LEADERSHIP IN THE POST-INFORMATION AGE: DIRECTIONS IN EDUCATION AND INDUSTRYA STUDY

Paper presented at the AARE Annual Conference, 30 November-4 December 1997, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

ISSN: pending

Publisher: scil@rpi.net.au

Dr Erin M. Neill Dr Justus H. Lewis

Queensland University of Technology Nanyang Technological University

Brisbane Singapore

e.neill@qut.edu.au jhlewis@singnet.com.sg

ABSTRACT

The Internet has created a very different environment for organisations and individuals. The potential availability of the world’s information to anyone with a computer and a modem, the speed and low cost of access, the digitalisation of information, the interactive potential of the medium — all these have created ‘ecological’ changes for education and industry. Universities are no longer the principal gatekeepers of knowledge. The focus of learning in industry has shifted from formal training towards the less formal environment of the workplace as businesses struggle to maintain a competitive edge. Concepts like lifelong learning, learning to learn, and Just-In-Time learning have entered common discourse. As the locus of control of information shifts, traditional hierarchical power structures are being challenged with renewed vigour by flatter (heterarchical) models.

Leadership is not exercised in a vacuum and so these, and other changes, affect our perceptions of leadership and what it entails, and, by implication, the ways in which our educational institutions encourage and support the development of leaders. The study has important implications for leadership education and support of leadership development.

Material for this study is being collected from interviews with a diverse group of reflective individuals a diverse group of reflective individuals in education and industry in Australia, Brazil, Russia, Singapore, and the United States.

LEADERSHIP IN THE POST-INFORMATION AGE: DIRECTIONS IN EDUCATION AND INDUSTRY

Paper presented at the AARE Annual Conference, 30 November-4 December 1997, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

ISSN: pending

Publisher: scil@rpi.net.au

Dr Erin M. Neill Dr Justus H. Lewis

Queensland University of Technology Nanyang Technological University

Brisbane Singapore

e.neill@qut.edu.au jhlewis@singnet.com.sg

Leadership in a New Millennium

How is the concept of leadership in education and business being affected by a changed and changing working environment? The authors approach this collaborative study from their perspectives as teachers responsible for the education of students who may well play

leading roles in the new millennium, and as users of the new interactive technology who find themselves alternately excited by the possibilities and frustrated in the implementation of it. We believe this study will lead to a greater understanding of the many complex issues involved.

Each author has a slightly different perspective from her co-author although we share much in common such as a philosophical background and a belief in the value of multiple perspectives. We also share an interest in the characteristics of environments which foster creativity, innovation and the innate potential of people and, conversely, what characteristics may repress this. One of us is most interested in how someone's personal background, with its specific political environment, career experience and aspirations, and personal enthusiasms and interests, affects a person’s approach to leadership. For example, how would a molecular biology research scientist from Russia with an interest in Taoism see organisations differently from an account executive in the US whose job involves installing interactive media in schools? The other of us, largely as a result of background and experience, has a greater interest in the systemic side of organisations and the way in which systems and structures affect the behaviour and attitudes of the people who work within these structures.

We both agree that it is important to show that different people have different perspectives on what "leadership" means and that there is no such thing as a single set of leadership principles which, when taught, will result in people being more likely to act like "leaders".

The researchers insights into their own academic/scholarly emphasis as compared to that of their colleague is in itself personally enlightening and useful in the analysis of the material. The researchers find that their own knowledge is expanding and they are re-conceptualising in a broader framework because of their association with each other in this project .

The background to this research

Information technology, digital communication and global economic forces are having powerful effects on business and industry. If large corporations are to successfully compete for foreign investment, do they have to rethink their strategies and structures? What kinds of companies are best prepared to take advantage of opportunities in this global economy? What does it mean to have ìcredible leadershipî"credible leadership"? Is it one person leading the many (Kouzes and Posner, 1977, p. 5) or does a healthy situation need a spectrum of different styles of leader? Why is leadership a popular and recurring theme in management journals? Why are local bookstores stocking a proliferation of books which have the common theme, according to Leigh (1997, p. 26) of "theìthe longing to create a workplace where everyone from the top down shares a unified vision and sense of purpose beyond making money?"moneyî? And why, Leigh (1997, p. 26) also asks, are many organisations embarking on a mission to create such workplaces? Do companies need to reinvent themselves to pursue international markets and what might this mean for people as managers and as workers?

Some individuals,individuals , such as Doerr (Management Review, July/Aug. 1997, p. 5) complain about the extensive focus on globalisation and leadership. "I can’tìI canít pick up a newspaper or have a conversation with a business executive without the subject turning to globalization. Everybody ís doing it (or at least trying). The same holds true for leadership. Itís a skill in high demand, and everyone has his or her own definition of what leadership really means. Put them together and the buzzword for the next millennium is global leadership.

Hames (1994, p. 58) says that the rules of the game are changing and organisations are having to learn to see the world differently as they grapple with the paradox of sustainable development, as new technology is integrated into the system and as they acquire a new social conscience in the face of degradation of the environment. What, up until now, have been fundamental assumptions about the nature of ëorganisationíorganisations are being questioned. Traditional approaches to organisations, management and leadership are now on trial as old beliefs are being interrogated to establish their usefulness or irrelevance as we move into the next millennium.

Judd (in Cairnes, 1992, Foreword) proposes that an individual and collective fear of change is proving to be a major blockage to change - "fearìfear of losing jobs, of losing status, of risking career prospects. Fear of rebuke from superiors for making a mistake. Fear of ridicule from peers for making an off-the-wall suggestion for improvement. Fear of allowing subordinates to grow in case they should excel and displace those above them. Fear of delegation in case it leads to unsatisfactory work and subsequent retribution"retributionî. As regards the industrial scene in Australia today, Judd warns "BeìBe the best in the world at what you do or you will go out of business"businessî. His perception is that there is a need for dramatic change to revitalise Australia’sAustraliaís sluggish industrial performance but that the change is coming painfully slowly. "InìIn some cases it ís too late; the alarm bells are echoing in empty factories and offices"officesî (Cairnes, 1992, Foreword).

This study seeks and then analyses a wide range of current perceptions about leadership and organisational behaviour in the workplace in this technological age from an international group of respondents some of whom are already regarded as "leaders"ìleadersî and others as "employees".ìemployeesî.

The study is timely as, while there is a general sense that sweeping changes are under way, it appears that few executives have any appreciation of the magnitude of the whirlpool into which they are being swept (Neill & Kyneur, 1996, p.7).

In 1987 Charles Handy proclaimed an end to leadership which carries overtones of militarist and macho heroics. Gone, he said, were the days when the concept conjured up images of an officer class, of glory linked to privilege. He saw leadership as being the stuff of best-selling tracts on business, the theme of ambitious researchers and of up-market training conferences. Was he premature in his proclamations? Have perceptions of leadership

altered? In particular, have they been transformed by the implications of the digital information era?

In 1991, 93 and 95, Becker and Huselid (in Ettorre (1997, p.12) investigated policies and practices in a high-performance work system by surveying 600 publicly held large and small US companies. They comment that, because intellectual capital is becoming more and more critical for companies in this electronic era it is crucial that leadership generates staff empowerment and that this means the disappearance of mechanistic and merely reactive mental activity in the workplace. Rather employees need to be sharing information and acting upon it, experiencing equality in the workplace and informed self-determination. According to Management Review (the journal of the American Management Association) however, workers are feeling more alienated from their organisations and less empowered and they are blaming the organisation.

Exceptions to this are Springfile Remanufacturing, Eastman Chemical, Ritz-Carlton, Nordstrom, Hampton Inn, Levi-Strauss, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab and Cummins Engine, among others, which are high-performance companies that align empowerment with strategy and information. The charge made by Ettorre (1997, p.11) is that conventional, lip-service empowerment is much too light-weight for today’sís business requirements and is disastrous for the entire operation of a corporation, but unfortunately most companies operate in that fashion. Kouzes (in Ettore, 1997, p.11) describes "ìempowerment by default"î whereby management turns its back, pulls away resources and leaves workers to their own devices.

Clive Goodworth in The secrets of successful leadership and people management (1988, p. 1) adds a note of cynicism to the discussion of management with his dictionary definition of a manager:

manager One who conducts the working of, has effective control of, bends others to his or her will, cajoles, finds a way, contrives to get along, is clever or stupid enough to bring about, secures, deals with.

is clever or stupid enough to bring about, secures, deals with.

