Purpose Organizational change is one of the most researched issues in management and leadership. Change is generally viewed as necessary, with positive outcomes for all stakeholders. Resistance is consequently seen as a surprising outcome. However, much of the management literature focuses on change as organizational dynamics-driven, especially by those at the top, in the interests of those at the top, often with scant attention to the role of employees. The purpose of this paper is to take a different perspective, grounded in the systems theory. Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual paper. The authors critically examine theoretical explanations of resistance to change in organizations and offer an alternative perspective. Findings Systems theorists have addressed change, and its necessity in organizational survival, using an open systems model. The open systems theory posits that organizations are social systems that have purposes of their own and is made of parts (employees) that are purposeful and operate within a purposeful larger system – the environment (stakeholders). Change that ignores a key part – employees – will be resisted. Originality/value Using the systems theory, the authors propose several suggestions for organizational leaders and managers to implement sustainable change. These include, among others, recommendations on circular organizational designs, the need for more democratic organizations, purposeful leadership styles and how to include employees in proactive organizational change processes.

Leadership remains an elusive concept despite decades of research. In this paper, we attempt to deconstruct the concept by exploring the possibility of developing new measures of leadership, focusing on the attributes of “good” and “bad” leaders. Using a sample of 312 managers, we conducted factor analyses to reduce 13 “good” leadership attributes to two factors, the “visionary” and the “good,” and 13 “bad” attributes to two factors, the “inept” and the “evil.” Second, we assessed how male and female followers perceive the leadership styles of their best and worst bosses. We found that women viewed their best bosses differently from their male counterparts on several dimensions; however, there is little contrast in how bad bosses are perceived by men and women.

There is a fascination in the business community with leadership. There is an endless stream of training and development programs on how to become effective leaders to the extent that leadership training is now a big business. But the fascination is not restricted to the business community. People are enthralled by the idea of leadership, search for more information on it, and truly believe that by becoming a leader, they can reach a more desirable future. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that all organizations do not benefit universally from their investment in employees' leadership training. After reviewing the leadership literature and systems concepts, it is recommended that the redesign of an organization in a social systemic framework will lead to optimization of benefit from leadership training.

No abstract

The Starter Corporation, the industry leader in the sports licensed apparel business in the 1980s and 1990s, declared bankruptcy in 1999. This case study examines Starter’s rise and fall, focusing on the interaction between management decisions made over the years and the profound changes that were taking place in the sports licensing industry. It was found that Starter’s dependence on professional leagues for licensing agreements, a flood of new entrants into the licensing industry (especially large footwear manufacturers), the threat of substitute products, dependence on overseas and other suppliers, and players’ strikes and lockouts created a volatile business environment in which Starter had to compete. The major question raised in this case concerns the relative importance of environmental factors and strategic choices by management in Starter’s demise. Michael Porter’s (1980) “five forces model” of industry competition provided a theoretical starting point for this study.