Leadership Paradigms – Comparing Typologies

	From the ASHE Higher Education Report (2006)
	Paradigms	Functionalist	Social Constructivism	Critical	Postmodern
1	Major Assumptions	Leadership is a social reality that can be described, has an essence, and has generalizable qualities and predictable outcomes.	Leadership is a social construction; subjective experience important to how leadership emerges; culture and context have a significant effect on leadership, an evolving concept that has changed over time.	Leadership has a history of oppression and is therefore viewed with suspicion; it is typically used by those in power as a means of maintaining authority and control; it is possible for leadership to serve a broader goal of social change if power dynamics are watched carefully and new language is used that empowers individuals and groups historically marginalized.	Leadership has been an expression of the will to power but is more complicated than that generalization; it is a contingent, human construction affected by local conditions, history, and the ambiguity and complexity of the human experience; it is a reflection of human identity shaped by history.
2	Purpose of Research	To predict leader outcomes based on behavior; to develop generalizable principles to help direct the action and behavior of leaders	To interpret and understand what people perceive or attribute as leadership; to help leaders in understanding their frameworks and how their perspectives as leaders affect a leadership process	To develop representations and strategies of leadership that are empowering and create social change	To question the concept of leadership itself; to examine whether it is merely the will to power; to explore whether certain complex conditions can result in leadership
3	Approach to Research	Survey of leader traits, behaviors, and influence strategies	Interviews of leaders in a particular setting; surveys of perceptions of followers; study interaction of leaders and followers	Case study and ethnography of leadership contexts focused on power dynamics and interactions	Case study and ethnography of leadership contexts focused on power dynamics and interactions
4	Role of Values	Functionalist theories took neutral stance on values	Values seen as shifting based on perspectives and situations	Values believed central for creating leadership that empowers and creates social change	Values questioned as inherently serving some power interest
5	Criticisms or Limitations	Fails to acknowledge the influence of context, culture, and individual differences on leadership; limited ability to create universal or general principles of leadership	Provides few specific directives for action; does not examine the role of power	Does not emphasize effectiveness or outcomes important for societal and organizational survival	Provides few specific directives for action; some people question whether the global economy and postmodern condition truly exist
	Rows 1-5 reproduced from pp. 16-17 in: ASHE. (2006). A world apart: New paradigms in leadership. ASHE Higher Education Report, 31(6), 15-29. DOI: 10.1002/aehe.3106. See also entire issue.
	Stanley Deetz: Rethinking Burrell and Morgan’s (1979) Sociological Paradigms and Organizational Analysis
	Paradigms	Normative	Interpretive	Critical	Dialogic
6	Basic goal	Law-like relations among objects	Display unified culture	Unmask domination	Reclaim conflict
7	Method	Nomothetic science	Hermeneutics, ethnography	Cultural criticism, ideology critique	Deconstruction, genology
8	Hope	Progressive emancipation	Recovery of integrative values	Reformation of social order	Claim a space for lost voices
9	Metaphor of social relations	Economic	Social	Political	Mass
10	Organization metaphor	Marketplace	Community	Polity	Carnival
11	Problems addressed	Inefficiency, disorder	Meaningless, illegitimacy	Domination, consent	Marginalization, conflict suppression
12	Concern with communication	Fidelity, influence, information needs	Social acculturation, group affirmation	Misrecognition, systematic distortion	Discursive closure
13	Narrative style	Scientific / technical, strategic	Romantic, embracing	Therapeutic, directing	Ironic, ambivalent
14	Time identity	Modern	Premodern	Late modern	Postmodern
15	Organizational benefits	Control, expertise	Commitment, quality work life	Participation, expanded knowledge	Diversity, creativity
16	Mood	Optimistic	Friendly	Suspicious	Playful
17	Social fear	Disorder	Depersonalization	Authority	Totalization, normalization
	Rows 6-17 reproduced from pp. 199 of: Deetz, S. (1996). Describing differences in approaches to organization science: Rethinking Burrell and Morgan and their legacy. Organization Science, 7(2), 191-207.