Goodworth continues: "I find it gratifying that even the dictionary seeks to remind us of the inglorious affinity between management and stupidity

- because, reader, that is what this initial chapter is all about. First, Iíd like you to accompany me on a gentle romp through just one or two instances of idiocy in managing people...î (1988, p. 1).

By 1992 we have educators such as Holzman (p. 136) asking "DoìDo we really need ‘leadership’?"ëleadershipí?î (as traditionally defined).

So perhaps Handy (1987) was premature in his proclamation. As Semler (renowned Brazilian industrialist and author of Maverick, 1993) warned, in a seminar he conducted for 1000 participants (mostly male 30 -55 years of age) at Brisbaneís Cultural. Centre in September 1994, one has to approach the matter of alternative organisational structures with an open mind and this is difficult when one is steeped in the tradition of a particular organisational structure.

Although, by 1997, we do see the new "ìHorizontal Corporation" î showing itself as the new corporate architecture, unfortunately, the flattening of the hierarchy and the growth of empowerment has happened in an ad hoc fashion and mostly by accident. Companies, to increase productivity, are forced to take measures to get the best efforts out of staff. They are therefore victims, not proponents of a trend (Neill & Kyneur, 1996, p.7). As Jones (1995, p. 39) comments, open and flattened structural organisations are certainly challenging to managers who are used to the comforting welfare states that many of our large companies have become. Only a small number of executives, such as Ralph Stayer of Johnsonville Foods (USA) and Ricardo Semler of SEMCO (Brazil) appear to have come to realise that trust, transparency and democracy are values which must underpin any organisation of people.

The challenge to traditional organisational administration has been hastened by the advent of email and the explosion of knowledge. The view of an organisation as having a the central entity with having a monitoring role is becoming difficult to sustain. has taken something of a beating. There is now too much knowledge available, or being generated, for it to be feasible for it to be controlled by a chosen few; the knowledge may be urgently needed by a variety of staff in order to ensure the organisation maintains its competitive edge; and email provides a potential entry to top levels which bypasses the vigilant barriers set up traditionally by secretaries and executive administrators. So central servers which store information to be widely accessed reverse the traditional roles and put the onus on the employees to ensure that they keep themselves informed of matters relating to their own jobs.

Traditionally organisations have been structured as hierarchies where the strength was seen to lie in its control and the power which the leader could wield over the people and the activities of the organisation. It is clear that the structure is under attack today and a commonly perceived weakness has been its inherent tendency to bureaucracy which delays action and stifles initiative. As regards our current situation and the relevance of the traditional hierarchy, Max Landsberg (1996, ix) says that the complexity inherent in today’sís business environment means that the autocrat is no longer in a position to make better decisions than ‘ësubordinates’í are able to make collectively. S/he can no longer be sufficiently omniscient to monitor everything, nor omnipresent enough to take all corrective actions needed. Yet, as Landsberg also says, the effectiveness of the purely ‘ëempowering’í manager has not been proven.

What do employees from their work sites located in various parts of the world

perceive as appropriate leadership in their own environment as we move into the next millennium during which there will be increasing emphasis on digitalised communication? Are there any attributes of ‘leadership’ which are universally commonly perceived to be ‘good attributes’ regardless of the individual characteristics, including electronic development, of oneís work environment? How is electronic communication affecting the structure of organisationsimpacting on work sites? What are the respondentsí perceptions of the current role should of education play in preparing people to handle this changing work environmentand the desired role as they perceive it to be?

Research plan, methods and techniques

This research is part of a larger qualitative broad spectrum study which will be continued into next year and possibly beyond.Design Ultimately it is intended to provide a synthesis which is representative of the collective findings of the group. The researchers adopt a personal, interactive and egalitarian stand, emphasising a holistic, multi-disciplinary, non-linear and contextual approach. A strong emphasis is placed on individual participants’ reactions and responses.

The research examines perceptions of the meaning of terms as they are experienced by individuals in the changing social, economic, organisational and technical context of the workplace. Each respondent has his/her own unique history and reflections on these perceptions. For some respondents, English is not their first language; others have variable access to electronic equipment of differing degrees of sophistication and others are communicating from different time zones and different seasons, all of which impact on work habits and organisational administrative procedures.

This research design is qualitative in style and involves Iinterviews are being conducted mainly by email but in some instances face-to-face with a tape recorder. Looking through their ‘electronic window’ (Negroponte (1995, p. 165)) the researchers have interviewed to date and the directors of two research laboratories in St Petersburg in Russia, the director of a technology training firm in Rio, Brazil, the director of an educational multimedia installation and services company in Thousand Oaks in California and an academic in Honolulu, Hawaii. surveys using electronic means. Face-to-face, they have interviewed the executive director of a construction company in Singapore and an independent training consultant working in the South Pacific Islands.

As some of the email interviews were with non-native English speakers, whose replies were initially rather brief, it was found necessary to explore these answers in greater depth. This produced a multi-layered ‘hypertext’ effect which enabled greater exploration of issues over several weeks. The recursive possibilities of email for this type of research was one of several unexpected beneficial side-effects that the researchers noticed from choosing this medium.

Hypertext effect of interviews

This study is therefore multi-layered, rather like a hypertext document. The research is, in the first instance, being conducted through interview, both oral and by email so that there has been an electronic conversation between interviewers and respondents and between the researchers themselves (one in Brisbane and the other in Singapore) with subjects from different countries, many walks of life, various ages and both genders. One of the features of the interviews conducted by email is the ongoing dialogue with

the participants perceived as being necessary because of this medium of communication, because English is not the first language of the respondents and because of an apparent reserve which causes initial answers to be brief to the point where they do not convey sufficient information upon which to satisfactorily draw conclusions. Interviewing tNUDIST software is being used to process the data and to collate responses. The www will be further utilised as the research project progresses in order to survey a larger group from the international community with a further set of focussed questions designed subsequent to analysis of the first interviewees’ responses.

Any research has bias inherent in it however this research project seeks to faithfully present individual perceptions leading, in later stages of the research, to analysis which will provide a synthesis that is representative of the collective findings from the group and provides valuable information based on broad spectrum research. The research methodology is therefore personal, interactive and egalitarian, emphasising an holistic, multi-disciplinary, non-linear and contextual approach. A strong emphasis is placed on the individual participant in the research project, his/her reactionInfluence of the research method on the study itself

The research responses have been influenced by the mode of interview and the amount of time available to the respondents. The fact that both Richard’s and Michael's extended interviews progressed through the northern hemisphere’ís summer vacation period influenced the amount of interaction that could take place over several weeks as the equipment was only available to both at their work sites. Nevertheless, throughout that period they had extra time to reflect, and Richard’ís responses, particularly, became more philosophical and expansive as time passed. The interviewer’ís impression (which can be confirmed with Richard) is that he became more comfortable conversing when he got to know the interviewer better and when he felt that the interviewer responded positively to the nature of his answers and indicated some knowledge of his philosophical background. The work site situation also influenced the responses from Gordon who suddenly received a significant number of orders for installations and could not respond to any more questions for several weeks. His interview will continue during 1998.

The use of email and later of www facilities has caused/ and will no doubt again cause breakdowns in communication as servers went down for a week at a time. Significant delay was experienced from Australia but none reported from Russia. This serves to interfere with dialogue when it is at an important point and interviewer and respondent are eager to continue the discussion. There were extensive delays throughout October, particularly when an e-mail cable was accidentally severed.

The respondents

A. Lau is typical of some of the energetic women who hold responsible management positions in Singapore. She has successfully combined career and family and now sees herself in a position to give back to the community by participating in community organisations such as the one mentioned in the interview. The management background within which she operates is strongly Confucian and hierarchical, meaning that the concept of the wise man, the 'philosopher-king' in Western Platonic terms, the man of wisdom who will make correct decisions on behalf of everyone is widely assumed to be the best form of leadership. The leader/boss is often feared as much as revered. A. Lau acknowledges this at one point when she says "I used to have a very fearful feeling of my MD going past". Combined with Confucianism is strict economic pragmatism. The original Chinese settlers in Singapore came from a mercantile background, looking for a living, and Singapore has been successfully built along economic lines. As a small country, it is very aware of its vulnerability and puts a high stress on education and the deployment of its human resources, ie, people. This all leads to a highly competitive 'kiasu' environment where criticism is often more in evidence that acknowledgement, public ritual is treated as highly important and alongside these run the search for more effective ways to apply IT in education and to engender an environment which will foster creativity.

Seven respondents are currently being interviewed and while some interviews have been completed, others are still in progress. This paper will consider the findings of five of these interviews.

