Formative Critique of Two Journal Articles
Pieterse, H. J., Caniels, C. J. M. and Homan, T., 2012. Professional Discourses and Resistance to Change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 25(6): 798-818. DOI 10.1108/09534811211280573
Overview of the study
Strengths and weaknesses
At a glance, the topic of resistance to change is vital as well as practical for business organizations. Hence, taking the initiative to investigate the causes of resistance to change is the first strength of the study. More importantly, the authors have a detailed, thorough and comprehensive analysis of the prior literature on the topic. The exhaustive analysis of the change management literature gives the study a legitimate basis and authoritative touch. Another major strength is the conduct of the study. The qualitative research design perfectly fits the topic of study because the researcher has first to come up with data and after that develop theory from the findings. The process encompasses the deductive approach which suits the study topic. It is also significant to note the data collection methods (semi-structured interviews, observations, des-based research and a diagnostic workshop). They are sufficient enough to collect the type of data required without partiality. However, the authors’ analysis of the discourse focused on merely two managerial sessions. Another weakness is on the selection of utterances in the discourse analysis. They were too subjective to guarantee validity. Above all, the sample size selected for the study is too small (Pieterse, Caniels, & Homan, 2012). This weakness is likely to hinder the extrapolation of results to other populations as well as the generalizing the findings.
Implications for change theory
One major theoretical implication of the study is the establishment of literature blend between language and management of change from a professional discourse perspective. This combination provides researchers with an original way and approach for investigating resistance to change programs (Renukadevi & Vignesh, 2015). Another implication is the establishment of professional cultures that change rigidity and the perceived cooperation complexities in a particular change program likely relates to unarticulated professional discourses detachment as supported by Pieterse et al. (2012).. The authors have shifted from the vertical dimension that related (prior) studies normally take to the horizontal dimension of interaction which includes peer groups. Remarkably, disparities in professional discourses should be made explicit and also be the center of focus in project teams (Pieterse et al., 2012). The study proposes a broader view that manager should take in the implementation of change that widens the scope of actions which employees can choose.
Baker, D. S., Mathis, J. C. & Stites-Doe, S., 2011. An Exploratory Study Investigating Leader and Follower Characteristics at U.S. Healthcare Organizations. Journal of Managerial Issues, Vol. 23(3): 341-363. http://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/bus_facpub
Overview of the study
Leadership is one of the broad topics that have been studied since the 20th century. Most of the studies have noted that leaders are not made, but they are born. Most studies have concentrated on the followers of leaders owing to the recognition that followership is a valuable construct and hence, justifies the need to further the existing research on the topic (Baker, Mathis, & Stites-Doe, 2011). The paper is built on the hypothesis that followers share the same characteristics as leaders. It is significant to note that in all aspects of life be it social, political, religious, etc., there must be a leader and a follower (Sylvie & Clara, 2012). To test this hypothesis, the researchers present a model of specific follower and leader behaviors that are (a) relevant to role sharing and (b) are related and overlapping. The researchers borrow from previous work and other literature aspects of role sharing. Data is collected from healthcare organizations’ employees through field surveys.
This makes the topic of study not only interesting but also educative. Furthermore, this investigation is likely to broaden the scope of research on leadership behavior and how effectively organizations can achieve the same. The modeling of leaders and followers in the research substantiates the reliability and authority that the text has. It is why the article was chosen for analysis in the first place. In addition, the researchers base their understanding of the topic of discussion on prior literature and studies on the same topic. Significantly, the authors conclude that followers always prepare for leadership roles by practicing effective followership as further deliberated by Baker et al. (2011). In particular, effective followers display consummate leader behaviors which influence the adoption of leader-like roles.
Strengths and weaknesses of the study
Notably, the authors have gone a great extent expanding the topic of leadership by shifting the focus from leaders to followers. Understanding follower characteristic could be the basis for establishing effective leadership behaviors and characteristics as stated by Howell and Shamir (2005). More significantly, choosing the healthcare industry as the sample population is a notable strong point. It is one of the sectors where leadership and followership behavioral characteristics can be examined. The survey method is also a noteworthy aspect of the study. Given the huge sample, the survey method offers the most effective data collection methods to the researchers. For instance, the questionnaire method and interview method are crucial in this case. The screening criteria were used to review the surveys individually for purposes of guaranteeing reliability. These criteria helped eliminate erroneous responses such as blank questionnaires and those which respondents marked all the instruments. Both inferential and descriptive statistics were used in the analysis to guarantee validity. However, the researcher limited the study to the mid-Atlantic region of US. Hence, the findings might be culturally bound and therefore, not generalizable to other populations. There might exist a problem of inflated predictive relationships and common method bias because the researchers utilized data retrieved via self-report methods (Baker, Mathis & Stites-Doe, 2011). Another major weakness is that issue of causality cannot be suggested or inferred because the research was based on cross-sectional data.
Implications for leadership theory
Evidently, this study can be seen to be a pioneering and ground-breaking empirical research on the issue of role-sharing between leaders and their followers. Most studies have focused on leaders and therefore, this research is significant to followership concepts and themes that fall under leadership theory. By being effective followers, followers emulate leadership roles sometimes even temporarily as Sylvie and Clara (2012) notes. As such, followers may prepare to be good leaders by learning leadership roles simply by exercising effective followership as Sylvie and Clara (2012) note. The research provides empirical support for existing research, expands existing knowledge on followership as well as paving the way for future research on the same topic. As noted earlier, leadership is a wide topic. Furthermore, there are several theories that can be used to describe leadership (Howell & Shamir, 2005). Therefore, this study is an integration of followership concepts into leadership theory. Combining the two aspects allows for a proper understanding of both leadership and followership on aspects of behaviors, characteristics, and roles.
Bibliography
Baker, D. S., Mathis, J. C. & Stites-Doe, S., 2011. An Exploratory Study Investigating Leader and Follower Characteristics at U.S. Healthcare Organizations. Journal of Managerial Issues, 23(3): 341-363.
Howell, J. M. & B. Shamir. 2005. The Role of Followers in the Charismatic Leadership Process: Relationships and Their Consequences. Academy of Management Review, 30(1): 96-112.
Pieterse, H. J., Caniels, C. J. M. and Homan, T., 2012. Professional Discourses and Resistance to Change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 25(6): 798-818
Renukadevi, R. & Vignesh, I. 2015. Need projected for change management in an organization. International Journal of Management, 6(1): 118-128.
Sylvie, V., & Clara, M. 2012. Transformational leadership, work engagement, and occupational success. Career Development International, 17(7): 663-682