	Bracketed Paradigms of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT)
	Paradigms	Functionalist	Interpretivist	Radical Structuralist	Radical Humanist
18	AMT	Production system for enhancing efficiency and adaptability	Ongoing construction of inter-subjective experiences	Tool for labor domination and control	Vehicle for communicative distortion
19	Implementation	Process of technological determinism, constrained by competitive and organizational conditions	Process of sensemaking and learning as actors use and experience AMT	Process of social and political determinism, driven by political interests and class differences	Process of negotiating rhetoric, identities, and understandings related to AMT work
20	Key Issues	How do differing AMT design specifications impact production control and flexibility? What methods foster effective implementation?	How do actors develop shared understandings of AMT? How do cultural norms, myths, and symbols influence interpretations?	How does the design of AMT machinery and tasks further rationalize and deskill operator work and reinforce power asymmetries within the organization?	Why do actors often use and reinforce dominant ideologies and existing prejuidices? How can actors negotiate more democratic understandings of AMT?
21	Theories	Contingency, systems, and traditional engineering theories	Social construction and symbolic interactionist theories	Orthodox labor process (Marxian); radical Weberian theories	Critical and antiorganization theories
	Rows 18-21 reproduced from pp. 680 of: Lewis, M. W., & Grimes, A. J. (1999). Metatriangulation: Building theory from multiple paradigms. Academy of Management Review, 24(4), 672-690.
	Bolman & Deal’s Four Frameworks
	Paradigms	Structural	Human Resource	Political	Symbolic
22	Leader is	social architect	catalyst, servant	advocate	prophet, poet
23	Leadership process	analysis, design	support, empowerment	advocacy, coalition building	inspiration, framing experience
24	Frame-related issues	Coordination and control; clarity or lack of clarity about goals, roles, or expectations; references to planning, budgeting, and evaluation; discussion of analysis or its absence (e.g., feasibility studies, institutional analysis); issues around policies and procedures	Discussions of individuals’ feelings, needs, preferences, or abilities (e.g., problems of individual performance or staff quality); reference to the importance of participation, listening, open communications, involvement in decision-making, morale; discussion of interpersonal relationships; emphasis on collaboration, win-win, and a sense of family or community	Focus on conflict or tension among different constituencies, interest groups or organizations; competing interests and agendas; disputes over allocation of scarce resources; games of power and self-interest	Discussions of institutional identity, culture, or symbols; discussions of the image that will be projected to different audiences; discussion of the symbolic importance of existing practices, rituals, or artifacts (e.g., symbolic attachment to an old building on campus); emphasis on influencing how different audiences will interpret or frame an activity or decision
25	Frame-related actions	Reorganizing, implementing, or clarifying policies and procedures; developing new information, budgeting, or control systems; adding new structural units, planning processes	Processes of participation and involvement (task forces, open meetings, etc.), training, recruiting new staff, workshops and retreats, empowerment, organization development and quality-of-work life programs	Bargaining, negotiation, advocacy, building alliances, and networking with other key players	Creating or revitalizing ceremonies and rituals, working to develop or restate the institution’s vision, working on influencing organizational culture, using self as a symbol
26	Dimensions of leadership	Analytic – thinks clearly and logically; approaches problems with facts and attends to details Organized – develops clear goals and policies; holds people accountable for results	Supportive – concerned about the feelings of others; supportive and responsive Participative – fosters participation and involvement; listens and is open to new ideas	Powerful – persuasive, high level of ability to mobilize people and resources; effective at building alliances and support Adroit – politically sensitive and skillful, a skillful negotiator in face of conflict and opposition	Inspirational – inspires others to loyalty and enthusiasm; communicates a strong sense of vision Charismatic – imaginative, emphasizes culture and values; is highly charismatic
27	Utility	Useful when goals and information are clear, when cause-effect relations are well understood, when technologies are strong and there is little conflict, low ambiguity, low uncertainty, and a stable legitimate authority.	Appropriate when employee is high or increasing or when employee morale is low or declining. In this approach resources should be relatively abundant; there should be relatively low conflict and low diversity.	Appropriate where resources are scarce or declining, where there is goal and value conflict and where diversity is high.	This approach seems to work best when goals and information are unclear and ambiguous, where cause-effect relations are poorly understood and where there is high cultural diversity.