Richard, an Estonian who lives in Russia, was interviewed by e-mail. English is not his first language. Mikhail is a Russian living in Russia and was interviewed by e-mail; A. Lau (Singapore) was interviewed in person in Singapore. She is effectively bilingual, having Mandarin as her mother tongue and English as her first language; Gordon and Paul are from the United States. Gordon replied to the first set of e-mail questions with a faxed answer and Paul answered by e-mail. Pseudonyms have been used.

The historical cultural background of respondents was significant in not only influencing the nature of the responses but also in the selection of appropriate pseudonyms. When questioned regarding the latter, Richard requested that the first choice for him, (ie..e. Alexander), be changed to Richard because of a ‘ìsilly’î spy tale in Russia which now leaves the name Alex with unwelcome connotations. "Paul" was disquieted to discover that the authors intended to supply him with a pseudonym and this was then negotiated with him.

A. Lau is typical of some of the energetic women who hold responsible management positions in Singapore. She has successfully combined career and family and now sees herself in a position to give back to the community by participating in community organisations such as the one mentioned in the interview. The management background within which she operates is strongly Confucian and hierarchical, meaning that the concept of the wise man, the 'philosopher-king' in Western Platonic terms, the man of wisdom who will make correct decisions on behalf of everyone is widely assumed to be the best form of leadership. The leader/boss is often feared as much as revered. A. Lau acknowledges this

at one point when she says "I used to have a very fearful feeling of my MD going past". Combined with Confucianism is strict economic pragmatism. The original Chinese settlers in Singapore came from a mercantile background, looking for a living, and Singapore has been successfully built along economic lines. As a small country, it is very aware of its vulnerability and puts a high stress on education and the deployment of its human resources, ie, people. This all leads to a highly competitive 'kiasu' environment where criticism is often more in evidence that acknowledgment, public ritual is treated as highly important and alongside these run the search for more effective ways to apply IT in education and to engender an environment which will foster creativity.

Richard, when asked to tell us something of the background which has undoubtedly influenced his perceptions today, responded:

"‘Richard’ was born before WW2 as a citizen of Estonia—a small state in a North-East corner of Europe at Baltic Sea. After graduating from a Tartu University in Khruschov’s years studied genetics at Leningrad University—one of the few places in Soviet Union where real genetics—not the "michurinist’ (Lyssenkoist) genetics dominating Russian science of these years—was taught and studied. Spell of the large beautiful city with all the concerts, art exhibitions, museums etc. has been strong enough to keep "Richard" in this hyperboreal "Magical Swamp"—an allusion to the "Magical Mountain" by T. Mann—at 60 degrees of North—for the last 35 years or so. Of these 35 years first 28 passed under pressure of obligate Marxist doctrine, massive nauseating political propaganda and feeling of presence of secret police just behind every corner. Paranoia—yes! But not individual but a centralized paranoia that was forced on us by our totalitarian state. Last years we have realized that a return to democracy can be a long and painful process with possibly still uncertain outcome.

‘Richard’ has spent many years as a head or vice-head of several laboratories—with a staff from 6 to almost 50 people. (Last years have passed at the lowest level of 6). He has published 70 or so papers in molecular genetics—mostly in Russian—and recently also 8 papers in the controversial field of transpersonal studies—that he feels to be most important for himself in his 58 years (having reached a stage of post-mature ego development when most of the pressures of natural selection have been left behind)—and possibly also for some other people inhabiting the still disturbed enormous space at the very North-East of Eurasia."

Mikhail regards the following as being relevant to his answers:

"I was born in 1959 in Leningrad (now St Petersburg) Russia. My mother is a doctor, and my father is an electronic engineer. I was grown up in Leningrad as well. After I graduated from the high school (in 1976) I entered the Leningrad State Medical Institute. I was mostly interested in biophysics at that time, but decided to go to the Medical School because that opened more possibilities than the Dept. of Biology of Leningrad State University. I got

involved in research when I was a medical student, but at that time I was interested in cell biophysics (I have two papers on cell biology published in the U.S. journal).

After I had been graduated from the Medical Institute I was doing my residency in psychiatry with particular focus on alcoholism and drug addiction. I went in psychiatric residency by accident, but then I got very much interested in the subject, particularly in psychopharmacology. That was a beginning of the Gorbachev era in Russia, and Gorbachev’s "war on alcohol", and a chief of our hospital decided to set up a small research laboratory. He suggested me to be a director of that small lab because I already had some experience in doing research and several papers published in the scientific journals. I agreed with a pleasure, and from that time I have been working as a chief of the research lab in our hospital (which is a Leningrad Regional Centre for the Treatment of Drug and Alcohol Dependency) for twelve years and a half. I have a small but very good research team, and some members of my team have been working with me from the very beginning. We published more than one hundred scientific papers in Russian and international psychiatric journals, two monographs on alcoholism treatment (in Russian) and developed two new methods of alcoholism therapy which have author certificate (patent). In 1996-1997 I was invited for a year to the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University to take part in research of psychopharmacology of hallucinogenic drugs and alcohol dependency. My major areas of scientific interests are ketamine assisted (psychedelic) psychotherapy and psychopharmacology of alcohol dependency.

I am married, my wife is a mathematician. I have two children: boy 14 years old and girl 8 years old. They are going to the school in St Petersburg.

Hobbies: tourism, ballet theatre, classical Russian and American literature."

Paul leaves it up to the researchers to report what he considers to be relevant details and "give Paul a face". Paul is Swiss but has been studying in Honolulu and has just been awarded his PhD. He says that both living in Hawaii with its particular culture and life style, and obtaining his PhD have had significant influences on him. Paul is a recognised fine art photographer and is writing a book called The Tao of Photography. Paul has been influenced by his divorce 6 years ago, the divorce of close friends and the attempted suicide last week of another friend (probably caused, says Paul, by marital problems). Paul works out at the gym frequently, meditates, reads novels and scholarly works, enjoys music which he says is "good maintenance for the soul", plays the congo drums and enjoys close and loving friendships with people he can trust. Paul is currently setting up his own publishing business.

These are the factors he has selected as influencing him particularly but he also indicates that he could continue with many more.

Gordon is Executive Vice-President of an interactive media company north west of Los Angeles. The company installs multimedia equipment in schools and universities in the United States and provides a service which spans (if required) assisting the institution with preparing applications for multimedia grants from government bodies, to budgeting and long term planning of installations. Gordon’s company was associated professionally with Blackstock Junior High in Oxnard, California--the blue ribbon school referred to by Bill Gates as "the school of the future".

Gordon is an active citizen particularly in relation to preservation of parks and has been elected by popular vote to consecutive terms in park legislature in California.

Findings to date

In interpreting the responses it is important to note that the interviewees are from very different countries (eg a small city state like Singapore as opposed to a large unwieldy section of a sub-continent like Russia), different cultures (eg some are research and scientifically oriented while otheres are economic and entrepreneurial) and types of organisation. (eg, manager of a large construction company, director of a molecular biology laboratory ... )

The perspectives of the respondents appear to fall somewhat into categories according to some of these variations. The replies from Gordon and A. Lau are more similar to each other than they are to Richard’sís replies for example. Both Gordon and A. Lau work in a business environment whereas Richard works in a research laboratory where making a profit is not his concern and where, in fact, money is only relevant as it is required to run the laboratory. On the continuum, Paul’sís answers seem to fall between Gordon and A. Lau’s replies and those of Richard. Paul and Mikhail are more indefinite in their replies than the other three. Both Paul and Mikhail are academics, the former having just secured his PhD degree in Hawaii and the latter being the director of a very small research laboratory in St Petersburg, Russia.

Although no respondent discards totally the hierarchical structure, the degree of support for it varies considerably from Gordon and A. Lau who are fairly supportive of it to Richard who finds little to like about it. Examples of their views are given in the appendix. The attitudes of the respondents is clear, not only from their outright verbal statements, but also in assumptions that they make and language they choose to express their ideas. (Examples of Gordonís hierarchical assumptions are shown in his comment ìGetting the results you desireî and A. Lauís ìownership of staffî language etc. It is also evident in the view Gordon has of education where he proposes that the administrators have the vision and it is ìcarried out/performed by the professorsî. This comment gives one the impression that there is a clear division of skills/abilities and it is the administrators who are the visionaries).

Paul and Mikhail fall in between these two positions both finding fault with it but wondering what else to do and finally indicating that they would need some time to develop an

alternative to it. All respondents see the system as separating people into superior/inferior layers - some respondents assume it to be natural (George and A. Lau) while others are unsure (Paul and Mikhail), and Richard rejects it perceiving it as ìlike selecting likeî in a structure which stalls creativity.

One of the noticeable differences in the responses is in the degree of philosophical analysis.

