental experiences, and take more control over their own leadership development?
- How can educators bridge leadership education that occurs in business schools with leadership education that occurs in organizational training and development programs?
- What is the impact of teaching leadership and leadership development on career-related outcomes such as student placement, career success and/or employee derailment?
- Are there different developmental trajectories in the learning and development of leadership, and what predicts these different trajectories?
Submissions are due between August 1 and September 1, 2010, and should adhere to the “Style and Format” guide for authors that can be found at www.aom.pace.edu/amle. Manuscripts should be submitted at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/amle, and designated under Manuscript Type as “Special Issue-Teaching Leadership 2011”. Pre-submission discussion of and consultation on potential submission ideas and topics is also welcome. For further information, please contact the lead guest editor, D. Scott DeRue, at dsderue@umich.edu.
All submissions will be subject to a rigorous double-blind peer-review process, with one or all guest editors acting as action editor, and final approval coming from the journal editor. Invitations to revise and resubmit will follow initial submissions in approximately 2 months, with a final deadline of June 1, 2011 for completed submissions.