	Rows22-26 reproduced from Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (1991). Leadership and management effectiveness: A multi-frame, multi-sector analysis. Human Resource Management, 30(4), 509-534. Row 27 source is here.
	Additional Observations and References on the Above Paradigms and Their Proponents
	Paradigms	Functionalist / Normative / Structural	Social Constructivism / Interpretive / Human Resource	Critical / Radical Structuralist / Political	Postmodern / Dialogic / Radical Humanist / Symbolic
28	Constructs / Perspectives of Interest	influence, attribution, charisma, motivation, organizational effectiveness and efficiency, authority, structure, personality, skills, traits, emotional intelligence, planning, strategy	narrative, meta-narrative, identity, discourse, myth, rhetoric, sense-making, culture, context, ritual, symbolism, interpretation, agency, norms, multiple realities, social construction of reality	class, race, gender, privilege, power, voice, deconstruction, post-structuralism, post-colonialism, alienation and exploitation, marginalization, conflict or resistance, critical reflection	surprise, ambiguity, contingency, complexity, knowledge generation and transfer, metaphor and representation, emergence, creativity, spirituality, fluidity and change, ideology and hegemony, values and ethics
29	Contexts in which the Paradigm Can Be Useful	goal attainment, social control, problem solving	understanding the richness and complexity of human  experience; interpreting the meaning(s) of human language and experience; imagining and authoring a desired future	understanding the human experience in repressive social contexts; liberating people from oppression	examining and challenging our own implicit or hidden assumptions; understanding: relationships between local and global contexts; understanding the role of actors in networks
30	Philosophical and Value Commitments	logical positivism, the scientific method, objective description, linear causality	subjectivity; inter-subjectivity, purposeful organizing, enactment, shared visioning, collaboration and co-creation	social justice, democracy, morality, research as activism, liberation, equity	relativity and skepticism, inquiry, exploration, connection, interdependence, meaning, responsibility
31	Representative Authors	Peter Drucker, Warren Bennis, Bernard Bass, Bruce Avolio, John Antonakis	Karl Weick, Keith Grint, Ken Parry, Sonia Ospina	Marta Calas, Linda Smircich, Paul Adler, Hugh Willmott	David Boje, Stewart Clegg, Mats Alvesson, Stanley Deetz
32	Representative Articles (General)	Bass, B. M. (1999). Two decades of research and development in transformational leadership. European Journal of Work & Organizational Psychology, 8(1), 9-32.	Gemmill, G., & Oakley, J. (1992). Leadership: An alienating social myth? Human Relations, 45(2), 113-129. Parry, K., & Hansen, H. (2007). The organizational story as leadership. Leadership, 3(3), 281-300.	Eicher-Catt, D. (2005). The myth of servant-leadership: A feminist perspective. Women and Language, 28(1), 17-25. Kersten, A. (2000). Diversity management: Dialogue, dialectics and diversion. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 13(3), 235-248.	Knights, D., & O’Leary, M. (2006), Leadership, ethics and responsibility to the other. Journal of Business Ethics, 67(2), 125–137.
33	Representative Articles (military context)	Romaine, K. (2004). Developing lieutenants in a transforming army. Military Review, 84(4), p72-80.	Grint, K. (2005). Problems, problems, problems: The social construction of ‘leadership.’ Human Relations, 58(11), 1467-1494.	Paris, J. (2006). American power and the philosophy of world-systems analysis. Socialism and Democracy, 20(2), 103-121.	Bondy, H, (2004). Postmodernism and the source of military strength in the Anglo West. Armed Forces & Society, 31(1), 31-61.
34	Representative Articles (education context)		Clegg, S., & McAuley, J. (2005). Conceptualising middle management in higher education: A multifaceted discourse. Journal of Higher Education Policy & Management, 27(1), 19-34.	Brown, K. M. (2004). Leadership for social justice and equity: Weaving a transformative framework and pedagogy. Educational Administration Quarterly, 40(1), 77-108.
35	Representative Articles (public administration context)
36	Representative Articles (nonprofit context)
	Rows 28-36:  ©2008 Jim Wolford-Ulrich