Some respondents appear to perceive their environments through the filter of a particular philosophical belief system while answers given by other respondents do not reveal this. This can be seen, for example, in the way respondents read questions totally differently and can answer with a discussion about the nature of the question itself or concepts implied in the question, while others merely accept the question as not being loaded in any way and respond. This iswas evident when three respondents, Richard and Mikhail (Russia) and A. Lau (Singapore) are were asked about ‘ìloyalty’î in the workplace...’ìTo whom should employees be loyal? ’î....A. Lau commentsed that ‘ìLoyalty is very difficult to enforce’î . Mikhail speaks of loyalty to each other and believes that said that loyalty ‘ìmeans support and safety....In my lab I am trying to have atmosphere of loyalty. It ís not always possible, but at least I am trying to do that...I think people are more creative because they can be better concentrated on what they are doing if they feel everybody is loyal."î

On the other hand, Richard, who has clearly studied Eastern and Indian philosophies does not accept the concept ‘ìloyalty’î as perceived by the other respondents. He regards the concept as often being used as a tool to manipulate people. He also says "ìChuang-tzu (Taoist text) has some grounds to dislike words like this...."î and later "IìI would only say that there is a natural flow of things and in a way the very need to define something like ‘ìloyalty’î speaks of corruption of the natural flow in our minds’ î (11 Aug, 17:41). Paul commentsed that "ìloyaltyî can be defined in many different ways and that he would need to think about the question for a longer period of time. and said that that ìloyaltyî can be defined in many different ways.

Some respondents, from the length and complexity of the answers they give, appear to have previously thought deeply about the type of issues raised in the questions while others do not seem to have done this, for example, Paul and Mikhail, who clearly state that more time would be needed for thought.

It is evident that there is influence on Richard from the remembrance of the repressive political history that he has experienced in Russia and which he associates with hierarchical organisations. It is not mentioned in Mikhail’ís responses. One could propose that, because Richard is at least 20 years Mikhail’ís senior (Mikhail is in his mid-30s and effectively belongs to a different generation), his longer experience with the regime while he was an adult academic have caused it to have made a greater impression on him. Several times in his correspondences he has referred to scholarly repression and intimidation in the cause of recruitment to a hierarchical ideological structure.

The impact of technology

Although technology is only one of the factors which affects organisations and their leaders, it is one of the most far-reaching in its implications. Neil Postman in his book Technopoly, quoted in Language Learning Through Social Computing, says: ‘Technological change is neither additive nor subtractive. It is ecological. I mean ‘ecological’ in the same sense as the word is used by environmental scientists. One significant change generates total change (Postman 1993, p. 18, quoted in Debski, Gassin & Smith, p. 41). Some of the possible ‘ecological implications’ which the writers are particularly interested to explore include:

Effect on hierarchical structures

The industrial age created a working environment in which hierarchies and compartmentalism flourished. But we are no longer in the industrial age which suited a factory model with standardisation, bureaucratic organisation, centralised control, adversarial relationships, autocratic decision making, compliance, conformity, one-way communication, compartmentalisation, parts-orientation, planned obsolescence and CEO as "king". We are now the information - or post-information - age when the orientation is customisation, team-based organisation, autonomy with accountability, cooperative relationships, shared decision making, initiative, diversity, networking, holism, process-orientation, total quality and customer as "king".

Harrison and Samson (1997, p. 5), note that ‘New technology often requires a new organisation structure and different work environment to capture its full potential’. They suggest that ‘a project structure is probably best whereby people come together for a period of time to work on a particular project and, when that is complete, move on to the next project. People’s status in the organisation becomes tied to a skill level rather than having a certain title, occupying a particular office or being part of a key team’ (p. 34). Their findings show that major construction companies are already adopting this approach. Other changes and practices which they comment on include ‘flattened ... structure’, regular rotation of managers and superintendents, team or cell-based operations, self managed work teams. A major reason for making these organisation changes was to improve customer focus.

Conn, Deering & Pratt, (1994, pp3-4), discussing business re-engineering, point out that ‘the reorganisation of business processes results in fewer hierarchical structures. In the earlier Taylorian model of vertical organisation ... (improvement came about by) bundling together tasks done by experts - controlled and managed by a hierarchy. Today, this approach has reached its limits: numerous management layers slow down decisions, functionalism inhibits interaction between services, generating overhead costs and lead time delays incompatible with the demands for quick response. Above all, there is a new focus within the organisation: a growing concern with the customer.' As re-engineering proceeds, businesses become involved in a dual process of both reduction and increase - as they reduce complexity, hierarchical levels and costs, they increase innovation, creativity, the attractiveness of their products and their market penetration (p. 5).

Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi (1997) list many recent examples of innovative organisational models each of which are ‘useful in certain situations, but not in others’ (Prusak, p. 101), and develop their own "organizational structure, referred to as a ‘ìhypertext’ organization, that enables an organisation to create knowledge efficiently and continuouslyí. (Prusak, p. 99) "ëLike an actual hypertext document, hypertext organization is made up of interconnected layers of contexts: the business system, the project team, and the knowledge base. The ‘knowledge-base layer’ does not exist as an actual organizational entity , but is embedded in corporate vision, organisational culture, or technology "(Prusak, p. 107).

From the findings to date, there is some evidence that our respondents perceive that their organisations are being affected by technology although none to date appear to consider that the effects may result in radical changes. A. Lau (Singapore) comments that organisations are becoming more volatile and less structured but she does not attribute this specifically to the influence of technology. Gordon (US) [George?] appears to be the most technologically aware of those interviewed so far. He points out that hierarchical structures will be affected by both the increased quantity of information which has to be dispersed as well as the timing of when that information is needed. "I think a change in the hierarchical structure is going to be impacted by how information/data is received and the timeliness". He alludes to the fact that this will affect decision-making in organisations, perhaps resulting in some decision-making being relegated to computers or artificial intelligence.

Nevertheless, he thinks that "the hierarchical organization will go on well into the 21st century". He is also aware that "the vast data instantaneously available through technology will enable a company to react more quickly, see trends, forecast changes based on other aspects of a business" and acknowledges that "technology can actually have a more profound impact and develop a better understanding about how a business needs to operate as a whole and the elements for profit. There is the modelling with various scenarious, test cases, actual real world examples, etc. that in the past were not readily available to the institution let alone their students before technology." Despite this, and the application of technology to such business processes as inventory control, Gordon considers that "the key elements that impact profit/loss and success" are the same, whether or not the workplace is technology-based. With or without technology, "it still takes smart control of money coming (in) and going out to be profitable".

Effect on organisation culture

Technology has affected the assumptions we make about where we will work, how we will work and what work we will do. In Friedman’s words, technology is "the main reason why so many people have lost jobs, been forced to change jobs, or been able to upgrade their jobs in the last tumultuous decade ..." A new approach is required. "The critical issue ... is that we have entered this period of incredibly rapid change, in which the technology revolution and the integration of global markets are combining to transform everyone’s work place, market and community - eliminating old jobs and churning new ones." (Friedman, 1997)

Again, there is little evidence in our findings that our respondents are being affected by the changes cited by Friedman. On the other hand, a variety of interesting comments relating to a changing organisational culture were made.

Richard [tonu?] in Russia, referring to the use of email says that "cyberspace provides a kind of everyday logotherapy ... providing meanings and values that were missing in one’s life". Of the use of the Internet in general, he sees it as providing a new dimension to life and as being enthusiastically received because "People seem to have found another dimension of life, especially in our country ... where ‘physical’ travels, even books are so expensive ... and in Internet one finds it ALL - from newest techniques in molecular biology to instant contacts with many people." The Internet expands the intellectual horizons of the scientific team by giving them access to information ranging from Jungian typology to Celtic mythology. From a career perspective the Internet enables scientists to access new techniques, journal papers and databases around the world. These are cheaper research alternatives than the traditional sources of professional information such as books and journal. For these Russian scientists, it appears that the Internet really does offer a "window" to the world, enabling particularly the younger generation of scientists to explore new possibilities and new "physical and mental spaces".

On a more pragmatic level, A. Lau comments that workers’ habits have changed because the first thing they do in the morning is to look at the email to see who has left a message. Realistically, she notes that each employee would receive at least one personal email a day and that this represents a drop in productivity for the organisation. On the other hand, she notes, looking at it from the human point of view "people need stimulation to vary their working hours so that’s not so bad." (A parallel comment to Richard’s on "everyday logotherapy"?) Still, as a manager, she worries about the next round of change which electronic communication will bring. She sees the danger of employees abusing the email facility to the detriment of the organisation (ie lost production time) and wonders how these changes in working attitudes and habits can be handled so as to minimise such abuse. Her comments here would be typical of the views and concerns of many Singaporean managers as reported in the local press.

The qualities of leadership required

Harrison and Samson (1997, p. 4), note that ‘Champions for change in technology are necessary and have four distinct roles: a sponsor who provides the necessary resources, a champion for the technology in question, an integrator who brings the relevant parties and functions together and a project manager’.

Once again, there is little evidence that our respondents have given much attention to these issues in relation to technology. A. Lau, however, reflecting on the current enthusiasm for creating a website for one’s company notes that "if you put your company on the website

you’ve got to make sure that people responding to email requests are saying the right things and even portraying the right image." She notes that it is important to have "someone who can handle electronic responses", implicitly acknowledging that technology is creating new demands on the organisations that use it.

Attitudes to change

To what extent do people greet the changes which technology can bring to their working lives with enthusiasm and to what extent do they perceive them as a threat?

All respondents displayed enthusiasm for technology but those from more developed countries tended to temper their enthusiasm with caution. This appeared to stem from greater familiarity with the use of the technology in question.

Generally, the changes brought about by the introduction of email and www were greeted with enthusiasm. The speed of access gives faster turnaround time and enables companies to react more quickly to changes in the environment. As noted above, technology enables us to develop a better understanding of how a business operates by modelling certain key processes, for example. It expands the intellectual horizons by providing information on topics far removed from the users’ personal job requirements. In Russia, it is still "early days" as far as the introduction of technology is concerned and so far, we still need more and better computers".

The use of computers appeared to be, in many respects, still in the stages of enthusiastic early adoption. Tonu observed that his country had only just entered the information age. "For us the doors of the world of information have just opened. As a result, the mass introduction of computers, internet, etc. coincided with the lifting of the political limitations of access to all the old-fashioned carriers of information". The lack of money means that when technology is introduced, this is often the cheapest way to obtain information rather than to rely on the more traditional sources of books and journals. The big perceived need was for better hardware and software. Technology brings better access to colleagues in other parts of the world as email provides a quick and reliable means of communication – in contrast to the country’s postal system - "a real revolution" (Richard). On the other hand, this perception was contradicted by Mikhail whose department viewed email and internet as expensive and something, which although important, was not a priority. A further limitation on its use was the ability of staff to understand and write English, a predominant language of the Internet. This may account for the fact that email in his laboratory was used "mostly for international communication’ (Mikhail).

Effect on productivity

Does the application of technology increase productivity? It certainly changes the way we do things and speeds up the process? But what of the side effects? Are they always beneficial to the people and the organisations? Are there additional burdens and frustrations created by technology? As might be expected from a country whose government is making a planned and deliberate effort to introduce IT extensively into government organisations, and which is highly dependent on maintaining its economic competitiveness by increasing productivity, much of the reflection on this aspect of technological change comes from Singapore.

The pragmatism of Singapore emphasising the fast turnaround time which theoretically should but may not lead to greater efficiencies and productivity, and the corresponding changes in mindset, attitudes and working habits required of employees, contrasted with some of the very philosophical responses from Russia.

A. Lau notes a recent widely reported comment by a "top man" in Singapore to the effect that technology can have a negative effect on productivity. The constant pressure to upgrade software and hardware leads to a great deal of time being spent in changing from one version of the software to another although many of the users may not actually require the features of the more advanced version. This may reduce productivity rather than enhance it. Yet there is apparently no way out of this. The commercial interests that are driving the production of new hardware and software will ensure that the best and latest will continue to appear and users, to remain competitive, will be forced to purchase in order to maintain their competitive edge - or even to stay in the race at all.

In another comment, A. Lau notes that although the technology is available, many people are not yet mentally equipped to handle it. Again the net result may be a loss rather than a gain in productivity.

The contrast between a small new country like Singapore where it is kiasu to have the latest and the best and a country like Russia, vast and emerging slowly from an ancient and highly intellectual culture becomes apparent. In a recent article, Business in Eastern Europe (The Economist, November 22nd, 1997, pp. 13-15) the writer comments cynically on some of the computer purchases made. "Often the result is a terrible waste: companies will spend millions of dollars on computer systems then find nothing better to do with them than print out invoices or keep address lists." Further on, he continues ‘Whatever managers may think, installing advanced computer systems is seldom the most urgent task for communist-era companies." (p. 14)

Technology and creativity

Conceivably, unquestioned acceptance of hierarchical power structures may create a population who are unable to be creative in their use of the new possibilities that technology opens up. Arguably, one of our gigantic ‘myths’ is that some people are meant to be "top dogs" in the hierarchical game and that others are meant to be subservient to them and to do what they are told unquestioningly. This may be one of the reasons why so many people use technology in an unimaginative way, reproducing familiar content and ideas using a different presentation medium. Instead of looking at sometimes the possibilities of new ways of learning and solving problems, they continue to reproduce old-fashioned materials on screen, with the only difference being that the students can click on a mouse instead of turning pages!

IN SUMMARY

Although we have covered much ground, much has been left unsaid. For example, no mention has been made of learning organisations, a concept which has been very influential in the last few years. The project is still in progress and the analysis of the initial interviews is not yet complete.

Nevertheless, we feel believe that we have made considerable progress on at least three fronts: (i) understanding the content of the study, (ii) insight into the research process and (iii) broadening of our own intellectual horizons.

As co-researchers, coming out of different backgrounds and working in different countries, the collaboration has not only given us each a greater diversity of content to draw on, it has also broadened our individual intellectual horizons. We each have a deeper understanding of what we already knew as well as additional perspectives from which to view familiar territory.

The use of the Internet as a major part of the research process has proved extremely powerful. Specifically, the use of email has enabled us to tap into Russian experience as well as some of the more familiar US perspectives and, jointly, to have access to Singaporean experience. The fact that email eliminates the need to spend tedious hours transcribing interviews has made our task easier and speeded up the process.

In understanding the content, we would like to quote from one of our respondents – there are "many rooms in my father’s house". There are many approaches to understanding the concepts of leadership, management, organisational structures and their interrelated

implications. As leaders, teachers of potential leaders and researchers into leadership, we could do worse that ask ourselves the question: Which "room" would I prefer to be in, and why?

References

Bullen, M. (1990). Defining a role for television in distance education: Why research has failed. Proceedings. Sixth Annual Conference in Distance Teaching and Learning, Aug. 8-10.

Cairnes, M. (1992). Peaceful chaos: the art of leadership in time of rapid change. Neutral Bay, Sydney: The Change

Conn, Henry, Anne Deering & Maury Pratt, (1994) The Business Reengineering Portfolio, Volume 3, Strategic Direction Publishers.

Debski Robert (1997) Support of creativity and collaboration in the language classroom: a new role for technology. in Debski Robert, June Gassin & Mike Smith (1997) Language Learning Through Social Computing. Applied Linguistics Association of Australia, Occasional Papers Number 16, pp 41-65.

Debski Robert, June Gassin & Mike Smith (1997) Language Learning Through Social Computing. Applied Linguistics Association of Australia, Occasional Papers Number 16.

Friedman, Thomas L. (1997) ‘Potato chips, yes. Microchips, no!’ New York Times. Reprinted in The Straits Times, Thursday ) October 9. 1997, p. 38.

Goldberg, B. and Richards, J. (1995). Leveraging technology for reform: Changing schools and communities into learning organisations. Educational Technology. Vol. 35, no. 5, pp. 5-14.

Goodworth, C. (1988). The secrets of successful leadership and people management. London: Heinemann Professional Publishing Dynamic.

Hames, R.D. (1994). The management myth: Exploring the essence of future organisations. Sydney: Business and Professional Publishing.

Handy, C. (1987).

Harrison, Norma J. & Danny A. Samson (1997) International Best Practice in the Adoption and Management of New Technology. Commonwealth of Australia.

Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi (1997) A New Organizational Structure pp 99-103, in Knowledge in Organizations. Laurence Prusak (Editor) Butterworth-Heinemann, US.

Kouzes, J. and Posner, B. (August 1997). Building credible leadership. Management: the magazine of the Australian Institute of Management. pp. 5-7.

Landsberg, M. (1996). Coaching: a vital skill for leaders. The Tao of Coaching. (London: Harper Collins).

Negroponte, N. (1995). Being digital. Rydalmere: Hodder & Stoughton.

Neill, E. & Kyneur, J. (1996). The Southern Cross Interactive Entrepreneurial/Education Vision. Bolda-Lok Publishing and Educational Enterprises: Brisbane.

Parry, Ken (June 1996) ‘Quality followers: The neglected issue in leadership’. Management: the Magazine of the Australian Institute of Management.

Postman, Neil (1993) Technolopoy: The surrender of culture to Technology. New York, Vintage Books. Quoted in Debski Robert, June Gassin & Mike Smith (1997) Language Learning Through Social Computing. Applied Linguistics Association of Australia, Occasional Papers Number 16, p. 41.

Semler, R. (1994) Maverick. London: Tableturn Inc.

Semler, R. (1994). Why my former employees still work for me. Harvard Business Review. Jan., pp. 64-67.

Semler, R. (1993). Workers’ paradise? Report on Business Magazine. Dec. pp. 39-46.

APPENDIX

Sample extracts from interviews with commentary from researchers

The following pages contain a fuller account of the respondents’ views. As the analysis is still in process, the comments and commentaries do not reflect the researchers’ final considered views. The material is included to give readers a better understanding of the findings in context.

‘ìHierarchy’î has variable meaning. Some respondents see this structure as referring only to an organisation of roles, from a structural point of view, while to others it has a more value-laden meaning. One respondent, a company executive, Gordon, considers that while there are ‘ìinherent problems’î in hierarchical organisations and that these have resulted in changes and/or streamlining to adapt to specific products and operations, the hierarchy will continue. He perceives the hierarchical structure as providing "ìcertain layers of ‘ëvalue-added’í experience for check and balance."î

Gordon does comment however that in Japanese hierarchical organisations "ìdecisions can be made by individuals in lower positions vs. committees or higher up the organization"î. Gordon does feel that how information/data is disbursed in both amount and time will impact on hierarchies. This will result in how and when decisions are made, by whom or ‘ìwhat’î (artificial intelligence etc). But nevertheless, he considers that "hierarchical organizations will go on well into the 21st Century.".î

Paul (15 Oct. 9:19) agrees with Semler’s portrayal of hierarchical structures often being led byh people who have less talent than those below them; as creating "traffic jams" as some employees struggle to the top destroying others in their path; and causing others to just give up and turn off in another direction. Furthefrmore Paul sees Semler’ís portrayal as being relevant to today’ís business world but wonders if it is concentrating only on negative aspects of hierarchies.

Mikhail (also from St Petersburg) and the director of a small research laboratory, says he can’ít imagine anything to take its place although he considers that "ìit ís hard to control details of the situation using a hierarchical structure.... I believe it ís good for any small team so far (sic) the leader can control and manage all details of the situation."î He tends to believe that a major problem is interpersonal relationships and conflicts. "the reason is the human nature: jealousy, avarice, etc." Mikhail considers that hierarchies promote this jealousy and vindictiveness in people.

Richard (deputy director of another laboratory) makes the following comments: "ìpyramid will possibly be replaced one day--as essentially dull, over-stable, lacking necessary dynamics"î.....They "ìover-stress the vertical connections and so do not use the enormous power of horizontal contacts, emerging mobile groups of resonant minds"î (12 July, 4:20). He himself prefers "ìa living network like a leaf (which) must behave very differently."î. He believes that "ìleadership positions were sold to young gifted people"î and when asked for an elaboration, he adds that there is "ìan untold game ‘ëIf you’íll behave properly, you’íll be a tip of your own pyramidal shape, a part of our huge pyramidí"î and he draws an analogy with financial pyramids such as chain-letters and the Albania story (where pyramid investment organisations scooped up people’ís money and left. Investors had their life savings wiped out). Richard compares the old boys’í network with the situation in Russia before perestroika when one had to be a member of the party and had to commit one’ís self totally to its demands.

A final late comment from Richard (23.10, 13:33), after a couple of weeks’í further reflection about living leaf-like structures being preferable, is the following: "ìThere still remains the question if there is some simpler metaphor, simpler geometry to substitute for the ‘ìleaf’î. It is natural to prefer simple metaphors....Of course, to say words like ‘ëliving’í (as opposed to ‘ëmechanical’í) is psychologically quite revealing and I do not know any too convincing alternatives to this.".Richard then returns to the idea of a simpler geometry than the leaf motif and refers to a Russian thinker called Henri Volonhonsky who now lives in Germany. Volonhonsky noticed that an icosahedron was the simplest body not able to grow by simply adding the same kind of elements. "ìThe growth of icosahedron must proceed either via differentiation of the added elements or via reproduction of the initial structure--or both"î. This means that it is a structure that cannot grow mechanically but needs either modification of its ‘ìcells’î with every cycle of growth, and/or creating independent daughter structures--is possibly not so bad a metaphior for a new generation organizations we are dreaming about. Even more--it does not substitute for but rather presumes all the other--more advanced--biological metaphors."î It is a life-like organisation (30 Oct: 5:32) and remains as an icosahedron as it grows. It is a very large structure for a crystal. It is made of small elements (molecules). Each new layer of the icosahedron has slightly different molecules. Richard compares this to living systems which can allow such a differentiation of the elements so that new elements are added to the growing structure. The Icosahedron seems to be the simplest structure or system that has an inherent impetus towards creativity. He says that living organisms are complex structures because they reproduce themselves. "But one would say that a pressure to do it appears with icosahedra"î. The term ‘ìreproduce’î here is a kind of metaphor.

Richard says that in Russian fairy tales, if one wished to restore a killed hero to life, one had to use two kinds of water ‘ìdead water’î and then the ‘ìwater of life’î. Richards says that one can interpret the fairy tale as one wishes but his favourite explanation (31 Oct.; 4:43) is that ìto get ‘ëlife’í one must really have two principles--the principle of life and the principle of death (or: to have a world you must have something like Chinese Yin and Yang) . "ìAnd there must be situations when this is not philosopohy--but a real question of life and death"î.

Whatever interpretation one puts on the myth, Richard thinks it is difficult to corrupt the original myth as a myth is not like a closed room limiting interpretation. Rather, it is infinitely interpretable and so Richard compares a muyth with a corridor of pairs of opposing mirrors.

One is expected to pass from one pair to the next without pausing because each set of mirrors represents opposing complementary principles and one moves from higher to higher generalisations with each set"ìuntil, at the distant end of the corridor ...one knows.. what?...silence, self, source--or whaterver term one would prefer here"î.

An explanation such as that given by Richard would be meaningful to Transpersonal Psychologists who see the ultimate reality as the unity of opposites as appears to be suggested in this myth.

When asked about leadership, some respondents see it as meaning giving direction to the group. Mikhail "ìLeadership is an ability to run your team in some particular direction"î . He but he also speaks of teamwork and his hope that the members of his ‘ìteam’î respect him. He noted that they are friends outside of working hours. This also appeared to be A. Lau’ís view of leadership as well as Gordon’ís view. Again, some respondents indicate that they believe that all people have leadership characteristics within them. Richard however proposes that, in hierarchical organisational structures, there are ‘ìleadership types’î which he calls "ìmilitant alphas who need leadership power as narcotics....who will certainly occupy many important positions in any pyramidal structure and will create new pyramids if there is not enough of them."î Although Richard believes that all people have both alpha and beta characteristics, we tend towards alpha or beta generally. He compares the alpha types with other people who have ìconstellations of character traits, specific abilities etc that seem never to be able to act out the ‘ëclassical’í alpha role and often have strong tendency towards beta position in real pyramids or towards non-pyramidal structure--if available--or towards a position of an individual not included in hierarchy ---free lance per se. In other words, my point is just that a natural complex of a ‘ëfree thinker’rí is often found in beta position of pyramidal structures. Or let me say, Beta position in hierarchies these days is a trap for ‘ëfree thinker’í group of personalities."î Richard considers ‘ìbeta’î personalities to be meditative types who can’ít help but see "hhow relative are any decisions of his/her, decisions by other people"î whereas he sees ‘ìalpha’î personalities as being able to act more quickly. For Richard "ìA healthy situation possibly needs a spectrum of different styles of leadership as an option--even within a limited management area like science. So there are possibly more rooms in our father’ís house than one can still believe these years. Or in other words--changing organisations will call different new classes of people to leading position--with all the benefits and risks they will bring with them.."

Richard sent in an afterthought regarding leaders. On 23.10 at 13:33 he says, that a beta type leader is a natural attractor of all oppositionist forces in the hierarchical system. These forces range from mild ‘ìB-style thinkers’î to quite marginal personalities of any kind. Richard says that "ìThis creates both unique opportunities (because for any set of able people used in a given system there is usually another set of equally if not more gifted people not used in this system--the last ones being available to (beta) and a great peril (due to the very air of opposition and confrontation that is not too productive for creative solutions)."î

A. Lau believes that does not specify certain characteristics of leadership as belonging to different types of organisational structure but rather that there are leadership qualities which everyone can develop, a belief instilled in her when as a child, she was told that she lacked

them. However, she also thinks that ‘leadership qualities are very important in everyone’ that they are ‘not reserved for a selective few’ and that leadership ‘can be developed’. This is consistent with her agreement that ‘organisations are getting leaner and leaner’ which she attributes to increased competition and tighter margins in today’s market place which forces many organisations to employ only a ‘skeletal staff’. Because of this, she observes, organisations are looking to employ people who are ‘all rounders’. For such people, ‘status is going to be less important but can’t be ignored’. By implication, these all rounders for whom status is less important, will be expected to exercise leadership in a variety of contexts.

In her work situation, A. Lau made a conscious effort to develop her leadership qualities by taking on small group leadership and speaking up. Her leadership qualities were enhanced, she noted, when she joined a voluntary organisation which She believes that ìsometimes leadership quality is an unconscious feeling in yourselfî and that because she was told, at an Outward Bound school when she was a child, that she lacked leadership, she tried hard to see if she could improve ìthat so-called weakness in myselfî. A. Lau elaborates by saying that she would always speak up thinking that she was training herself to be a leader but when she joined Toastmasters there was a real change. She found she could do things she hadnít expected. Toastmasters helped her "to develop a certain quality of leadership". Later in the interview she links participation in the voluntary organisation with the development of skills of crisis management. Being a voluntary organisation ‘People disappoint you. They say they will and they don’t. You accept it. It is voluntary.’ Learning to accept changes of plan in this context has made it easier for her to be flexible in the work situation ‘If someone doesn’t turn up for work, you have to change your whole day’s plan ... once you internalise this kind of thinking then you feel much, much better. You feel OK. You tell yourself you can handle this problem.’ This links with her earlier statement that leadership starts with your own life: ‘You have to take the lead in your own life first’. ...to compensate for what I lacked when I was younger. Iím not saying that I am an excellent leader but I think leadership qualities are very important in everyone.î Reflecting on the responsibilities of leadership, A. Lau perceives that "people refuse to take leadership for theresponsibility". In other words, people in general are reluctant to take on the responsibility of leadership. This is partly because they fear that they will be blamed if things go wrong (commonplace in Singaporean society which is fiercely competitive) and someone else will take the credit if things go well. Another reason people do not seek leadership positions, she notes, is that they may not be given the authority to match the role. She says that "ìin the organisational context it is less clear in the sense that people will not pick a leadership role until they are given the authority....Don’ít trouble trouble, till trouble troubles you. That’ís the concept."

For Paul (15 Oct; 9:19) management is a process of supervision..."îmaking sure that everything gets done in a proper fashion"î. He sees the main difference between management and leadership really in linguistic terms."ì(L)eadership....means having a vision where to go, a map on how to get there, and a contagious enthusiasm to motivate others to come along....(It) is associated with going somewhere whereas management is staying somewhere and keeping tings in order. If I were to forget political correctness and move to prehistoric time, I would say that the leader is the man who brings other men to go kill the mammoth for lunch. The manager is the main woman who organizes and distributes the chores to prepare the lunch at the cave. I like both terms: we need both to get the mammoth and we need to cook it. Unless we are vegetarian in which case, we still need to go chase after some berries. (And back to political correctness, I don’ít care who chases or who cooks as long as I am invited to dinner).î

A. Lau sees ‘management’ and ‘leadership’ as going hand in hand. a collective noun. She considers that the ‘ìtop management’î should have "ìproper leadership skills or be seen as leading in almost every aspect of a company. They should be seen as putting some emphasis on the proper decision making role. So leadership and management go hand in hand, I think." î This may reflect her earlier comment on the need for all rounders in today’s organisations. It implies both a recognition that managers need to have a substantial knowledge base to carry out their role and also that there is a ‘proper decision making role’ for managers. In an earlier response, she refers to having seen many instances of people appointed as leaders ‘who lack decision, who lack desire to do something better for themselves’. She A. Lau comments that management find it very difficult to stay competitive, to stay afloat, especially with the intense competition in every industry. Management faces very serious problems in keeping entire staff. High profit is a bonus but high profit comes with high risk.

In discussing the requirements of workers in the post-information age, A. Lau again reverts to the theme of the all rounder saying ‘I suppose workers here refers to all sectors of working people, diversified talent, meaning a generalist, person who is skilful in more than one discipline ... ‘. She draws on her own experience of having worked her way up to the top to emphasises the significance of knowing other people’ís jobs through having done them one’ís self as this enables one to see a problem from different perspectives and encourages one to have respect for co-workers. This respect, she says, is ‘the most significant requirement of workers today’. It is more important that knowing all the details of what is done ‘You don’t need to know everything in detail’.

Despite her optimistic view that leadership qualities are inherent in everyone and can be developed, in responding to the question about what motivates staff in an organisation, A. Lau comments that only 20% of the workforce can be encouraged to be trained, to be responsible managers. Initially most people look at the money ‘the only motivation in any organisation would be first money’, however, she recognises that this is only one of many factors ‘ Not everybody looks for money’. To encourage people to assume responsibility you have to ‘give that person responsibility and encouragement ... so the motivation is, we want to do this, we want to do it well, so that’s kind of a push factor.’

Mikhail has a negative perception of the term ìmanagementî and says that ìManagement is running your team in any particular direction just because of your position (title), but leadership is a more personal trait.î

It is clear from Richard’ís (29 Sept, 3:29) response to the term ‘ìmanagement’î that his answer is consistent with his earlier responses in that it exhibits characteristics of spiritual philosophy mixed with his perceptions of organic inter-relatedness from his own scientific area of work. He initially writes of management as a set of behaviours that are integral to one’s life process. To him it means the "ìideal art of solving problems of practical origin by some humble ‘ësocial technician’í withcharacteristics of a lay monk. ‘ëOikonomia’aí is a Greek word that connects ideas of household, management and economy. So for me management is ethical and even mystical term that means SKILLFUL executing of one’s HOUSEHOLDER’S...duties at one’ís Office."î For Richard then, management means

executing one’ís duties on one’ís way towards the Absolute (here he refers to the Hindu second ashram - GRIHASTHA) therefore all aspects of one’ís life are incorporated in the concept and one’ís behaviour always reflects on one’ís integral being.

In order to specifically address management in organisations, Richard then refers to the leaf structure which he has also mentioned before as his preference over a hierarchical structure. He says that it is important that there be a "ìsubtle balance between the established net of inter-personal non-hierarchical contacts--warm and nourishing ‘ëveinwork’í of the leaf and of fresh-air bringing ability of re-programming and change--serving both growth and regeneration...î (29 Aug, 12:40). He also refers to "ìZen and the art of rope-walking" î and compares that to the type of problem that is the management problem.

However, what Richard says he actually sees around him is more like the view definition quoted by from Clive Goodworth, of :

manager: One who conducts the working of, has effective control

of, bends others to his or her will, cajoles, finds a way, contrives

to get along, is clever to stupid enough to bring about, secures,

deals with.

Goodworth concludes ì...even the dictionary seeks to remind us of

the "inglorious affinity between management and stupidity...."

For Mikhail, management means "ìrunning your team in any particular direction just because of your position (title), but leadership is a more personal trait."î Both Richard and Mikhail raise the matter of shortage of money in their own situation.

In relation to "shared vision", Gordon mentions "ìgetting the results you desire" from your workforce. Paul (15 Oct.; 9:19) says that "ìalthough it is important that employees have a clear map of where they are headed to, it is also important that the way to get there not be written in stone. I value divergent thinking more than conformism when it is done in the right spirit (that is not with the intention of simply boosting one’ís ego!)". Paul says that he would achieve this shared vision through frequent meetings to discuss progess.

A. Lau agrees that ‘sharing a unified vision is very important in an organisation’ but comments that "ìYou’íre lucky to get at least 50% of the staff sharing the CO’s vision and working hard towards it--people are more self-centred these days. I’llíll look after my career first rather than the company’ís future and in that sense they will visualise differently from the company’ís vision." îShe attributes the difficulty in achieving a unified vision to the fact that people ‘come in with different expectations and unless the organisation can meet their expectations, they will not share the vision’. Her reference to those who say ‘I’ll look after my career first’ highlights one of the dilemmas of modern management. The open environment in which organisations operate today demands a unified vision from staff if it is to remain competitive: on the other hand, the same demands on the organisation force it to a leaner, more skeletal structure where layoffs and contract working become the order of the day, creating a situation where an employee who aligns his or her vision too closely with that of the organisation, may actually be creating a risk for themselves.

Richard, who calls himself a ‘failedìfailed leader’ (depending on how ‘ëleader’í is defined) as he finds himself beingsubversive whenever he is put in such a position in a hierarchy, does not support "ìthe outmoded feeling of serving of some greater cause"î for example "ìof Science that united scientists"î. While "ìit helped to survive the years of communist pressure...now it has gone and the ideas of some super-competitive eelitary Science club are not so fitting."î Richard comments that it is difficult to achieve unified vision and sense of purpose in the workplace (he assumes that the question refers to a country-wide workplace vision, not the specific work site being referred to by the interviewers). He says that there is low mobility in Russia and that some people worked for their entire lives in the one laboratory although now they can go overseas. This however brings its own problems because people don’ít want to return to such a financially strapped home country. After being asked about shared vision in the individual work site, and asked if people work together or pull in different directions, whether they have similar priorities etc. Richard says that actually, while we are individual we carry with us a ready-made mechanism for co-ordinated action and that it seems that rather different value sets of individuals seem to be able to interact in a complex and creative fashion (29 Aug, 12:40). His final comment regarding his own institute is that processes at the whole institute level rarely if at all touch on the laboratory nowadays. He thinks that this is just a short period of overall change in the country and they are currently left in a ‘vìvacuum’î (and penniless). However people are free to join programs like the ‘ìgenome project’î but they are not characterised by creativity. Rather they are high tech projects which feed science world-wide these days, and, for various reasons, their participation from Russia has been "rather moderate".

On "communication", most respondents appear to agree are aware of the significance of how one communicates with fellow workers and that how one interacts with a person seen to be a ‘ìsuperior’î is less "genuine" than how one will interact ‘ìperson to person’î. Gordon feels that if one is to communicate on a daily basis and ‘ìreally dialog’î then one is not concerned with titles, however it is a different thing if your are wanting to get your information to the right level/title to get the results you desire. "ìMy reason is that I have been in MANY environments both in business and the military where you must talk ‘ëtitle to title’í. A. Lau stresses the significance of going down to speak with the workers ‘ìon the floor’î and says that face to face communication is important. Paul (15 Oct.: 9:19) says that if and his employees (if he had any) had to work together, he would "ìwant them to learn empathic listening...a skill that requires many valuable qualities such as receptivity, kindness, ability to listen".î.

Richard’ís perceptions, while reflecting his own philosophical leanings blended with organic images from his science work, also reflect experiences individual to his country’ís history. He writes that in certain situations the relationship that appears on the surface according to one’ís words is not a reflection of the true relationship. He illustrates by indicating that in the title ‘ìComrade Stalin’î there was a paradox as the word ‘ìComrade’î could be said while at the same time "bìbeing almost scared to death"î. He later writes (25 July, 18:00) that many Marxists of today, if engaged in debate with each other, would show themselves to be revisionists (voluntarists, Ttrotskists) in disguise. He then apologises, saying "ìSorry, these are answers not by a successful leader"!î which the interviewer interpreted as being an expression of cynicism.

Richard’s own preference, like A. Lau’s, and Mikhail’s (the latter seeks teamwork) is for informal contacts (29 Aug: 12:40) and this is the type of communication that he would foster. "I would foster 1) informal contacts, 2) informal contacts and 3) some more informal contacts. "ëInformal"í means (for me)--flexible, natural, organic, not forced. Informal easily grows to creativity, with formal it is usually like a shoot growing in a pavement crack."î A. Lau’ís perceptions are consistent with an acceptance of a hierarchical structure coupled with an acknowledgement of the importance of face to face communication. and a sense of ownership but with increased awareness of the social needs of the worker. She says"Personally, I talk to my Thai workers, my Indian construction workers and they feel very honoured that someone in the management is talking to them ... ....I used to have a very fearful feeling of my Managing Director going past. I think management has to work their way downwards, to talk to people because communication on paper or email can be misinterpreted. Face to face is still the best."î

One of the interesting findings in relation to"change in turbulent times" is the differences in how our respondents interpreted this question and responded to it.

A Lau, even though she starts by calling herself a ‘victim of change’ could scarcely be said to adopt the attitude of a victim. She considers that we need to be flexible in responding to change, both in the market place as well as in human behaviour. Handling change is a very important aspect of human life which calls for a responsive attitude which will reduce some of the pain involved in change. Learning skills of crisis management will help us to cope on a personal level. On an organisational level, change is a wide ranging topic that needs to be handled industry by industry. Nowadays she sees it as being increasingly difficult to stay competitive. This means cutting costs which in turn means a leaner organisation and more need to employ multi-talented staff who can take a variety of roles. Another aspect of the changing times which concerns her is the ethics of the buyers market which may lead companies to underbid in tenders. As a result of the ongoing changes, corporations now are volatile, uncertain and not as structured as before. This leads to a need for constant review of practice & strategic plans. On the human side it is important for management to be aware of the many small matters that may make staff unhappy and for senior managment to stand behind their staff to assure them that even if they make a mistake, they are still supported.

A. Lau considers herself ìa victim of changeî. She concludes that handling change is a very important aspect of human life and on the workfront one needs to have a ìresponsive

attitudeî. While any change is painful, it depends on how one approaches it. A. Lau says that one should ìembrace the changeî. She believes that one way to face change is ìcrisis managementî because it depends on what the change mean to a person. For some, what is a huge change is just a minor change to another.

Paul (15 Oct.: 9:19) values the qualities described by Herman Hesse in Sidharta: "ìthe ability to think, the ability to fast, the ability to wait."î He says the easiest way to foster these characteristiccs is when they are valued by society as a whole. He will need more time to reflect on how he, personally, would encourage such behaviour.

Richard (12 Sept., 4:57) agrees that it is a time of turbulent change and when asked to describe how he perceives it being handled, he says he has noted the following as just two cases from his life-story "ì(1) I have seen hysterical attempts to meet ANY possible challenges preparing many useless documents beforehand"î. He goes on to say that he observed talented scientists facing more and more problems as Head of a Laboratory and therefore wanting to leave and go to another laboratory. "ì(2) One leader I knew was obviously practically erasing his personal historyî" and asked tongue in cheek if this behaviour came from Stalin’ís years. "ìHe went to great pains to be able to give people some wrong information about his activities. He could specially stop one on a street to mis-inform him/her. By now he is a director of a large medical research institute....Considered crazy, he has maintained his position as director for nhearly 10 years by now"î.

A. Lau agrees that corporations are very volatile and uncertain and that one cannot place a planned program as a sacred object that one canít change. This means that organisations have to constantly review and change practice to strategic plan. ìSo we donít get 10 million sales this year, how do we cope with 5 million?î

In relation to the "role of education", Mikhail believes that the role of educational institutions is to "create a generalbackground for professionals to be able to learn how to work at any particular working place.....I believe that educational institutions should have a diversity of specialists teaching in the different areas of science/technology to give a wide general background for professionals. Then professionals will be able to learn details in any particular area."

Gordon (17 May: 8.05) gives a more specific answer in terms of what is needed. He sees the role of educational institutions as to teach, influence and sometimes ‘ìmold’î their students"î. He thinks that their main influence is in ‘ìproblem solving’î and that depends on how organised they are, .how they use their resources, including people, and how they communicate their solution. He considers others characteristics such as work ethics, overall communication skills, computer literacy, logic and thinking skills are important. Gordon thinks that individual contact by professors has the biggest influence but the overall culture of the institution also influences professional characteristics. Gordon sees the educational environment (apparently the college/university environment) as being the time when students are "ìvery ëopení to doing things that will advance and impact their future and where they often ‘ëfind’í themselves. Many often become like giant sponges. The biggest influence is usually created by the professors who have the individual contact, yet the overall culture of the institution itself too influences professional characteristic....I assume (that this

occurs) per a ‘ëplan’í created by the institution. The vision and bent created by the administrators and in a general way carried out/performed by the professors."î

Paul believes that whatever institutions do, the rules of the game change when one enters a new environment. He thinks that idealism won’ít last long in the ‘ìreality’î of the new job situation, which means that he is implying that the worker is more or less subject to his/her environment. As regards educational institutions, he says "ìOverall, my feeling is that educational institutions teach enough to make fire but not enough to use it wisely."î

Richard’ís (17 Oct, 09:20) perception of the current role of education is not complementary: "ìPeople leave school with no idea of what to expect in working life and the moment they step into working life, have to relearn everything. But not many people are motivated to personal upgrading."î